Detroit: Become Human Was Amazing; I Just Missed It

By: Ryan Ramakrishnan

It is no secret that Sony had an incredible year in 2018 regarding its first party offerings. Sony Santa Monica changed the industry with its April release of “God of War.” Not a full five months later, Insomniac Games came out swinging with a revolutionary experience for comic book fans in the form of “Marvel’s Spider-Man.” Amidst all of the praise I too gave these juggernauts, I nearly forgot the mere existence of the other triple A exclusive the PlayStation 4 earned in between the two. And just over a month into the new year, I can confidently say, sleeping on “Detroit: Become Human” was my biggest mistake of 2018.
Fortunately, my bold claim has justification, given the fact that I recently completed the David Cage-directed game and with that completion, I realized that “Detroit: Become Human” was secretly one of the best titles released last year, if not one of the best the PS4 has to offer altogether.

In my personal opinion, games like these never seemed very fun or attention-grabbing. I recall thinking Quantic Dreams had a cool suspenseful thriller in the works in the lead up to “Beyond: Two Souls,” being a game that I’d certainly check out. I instead played several other games in its 2013 release year thanks to the actual fun they provided me, something that “Beyond: Two Souls” could not.

Between then and January of 2019, I didn’t attempt to give the interactive drama a second chance, nor did I even for one second consider trying out the critical darling that was “Heavy Rain” or the cult classic in “Indigo Prophecy.” I alway thought these games appeared to be too focused on cinematic storytelling, losing sight of what distinguishes video games from the other mediums of entertainment.

Ironically in all of this, I played through several games from Telltale, admittedly claiming some of them to be all-time favorites. I also went on to bash other games for not telling coherent or interesting stories, despite having fun gameplay. 2013 me would never play “Detroit: Become Human” and quite frankly, 2018 me as of Thanksgiving day never believed the game was for me either. Oh how I would be proven wrong.

It’s Thanksgiving night this past year and I decided to go Black Friday shopping and buy more games that I missed out, and admittedly won’t play for some time knowing my habits of building a backlog. I digress. I purchased a few titles like “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4,” despite being offended by a lack of a single player campaign, as well as “Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a game I missed out on thanks to a certain superhero game releasing just days prior. In these impulse buys, I found “Detroit: Become Human” for $19.99. I was skeptical but I went ahead and bought it anyway.

I remember the sales associate at the counter of Gamestop saying, “oh, you’re gonna play a David Cage game” and my reaction being something along the lines of “yeah, I never played one before but it looks cool.” I was warned with humor that I should be ready for some allegories and hard choices.

I didn’t go home and play “Detroit: Become Human” that night, nor did I throughout the entirety of December. I thought I’d ignore it in January too but then one day, when I was tired of being killed in “Call of Duty,” had nothing left to do in “Spider-Man” and was even more tired of “Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey” never ending,” I decided to put the disc for that allegorical, thought-provoking game, the one that I swore was not for me. Although just prior to that, I actually gave a shot to "Heavy Rain" and quickly gave up thanks to the awkward gameplay, animations and tone. So that struck even more fear into for what "Detroit: Become Human" would bring.

Now, I usually spend a little while in one game and then move on to the next one and so fourth. This isn’t permanent but it is just the description to my daily play-style. Pushing through one game in one or two sittings isn’t for me. Ironically, I began “Detroit: Become Human late one Thursday afternoon at the end of the month and beat it on Sunday night, after working all weekend and being asked to play “Super Smash Bros Ultimate” by everyone around me, my inner self included. That is how hooked the game had me. I, the guy who has yet to beat games from the beginning of this console generation beat a game that I swore I could never enjoy in just a few days.

So why, or more importantly I suppose, how did I do this? What was it about this Quantic Dreams adventure that had me sold and immersed once I began that I couldn’t put it down. That’s just it: immersion. I found the storytelling to be incredible, some of the finest narrative structuring in a video game I have experienced. I championed “God of War” for telling my favorite story of 2018 (and would later find “Red Dead Redemption 2” is not boring and tedious but is actually an amazing storied game itself) but “Detroit: Become Human” belongs in that conversation. I personally believe the plot was super compelling, emotional, forward-thinking, intelligent and powerful, all in the right ways.

I remember this game coming out in May after having been shown off at multiple events over a couple of year, not unlike the rest of Sony’s first party lineup as of late. I recall its presence in the press to be another narrative altogether though. With allegations of hostility in the workplace of Quantic Dreams, the developers were not getting the same reactions to their game as Cory Barlog and Sony Santa Monica did a month prior with “God of War.” I won’t make any statements on those stories. But it was the emphasis on too much political shambling and messages and over usage of allegories with racism and American prejudices and discrimination that had many unimpressed with the story presented in “Detroit: Become Human,” or at the very least, less satisfied than as planned or hoped.

In my opinion, David Cage’s team told a story that does go overboard with its messages about equality, prejudices and treatment of those around us who are different, and that is a good thing. I think they needed to push their message enough to make the game’s narrative payoff. If “Detroit: Become Human” didn’t have so much effort put into its storytelling, characters and themes, it wouldn’t be as effective as an entertaining medium. Without story, this wouldn’t be much of a game. I found “Detroit: Become Human” narrative to be gripping. I really felt for the androids and deviants. I found Connor, Markus and Kara to be characters who I genuinely can get behind and view was humans, more than a majority of the humans around them. The emotional journeys of all three protagonists each offered some amazing sequences. And each paid off in such spectacular ways, even those that were subtle.

In many ways, the endings I got will differ from yours and mine may have seemed a lot less interesting or impactful buy the journeys were undeniably nothing short of effective. I was immersed and emotionally drawn into the story of Markus and his journey to finding freedom and fighting for it with androids everywhere, as I was with Connor and his relationships he build with humans, as well as with himself. Most emotional for me was Kara and her story of discovering family life and what it truly means to be family. Kara learning motherhood and the struggle of it made for an incredibly compelling sub-plot. I found hers to be the most emotionally gripping. However, like I said, all three narratives within the greater picture had my attention from start to finish.

“Detroit: Become Human” boasts incredible facial capture and voice work for the main three characters, as well as the rest of the cast. Couple that with the dynamic themes of separation, slavery, equality and freedom in a future setting that is oddly feasible in today’s technology-driven landscape and you have something wonderful.

I ultimately am very impressed with the talent that went into creating “Detroit: Become Human.” I found everything from the game’s graphics and art direction to the hilariously lengthy number of choices and branching paths to make it a spectacle hidden in plain sight. By the end of 2018, gaming personalities and outlets and social media’s gamers alike all went on to list their favorite titles of the year. While Quantic Dreams’ most ambitious work yet made some cuts, it overall seemed to lack the on-list presence and attention as so many other 2018 games. I too didn’t include it, given the fact that I skipped it last year. Finally playing it now however, I am glad to have experienced it after all. The deep, emotional and intelligent stories of androids living in a discriminatory world and fighting for their freedom are told through compelling narrative beats, interesting characters and powerful messages, shaping “Detroit: Become Human” into one of the best games of 2018 and on the PS4 as a whole, one that I regret missing out in its prime.