Quantic Dream's Detroit: Become Human Returns As a Manga

what the actual

Well I kinda did ,this is old news

I really should get around to playing Detroit at some point. No real reason why I haven't yet. Just haven't pulled the trigger. This is pretty cool though.

Oookaay.....

@Korgon Detroit was legitimately the game I came away, by far, the most hyped about after seeing the E3 reveal. It just looked absolutely awesome. That was going to be my GOTY, easy.

The game's reality, however....... I honestly didn't make it through the whole game. I've picked it up twice more, trying to get into it, and both times ended up putting it down within an hour. I'll probably try again, because I WANT to like it. The Connor parts are so good and have so much potential to be an amazing cyberpunk decision tree noire type thing. But the game instead focuses on ham-fisted modern-day social-issues narratives using "robots" as a replacement for [insert-disenfranchised-group-here], and most of that features just....boring scenarios. "Push square to wash the dishes." "Push triangle to do the laundry." I'm not even joking.

I see what they were going for, and it's not that it's.....bad? But it comes across much of the time as a barely interactive visual novel, and it's greatest crime there is that it's a visual novel that's awkwardly political-but-not, generally depressing, often boring, and with only the thinnest mystery outside Connor's scenes. Which is why they marketed it with Connor's intro, and not hanging the laundry.

Disappointed though I am about Detroit, though, this is still exactly the kind of experimentalism PS used to do and has pulled back from. I'd rather be disappointed by more missed potential games than always get safe bets I throw in my backlog.

@NEStalgia
Yeah Quantic Dream isn't exactly known for their subtlety when it comes to themes in their stories. That is for sure.
Still I enjoyed Heavy Rain well enough back in the day and thought Beyond had it's moments. I got it for free with PS+ at some point so its no biggie if it doesn't work for me.

That name is so silly. Just call it Tokyo: Become Human?

@Orpheus79V I just choose to assume that a manga about an idol in Detroit is just a Diana Ross comic.

@Korgon Beyond never told me to wash the dishes and do the laundry......but....it did tell me go to the toilet, so I can see your point.

@NEStalgia Sorry to hear the game didn’t click for you, especially since you had a lot of hype for it before.

I’m sure you’ve been told already, but I will say the rote duties you have to engage in are definitely at their worst in the early sections. Especially the housework and chores. During latter parts of the game you’ll still have a lot of simple prompts for things, like is seen in this style of game, but at least later on they become more impactful actions and require some level of decision making (ie rather than ‘push triangle to do the dishes’, it’s ‘choose whether to steal this person’s bus pass’, ‘or choose what to say during a negotiation’ and so forth). Gameplay is definitely not it strong suit, but it’s a step up from Heavy Rain’s sometimes convoluted button presses to do something simple.

Overall the complexity of narrative outcome is quite impressive. Yes, there is not-so-thinly veiled social commentary, but since there’s a level of choice in how you respond and want to have the narrative go, it’s not as overt as some other games can be.

I think I concluded with a set of choices that led me to an ending only arrived at by 4% of players, or something like that. To me that was fairly amazing.

I would never intend to pressure anyone; your opinion of the game is viable and it may not be for you (and I do think Connor’s storyline is probably the best of the three) but I wouldn’t let Kara’s opening section dissuade you if you like the Connor stuff. Her and Marcus’s stories have some nice turns and interactive moments too.

@Th3solution That's good to know. I paid my launch day price for it, so I have nothing to lose by giving it another go. So far the last 2 attempts to get into it just didn't click, but it might encourage a third try. I still have always WANTED to like it, and the impact of choices having effects is indeed the main draw. You might tip me into pushing a little further into it next time. I think it's a mix of the hype + the opening actually equaling the hype, just before it takes a nosedive that puts me off every time.

@NEStalgia I hope you do, and I’m betting if you can get past the first couple hours and most especially get through Kara’s boring opening sequences, you’ll end up liking it. At the very least to appreciate the achievements in storytelling complexity and facial animation. Not to spoil anything, but even the menu screen has some pleasant surprises. And some of the story I could predict, but it also has a lot of turns I wasn’t expecting. If you ever get back to it I hope it resonates with you the next time around.

@Th3solution Just coming off AI Somnium Files, I couldn't help but think of Detroit with the branching timelines. I'm not quite sure I'll get to this soon, but I definitely think I'll make a point to try it again!