Speculant Run Rampant: Beyond Good and Evil 2

You may remember the recent rumours regarding the Beyond Good and Evil sequel. Now, I recently finished the original game, so I thought I’d look into this mysterious Prejudices of Philosophers – apparently the working title.

Ubisoft has been stoking these fires since 2008, however, so why should one more rumour be cause for any excitement? The truth is, there’s no reason at all for it. There’s nothing saying that this rumour won’t turn out to be false and fall through, sending Beyond Good and Evil straight back into development limbo.

Despite that fact, there’s some interesting possibilities with this rumour in play.

The Tale

Now that I’ve finished Beyond Good and Evil, I have a lot of ideas of where the sequel could take things. I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers. For instance, a few ideas can be considered through natural progression: Jade and the people of Hillys rebuild after the covert (and very Sailor Moon-esque) infiltration of the DomZ – perhaps the relationship between government and public could be evaluated. I’m imagining an overtone of mistrust and suspicion after everything with the Alpha Sections. When you consider the little stinger at the end of the original game, those implications are compounded.

I think the sequel might also look more deeply into Jade herself and her true colours – maybe they’ll become public knowledge and we’ll see the aftermath, I don’t know. There might be some focus on her parents as well, though I’m not certain about this. Any further speculation leads into spoiler territory, so I’d better move on to my next idea.

The game will probably take influence from the first chapter of Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, if we’re to go by the working title. With that in mind, we could probably find plot-like flickers in the text. Destructoid summarised the chapter as examining ‘how morality can be altered by authority, and the ways black-and-white morality overlooks the larger complexity of the nature of morals’. However, my impressions of On The Prejudices of Philosophers revolved more closely around the nature of Free Will and Truth, so I’m not sure how accurate its summary is. The funny thing is, these concepts are already explored to a limited extent in the original game, so where would Ubisoft go next? Since most of my ideas heavily involve the end of the story, I’ll just say this – it’ll probably explore those concepts in greater depth.

The Tech

The fact that this rumour focuses specifically around Nintendo and the enigmatic NX has the potential to make things rather interesting. The NX, or whatever its ends up naming it, could really wreck Nintendo’s competitors if it gets everything right. For a start, Nintendo has for a long time dominated the handheld market. Out of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is the only company that brings gaming to mind first for the average consumer. Microsoft is more known for Windows, and Sony made its money in music. Barring the Gamecube (and possibly the N64), the Wii U is the only Nintendo console that’s fallen flat on its face.

My point is, Nintendo knows its market.

This is little more than my personal opinion, but it really seems like Nintendo’s been running something of a trial and error process with its consoles. The last few releases have been pretty unconventional in design – including the Gamecube with its teeny tiny discs and miniature shape. It’s constantly trying to take video games somewhere new with each model released, and sticking fast with sure-success IPs such as Super Mario Bros probably allows it to take these risks. I actually think Nintendo was on to something with the Wii U – a console I actually really like – and believe the NX will have some similarities in its design. Specifically, the tablet-controller.

No, wait! Before you get the pitchforks, let me explain myself!

Obviously, the tablet doowacky had its flaws. It was expensive, had a short battery life; it was essentially a mini console on a too-tight leash – and that’s my point! Nintendo was essentially trying to mix a home console with a handheld. 

Okay, so imagine this: what if the NX takes it one step further and completely merges console and handheld gaming? Michael Pachter has made similar suggestions on his video series The Pachter Factor, although his theory leans towards a convergence with mobile gaming. My idea focuses around the possibility of being able to link a handheld to the NX and play through the TV. Either that, or something like the Wii U but with more portability – there have been rumours suggesting as much, including a patent filed by Nintendo in December 2015 for a touch-screen controller.

Assuming the NX is easy to develop for (apparently, it is – but keep your salt pinched), we’ll probably see a lot of games in the NX’s library – another mark in Nintendo’s favour. If they can top that with support for the Gamecube controller for Smash players, then we can all go home.

Would I Buy It?

Until Nintendo or Ubisoft make any concrete announcement relating to Beyond Good and Evil, this remains only rumour and pointless speculation – but that’s fine. I like speculation. We know that Nintendo will be talking about the NX at E3 this June, leaving roughly three months for the rumours to grow even wilder. Yay!

All this begs the question: would I buy a Beyond Good and Evil sequel, if it was released?

Probably. Although, since the recent rumours have pinpointed the sequel as an NX exclusive, I must also ask myself if I would buy an NX when it’s released. The answer is probably yes, though I wouldn’t buy it purely for The Prejudices of Philosophers. I’d buy it cause it’s shaping up to be awesome console, if my theories are correct.

I really hope the game won’t be titled The Prejudices of Philosophers, if it’s made. It’s such a mouthful to say. Damn you, Nietzsche!