You’re sitting there, controller in hand, watching Jodie Holmes cry in the rain, and you’re probably wondering if you just made a massive mistake. That’s the Quantic Dream experience. Honestly, playing through a Beyond: Two Souls walkthrough isn’t like playing Call of Duty or even The Last of Us. It’s messy. It’s chronological chaos. One minute you’re a homeless woman in the snow, the next you’re a CIA super-agent in Somalia, and if you blink, you’ve accidentally let a main character die because you missed a subtle QTE.
The game is weird. It’s a 2013 relic that still looks surprisingly good because Quantic Dream used high-end motion capture for Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe. But the "gameplay" is mostly just moving a floating entity named Aiden around to break things or possess people. If you want the "best" ending—the one where everyone lives and you don’t feel like a total failure—you have to be meticulous. It’s not just about fast reflexes; it’s about the choices you make in chapters that seem totally unrelated to the finale.
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The Chronological Confusion and Why It Matters
When the game first launched on PS3, David Cage decided to tell the story out of order. You’d jump from Jodie as a five-year-old to Jodie as a twenty-four-year-old. It was polarizing. Later versions, like the PS4 and PC releases, let you play in "Remastered" or chronological order. If this is your first time using a Beyond: Two Souls walkthrough, I’m telling you right now: stick to the original "Battered" order.
Why? Because the emotional payoff is designed for that specific zigzag. Seeing Jodie at her lowest point before seeing how she got there builds a layer of tension that a linear timeline just kills. But here’s the kicker—if you’re hunting for the "Saved All" trophy, the order doesn't change the requirements. You just have to be aware that a choice you make in "The Mission" might haunt you three hours later in "Black Sun."
Keeping the Cast Alive: The Non-Negotiables
Most people play this game once and end up with a graveyard. To avoid that, you need to focus on specific chapters. Most of the game is flavor text, but a few moments are hard gates for the ending.
Homeless
This is the first major hurdle. You’re living under a bridge with a group of people who have lost everything. When the building catches fire, you have to be fast. You need to save Stan, obviously, but don't forget Tuesday. And for the love of everything, make sure you get Jimmy and Walter. If you leave one of them behind to "explore" or because you got confused by the camera angles, they are gone. Permanent. No do-overs unless you restart the whole chapter.
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Navajo
This chapter feels like a standalone indie movie. It’s long, it’s atmospheric, and it’s where most people lose Paul. When Paul is injured, you have to heal him with Aiden. It seems simple, but if you leave the house to deal with the Yé'iitsoh (the big sand entity) before clicking on Paul’s wound, he bleeds out. Just heal him first. It takes five seconds.
Norah
This one is heartbreaking. You find Jodie’s biological mother in a catatonic state in a high-security hospital. You’re given a choice. You can leave her there, or you can use Aiden to stop her heart. If you want the "Saved All" ending, do not kill her. It feels like a mercy kill, and the game frames it as a moral choice, but for the specific trophy/achievement requirements, she has to stay alive in that room. It’s cruel, but that’s the logic the game uses.
Mastering Aiden’s Mechanics
Aiden is the "Two Souls" part of the title. He’s a tethered entity, and playing him feels like being a poltergeist with an attitude problem. Most people struggle with the controls because they try to be too precise.
Basically, look for the glowing orbs.
Blue orbs? You can interact.
Orange orbs? You can possess or kill.
In the "The Condemnation" chapter, you'll be tempted to just wreck everything. Go for it. But when you're in stealth missions, remember that Aiden can see through walls. You can scout ahead to see where guards are stationed before Jodie even rounds the corner. It makes the "stealth" sections—which are honestly a bit clunky—way more bearable.
The CIA Years: "The Mission" and "The Party"
These two chapters represent the extreme ends of the game's tone. In "The Party," you're a teenager trying to fit in. You can choose to be nice or go full Carrie. Honestly? Go full Carrie. It doesn't affect the survival of the main cast, and it’s one of the few times the game lets you vent Jodie’s frustrations.
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"The Mission" is a different beast altogether. This is the Somalia sequence. It’s heavy on the QTEs (Quick Time Events). If you’re struggling with the combat, remember that the slow-motion prompts follow Jodie’s momentum. If she’s leaning left to dodge, move the stick left. It’s intuitive once it clicks, but until then, you’ll probably see her get punched in the face a lot.
The Final Threshold: Black Sun
Everything leads to the "Black Sun" chapter. This is where the game checks your work. If you saved everyone mentioned above, they will appear in the "Infraworld" sequences or the epilogue.
But there is one more life on the line: Cole.
During the final trek through the snowy bridge toward the condenser, Cole will fall. He gets injured by the entities. You have a very small window to turn around, grab him, and use Aiden to heal him. If you just keep running toward the light, Cole dies. It’s the most common mistake in a Beyond: Two Souls walkthrough because the game is screaming at you to hurry up. Don't. Stop. Heal Cole. Move on.
Then there’s Ryan. During the final confrontation with Nathan Dawkins (played by Dafoe), things get heated. Nathan is losing his mind. To keep Ryan alive, you have to handle the dialogue carefully or be ready with Aiden to intervene. If you provoke Nathan too much without being ready to shield Ryan, Ryan takes a bullet.
Choosing Your Ending
Once you’ve survived the Infraworld, you’re given the ultimate choice: Beyond or Life.
- Beyond: Jodie dies and joins Aiden and her lost loved ones in the Infraworld. It’s a peaceful, if somewhat somber, ending.
- Life: Jodie stays on Earth. If you choose this, you then get to choose who she stays with.
If you saved everyone, you’ll have options. You can go live in the woods alone (The "Alone" ending), you can join the homeless crew again, you can stay with the Navajo family, or you can start a life with Ryan.
Practical Steps for a Perfect Run
If you are going for the Platinum trophy or 100% completion, here is the reality: you are going to have to play several chapters twice. The "All Endings" trophy requires you to see every possible variation, including the ones where everyone dies.
- First Run: Play naturally. Don’t look at a guide. Experience the story.
- Cleanup: Use Chapter Select. To make changes stick, you must play from that chapter all the way to the end. You can't just jump to "Homeless," save everyone, and then skip to "Black Sun." The game won't register the change.
- The "Aiden" Factor: In many scenes, you can choose to be "Evil Aiden." This usually involves choking people or breaking things when Jodie tells you not to. While fun, it can occasionally lock you out of certain "peaceful" dialogue options with characters like Ryan.
Beyond: Two Souls is a game about grief and the "other side." It’s flawed, sure. The controls can be janky, and some of the dialogue is pure melodrama. But when it hits, it hits hard. Whether you’re protecting a baby in a burning building or just trying to have a successful first date while a jealous ghost throws plates at your head, the stakes feel personal. Keep your eyes on Cole and Paul, don't kill Norah, and remember that sometimes, the best way to use your powers is to just stay still and listen.
Actions to take now
- Verify you are playing on "Hardened" difficulty if you want a challenge, or "Casual" if you just want the story; the "Saved All" trophy works on both.
- Check your "Chapters" menu to see which characters survived your last run.
- Decide early if you want to romance Ryan; your interactions with him in "The Mission" and "Dinner" are the deciding factors.