Your opinion on Beyond Good and Evil?
I downloaded the "HD" rerelease of Beyond Good and Evil on PSN last night and... I'm underwhelmed. I hadn't heard much about it, but from what I could tell...
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I downloaded the "HD" rerelease of Beyond Good and Evil on PSN last night and... I'm underwhelmed. I hadn't heard much about it, but from what I could tell, it was a modest but very imaginative and clever stealth- adventure- action hybrid with a fantasy aesthetic that reminded me of Jak and Daxter. I've played around five hours, but I can't really get into it in spite of myself. The gameplay has a lot of variety, and I don't really dislike any of the core mechanics, but I feel that it has no strong points. The puzzles are mildly interesting, but not frequent. The stealth sections are enjoyable, (coming from an MGS fan, at least) but the combat that ensues when you screw up, or during the scripted action sequences, is punishingly difficult and dirt simple.

The story, characters, writing, etc. are also just... a bit of a letdown. The plot is a fairly simple one without a very compelling central conflict or unique developments that seems focused on the characters, none of whom are very interesting, either. I don't dislike any of them, but no one in the cast has a very unique personality, wit, or development to seem very likable to me. I've even heard Jade brought up as one of the few positive examples of good female protagonists in gaming, but I can't bring myself to care about her either. She's competent, but hardly has any dialogue or arc to speak of, so I don't really care what happens to her.

I don't want this to come off as a rant, I just have difficulty pointing out what I dislike about this game. I feel like I should appreciate it more, but every feature that seems remotely interesting to me just seems lackluster.

Any fans or haters of the game are welcome to share their thoughts on Beyond Good and Evil in general. Maybe it gets better later, maybe it's overrated.

I honestly think that BG&E is overrated by its cult following. Sure, it's a solid game with excellent elements of exploration (wow, I'm an amazing alliteration... alchemist), adventure, and puzzle-solving, but the stealth sections are a little lacking and the combat is downright mediocre. The soundtrack and art style are beautiful though. I still listen to the OST on occasion.

Oh, and the characters are pretty lovabale, but I felt the story/plot was a major letdown; you'd think it would be deep with a title like Beyond Good & Evil, but no, the bad guys and very bad and the good guys are very good. That X-Men saga called Beyong Good & Evil used the term better because the story-arc was about the selfish and the selfless coming together to stop the end of the universe.

And to better understand my perspective, I played the game on GCN right when it came out in 2003. I haven't played it since. Again, it was enjoyable and it's rare when I see a game with such creative and rewarding exploration and "puzzles", but the combat is very easy and repetitive.

Fun game, likable characters, could do with having a bigger hub to explore and more dialogue. Stealth sections were somewhat underplayed and were too simple, though given the game as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag of platforming combat and stealth it's a small wonder that each of those areas should be lacking in some way. Beyond Good and Evil is truly a game that defines the phrase 'more than the sum of its parts'. Yes; you can say the characters are underdeveloped, the combat and stealth is too simplistic, and the hub world is shallow and without exploration - but it all comes together to form a fun little game that is at once engrossing with a protagonist who is visually and personably endearing, whether it's her few lines of dialogue with P'eyj or the somber expression on her face.