14 DAY TRIAL // Beyond: Two Souls is a video game experience built around a female character named Jodie, and the leader of the Quantic Dream team working on it is surprised by the latent misogyny that’s still apparent in the gaming industry.
After the game was revealed, many industry watchers wondered how the character, which will be played by Ellen Page, will influence the mechanics of the title.
David Cage tells MCV that “What always surprises me is that this is not a question anyone would ask to a novelist or a film director. Their audiences would never question that a female character could make their story as interesting and powerful.”
He adds, “Gamers are also mainly male, and some of them may not find a female character appealing, unless she is as sexy as Lara Croft. This is changing: partially because gamers are demanding stronger characters and better scripts.”
Recently, the writer of Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, a PlayStation Vita game, also suggested that casting a female as the main character opens up new possibilities for storytelling.
The Ubisoft published title managed to get a narrative focused award from the Writing Guild of America.
David Cage has always been interested in creating video games that focus on emotion and has revolutionized the motion capture field with its previous title, Heavy Rain.
Beyond: Two Souls is designed to talk about issues like life and mortality and will see the main character interact with a supernatural entity, with a story that spawns more than a decade.
The game will also use the considerable talent of Willem Dafoe, who is playing a scientist who is exploring the mystery of the game’s entity.
David Cage and Quantic Dream are also working on the newly revealed PlayStation 4 from Sony, creating a new engine that will include more possibilities of emotional expression.