Overall, I'm a fan of Quantic Dream's games and the genre. In terms of playability they've improved each time, and again this is a step up from their last title, the divisive Beyond: Two Souls.
This time around you play as three main characters, all of which are androids. The first, Kara, is designed to be a maid. She is bought and placed in an environment of domestic/child abuse and becomes self-aware/a deviant to save the child, Alice. They then end up seeking refuge-this is where the connection to the other main character, Markus, is made. Without giving too much away, Markus is wrongfully blamed for the death of someone and becomes the Christ like figurehead of the deviant androids. The third, Connor, is a cop whose role is to hunt deviants. With Kara the decisions are about how to escape/stay safe and how to interact with Alice. Markus' are largely about how you lead the revolution; passively or aggressively. Connor's are about making the right choices to find the deviants, his relationship with his partner, Hank, and the conflict between doing what he's programmed to do or side with his kind.
Although nothing too spectacular, the story is interesting, features some surprises and should keep the player engaged with obvious links to racism and the civil rights movement, except in this case the androids are the oppressed. Because the game switches between three characters, I probably didn't feel the connection to the same level as I did with Jodie, who you never leave in Beyond: Two Souls, but the difference isn't a major one. The QTE works well and the game is lenient if you miss a couple of buttons. Graphically the game is superb, as we've come to expect from this developer. In terms of the controls, look and interact are both controlled by the right analog stick, so at times that is a frustration. The way the characters move can be a touch clunky as well. The final issue that comes to mind regarding the gameplay is that you can't skip cutscenes. You'll want to watch them on your first playthrough, but when it comes to replayability it can be an annoyance. While I do think these games would be a lot of work to develop due to their nonlinearity as well as other reasons, and perhaps the years in development reflects that, the starting RRP does seem steep to me given they don't have the replay value of many other genres.
It's obviously a story-driven game and your decisions do impact the narrative in many minor and major ways up to its conclusion more so than Quantic Dream's previous games. If you like the genre and the story's themes/subject matter in any ways whatsoever, you should get something out of this.
Gameplay 4/5
Graphics 5/5
Sound 4.5/5
Difficulty 4.5/5
Originality 4/5
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