Beyond Good and Evil 2 Devs Focussing on "Involved Storytelling"

[Hevva]

Beyond Good and Evil 2 Devs Focussing on "Involved Storytelling"

Lead designer Michel Ancel has hinted that the long wait for this ambitious sequel has a lot to do with his team's vision for the game's story.

Since its release in 2003, Ubisoft's critically-acclaimed Beyond Good and Evil has developed a powerful cult following. Having said at E3 this year that the sequel "needs a certain power" [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-13-beyond-good-and-evil-2-needs-power] that modern consoles are unable to provide, lead designer Michel Ancel has now hinted that those "needs" find their cause in his team's big ambitions for the game's story.

In an interview with Gamesradar [http://www.gamesradar.com/rayman-origins-beyond-good-evil-and-state-games-industry-interview-michel-ancel/?page=2], Ancel said that, "Yes, we've been working on [Beyond Good and Evil 2] for a long time, but we've had some technical issues. It's a complex game."

"The idea is to be deeper in this [artistic] direction, and to have this... involved storytelling. That's the main thing that we have to focus on," he continued. "And of course, the scope of Beyond Good & Evil is large...But the space ship was designed to go from planet to planet...my thing is that we really want to make the game that was previously imagined, with all this feeling of traveling. Mass Effect did a good job on that side, and I think that there are a lot of things to do to continue in that direction, with storytelling and a massive world."

Eight full years have now passed since the release of Beyond Good and Evil, but that hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of its fans. This apparent footage from the sequel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91600-Possible-Beyond-Good-Evil-2-Footage-Leaks], leaked last year, only whetted appetites; the release of an HD version of the game on the Xbox Live Arcade (which is a total steal, and very much worth the disk space) added more people to the group keen to experience the next chapter of reporter Jade's story. While it isn't surprising that Ancel and his team don't want their vision for Beyond Good and Evil 2 to be at all restricted by technology, they should be mindful of how long we've already been waiting for this game; as powerful as the original is, they will need to be careful to ensure that they don't lose the interest of their fanbase before the sequel is complete.


Source: Gamesradar [http://www.gamesradar.com/rayman-origins-beyond-good-evil-and-state-games-industry-interview-michel-ancel/?page=2]






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[Fai57]

I'm glad to hear that they're still working on it! I'm fine with waiting until it comes out, especially if they do a really good job with it, but I like to know that they're making progress. *coughvalvecoughep3cough* And it sounds like this is going to be the game that fully realizes his vision for BG&E, which makes me really excited!

 

[Diminished Capacity]

All I know is I'll be super angry if it doesn't release this console generation. It's been so long that I've essentially given up hope, but I still keep an eye on it.

 

[Zhukov]

Oh, why must they torment us so?

It's basically turned into a low-profile Episode 3 by this point.

 

[SoopaSte123]

I played Beyond Good & Evil last year and wasn't impressed. The story was pretty average... no surprises at all until the very last ending twist, but even that wasn't that amazing of a revelation. And gameplay certainly wasn't anything special either.

So... I don't know how to feel about a sequel. I guess I'll play it if it gets good reviews.

 

[Athinira]

Personally i think they have waited too long, the game had a loyal following but to most BeG&E is just a faint memory and for those who were never really fans "Beyond Good and What?" Seriosuly i know people who own the game that have sais that. It came in in 2003 for christs sake!

It's a simple matter really. Hype can destroy everything (as Yahtzee has pointed out several times), so the best thing to do is actually to try and FORGET about the games. That's right, the games you really want to happen is something you should just put behind you. Then someday it will be released and you will be like "Oh, that's right, i almost forgot. Reviews are good, so i better give it a try" instead of thinking "All the waiting for THIS? Not even as good as i expected".

You'll end up much happier that way. In fact, i regret just having read this news about BG&E2. However, since i happened to play the original during this week even (computer was at repair service, so i polished off my old Xbox), I'm probably actually gonna look forward to this.

 

[Somethingfake]

It better not be a console only affair, so I shall be most displeased.

 

[MasterProcrastinator]

On a completely personal level of speaking, I honestly don't care when this game is released; I'm willing to wait another eight years (or more) if that's what it takes to make this game what Ancel wants it to be. Even as a huge fan of the first game (and I mean a huge fan), I will still admit that it had its flaws, with it often feeling as though it was trying to be too epic for its own good. This forced attempt at epicness was present mostly in the story and narrative, with the storytelling not really backing itself up with an equally epic world, strong gameplay, or vast, free environments. The story felt like a bit of a hard sell for me because it needed to take place in a world/environment which felt larger, vaster, and allowed more exploration, which it... really didn't do. Instead we got a really big concept for a story, which was crammed into a context that couldn't support the magnitude and inflation of the story/plot. I feel that this really was the game's main flaw (it's the same case with the film 'V for Vendetta', actually, I feel), and is what prevents it from being truly perfect (just like in 'VfV').

So, if Ancel is looking to eliminate the one main flaw that detracted from the quality of the first game, by involving traveling and exploration more heavily (thus establishing a sense of actual bigness to the world), then I say "take all the time you need."

Sometimes true quality takes some time and some serious consideration and thought. Yeah, I know, if the team leaves it too long, then they'll "lose their current fan base and attention" (apparently, as has been mentioned). But it would be nice to actually see a person/group of people decide to not think about figures for once, and simply focus on making a game with depth and quality; striving for perfection, rather than rushing something out the door for the purpose of releasing it during the perfect time slot in order to ensure maximum sales figures - something which is done far to much in the industry today, and is actually ruining many of the things that were once great about the medium.

 

[Malfy]

I wasn't salivating at any news for BG&E2, but the recent HD release was a nostalgia bomb for my grey matter, and now I'm anticipating. If they really are spending extra time and effort to make the game unique and its story involving, then I'm all for it. Luckily for Ancel and Co., they won't have their hype anywhere near Duke Nukem Forever's 13 year wait, but maybe they've learned something from DNF's release in the process, and doing what they can to not have a similar embarrassment for the BG&E fans.

 

[CarlsonAndPeeters]

This apparent footage from the sequel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91600-Possible-Beyond-Good-Evil-2-Footage-Leaks], leaked last year, only whetted appetites

I like how two and a half years ago are the same thing as last year...

OT, it has been a long wait. A very long wait. And yet I will be buying this on day 1 no matter what. Most of my fanboy tendencies have died off (Zelda mainly), but I am devoted to the lovely Jade.

 

[GeorgW]

As long as it's being worked on, it's all good. Let's face it, the people that are still longing for this game after 8 years can wait a few more and those that will have forgotten it will be convinced as long as the game's good. Still, I don't buy the excuse that consoles are too weak. Rage comes on 3 discs for 360, it's possible if you just try.

 

[the spud]

Wait, so it's not dead? Waheee! I thought they were going to scrap it for sure.

OT: So it is going to be another "you have several options and your actions have consequences" type game? Lets hope it is a good one like Deus Ex.

 

[Danzavare]

I -for some reason I can't recall- never finished the first game when I was a kid. It's apparently not too long, so I'll save my Xbox-Live version of it until we get closer to a release date.