it borrows a lot from zelda but creates a consistant world with a modern approach to dungeon design and story.
-review
BG&E takes its name from philosopher nietzsche's book of the same name. i do own the book, but it's so large in its scope that it would be difficult for me to translate exactly what he was trying to say, but i will talk about one specific quote and some other generalities.
nietzsche was a german philosopher who basically tried to prove the ideas of 'older philosophers' like plato, to be false. one of these ideas was good and evil. 'older philosophers' believed that good was seperate from evil, which must been black is seperate from white, and so on and so on. nietzsche explained that black got its meaning from white, and vice versa. there would be no 'black' without white. he established that those concepts were more like relationships than binary opposites.
nietzsche was completely against christians and their belief system, and constantly attacked their idea of morality and blind faith.
in BG&E there is also a list of nietzsche's maxims (like short declarations), one of which is: 'What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.'
i think he is basically trying to say that love is neither intrinsically good or evil and exists as a concept 'beyond' morality.
nietzsche also said in the book that france was: "the seat of Europe's most spiritual and refined culture and the leading school of taste". which brings us to french developers ubisoft, creators of BG&E, the video game.
you play as a girl called jade who's world is being attacked by 'the domz', a facist organization that is trying to take over the government of 'hillys'. the domz are spreading propoganda about 'the iris network', calling them terrorists that are trying to bring down hillys. in actual fact the iris network is a group of rebels trying to uncover the domz secret plan to take over 'the world'. there is also another group involved called the 'alpha sections' who protect citizens from the domz attacks, but appear to be rather dubious.
as jade you take on missions in the watery plant world of hillys (think rayman 2). your first mission is to pay the alpha section to protect your home. you gain currency in the form of gem stones and pearls. your big assignment is using your camera to take photos of rare and endangered animal species. after sending the gem stones (translated into cash) the protective shields on her home are put up again.
jade's camera is a lot more central to the entire game though. she must gain money to protect her home, but events around her push her into a deeper adventure. you will need the pearls mentioned earlier to progress the game, and you get pearls by taking photos. like link's ocarina it is a 'main' item that has a variety of uses. it is a big part of how you experience the world of hillys. you are an investigator. going beyond 'good' and 'evil' in a search for truth.
the comparisson to zelda is justified as BG&E borrows quite a bit from it. it does use 'z-targetting' but modifies the idea by making the targetting system automatic when you approach enemies (the 'aliens' that were attacking your home). jade brandishes a large wooden pole weapon to defend herself and combat feels somewhat similar to starfox adventures. jade also has hearts that get depleted quarter by quarter, and she can get heart containers that increase her ammount of hearts.
BG&E also uses ocarina of time's context-sensitive menu system.
jade also has a relationship with peyj, a big pig character that is like 'extra muscle' in combat areas. it is similar to the relationship between ico and yorda in ico. often peyj can't fit into small places that jade can, so jade must go and do parts of missions on her own, then meet up with peyj later.
the missions that you take on are all dotted around a watery planet hub world that you travel around in a jet propelled hovercraft. missions are sent to you via an email system and through information discs, readable via computers dotted around the world.
BG&E's style and art direction are its strongest aspects. the game's french design and 'european' feel really make it stand out and jade herself is a strong, likeable character that is well-designed.
the world of hillys feels concentrated and 'together'. combat sections blend well with investigative/dialogue sections, unlike some zeldas. i wouldn't say there were dungeons as such, but there are 'places' that have maps and some light puzzles, keys & locks, animals to photograph and a boss at the end. it's cool though because it all feels part of the bigger picture. the story really works to pull everything together, in a similar way tht hyrule field pulls the areas of hyrule together seamlessly.
boss fights yeild pearls. pearls are like keys to getting items. the items progress the story and enable jade freedom to break through the domz restrictions.
there is a lot of hovercrafting around, but that is well integrated. you can upgrade your craft with cannons, boosts and jumps. it's the 'epona' of hillys.
the hovercraft is more developed than epona though. you can enter lots of little races and it doubles as a compass to show where you're going.
the story is mostly communicated by your surroundings, and the email system (connected to a group that help you out). it's interesting because you experience all the propoganda while walking around towns, but when you're on missions you get to uncover the truth via jade's trusty photo journalism skills. it is nice getting a secret feel that you know what is going on. plus, later on it has effects on the people around you as your secret group publishes what's been really going on.
this contrasts with zelda's storytelling which relies more on exploration and simple sensory information like the weather.
the most fun thing about BG&E is taking photos. it's a very cool idea, and feels meaningful. it's similar to pokemon snap and scanning things in metroid prime. BG&E feels 'modern' in its approach to the idea of a dungeon or level.
however, the camera is not great - it won't let you down, but it never feels solid enough. and the world itself, while beautiful is a bit obtuse in that the scenery seems to get in the way of working out where the entrances and exits are.
to its credit, BG&E has a lot of variety. the mission structure creates different missions instead of a temple structure. the first mission is more full on combat and photo-taking, and in other missions it is about stealth, and then later about racing using the hovercraft. it feels like a story.
however, using pearls as the ultimate value system, and as the way to get items and upgrades is not very satisfying and you tend to get bored of taking photos after a while (the rewards are generally pearls).
in conclusion, BG&E borrows a lot from zelda (but ico & sotc do too), using a similar overworld/underworld structure and an item-based key system, but also methods of transport to reach new areas. however, this familiarity helps you enjoy BG&E more because it uses zelda as an understandable base with which to introduce interesting and fresh ideas, but also adds functions to those ideas and focuses a lot more on story in a linear fashion. everything feels consistent and together and there isn't a large discrepenscy between 'level' and 'story'.
give it a chance.