sonic7ischaos

[sonic7ischaos]

So I don't think P-06 had come out when I wrote this, and hey, what do ya know? I was right. Giving 06 good controls and fixing its technical issues DIDN'T make it much more like an Adventure game, because the design of the game's controls and levels DO still fundamentally revolve around combat encounters that gate your progress like a side scrolling Beat'em up.

Making 06 good just wound up making a good version of what 06 IS. The Adventure games are this very specific kind of inertia based physics platformer with a more traditional progression structure. Combat exists as an extension of said platforming, not a key focus in and of itself. It's one of the things about Frontiers' potential follow ups that has me somewhat concerned about how they'll handle platforming, and the pacing of said platforming. Cool as they are (and they ARE some of the coolest things the series has ever done), I personally don't think gaining the spectacle of the Titan Boss fights is worth the sacrifice of the flow of Sonic's platforming. Enemies with health bars sort of demand you stick around to deal with them, and that's in conflict with the need of a Sonic game to flow via movement. It's a platformer, and its priorities should be focused on platforming, even just on a design scope level. Making that sort of platformer AND giving it a big complex combat system is just gonna split design focus and make the game less cohesive.

And, to reiterate what I've said before, I LOVE Frontiers. It's on par with Heroes for me, floating around 5th or 6th favorite games, but thinking objectively, critically, those elements don't mesh together very well. Like, think about how the homing attack literally freezes you in place for a second. This is a design choice centered around combat, to give the player time to make decisions regarding their attacks and combos, but it's a choice that negatively impacts the movement and platforming mechanics by slowing things down and breaking the pace up. Stuff like this is ALL OVER Frontiers. It goes in reverse too, having your movement be so open and expressive, being able to approach navigation and platforming so freely actively discourages you from seeking out combat encounters. There's no intrinsic reason for the player to do them, so the game ties them to extrinsic rewards like exp and upgrades. Just all over the place. The Chao gardens, I think were a much more elegant way to control the pacing and deliver external rewards via secondary gameplay. The core gameplay remains singularly focused and holistic, while still giving the player something else to do.

Sonic Adventure 3

So I’ve been a part of the Sonic fan community for a long time and one of the most contentious issues that crops up is discussion of a hypothetical “Sonic Adventure 3″. What usually happens is that someone says “I want sonic Adventure 3!” and someone else points to Sonic Heroes or Shadow the Hedgehog or Sonic 06 or Sonic Unleashed. THAT or someone brings it up and gives a list of things they want. “I want there to be a more serious story and multiple characters and 3d platforming etc.” There’s no consensus on what Sonic Adventure 3 would even be.

For those opposed to the idea, this would be the part were I stop or dismiss people’s wish for such a hypothetical game with the above notion of a missing consensus. That’s not what this is. People in general but Sonic fans especially have an exceptionally hard time articulating what they want or what they mean. I’m not interested in being dismissive in general.  Personally, I want something like a Sonic Adventure 3 but in talking about it, I run into the same issue the whole fanbase has always had. What makes my input more valuable than any other? The answer is nothing. My input is just another voice screaming into an indifferent void. Still, I have a voice, it costs nothing for me to use it.

SO, let’s define what we mean (what ALL or MOST mean) when we ask for such a game to be made and to start, let’s define what “Sonic Adventure 3″ isn’t. I’m writing this under the (presumably correct) assumption that none of the above games count as Sonic Adventure 3 and I’m doing this because the fans of the Adventure games aren’t satisfied with them (myself included). Fans of the classics don’t treat Sonic 4 as the actual continuation of the legacy of Sonic 3&Knuckles but they mostly do for Sonic Mania. Why? Because an emotional need/want was recognized and filled by the latter and neglected by the former. We didn’t want a game CALLED Sonic 4, we wanted a game that FELT like a Sonic 4 (which Mania gave us).

Now, let’s get more granular in why these games aren’t Sonic Adventure 3 and lets start with Sonic 06. The reason we’re starting with 06 is because, among the existing contenders for Sonic Adventure 3, this one comes the closest in terms of design, mechanics, narrative, and tone and is the game referenced most in this discussion. Sonic 06 in its entirety is a callback to Sonic Adventure 1. You control several characters on an interconnected narrative with a mostly action movie esque story (with some, perhaps too serious melodrama) as you go from level to level through interconnected hub worlds populated with human npc’s. Eggman hopes to unleash some kind of monster to harness its power for world domination. You control Sonic, Shadow, and Silver (plus others) through linear levels that have slight path branching as they converge near the level’s end. Each character has unique abilities they use to navigate levels and challenges in different ways. Each main character has their own character theme song (and the soundtrack sounds very SEGA). By all accounts, it SHOULD be considered an Adventure game, so why isn’t it? Put simply, it’s the mechanics and their effect on the game’s design as a whole. What do I mean? Well, unlike Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Whose abilities and movement were built to get Sonic and co through the levels quickly, by building momentum (less than the classics but it’s there). There’s a focus on platforming that isn’t present in 06 which focuses more on combat encounters. Sonic is slow and moves more precisely so it’s easier to land hits on enemies who now have health bars. Shadow and Silver are like this too and I think it’s because of Silver and his PK mechanics. Enemies were given health bars so Silver couldn’t just one shot everything with tons of projectiles (built on what was probably an expensive physics engine they wanted to show off). If they wanted to save on resources, they had to re use assets meaning enemies in Sonic and Shadow’s gameplay needed health bars as well. What this means is that all enemy encounters require the player to stand around wailing on them one at a time and in order to pad the game’s length, they gated sections of levels behind groups of enemies you needed to defeat to move on. The pace of the game is entirely dictated by these encounters. Lets say that every other part of the game functioned perfectly. The automation worked so you were never thrown off loops, the hub worlds were smaller and had lots of landmarks and signposting (plus items and secrets hidden throughout to give them a purpose). Lets say that the controls were better, still having the same abilities, just not so stiff to move around. This game would still not be a Sonic Adventure 3 because on a fundamental level, Sonic Adventure games are structured like platformers while Sonic 06 is structured like a beat em up (Final fight, Castle Crashers, Streets of rage, you get it). The goal in Adventure games isn’t to defeat enemies, it’s to race to the end of the level or explore it (your choice).

Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog have almost this exact problem but those games control better and in Shadow’s case, it makes sense with the guns being a focus. The characters move faster and enemy health bars are smaller. They’re also better designed in lots of other ways than 06 but this isn’t the post for bashing 06, I’m trying to define what Sonic Adventure 3 would be (for the purposes of future discussion because the Sonic fanbase NEEDS to have this discussion).

Now, on to why Sonic Unleashed isn’t Adventure 3 (besides the continued requests and desire for such a game, see above thoughts about Sonic 4 and Sonic Mania). In a similar way to  06, Heroes and Shadow, the reason for it’s lack of consideration as an Adventure game is it’s separate design focus. Ignoring the werehog (for whom most of this applies in a general sense anyway) The gameplay of Unleashed isn’t focused on platforming in the same way as Adventure 1 and 2. Sure there IS platforming, but the skillful navigation of in game environments isn’t the focus. Making sure Sonic gets moving and STAYS moving is the focus. The platforming isn’t the goal, it’s an obstacle in itself. The way the boost is implemented in Unleashed (and all 3d Sonic games going forward) re-contextualizes the way the player interacts with platforming sections. It’s not about using momentum to adapt to your circumstances and skillfully navigate through and around enemies and obstacles, it’s about not stopping. That platforming stuff is a hindrance to your speed so you want to always take the shortest route. It doesn’t use 3d space in any meaningful way unlike even Sonic 06, which comes closer in terms of design philosophy but falls FAR short in terms of quality.

I don’t think Adventure gameplay is tied to any extraneous elements like narrative or tone (though those certainly add to the “feel” of an Adventure game). I think the core design philosophy of Sonic gameplay and its roots as a platforming series is what makes it An Adventure game. How you control the character and how you interact with the game world through that character is THE most essential element.

That said, Can we please have different writers (Ian Flynn.) I don’t want to drag anyone but Pontac and Graff CANNOT write a compelling Sonic story to save their lives. Maybe they’d be a good fit for something but Sonic the Hedgehog is NOT that something. Also bring back Crush 40 and character themes.

#sonic adventure 3 #sonic 06 #sonic frontiers doesn't get a pass #sonic frontiers #game direction #game design #sonic the hedgehog #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2 #p-06 #sonic heroes #sega #sonic team

[sonic7ischaos]

It's weird to think about but the actual sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. kind of SUUUUUUCKS.

It's not even in that weird Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link territory where "ACTUALLY, once you get a handle on things, it's a pretty solid game". NO. The official sequel to arguably the most important and influential video game of all time is just straight up a bad game. No caveats, just bad. And it's pretty much entirely on the level design too, the core movement mechanics are literally identical, it may as well be DLC for the original, but it isn't, and even if it was, it's still terrible. Really goes to show how important good level design is to a game's quality, insofar as level design as a concept is relevant to the game. Usually not so important for trading card style games.

#super mario bros #super mario bros the lost levels #japanese super mario bros 2 #super mario bros 2 #not really a larger point here #I just found myself thinking about mario 2 #and how it's super weird how little we talk about it #that the direct follow up to the game that almost singlehandedly saved gaming in the US was so bad it didn't get localized until the SNES #as a bonus in a remaster compilation bundle

[sonic7ischaos]

I love the idea that Ganondorf gives serious side eye to anyone wearing green he sees while setting a new plan in motion.

Like his internal monologue is just "Oh he thinks he's being SO subtle, sneaking around breaking pots and talking to the princess. Look at that pointy eared green fuck. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO BOY! DON'T THINK YOU CAN PULL THAT WIND WAKER SHIT WITH ME AGAIN!"

Meanwhile it's just Barnum, the postman's boy, wearing his favorite green tunic and white leggings. Never to set foot out of his hometown, let alone go on a grand quest to defeat the king of evil.

#Ganondorf #just sweating as he leaves the desert and rides his carriage past the lost woods #pulls up to this generation's Hyrule Castle town trying to psyche himself up #Hearing a particularly enthusiastic screamy yell and flinching #just a pavlovian aversion to the color green

[sonic7ischaos]

Actually, follow up to that last post; I'd be a LOT MORE INTERESTED in the boost games if we also got 3D physics based Sonic games too.

Like, by all rights I should be PSYCHED about Dream Team and by extension Gens and Unleashed, but because their gameplay has so little to do with Sonic's core gameplay ideas, and that's now the only way 3D Sonic games are allowed to work, it just feels like being 5 years old and opening box after box of gift wrapped socks on Christmas morning. Like thank you for being thoughtful and pragmatic grandma now can I open the video game I actually ASKED FOR and WANTED and have been WAITING FOR ALL THIS TIME?! I'll appreciate the socks when this burning desire has been SATED!

#sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2 #sonic unleashed #sonic generations #sonic frontiers doesn't get a pass #but at least it takes some steps in that direction with its physics and control changes #update 2 went a long way on that too by making inertia transferable on jumping #but still #this isn't a game about building up speed and using it to roll around

[sonic7ischaos]

Sonic Unleashed would've been better as an inertia based, 3D physics platformer. In the day stages.

Not in an "I don't like the boost gameplay" kind of way, it's not my favorite but Unleashed and Gens are still good games, I mean for the sake of consistency of control. You teach the player in Windmill Isle how Sonic controls in this one, X to boost, A to jump, B to stomp/slide, LB/RB to side step, LT/RT to drift. Sonic controls like a tank you have to use these tools to guide him like a missile through reaction challenges in 3D, and platforming challenges in 2D. There's more to it, but that's the core right?

Ok, now forget literally all of that because the only thing we're keeping from any of it is that A is jump. Here's a God of War-esque combat system with...weirdly good 3D platforming sections and light, Adventure 1-esque puzzle solving?

Ok, now give Day Sonic the same level of 3D control as the Werehog and his basic mechanics from the Adventure games, polished up a little so scripted loops and corkscrews aren't necessary, then make the transition. NOW, it feels less like you're playing 2 separate games stapled together, and instead, you're playing 1 game which changes up its pacing with puzzle solving and combat mechanics. Aside from Unleashed level themes just seeming really fun to do Sonic style physics platforming in, it makes the whole package more cohesive, the night stages becoming an extension of the gameplay of the day stages, rather than something fundamentally different from the other half of the game.

Generations would benefit from a change like this too, though at least there, there's a conceptual reason to differentiate them mechanically, you want to really emphasize the difference between Modern and Classic Sonic, so one gets the Unleashed style boost mechanics, and one gets an admittedly VERY imperfect take on the 2D style physics gameplay. If the Modern stages were essentially 3D takes on the classic inertia gameplay, they'd get to JUST BE 3D, with none of the 2.5D stuff to allow Modern Sonic to do actual platforming challenges, which would mean Classic stages would have more meaning as the only parts of the game that play out in 2D.

Been watching gameplay from Sonic Dream Team, and it got me thinking about the good boost games (my feelings on Colors are complicated, but mostly middling to negative, and I would murder Forces with my bare hands if it were a person). Sort of killed most of my excitement for the gameplay of it, but on the bright side, the presentation elements all seem to be top notch and it still looks to be a solid take on the boost gameplay, sort of demonstrating even better than Frontiers did that THAT type of gameplay works a lot better when you give the player full 360 degrees of movement and good control over the camera.

It's just not a physics based Sonic game, so I care a lot less, and feel a lot less bad about not being able to play it without Apple stuff. Might pick it up anyway if it gets ported to Switch, to satiate my curiosity and get a more thorough understanding of it for discussion purposes.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic unleashed #sonic generations #day stages #night stages #classic sonic #modern sonic #boost formula #momentum physics #intertia sonic #physics gameplay #slope physics #pinball physics #sonic dream team

[sonic7ischaos]

So annoying when Sonic fans say "There is no definitive Sonic because everyone has a different jumping on point", like Sonic 1 had in series competition when it came out.

We've actually had the definitive Sonic from the beginning, liking Unleashed or Prime or whatever more doesn't make them the more authentic to Sonic's core artistic vision than Sonic 1 and the things that iterated directly on it. You make those things without Sonic 1 coming first and you'd NEVER come up with stuff like loops and rolling and the specific crossover between rubber hose animation and shounen battle/adventure anime stylistic sensibilities.

Everything that came after is either a remix of Sonic 1, or it isn't, and the ones that AREN'T are fundamentally less Sonic than the ones that are.

I've talked about this before, but the reason every Mario game or Mario side thing, like the movie, always feels like Mario is because it's all built on the foundation established in Super Mario Bros. Actually, it's why MOST Nintendo properties always feel like they belong to the same series, everything that they are, all the ideas they execute are built on the foundation established in their first game, with all iteration being additive to that foundation. This applies to EVERYTHING, game mechanics, musical composition, sound design, art direction, EVERYTHING. Super Mario Bros.' core gameplay is built around the way he runs and the specific inertial mechanics of that run, and the way he jumps, and the specific mechanics of his jump arcs, the way he interacts with game objects like blocks and shells. Those core run and jump mechanics can be found in every single mainline Mario game, and even a lot of the spinoffs use those 2 run and jump mechanics as a jumping on point for their own.

Take Zelda, which is built on free exploration, sword swinging, and item use to find secrets and open doors. From Zelda 1 to Breath of the Wild (haven't played Tears of the Kingdom yet), this has been at the core of what Zelda IS and so aesthetically it's only tied down in a few ways. Zelda can essentially take place in an entirely new world each and every time because its core elements are so consistent it doesn't even matter when it goes from a classic, grand, epic quest in a medieval fantasy kingdom to the cartoony, cel-shaded ocean world of Wind Waker to the Peter Jacksonian semi-grounded fantasy realism of Twilight Princess. It's always Zelda. And yes, until BoTW (or arguably Link Between Worlds, but that's another topic), that meant that there was a serious problem of stagnation, of repeating the same gameplay loop in every game (a problem Pokemon struggles with even harder, though Legends Arceus is more evidence to my point, since Pokemon is more about catching party members and the fantasy of building a team of favorites in the wild), but they MADE Breath of the Wild and by building it directly on the foundation of Zelda 1, it still felt like Zelda at its core.

I think it's a failing of language to some extent. People hear someone saying "it's LESS SONIC" and think they're saying it's worse, or bad. But Mario RPG is less Mario than Super Mario World, and it's not because it's classified as a spinoff. It's the reverse actually, it's classified as a spinoff BECAUSE it's so different, so much less of what Mario is on a gameplay level that it can't be anything BUT a spinoff. It still manages to feel like Mario in its own ways, the aesthetics, music, and mechanical references, that it doesn't catch any flack for being so fundamentally different (nor should it), but that's the thing, it's still not the definitive take on Mario, because one has already been established.

Sonic's problem is that it takes things that should've made spinoffs and keeps them in the same category of things as the main series, so now Sonic isn't about rolling and abusing the physics of inertia to platform, but now it's about boosting reaction challenges. It's not a series of semi-connected stories with an impatient delinquent with a heart of gold as its lead, but disconnected episodic stories with a self aware cartoon character as the lead. Even Frontiers, which is the first 3D game in the series I've loved since Heroes (because Mania exists) inherits some of these problems. As good as Sonic feels to control now, he's still not based on building inertia using running and rolling on slopes, which, good or not, is LESS Sonic. He still has the problem of missing his impatient, abrasive anime delinquency and disrespect for authority. The core art direction is still very disconnected from his origins, which feels less like the sort of intentional disconnect of Mario's aesthetics in New Donk City, and more like a consequence of carelessness about it. Frontiers didn't make the islands and cyberspace look like that to fulfill a creative vision that was consistent with Sonic, they did it because that sort of realism is cheaper and easier for modern 3D artists to make, because the industry prioritized it in developing the techniques and workflows for that sort of realism.

And yes. All this means that a lot of the Sonic stuff the fanbase has become invested in, Prime, the movies, even a lot of the games, from Unleashed to Frontiers I'd argue, and Heroes to 06 to a lesser extent, is LESS Sonic than the stuff that came before. It has less to do with the ideas that defined Sonic to begin with, and doesn't justify those deviations by making them explicitly not jumping off points for the main series. People jumping into the games expecting movie Sonic or Prime Sonic are not getting what they came for, because those things are so disconnected from Sonic's core ideas, and the people going from one era of the games to the next are disappointed for the EXACT SAME REASON.

And all this is coming from someone with more hope for Sonic than I've had since the leadup to Sonic 06, before THAT hammer came down and crushed everything in its wake. Sonic is course correcting, and it's closer than it's been in decades to that original vision. But it's not there

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic team #sega #game design #artistic integrity #sonic fans #sonic community #sonic discourse #the definitive Sonic comes from Sonic 1 #that's not even the best or my favorite Sonic game #2D OR 3D #Adventure 1 is my favorite game of all time #and my favorite 2D Game is a tie between Mania and Sonic 3K #Haven't played Superstars yet so I can't place it #this isn't me gatekeeping btw #like what you like #but to say there is “no definitive Sonic” is to fail to understand what that even means #SOMETHING defined Sonic or it wouldn't BE Sonic #Super Mario Bros. defined Mario The Legend of Zelda defined Zelda Megaman 1 defined Megaman and Sonic 1 defined Sonic #Everything you associate with the character and series came from there IT DEFINED those things so it is the definitive version #Words mean things #It's fine #in fact IMPORTANT #for series' to add and remove ideas to iterate on what came before #that's how good sequels happen #but you can't just replace all of what those sequels were built on without making something fundamentally disconnected from everything else #Sonic has ideas that define it #You're not building on what came before if you completely overwrite those definitive ideas #you're just replacing Sonic with something else and gaslighting people into thinking it's the same.

[sonic7ischaos]

Anyone ever think about that time Hoenheim showed up to the Rockbell household and basically told granny Pinako "Hey, don't come to school tomorrow..." and then left or is that just me?

Every time I watch that scene it's the only thing I can think about.

#fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #van hohenheim #pinako rockbell #fmab

[sonic7ischaos]

Hyper Sonic should absolutely return.

Look, I understand the concerns about power creep and transformation creep, no one want Sonic to just turn into "a new transformation is the only way to solve any and all narrative problems" Dragonball style. but Hyper Sonic EXISTS. It played the deciding role in the Angel Island prophecy and stopping the Doomsday Zone robot from getting away with the Master Emerald. The power has crept already. The question to ask now isn't whether it should exist or not, but how it should be USED. Personally, I think accessing Angel Island and the Hidden Palace shrine should, lore wise, be the only way to do it, so Sonic would have to collect the Chaos Emeralds, go to Angel Island, go to the Hidden Palace Zone, place the Emeralds on the shrine, do the special stage challenges (because those should come back in the 3D games too) to power up the Emeralds, and have them be transformed temporarily until they run out of "Super Emerald transformation juice", turn back to the normal Chaos Emeralds, and scatter again.

Both in terms of gameplay and lore, it allows everyone else to get their own unique super forms while ensuring Sonic has his own unique, special main character only transformation. Purely on a gameplay level, it also makes Sonic's playthrough last longer, especially if they handle it like 3 & Knuckles did, where you've got to re-collect the Emeralds after a Super Sonic playthrough, or after finding the Hidden Palace Shrine.

I genuinely think it should make a comeback, even for one game, or even just as a gameplay contrivance. It encourages multiple playthroughs and increases replay value with the barest minimum of effort and assets. Literally just some animations, colors, effects, and sounds for Hyper, the work that would go into making the Emerald shrine, maybe a "you can now play as Hyper Sonic" screen, and the special stages, if you even go as far as needing to include them.

It's too cool and serves the gameplay, character, and lore way too well to leave to the wayside out of concern for power creep that's already happened.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic team #sega #hyper sonic #chaos emeralds #super emeralds #sonic 3&knuckles #sonic 3k #super forms #angel island #master emerald #doomsday zone #game design

[sonic7ischaos]

Sonic the Hedgehog is missing something.

So have you ever made a sandwich where you were missing something, not quite vital, but IMPORTANT? Like a club sandwich without tomato? Or a philly cheesesteak without onion? They're fine, sometimes really good even, but you can really sense the missing element, and it's distracting.

Sonic is in a similar situation. I've gone on at length about its gameplay MANY times and what's missing there. The missing inertia based, slope influenced physics (aka pinball physics) and some of the responsiveness of the controls utilizing them. In the 3D games at least, Mania and Superstars are knocking that shit out of the park. Frontiers is closer to that than any 3D Sonic game has been since Heroes...or I guess Shadow, but it's not as focused on it as Heroes, more about finding and shooting things than Sonic platforming (and like Frontiers, they're not ALL there, just closer than the post 06 era of games).

What I haven't touched on as much is the storytelling, characterization, and worldbuilding. Frontiers and the comics most of all, are missing something, a vague, fuzzy cloud of somethings that are related to each other, but as storytelling elements can be hard to pin down. Sonic is anime again, mostly, but the way it handles its anime-ness is, sometimes, a little half hearted. Sonic is a boistrous, outgoing good boy who wants thing (a shounen protagonist), and he's got some of the snarky charisma he used to, but he's missing something. Some delinquency, some abrasiveness and rudeness that's just not there.

This is a series of character influences for Sonic. It's not necessarily what the creatives at Sonic Team had in MIND when creating Sonic, but these are characters with some important overlap with his personality, and not all of them are equal. For example, Tanjiro is here for his unwaivering, bottomless compassion, and Luffy's here for his uncageable free spirit. The BIGGEST points of comparison go to Yusuke Urameshi, Son Goku, Bugs Bunny, Ryuko Matoi, and Monkey D. Luffy, but they're all part of a big pie chart or venn diagram comprising Sonic's personality and beliefs. If you're writing Sonic as a character and his actions and dialogue aren't drawing from these characters, especially the main 5 here, but ESPECIALLY Yusuke and Ryuko, his "attitude" as people have been calling it since the 90s, which is really just his nature as a "teen delinquent shounen protagonist with bad attitude, no patience, and a heart of gold", then your Sonic is going to be off, FEEL off. Ian Flynn and the IDW team has these characters and their motivations mostly down pat, but like I've been saying, they're missing something. This is Sonic's something.

The places where Sonic has the most of this something are the Sonic CD intro, the Sonic OVA, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance 1,2, and 3, Sonic Battle, Sonic Heroes Sonic Riders, the Sonic 06 intro cutscene, Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic and the Black Knight, and the Sonic Unleashed intro (and ONLY the intro, the rest of that game has the most milque toast, generic anime protagonist Sonic in the series).

Tails is a little trickier to cover, as his character arc is about changing and growing into a more confident, independent person, it's difficult to tell if a change is due to him maturing or if it's a characterization oversight. Because Tails is Sonic's little brother, and while he's supposed to be growing out of his reliance on him, he IS still an insecure little kid following in the footsteps of his role model older brother. People mistake his trepidation and fear as something like Luigi's, rather than the insecurity of a little bullied nerd kid who's trying just slightly too hard to impress his literal coolest person on the planet older brother. He's missing some of the cuteness, I think, though that's hard to quantify the way I can with Sonic's coolness. His characterization shortcomings are certainly a lot less severe than others, but they are there. Having him have little moments of relying on Sonic emotionally, or showing some of his fears outside the big bad of the story, like his fear of lightning, or having him be a slightly annoying, slightly clingly little brother to Sonic would go a long way.

Here's Tails' character influences. Same basic idea as Sonic, they're not necessarily what his creators had in mind, but there's a good amount of overlap in their personalities and roles in their respective media. It's also partly just vibes. Tails is closer to his ideal self than Sonic is, as of Frontiers, but there is a small amount of course correcting to do, partly because his character arc requires his greatest character flaw, his insecurity and dependence on Sonic, to be removed or diminished. He's becoming TOO perfect, and to feel properly like Tails, he needs to still hold on to some of the wide eyed, childlike wonder at his hero and role model. Have him mirror Sonic's actions, or try to talk like him sometimes. Show him needing to muster up his courage, or have to remind himself not to lean on Sonic every once in a while.

Tails' greatest "somethings" can be found in the Sonic OVA, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, and Sonic Battle. He backslides a LITTLE in Heroes, but given his role in that game as part of a trio, in a game focused on group dynamics and teamwork, it made sense for him to be a little more dependent on Sonic and Knuckles.

How they're handling Knuckles now is perfect. The mellow, sort-of loner with a short, explosive temper and a deep connection to his home. Literally no notes. He has the 'something', though the years following 06 he'd been missing it for a while, the movie and comics have had Knuckles handled since Archie.

Here's a character influence sheet anyway because I made one, and it's still good to have the point of reference to understand the character better. I find having points of comparison like this extremely helpful alongside the written out personality descriptors to grasp the character.

Now Amy has been a pretty major point of discussion recently, following Frontiers and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. Starting with…I wanna say Generations, Amy's been mellowed out. Portayed as a sometimes flirty, level headed person, and a leader. She's still written well given that, and the context of Frontiers and the IDW comics have, for the most part, justified the change with the context. They're rebuilding from a war, they're fighting off a zombie apocalypse and she's the only one capable of taking charge, she's seeing the last moments of the remnants of a dead civilization and their love, and might be going far away from Sonic for a while, but there's a lack of fire, a lack of bubbly passion that, actually, Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog captures beautifully, bringing back what made Amy great without leaning into the stalkery possessive girlfriend anime trope that made her more contentious for a while. See, people have been talking past each other on this for a bit, hearing people say they want Amy from the Adventure to 06 era of games back, and thinking that means getting something like Sonic Battle's "Sonic must be practicing to raise our child with this robot" and Rush's "How DARE another girl be involved with Sonic socially" stalkery possessiveness, instead of the passionate, fiery girliness that underlied that behavior. It's the personality, NOT the specific behavior that's missing. Amy's 'something'.

Amy's character influences draw mostly from strong, passionate woment from anime. They, like her, wear their hearts on their sleeves, and/or are nurturing and thoughtful. Most of these characters turn to slapstick violence when being set off by romantic interests or male characters in their inner circle, and it's part of why Amy even HAS a giant cartoon hammer she pulls from nowhere, because "overreacts by smashing the MC flat like a pancake with a giant hammer" is a classic anime visual gag. I always think of Kagome Higurashi and Sakura Haruno when I think of Amy's personality.

And here we get to Shadow, whose missing something is, ironically, basically the same as Sonic's, but as Shadow fits a different character niche, it manifests differently. Sonic written well but without his "something" is a slightly generic shounen protagonist, and we see that in Frontiers. He's closer to his "attitude" from the height of his popularity and creative integrity, but without the specific anime influences of teen delinquents who sit on rooftops and give authority figures a hard time, he's less a Yusuke Urameshi/Ryuko Matoi and is more a Naruto Uzumaki/Son Goku. SHADOW however, as the "dark, brooding rival" gets flanderized into Vegeta. Like, Cell Saga, pre-sacrifice Majin Vegeta, someone completely selfish and short sighted who only cares about proving themselves against their rival.

But Shadow is Sonic through the LENS of that sort of brooding, Sasuke Uchiha, Sesshomaru, Vegeta type of character. His influences are the result of Sonic's. It wasn't a mistake in this influence reference sheet that Sonic is here, Sonic as a character is the biggest influence on Shadow's personality. The confidence, the drive, the competitiveness, the snark, the impatience, the compassion. It's all there, but Shadow is the dark mirror to Sonic. He's this series' Sasuke, so he's got a more serious personality and emotional stakes. He has a higher sense of responsibility than Sonic does because he was created with a specific purpose, and the trauma from the ARK disaster.

There's more to talk about, but less of it is specific characterization and more how characters are being used in their narratives, the prime example being Metal Sonic, whose role seems to be jobbing for newer characters these days. Some minor things. Silver needs to channel Trunks more, in terms of how serious he is about the ruined future, but it's something you feel less of in his character than Sonic or Amy. A bunch of other stuff.

There's also some stuff with the worldbuilding itself that I haven't put enough thought into to clarify to this extent, but I'm starting to get the shape of it. Frontiers' approach adds a little clarity to the issue which, as far as I can tell is, ironically, too much clarity. Sonic lore is at its best when the mechanics and history of its magic is vague, flowery anime bullshit. "The Chaos Emeralds, once gathered, are said to grant miracles" and "The servers are the seven Chaos etc..." The history of its people and their conflicts is fine, but, at least as far as I've thought about it, giving the Chaos Emeralds a grounded, specific origin and utility is a step too far. Which isn't to say it was handled poorly, only that like horror, the magic is in what you DON'T show, what the audience ISN'T told as much as, if not more than what is.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic team #sega #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #amy rose #shadow the hedgehog #characterization #yusuke urameshi #son goku #edward elric #alphonse elric #son gohan #kagome higurashi #sakura haruno #piccolo #yamcha #winry rockbell #shippou #slippy toad #vegeta #sasuke uchiha #bugs bunny #ryuko matoi #koga #kazuma kuwabara #tony tony chopper #monkey d. luffy #inuyasha #sesshomaru

[sonic7ischaos]

Ok. 3D arena fighters and Dynasty Warriors spinoffs are fine and all

But it's such a waste that the Demon Slayer game isn't like, a really stylish Souls-like because like, there's none of the "teleports behind you" anime bullshit you usually get with stories like this, most of the Demon Slayers are relatively grounded in combat, Tanjiro mostly dodges with rolls and dives, and the combat itself is all about visual tells and telegraphing your next move, with most of the attacks having these longer windups and recoveries. Tanjiro does a water wheel and now he's got to land and get back into a fighting stance. It's all the meat and potatoes of a game like Dark Souls, and even has an in universe "campfire equivalent" in the wisteria houses and the Butterfly Mansion as a central hub area to return to.

Instead of ghosts to summon during battle, you can call Nezuko out of her box to draw enemy attacks. Just...MAN this series would be better served with this sort of gameplay.

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #tanjiro kamado #nezuko kamado #dark souls #demons souls #elden ring #soulslike #soulsborne #arena fighter #dynasty warriors #anime games #from software

[sonic7ischaos]

The Sonic Mania timeline existing separately from the main timeline has a lot of interesting implications for the series' lore post Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

For example the Sonic Adventure games never happened. Mania Classic Eggman got pulled into main timeline Eggman's scheme with the Time Eater and never found the Echidna tribe tablets and murals about Chaos, so Mania Chaos is still sealed in the Master Emerald with Tikal with all his hatred. Tails hasn't gone through his character arc and grown independent from Sonic, nor has Amy. Knuckles is still ignorant of his people and the mistakes that led to their downfall. And since SA1 didn't happen and Eggman moved onto different plans, that means Shadow is still in stasis on Prison Island, which means he's still got a vendetta against humanity, meaning that he's vulnerable to Black Doom's manipulation when he inevitably shows up, which means he'd probably stay an antagonist. Without Shadow to help fight off the Black Arms, they'd have to find another way to beat them, maybe a team up with Eggman, maybe they rely on the Chaos Emeralds again, maybe both. I imagine part of the story would be uncovering the "mystery" of Project Shadow in the Mania timeline, as no one one know without Eggman being the one to let Shadow loose and things playing out the way they do in SA2.

Without the specific plans failing the way they do, Eggman never gets to the one in Sonic Advance 2, and so he never accidentally puts Vanilla in a capsule, and so they never meet Cream and go on an adventure to save her mom and make her part of the main cast. Without the events of Adventure 2 and Gerald's diary, Eggman never goes looking for the Gizoid, and so they never meet and destroy Emerl, who never influences the design of Gemerl, Battle never happens and without the specific events leading to it, Advance 3 doesn't happen either. Without Cream, Blaze would still come to Sonic's world, but she wouldn't learn to trust in and rely on others, and so likely wouldn't make an ally of Sonic and his friends, so Rush at least plays out differently.

There's nothing specifically preventing the Riders games from playing out mostly as they do in the main timeline, aside from the butterfly effect.

On and on it goes like this. Things get a lot fuzzier around Unleashed, as Eggman's plans would've diverged so much by this point that it's unlikely that he splits the planet and awakens Dark Gaia, so Sonic never meets Chip, never turns into the Werehog, and Unleashed as a whole doesn't happen. After that, there's nothing specifically leading Eggman in search of power off world to find the wisps, and he's already tried and failed to use the Phantom Ruby for his plans in Mania. He probably won't find the Starfall Islands, and The End probably stays trapped.

Already things are diverging as of Sonic Superstars, a plot that doesn't happen at all in the main timeline.

#sonic the hedgehog #sega #sonic team #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2 #sonic mania #sonic 3&knuckles #sonic frontiers #sonic rush #sonic advance 2 #sonic advance 3 #cream the rabbit #vanilla the rabbit #emerl the gizoid #gemerl #chaos #tikal the echidna #shadow the hedgehog #gerald robotnik #maria robotnik #black doom #black arms #sonic unleashed #sonic the werehog #chip #dark gaia #the end #starfall islands #giganto #wyvern

[sonic7ischaos]

I don't know how to explain this, but I think Eren Yeager would make an amazing One Piece villain.

An egotistical maniac set to commit an atrocity of unfathomable scale to set himself and his allies "free" in an abstract, thematic sort of way. His way is the right way...no, the ONLY way things can go, and nothing can stand in his way. Someone with too much power who demands to be taken seriously by the very nature of his goals and personality...

...which is when Monkey D. "I stay silly" Luffy, someone who by his very nature, makes his enemies impossible to take seriously by virtue of being the one they're fighting, who strives for and embodies the exact sort of freedom Eren is fruitlessly chasing, comes to stand between Eren and the people he's meaning to trample.

Like, you see what I'm saying? I'm not saying they're an even match, anyone who's paid any attention to power scaling versus matches knows how broken Luffy's toon force powers actually are, and how out of his depth Eren would be, but just as a clash between characters and ideologies, the REAL fun of any of this sort of crossover. It's why Mario & Sonic is a fun idea despite any canon conflict between the two ends in Mario being stomped into the dirt by the god killing Shounen protagonist that is Sonic.

Also, if you respond to this, know that I've only seen One Piece to most of the way through Punk Hazard. Being up to date on new episodes meant I'd have had to wait for new ones to come out, so I dropped it for a while until at or near the end of the series so i could binge it again. I know about Gear 5 because One Piece fans do not care if they're spoiling you in certain corners of the internet.

#attack on titan #eren yeager #shingeki no kyojin #one piece #monkey d. luffy #i stay silly #crossover

[sonic7ischaos]

The "real enemy" Erwin Smith was talking to Eren about in the narrative of AOT was Reiner, Berthold, and Annie, and more broadly Marley...

But thematically, he was talking about hate. It's why Eren is the one he asked, instead of someone who could actually do something with that question, tactically. Armin would've had some sort of answer, but he asked Eren Yeager, the embodiment of hate, who the real enemy was.

The real enemy of Attack on Titan is hate, and to defeat it, you have to be willing to show your "enemies" compassion and understanding, join together with them to fight hate.

#attack on titan #AOT #eren yeager #erwin smith #just something I think about every time I see the “I'm sorry that was a strange thing to ask” meme

[sonic7ischaos]

You ever think about how weird "Normal" is as a Pokemon type?

It's the "regular" type. The "not special type". Like, types are associated with the properties of the Pokemon. A fire type produces fire, or lives in an environment that's on fire. A grass type lives among plants and is part plant. Bug types are bugs. Psychic types have psychic powers. Ghost types are spirits. Normal types are...what? Is it the absence of a particular property? Essentially "No type"? I get why, in terms of game mechanics and the "rock paper scissors" dynamic of the typing system they would do that but like, in universe "No type" just gets classified as "Normal"? Why is "Tackle" a normal move and not a fighting move? Is the difference between a normal move and a fighting move the level of skill it takes to execute? More broadly, what's the difference between "Fighting" and "Normal" as types? If a Jigglypuff became particularly skilled at martial arts, would it be re-classified as a "Fighting" type? Would a Hitmonchan that quit marital arts and lost the skills for it still be a fighting type?

#pokemon #normal type

[sonic7ischaos]

Man, thinking about Dragonball's capsule tech, makes me wish Toriyama hadn't gone all powerscale-y on everything like he did. Like, even more than I already did.

I can imagine a version of the series where Bulma stays relevant, carrying around entire labs and workshops in her pocket, building weapons and augmentations for the group. Portable gravity rooms and exo-suits. Scouters for characters who can't sense ki. A version of the story where, like One Piece, Toriyama planned out the ending from the very start, and built consistently towards that with Buu, foreshadowing the whole time.

Like, I love Dragonball don't get me wrong, but it introduces some cool ideas and characters and then lets them stagnate. The original fighters from OG Dragonball should've been keeping up with the Saiyans to varying degrees. Bulma is Goku's first friend and now she's relegated to background support for the Saiyans, specifically Goku and Vegeta, most of the time. Gohan's missed potential as end of series protagonist stepping into Goku's shoes is well worn territory for a reason. Not that it's not good for Gohan as an individual that he got to retire from fighting and become a scholar, just that it's bad for the structure of the story as a whole that it gets set up that way, and then despite all the talk of passing the torch to future generations with Gohan, Goten, and Trunks, Goku and Vegeta swoop in at the last minute to steal the show, relatively speaking anyway, it's a long series, "last minute" is literal 10s of episodes.

Bulma and the earthlings, besides Mr. Satan, basically have no effect on the plot whatsoever after a certain point, but they should be getting transformations and new techniques too, always striving to keep up with Goku...until he's gone and then it becomes a way for them to carry on part of his legacy. Tien vs. Semi-Perfect Cell at least should serve as a wake up call and push the gang to catch up with all the Saiyans.

It even seems like he was setting something like that up in the Namek Saga by sending them all to King Kai's, where they too should be learning his techniques and catching up to Goku. Watching things unfold on Namek, maybe they adopt King Kai's techniques, and develop their own complimentary moves. Tien could improve the split-form technique and make it not divide his strength by modifying the Kaio-ken, as a literal off the top of my head idea.

Having them more or less be on Goku's level and STILL getting their shit kicked in by the androids, and having them play a greater role in the ensuing conflict would've made things that much more tense and dramatic. You could still have Tien's badass moment against Cell, a way to really hammer home how much danger they're all in if it's taking someone on par with Goku this much effort just to hold him in place and he's only in his SECOND form. It makes the Vegeta and Trunks leaving the hyperbolic time chamber all that much more a big deal because we're seeing just how much stronger than Super Saiyan the ascended form really is, by having the comparison to the fighters more or less on Goku's level.

Just...I dunno. I've looked for fanfics and fan comics that work to make Dragonball a little more cohesive and consistent, but I haven't really found anything.

Anyway, I digressed a lot here, my initial intent was to just talk about how fucking cool Capsule tech is, both conceptually, and in the ways that it could serve the worldbuilding and aesthetics if we were informed by the narrative of Bulma's loadout and limitations, make it more relevant to planning and fight strategy. Watching a reaction to Super, she pulls out a warehouse with a lab in it in Trunks' future and it got me thinking of how cool it'd be if she'd been able to do that sort of on the fly preparation on Namek y'know? Have someone who relies on tech rather than Ki to fight and get around factor into dealing with Frieza and his forces, outfitting Gohan and Krillin, and eventually Vegeta with armor and tools to help them overcome the power difference between them and Frieza's army, as an idea.

#dragonball #akira toriyama #worldbuilding #character writing #capsule corp #bulma #power scaling #storytelling #background characters #son gohan #son goku #vegeta #tien shinhan #yamcha #krillin #frieza #cell #majin buu

[sonic7ischaos]

The best description of Sonic the Hedgehog's character I've ever heard compared him to Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho.

A punk kid with no respect for rules or authority, but a heart of gold. I've been comparing him to Goku, and a lot of that does still fit, he's a thrill seeker who's always up for a challenge and likes to show off his skills, but that's not the full picture. Goku's too nice, too approachable. Not that Sonic's mean, but he's abrasive, short tempered not quite like Knuckles, but more in the way of someone who generally lacks patience. He'll bail on you for leaving the controller still for too long, and doesn't like to wait on long winded explanations. He's sarcastic and a little full of himself, but not to the point of full arrogance, just a little smug on account of how cool he knows he is. That smug, brash confidence is a part of why he clashes so much with Knuckles, who is more a more mellow, thoughtful person, someone more careful and serious.

They're actually doing Knuckles pretty right lately, but Sonic needs some work. Still LEAGUES better than when it was Pontaff, but he's been softened up too much. The Sonic OVA is actually a pretty good representation of the character, but for Game Sonic, Adventure 2 and Heroes, as well as Battle for the GBA are pretty good places to look to see what I'm talking about. All relatively dialogue heavy games for Sonic that nail the unhinged thrill seeking, confrontational, cocky punk vibes to his character.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic adventure #sonic adventure 2 #sonic heroes #sega #sonic team #sonic frontiers #sonic ova #idw sonic #ian flynn #pontaff #yu yu hakusho #yusuke urameshi #characterization #we've reached a good baseline for story and character quality in Sonic #but there's more to be done until Sonic is where it needs to be

[sonic7ischaos]

ATTENTION VAIS OF THE GERUDO TRIBE. STOP NAMING YOUR SONS GANONDORF. YOU ARE JUST ASKING FOR TROUBLE.

#legend of zelda #link #zelda #ganondorf #reincarnation cycle #gerudo #breath of the wild #haven't played tears of the kingdom yet so no spoilers please #voe #vai #nintendo #hyrule #seriously #what dumbass learns any part of gerudo history and goes “I'll name the first son in 100 years ”Ganondorf“? #that has historically gone well.