Masterpiece or Mediocre?

[conantheimp]

Okay, it's a good game and well above par, but I really don't get all the praise this game has garnered over the years. I played it on PS2 a year or two after it came out and...I liked it. BG&E is fun, but that's about it.

The game managed to NOT ♥♥♥♥ up having the (hyperbolic) dozen different control schemes and playstyles you needed to use to complete the game(off the top of my head I can think of: information gathering, combat, stealth, stealth-combat, boating racing, boat combat, puzzle-solving, bartering, pixel-hunting, and that one scene set in a spaceship). I remember a lot of them barely working at that, even while they remained "just fun".

The story...I don't really get why it gets praised at all. It actually had a fairly standard U/Dystopia plot about uncovering EVIL of a CORRUPT GOVERNMENT and even as a 13 year old I saw all the plot twists coming from a mile away.

I like the game, but can someone tell me why it's such a big deal?

[clonegunner237]

Well, to be truthful, there is no one point that I can point you towards and say "that is why the game is so good". It really lies in the smaller things.

To start, the graphics were really great back when it came out. They still hold up today, and back when it came out the game's looks really were great compared to most other stuff. The music is nice, if you take the time to listen to it. The gameplay is fun, providing good variety without ever managing to become boring or repetitive. Photography, for instance, is a game mechanic which I have never seen properly used in any other game, and yet this game does not make it feel wrong in the slightest. Not to mention, the need to hunt down animals gives a proper reason to explore the world, thus adding to the game's general feel. Combat is balanced, relying entirely on skill rather than chance, and it is challenging without becoming overly difficult. Of course, trying to attack four Alpha Sections at once tends to be a fairly tricky venture, but with enough skill, you can do it.

As for the story... like I said, it lies in the smaller things. The base concept may not be the most unique in the world, but it works. It is the kind of story that sticks with you. The kind that does not feel glued on simply to provide a reason for the player to go from A to B. The kind that truly makes the events within the game matter, and brings the game world to life. They did a great job on the characters, too. Sure, some parts may be a bit cliché from certain viewpoints, but remember, Tropes Are Not Bad.

Of course, everything is a matter of personal taste. Maybe the story was just not something that appealed to you in the way that it did to me. However, in my opinion this game is far from mediocre, and it is my opinion that Beyond Good & Evil is a masterpiece... in its own special way.

[conantheimp]

Thanks for the reasoned response.

I don't think you're wrong about anything, really. The graphics are stylized in such a way that they'll never really degrade all that much. The only games that really do that better are incredibly "cartony" games like Wind Waker and Okami. And yeah, the gameplay was nicely varied, and as I said they never really failed with any given mechanic. The story, again, was good, but I felt it was the equivalent of A Muppet Christmas Carol in bringing a deeper message to a younger audience in a much ligher format.

So I guess the only thing I really disagree on is the final review. It's definitely not "mediocre"(that was entirely for the alliteration), but I still don't think it's close to a "masterpiece".

[Mr Concept]

Got it on gamecube when it first came out. 2003 was a great year for games. BGAE, Freedom Fighters SSX3, Soul Caliber 2, Wind Waker, FZero GX, sIM cITY 4, Prince of Persia Sands of Time.

After Wind Waker BGAE was my favourite game that year. It was just a glorious mix of unusual varied gameplay, gorgeous visuals, a super original world / characters / bosses and a fun story. (weapon gameplay felt similar to Star Fox Adventures to an extent which came out the year prior)

One point i always remember was hovering out into the ocean and unexpectedly being presented with a huge open world with a gorgeous looking city surrounded by a moat/wall (made the game feel massive for its time), then racing through its sewers like f zero and then eventually exploring these cities and it's inhabitants like it was Zelda. That was like my perfect game at the time.

For me at least it was as if Nintendo, Rare and Telltale/Lucas Arts had just had a baby.

Brilliant game and unbelievable Ubisoft didn't capitalise on it with a much in demand sequal.

[Lina Inverse]

Frome the experience I have，French storytellers usually are more fans of story than plot.You saw all the plot twists coming from a mile away，that's about plot.You saw it or not，the story is still about “uncovering EVIL of a CORRUPT GOVERNMENT”，even if you didn't see it coming，you knew it the second time.And like susan sontag said(I can't remember the exact words),books don't worth reading repeatly don't worth reading at all.
What really makes a story great is its macro-structure——like those great greek myth，people keep telling them again and again for thousands of years，and the “smaller things” like clonegunner237 said.The characters，the approach to a story，the flavor，the rhythm，the message，the mood.If you are a fan of art films，you must know some of the biggest names，like bresson，dreyer，bergman，godard...They are not big fans of plots too，most of the time，their plots are simple even plain，because they can have more freedom and deliver more personal message that way.When you focus too much on the plot and make it too complicated，it usually hurt the story，and eat the “smaller things”.Cliche is not a that bad thing，it's bad because the way people telling it is cliche，not because the story itself is cliche.The whole Ulysses is a big cliche，it's Odyssey

[Infinite Fury]

Most likely a Masterpiece. If you're on Windows 10 with the Anniversary update installed, it will likely be Mediocre for you due to bugs.

[IndigoAK]

Originally posted by Shigu Kun:

Most likely a Masterpiece. If you're on Windows 10 with the Anniversary update installed, it will likely be Mediocre for you due to bugs.

The bugs have nothing to do with Windows 10. The game is over a decade old and had issues on newer hardware long before Windows 10 came out.