Beyond: Two Souls

This page details one or more prototype versions of Beyond: Two Souls.

To do:
Further organize the information, and list other findings from the build.

On December 19, 2023, a test build of Beyond: Two Souls from November 2012 was released by Kempy161.

There are several differences from the final game, the most significant being the inclusion of four scrapped chapters in various states of development.

Scrapped Chapters#

Some chapters had portions of them altered or removed in the final game, but four have been scrapped entirely. Those four chapters are included in this build of the game, one is nearly completed and fully playable through modding, while the others only have their playable areas partially done. Those areas closely match concept art made for those scrapped chapter, which is attached below for better comparison with the unfinished areas.

Prologue#

Originally, the game would've had a different prologue set in the ruined city seen in the Epilogue. The files for this build contain an unused area labeled "0101_PROLOGUE".

First Steps#

The original first playable scene of the game. The scene would've featured Jodie as a baby, learning to walk and playing around with several toys in her room while her mother is talking on the phone. Later on the player would've switched to Aiden, who also roams around the house and plays with objects around the house. Eventually the mother ends the call to check on Jodie, only to find her room in a messy state due to Aiden's "playing". The scene got relatively far in terms of polish and functionality, and is fully voiced. A menu screen of Baby Jodie was also made to accompany this chapter, and was left in the final build of the game.

When it was replaced with "The Experiment" as the tutorial, Quantic Dream intended to release it as bonus DLC, evident by the game files containing code checking for a "FirstStepsAddon". Text files confirm that it was meant to occur after "Broken" and before "The Experiment" in the game's play order.

New Agent#

This chapter, set after "Welcome to the CIA" and before "The Embassy", was an additional training mission set in a fake city in Iraq. This mission was designed to simulate a real combat scenario and hostage rescue. It is likely that the hostage was intended to be Ryan.

Some unfinished areas for this chapter can be found in this build.

The Senator#

The most extensive of the scrapped chapters, which would've taken place after "The Embassy" and before "The Dinner" in the timeline. The nearly complete areas in this build line up with concept art in The Art of Beyond: Two Souls, an artbook included with the PC edition of the game.

Set in December 2010, the CIA sends Jodie and Ryan to Somerville, Massachusetts to protect senatorial candidate Howard Jones, who is being targeted for assassination by an unknown party. Jodie would speak to Jones in his dressing room; items in this room indicate that Stella is Jones' makeup artist. Other items in the room reveal that Jones is also partaking in the use of drugs. Jodie could channel a bag belonging to Stella and see a vision of her in the women's restroom. Following the vision, Jodie would enter an employees-only elevator leading to a security corridor on an upper level, then exit this corridor into the main convention hall to reach the restrooms. Investigating the restrooms, Jodie would discover that Stella was murdered by the same assailant that is targeting Jones. The layout of the convention center implies that she was killed so the assailant could infiltrate the catwalk above the stage, as there is a staircase leading to the catwalk behind the senator's dressing room.

From here, Jodie and presumably Ryan would attempt to warn Jones not to give his speech, only to be dismissed. During Jones' speech, the assailant is spotted, leading to a chase into the convention center's parking garage. The presence of an emergency staircase leading to the elevators, as well as a second staircase in the parking garage, implies Jodie would have a choice of which method to use to reach the garage. Items in the parking garage (including a knife) imply that the assailant would try to escape only to be caught by Jodie and Ryan, resulting in a brief fight. The hospital area indicates that either Jodie or Ryan could be injured during the fight and taken to the hospital at the end of the chapter.

The index of areas and sub-scene designations for this chapter is as follows:

_1501_SENATOR:

SENATOR_HALL

- SENATOR_BACKSTAGE

SENATOR_STAGE

_1501B_SENATOR_PARKING:

- SENATOR_PARKING

_1502_SENATOR_HOSPITAL:

- SENATOR_HOSPITAL

Some assets were also repurposed for other chapters after this chapter's removal:

The character model for Jodie as she appears in "Old Friends", "Norah", "Briefing", and briefly in the Epilogue is labeled "IW_JHO_20_SEN". Similarly, Ryan's character model in "Briefing" is labeled "IW_RLC_SEN".
A red truck that appears in the Epilogue if Jodie chooses to be with Ryan is labeled "IW_EPLCLAYTHOME_EXT_EPLCLAYHOME_OUTSIDE_IW_SENATOR_VAN2". This truck was likely intended for the parking garage segment based on the concept art.

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The Shaman#

Contains nearly complete areas for this chapter. Concept art for it also exists in The Art of Beyond: Two Souls.

Originally, three superpowers were meant to have each created their own condenser/rift technology and gain access to the infraworld. "The Shaman" and "Dragon's Hideout" were planned to be a pair of missions in which Jodie, Ryan, Nick, and Vince infiltrated Russia and China respectively to close their rifts and ensure the US is the only one with access to the Infraworld. While the Russian mission was entirely scrapped, the one involving China made it to the final game, although China was changed to the fictional state of Kazirstan - a change that the code for "Dragon's Hideout" also confirms. The condenser map that is shown during "Briefing" and "Black Sun" in the background ironically still shows the three locations of the rifts, including the one in Russia, even if it is never mentioned in dialogue.

Set before "Dragon's Hideout", the first half of "The Shaman" would see Jodie, Ryan, Nick, and Vince infiltrating a Russian village. In the village, they would meet the spiritual leader (the titular "shaman") who would explain to them how the Russian soldiers built the condenser, possibly via Jodie viewing his memories. With this information, the team would proceed further into the cave system and encounter the rift. Here, they would be cornered and trapped by General Nabokov, leading to the second half of the chapter. In this segment, the team would seal the rift with explosives and fight Russian soldiers while escaping the base. At the end of the chapter, the team would return to the village for extraction.

Below is a translation of the French level design notes for the second half of this chapter (shown among the images below):

INTRO

Fight Jodie/soldier

Explosives

Landslide

Explosion (crate + ammunition)

Possession + blast

Destruction of gateway

Excavator

Possession + grenade

Blast gasoline can

Ceiling collapse