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milkpumpkin96 · 14 days

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Minds Beneath Us Review

I don't often play games on my PC . . . but damn, I cannot stop myself from playing and writing about BearBone Studio's first ever release.

Needless to say, I am quite impressed with Minds Beneath Us, released not too long ago yet remains obscure. If you are into narrative-based gameplay with elements of dystopian sci-fi, deep philosophical questions, and emphasis on complex relationship navigation, then this is the game for you.

I have a surface-level review at Movies, Games & Tech, but I am digging a little deeper here, now that I have completed all the endings (and the post-credit scenes have updated as of August 29th).

[MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING]

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

It honestly pains me not to give this game a perfect score, but I know for sure that some aspects could have been better.

Minds Beneath Us performs brilliantly at addressing the current implications of A.I. and what this means for humanity.

"It is no secret that A.I. and its capabilities are igniting a fierce global debate. The future of this rapidly developing technology has stirred a myriad of concerns for people, not only in terms of employment, but it also adds to the existential questions of human purpose and exceptionality."

Everyone has their own opinions on the pros and cons of A.I., but I am sure Tumblr is at the forefront of anti-generative A.I. You know, with it stealing digital art and music from pre-established humans. Minds Beneath Us takes these issues a step further. The game takes place in the year 2049, not too far from our current reality, where automation runs the world in its entirety: data collection, security, housing, employment, transportation, the food and beverage industry . . . I mean, I guess this is happening now too.

Overall, this title conveys their story quite meaningfully and provides a surplus of well-thought-out characters, intriguing (albeit hefty) dialogue, engaging QTEs, and the power for players to alter how the plot unfolds. I appreciate the immediate story hook in the prologue as well.

Perhaps some people may dislike the inherent lack of actual action-based gameplay, but I think it works for what Minds Beneath Us is trying to do. And, get ready; this game is not meant to have a happy ending per se.

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GAMEPLAY: 8/10

Minds Beneath Us lacks in the "gameplay" department, acting more like a visual novel. I cannot complain though. Steam tags it as an "emotional, sci-fi narrative."

The game itself is quite hefty to my surprise, taking a whopping 6.25 gigabytes to download. But, the game runs smoothly and beautifully as of its latest updates. When I first began playing near the initial release date, I had several issues with lag and my save file would occasionally disappear. All of the problems have been resolved.

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For one, I must talk about the art style. It is reminiscent of Playdead's Inside: simple, dully, 2D-shaded with an eerie overlay. The most prominent aspect, like Inside, is the lack of human facial features. Characters are identified by their gait, hairstyle, stature, and gesturing for the most part. To some people this may seem odd or uncomfortable because facial expressions are key to human interaction and understanding.

But, I think that this stylistic choice works amazingly. I may be reading too much into it . . . but aligning with the game's theming, at first glance the lack of face individuality insinuates humans being solely considered a "number" in the society of late-stage capitalism. Just an asset; a cheap commodity compared to the superior A.I. A.I. itself does not inherently need a face, it just does what it needs to do or "thinks" needs to be done. Without a face, a piece of humanity is lost.

On the other hand, one thing that Minds Beneath Us does highlight is character movement. The people noticeably breathe, and motion with their hands and posture and heads. The way the game is animated (which BearBone Studio says is hand-drawn, by the way) is so impactful that I can almost hear them and feel their emotions, despite the lack of face and audible voice. When a disgruntled person slams their hand down on the table in frustration, I feel myself jerking back in anxiety. When the character Wayne erupted in anger at Justin following the proposed shutdown of the farm . . . the way the dialogue slammed onto screen and how Wayne's body arched in an attack-like stance put me on my toes. I could feel it.

That breathing animation though! Again, I might be reading too much into it, but as opposed to the lack of facial features, the pronounced breathing reminds me that these characters are indeed humans. Living creatures. A.I. does not breathe, but humans do. This becomes even more upsetting at the end of the game, when project "Sleeping God" is revealed to be mass experimentation on synthetic, manufactured humans. By legal and scientific "standards," these things are not considered fully people, implying that it is okay for them to be unethically utilized for a sole purpose. However, you can see these creatures murmuring . . . breathing . . . distinguishing them from the automation around you.

This has been a bit of a tangent, but I am mesmerized by the art and animation style. It feels so alive.

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The game is 2D with some three-dimensional elements, and players can walk or run in the directions of left or right. There will be lots of traveling around but towards the end of the game, it will automatically skip over unnecessary travel time.

For the most part, you can choose who you want to talk to outside of the main story, and players can click on certain items to take or learn more about them. For example, the player can click on a water bottle in Jason and Frances' bedroom and perform a classic bottle flip. Or, you can click on this flyer in the White Scorpion hideout and Jason himself will give you background knowledge on the fate of the building you're in. Or, you can click on the "MycoCept" medicine bottle and a text blurb will tell you that it "reduces implant rejection and soothes pain," and also tell you its serial number.

Some of this seemingly irrelevant information can give the players incredibly important knowledge, whether for world-building purposes or by granting the player "new pathways," meaning that you will receive new dialogue options you otherwise wouldn't have. These dialogue options can affect the overall game, or at least warrant special responses from others.

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The star feature of Minds Beneath Us is the fact that it is a choice narrative, meaning that your dialogue choices may and will effect how the story unfolds.

Essentially, you are controlling the main guy Jason Dai. Well, you are controlling the entity that is controlling Jason Dai.

I cannot say for certain that the MBU in Jason Dai's body is supposed to be the player themselves, I really do not think that is the case. But regardless, this is who you are playing as and with it you'll make decisions.

The decisions you make will influence Jason Dai's future and the relationships around him. Players will receive thoughts and opinions from Dai himself, and you can choose to abide by it or ignore it completely. Ignoring Jason's desires may not make him very happy, though. Overall, do as you may. The MBU can be kind and curious, or mean and neglectful--the important thing is, however, not to expose yourself as an MBU to the world. You have to act as Jason Dai.

Some dialogue choices will have indefinite time. You can take your own pace choosing what to answer, considering all the information you might have. Other times, there is a time limit to response, sometimes slow and sometimes insanely quick. Always be at the ready to make a fast decision, because it can cost you Jason's life in a real sense or metaphorical sense. Sometimes there is no telling whether the choice you make is inconsequential or will have dire consequences later on.

Having unlocked new pathways from clicking on objects, or by being investigative and probing during conversations, will open a lot more options for you. You can open up side quests (more like side conversations), which its purpose is to flesh out the characters more. For example, choosing to talk to your coworker Paxton on day two will unlock the "Showdown is Nigh" side quest. He recruits you into talking to Quentin from the screening sector into having a "showdown" with him, as they are both "chubby nerds" (his words, not mine). However, you'll learn that Paxton is just kind of bashful and wants a friend, but hardly knows how to engage in peer conversations.

Other specific dialogue options can do a lot of things, from mending relationships between coworkers Jeff and his adoptive father Mr. Liao, which Jeff will then thank you and Mr. Liao will invite you to dinner in response. Or, you can hound Justin Wu into acknowledging his lack of empathy and apologize to Cathy, as he had hurt her feelings and forced her to backstab the screening division. All Cathy wants is for Justin to recognize her capabilities and independent choices. You can even convince Cynthia from the logistics department to hook up with Wayne Zheng, as they both are crushing on one another. Essentially, the player has the option to get involved with all the drama and act as a peace-keeper therapist.

Some decisions will carry a lot more weight to them. At the very end of the fourth chapter, if you do not head straight to bed and instead knock on the neighboring door, you will reveal a massive underlying plot element. There is no apparent in-game indication to even do this, so you, the player, must be curious enough to try out anything and everything. If you knock on the door repeatedly, you'll reveal the true intentions of the character 23, which then will 100% influence the dynamic between Situ, 23, and Lawrence.

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Some choices are innocuous and do not do too much. Like, the MBU has the option to say "goodbye" to people at the end of conversations, or instead say nothing. You can say "I love you" to Jason's girlfriend, Frances, but no matter what the story will not be influenced.

This may be a bit of a negative for Minds Beneath Us. There is not enough game-changing decisions. I would have liked it a little more if each and every option had a semblance of impact . . . but I think the biggest issue is is that no choice you make influences the actual ending you receive, aside from the final decision.

There are four possible endings the player can get. It does not matter what the hell you do, these ending options will always be there, only determined by the last decision you make. There is only one exception though--the ending that focuses on Jason Dai getting out of dodge and joining the Moonflowers under a new identity. This ending is actually unavailable unless you make a very specific choice in the PROLOGUE. If you manage to keep Albert Tsai alive, the character Ivan Zheng will feel indebted to the MBU inside Jason and pitch him the idea of joining the Moonflowers to protect Dai from ultimate harm further down the road.

There are other massive game changers, just not ones that impact the end. Most notably, in chapter three, the player must decide whether to join the screening sector or the ops sector. This will affect the people you interact with and a lot of story elements henceforth, each having their pros and cons. Joining a specific side will also influence the fate of Silencio, the flops farm you work at. Unless you are actively working towards the "bridge builder" achievement, where Dai is able to bring both sectors together for a compromise, lots of people will be upset.

Most other decisions only effect relationship dynamics. But, the ways the characters interact are great, and probing them only gives more depth.

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Minds Beneath Us is not particularly difficult. There will be QTEs, which I will discuss later, but they are brief and even if you mess up, there is an instant redo.

The hardest part of the game is probably just not using a guide. It may be hard to determine what choices are going to make things happen. Really, just do anything and everything possible. Knock on every door. Enter every room. Talk to everyone. But, try to be nice for the most part--dialogue will depend on the character's personality, but being friendly mixed with an assertive inquisitiveness gets the job done. Never skip out on asking further questions, but avoid unnecessarily brash responses . . . like asking a contractor why she decided to have kids if she's struggling to take care of them. Yeah, that will not go well.

The game says it will take about 12 hours to finish the first playthrough. Um, it took me like almost 30 hours. Why? I don't know. I did everything I could, and discovered every side conversation, hidden secret, and in my opinion, I selected the "better" ending. I also redid a chapter so I could play in both the ops and screening sector.

The saving mechanic used to be a bit buggy but has been fixed. Though, players cannot save the game at will. There will be autosaves that happen after every setting change or important conversation. If you are upset with your choices, you can select a chapter and redo it. The game supports multiple save files.

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I think the biggest mechanic disappointment was with the tab button. There was an insinuation I would be able to read minds or something as an MBU? But that is not true. The tab button pulls up this cool, techy-looking display but only tells you your main objective and sometimes other minor objectives. You are just kind of looking inside the MBU's thoughts. I think this function could have been neater somehow.

This is especially so with the potential that MBUs are able to detect other MBUs. Woody Chen is a character possessed by one of these things, and seems to know that Jason is too, and knows Jason's full name without us telling him. Why couldn't I do that?

**This is a wild theory . . . but the fact that Woody knew the full name "Jason Dai" and blurted it out without us telling him; the player can do the same thing to the security guard named Michael Hsiao. Jason can blurt out Michael's full name, which will catch the latter by surprise as they had never met before. Is he an MBU as well, perhaps? He seemed nervous and confused the entire game.

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MUSIC: 8/10

I cannot say that the music is the most memorable, but it is perfectly fitting for the game itself. It sounds atmospheric, eliciting a somewhat nervous yet curious vibe. I am an MBU discovering the world and its horrors so freshly, and the reclused Jason Dai must face the reality he tried to hard to be ignorant of. Yeah, that is what the music feels like. Unsettling, techy, with some piano work, and lots of synth.

There are occasional tonal shifts: sometimes a track is excitingly dangerous, as when combat ensues or massive horrible information is leaked. The intensity of the music will amp up. Other times, tracks are light-hearted bops, like when roaming around the city of Wanpei in the night.

Every sound just felt so woven into the settings themsevles.

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You can watch this video, or purchase the soundtrack DLC on Steam.

youtube

Within the soundtrack, my favorites are . . .

Frances' theme (bittersweet, loving, and homey and cozy like a Minecraft track. After all, she is the loving girlfriend of Jason Dai)

City of Light (a lighthearted bop, giving me the sensation of amazement)

Nin's theme (a bit somber but powerful; she is a respectable but perhaps unreliable figure)

Let's Fight (when this song would play, I knew to get my ass ready)

Ops Division (It just . . . gave off the vibe that something fishy was going on, before this knowledge was revealed to us)

Ghost Protocol (I associate this song with the game itself)

The Sleeping God (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

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STORY: 10/10

Minds Beneath Us features a storyline whose themes are becoming more common as of late . . . but it is for a good reason. I do not think plots revolving around artificial intelligence has been overdone quite yet, and I think it will take a while. This is what science fiction is all about: a play on, a mockery of, or a metaphorical callout to current or impending societal issues. Even with games like Cyberpunk and Detroit: Become Human, Minds Beneath Us manages to stand out.

Perhaps unlike a lot of media (even though this is changing), the game doesn't end . . . good. There are four possible ending sequences, in which are all rather gloomy. Jason only wanted a simple, quiet life, which this desire was soon adopted by Frances as well after coming to face with reality. However, these dreams are nigh. The duo has been roped in to a world they cannot escape, simultaneously being powerless to stop all the societal ills they've uncovered. Ultimately, Jason doesn't get his happy ending, but the player can at least mitigate by providing him safety and a source of income.

Minds Beneath Us is not a fantastical escape from reality. It is a cold reality check of sorts. And on another note, the game does not answer a lot of questions players may have, provoking us to challenge our own morality, philosophies, and self-worth in a world so far ahead.

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Minds Beneath Us has five chapters, and a prologue. It is rather tricky to summarize the plot, due to its complexities as well as the fact the players' choices can make such a difference.

Here is a link to an excellent guide, if you would like to follow along and reap the fullest game experience: https://www.neoseeker.com/minds-beneath-us/walkthrough

Overall, it is a story of conspiracy, betrayal, unethicality, and faction-based thinking. . . yet also truth-seeking, building friendships, seeking justice, and compromise. Each and every character is splendid, having their own separate character arcs whether featured in the main story or as a side plot; everyone's mind is so complex, human, and facing dualities that the player may help to resolve.

Despite the game's heaviness on the dialogue, I could never bring myself to skim through it. Every little detail is either relevant or interesting, making the world so lifelike and relatable.

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The prologue swoops in with a vehement bang, asserting its uncomfortable, dystopian motifs immediately. However, much of these will not be unraveled until later chapters. Minds Beneath Us has intriguing pacing; a bit of a slow-burner, but never a slow-down. The plot hook is immediately strong.

The game begins in a confusing frenzy: an older man named Ivan Zheng violently bangs on the door to a hospital room. Shortly thereafter, the player's screen begins to glitch, and Zheng abruptly ceases as we take control of him.

Throughout the game, the player will be controlling an "M.B.U.," some sort of assault-type silencer artificial entity created in lab. Humans who have had chipped brains, either during birth or unwanted surgery, will be susceptible to being "possessed" by MBUs. These entities are controlled at "the source," which is the area in the prologue, by a man named "The Calibrator" and the alien-tech scientists around him (I am unsure if they are actually aliens, but they are certainly quite advanced).

However, in the prologue, as Ivan Zheng tries to fight off the MBU and The Calibrator after making him harm his drugged underling, Albert Tsai, this being called "The Anomaly" invades the place. It kills everyone, except Ivan, Albert, and the MBU.

The Anomaly then mumbles to the player, you are free. Something like that. It asserts that the MBU potentially has its own free will and consciousness.

It then forces us far away into the body of Jason Dai, a seemingly average man who lives with Frances Cheng, his girlfriend, in a simple apartment in futuristic-city Wanpei.

This will be our main guy for the rest of the game. The point is, you are playing as the little man: Jason is just some guy who finally got employed as a large company, and all he wants is to survive and live a "cozy, quiet life" with his girlfriend. However, Dai is living in willing ignorance and refuses to look deeper into the societal ills around him. Can't blame him, though. In our modern day, as we have 24/7 access to the atrocities of the world. We must all must feel rather fatigued and powerless. There is bliss in ignorance.

However, Jason and Frances unwittingly get roped into some dark information and threatening circumstances.

The two work at Silencio, a flops farm under the Vision Corporation. "Flops" are computational power generated by "farms' in order to operate all of Wanpei's A.I. systems. This industry is literally the main pillar of society--if something happens to the A.I., or the cloud, everything falls apart. There are several flops farming companies, like Vision, Growell, and Tendril. The business Sunrise provides these corporations with necessary equipment including A.I.-powered security cameras and listening devices.

Flops farming seems weird, but it is a double-edged sword. On one hand, this provides job opportunities to many. The middling class, like Jason Dai, can work at these corporations for good benefits and decent pay. And . . . where do these farms get their flops from? Human brains, of course. People who are unfortunate victims of society, living in the "slums," the "shithole," or otherwise these "evacuation zones" because suburbs of Wanpei are prone to intense flooding (thanks, climate change), these poorer class individuals need money fast.

At the farms, those in need of cash are interviewed by Silencio's screening division to make sure they are able-bodied and relatively healthy. Once signed onto a contract, these "shithole dwellers" go down to the cellar, are tranquilized to be sedated, and are hooked up to these devices to transfer their brain power into "flops" to fuel the city's A.I. systems. They are then suspended from the ceiling. Literally, minds beneath us.

This seems . . . rather cruel and unusual. But, the contractors get a lot of money, health insurance, and all. The procedure is typically only weeks at a time and they are put into a deep, nourishing sleep via tranquilizers and feeding tubes. Its not very cushy. But, it pays the bills I suppose.

However, Silencio is very old in model, and not appropriately funded. There is risk when it comes to "juicing," and even more so with the industry's sketchiness. In chapter two of the game, Jason Dai (and the MBU) will witness mechanical malfunction, where an automated tranquilizer is repeatedly jabbed into a "juicer" in lethal dosage. And, one juicer will plummet from the ceiling.

However, there is more than meets the eye. Minds Beneath Us features topics of late-stage capitalism, profit over ethics . . . these threats do not only come from lack of funding, but internal sabotage, division warfare, and disgusting secret experimentation.

Players will learn that Silencio is producing an insane amount of flops, despite the farm not running at full capacity. The ops division accuses screening of sending down unqualified candidates, and the screening division accuses ops for recklessness with the machines. Jason Dai will ultimately get wrapped up into the darker recesses of corporate greed after Silencio's boss, Eva Yeh, sends a secret, disturbing hard drive to Frances containing alarming information about Vision. Having this knowledge that Frances and Jason should not have, an attempt at Frances Cheng's life occurs after confronting the CEO. Unfortunately, the company has close-knit connections to gang mercenaries, resulting in conspirators' untimely demises.

The couple get rescued by a subgroup within OWL, a secret police organization. These members include Nin Situ, 23, and Lawrence Chang. Situ, the lead, is very much like Jason--an individual that can be possessed by MBUs, and also someone who was genetically modified to be stronger and faster at birth. Jason Dai is this way too, unbeknownst to him until know, which makes sense. You are playing as this guy, and he can almost supernaturally kick ass during fights.

Not a surprise. I mean, here in 2024 we have the CRISPR gene-editing coming our way.

Jason and Frances have no choice but to join this ragtag group to ensure safety. Plus, genetically engineered individuals are typically hunted down and killed by OWL due to being (on average) mentally unstable or overly powerful foes to society. According to Situ, Jason will have to join OWL eventually to secure his life.

Jason Dai and his girlfriend have been roped into a world they do not desire. Goodbye to a peaceful life, and Jason will rely on you, the MBU, to protect him and Frances at all cost. A beautiful metaphor, not only does Jason not have any control over his circumstances, but literally no control over his body. You are talking and acting for him, like a puppet. But, since this game is all about the choices you make, you can either be a true asshole puppet master or a genuine friend for Dai.

The OWL group will go through lots of hoops to obtain critical data and discover the source of the flop output surge. You will come to realize the the gang of three is not exactly reliable, as they are literally operating without OWL's own awareness (or so they think). Despite the secrets, unreliability, and dangers of these missions, you all grow close to some degree.

The thing about Minds Beneath Us is despite the world's traumas and greed, most characters within the game, on a personal level, are good at heart. They all abide by their own morals and definition of "justice," either wanting to protect themselves and their loved ones (e.g., Jason Dai, Mr. Laio, 23), or do their best to benefit the community around them (e.g., Wayne Zheng, Eva Yeh, Frances Cheng).

The source of the extra flops is beyond sinister, however. The final chapter reveals an ungodly "Sleeping God" project happening behind the scenes: Vision's Red Room has conducted mass experimentations on these synthetic humans. They use manufactured tissues and nerves, like stem cells, to create a body and brain, and then they implant replicated/copied memories and egos of real human subjects onto them to give them a degree of consciousness, which outputs brain power. This is apparently a cheaper alternative than hiring contractors from the slums . . . you know, because they do not have to offer benefits and life insurance. Yuck.

They can be procured at a mass scale at will too. The scientists cut off the limbs and remove unnecessary organs to conserve energy for the brain. They insist that they are sub-human, inferior . . . even though Nin, Jason, and Lawrence witness the humanoids talking and breathing, mumbling "it hurts."

The production is beyond imaginable. There is a whole room full of hundreds of these guys. Turns out the extra flops had been outsourced from this facility. On the bright side, there is no extra unethical practice going on inside farms on full-fledged humans . . . but on the downside, who is to say that these synthetic people are not human? Who is to say this is not unethical and cruel?

Regardless, not much can be done about it. It has already kickstarted, and blowing up the place would only result in a major setback and kill a bunch of people, and cause havoc among an A.I.-powered society. OWL's little secret mission is--in all--hopeless. This is furthered by the fact the government privately legalized Vision's practices . . . because in the latest stages of capitalism, corporations control the government, right?

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As stated, it is incredibly difficult to summarize the story because so much happens. There is never a quiet moment. This expands further by the fact that the player's choices will affect the unfolding of the story. So, lots of different conversations and quests might happen, and there are scenes and critical information the player may not get because of a simple choice of dialogue.

As mentioned earlier, the only choice that affects the ending is the final one.

OWL accosts Jason, Lawrence, and Situ on Silencio's rooftop for committing "terrorist attacks" at Silencio and crimes with meddling, hacking, defamation, and violence. At this point, the MBU has become so embedded in Jason's mind, that Jason Dai himself will become pretty much "extinct" from his subconscious. The player cannot speak to him anymore, but he gave his opinion before hand--do not trust Situ, and/or if things go awry (which they did), use a stun bomb and escape the facility.

It is up to the MBU to determine the ultimate fate of Jason Dai. The MBU, surprisingly, will recount a lot of pleasant memories for some reason. Rather than think of the fear and horrors, the MBU will recall all the friends he made with his coworkers, and with the OWL agents, as well as Jason's love for Frances. I feel like this nostalgic trip is pushing the player into making a particular choice (which, in my opinion, is probably the "best" one), but it is all up to what you click.

No ending is good. Frances and Jason will never get their own life back, harboring this intense knowledge and faced with illegal crimes. Jason and Frances can never work at Silencio again, and seemingly the only guarantee for bodily safety is to join OWL.

The first option is to give in and join OWL, whilst keeping connections with Situ. Situ will hold out her handgun, awaiting for you to hopefully grab and take it, as an offering of trust. Choose this option, and she will seemed almost touched (but will not show it). Jason is now under the care of OWL . . . but now must forever engage in dangerous missions, unfortunately partake in the protecting of large corporations, and will never have the "privilege of dying in a bed." At the very least, Jason gets to keep all the relationships he made aside from his former coworkers.

Another option is to join OWL, but refuse the gun. Jason Dai has stated he wanted to sever ties with the untrustworthy Situ, and you have that option. Nin will state that she understands. A bit sad, but makes sense. She prioritizes her safety above all else, and will not hesitate to abandon Jason and others if her life is on the line (although, she protected you time and time again during the past few days).

Whether you stay with Situ or not, these two choices are likely the "best." Some cutscenes will play, featuring Lawrence and 23 packing up the operations room, and attempt to rekindle their friendship after 23's treachery. Back at Silencio, the office will celebrate their new boss and the new fate of the farm. This scene is highly dependent on the MBU's actions in chapter three, whether he chose to work for ops or screening . . or, regardless of the choice, if the MBU tried to fix Wayne and Justin's friendship, there will be a lovely compromise. Overall, it is somewhat happy, and the workers will reminisce about Jason Dai's kindness, but feel sad about his sudden departure. There will be other scenes of the former CEO being forced to step down after the Red Room got attacked, making way for Yuna Hsu to climb up the corporate ladder. "Sleeping God," sadly, will still go on.

A scene that the developers just added not too long ago is absolutely wonderful: Frances proposing to Jason Dai. They hug, kiss, and simply exist as a happy couple.

There will be a final scene dependent upon whether you severed ties with Situ. They are kind of similar, because Jason does not fully trust Situ anyways, but still views here as a "friendly acquaintance." She will apologize for what happened to you. And, still, nobody knows that Jason was possessed the whole time.

The third ending can only be unlocked if you chose to save Albert Tsai in the prologue of the game. Jason Dai can use the stun weapon, and cause everyone on the roof to become temporarily paralyzed while he makes his grand escape. Earlier, Ivan Zheng told the MBU that the only true way Jason's body can be protected is if he gets the hell out of dodge and join the "Moonflowers," where he will be given an entire new identity. Jason Dai seriously considers the offer. If the MBU chooses to do this, Jason must leave everything behind . . . including Frances.

There will be a scene alternate to the proposal. Nin will be on the phone with Situ, swearing up and down that they will locate her boyfriend. Bittersweetly--well, more bitter than sweet--Frances will continue to devote her life to finding Jason. This is sad . . . because likely she never will. So, ultimately, you may have protected Jason and avoided sending him to a militant career, but you have distressed Frances Cheng's life for all eternity.

When Jason meets up with Zheng, he will insist that he has "no regrets" and is ready for his new, safe, quiet life, despite the "Frances-shaped hole in [his] heart." I can almost feel the pain emanating from those words. Perhaps there is a sliver of regret.

Lastly, the MBU can choose to go ahead and blow up the sickening facility, despite Situ's change of plans. Jason Dai is in possession of the detonator, so one click--it's all gone. This seems to be the choice of justice at a surface level, but it will result in soooo many consequences. With this option, players may feel that they have ended project "Sleeping God," fulfilled their mission, and had the privilege of getting the last laugh at Vision . . . but . . .

Blow it up, the CEO will scream and go bonkers. The lead of OWL, "Grandma," will tell him to calm down. She will ask Jason if he has any last words. The best option to say is probably "Tell Frances I am sorry, and that I love her," then all of the OWL agents will shoot Jason dead.

Not only will this forfeit Jason's life, going against his desires, but this ending is definitely the most upsetting and dark. It will cause a mass outage in the city, inciting derailing of trains and ship wrecks (as everything is run by automation). Once the cloud is down, the world is down. Instead of the proposal sequence, the scene will feature an empty apartment with the television blasting: mass causalities, evacuations in place. Blowing up the facility is killing a lot more people outside of the Silencio than you may realize.

This also will not stop the Red Room's project. Yuna Hsu will assure that "Sleeping God" will go on and be built from the ground up. So, yeah, it was literally all for nothing.

And, a final scene will play, with a sobbing, disgruntled Frances, screaming at Situ and blaming her for robbing Jason's life. Everyone is just . . . sad.

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SETTING: 9/10

The game takes place in December of 2049, just over two decades from the current present. The setting is in the city of Wanpei, inspired by the potential future version of Taipei, Taiwan. BearBone Studio is a Taiwanese indie developer after all.

I like how Minds Beneath Us does not take place atrociously far into the future, and it maintains semblance of modern times too. I think I could walk out into Wanpei and not be overly shocked, but instead uneased. The thing about Wanpei is that the district where Jason and Frances live, there are still local "ma and pop" shops, but other characters explain this is very much not the case elsewhere. Only several huge, dominating companies own and control everything. Seems accurate.

Everything in Wanpei, and I assume a greater portion of the world, runs on artificial intelligence. If the cloud were to suddenly fail, chaos ensues. For example, on the news, it is said the a glitch or shutdown happened with the cloud, causing cargo boats' self-steering systems to fail, resulting in a collision.

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All the scenes are gorgeous. The game takes place mostly indoors or at night--since the main characters work the night shift--so there is forever a looming dimness, even though Wanpei is illuminated by blue light. The city is a vast array of techy neon colors, bright and bold people, with an overlaying nightly purplish hue. It is all very fitting.

The game alternates between several settings: the initial simulation room, Frances' apartment complex, the streets of Wanpei, Silencio and its floors (the rooftop, the main room on 1F, the screening offices, the consultation floor, logistics, the cellar, and the flop core). You will spend like 80% of your time in these places. Later in chapters 4 and 5, Jason will go to the White Scorpion gang hangout, and the ultimately this secret Vision lab where horrors await. The game does a great job at making the laboratory settings feel devoid and anxiety-inducing.

While you spend most of your time in the same places, there is always something new, usually extra side conversations and drama. You may go through the cellar completely fine one time, but another time you will witness a "juicer" plummet from the ceiling to the ground.

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COMBAT: 7/10

It is hard to give this section a full rating because there isn't really true combat. The game features 6-7 QTEs, or quick time events, scattered throughout the game. The QTEs are infrequent and not the most involved, but I think they work well in general. I mean, Jason Dai is not some sort of warrior superhero (even though Situ wants to be the Batman) despite being genetically modified. He considers himself an average guy, and usually avoids physical confrontation.

The MBU is programmed to be a "silencer" combat unit. But, the MBU ends up kind of being a peacekeeper if you want it to be.

The QTEs involve the "E" key to punch, the spacebar to dodge, and occasionally the "A" and "D" key to move forward or backward. These events usually start and stop quickly so you must be at the ready.

The first one happens in the prologue, when a drugged Albert charges at Ivan Zheng. You press "E" to grab him by the neck (which will break and kill him if you choose to inject the blue liquid). Other QTEs include a stabbing incident at Silencio, gang members at the hospital, White Scorpion mercenaries at the flop core, these strange medieval-sounding gangsters at the White Scorpion hideout, among others.

They are damn quick, yet scarce. Nonetheless, the QTEs are exciting and pulls you right into the scene, reminding players that you are indeed playing a video game. Jason will have a small health meter, but it will take several hits and missteps to put him down. Dying will only restart the combat anyways, and does not impact the fate of your game. The QTEs are fairly easy overall, but there is a difficulty spike around chapter 3, and I did mess up a few times. Perhaps I am just not used to PC gaming.

My favorite part is the combat animation. It is incredibly fluid and I can literally feel the ungodly force of Jason Dai's punches and grabs.

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Other QTEs might be something like quickly catching a blade Situ throws behind your neck, showcasing Dai's quick reflexes. There is also a running sequence towards the end of the game where Jason has to jump over obstacles and avoid the flurry of bullets coming at him.

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ENJOYEMENT: 10/10

Minds Beneath Us is sticking to my brain in vehement amounts. It really got me to introspect even hours upon completion.

In an in-game E-Zine, it says,

Humans learn. Advanced learning capability is what sets us apart from animals. Sadly, the oversupply of knowledge can sometimes be a curse. With the aid from state-of-the-art AI, we are unlocking secrets of the human brain faster than ever. This process, however, gives birth to a new kind of existential crisis called "Anthropocentric Dismay." Scientists tapping into the potential of AI are finding that computers work, fundamentally, eerily like human brains. If so, is there really such thing as the human soul, or free will? Meanwhile, life science is seeing a revival, as researchers work extra hard to find a new way to establish the uniqueness of humanity."

I think that this conversation is insanely appropriate now more than ever. What truly makes humans unique? What makes us special, exemplary, more capable than other species?

I also enjoyed this conversation between Kaylee and Jesse:

Jesse: What is the human mind? Layers upon layers of noises, is what it is. The life of an average human is utterly distracted. Focusing on one single thing is impossible. There are random factors affecting our thinking, such as the weather, the mood, so on and so forth. All these factors combined makes each of us unique. But ultimately, this uniqueness has no meaning. We're just constructs made unnecessarily complicated. Still, we worship this complicatedness, inventing names for it. We call it the soul, the free will. Does it have any value?

Kaylee: I say this will to live is the result, not a reason. Who is in a position to give a definition to the meaning of life? We many not be in a position to give a verdict, but we do believe it nonetheless. Humans, though, are not one single being. Humans differ, especially over things that are pure speculation. They exist because they already exist. There's no prescriptive meaning to it. If there's no assigned meaning, we should invent our own meaning. AI doesn't have such mental faculty. It's focused and efficient, yet not a living thing. Does the invention of automobiles make the existence of horses meaningless?

Even as of now, human laborers are facing quite the crisis. A.I. has entered the realm of employment, sifting through our resumes, and taking both manual and artistic jobs alike. It is easy to tell a robot what to do, to save ourselves some "precious time and resources," but as Jesse says, humans for the most part don't even know what they want, or at the very least cannot articulate is. What does this say: humans are too complex, indecisive, emotional? Or, in Kaylee's terms, the human life has more value because we have to figure it our ourselves and proceed by our own will?

We are in times where capitalism is becoming late-stage, where massive companies can take the world over whilst finding ways to mitigate being defined as an illegal monopoly. Corporations affect the government and law, thus society at large. Human labor already is unfortunately cheap, and that is why we have issues with modern day slavery, and why companies prefer to hire people regardless of experience for a little of a wage as possible.

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Companies can get a way with a lot, despite increases in surveillance and data leaks. Who knows what is occurring today? In Minds Beneath Us, it is seen that efficiency and profit is taken to the extreme and the treatment of these "humanoids" is utter, horrific torture. But, as said by Grandma, these experiments had just been legalized.

Science is not specifically a moral practice. Gather a bunch of intellectuals and sociopaths (and simultaneously both) in a laboratory setting and boom: the Holocaust, the Gulag, Unit 731, unethical animal testing, among others. It makes those individuals with a good heart feel powerless. That is what Situ and the gang felt, knowing that all of this dangerous activity is ongoing secretly, but nothing can be done about it without disrupting and displacing the entirety of society. The world is built upon corruption.

We can see with the ops and screening sectors that a majority of folks do have good intentions, whether it be wanting to protect their loved ones or serving a greater, positive purpose for the community at large. However, everyone is unintentionally adding fuel to the fire due to what jobs are available and the standard of living . . . and as Justin said, sometimes you just got to go with the lesser of evils, unfortunately. Everyone, including higher-up positions, are just trying to keep their head out of the water. We have made an uncomfortable society for ourself, haven't we? And whether you think the world is on the upward or downward spiral, there are deeply ingrained societal ills among us.

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I just love a good game that makes me question my own morality and worldview. Minds Beneath Us does its job so well; the world feels alive, dystopian, but realistic. The characters are wonderful and the visuals are stunning. I can play this game again and again and again.

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**I will say, there are a lot of questions that go unanswered. Some things are meant to be ambiguous, to challenge the players' own thoughts.

Such as . . . what is an MBU? How were they made, what do they all do? Just why? Regardless of the ending you get, all players get this bonus ending scene where the MBU is sent back to the simulation room, facing the Anomaly. It asks you just that: what do you, the MBU, think you are? A human? AI? A being that just exists?

I also wonder about some other things. For one, we never got to learn the meaning of 23's name. She said she'd tell us . . . but never did.

Finally, what the hell was Edith Yeh's role? 23 found her to be suspicious, and she certainly was to me. She also kind of looked like both Eva Yeh and OWL's "Grandma." She was the only member of screening who was upset at the increased communications between divisions. She was entirely absent from the end-game credits at Silencio. Hmm . . .

TOTAL TIME SPENT: 28 hours

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

PLATFORM USED: PC

DATE OF COMPLETION: August 2024

#i love this game so much #minds beneath us #MBU #scifi #dystopian #narrative game #ai #BearBone Studio #steam games #choice narrative #Youtube #Taiwanese indie games #indie games

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