Why is Beyond Good and Evil so popular?
I have recently seen this game for sale on GOG and in the past I have heard of it spoken of as a almost Zelda like cult classic. I am wondering though, what...
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Play the game and find out? It's not the best game evar, but it is a well done and thoroughly enjoyable ride through a lush and imaginative setting with some well done characters and decent gameplay.

Gameplay-wise it's a bit of a mixed bag with decent combat, decent exploration, surprisingly fun vehicle sections and mini-games, and some competent stealth sections. I'd compare it less to Zelda or Prince of Persia and more to something like... hmmm... Arkham Asylum. Semi-open world but with a strictly linear plot, lots of side stuff, and an addictive 'gotta catch em all' photography side-mission that plays like that old game Pokemon Snap only, y'know, good.

If that sounds like something you'd be interested in give it a try. Game does indeed have its problems, it's not perfect, but for the 4 bucks gog is asking it's definitely worth it.

Oh, and did I mention the brilliant soundtrack? Because it's worth mentioning:

I have played and finished Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia sands of time and in my opinion Prince of persia is a far superior game but they are both very different.

Beyond Good and Evil is a weird game its not great by any means but its certainly not bad and has that weird just a bit more vibe to it I think I finished it in 3 sittings getting all the stupid orb collectables. Some parts of it look really nice particularly some of the levels but the hub kinda felt lacking to me and the whole game feels er well very french for want of a better description which would make sense I suppose.

I would recommend playing it but I would hesitate to call it a classic certainly not on a par with Prince of persia the sands of time but it is good fun and something different in some ways even though its a basic plat former at heart. I hope the sequel materialises and its better than Prince of persias sequels (after sands of time).

I love Beyond Good and Evil, for me I love exploring the world which is huge and beautiful. It has a great art style and two really likeable characters in Jade and Pey'j (Plus another that's added later). I just thought the world was really well realized, it had a sense of place, whimsical and alluring. Jade herself plays an investigative journalist who is investigating a what she suspects is a government conspiracy (Spoiler: There is) so her camera plays a large part in the game, both for the plot in exposing the story to the people, and for a side mission where you have to capture photos of rare animals (This is HUGELY addictive and the rewards make it well worth it). Oh and did I mention it has an incredible sound track? All of it combines for a sublime gaming experience.

As for Sands of Time its brilliant too but you cant compare the two games, they play too differently. I'm not saying that Beyond Good and Evil is the better game, I just love it more, I'm not sure how that makes sense but there it is. I still have Beyond Good and Evil on my hard drive, waiting for another playthrough.

Edit: Oooh, and you get to scoot around in an awesome hovercraft to get from place to place. Cant forget to mention that

Well, I'm probably one of the few people who has played the game and actually found it underwhelming.

the soundtrack, graphical style and setting are all great, but as far as story and gameplay goes, it falls short. Apart from the focus on taking pictures (which can get tedious), the gameplay is nothing special and I was often swearing at the context sensitive commands. Also, for a game called "Beyond Good and Evil", there's a severe lack of ambiguity and "grey areas". The characters are likeable enough, but apart from one plot twist, the story really is rather dull and unimaginative. It's like they wanted to go for something with tons of intrigue, with your character uncovering one giant mystery after another, conspiracies and choices challenging morality... But I guess either their tech and/or writer wasn't up to the task.

On top of that, it's a very short game with little to do on the side. Seriously, I always hear about people who like to roam around in the world with the hovercraft, but the world isn't all that big and there isn't all that much to do. And the whole "point of no return" isn't handled very well. I actually read there was going to be a lot more exploration, there were going to be multiple villages, mountains - even planets! But after playing Wind Waker, the director said he disliked long exploration parts, so he cut it from his game, leaving the rest of the developers depressed. You know what? I want to play that game.

I mean, this game came out the same time as Jak II: Renegade. Now while these games aren't exactly the same genre per se, they have some common ground - and in every aspect they would overlap on a Venn diagram, Jak II would take the cake.

But hey, that's just me.

Godric said:

I have recently seen this game for sale on GOG and in the past I have heard of it spoken of as a almost Zelda like cult classic. I am wondering though, what makes it so popular and if it worth getting? Also how does it compare to Prince of Persia the Sands of Time which is also in the sale for the same price and which would you say was better? Any help is greatly appreciated.

They're both great, it's really tough to say which one is better but if I had to I'd go with PoP. I haven't played either in some time so I don't know how well they stand up to our evolving perceptions of how games should look.

I don't know about "popular", but it's loved dearly by some for good reason.

It's a richly detailed world with an eclectic cast of characters, great art and sound design, an engrossing narrative, and a host of other things you just don't see in quality form that often.

If you like action-adventure games like Zelda, Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, etc, I highly recommend it.

an annoyed writer said:

It's a wonderful game! I've been playing through it recently and I've been enjoying it as much as ever. The world is immersive and detailed, the soundtrack is full of brilliant pieces, and the gameplay is generally pretty fun. Zelda is the best parallel that I can think of in terms of feel for gameplay, though BG&E is a bit harder.

"Propaganda! Ungh! Propaganda! Oh! Propaganda!"

The game has heart - not Earthbound level heart but a lot for a video game. It has very odd gameplay in a strange world where seemingly anything can happen.

To an extent this is it's weakness, since there is little logical uniformity to the world making it seem like a fanciful construct of a video game developer rather than a real place.

The design aesthetic is consistent though, and charming.

Much like another French developer Quantic Dream's games, BG&E is a very strange high budget game, and in a industry where terrible uniformity is the norm, BG&E is a great breath of fresh air, with it's sequel possibly having the same effect when it emerges.

It's often the games with heart that are underappreciated by most gamers but which find a strong cult following. Anachronox, Earthbound, BG&E - games which push the boundaries of what is acceptable in a high budget game (in a noble way, not a GTA sex and violence way) and which are too often punished by zombie gamers who can't manage to think outside the box.