Beyond Good & Evil
Even I, as someone who has no serious emotional connection to the series, was happy to see Beyond Good & Evil return with a makeover after 20 years. Because these types of games are in danger today and we can’t afford to lose them. What kind of games? Let’s examine Beyond Good & Evil -20th Anniversary Edition and see what it promises to old fans and newcomers.
Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition feels like a prelude to the sequel
In today’s video game industry, it doesn’t make sense to revive a 20-year-old series if there’s no sequel. We already know that a sequel is coming from Ubisoft . It just… Let’s say it got stuck along the way. This remaster aims to revive the series before the new game comes out and refresh the memories of old fans while winning new ones. This is very clear.
The version we have is a package that includes the visuals, sound and music, and a few quality of life improvements, without any of the gameplay or story details of the first game. The new version has life-saving features like auto-save and a complete redesign of the visuals. Textures and lighting have been reworked to make the old guy look fresher. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still an old game and carries the old game and level design fashions .
We miss the fun-oriented games that don’t take themselves too seriously.
Even though Beyond Good & Evil tells the story of saving the world from bad guys, it tells it in such a light and lighthearted way that we can even enjoy the narrative. Games are now becoming more serious and sullen experiences due to cinematic concerns. That’s why we need sarcastic games like Beyond Good & Evil.
For example, at the beginning of this game, the planet is invaded by DomZ , an evil force from space . However, since we haven’t paid our electricity bill, we can’t open the protection shield and various aliens start wandering around our house. Then, the Mexican CPU of a piece of equipment we have, ” Secundo “, advises us to take pictures of different creatures and send them to the Science Center. We take this advice seriously, take pictures of all the children and insects in the house and send them to the center, and finally pay our electricity bill .
The problem of saving the planet is not left on our shoulders right at the beginning of the game. Although the story that starts out funny like this sometimes takes on a serious tone, the most serious state it can be can be as serious as the audience waiting with a ready-to-laugh expression on their face after a comedian’s bad joke. These are the “games we need” that I mentioned at the beginning of the review. Because this fun in the narrative is spread throughout the game and the gameplay is built on it. Just as people are so passionate about Nintendo games today because they come out with graphics that are way behind the times, Beyond Good & Evil is a game that evokes the same feelings.
Are you ready to experience old-school game and level designs?
Ask yourself the question highlighted in this subheading before playing Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition . Because even though the music has been re-recorded (they are really beautiful) and the graphics have been modernized, this is still a 20-year-old game in terms of design. For example, when traveling between levels, you have to run through an L-shaped corridor each time to trigger the loading screens. I think this was a design decision, so that the transition between levels feels more like a “transition between levels” rather than having us run straight into an unseen void. It’s not something you see very often in today’s games.
Since the gameplay has not been touched, you will generally feel like you are playing an old-fashioned game at every point. So expecting a completely renewed experience – a remake – would be unfair to the game. Be sure to consider this in your purchase decision.
So what is old: good or bad?
Nowadays, I watch with amazement as my older friends (I am 27 years old) reminisce about old games and walk around thinking “it hasn’t come like this yet” – I think they must have watched their elders the same way. So is old always better ? For Beyond Good & Evil, the answer to this question is both yes and no. For example, outdated game and level design will have a hard time catching on with today’s players. Because the children of that era who started playing games after 2015 have become customers and were introduced to games in the PlayStation 4 era. Therefore, no; old is bad for these customers. Because this is not what they are used to and this thing is not better in terms of design than what they are used to.
On the other hand, there is one point where the 2000s game design approach that I criticized so much works great; boss battles and general action . Nowadays, the actions of games produced with the cinematic concerns that I mentioned before are always like they came out of a lathe and are far from original. Beyond Good & Evil, on the other hand, is an original work in every way, and it can teach today’s games a lesson with its action and the systems within it.
For example, our dear Pig companion, old Pey’j, introduces us to the project of his life. This project is a pair of boots with jet engines underneath, and the fuel for these boots is the gas that “Pey’j” expels from his body with the help of his abdominal muscles. With these boots, he can rise up and drop himself to the ground, making enemies jump during combat, and Jade can hit them and beat them up like playing golf. This feature also comes in handy when using some platform mechanics. We benefit from it in many areas.
For those who want to see a game full of these kinds of original ideas, Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition might be a good choice. But don’t ignore my paragraph-long warnings about game design. Otherwise, you might not get what you’re looking for.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Beyond Good & Evil is a very good game, regardless of its remastered version. This remaster has made the small and necessary touches that the series deserves and presented it to the players without spoiling the general texture . Since our review was a bit late, I saw fans complaining about the new lighting on the internet, but since I am not an old BGE fan, it would not be right for me to comment on this issue. I liked what I saw and I can recommend it to players who are not bothered by the old game and level designs. If you are an old fan who wants to be nostalgic, I think you should not make a final decision without reading another colleague’s review.
That’s all I have to say about the game for now. Hope to see you again in another game and review, stay with love and gaming.