Beyond Good and Evil Turns 20: A Sweet Classic, a Two-Decade Sequel Mystery

Twenty years after its 2003 debut, Ubisoft’s Beyond Good and Evil has become the subject of renewed reflection as fans mark the game’s anniversary edition, prompting a candid reckoning with why a short, sweet adventure has spawned what is widely regarded as the longest-running development saga in gaming history. The title, which introduced players to reporter Jade in the fictional nation of Ys, returned to shelves this week in a 20th anniversary edition released on Friday. For many, it was enough to complete the entire campaign within days—yet the experience also reignited questions about the sequel that has been in gestation for two decades.

For the players revisiting the game, the appeal is unmistakable. The world is colourful and distinctive, offering a novel way to interact with the environment by looking down the barrel of Jade’s camera lens. But the experience is also, by its own admission, sparse. Once the memorable set pieces—ranging from the game’s famously Rastafarian rhinoceroses to its wildlife photography—have been absorbed, what remains is a remarkably brief campaign with shallow combat, thinly drawn characters, and stealth mechanics that are simultaneously easy and tedious.

A Summer Romance, Not a Franchise

For many, that brevity is precisely what makes the game endearing. Beyond Good and Evil was a sweet treat that arrived at just the right moment, ephemeral by design, such that its flaws never linger long enough to matter. It is a videogame summer romance—pleasant, fleeting, and impossible to forget. Yet it is also inexplicable that such a modest foundation has become the bedrock of what observers call the most legendary 20-year development struggle in gaming.

“There’s just not enough game here, not enough quality material to sink your teeth into, to ever warrant more than spending about two-three years on an equally pleasant-but-transient sequel. That’s no insult to the original game, which does what it sets out to do and does it memorably and well. No, it’s a baffled, guttural yawp: What are we doing here?”

A player revisiting the 20th anniversary edition

That is no insult to the original, which does exactly what it sets out to do—memorably and well. But it leaves fans baffled about the sequel’s decades-long existence. The question that haunts the community is simple: what are we doing here?

Looking Ahead

As the anniversary edition celebrates two decades, the community remains divided on the future of Beyond Good and Evil 2. Some hope that one day the game will finally release, and that players will look back on the years of development with understanding. Others, more sceptical, doubt that the sequel will ever see the light of day.

For now, the original stands as a testament to a particular kind of gaming magic—one that is fleeting, but never forgotten.