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Built with PlayStation 4 specs in mind, Beyond: Two Souls' release on PS3 two years ago gave the console a bittersweet swansong. On the one hand, it struck a high standard in physically-based lighting and facial motion capture we had expected of PS4 titles going forward. But on the other, Sony's last-gen machine clearly struggled to sing to the engine's tune, struggling in both frame-rate and aspects of its visual execution. However this month, a PS4 remaster stealthily crept onto the PlayStation Store - at last giving us a full realisation of Quantic Dream's vision.A healthy range of improvements are promised here, and Sony is keen to bullet-point upgrades to lighting, shadows, and new effects like motion blur and depth of field. Once all chapters are downloaded, the PS4 remaster tellingly takes up a total of 33GB, a marked increase over PS3's install size of 25GB - in part due to the inclusion of the 'Experiments' expansion. A new remixed mode is also added, allowing us to play through Jodie's story in chronological order, rather than the original mode's scattershot structure. One other touch we appreciate is a new stats screen after each mission, comparing your decision-making with other players online - helpfully revealing the variables at play.
But the main draw is this version's improved visuals over the PS3 original. PS4 runs at a 1080p resolution, though with an obvious caveat. Since this remaster runs at the same 2.35:1 aspect ratio used on PS3, the actual image being rendered on-screen is instead 1920x817. Similar to The Order: 1886, it gives the game a cinematic framing, but in truth, points to a means of reducing demands on PS3 hardware when it was first developed.
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