Beyond Good And Evil-20th Anniversary Edition Review @bgegame @UbisoftANZ
Summary: If you're at all curious and don't mind plunging into a unique adventure game from 2003 updated for modern audiences, Beyond Good And Evil-20th Anniversary is a worthwhile way to experience this classic.
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A classic returns
Blimey! Has it really been twenty-one years ago since Beyond Good And Evil came out? Back then this writer was still in middle school, and Ubisoft were still making great videogames where quality mattered instead of size, gee-wiz time goes by fast doesn’t it! So yes, Beyond Good And Evil is over two-decades old now, and Ubisoft have seen fit to give us a second reminder of Beyond Good and Evil’s greatness (after the 2012 HD upgrade), but is this anniversary offering worth a punt, or should this one be left behind in the past?
If you’ve never played Beyond Good And Evil before, then you’ll be well taken care of regarding some of the quality of life improvements. While the raw gameplay of Beyond Good And Evil has remained untouched (and that’s a very good thing), the visuals have received a modest boost, character models are crisper and cleaner, and pleasingly the game can run on 4K TVs at 60 frames per second-so Ubisoft have provided some lovely unobtrusive ways to spruce up this 20 year-old classic.
Beyond Good and Evil has you play as a young female photojournalist named Jade, who resides in a lighthouse with her best pal Pey’J-a talking pig or boar-like creature, where they both look after a bundle of orphans who’ve been victimized by an alien-like scourge called the DomZ. One day, the Domz decide to attack the lighthouse and abduct the orphans, so it’s up to Jade and Pey’J to get to the bottom of this and repel this alien menace because y’know the military powers that be are totally useless.
The worry with many anniversary editions is they don’t tend to cater to how games have changed and evolved through time, they appear to exist as products of nostalgia, helping us to remember a time when videogames were simpler and weren’t injected with boundless open-worlds, tedium, and a bent towards emotional storytelling and realism. In this vain, Beyond Good And Evil doesn’t attempt to update its mechanics or bend to modern standards, it is a straightforward enhanced port that serves its purpose dutifully, but won’t win over new fans, besides those who’ve never heard of Beyond Good And Evil and want to give it a go-generally newer and younger audiences if anything.
As a bright and inquisitive photojournalist, you won’t be surprised that you’ll be taking many snaps in Beyond Good And Evil. There are many creatures and characters you can take photos of from the local wildlife, to Domz species to Pey’J whilst he manually works his technical expertise.
Photography is a wonderful marquis addition to Beyond Good And Evil that keeps you cataloging your discoveries, even when they’re accompanied by engagements during combat. That’s right, you can find yourself embroiled in heated tussles with Domz pests and you’re afforded the ability to swap out your spear for a photo to take a cheeky pic whenever you feel like it, just be sure to stand back in a safe place, I doubt these guys are photogenic.
Documenting wildlife earns you credits called Units, that can help you buy vending machine items to boost and maximize your health. Units rack up in the hundreds every time you take photos, making it quicker for you to purchase desirable items, though the amount of items you’re able to buy is sparse, so using them to buy rudimentary healing items doesn’t feel eventful or significant, so it’s hard not feel like units are a throwaway base currency.
Pearls are a secondary form of currency in Beyond Good And Evil, and they are used to purchase vehicular upgrades. Unlike units they are usually tied to mandatory story progression and are rewarded upon completion of specific activities. Occasionally Pearls can be bought with credits, but the opportunities for purchasing them are also restricted to certain moments within the story, so they’re a precious commodity you need to earn in most cases. Unlike Units, Pearls are rewards that are worth the effort due to their rarity and the amount of effort taken to procure them.
The identity of Beyond Good And Evil’s gameplay experience saunters between third-person combat, platforming, puzzle-solving, and a dab of hovercraft riding. The extent of variety on display has enriched this unique two decade-old curiosity and thankfully this 20th Anniversary Edition hasn’t sullied any of its purity with modern trappings, which is something to be very grateful for.
There’s a delightfully nostalgic essence that ripples through Beyond Good And Evil that beckons reminders of the Jak And Daxter, Ratchet & Clank and Sly series’ platformers. The way Beyond Good and Evil looks in its cartoon-like world with environments you can explore at your leisure whilst collecting tat is very pleasingly reminiscent of the straightforward elegance of a bygone era of platforming games.
For combat, Jade uses a staff called Dai-jo, which she can use to chain together attacks, putting her martial arts expertise to good use. Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be character lore pertaining to Jade’s ability to kick some keester with her MMA prowess like her backstory of taking photos because she’s a photojournalist, however such shallow reasons for her ability to fight don’t detract from the buttery PS2-era simplicity, to which she can gracefully clobber her fugly gelatinous foes.
Later on in the story, Jade can obtain a special glove known as a Gyrodisk Launcher, which can be used in conjunction with Jade’s camera to provide a useful long-range weapon that spits out pink discs. While it’s lovely that Jade gets another weapon, it’s not a particularly amazing one, though it comes in handy, especially during the game’s boss fights.
Photojournalists and stealth seem to go hand-in hand, so naturally there are stealth sections Jade will need to carefully navigate. Often times Jade will need to contend with heavily armoured guards and use her environment to her advantage to sneak by them, giving a slight puzzle-like feel, which makes these sections of the game rewarding to play through. The tight and claustrophobic dungeon-like areas lets you feel like a trapped journalist who needs to escape a dire situation, something that Jade isn’t overly equipped for, but her calm and careful demeanor certainly nudges her through all the perils she faces.
Puzzling around with Jade and her boar-like best friend Pey’J complements the game’s themes of discovery and adventure. Puzzles can take the form of finding a way to eliminate obstructions impeding your path to more advanced puzzles such as one where you’re required to connect light beams. These headscratchers aren’t particularly complex, but are good exercises that showcase the diversity of what lies in this two-decade old gem. Puzzles in Beyond Good And Evil have a speckle of The Legend of Zelda quality to them, which only shines this classic in a ray of ingenuity and variety that deserves your attention.
Jade and Pey’J have access to a hovercraft that the two of them can use to travel between locations. The handling of the hovercraft is a little twitchy, but it is great when you find yourself in the throngs of war against a sea monster because you can use the Hovercraft’s canons to fire bolts of concussive damage to any creature that dares impede your path. This roving alien-eviscerating vehicle is a tad underutilized, but its inclusion will make you feel the sea breeze, which feels like a total liberty from fending off armored grunts inside a dingy dungeon.
As a general update of a twenty year-old game, you can expect some archaic chinks in its armour. The new 60 frames per-second framerate can dip below 30 at times, the rigid character interactions are cardboard-like, the camera gets screwy at points, and although combat is fine, it’s still lacking oomph and nuance. Still, these blemishes should be absolved because Beyond Good And Evil deserves to be played, not only because it’s a game everybody considers a classic, but because it did things a bit differently in 2003, and today it stands out even more-highlighting the state of this industry’s preference for great visuals and open-worlds over simpler and shorter story-driven adventure titles. This one reminds you when Ubisoft put their prestigious name to great games frequently.
Final Thoughts?
If you’re at all curious and don’t mind plunging into a unique adventure game from 2003 updated for modern audiences, Beyond Good And Evil-20th Anniversary is a worthwhile way to experience this classic. The minor visual and performance upgrades help Beyond Good And Evil come in line with modern standards, and the richness and variety the base game delivers is fantastic, especially when you consider that we don’t see many of these kinds of games in the modern videogame climate. There are unsavory reminders that Beyond Good and Evil is a twenty year-old game thanks to a finicky camera and unexciting combat, but the wealth of variety and its uniqueness blows many modern games out of the water. Despite a few warts, Beyond Good And Evil 20th Anniversary is still very well worth playing, and is an update that does justice to one of Ubisoft’s most treasured titles.
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