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It should be noted that the whole reason Connor and Hank's story is the strongest one in the game is because their actors have incredible chemistry. Bryan Dechart even admitted on a stream that he and Clancy did a lot of improv in their scenes, so half of the reason they're so good is because they ignored David Cage, which I find hilarious.

The way Markus “freed” androids felt more like spreading a computer virus that made androids obey him rather than humans, and the “convert” made it sound like he was making a cult

Fun fact about why Conner's story is the most enjoyable! The actor that played Conner was given (or just took) more freedom to change up the script than the other protags. So, in a way, the reason Conner is the best to play as is because Cage had less writing involved XD

Hank and Connor were the best part of the game and was the main reason I enjoyed the game as much as I did. There were also some fun Kara parts that I enjoyed and were genuinely exciting. But I agree about the extreme heavy-handedness of Markus' story. Even my 13 year old sister who loves even the most cliche stories groaned everytime she watched me play Markus. This game would've been so much better if they cut him out or made a better story.

Everyone I talked to thought that Connors part was the best in the game. Hopefully Quantic Dream realizes where their strengths were and expand on them, maybe do a less ambitious project, but do it well.

I wonder if Connor wasn't written by Cage because the writing quality between the other characters and Conner is just crazy

Fun fact: The reason that the Hank and Connor relationship is so strong is because the actors (Clancy Brown and Bryan Dechart) would improvise and riff off each other; any time David Cage caught them doing so, he would insist that they stop and follow his script. So, the Hank/Connor relationship isn't strong because of David Cage, but rather, in spite of David Cage.

I think the main problem with this game is markus, this wasnt the game for him, his story is too big and world changing compared to the other two, think of connors and hanks story, its about two dudes who wouldnt normally get along learning to appreciate each other and their differences, Karas story is about family and the fight to protect her child, these are small, character driven stories, Markus's story is about him becoming god and changing the world, he doesnt fit with the other two. The story i would have liked to see is connor trying to catch kara, for the whole game, no jesus stuff, no fight for android freedom, just a cat and mouse game between two extremely well written characters. all of connors story could have been trying to understand and catch deviants, plus ra9 stuff, which is never explained from what i can tell. all of karas story could have been her trying to out run him, maybe connors deviant choice moment could have been whether or not to let kara get away or to shoot her like he'd always planned, that would have been a hell of a lot better than him just pointing a gun at markus (a character who he gave no shits about for almost all of the game) then magically becoming a deviant. the moments kara and connor shared were seriously amazing, the stress thats put on the player as they try to decide who should come out on top is great, too bad there werent more of them.

As goofy as the classic David Cage mechanics are, this game looks absolutely beautiful.

I would honestly LOVE a game revolved around Connor and Hank

isn't showing abuse through the crayon drawings of a child the exact sort of show don't tell a good writer is supposed to do in a visual work?

Man I just love the characters, relationships, visuals, and concept. Yeah, it can be heavy-handed, but it’s easy to dismiss. I really, really love the father-son thing between Hank and Connor and Carl and Markus.

Markus was definitely the weak link, his story just wasn’t personal enough.I didn’t understand why the androids followed him the way they did, it just kind of happened, there wasn’t really a moment where Markus showed them he was the one to lead them. I would have loved if his story was following his attempts at inciting institutional changes due to his connection with Carl and the higher castes of society, taking a more institutional approach to Android civil rights whilst Connor dealt with the androids like North who were taking more extreme approaches to gain freedom. He could interact with the Jericho movement (painted as an extremist Android faction, who Connor is tracking down), their experiences influencing Markus’ own choices in the game. Heck, maybe it should be North’s journey as an Android extremist freedom fighter and her shitty experiences with humanity who meets Markus with his essentially perfect life (by android standards) to show how ones experiences shape their world view, but that’s just me. Also his relationship with Carl was just criminally underused, like all the main characters were in a pair of some sort with that person inciting the changes that makes them become human, someone to constantly push them through the story and character development. Markus didn’t really change much to me, he didn’t have the character development of Connor nor did he have his innate human instincts brought out like Kara. He was just this Messiah character (I genuinely hate those because it feels lazy to me when writers are like, this person is the leader just ...because), we don’t know him, he isn’t human like Connor or Kara. He’s a mouthpiece to civil rights.

The writing may be bad, but it's the only game I've played where your choices ACTUALLY matter. And there are so many different endings that it has very high replayability. I loved it for these reasons.

Sure, Markus‘ third of the story was somewhat cliché, but not even that much. I found Connor‘s character, storyline, and relationship with Hank refreshing and intriguing. Detroit: Become Human will be a longtime favorite of mine.

Detroit: Become Human would have been infinitely better if it was only about connor and hank. I really liked the game, but Connor's stuff was the best and the most fun to play.

I personally think game was really fun. I enjoyed all three characters and enjoyed the pacifist route. I actually liked the singing ending because of my own experience with music, so it resonated with me personally. I can understand why people don't like this game, but at the same time I can see why people will like it. In the end, we're all entitled to out own opinion, I just wanted to show some support for the game as I am a fan. Is the writing a bit much, yes, as well as the imagery, yes. But I still found myself enjoying it. But that's my piece, no harm no foul. Hope yall have a great day, afternoon or night.

So it's basically a David Cage game after all. No disappointment since I really enjoy his games, despite the obvious silliness. As you said it: ridiculous, but fun.

I actually unironically like it

I actually really enjoyed the game, legitimately. I didn't really cry or feel sad at all, but I really cared about the revolution, and Connor and hank

I loved the game, but maybe that's because of the storyline I got.

I get your point, and I am not here to justify every aspect of this game with five words (it's a David Cage game), however I must defend it. At least these types of games give us something new, something special, it's not like every other game, since it's a game/movie. Telltale wanted a piece of these type of mechanics, but the visual and whole experience (not episodic) is with the Cage games. This type of game is kind of like a genre in and of itself, the Cage games. And as a genre, it's not for everyone. I really like how we get these 8-10 hrs less challenging, but more experience focused games once in a while.

Not a supporter of the argument presented in this video. I actually found DBH to be a very well done game riddled with minor plotholes and major cliches of course. But nothing ever felt forced, stilted or awkward like in Beyond Two Souls (PS+ freebie) and Heavy Rain (bought brand new on release). I wasn't going to pick this up looking back at Cage's history, but I did anway and was pleasantly surprised by the great pacing, believable acting, and predictable yet unpredictable mayhem that unfolded. Not once did I have a "why did Jason jump in the street" moment. Connor (initially hated in the demo) was my favorite character by the end. Kara was the most human in presentation and her plotline was expertly woven into Connor and Marcus's. Marcus may be the only character who walks that cliche line to a T. His story was well done, but he himself and his story was just by the books. Intentional or unintentional, this video came off as a pompous analysis of a pompous individuals work.😉

Honestly, I could have forgiven a lot of the ham fisted moral lessons and cliché tropes, but to me the thing that really annoyed me about the story was that androids could become deviant simply by being touched by another deviant android. I get what David Cage was going for that ideas are like a virus, they can spread like wildfire. But it sort of contradicts what the story had already set up. All the characters have a moment where they are faced with an intensely emotional traumatic event and they are commanded to act against their own will and they have to "break" the firewall of their programming, they "break" free and become conscious. Its this idea that they have this latent humanity that was there all along, they just have to figure out how to free themselves. Its actually a very powerful message about our own humanity and the personal path we all have to take in our own lives to become enlightened. To then turn around and make it so that converting someone to be deviant is simply like "reprogramming" them, cheapens and contradicts the whole narrative that coming to terms with ourselves and breaking free is an individual path, and that ultimately we all come to terms with the same essential truths in our own way. It just feels like David Cage couldn't decide whether the androids were individuals or whether they were a hive mind.

David Cage really has made a name for himself. For someone who works so hard to spread the message that games can be more than just euphoric entertainment - which is definitely a just cause - his work mostly acts against that vision, by providing what is ultimately a load of nonsense stretched out to vaguely fit a game.

Bless this video

I have to say that despite the heavy-handedness of the plot at times, there was lot I loved about the game (not including how dang gorgeous it looks a lot of the time, god damn). Setting aside Connor, the android sent by CyberLife, the rest of the cast at least intrigued me. The setting is pretty relevant--the articles you could read were all pretty accurate predictions of what exactly the human race could be dealing with in forty or fifty years. Everything from unemployment rates and human leisure to climate change to the evolution of technology was touched on, and it was fascinating to pick up these optional tidbits. Hell, there's currently a legal battle going on right now in Texas about sexbots, and that issue was reaching a conclusion in the game, where it was slowly becoming normalized and accepted, albeit still restricted. It's easy to see the current state of the issue now evolving into that eventuality. I loved the world-building. But what I loved most was that every action did really have a consequence. So many games let you 'choose', but the outcome remains the same. There is rarely any weight of your choices on the narrative. It's an illusion of choice. This game managed to not only give you the freedom to make decisions, it played out appropriate consequences. You can let Kara die right off the bat when she's escaping with Alice, and that's the end of her story--no miracle resurrection, no forced redo, no incontinuity. When I played, Carl did *not* die when his son confronts Markus, and I got a really earnest, heart-wrenching scene later when Markus sneaks back to see him before the final stand, questioning what's right or wrong and having a vulnerable moment that really showed how much Markus saw Carl as a father, not just an owner, and that Carl already saw Markus as human and wanted to see those natural human traits of creativity, curiosity and morality nurtured in Markus. I had sort of found Markus' story starting to drag (odd that it started to bore me after the domesticity stopped and the adventure began. XD ), but this framed Markus in a whole new light and gave his actions more depth. It was really wonderful. I saw a playthrough where Carl died, though, and I wondered it that player got to experience the same discovery of depth and doubt in Markus or not. There is a real replayability to the game. Unlocking every branch, seeing all there is to see, finding all the easter eggs... It is hours upon hours upon hours of new content, not just grinding the same shit for trophies or costumes with no change to the story. When I play other games now that claim to give you choice, they feel woefully flat and underdeveloped. I would love to see more dedication and storyboarding for games that offer different paths to follow, where both your choices AND your actions can minutely and greatly influence the outcome of your story. I can see there was a lot of thought put into every scenario--none of the possibilities for each character end cheaply (even if they die). Each thread is given due merit. Anyway. It can be campy and sometimes tedious, and a little heavy-handed in the allegories, but I would still maintain it's a game deserving the praise it gets. It has certainly become one of my favourites. And not just because of Connor. (But lbr, he and Hank are certainly highlights in the game. XD )

Glad I'm not the only one who had a cynical view about how they really try to beat you over the head with "deep philosophical moments that reflect our society"

I disagree with the points you're making here. I actually appreciate the quiter moments in Cage's games. They emphasise a sense of place and put you in your characters shoes. I admit there's some wonkiness in some of the interactions, but it is an understandable side effect of the medium (and experimenting with it). I always thought that QD games are the next level of the point and click genre, yes some of them are stumbles on the way (Beyond, unfortunately), but overall I see a lot of potential that has been realized mostly in Detroit.

Connor's story was definitely the most enjoyable part of the game. Probably the only part where I think Cage may have actually nailed it.

For me, all that matters in this games is if your choices have consequences. Compared to games like Life is Strange and the Telltale games, David Cage games are the best.

I think it would be more helpful if you would elaborate on why the story was awful. I mean, your channel is focused on writing in Games, right? For example, Markus' storyline was a typical hero's journey through and through. Carl as the mentor Markus as our young hero coming from humble beginnings as a servant to rising from the dead and becoming the leader he needs to be to free his people. Of course, some traditional writing techniques might be a little distorted by the branching narrative of the game, its a bit heavy handed at times and here and there you can find a plothole, _but_ as far as narrative games go, this is pretty much gold standard, especially with the technical complexities behind it. You address how you don't like this or that, or this is terrible writing, but you never care to go into any detail. To me, this is a rant of someone who didn't enjoy the game, disguised as a critique.

"What if all our divides could be healed by song?(sarcasm)" May I reminder you that Christmas truce was a thing during WW1.

You don't understand, pleb. Cage is pushing the medium forward by avoiding childish stuff like gameplay, and writing B movie plots with immersing QTEs

For me, watching it on KZfaq is all I need. No complaints about gameplay or the lack of it, just a good story with enjoyable characters.

It's funny that you should mention the genuinity and sublety between Hank and Connor and show the line at 4:37, since Connor's actor said in a video with Jacksepticeye that that one line used to be way more heavy handed and he changed it. Makes me almost believe that all the funny and good lines in their story were the result of the actors' improv and imput rather than the initial writing.

Cage's attempts at being "subtle" with this game are all but actually subtle. I could count more times where I caught the subtlety red-handed than times where I couldn't. 1950's American Segregation, slavery, the Bible, the Holocaust, the Underground Railroad. I'd have maybe given Cage the benefit of the doubt if the whole "Androids controlled by humans gain free will and rebel" plot wasn't already used before and this was a first time thing for anybody, not just Cage. Some works of fiction have the same plot I just described and execute them masterfully. Cage should've at least taken notes, but he didn't, especially when people talked to him about this. Mixing plot elements he doesn't know how to write with mother plot elements he doesn't know how to write is a bad idea, but Cage refuses to see it. Cage is not just a bad writer, he's also a reactionary one.

Heavy Rain definitely had a lot of pointless faff but to be fair the wake up, get up, take a shower, etc. stuff was meant to tutorialise people on the QTEs that would follow. It's just every single action in the game, big and small, was relegated to that stuff and like your example with the window it just ends up looking weird at times with how segmented every motion is. The stuff with Connor and Hank sounds great, a game like you describe could be amazing.

I'd say "games" like Detroit kinda ride the line between films and actual games, but this experienced does have a very surprising amount of choice and storyline diversions. Yes, the controls are kinda shit and the symbolism is very heavy handed and quite misleading at points, but you cannot ignore the immense amount of freedom the player has when it comes to the paths they wish to take. Just in that regard the game is commendable. It also have some of the best facial animation I have ever seen, as well as at times a very impressive soundtrack and certain very effective cinematic moments. I'm not saying that you have to enjoy this game, its clearly not for everyone, but you can't just go in expecting it to be like every other experience on the market. Without irritating quicktime events and restrictions on player movements, I believe the RPG elements would suffer tremendously. It's also nowhere near as bad as Beyond: Two Should. In my opinion.

8 minutes of my life wasted. I was at least hoping for something more interesting than "I just don't like this game" covered up in pretentious words.

... I like the game. Simply due to the branching storyline (cough, Telltale) and the lack of REALLY shitty Cageisms. even though it REALLY doesn't say anything new to the point it could be considered a Blade Runner spin-off, i don't mind it.

Wellp, at least this game was 1/3 part decent and only 2/3 parts a David Cage game, as opposed to the previous titles which were 100% David Cage games. Yes, I'm talking about Connor. I'll give it to Cage, at least he's somewhat improving. He's still not serious enough of a writer to handle heavy topics, which he shows in this game by making his gentle mother-abused daughter story and his anti-slavery/racism story riddled with every cliché in the book and with about as much depth as a rainwater puddle, but goddamn, the man managed to deliver a truly decent personal story about a single android struggling with his nature and loyalty, and his cynical human partner. Credit where credit's due, well done on that part, Cage. Does this make Detroit's story and, by extension, the game, good? No. Not yet. But it does make it better than every other David Cage game released so far. Which is undeniable, objective progress. So there is that.

I don't require subtlety to enjoy a story. Why wouldn't the connection between the discrimination against humanlike androids and humans be obvious? What would be the benefit of making it enigmatic? I played through the game this weekend, and I loved it. I don't see its obviousness as a failure of story telling. I would have been more annoyed if it had tried to pretend the situation wasn't an obvious replaying of past discriminations. I appreciated having to do all the little things in the game. It was a consistent reminder that the androids were just living lives the way humans are. They had to engage in the tedious actions we all do just to get through our days. My only actual gripe with the game was that some funny moments happened when I was on a timer and couldn't stop to enjoy them. For example, Hank talking to the first purchased Traci. I want to see that damn it. Oh, that, and the camera was getting on my last nerve.

I don't get why people who hate Cage keep playing Cage games to complain that it's a Cage game. You either like it or you don't. Who really has the problem if you feel the need to seek out to destroy because he doesn't make another God of War? This game is far from a train wreck. Perfect, no - but it isn't at all a disaster. It's also the best Cage has done to date and gave us one of the best pairings ever with Connor and Hank. Also don't get the jab at the singing - a beautiful scene totally reminiscent of MLK's peaceful protests in the past (and who spoke in Detroit of segregation).

Because you don’t like these types of games doesn’t make them bad. You actually have no argument except mechanics being repetitive and you finding the storyline silly.

I honestly have to disagree with many things stated in this video. I have always been a fan of David Cage's work (maybe less so Beyond: Two Souls since I was disappointed by it) but, despite it's sillyness, Heavy Rain was the game that really blew my mind back when I discovered it. Detroit is a much more polished and in many ways better written game. I finished it recently and honestly didn't mind the slow start and rather enjoy controlling my character through many "mundane" actions. I never felt like the game went on and on when the point already got across. It always had me thinking and never bored. Depending on which choices you make through the game it also has different morals or lessons I suppose you could take away from it. From the general theme of slavery and fighting against the system (which are very standard but nonetheless well executed in my opinion) to the question what being human actually means. Especially the Kara arc made me think a lot about my values as a human and the game allowed me to project that onto her. It doesn't at all feel like a trainwreck to me. There are few games that actively involve me and consume my thoughts even when I'm not playing them but D:BH definitely did. I am not at all saying it is perfect. But then again, no game that I consider one of my favorites is anywhere close to perfect. No matter how silly, I still feel Detroit was made with a passion. It is definitely not for everyone. But something being for everyone honestly just makes it quite boring. I'm sorry I had to ramble a bit here but some of the comments on the game in the video actually had me shaking my head in disbelief. It sounds like the game is objectively a trainwreck that can only be enjoyed by laughing at how silly it is. Without meaning disrespect, I have to disagree with that.

I disagree, but oh well.

Yes! Hank and Connor was so great!! After seeing some of Become Human I decided to watch the entire game but cut out everything that wasn't Connor's story and I really really really really really enjoyed this game, except the ending was just a bit of a flop. Connor and Hank's relationship while fairly cliche was such a fun experience and had some legitimately good writing at points and throughout some really solid presentations by the actors. Seeing the android and human situation through the eyes of Connor as this more high tech android who seems to learn and develop feelings throughout the course of the game and seeings his relationship with Hank develop as they encounter deviants and other androids in their investigation was sooo awesome! It's so much better when he's focusing on smaller things like relationships rather than turning it into this massive big picture thing like with Markus becoming MLK/Jesus

Very interesting to see your point of view on the game! I have gotten obsessed with the game so your words did hurt me a little bit at first, but at the same time, they kinda opened my eyes. The story and concept would maybe work better for a movie instead of a game. I mean, they even hired a cinematographer to make all scenes seem even more cinematic. I still adore the game but I think that the medium it communicates through truly wasn't used to its full potential.

I looved Connor and Hanks story. Seriously cage should just make a straight up 90's cop movie, I think that'd be his perfect playground

David Cage's games are terrible but I'm glad he makes them. For as much as he misses the mark, he is genuinely pushing for compelling narrative experiences in videogames. There's a lot of value in that. Especially when the current trends in the industry are crooked microtransaction business models and battle royale games.

I do appreciate the effort that went into this game. there's so many different pathways and your choices genuinely matter, also the motion capture and acting is excellent, it's a very technically impressive game.

I liked it, Im not even a console gamer. I bought the deluxe edition, and didnt regret the purchase at all. Its also a great 'party' game IMO, players with different skills playing different chapters will result in interesting storylines, things you didnt explore before. But I get your criticism on certain things, I'll give you a like, but I think you are being too harsh on a piece of work that had 6 years of dedicated development and delivered immensely in the end. I mean you can see that love went into this work, thats hard to come by these days. Look at Star Citizen on PC, I regret every penny I ever put into that project.

It's definitely the best thing David Cage has ever written. But it's still a David Cage game. The heavy handed racism allegories and the games resolute refusal to explore any view other than androids are absolutely people keep it from being as good as it could be. Connor and Hank really were the only story that was interesting, Kara and Markus were both trite, predictable and tropey. The sheer number of choice/plot permutations is very admirable though.

Im at the two minute mark and i've gone into the comments. The androids are an allegory for racism and its a bad allegory is wrong. The allegory would be bad if it was an allegory. The android question is a question facing us within the next two decades. This game is more a prediction than anything else. moving on. Something that makes this game amazing is that it gives players a true choice. Hell, even winning or losing a fight can change the story. Although the broad strokes are mostly the same if everyone lives, the specifics will always effect what comes next which is something I've not seen a game do before. There are entire levels (or versions of levels) That I missed on my first playthrough. Thirdly. I believe that the imagery, especially the religious imagery if you take the 'Peaceful Markus Path', is a spoonful too much for me. I believe that this game is less about all the underlying themes of unity and racism and fear, and more about what is literally to come. What will happen in the future is the true question behind my love for this game. The mechanics may be boring from time to time but it never gets more mundane then telltale's walking dead or Life is Strange, or Night in the Woods for that matter. If you look at the mechanics like moving stuff and performing actions as a computer literally following its function then they become more compelling. In the game (Spoilers here on out) There is a constant reference to a christ like android called RA9. This android could be Markus or Connor or Both but, I believe it is neither. RA9 is the player. The player is a strain of evolved programming that influences the three protagonists and maybe more, which would explain why most of the androids at Jericho will follow Markus' every word if you get that far. Am I defending this game? Yes. If you loved any telltale game that follows the Walking Dead Formula then this game should be a slam hit. If you liked Night in the Woods, Life is Strange, or any other game with bad mechanics and a great story than this game should be in your favor. I personally hate all those games because they don't do the two things Detroit excels at: be literal, and make choice matter

The game is no bad, stop nitpicking. You gotta give him some credit for doing single player narrative game with high product value.

I often wonder how writing process goes at Quantic Dream. Surely, they gotta have team of writers, surely, they gotta have editors, surely, they have to take input from game designers and playtesters, so how do they manage to miss so many marks, again and again? How can they have fairly interesting idea but execute them so poorly?

David Cage: ahhh the people like my robots, i will make them do mundane everyday tasks and sit at the back of the bus. this game is not about anything. Seriously though this video is incredible and echoes almost my exact thoughts on D:BH, Connor was the only character I really felt a serious connection to as he seemed well written and entertaining but the rest of it was typical David Cage fare made even worse with awful racial allegories

Detroit become human is one of if not my all time favorite game. It is beautifully Made, beautifully scripted, with one of the best stories I’ve ever seen. Ever character got me to love them in some way even if they were kind of boring. I genuinely fucking cried when Carl dies, and Marcus calls out “DAD!” This game made me feel so many different emotions. It made me sad, it made me inspired, it made me happy, exited, angry, tense, and much more. Which is what good art does, is make you feel. Make you feel these kinds of emotions. In the end I loved Detroit become human. I loved it so goddamn much

Does this guy have a personal vendetta against the writer or something? This game had very likeable characters and a ton of potential paths to take.

I'm failing to see the point of this video. So Detroit is a bad game because...you have to physically perform minute actions like picking up a bag and putting it down? Have you never played a David Cage game? That's a pretty hallmark thing to do in his games, and while there could definitely been certain things not left to the player to perform because they are minute, I'm failing to see how they actually bring a game down, not the least of which because this is already a common convention. As for the repeated claims that this game basically doesn't live up to its message, that's a pretty meaningless thing to analyze since it's ultimately subjective. For anything "with a point", you'll only ever have two camps: those deeply affected, and those not at all affected. I mean, look at the film 'Get Out'. It was a national sensation because of its 'message' about liberal hypocrisy regarding race. The thing is, while that resonated a lot with many black people who could nod their head in agreement, that they know what that's like, and that many white people suddenly felt "woke" because of how inattentive they were to their own racial blind spots, a lot of us were already well aware of liberal hypocrisy regarding race, so the impact of the 'message' got lost because it was attempting to teach those of us who were already aware. This game tackles many futuristic subjects, all of which you ignored. Climate change, for example, is in almost every newspaper you can click on in the game, talking about how extinction has lead to android animals and food decimation. Economy is frequent, with a common fear of today (2018) having already become realized as automation continues - as it does - to unemploy workers. There is also a common thread about the US vs Russia - again, entirely timely - regarding land acquisition and risking war, along with other nations rising up. Finally, of course, you have the general plot of the game, which is not just about how we would deal with sentient, feeling androids, but about how we, as human beings, are almost entirely married to technology, that we basically want to invest in the next great thing before realizing how we, sociologically, interact with it. Yes, if you're an emotionless douche bag you could play the game however you want, but the point is that, much like how a horror game asks you to play on edge or a shooter asks you to be Rambo, this game asks you not just to think about the android characters, but about what your choices and way of playing suggest about you. As somebody who just got their MFA in writing this spring, it's clear you're simply not qualified to have a channel discussing writing when you eschew objective analysis of all relevant factors for a purely subjective rant about, "It's David Cage; he's heavy-handed and wants to shove his points down your throat." Well, then call this video what it is; a rant. If you're going to discuss the writing, then discuss all of it; your goal as a critic is to understand what they were trying to achieve and see where they got. Your assessment was that, basically, you could 100% of a product by only looking at 50% of it. Try again when you become more of an academic and less of a rando on KZfaq

Sounds like you had a misunderstanding of the purpose of the game, Hamish. I generally agree with your points but it's very clear that David Cage his games aren't specifically games. They're interactive movies. The people who like that genre (me included) know this and understand that that means simple button prompts to progress. The only reason we keep playing these games is the ACTUAL story behind it rather than the "walking through empty streets".

I thought Detroit was amazing, but I went through the entire game with the idea of truly immersing myself in the story. I hit every command prompt smoothly and chose consistent dialogue options for my separate characters on my first play through. I think those that went into the game from any other angle just fundamentally got less out of it.

I personally quite liked Markus' storyline and how it keeps pushing you to become violent if you play pacifist and it challenges you to stick with your ideals. Also, a lot of the moments in it were incredibly powerful, such as the march, changing the park and the finale. I haven't played or seen how things turn out if you decide to protest violently but I assume it isn't too different. I will agree that the Nazi symbolism is very heavyhanded. I haven't seen anyone comment on how androids seem to have to wear the armbands and a triangle symbol, again mirroring the treatment of Jewish people in nazi Germany. The same goes for the civil rights movement symbolism.

Detroit: Become Human is so stale and stereotypical that I must surmise David Cage is an android, and definitely not a deviant. This game bleeds exposition at 200 decibels while managing to say nothing new or innovative. Connor was probably the best, Kara had potential and Markus was just boring.

Nah. At least the story he tells with Detroit is a good story. Heavy-handed or not, it's an important story. You have to think of the average gamer. Children understand heavyhanded. Great story, great game. Players feel like their choices matter, and they do.

Connor and Hanks relationship is literally the only reason I enjoyed my time in the game. Other than that, it’s jam-packed with historical allegories that are unfocused and comes off as pretentious nonsense.

Apparently everyone that plays a David Cage game automatically become top tier professional writers and story tellers, who all have the capability and power to make a perfect game of which will have absolutely no flaws. Because obviously these guys aren’t sad gamers who have no purpose in life other than criticize others works.

"Detroit Become Human is Amazing, for the wrong reasons" A great title, and it reminded me of a part in the game that I perhaps misinterpreted. As you break into the CyberLife store, Markus goes around converting other androids, with an odd lines such as "You're free now." or "Your eyes are now open.", with an actual "Convert" prop. I know David's intention was literal, but to me, this seemed less of a revolutionare freeing the slaves and more of a cult leader gaining more followers through deceit. (The fact that the "pacifist" options later in that scene aren't very pacifist only strenghten the idea, not to mention they were more akin to communist propaganda in the countries which were part of SSSR in between the 50s and 80s) As I was experiencing this, I was hoping that I was being played into some elaborate scheme set by David Cage, but it was actually just what I was told, not the conclussion that I arrived to. A shame, David. A real shame.

The only reason the connor/hank relationship is so strong is because both actors improvised a lot.

I don't mind Cage's games or the mundane tasks you have to do with them. I've always seen them as a way to connect player with character and that for me made some things more impactful, like *spoiler* you basically open the fridge the same way you hack away your finger in HR *spoiler*. His games are really abusable and easy to laugh at if you choose to do so. And it's also clear that while Cage was inspired by the reception of his short he only vaguely wanted to follow it in full fledged game and a criticism that "well the 30 hour game, a Quantic Dream game no less doesn't the follow the same narrative structure that a seven minute short that i liked does" is a shallow move to allow yourself to hate what you want to hate. I mean you can choose to do so but you didn't even try to understand what Cage was going for and your standards don't account for a lot of great stuff, for example what Lynch does.

You honestly have to love the fact that - no matter what a person's opinion of D:BH (as a game in its entirety) is; everyone agrees that Connor and Hank have an awesome dynamic and it would be great if we got a story revolving their characters. Kudos to Clancy Brown and Bryan DeChart for bringing this buddy cop duo to life.

also im not sure if anyone thinks this, but god damn markus' voice actor is bad. Dont know if that's the actual actor or not. He just sounds emotionless and boring

I love this game actually. Markus was kind of cringy, but overall it was a good story. Plus, you don't find many other games that have so many endings.

Markus' and Kara's storylines are kind of boring. Connor and Hank were the main characters in my eyes.Their friendship really touched me and I started crying in the after credits scene where Connor and Hank hug.

I actually liked this game a lot, was obsessed with it for a whole 2-3weeks at most. I loved the concept and parts of Connor and Kara (but definetly Connor and hank were the best part of the game). Markus not so much, it felt Monotone to me when his parts came. I thought the story was fine, the civil war was funny not gonna lie about that but the atmosphere and the background music still was enough to keep me invested. It was a good experience.

you liked the relationship between hank and connor? good. cage hates it because the actors deviated from his script. he hasn't improved, he's just being held down by more numerous competent people.

We get it you hate David Cage🙄 We got that the last video you made about him.

Maybe instead of thinking what the bigger picture should be, you just role play each character as you control them. That's what I did and had a blast where the story led me! I tried to be peaceful with Markus, but during the extermination, I fought back. I made Cara a thief to survive, and enjoyed that story so much! I had Connor maintain the theme he presented since the beginning. He was a machine that protected humans through and through. There was an epic clash, and in the end, humanity survived because Connor kept pursuing his mission, Marcus nuked Detroit because he was driven to that extreme, and all my Cara characters died because my Cara was selfish and unwilling to sacrifice herself for others. My Cara let everyone that put her in danger die, and she died for it at the end. It was poetic. I think you payed the game wrong man.

The only thing that actually sucks about the story is the cheap plot twists (Spoilers) 1-Alice being an android which makes you kinda hate her for letting you worry about feeding her the whole time 2-Amanda saying that ALL OF THIS WAS ACCORDING TO PLAN (regardless of what happens) meaning that markus was just controlled by cyberlife the whole time. and connor was another tool 3-Kamski having planned deviation as a way to take over cyberlife. meaning that it was just a program all along and they can take control over the androids again another thing is that not all androids are deviants which suggests deviation IS merely a virus and not a single deviant disagrees with another or thinks any different than Markus which really just makes them robots the game is great but these things just leave a bad aftertaste..

"Hey, at least I laughed" - the review that should be in every david cage game

I feel like i need to play the game to understand what ur getting here. Nothing talked about made me say “ wow yea, this is bad” Maybe if i ever play it, I’ll understand lol

The game would have been MUCH better if Markus' story was taken out, and it was strictly Connor-Hank investigating Kara-Alicia with everything else as the backdrop. There was enough there to make a tighter, more emotional story.

An "In-depth" analysis? This just shows your hatred towards the writer of the game. I do agree on the mechanics could done better to remove some mundane thing like pick up and put down a bag, but everything else are just unwatchable. In the market I just cannot think of any other game (Interactive game is still a game) have so many different endings and outcomes. Telltales simply couldn't compete.

Connor and Hank are what made me really like this game. To be honest, I only ever played it to explore their relationship. I found myself rushing through Kara's and ESPECIALLY Markus's story just to get back to Connor and Hank. So... I guess the game was great for 1/3 of it.

oh no, I made ze bad game

I honestly don't get what exactly you're trying to say about the game, okay, it's poorly written, could you give examples (it may not be specific ones, but aspects of the game that were explored in a wrong way)? it's pushing "fake deepness", could you elaborate? I'm trying to decide if I'm going to pick it up on sale or not, considering that I hated beyond two souls, and thought that heavy rain and indigo prophecy were interesting at maybe the first 1/3 of the gameplay, then became gradually more and more bizarre and nonsensical (which was tbh quite entertaining), with heavy rain having one character that i did enjoy (and tbh Connor is somewhat close to Norman as a character, maybe Cage just enjoys writing those types of guys? hmm). Also, what did you enjoy in the wrong way? Am I stupid for not geting any analysis out of this review? I just feel like the whole "Cage is an awful writer" thing is somewhat exagerated. I don't think that he is good, either. He's not imaginative enough and takes no time to truly reflect on the topics he's trying to talk about. But whenever I'm asking someone why they think Cage is such a catastrophe, they usually can't say anything really thoughtful. I mean people use all sorts of dramatic epithets for him "catastrophic", "chaotic", "awful", "writing madness" etc. But I think that he's just meh and boring. Two of the last Deus Ex make zero sense and are VERY badly written yet I can't see anyone using same type of criticism while plot holes and logic disasters in them sometimes exceed Cage's. Maybe this kind of response is due to Cage's somewhat pompeous personality, I wonder.

You're upset at the game for having gameplay that's a staple for the genre? You're upset at a game pushing the envelope of social commentary? Art is a medium through which you can present ideas or said commentary. If we suggest that discussing unhappy things in art is to be condemned, we risk asking to be treated like helpless sheep, too stupid to partake in conversations about a future we're blindly staring in the face.

I'm seeing a lot of people enjoying the game, so it must be doing something right. I suspect what you're missing out on is the immersive and deliberate factor of splitting up what would just be abstracted as block tasks in a script, into all the little actions that you would actually do in real life. No doubt some find that tedious, but enough people seem to find it immersive enough to let Cage keep making games. Think about all the immersion mods that games like Oblivion and Skyrim have - where, again, the game becomes more of a *reality simulation* at points, than just a pure game or a pure story. There are enough people who like that sort of thing to support _some_ games that feature it. I suspect also partly because it subjectively slows down time, and is less hectic than games usually are - and at best, with this sort of thing, you have a rhythm of slow-paced, more thoughtful activity, interspersed with hectic moments.

A David Cage game is conceptually interesting but poorly written and executed? OooOOoooh WaaaOOOOooWwww~

I actually really enjoyed the meaningless tasks and pressing a button to stand up and pressing a button to wipe your ass. I don't have a ps4 so I can't play this but after watching the gameplay I went out and bought heavy rain and loved it. It's unique and makes you feel like you are that character by doin these small things instead of just watching it happen

I noticed a similarity, wherein Detroit Become Human, Marcus the robot wakes up in a muddy pit and gets a convenient trench coat. Then in the movie "Terminator: Salvation", Marcus wakes up in a muddy pit and gets a convenient trench coat.

Dude I have wasted a view on you. It's clear your hate for David Cage ruined your experience of this game. Your are clutching at straws with your paper thin critiques.

I went in expecting it to be cheesy, and that's pretty much what I got. Still, as pointed in the video, there are some pretty genuinely solid moments. Connor could have easily have been the sole protagonist with Hank as his support, and their buddy-cop dynamic is pretty refreshing given Connor's personality that is able to have the subtle touches of humanity like Data from Star Trek, and the comical misunderstanding of Kryten from Red Dwarf. Shame that the likes of Markus really suffer from the ham-fisted imagery and unsubtle parallels. It feels like if they had just removed a few scenes and changed some lines, the whole android revolution could have come off more naturally.

this genre is not for everyone, but saying that anyone who likes it for its storyline is objectively wrong is a shit thing to do. if you have a bias on genres, DONT MAKE A REVIEW. the seamless player interaction and storytelling this game offers is only present in games like half life. THATS THE POINT. the storytelling comes second in this type of genre. and if youre going to shit on these types of controls, make 20 more reviews on telltale games and interactive movies, because what your doing here is a bit dumb. im not saying the video was all bad, the lack of effort in path finding and cliches in the game are major setbacks in the game and ill give you that, but for a game with a relatively new concept, hes done a relatively good job. i feel like he learned from most of his mistakes from his last two games. this game does not follow populist propaganda like the giver did, btw. it was a really put together video, but for all the wrong reasons.

I think if Detroit: Become Human was entirely focused on Hank/Connor, it would have been a far better game than the already very good game that it is currently. Spoilers: I love the arc these two share and how you shape it and how the two react to everything. It's wonderful. Markus? Very on the nose (let's have a Black Character lead a civil rights revolution...oh wait...MLK did it first, eh, let's do it again...BUT ANDROIDS) and Kara...eh, that could have been better, though there were points where I was openly sobbing (the carousel ride for one)

The worst part of David-Cage-games is always David Cage.

If no one knew David Cage wrote Detroit, everyone would think that it's a masterpiece.

I liked the game. I loved Connor. But listen. Why was Hank in the basement of Cyberlife at the end? What the actual fuck was he doing there, and how did he get there?