Digital Foundry’s Thomas Morgan wrote in support of Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, writing for Eurogamer that the remaster is a “slick upgrade” to the classic, that, while prone to some performance issues on consoles, particularly on the Nintendo Switch, is the “most definitive, most convenient way” to experience Beyond Good & Evil.
Morgan started off by commending the remaster for not straying far from the original, while improving upon it in several ways. The visuals see the most substantial upgrade, but the game now boasts a speed-run mode, and has also been fleshed out in its later hours through new content that connects it to the highly-anticipated Beyond Good & Evil 2. Additionally, new bonuses and extras detailing the creation and development of Beyond Good & Evil, according to Morgan, “might be worth the price of entry for the hardcore fans” on its own.
Regarding the improved assets and textures, he wrote:
“Practically every texture is reworked with a newer pin-sharp version: the ground textures, the skybox filling the nighttime horizon with stars – these are all replaced. Some textures fall much closer to the original and HD version in quality, while others potentially use an AI upscale to repurpose the original asset…a majority of materials are clearly built from scratch though, adding more complex shader effects in the process that simply would not have been possible in 2003.”
“Being such a narrative-driven game in nature, this overhaul is often best applied to Beyond Good and Evil’s characters. Their jackets, hats and tops now reveal a more fabric-like effect in close-up…you’ll spot a great many subtle changes across Beyond Good and Evil’s world, too: a new crumple to the carpet in Jade’ room, and added grass tufts to the view outside. All round, it lends each area a subtle ‘lived-in’ feel without going overboard.”
Moving onto performance, Morgan noted that the Playstation and Xbox versions of the remaster were plagued by sudden, albeit infrequent, drops from the targeted 60 frames per second to 30 that were hard to not notice. Reportedly, the Switch version was even worse in this regard, with it targeting 30fps, yet dropping to the 20s in intense sequences.
When it came to the resolution on Switch, results were mixed:
“Switch’s resolution while docked varies between 900p and 1080p depending on the situation. Most dungeon areas trend towards that maximum 1080p figure, while the canal area at the centre of Hillys – with all the flying cars – turns out numbers closer to 1600×900. Still, it’s impressive stuff given that the system simply cannot output anything higher. In terms of resolution, Switch’s portable mode also typically has the game run at the maximum possible 720p. It’s a perfect pixel match for the display, and looks crisp while playing on the go. However, there are cutbacks…[the] Switch’s smaller pool of 3.GB of usable RAM necessitates a cut to texture and shader quality.”
Ultimately, the performance and resolution issues made Morgan describe the Switch version as “frustrating” on two separate occasions. But his verdict about the game, regardless of the version, remained the same- with him ending off by saying:
“-this [remaster] is a strong way to get reacquainted with Beyond Good and Evil as we wait for its sequel – or to experience the game for the first time.”
So it plays fine on switch but we are going to complain. I would rather have a 10fps drop than a 30fps drop.
…that’s their job…they review things… and they even said it’s still a good port…