Early plans for Beyond Good & Evil were for it to feature multiple worlds – a vision its vapourware sequel was finally supposed to realise. But Beyond Good & Evil is all the more brilliant, I think, because of a sole focus on saving its singular planet: the beautiful, fragile Hillys.
It’s hard not to fall in love with this chunky, colourful place when you’re first introduced to it via Beyond Good & Evil’s heroine Jade. There’s a beautiful, memorable shot of her balanced on a cliff edge, practicing some kind of yoga with one of her orphan charges. Is it an orphan goat? I think it’s a goat.
Anyway, Hillys is a peaceful world torn apart by war, and Jade’s lighthouse sanctuary is where you are introduced to both her and the current, embattled state of everything.
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The story of Jade’s attempt to save her home planet and understand her role as its protector is a brilliant one I won’t spoil here. Suffice to say, though, as the enemy DomZ creatures attack, sending alien meteors raining down, you find yourself wanting to look out for Hillys faster than Rosa Diaz and her pet puppy.