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    Beyond Good & Evil

    Game » consists of 14 releases. Released Nov 11, 2003

    The story of a young, curious, and green-loving photojournalist named Jade, out to unravel an alien conspiracy on her home planet of Hillys.

    TOS: Beyond Good And Evil HD

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    vidiot

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    Edited By vidiot

    "What in god's name is this?!"

    Welcome to my new blog series concerning achievements.

    This thing, at least conceptually, has been on my mind for about a year now. One of the many reasons why GiantBomb is fantastic, aside from it's super-secret free hamburger dispenser for those who have been members since this site's launch, has been it's achievement tracking system.

    I love achievements. I've stated many reasons for my interest in them for a long time now, but nothing really that substantially examines them. Before Microsoft thought it was cool to slap on some haphazard "100% retail complete list", there was this site, and the very simple and sufficient: S-Rank.

    End of story, no other questions necessary. You read "S-Rank" and you know what such a feat entails. Before I knew it, I had accumulated quite a few. For me, the S-Rank quest-set were some of the first to magically unlock when the Quest system was rolled out here. Congrats to Giantbomb, for creating and contributing a new form of vernacular for the OCD portion of the gaming population.

    Over the course of amassing now 40 recorded S-Ranks, (Not including my Platinum trophies) my opinions on what works...and what doesn't...has become more precise over the years. Suffice to say: There's a lot of crap to avoid, and there's a lot games that get it either half right, or have no concept of what achievements are.

    I've had a lot of people ask me what game should qualify as a "good S-Rank". I don't think it's that simple. I think that the range of achievements and trophies for games, regarding what they are for that game differs so much for each game, it's hard to get a finite hold or a standard of what qualifies as a "good S-Rank".

    That being said, there are those that confuse challenge for grinding. Games that have glitches and are technically incompetent for the achievements they have. 
    Consider this the catalyst of achievement judgment. The smoldering refuge of sanity, after the madness strikes.

    Let's break a hole in the logic wall of the internet: Let's give achievements....TO ACHIEVEMENTS.


         
    Beyond Good and Evil was originally released way back in 2003, alongside Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. One of those two franchises spear-headed by Ubisoft, went on and established a multi-kagillion dollar series, that incorporated a complete trilogy, a reboot, and a side-game to the original trilogy.
    Oh, and they also made a movie.

    The other, went on to receive tons of critical praise, and then get subsequently forgotten.

    To be fair, if you take the concept of Beyond Good & Evil at face-value, it's a bit easy to see how it was forgotten.
    Trying to advertise a Zelda inspired quasi-fantasy/sci-fi adventure game, where you play as a female photojournalist trying to start revolution against a evil space-fascist propaganda, is a bittricky to advertise. Beyond Good & Evil had virtually no advertising to speak of, and even with it's critical awards and praise was forgotten that holiday season by the likes of such stellar titles as Enter The Matrix.

    With a sequel in limbo, this HD re-release is fantastic for a number of reasons.
    1. The original game in incompatible on the 360.
    2. It's a damn good game.

    One can nit-pick around Beyond Good & Evil, but at the end of the day the most severe grievances against the game can be attributed as just that: Nit-picks, or justifiable issues concerning the fact the game is old.
    That later "issue" has difficulty finding stable ground to stand on, because Beyond Good & Evil has aged phenomenally. Sure, there are out-of-place stealth sections, and it's short. At the same time, there are also a series of forward thinking design choices, and a game-world that is oozing with it's own identity at every turn.

    If you're considering wanting to check out something new, do yourself a favor and download this old game.

    S-Rank Synopsis

    Achievements help Beyond Good & Evil, from an almost core-structural design perspective.

    One of Beyond Good & Evil's biggest complaints back then, and now was it's length. It's quite short, and those that want to go straight through without stopping and checking everything out will do so probably under ten hours. Achievements here focus on 100% completion, increasing the length of the game conceptually for several more hours. My final play-time with Beyond Good & Evil HD, dwarfed original playtime with Beyond Good & Evil.

    Even better, Beyond Good & Evil's original design seems tailored made for achievements. Collectible items are easily trackable via an in-game menu, and before you, I'm 99% positive you cannot "miss" anything the achievements.

    So let's break everything down.

    Collectibles: Manageable!

    Big Heart // Data Manager // Wildlife Photographer // MoneyBags     
    Four of Beyond Good & Evil HD's achievements is dedicated to collectibles. These achievements are quite easy, with the most challenging one involving taking pictures of all the wild-life in the game world (Wildlife Photographer). Certain bosses require you to take their pictures, but even their corpses after you have defeated them works regarding obtaining this goal. Everything can be tracked via the game's in-game menu's.

    Use a guide, if you must for pearl collecting. (MoneyBags) For people who have played this game, you might remember that collecting 80 Pearls, is a bit of a lie. The game dispenses tons of pearls to you at certain points. For those thinking that the pearls are the equivalent of something more complicated, fear not. Most are obtained after missions, and some of the side-area's are so blatantly obvious it's difficult to miss. Same goes for collecting the many MDisks.   

    It should also be noted that at one point during the game you receive an item that virtually sticks the exact locations of animals and pearls on your map. Even without achievements, Beyond Good & Evil supports you attempting to hunt and find everything.

    On a personal note: I love how the collectibles are handled in this game. There was so much time and effort put into the sheer amount of different fictional species of animals to take pictures of it's ridiculous. I never once stopped and noticed that something was a color-swap of something else. I would love to see more of that type of effort, regarding something that is essentially a collectible in future games. 

    Originality: Understandable
     
    Kicking *** // Gambler King 2
    Beyond Good & Evil is not held back with obscure situational achievements. There are no repetitive tasks to do, everything is focused on overall game-completion, which is perfect for an old game like this. Initiating stealth-kills (Kicking ***) on certain soldiers is the most situational-aware concept that you are required to accomplish, but even this unlocks as you play the game naturally.

    One achievement regarding beating another character at a mini-game (Gambler King 2) almost altered some of my final opinions. It's the closest thing you will see akin to unnecessary grinding, although there is an easy to access save right next to the game, and while the A.I. does seem to cheat, you should obtain the prize after a few turns. It's so minor though, that I couldn't bring myself to proclaiming that it's a fault.


    Missable Achievement: None!
    One can argue that several achievements can be considered missable, the problem of accepting this claim is that there is a very large and pronounced moment of "No-Return" which is a subtle as a knife in it's presentation.

    You will hit a point in which it's very obvious you are about to leave the game world...Literally.
    At that point, I have full-faith that you guys have a functioning frontal-lobe capable of understanding that you are in the final chapter.

    Glitches: Your Shit Is Broken.  
     Those of us who have experienced glitched trophies and achievements, understand the annoyance and pain of fulfilling a requirement, and not getting anything out of it. My glitched achievement policy is harsh: Even if I don't experience it myself, if I hear that others have had less than stable experiences, I must complain.

    Apparently the problem crops up if you discover a certain story specific element, before experiencing something else.
    Discovering your space-ship early apparently glitches the Pearl achievement. Specifics regarding this achievement are murky, keep it safe and hold off doing that sequence until later.

    Difficulty: Not Difficult
     
    One of the reasons why I decided to do this game first, is that I get a lot of comments that follow this very lose train-of-thought:
    "I like it when I unlock achievements while I'm playing and completing the game!"

    Beyond Good & Evil exhibits this mentality. It's not that it's "easy", the achievement list is appropriate for the game. It's an S-Rank you can obtain, while playing through a fantastic game. Exploring every nook-and-cranny on Hillys is a joy.

    Other Positive Categories
    • Grinding: None!
    • Point value: Understandable
    • DLC: None!
    • Stacking: No difficulty achievements.
    • New Game+: No New Game+ is offered.
    • One Stupid Achievement: None!

    Final Grade:

    Estimated Time: 15 hours / 1 play-through


    Beyond Good & Evil is a great S-Rank, for those who are scared of accomplishing S-Ranks.
    It is a rare situation where I believe that an old game is actually made better, simply by giving a more lucrative incentive. There is only one point that one might consider the actions you are partaking as unnecessarily "grindy", but outside of that: You are awarded by playing the game. 
    Perhaps there could have been more interesting choices of user actions to accomplish, but I don't think it would have worked within the game's original design. You could say that it "play's it safe", but at the same time if the achievements were a bit more "adventurous", it could have been a complete disaster.

    Be careful for the possibility of running into glitches, and use guides if needed.
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    vidiot

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    #1  Edited By vidiot

    "What in god's name is this?!"

    Welcome to my new blog series concerning achievements.

    This thing, at least conceptually, has been on my mind for about a year now. One of the many reasons why GiantBomb is fantastic, aside from it's super-secret free hamburger dispenser for those who have been members since this site's launch, has been it's achievement tracking system.

    I love achievements. I've stated many reasons for my interest in them for a long time now, but nothing really that substantially examines them. Before Microsoft thought it was cool to slap on some haphazard "100% retail complete list", there was this site, and the very simple and sufficient: S-Rank.

    End of story, no other questions necessary. You read "S-Rank" and you know what such a feat entails. Before I knew it, I had accumulated quite a few. For me, the S-Rank quest-set were some of the first to magically unlock when the Quest system was rolled out here. Congrats to Giantbomb, for creating and contributing a new form of vernacular for the OCD portion of the gaming population.

    Over the course of amassing now 40 recorded S-Ranks, (Not including my Platinum trophies) my opinions on what works...and what doesn't...has become more precise over the years. Suffice to say: There's a lot of crap to avoid, and there's a lot games that get it either half right, or have no concept of what achievements are.

    I've had a lot of people ask me what game should qualify as a "good S-Rank". I don't think it's that simple. I think that the range of achievements and trophies for games, regarding what they are for that game differs so much for each game, it's hard to get a finite hold or a standard of what qualifies as a "good S-Rank".

    That being said, there are those that confuse challenge for grinding. Games that have glitches and are technically incompetent for the achievements they have. 
    Consider this the catalyst of achievement judgment. The smoldering refuge of sanity, after the madness strikes.

    Let's break a hole in the logic wall of the internet: Let's give achievements....TO ACHIEVEMENTS.


         
    Beyond Good and Evil was originally released way back in 2003, alongside Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. One of those two franchises spear-headed by Ubisoft, went on and established a multi-kagillion dollar series, that incorporated a complete trilogy, a reboot, and a side-game to the original trilogy.
    Oh, and they also made a movie.

    The other, went on to receive tons of critical praise, and then get subsequently forgotten.

    To be fair, if you take the concept of Beyond Good & Evil at face-value, it's a bit easy to see how it was forgotten.
    Trying to advertise a Zelda inspired quasi-fantasy/sci-fi adventure game, where you play as a female photojournalist trying to start revolution against a evil space-fascist propaganda, is a bittricky to advertise. Beyond Good & Evil had virtually no advertising to speak of, and even with it's critical awards and praise was forgotten that holiday season by the likes of such stellar titles as Enter The Matrix.

    With a sequel in limbo, this HD re-release is fantastic for a number of reasons.
    1. The original game in incompatible on the 360.
    2. It's a damn good game.

    One can nit-pick around Beyond Good & Evil, but at the end of the day the most severe grievances against the game can be attributed as just that: Nit-picks, or justifiable issues concerning the fact the game is old.
    That later "issue" has difficulty finding stable ground to stand on, because Beyond Good & Evil has aged phenomenally. Sure, there are out-of-place stealth sections, and it's short. At the same time, there are also a series of forward thinking design choices, and a game-world that is oozing with it's own identity at every turn.

    If you're considering wanting to check out something new, do yourself a favor and download this old game.

    S-Rank Synopsis

    Achievements help Beyond Good & Evil, from an almost core-structural design perspective.

    One of Beyond Good & Evil's biggest complaints back then, and now was it's length. It's quite short, and those that want to go straight through without stopping and checking everything out will do so probably under ten hours. Achievements here focus on 100% completion, increasing the length of the game conceptually for several more hours. My final play-time with Beyond Good & Evil HD, dwarfed original playtime with Beyond Good & Evil.

    Even better, Beyond Good & Evil's original design seems tailored made for achievements. Collectible items are easily trackable via an in-game menu, and before you, I'm 99% positive you cannot "miss" anything the achievements.

    So let's break everything down.

    Collectibles: Manageable!

    Big Heart // Data Manager // Wildlife Photographer // MoneyBags     
    Four of Beyond Good & Evil HD's achievements is dedicated to collectibles. These achievements are quite easy, with the most challenging one involving taking pictures of all the wild-life in the game world (Wildlife Photographer). Certain bosses require you to take their pictures, but even their corpses after you have defeated them works regarding obtaining this goal. Everything can be tracked via the game's in-game menu's.

    Use a guide, if you must for pearl collecting. (MoneyBags) For people who have played this game, you might remember that collecting 80 Pearls, is a bit of a lie. The game dispenses tons of pearls to you at certain points. For those thinking that the pearls are the equivalent of something more complicated, fear not. Most are obtained after missions, and some of the side-area's are so blatantly obvious it's difficult to miss. Same goes for collecting the many MDisks.   

    It should also be noted that at one point during the game you receive an item that virtually sticks the exact locations of animals and pearls on your map. Even without achievements, Beyond Good & Evil supports you attempting to hunt and find everything.

    On a personal note: I love how the collectibles are handled in this game. There was so much time and effort put into the sheer amount of different fictional species of animals to take pictures of it's ridiculous. I never once stopped and noticed that something was a color-swap of something else. I would love to see more of that type of effort, regarding something that is essentially a collectible in future games. 

    Originality: Understandable
     
    Kicking *** // Gambler King 2
    Beyond Good & Evil is not held back with obscure situational achievements. There are no repetitive tasks to do, everything is focused on overall game-completion, which is perfect for an old game like this. Initiating stealth-kills (Kicking ***) on certain soldiers is the most situational-aware concept that you are required to accomplish, but even this unlocks as you play the game naturally.

    One achievement regarding beating another character at a mini-game (Gambler King 2) almost altered some of my final opinions. It's the closest thing you will see akin to unnecessary grinding, although there is an easy to access save right next to the game, and while the A.I. does seem to cheat, you should obtain the prize after a few turns. It's so minor though, that I couldn't bring myself to proclaiming that it's a fault.


    Missable Achievement: None!
    One can argue that several achievements can be considered missable, the problem of accepting this claim is that there is a very large and pronounced moment of "No-Return" which is a subtle as a knife in it's presentation.

    You will hit a point in which it's very obvious you are about to leave the game world...Literally.
    At that point, I have full-faith that you guys have a functioning frontal-lobe capable of understanding that you are in the final chapter.

    Glitches: Your Shit Is Broken.  
     Those of us who have experienced glitched trophies and achievements, understand the annoyance and pain of fulfilling a requirement, and not getting anything out of it. My glitched achievement policy is harsh: Even if I don't experience it myself, if I hear that others have had less than stable experiences, I must complain.

    Apparently the problem crops up if you discover a certain story specific element, before experiencing something else.

    Difficulty: Not Difficult
     
    One of the reasons why I decided to do this game first, is that I get a lot of comments that follow this very lose train-of-thought:
    "I like it when I unlock achievements while I'm playing and completing the game!"

    Beyond Good & Evil exhibits this mentality. It's not that it's "easy", the achievement list is appropriate for the game. It's an S-Rank you can obtain, while playing through a fantastic game. Exploring every nook-and-cranny on Hillys is a joy.

    Other Positive Categories
    • Grinding: None!
    • Point value: Understandable
    • DLC: None!
    • Stacking: No difficulty achievements.
    • New Game+: No New Game+ is offered.
    • One Stupid Achievement: None!

    Final Grade:

    Estimated Time: 15 hours / 1 play-through


    Beyond Good & Evil is a great S-Rank, for those who are scared of accomplishing S-Ranks.
    It is a rare situation where I believe that an old game is actually made better, simply by giving a more lucrative incentive. There is only one point that one might consider the actions you are partaking as unnecessarily "grindy", but outside of that: You are awarded by playing the game. 
    Perhaps there could have been more interesting choices of user actions to accomplish, but I don't think it would have worked within the game's original design. You could say that it "play's it safe", but at the same time if the achievements were a bit more "adventurous", it could have been a complete disaster.

    Be careful for the possibility of running into glitches, and use guides if needed.
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    JJWeatherman

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    #2  Edited By JJWeatherman

    Wow, this is a strange yet good idea. I'm in the middle of something now, but I'm definitely reading all of this later tonight.

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    Skald

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    #3  Edited By Skald

    If I ever get this game, I'm going to go through this bullet-point by bullet-point.

    Heck, I might anyway. I'm a sucker for a unique, well-formatted blog.

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    tebbit

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    #4  Edited By tebbit

    This is a great idea. Keep it up!

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    Portis

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    #5  Edited By Portis

    Holy crap, you obviously put a lot of work into this. Keep 'em coming!

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    rargy

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    #6  Edited By rargy

    I was just about to do this now that i'm done with Dragon Age 2.  Good to know it's not that difficult.

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    Metric_Outlaw

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    #7  Edited By Metric_Outlaw

    Lol this is a really clever idea. More please

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    Claude

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    #8  Edited By Claude

    Nice

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    Vinny_Says

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    #9  Edited By Vinny_Says

     http://www.xbox360achievements.org/

    They have some pretty great guides that are similar to this. But kudos on the hard work you put in, keep it up!

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    vidiot

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    #10  Edited By vidiot
    @JJWeatherman:@Tebbit:@TimAllen624:
    Thanks everyone, I appreciate the positive comments.

    @Portis:
    I've been trying to nail down this thing conceptually ever since I got a Platinum trophy in Yakuza 3 about a year ago. I don't think I got everything stable yet, but I think I got the basics down.
    I've S-Ranked a few games that, well, let's say could have been better regarding how they handle achievements. The next entry will illustrate this.

    @rargy:
    "Difficulty" is a very strange concept these days in games. I find it funny that we associate the concept of "difficulty" in regards to achievements, usually to things that are not by definition: Difficult.
    Grinding vapid sequences over-and-over again is not difficulty, it's a form of semi-mental psychosis. Not to throw absolute hate on the concept of grinding misc tasks for achievements, there are games that do that concept successfully. I hope to dive into this in detail later.
    Suffice to say, Beyond Good & Evil achievements make sense for the game that it is.

    @extremeradical:@blacklabeldomm:
    I want to point out that these blogs will not be "guides", in a traditional sense. If you are looking for specifics, I clearly state in certain instances in this blog for example, that you should look up guides if you're looking at specifics.
    xbox360achievements is a great site, so is it's sister-site for PS3.
    These blogs exhibit my opinion on the quality of an S-Rank, and the quality of a game's achievements. They should be read for those curious on what it will take to obtain an S-Rank, and in some instances: If it's worth it.
    I'm rating achievements. Or giving achievements to achievements. I think this broke some-form of logic barrier somewhere in the universe.
    I don't really care. The more madness the better.
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    Ghostiet

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    #11  Edited By Ghostiet

    That was fun. Maybe not the best game for the pilot - Yakuza 3 maybe? - but I'm looking forward to another one.

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    danielkempster

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    #12  Edited By danielkempster

    Great concept, vidiot. It's nice to see such an original serial blog making its debut on Giant Bomb. I look forward to future instalments. Thanks, also, for reminding me that I really need to play Beyond Good & Evil at some point very soon.

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    Catolf

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    #13  Edited By Catolf

    I WILL POST A BETTER THING 2MOZ WHEN I DON'T HAVE TO SLEEP..... then i'll seriously read. ^^

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    vidiot

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    #14  Edited By vidiot
    @Ghostiet:  I want to start with something easy, and specifically positive. I've already decided the next game to write about, and it will not be as kind as this.
    @dankempster: Thanks, I'm surprised with the positive feedback. I'll try and pop one of these out every week or so.
    @Catolf: Your transgression has been forgiven, and my crush on you has not been eroded.
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    Catolf

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    #15  Edited By Catolf
    @vidiot:  Daw. But I  really like this, I've never seen anyone give their thoughts on the quality of S ranks or Plats in a game, here for sure I would have thought you would have picked Yakuza for it! I'll have to get beyond good and evil because I did miss the boat on it when it first came out and it sounds like the achievements won't make you rip out your hair.
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    PixelPrinny

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    #16  Edited By PixelPrinny

    Even though I could not possibly care less about achievements, I like this idea of a blog for those who do enjoy them. It has a nice layout and a good bite-sized serving of information. Keep it up :)


    I really should play Beyond Good & Evil again one of these days.

    /totallynotreplyingoutofobligationforyoureadingmyblog
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    NegativeCero

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    #17  Edited By NegativeCero

    I'm playing BG&E too and I'm really liking it. Having never played it, some of it's mechanics are clearly dated. 

    Might refer to this if I'm looking to S-rank.
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    EuanDewar

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    #18  Edited By EuanDewar

    Oh man this is a great idea for a blog! Even if I did initially read it as "Tales Of SRANK". Followed.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

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