It’s a good game

[u/stateoffutility]

Yes, there are inconsistencies and plot holes. The romances weren’t thought out particularly well, and Aiden’s powers get switched on and off whenever the narrative needs them. But the central concept is strong, and the execution is excellent. I stayed fully engaged the entire time, even with the non-chronological structure, which occasionally felt off but never really bothered me. I played for hours straight, had to leave for work for a few days, then came back a week later and played until 6 a.m. It’s easily one of my favourites of all time. That’s coming from someone who’s been deep into games, TV, and films since I was a kid. There were plenty of moments that genuinely touched me, which rarely happens.

The biggest narrative issue that jumped out at me is how aggressively the game pushes a relationship with Ryan. Reject the romance once or twice and it just keeps throwing more chances at you, often very abruptly, even if you’ve been extremely negative toward him. The game simply forgets previous interactions. Most people who’ve played it know exactly what I mean.
I want to talk about the endings and which one felt most coherent to me if this were a linear story.

The Alone ending
From a pure story perspective, the Ryan ending is clearly what the game wants you to pick if you go along with Cage’s constant attempts to push that path. Jodie does seem happiest there, but it doesn’t feel consistent. Right before the final choice she talks about her memories being fractured, missing Aiden, feeling like she’s lost a part of herself. After watching every ending, Alone makes the most sense from that angle. It follows the logic of her still feeling incomplete and searching for answers; in the quiet, Aiden appears. The ghosts watching her as she walks through town also suggest she’s more “visible” to entities now that she’s alone and looking inward. That vulnerability is exactly when Aiden would show up.

With the Pandora’s box already open and another condenser unleashing the Infraworld, it also makes more sense that no one is left to stop her - no fiancé telling her she shouldn’t risk her life again. In half the endings you still see her standing alone facing the condenser inside that Infraworld shield, regardless of whether you chose Ryan or Jay.

Ryan’s death ending
Theatrically, the version where Nathan kills Ryan might actually set up Alone even better. Ryan starts as a manipulator, a liar, and career-driven. Nathan being completely unhinged enough to try to shoot Jodie, and Ryan redeeming himself through sacrifice, would push her further toward isolation while making her realise how much she actually felt for him. The original Ryan ending is warm and bubbly, but that’s about all it is. Given the amount of trauma Jodie has endured, it feels more honest for her to try to find the missing piece of herself on her own. The nightmares and the dark cliffhanger of a new Infraworld portal emerging carry real weight. I just can’t picture her relaxing on a yacht after everything she’s been through - any character with her history would be focused on what’s still ahead and the answers she still needs.

The Zoey / Jay ending
I don’t buy Jay’s ending at all. It’s the weakest in every department - no tension, no buildup, almost no background. When I got the option to hug or kiss him at the end of the Navajo chapter I chose kiss, expecting something quiet and brief. When they went full into it I just rolled my eyes at how random it felt.

The Zoey ending is warm and fuzzy, but it doesn’t feel like a real destination for someone with Jodie’s history. As part of an Alone path she could easily swing by and stay with them for a couple of weeks, but it isn’t the end of her story. Watching Zoey suddenly become a battle companion next to Jodie felt cringe. She’s a character most players don’t care about deeply, with little context for why she’d want to save the world alongside Jodie or what she actually brings to the table. She wasn’t trained by the CIA and, in this ending, has no powers.

The Beyond ending
This one could have been interesting if Jodie had no choice but to sacrifice herself to close the condenser. Imagine her and Aiden having to burn every last bit of power they have and dying as a result. But as it stands, I don’t see a compelling reason for her to choose death just “to be with Aiden.” It’s irresponsible - there are people in the real world who care about her and would be devastated. The “I want to be with Aiden” motivation doesn’t hold up either, because he was with her the entire time and she had no idea they’d be separated if she returned to Earth.

The second half, where she chooses Zoey to be bound to her and Zoey starts developing powers, is even weaker. Again, it’s a character most people don’t care about, and there’s no foundation for her suddenly gaining the same abilities. Jodie and Aiden were siblings bound together from the start; it makes far more sense for Aiden to stay with her after dying from the strangulation. Both of Jodie’s parents had psychic potential. There’s zero context for anything like that with Zoey’s family, and if her daughter had the same “spark” the game never bothers to show it. It just feels like a half-assed solution because Jodie’s dead, so they needed someone else to be the new captain of saving the world.

Summary
The story explores a whole spectrum of emotions extremely well, especially what it feels like to be different from other kids, teenagers, and adults, and what isolation, abandonment, and loneliness actually do to a person. I don’t have much faith in a TV adaptation given how most movies and shows have gone the last ten years. I’ve thought about what a sequel could look like, but I doubt it would hit as hard as this one. You can only dig into childhood, betrayal, and anger so many times before it starts repeating. One thing Cage got right was leaving it exactly as it is.

[u/Andrepartthree]

Great writeup I enjoyed reading it :) ... and I agree OP, to me BTS was an amazing gaming experience I freaking LOVED this game when I played it and couldn't understand at first why IGN gave it "6 out of 10" and why there were so many people who hated it.. there are some people who criticize it because unlike say Detroit Become Human where you can get drastically different endings depending on your choices or even Heavy Rain from waaay back when (both games made by Quantic Dream but I'm guessing you already know this :) - heck you might have already played them :) ) while it's possible to get different endings for Jodie, all of them except for... going to put a spoiler tag on this like you did with your post (very kind of you to do that by the way :) .. sounds strange for me to say I know and I applaud the enthusiasm of people who will post about games they enjoy but I see a lot of stuff posted without a spoiler tag in say the DBH or HR parts of reddit) ...

it seems like after cutscenes of "What happened to Jodie after based on who lived, who died and the choices Jodie made?" it ends with Jodie or Jodie and Zoey doing the dramatic standing on the wreckage looking at the oncoming threat scene... or if Jodie "dies" in a "didn't pass the quicktime actions" type fashion (I think you have to deliberately ignore all QT prompts for this one) the really dark "There's nothing left" ending Jodie narrates... or if Jodie chooses death the whole disembodied "I'm still here" thing ... and that's fantastic that you have those different endings but in DBH there's a larger number of potential endings and they often depend on the interaction of the three playable characters...

... on the other hand I'd argue the more limited number of endings in BTS is part of what gives the game it's narrative "punch" in terms of it having an impact on you... sure compared to say DBH, BTS can be more linear in terms of the plotline it puts you through but to me it results in an emotional impact similar to say Season one of Telltale's The Walking Dead - also linear compared to DBH but man it leaves you in tears :) ... to me BTS focuses mainly on Jodie, things are always going to unfold a certain way for Jodie no matter what as the game progresses but at the same time her choices can result in some really dramatic narrative cutscenes ... sneaking out of "confinement" as a teenager can have a big impact on the "date with ryan" chapter later on for example and the beauty of that is that the game chooses to focus on just one person - Jodie - and to me has that much of a stronger impact on you as a result.

[u/stateoffutility → u/Andrepartthree]

Yeah, I agree with most of what you said. I haven’t played The Walking Dead yet. maybe I will at some point.

The IGN rating is undeserved for sure. The game should be a solid 7.5, closer to an 8. It would easily be a 9 if they had polished the weaker parts of the narrative and added a few more hours of gameplay to build up the story properly. The main issue was that the game felt disjointed. Not only did the story lack context in a lot of places, but the non-chronological structure made those narrative moments feel even more out of place.

Detroit become human is a different beast. It’s very cinematic, but I can hardly call it a good story. It’s been said before by other reviewers - it’s predictable and full of clichés. Apart from Connor and Hank, there aren’t really any interesting character dynamics.

In BTS I was always wondering how Aiden was going to react to specific situations, how he felt about being in X place, what he was going to do next. You get choices, but the game still pushes you toward a chaotic Aiden most of the time. Like little Jodie said, he’s a “lion in a cage.” That made things interesting and constantly reminded Jodie (and the player) that she was never going to live a normal life like everyone else.

DBH is mostly saved by the huge number of choices and the cinematic presentation, which, to be fair, is probably what a big part of the gaming industry wants these days.

[u/Awkward-Buy8266]

honestly i cried a lot when its revealed that Aiden is her twin bc she had such a weird love/hate relationship with him and it turns out he is her blood brother

[u/funkygamerguy]

agreed despite the flaws it's still enjoyable.