Beyond Good & Evil 2: After being in development hell for many years, the sequel to cult favorite Beyond Good and Evil has finally been given some direction. Although Beyond Good and Evil 2 has only recently been unveiled, the fate of the upcoming title has been questioned for a long time. For game creator Michel Ancel had made it clear that the universe he had conceived in his mind was far too great to be limited to one game, and talks of a possible trilogy were heard. Several years of development hell later, the new game was finally unveiled at E3 2017 by Ancel and his writer, Gabrielle Shrager, with the former making it clear that it has been an emotional journey. Despite all the struggle to actually figure out what Ancel wanted to do with the follow-up, the sad truth is that there’s a long way to go in terms of the development. Still, there’s a story in place, along with the new technology that Ubisoft needs to build the ambitious new game. Here’s everything we know about Beyond Good and Evil 2 so far.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 Release Date
First things first, when is it coming out? Ubisoft has not specified a release window for Beyond Good & Evil 2 just yet, although that’s not really a bad thing, considering all the confusion that has been reigning for the last decade. Ancel had expressed his desires to give completion to the story with more games not long after the original standalone title received widespread acclaim. However, it has been a task to keep up with all that has happened since then. As Eurogamer pointed out in an article from 2005, Ubisoft’s decision to engage Ancel’s artistic expertise on other projects may not have been such a bad one, although it meant putting Beyond Good and Evil 2 on hold for far longer than anyone had fathomed.
What’s Been The Story So Far?
But as it turns out, Ancel had never really given up on the possibility and been working tirelessly to get it approved. In fact, the E3 2017 trailer wasn’t the first we had seen of the new game. Earlier trailers as well as leaks, confirmed by the creators as being authentic, were evidence that the game figured very much in the plans. However, a lot has changed since then. The 2008 trailer (that Ubisoft had kept unnamed) and the one that came out the following year had enough BG&E elements to convince us all, and for a moment it looked like Jade and Pey’j were making a comeback. Now, however, we know that it is taking a completely different turn. You can watch both the early videos below.
So When Is It Coming Out?
Like we said, the Beyond Good & Evil 2 release date is yet to be announced. After the E3 2017 announcement and trailer showcase, Ancel confirmed to The Verge that even though the team behind the game have been brainstorming for nearly a decade, it was essentially at Day Zero of development. This was because all the earlier demos pursued a different path- those of a more traditional sequel, while the announcement confirmed that the upcoming game was, indeed, a prequel with a number of departures. The good news, however, is that Ancel has affirmed that the aim was to make the end result resemble the announcement trailer as closely as possible, and that it would be ready for a more in-depth showing by 2018. We don’t know if this means that we’ll see the game come out next year, especially given that the cinematic trailer was perfection. To achieve that level of superior graphics in the game is doubtless a challenge, but for a title that is the project of its creators’ dreams, we say it stands a chance. As for the main question here, we are hopeful that E3 2018 will seal the date.
As for platforms, no news on that front either, although it is expected that PC, Xbox One, and PS4 support are a given. Rumors of a Nintendo Switch version had briefly surfaced, but it seems unlikely that such an ambitious game that has already been over a decade in the making will add a separate platform version.
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Trailer
By now, we have a total of three different trailers, and not all of those pertain to the title that was announced this year. We wonder if the ones we had seen earlier would go into another BG&E game to complete the trilogy that Ancel had set out to make, but the new one is dramatically different. You can take a look at our first glimpse at the ambitious new undertaking from Ubisoft Montpellier called Beyond Good & Evil 2, with its massive multi-ethnic shared world teaming with hybrids, humans, architecture, and of course, giant space-pirate vessels. At the end, you can catch Ancel along with Story Design in-charge Gabrielle Shrager briefly talk about the long journey and where it is ultimately taking them.
Beyond Good & Evil 2 Story
The first trailer of Beyond Good & Evil 2 has sparked mixed reactions, with fans of the original claiming that it doesn’t appear to be part of the franchise, save for the few shreds of similarity. This is all but natural given that it’s a prequel that is being made for a wider audience. The creators have said that they have decided to make the story such that even those unfamiliar with the series will be able to enjoy the game, and given the fourteen years divide in their release, it seems to be a good idea. Not much is known about the Beyond Good & Evil 2 game, but that’s not so much the case with the story.
Shareger confirmed that the new story is located in a distant solar system called System 3 not only before the event of the earlier game but before Jade was born. In this older society, megacorps create hybridized species in labs (much like the monkey that we saw in the trailer) and enslave them in order to gain control of other planets. There will be multiple characters to choose from to play as, each as “crazy and unforgettable” as the other, but they all start at the very bottom of the pile. The point is to fight your way up the ladder and ultimately gain control of massive space-faring vessels to travel between planets that are both unique and dangerous.
This is how the trailer description reads: “While private enterprises fight over resources and power, the first colonists weave together the rich and diverse spiritual and cultural heritages of Old Earth to give meaning to their existence. In this new era of piracy, we will rise from lowly pirate to legendary captain at the helm of massive star-faring vessels, adventuring alongside crews of colorful characters to fight for freedom and the right to determine our own fate among the stars!”
Beyond Good & Evil 2 Gameplay
The new game is currently in the early stages of development, which means that we won’t know how it will look as we play it in a while. Thankfully, the creators have dropped a few clues along the way- the most significant one being the in-engine demo showed off by Ancel after E3. Here’s what we have learned about Beyond Good & Evil 2’s gameplay.
Shared World
Beyond Good & Evil 2’s gameplay will be a massive departure from what fans experienced in the 2003 predecessor, one of them being the implementation of multiplayer elements. The developers have confirmed that while the story can be experienced on one’s own, there’s also an option to play wth your friends in a shared world environemtn where certain things will take place for multiple players at the same time. This will be in effect regardless of whether you’re playing by yourself or the co-op multiplayer.
Exploration is the focus
One of the reasons why the game has been so long coming is the development of several new technolgies to power it, one of those being at the heart of the seamless online playground that it aims to offer. As Ancel has noted before, the player starts at the very bottom rung of the society (as a lowly pirate or anything else that’s on offer) and has to find their way up. Exploration will play a huge part in where you fidn yourself in the world of Beyond Good & Evil 2, and the good news is that everything lying in between the planet that you’re on and the universe can be experienced to the fullest. That seems to imply that there will be multiple planets to explore, much like Mass Effect: Andromeda from earlier this year- although we haven’t heard anything about alien races yet. The focus- it seems- is on what remains of the civilization on Earth as we know it, and what doesn’t.
Massive Scale
One of the things that really left us impressed was the humongous scale of the upcoming game, which was flaunted by Ancel in the tech demo. The mothership that we saw in the trailer, he explained, was over 400 m long and can accommodate smaller spaceships besides of course the characters. Just so fans can get a feel of how big they’re going, he also let the monkey (the character he had chosen to play as at the time of the demo) out of his ship so that we could get a comparative feel of the character against the gigantic Ganesha statue. The whole world, in fact, seems to have been built on the importance of scale as we are shown how the statue becomes but a speck in the massive continent as the director zooms out. This will doubtless play a crucial part in a game that encourages its players to explore every place that they come across.
Character Customization
One of the greatest things about Beyond Good & Evil 2 is that the player has ample freedom with the character they pick. With more in-depth RPG elements compared to the first game, the upcoming game will let the player generate a character according to their preferences, starting from the very basics such as gender or class. In the tech demo, we see Ancel play Beyond Good & Evil 2 as the monkey we saw in the trailer. As you progress through the game, going through several missions, you will be able to upgrade your character and improve their rank. The aim is to gain control of your own spaceship and companions to do their bit and fight for freedom.
Wrap Up
Ubisoft Montpellier’s upcoming pre-sequel is giving a whole new dimension to aiming for the stars, and there’s a lot we still have to learn about it considering that it’s still in the early stages of development. All we can hope for right now is to know more about how the actual game is going to look, and when it will come out.
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