Beyond Good & Evil Collectibles Guide - Pearls, Photos, and Upgrades

Beyond Good & Evil by Ubisoft is an action-adventure game where Jade’s camera is as important as her staff. The clean collectible route is to treat pearls, animal photos, and hovercraft upgrades as one connected progression system instead of three separate checklists.

This guide targets the original 2003 game. The 20th Anniversary Edition keeps the core adventure but adds remaster-specific features such as speedrun mode, updated achievements, autosave, cross-save, cutscene skip, an anniversary gallery, and a new treasure hunt. Those additions are outside this original-route guide.

Overview

Category	Value
Pearls	88
Species photos	56
Photo breakdown	9 humanoid, 43 animal, 4 DomZ
Main pearl use	Mammago Garage hovercraft upgrades
Main photo reward	Science Center Units, pearl rolls, all-photo Mdisk
Key helpers	Pearl Detector and Animal Detector from Ming-Tzu
Version scope	Original 2003 route; remaster additions excluded

The important routing idea is simple: photos create money and some pearls, pearls buy movement and combat upgrades, and upgrades open more pearl and photo cleanup. If you delay photography until the end, you will miss the income flow and make late cleanup harder to read.

Route Priorities

1. Photograph First, Fight Second

Several species are enemies or appear inside missions, so get used to pulling out the camera when a new creature, guard type, or unusual animal appears. The species list includes humanoids, animals, and DomZ, which means safe hub photos and dangerous encounter photos both matter.

2. Buy the Detectors Before Serious Cleanup

Ming-Tzu’s Pearl Detector and Animal Detector turn cleanup from blind searching into map-guided cleanup. The Pearl Detector is not complete because some pearls, such as boss-dropped pearls, are not shown, but it still helps you avoid sweeping the whole world by memory.

3. Spend Pearls on Mobility Gates

Pearls are progression fuel. Mammago upgrades are not cosmetic, and several cleanup paths are easier or impossible until the right hovercraft or Beluga upgrade is installed.

Upgrade	Cost	Why It Matters
Speedcraft Motor	1 pearl	Gives early speed and starts the upgrade chain
Neutralizing Cannon	5 pearls	Lets you lock onto targets and handle flying or protected obstacles
Jump Kit	15 pearls	Opens jump-gated routes and late looter cleanup
Flight Stabilizer	20 pearls	Required for flight-related cleanup after the Beluga is available
Space Engine	30 pearls	Opens the late space route

4. Return After Major Reports

Do not assume a cleared district is finished forever. Pearls are awarded through IRIS/Hillyans’ Donations after major reports, and later movement upgrades open areas near the lighthouse, the Main Canal, Alpha Sections areas, and Black Isle.

5. Separate Original Cleanup From Remaster Cleanup

If you are playing the 20th Anniversary Edition, keep a separate note for remaster-only objectives. This guide covers original pearl and species routing; the new treasure hunt and updated achievements need their own remaster-specific route.

Pearl Cleanup Plan

Use this as a route scaffold before following an exact all-88 checklist.

Phase	Pearl Routes to Prioritize
Opening and Mammago	Early DomZ boss pearls, the first sea-serpent pearl, and the 1-pearl Speedcraft Motor
Early Hillys	Looter caverns, the Akuda Bar disk game, bought pearls from Nouri and Ming-Tzu, and early hovercraft races
Photo progression	Science Center film rewards, which become part of the pearl route as you complete photo rolls
Factory report	Factory-area pearls, DomZ encounter pearls, and IRIS/Hillyans’ Donations after the report
Slaughterhouse report	Slaughterhouse pearls, the post-Slaughterhouse sea-serpent pearl, and the larger IRIS donation batch
Jump Kit cleanup	Late looter caves, Main Canal routes, and other jump-gated pearls
Beluga and space	Flight/space-gated pearls, Volcano Crochax pearls, and final late cleanup

For the original route, treat pearls 74 through 88 as a late-game block tied to Volcano Crochax after you have the spaceship. Do not try to force that cleanup early; use the earlier pearl routes to buy the mobility chain first.

Photo Cleanup Plan

The Science Center route is more than side money. Species photos pay Units, completed rolls after the first award pearls, and the full set of animal photos rewards an Mdisk for viewing pictures.

Work in passes:

1. Hub pass - Photograph obvious humanoids, town species, lighthouse species, and wildlife before pushing the story too far.
2. Mission pass - In every dungeon or infiltration area, pause for camera checks before fighting new enemies or leaving a room permanently.
3. Detector pass - After Ming-Tzu is available, use the Animal Detector to sweep remaining map markers.
4. Late pass - Recheck Slaughterhouse areas, the Lighthouse after the Beluga and Flight Stabilizer, flight paths around Black Isle, the Volcano’s Treasure section, and outer space.

Known late-photo checks from the researched route include several Slaughterhouse species, Lutra Erecta on the Lighthouse after the Beluga plus Flight Stabilizer, Manta Magnificens east of the Black Isle crater once the Beluga is available, Aurelia Magnificens in the Volcano’s Treasure section, and Megaptera Anaerobia in outer space after freeing the whale from ice.

Upgrade Gates

Neutralizing Cannon

Buy this before you plan serious combat and obstacle cleanup. It supports lock-on shots and is specifically useful against targets above the ground or otherwise hard to hit cleanly.

Jump Kit

The Jump Kit is a cleanup breakpoint. Once you have it, revisit routes blocked by red fences, canal barriers, and looter cave access. A lot of late pearl cleanup makes more sense after this purchase.

Flight Stabilizer

The Flight Stabilizer matters for more than travel. It is part of the path to late photo cleanup, including the Lighthouse return photo.

Space Engine

The Space Engine marks the final cleanup phase. Before leaving for space, make a save and check your remaining detector markers, photo rolls, and pearl count so you can separate Hillys cleanup from the late space route.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not ignore the camera during fights - DomZ and other encounter species can count toward the photo set.
2. Avoid spending the whole game without detectors - Ming-Tzu’s detectors make cleanup much cleaner even though the Pearl Detector is not exhaustive.
3. Do not treat pearl count as optional money - Pearls buy the upgrades that open later routes.
4. Avoid delaying all Science Center photos - Photo rolls feed Units and pearls, so they help the upgrade economy.
5. Do not chase late Volcano Crochax pearls early - That block belongs to the spaceship phase.
6. Avoid mixing remaster objectives into an original route - The 2024 treasure hunt and updated achievements need separate tracking.
7. Do not leave for space without a cleanup checkpoint - The late route changes what you are focusing on, so note remaining photos and pearls first.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
First Habit	Photograph new species before fighting or leaving an area
Best Helper	Buy Pearl and Animal detectors from Ming-Tzu
Pearl Goal	Use pearls to unlock the Mammago upgrade chain
Photo Goal	Complete Science Center rolls for Units, pearls, and the all-photo Mdisk
Late Cleanup	Revisit Jump Kit, Beluga, Flight Stabilizer, Volcano, and space checks
Version Scope	Keep 20th Anniversary additions out of the original route