Detroit: Become Human (2018)

5 stars here mean that I really enjoyed this game, not that this game is objectively that good. There are definitely plot holes and questionable moments in the story. Gameplay itself is basic. Graphics are great.

Despite that, I really like exploring the theme of AI going sentient and the possibility of manufactured sentient beings, so I really enjoyed this story and all of the thoughts it invoked.

Also, really enjoyed that the game allows to completely avoid Kara's story. I may replay the game to see Kara's story some day, but in my first playthrough it felt nice to be able to opt out of that tearjerker subplot early on.

I went with machine Connor story branch and it felt both interesting and bad to do the things that a true emotionless machine Connor would do.

Spoiler: RIP Hank. That was hard to do, but a true machine Connor would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

Looking forward to play the opposite way after a break.

I just finished Detroit: Become Human, and here are my thoughts:

What I liked:

• The game has excellent PC optimization.
• The graphics are stunning, and the human reactions and voice acting are top-notch. At times, I felt like I was watching a movie rather than playing a game.
• The interaction with objects in the world is incredibly detailed and immersive.
• The story and plot are engaging, especially in terms of the decision-making aspect of the game.

What I didn't like:

• The overly dramatic tone was a bit off-putting. From my perspective, the androids are malfunctioning and need to be repaired, not destroyed. Attacking humanity would ultimately lead to the end of both humans and androids (since there would be no more factories to produce them), making it feel like a lose-lose situation. While I understand humans are flawed, I felt uncomfortable with the idea of them being judged purely for their mistakes. This idea made the game’s drama feel a little forced.

Overall, though, it’s definitely worth trying out!

I very much enjoyed this game due to both the setting and the vision of the director. David Cage however goes really light on any game elements that are not QTE or dialogue-based CNC. Levels and scenes are light and don't really offer that much in the sense of exploration (beyond the opening introductory mission) Other games do exist that do the cinematic experience better, by providing more 'meat' of a game. (Metal Gear Solid, Shenmue, Yakuza and many Grasshopper Manufacture titles, for instance)

However, that's all well and fine, this is probably the best damn interactive movie type game i've played and is exactly what one had hoped LaserDisc games like Dragon's Lair or Interactive DVD FMV-type games in the 90's could have been. What irks me is the way this game has a gradual 'difficulty-progression' that is based on correctly doing QTE, and that becomes the meat of the game, the net result of which when combined with CNC, is a subsequent playthrough or reload to get the good ending.

It's got to be a challenge to write storylines in a video game that actually make the players actions and choices mesh or match up with resulting consequences in a coherent, cohesive or logical way. Detroit wings this somewhat and the net outcome is 'okay enough', But it's critical to make this mesh right at certain moments when it comes to the player's choices that determine their ending. Much of the choices and consequences in Detroit are somewhat random, and the ride often feels like you have no idea what you're doing. (Very very Dragon's Lair)

IMO, the way your choices toss you towards your ending is where the design falls short of perfection in this medium as it feels there just isn't really much agency left for the player or the characters as things fall apart. If it was a real game with actual gameplay elements i would be motivated to play it again, but having watched the movie once, i don't feel the desire to do so again just to see the possibilities.

That said, the ending I got ( bad ending i guess?) was one of the better bad endings i've seen in a game with multiple outcomes and endings.

In conclusion: David Cage would be a great writer for any RPG. I'm unsure of how much I like this format as it is though. It's certainly worth playing but this is no Baldur's Gate 3.

Rodrigo: It was my second playthrough of the game. it was very good. I have become a robot after this. Game doesn't work. Not a human. Do not recommend this game to anyone that wants to become a human. 9/10

Lana: I have become extra human after playing this game. It's soooo good, it plays like a movie honestly but you get to make the decisions and they acksually matter?!?!?! wow i cannot believe it. and i have a robot boyfriend on top of me because of this game. Would recommend if you also want robot bf. 9.5/10

spoiler review, you have been warned.

I don't like androids. I've watched waaaay too much sci-fi in my life to be comfortable with any kind of human-appearing AI and, frankly, AI in general gives me a bit of the creeps. I don't use Siri. Or Alexa, or Android Assistant. I'm sure I use AI online without realizing it's AI and not some unintelligent script, but generally my preference is to just not use AI.

So launching Detroit: Become Human and seeing you're playing android characters? I have to admit I wasn't super interested. Especially given the game's title—you pretty much know the thrust of the narrative if not the specifics.

I decided, as much as was in my power, I was going to play these androids (you control three of them throughout the narrative) as close to their programming as possible. No "become human" on my watch, no sir. Fuck that. If this game world demands human-passing androids, I'm sure not going to be the key to giving them self-awareness. Not as much as I could possibly help, anyway.

Playing Detroit: Become Human without trying to personify the very characters you're guiding is uhhhhhh... surprisingly allowed by the developers. You're not going to be playing the intended storyline in some really blatant ways, and there's definitely places where the game forces the characters to react like you wouldn't have. But by and large playing these androids like they aren't operating outside their programming is quite satisfying and possible.

Since i have this marked as spoilers, I'm going to go over each main character and the impact that playing like this has on their story:

1. Kara. Early in the game Kara is given a choice to break out of her programming—become deviant, to use the game's lingo—and you can either break out and save a girl from her abuse father or you can sit and do nothing. Doing the latter kills Kara and her storyline completely disappears altogether. I'm watching a YouTube Let's Play for the game and—as those of you who've played the game know—Kara's storyline isn't minor. The devs legit allow you to axe a full 1/3rd of the game, lol. I have no regrets.

2. Markus. Markus is where the game forces things a bit. I don't know if he could have avoided breaking his programming if Kara had broken hers (ie, would the game let you "choose" between them, or is Markus required regardless of what Kara does?), but at least I was forced to carry his character through on a bit more of an "aware" path. And that's fine. I get it from a narrative standpoint. So I did alter my gameplay with him a bit. While I always kept "android" in mind, once he broke out of his programming I honored that and balanced my decisions between what I believe this Markus would do and his android underpinnings (which remain, regardless of his newfound awareness). I'm pretty sure you can play the game this way and find a "happy" ending. (Assuming Markus's success is how you define "happy.")

3. Connor. If you're playing these characters to be mechanical tools, then Connor is gonna be your guy. He's the android that can be fully played that way without a stutter. His whole deal is investigating android deviants. If you play him like I played him, the game doesn't even give you the option of breaking his programming. Looking at the world stats (which the game helpfully provides for your major decisions/actions after each chapter), 20% of players chose to not convert him. Which means that at least 80% of players played him in such a way that they had the option. But I love that the devs were aware enough to realize some Connors could not break programming. So good.

I know I missed a lot playing this way. Not having Kara's storyline certainly trims down the intricacies of the narrative. But some chapters end up a bit streamlined and, in the final story arcs, there some pretty hefty (gauging by what I missed on the timelines) chapters I missed out on due to me having Connor kill Markus. Those pass as relatively quick montages, but would be fully playable had the character still been around. Likewise, Connor's inability to transform nixes some very meaty story there, too.

But here's the thing: I don't feel like I got an inherently lesser experience. It was a shorter experience, yes, but I feel like I got a full story that was carefully crafted. The only way I know I'm missing stuff is seeing the timelines. Seeing what could have been. And I think it's really great that the devs put that much care into a narrative path that I suspect most first time players would not pick.

That said, the devs do emotionally punish you for playing like this. They hit you hard early with the Kara decision. She's your gateway. It's gut wrenching sitting there, doing nothing when you hear that girl crying out in her bedroom. For me, that was the worst moment on an instinctual level. I can stop this, just by breaking the programming like the game wants me to. But on a purely emotional level, there's some rough stuff towards the end, too, especially during the final confrontation between Hank and Connor. I know how I have to play it, but at the same time I'm like that girl in The Matrix: "Not like this, not like this."

It hurt. It all hurt. But that's the burden you carry when you don't want your androids to become sentient.

Pros

• Amazing Graphics
• Has a great theme (which can spur many conversations)
• No two runs will be the same
• A plethora of options to chose from

Cons

• Maybe a little too much to chose from
• Its a little hard to tell what's a custscene where you don't need to hold your controller vs when you need to

(Spoilers ahead)

This felt like watching a long and poorly written movie about AI but with extra steps. Literal steps, like pushing buttons for the tiniest of actions, which gives the game a uniquely awkward pacing, coming to a stop every few seconds at times just for you to do thumb acrobatics to move the joystick in a certain way and holding other buttons down at the same time (sorry, this is not "gaming" just because a controller is involved); walking as slowly as you possibly can and making decisions that don't feel like they have any weight, contributing to some even worse dialogue. You quickly understand that countdowns aren't real countdowns, so there is hardly any time pressure when you're supposed to feel any. Every playable character is a robot so I can't even connect with them on an emotional level, ultimately not wanting to do anything they are doing. I'm on the side of everyone who is supposed to be a jerk in this game, mainly Hank, the detective who rejects androids, but somehow throughout the game starts to think they might be human after all.

I am now rushing through the last few missions and trying to get as many of these useless androids killed as I can possibly get killed. Heck, later in the game it's revealed that even the little girl is an android, and now I regret killing that guy who was not domestically abusing her.

Oh, did I mention there is a direct comparison to African slavery in this game? Yup. That about sums up the writing. Only a staunch atheist can make this crap up.

EDIT: And now I'm playing the last chapter and they're clearly referencing the Holocaust. This is just insane.

Looking at what decisions other players made, I realize I'm in a very small minority of players whose only goal it was to make as many humans survive as possible, which I didn't even manage that well because you never really know what the one-word decisions really lead up to anyways. Either way, not only do I think a lot of this game is poorly made, the entire concept also didn't appeal to me personally, while most players might actually emphasize with these androids.

It looks beautiful, movie-like.

The story-tree makes you believe that it has more to deliver than a Telltale Story, which makes the player invested in the choices he has to make. When I understood where the story was going, I felt I wasn't making choices for the character, but I was rather committing my choices to make the good or bad ending happen. It didn't feel personal to the character I was playing.

The main characters all go through so many moments where their lives are at risk (not just Markus #plotarmor), that it sometimes feels a bit cheap... I don't like QTE. It wasn't challenging, but it makes me feel like I'm walking on eggshells: will there be another QTE soon? Or can I relax and think about the story?

It should have been a movie or an interactive movie.

Connor's actor is amazing.

Gramps had some good lines.

Details that made me less immersed into the world:

The walking animation when changing direction is too stiff. There is no collision with walls or decor (there is a wide invisible wall around everything), you can't interact with any or the beautifully rendered items in the world (yeah, except TVs and newspaper). You can't bump with NPCs while walking, they'll just stop and you can't walk into them. You can't talk to them, even if they are idle.

I went into this game with a lot of enthusiasm since I love these type of games, but some trepidations since David Cage is at the helm. The reason being is that although I find the projects he does very artistic, unique, and enjoyable they always come plagued with weird dialogue, cringy female characters, and pretentious babbling. However, I did not find that to be the case with this installment since it had very good dialogue, he spoke to at least one women since his last game and we can scream at the TV "We get it, it's like slavery!!!!" a million times while he keeps trying to tell us, but the overall experience was not ruined for me.

I found the world to be fascinating, the story choices and decisions having huge implications for the overall plot and it did feel like you truly create your own narrative. The characters were also amazing, I loved them wholly, especially Connor and Frank with their back and forth being my favorite. Markus had the big decisions to make and the one you shape the overall plot with and Kara was the window to the everyday android being affected (she was probably the weakest of the three for me).

Overall, I found this type of game to be very one layered in the past plagued with boring gameplay, but this one was able to truly feel like you are building a movie while also having interesting things to do to frame it, I can't lie and say I didn't have a great time. P.s. Those visuals were just hands down amazing and left a big impression.

David Cage might just be the best writer in gaming. when he said "fuckin piece of plastic" and "plastic toy" and "plastic friend" for the 64th time it was truly reaffirmed that this man really knows how to write dialogue. all of the subtle references to moments in history really got me. not many people would realise this, but there was actually a reference to the Holocaust in there. See, when the androids are sent to concentration camps, it's actually a reference to the 11 million Jews, gays, black people and other minorities that were murdered by the Nazis. Isn't that just so crazy? the ANDROIDS are the JEWS!

How about that the androids have to stand at the BACK of the bus? How about that every line out of Carl's mouth is "god humans fuckin suck tho dont they??????? humans kinda suck dont you agree????? arent they bad????" how about every scene where you play as Marcus being more boring than anything I've ever experienced? how North is the single most annoying character in the game? how about how the game makes Marcus and her lovers because you said a few nice things to her throughout the game that would never otherwise imply a romantic relationship?

Oh, how about Todd being the most subtle character ever designed in gaming? How every line of dialogue out of his mouth is "boy do i hate androids >:( i sure do hate androids >:(" and having random, hilariously exaggerated outbursts of anger that act only as plot devices and shitty exposition? how about that the game tries to redeem him later on after beating a child? How about that PLOT TWIST? Isn't it wonderful when the game purposefully withholds information that your character sees so it can cheat its way into a plot twist?

Isn't it all so SUBTLE? Isn't it all so SYMBOLIC? Love you David!! When's the allegory about the Syrian refugee crisis coming?

David Cage... people seem to either love him, or more often, hate him. Admittedly, he strikes me as a very pretentious, very auteur director who definitely has a style. That being said, you always get something interesting when you play a Cage game, he's the French Kojima.

Before we dive into the narrative, there's the gameplay. I think Cage prefers to call his games "interactive cinematic experiences" or some such. As such it controls like a Telltale game on steroids, lots of button prompts, weird analog stick movements, and sometimes having to use the Siaxis feature of the Dualshock, one of the only companies that still do. They have toned down the amount of controller shaking from their Heavy Rain days, and I'm surprised they didn't change it to implementing light bar controls like Until Dawn.

Each of the three main character have a certain special gameplay feature all their own. Marcus has the ability to plan out his moves like Downey's Sherlock Holmes, Connor investigates crime scenes & as such has the ability to piece a timeline of events together like Batman in the Arkham games.

So, the story, as mentioned, you play as 3 different androids, each with their own little vignette story. So, now would be considered spoiler time. There's Kara the housekeeper, whose story starts of strong, but peters out after awhile. It begins with you being placed in an abusive household and escaping with the battered little girl after killing or incapacitating her father... I killed him. After that, there's a level that is very much like the crazy dentist in Heavy Rain and you meet a big black android that would've been voiced by Michael Clark Duncan, God rest his soul. Then it's a boring slog to getting across the Canadian border.

Then there's Marcus, his story starts out sort weak, but picks up steam towards the end. He gains free will & leads the android revolt that all stories about androids seem to have. And this is where things get sticky with the whole sorta reference to civil rights & slavery. For the most part, Cage seems to pull from history at a very surface level, which is probably for the best for such a sensitive topic. It's enough that you can understand the parallels drawn, but doesn't go so far as to be a preachy, white guilt trip or a racist manifesto. If you've ever wanted an MLK or Malcolm X simulator, Marcus's story has it. I went the peaceful route, which was so MLKish I'm surprised it didn't end with Marcus being assassinated on a hotel balcony.

And at last, Connor, the robo-detective. His story is the strongest all the way through. If you've wanted a game of the TV show Almost Human, that's Connor's story, and I loved that show. You get to hang out with Clancy Brown, your alcoholic human partner, solving android crimes. His section works to tie all the stories together as you hunt down Kara & Marcus. There's one neat moment where you break into a skyscraper as Marcus & then the next level sees you as Connor investigating the scene, with the player knowing where all the clues are.

This is by far Quantic Dream's best game. A lot of the dialogue seems much better, I don't know if that means Cage is getting better or if he hired more writers that wrote dialogue for him. And there isn't a big left turn into weird at the end like with Beyond or Fahrenheit, though Marcus does turn into robo-Jesus. The world building in this game is really great too. It isn't too intrusive, instead mostly conveyed through magazines and news reports in the background. I enjoyed following the story of US & Russia aggression in the Arctic.

Aspects I did find silly about this android based society are; one, why would you create super complex androids for jobs like garbage man or janitor when a much simpler robot would be much more practical. And I figured the lights on the side of the android's head were some type of unit that was wired straight into their central brain, but it's just a little sticker they can pop off & then be completely indistinguishable from a human, not a good design feature.

All in all, this is a good story game that draws you in by the end and definitely shows Quantic Dream is improving at their craft. I also found the main menu neat, and a little creepy, you have a lady android who stares at you, guides you through the menus, and makes little quips. I enjoy menus that are unique, especially in today's games where main menus are becoming very minimalist.