Info about Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition: Official game description: A Pioneering Action-Adventure Game ---------------------------------- Armed with her precious daï-jo fighting stick and faithful camera, Jade’s adventure will get you to freely explore Hillys, combat creatures large and small, infiltrate dangerous areas, solve enigmatic puzzles, play addictive mini-games, race the best hovercraft pilots, and take pictures of the whole experience. Rediscover the Award-Winning Adventure -------------------------------------- Swoop into the marvelous world of Hillys as action-reporter Jade to investigate the mysterious DomZ alien attacks alongside colorful characters, like her adoptive uncle Pey’j or the valiant Double H. On the Hunt for Treasure ------------------------ Enjoy exclusive new rewards as you explore the planet and discover more about Jade’s past in a new treasure hunt throughout Hillys. Dive into History ----------------- Put your skills to the test thanks to the new speedrun mode and updated achievements, and learn more about the game’s development and secrets in the anniversary gallery! The Best Way to Play -------------------- Embark on this epic adventure in up to 4K 60 fps with improved graphics and controls, along with updated audio and remastered soundtrack, and new quality-of-life features including autosave, cross-save, and cutscene-skip. Be ready to experience a trailblazing blend of action gameplay and thrilling emotional cutscenes! Release date: 24 Jun, 2024 Categories: Action-adventure, Open-World Exploration, Real-time Combat, Stealth Gameplay, Puzzle Solving, Photography Gameplay, Racing, Investigative Gameplay - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Added content enhances replayability (weight 0.91): The remaster includes new content such as a speedrun mode, bonus materials, and a treasure hunt, providing additional challenges and lore for both new and returning players. These additions enhance the replayability and offer a deeper dive into the game's world and development. - Greatly improved graphics and performance (weight 0.88): The remaster features significantly improved graphics, textures, lighting, and audio, enhancing the overall visual and auditory experience while preserving the original art style. The game also runs smoothly on modern systems, including the Steam Deck, with stable performance and high resolutions. - Retains original charm and story (weight 0.83): The game retains its original charm, compelling story, memorable characters, and fantastic music, evoking nostalgia for longtime fans. The story and characters are well-written and engaging, with heartwarming moments and a timeless quality. - Improved controls and accessibility (weight 0.78): The remaster addresses issues with the original PC version, offering improved controls, controller support, and bug fixes. The game is now more accessible and enjoyable on modern systems, providing a hassle-free experience without the need for workarounds or patches. - Evokes strong nostalgia and memories (weight 0.76): The remaster evokes strong feelings of nostalgia and positive memories for those who played the original game, bringing back childhood experiences and emotions. Reviewers express deep personal connections to the game, highlighting its lasting impact and enjoyment after many years. - Hints at Beyond Good & Evil 2 (weight 0.13): The remaster includes new content and references that connect the game to the upcoming Beyond Good & Evil 2, generating excitement and anticipation for the sequel. This added lore and world-building provide a glimpse into the future of the series and hint at potential storylines. - Addition of Steam achievements (weight 0.08): The game has been updated to include Steam achievements, providing additional challenges and rewards for players. The achievements are generally easy to obtain and add to the overall sense of accomplishment. - Added skins and Jade's backstory (weight 0.08): The remaster includes new skins for characters and vehicles, as well as a side quest that expands on Jade's backstory and connects to the upcoming Beyond Good & Evil 2. This new content adds depth to the story and provides additional customization options for players. - Ubisoft's best creation (weight 0.03): The reviewer considers the game to be one of Ubisoft's best creations, surpassing many of their other titles. This highlights the game's quality and enduring appeal, showcasing Ubisoft's capabilities at their peak. - Remastered and re-orchestrated soundtrack (weight 0.03): The game's soundtrack has been remastered and re-orchestrated, enhancing the musical experience with live instrumentation and additional flourishes. Some tracks have been added to Spotify, making the music more accessible to fans. - Jade is a strong, iconic character (weight 0.03): Jade is highlighted as a compassionate, strong, and iconic character, with a relatable personality and a unique background as a photojournalist turned resistance fighter. The new side mission delves into Jade's past, further enriching her character and story. Common complaints: - Frequent crashes, especially on AMD (weight 0.25): The game suffers from widespread crashing issues, particularly on PC with AMD hardware, rendering it unplayable for many. These crashes occur during startup, cutscenes, gameplay, and even after applying patches. The issue has persisted for months without a fix, leading to refunds and strong negative recommendations. - Visual downgrades and unaddressed issues (weight 0.23): The remaster introduces unwanted visual changes, retains original bugs, and suffers from new performance issues. Many reviewers feel the graphical overhaul is a downgrade, with oddities, missing effects, and a lack of optimization. Some prefer the original character models and find the new ones to look plastic-like. - Intrusive Ubisoft Connect DRM (weight 0.22): The game's reliance on Ubisoft Connect is a major source of frustration. Players are forced to use the launcher, which causes crashes, requires constant logins, and displays intrusive notifications. The inclusion of Denuvo DRM is also criticized, especially for a single-player game. - Limited save slots, progress loss (weight 0.12): The game's save system is restrictive, with only one manual save slot and an over-reliance on auto-saves. This limitation exacerbates the impact of bugs and softlocks, potentially leading to significant progress loss. The lack of Steam Cloud saves is also a drawback. - Short, easy, tedious combat (weight 0.09): The game is considered short by modern standards, and the combat is tedious. Some reviewers feel the price is not justified by the content offered. The game is not particularly challenging, potentially leading to boredom for some players. - Missing/broken Steam achievements (weight 0.07): The game initially lacked Steam achievements, despite being advertised. While achievements were later added, the initial absence was a significant disappointment for many players. Some users are still experiencing issues with achievement unlocking and syncing. - Terrible final boss design (weight 0.07): The final boss fight is widely criticized for its poor design, inverted controls, and frustrating difficulty. Many reviewers found the fight to be a tedious and unenjoyable experience that almost ruined the entire game. The inverted controls are inconsistent with the rest of the game. - Poor story, weak characters (weight 0.05): The story is cliché, predictable, and full of plot holes. The characters are underdeveloped and rely on stereotypes. Jade's animations and voice acting are awkward. - Frustrating stealth sections (weight 0.05): The game features forced stealth segments that are often frustrating due to questionable NPC detection and limited camera control. The default control scheme makes it difficult to perform stealth actions. Some players found the stealth sections tedious and unenjoyable. - Audio issues, poor sound mixing (weight 0.04): The game suffers from audio issues such as bad audio fall-off, out-of-sync subtitles, and inconsistent voice acting quality. Some sound effects are out-of-place and overly loud, disrupting the atmosphere. The sound mixing is poor, and some reviewers noted audio glitches and bugs. - Minor bugs and glitches (weight 0.03): The game has minor bugs that need to be patched. Some old bugs were not fixed in the new release. Visual bugs and camera issues were present. - Ubisoft Cloud issues (weight 0.03): The reviewer feels forced to use the Ubisoft Cloud to inflate its user numbers. The Ubisoft launcher is seen as a negative by some users. The game lacks normal cloud sync functionality. - Erratic camera behavior (weight 0.03): The camera system is problematic and erratic. The camera tends to go haywire sometimes, and the field of view (FoV) cannot be adjusted. The camera has unwanted movements that modify the player's trajectory without their input. - Lack of language/controller support (weight 0.02): The game lacks Ukrainian language support, Russian voice acting, and 16:10 support. The game does not work with DualShock 4 controllers. There is no ultrawide support or support for framerates higher than 60fps. Gameplay feedback: - Varied gameplay, conspiracy story (weight 0.12): The game blends action, adventure, stealth, and puzzles, casting the player as Jade, an investigative journalist uncovering a government conspiracy and photographing wildlife on the planet Hyllis. While combat and stealth mechanics are present, the focus is more on exploration and puzzle-solving. - Faithful remaster, dated gameplay (weight 0.05): The remaster largely preserves the original gameplay, world, music, and story. Some reviewers noted that the gameplay feels dated, while others found it engaging, especially for newcomers. The camera system received mixed feedback, with some finding it slightly off compared to the original. - Photography-based economy/progression (weight 0.04): A core gameplay mechanic involves photography, where players earn money by taking pictures of wildlife. This mechanic is essential for gathering evidence and progressing through the game. - Short playtime, speedrun mode (weight 0.03): The game is relatively short, beatable in 6-10 hours, with a speedrun mode included for replayability. Players can skip cutscenes to speed up progress, and the game respawns you at the last autosave with full health upon death. - Hovercraft exploration and upgrades (weight 0.03): The hovercraft is a key vehicle used for exploration, combat, and races. Pearls are required to upgrade the hovercraft, encouraging players to explore and collect them. - Zelda-like gameplay elements (weight 0.02): The game borrows elements from 3D Zelda games, featuring dungeon exploration, switch finding, item acquisition, and boss battles. Some reviewers describe it as a Zelda clone with a smaller scope. - Linear map and progression (weight 0.02): The game features a linear map design, requiring players to follow corridors for the story to unfold. Progression is gated by currency that unlocks new areas, creating a linear path despite the presence of optional content. - Polarizing stealth mechanics (weight 0.01): Stealth gameplay receives mixed reviews, with some finding it challenging and varied, while others consider it too simplified and over-directed. It generally involves crouching, timing movements, and performing contextual actions to avoid detection. - Cosmetic additions, questionable quality (weight 0.01): The game includes additional costumes for the main characters, items, and vehicles. However, some reviewers felt that most of the new costumes don't look as good as the originals. - Automated platforming challenges (weight 0.01): The game features platforming and combat challenges. However, platforming is mostly automated, requiring minimal player input. Performance notes: - Good performance, stable on modern systems (weight 0.17): Many reviewers report that the game generally runs well, with stable performance and improved compatibility on modern systems, including Steam Deck. Some users have reported needing to update drivers to resolve crashes and stability problems. This is a significant improvement over the original version. - Music issues reported (weight 0.01): Some reviewers have reported issues with the game's music, such as it not starting in certain areas or cutting off when going into the graphics menu. - Homing cannon targeting issue (weight 0.01): The homing cannon sometimes hits the water before reaching the target if the target is too close to the water. - Camera bugs more frequent (weight 0.01): Some reviewers have reported that the camera bugs out more frequently in this version of the game. - Movement hitches while crawling (weight 0.01): There are movement hitches when changing the angle while crawling, and to a lesser extent while running; it's unclear if this is a controller or game issue. - Old camera issue resolved (weight 0): An old camera issue present in older PC ports has been resolved in this version. - Slightly longer loading times (weight 0): Some loading zones take a few seconds longer than usual. - Ubisoft Connect purchase issue (weight 0): The Ubislop App (Ubisoft Connect) had to be restarted twice before it acknowledged the game purchase. - Good water rendering (weight 0): Water rendering is good, with reflections visible even when looking down into the water. - Irrelevant points (weight 0): These points are jokes and memes, and do not provide any constructive feedback. Recommendations: - Highly recommended; especially for newcomers (weight 0.56): Many reviewers recommend the game, especially to newcomers and those seeking a nostalgic experience. They praise its timeless qualities, engaging story, and unique world, often suggesting it's worth playing despite its age or flaws. Some suggest it's a must-play for those who missed it initially. - Wait for a sale (weight 0.37): Several reviewers advise waiting for a sale before purchasing the game. This suggestion is often tied to concerns about the game's price relative to its age, the presence of bugs, or the lack of substantial new content in the remaster. - Remaster is a worthwhile update (weight 0.18): Many reviewers consider the remaster a worthwhile update, especially for experiencing the game on modern systems. They appreciate the improved visuals and accessibility compared to the original PC port, making it a good option for both new and returning players. - Improved PC port is welcome (weight 0.02): Some reviewers highlight the improved PC port as a major selling point, especially compared to the original. They appreciate the enhanced compatibility with modern hardware and consider it a significant upgrade. - Iconic and epic sci-fi adventure (weight 0.02): The game is an iconic and epic sci-fi adventure, polished and refined. - Worth the price (weight 0.02): The game is worth the asking price of $20. - Will update review if fixed (weight 0.02): Reviewers will change their review if the bugs are fixed. - Hope for a sequel (weight 0.01): Many reviewers express a strong desire for a sequel or continuation of the series. They hope that this release will generate enough interest to prompt the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2 or a similar project. - Gallery is a great addition (weight 0.01): For returning fans, the gallery is a standout feature, but the game itself may not be as impressive. The gallery provides a worthwhile addition, especially for those who want to revisit the game's history and development. - Similar to Zelda (weight 0.01): The game is reminiscent of Zelda, and is recommended for fans of old school 3D Zelda or games like Okami. - Better options available (weight 0.01): Unless driven by nostalgia, there are much better game options available. - Highly recommended (weight 0.01): The game is highly recommended without hesitation. Other player notes: - Extensive behind-the-scenes content (weight 0.09): The Anniversary Edition includes a wealth of bonus content, such as concept art, videos, and interviews, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the game's development. This content is particularly appealing to long-time fans, providing insights into the original vision and the development process. - Teases sequel, adds context (weight 0.08): The remaster includes new content that teases the long-awaited sequel, Beyond Good & Evil 2, and adds context to Jade's past. While some find this addition exciting and a sign of progress, others are frustrated by the constant reminders of a sequel that has been in development for many years with only small updates. - Acknowledges dated stereotypes (weight 0.02): The game includes a disclaimer acknowledging potentially offensive stereotypes present in the original game due to its age, particularly regarding Orientalism. Some reviewers found the disclaimer unnecessary, while others appreciated the acknowledgement of dated content. - Added speedrun mode (weight 0.01): A speedrun mode has been added to the game, allowing players to time their runs. The timer stops at the end of the game, before the end credits. - Old PC version had issues (weight 0.01): The original PC version of the game required patches to address various issues, such as save fixes, audio desync, and compatibility problems with newer operating systems. These issues are likely resolved in the Anniversary Edition. - Includes collectibles (weight 0.01): The game includes collectibles such as pearls, animal photos, and MDisks. One reviewer found the Mdisk Pearl minigame, which requires collecting all 88 pearls, to be the most difficult part of the game. - Short playtime (weight 0.01): The game can be completed in about 3.5 hours. One reviewer felt the game was supposed to be a much bigger project than it ended up being. Emotions: No emotions}