I think when Detroit came out people were coming off the fairly high disappointment of realizing that Beyond did not have a coherent script, and it simply was not all that believable. Despite some decent reviews, I think the presses were a bit off on Cage and his studio with Detroit. I thought it garnered favorable reviews, but it is clear to me now it deserved a lot more recognition at the time.

During their first run with big success, Heavy Rain actually played beautifully in its native French, but it was criticized for atrocious English acting and plot holes. Even then people didn't quite understand the studio or what it was trying to do. After Beyond everyone was suspicious, and for some reason Detroit was also put under this spell of indifference by certain critics despite the obvious upgrade in quality.

Yet after all these years I finally sat down to play this one, and I am taken aback by how much of a leap from their previous games this is. Detroit is a complex, competently written game with script flourishes that make sense and visuals that still hold up today wonderfully. The world they crafted is absolutely mesmerizing. We've only seen some of this stuff in top notch sci-fi films, yet Detroit really brings it full throttle. This is a game that can be played multiple times through with very little loss in selling its drama.

I am happy to say the English voice acting is absurdly good and so much better than anything QD has created before. Much of that has to do with how they directed the actors within the script itself. You can tell they spent a lot of time on making sure these interactions were more natural and believable than any game they made before this. Androids or not, these are believable actors for the most part, and I didn't really find any absurdly outrageous moments throughout my play time.

QD finally hit the target with exceptional qualities in the areas where it really needed those qualities to shine. I will forever still grant Heavy Rain near classic status because the French is so good in that one. So it's not like they didn't succeed in making an excellent game before, it was just horrible in English and not nearly as complex or endearing as Detroit.

With that being said, this game is quite huge. It brings the narrative structure of Beyond, but does it much better in a cohesive world that absolutely fits within the narrative. I'm not sure I will go back and play it a ton, but I find myself already redoing chapters as I go to see how things could have changed. That in itself speaks volumes about how interested I am in the outcomes here. Detroit has an edge like Robocop or something of the sort. It peeks ahead into the future perfectly, while having enough confidence to joke about it, to make it super serious at the same time, and then hold it together with characters that you just might care about.

Overall, there isn't much else to say other than go play this game if you haven't. Save it for just before bed. Do a couple chapters and come back to it again. No need to rush. The negative critics back in the day had some meaning in their words, but I think it's clear many of them had no idea what they were talking about. This game has, weirdly enough, gotten better with age, gained more fans with time, and it continues to be a popular game for everyone to enjoy.

I use a DualSense through the app DSX to emulate a DS4 controller. This way Playstation glyphs show up fine. Settings overall were enough to get this looking quite great on a 4K OLED. Not much to complain about in graphics. The visuals are top of the line artistry. I was always curious what was behind the next chapter. Exceptional work.

The controls can sometimes feel a bit hard to pull off correctly, and sometimes people end up dying because of this. That is probably my only gripe with the controls, but you can always practice them or put the game on an easier difficulty. Overall, I don't have many concerns with this department.

Audio is dynamic, and you can also view the separate tracks by themselves, along with a bunch of other extras, in the main menu area. I enjoy how they even gave us background information on the artists so people can check them out in the future. The soundtrack is really a driving force in the game at times, and I feel the ambiance is also top notch. Everything comes into its own at the right time.

If you like narratives that can diverge drastically, characters that are full of depth and feeling, with a dose of AAA visuals, you will probably engage with Detroit in 2025. It's a game that hasn't been replicated since. It has no competitors in its class. It's not a twitch FPS, so don't expect amazing shooter movement and guns blazing. But for what it is worth I had a lot of fun doing most of the QTEs. For me it's a walking sim on the best drugs ever made. I never once questioned the gameplay or the writing as I have with past games. Not enough to care anyway.

Simply put, Detroit: Become Human is a modern classic. And you should check it out.

Quite pleasing for a Humble Bundle game, to the point I would have bought it normally on a sale. I had never heard much of it before outside maybe an article with a single mention. These smaller games are fantastic when you don't expect AAA values and forever gameplay boring you to death. Quite honestly, the marketing for this game was incredibly poor, and even then it should have been mentioned more by the press. It's a quality title worth your time.

Those that just want a bit of a movie and sci-fi merged together into a decent clue hunt scenario are in for a treat. I don't expect wild gameplay or a hundred hours here. It's a solid detective game with great voice work and a fairly well-written story. It's not going to change you, but it's well worth what I paid. Visuals run great on my PC with DLSS on balanced and top settings at 4K.

I quite liked the dialog around all the objects, and after an hour or two I can safely say it's worth it. Right up my alley with murder, drugs, dames, espionage, and futuristic NYC. They got the visuals down perfectly here, and the score is also well done. Not much to complain about. Controls worked great with a DualSense and DSX. Sound and graphics were mostly top notch. A few issues with shadows on walls being a bit whacky, but overall a fine visual appearance that at times is stunning, bringing back memories of Blade Runner and sci-fi anime, especially during the segment in the apartment.

Overall, it's a steal from Humble Bundle for this month, and even past this the game is most definitely worth 20 bucks if you are into this type of experience. Top notch. Give a team like this a bigger budget, and I'd take a more polished and complex game like this any day of the week over another random AAA blitz.