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Awoo.

The humans in sonic unleashed.


Djawed

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Yea i see what you mean !! And i agree with you mechano. I also think eggman is cool looking. I think he is even better looking than most of those pixar characters in unleashed. I dont consider eggman to be one of them. I think eggman shouldnt be compared to the humans and should just be left alone together with all the other sonic characters.

He's unique just like any other main character in the franchise.

The whole human discussion came after sonic adventure. I myself started to get irritated after sonic X and sonic 06 because before they didnt play any role in the story. The maria story came after. And than humans started to play a role.

This is where everything became so out of place because it was new. And I had to get used to it but I never did.

I think the whole human/sonic theory should get more attention from the game designers. A lot more. Just like we do here in the topic.

The stolen pixar style... why?? I remember them mentioning ratatoulle... I wouldve objected so hard if i were in the creators team

Edited by Jaouad
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No. No.

That's really not what I meant.

I think Unleashed's style actually fits really well, because the characters- like Eggman- are disproportionate and cutesy. If Eggman is applied the same cartoonish design principles as the animal characters, why not the other humans? That's what I'm getting at.

EDIT: At the same time, I suppose it could be used as a device to make Eggman seem more eccentric. A cast of perfectly-proportioned, realistic humans with the one cartoonish outlier could stylistically emphasize that Eggman is, indeed, quite loony.

So on the other hand, Eggman being drawn in an intentionally-different style from everyone else to emphasize his bizarre wackiness could work, and I don't exactly object to that. It's... complicated.

Edited by Dr. Mechano
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To make a statement on the overall idea, I find a certain appeal in the realistic art directions we've seen because of the intentional clash. The atmosphere serves to highlight Sonic's unique physiology while the inhabitants' neutral reaction to his existence acts as a counterbalance to help ground him within the world, and the same goes for Sonic's impact on the Earth. It's the direct irony of the situation, as well as a familiarity of the atmosphere with which an audience can more easily empathize with, where the magic of the scenario emanates from. There's just a special feeling to be had imagining Sonic making a quick beeline through my neighborhood or running alongside my car that just doesn't resonate when imagining him in his original surroundings. Ergo, I welcome realistic directions as much as I do the more cartoony ones.

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I think the only "anime" looking humans should be in a Japan themed level.

The humans of Unleashed were beautiful and a perfect match to the whole cartoon like environment of the game.

I bet some of you could want cartoony Sonic, realistic humans, and a cartoon world. Talk about senseless.

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No. No.

That's really not what I meant.

I think Unleashed's style actually fits really well, because the characters- like Eggman- are disproportionate and cutesy. If Eggman is applied the same cartoonish design principles as the animal characters, why not the other humans? That's what I'm getting at.

EDIT: At the same time, I suppose it could be used as a device to make Eggman seem more eccentric. A cast of perfectly-proportioned, realistic humans with the one cartoonish outlier could stylistically emphasize that Eggman is, indeed, quite loony.

So on the other hand, Eggman being drawn in an intentionally-different style from everyone else to emphasize his bizarre wackiness could work, and I don't exactly object to that. It's... complicated.

Very complicated indeed

Just like i said. It needs a lot of thinking and discussion to come with something that would fit "perfectly" with the sonic universe. And i think it's not done yet and there is still something better to become.

Edited by Jaouad
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I think Unleashed's style actually fits really well, because the characters- like Eggman- are disproportionate and cutesy. If Eggman is applied the same cartoonish design principles as the animal characters, why not the other humans? That's what I'm getting at.

Actually, I think Eggman is a case against Unleashed's humans, his stylization is completely different from the other Humans in Unleashed. If you were to lypo Eggman down to size, you would not be left with something that looks at all like the other humans. For example, compare him to the only other fat man on the planet, the ice cream vendor.

From an old Sega magazine:

sdg0w2.jpg

Thoughts?

By the way, you can find the other related pages here.

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The only problems I had with '06 were the loading screens and the zoophilia.

And the fact that many of the missions were utterly stupid. "Pick up 5 pieces of shopping!"

Oh, and the fact that the plot didn't make sense even in its own erase-self-from-time continuity.

BUT THE POINT IS that I did not find the graphical style of the NPCs offensive. They were just... there, and largely unobtrusively. It was a non-issue for me as you didn't especially have to concern yourself with them on a person-by-person basis.

UNLIKE in Unleashed, where you were required to talk to every stinking one of the cartoon-goofy set in order to complete the encyclopedia. I wouldn't have minded what they looked like if, as in '06, you were not particularly obliged to identify and interact with them. Running around Soleanna looking for folks with appropriately-coloured squares over their heads was fine; running around Shamar trying to distinguish between huge-eyed cartoon versions of fez-wearing Arabian stereotypes... less so.

The level of realism was one of the things I think '06 got right. The gravitas just didn't work overall because it was embedded within a matrix of nonsensicality.

Who said you HAD to do that?

As for the humans in Unleashed... I think they look horrendous. Eggman's features are exaggerated, true, but the humans in Unleashed are just plain over-the-top. They don't have to be "uber-realistic," but they shouldn't be "uber-cartoony" either. And frankly, I prefer the "uber-realistic" to Unleashed's grossly cartoony style. However, I find that the human design was best in Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Chronicles. The humans aren't much different from SA and SA2 in Shadow, though... maybe slightly more realistic.

EDIT: As someone else earlier on this page stated... I HATE it when proponents of the "cartonny" style of Unleashed immediately counteract critics of the human style by mentioning Sonic '06. As far as I'm concerned, its not the fact that its cartoony or realistic. Its simply the extreme that is brought.

Sonic Chronicles and SA/SA2 have contrasting looks. Chronicles is more cartoony, SA2 is slightly more realistic, while SA is kinda sitting right at the middle. However, all of them are still very similar in design. Sonic '06 and Sonic Unleashed both go way off the deep end of first realism and then cartoony-ness.

Edited by UltimaHedgie
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Eggman's features are exaggerated, true, but the humans in Unleashed are just plain over-the-top.

Eggman is much more stylized than the humans from Unleashed. His head is a sphere with features and his arms and legs are much too thin for his body, and they're length is probably much more unrealistically proportioned than the other humans.

Edited by Phos
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Kingdom Hearts's style was anime? It's supposed to be Final Fantasy... which isn't exactly anime styled.

Anime-ish then? I can't really find any style to relate the Final Fantasy characters with, whom I were basing the anime claim on. Anime is is really the only thing I find them similar with, what with the big cute eyes of some of the Final Fantasy and the likes that you find in a lot of anime and such.

I'll also add that the FF characters' presence in the series, mainly in KHII, pissed me off.

I thought it would be obvious they would be in the game in the first place, seeing as how it was sort of like a crossover RPG game. It isn't that baffling, is it?

Edited by ChaosSupremeSonic
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Eggman is much more stylized than the humans from Unleashed.

I think one feature, minor as it may seem, is his lack of visible eyes.

The eyes play an important role in facial expression, and I really think Eggman would look supremely weird with any approach to eyes beneath those stylish pince-nez. We do catch a glimpse of them in 2K6, but that was for his super-realistic design, so that doesn't really give a clear indication of how that would translate to his usual appearance. (The OVA's attempts to give him Sonic-like giant white eyespace with tiny black pupils was an interesting approach, but it still looked weird.)

Obviously, though, the answer isn't simply to give every human character cool shades. But I feel eye styles are hard to get down, and like other facial features, they've varied a lot over the course of the franchise's run.

Edited by Dr. Mechano
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But why should the humans resemble him.
Because a game should have a unified art style? Everything has to look like it belongs in the same "world". You can't just throw random "cool" things together and expect it to work.

Why cant the general human also look cool like sonic does.
...yes, why won't you let the humans look cool, like Sonic does. They won't be "like Sonic" if they're in a completely different style. Matching Sonic's style doesn't mean they have to look goofy, after all, Sonic matches Sonic's style and he's pretty cool looking.

Also what if they did implement both humans and animals in a sonic game. Why would the humans have to be so ugly besides the animals.
You do realize the people who support Unleashed's humans don't think they're ugly, right? And certainly no one's proposing that the humans should be ugly.
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Oh hey.

im2e4g.jpg

I for one, certainly adored the humans introduced in Sonic Unleashed. Sure, they may have a bit of an abstract appearance to them, but I certainly wouldn't call them unrealistic to the extend of looking stupid. The statement "Sonic is a Japanese animation game" is indeed a true one, but it still remains true for Unleashed. The human character designers for Unleashed were none other than Gurihiru Studio, a Japan-based illustration studio.

I positively loved how all 95 of the (new) humans in Sonic Unleashed were all unique and developed characters on their own right. They all had backstories, easily identifiable appearances and personalities, and actually had character progression as you advanced through each and every one's plots...it's positively ridiculous how much detail was put into them. They all even have individualized animations that match their personalities - Ex: If you were to kick Louie Montaine or Boss in the leg, they have totally different reactions..

Anywho, as for their character designs - I like them. They weren't too cartoony, but they weren't too realistic either. I actually like the inconsistency with the humans in the Sonic games - In SA1, they were given an anime-like appearance. In SA2 and ShTH they went for a more realistic approach. 2006 went for a full-out "real world" look. I liked all of them. Lord Regis and Sonicman were totally wacky and silly compared to the rest of the cast of '06 (And quite possibly, quite a bit of the cast from Unleashed as well), but they seemed to fit in Sonic's universe perfectly.

Oh, and if Eggman is none other than Wario and Waluigi's lost cousin, then I believe that Wentos just may be the third Mario Brother.

Wentos and Lord Regis are my favorite NPC's from their respective games...the fact that they both wear top hats and 19th century gentleman's clothing is totally coincidential...>_>

Edited by HunterTSF
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I never asked for realism. I mean if you consider some sort of anime style realistic?

I never said you did, people tend to be divided into realistic and non-realistic, that's what I was trying to talk about. It was just picking your point and continuing it from there.

That said, I liked Unleashed's humans a lot but yes, I agree that Sonicman from 06 was a riot. The only town person I liked in 06 and Lord Regis wasn't bad either. One thing that should've been really annoying, was the way the people kept saying hey. It still was funny in a weird kind of way though. I always say hey as well.

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I thought it would be obvious they would be in the game in the first place, seeing as how it was sort of like a crossover RPG game. It isn't that baffling, is it?

I liked the FF characters in KHI, but I view the Kingdom Hearts series as a predominantly Disney franchise. KHII not only shoehorned them in the most unnecessary of plot points, but the entire tone of the sequel veered away from the original's charming, Disney-esque style. But I digress...

I don't care what style Sonic humans use just as long as they aren't butt-ugly like they were in SA2 or 2006; but what I really would like to see more of are furry NPCs, since I liked the koala and polar bears from SRA.

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Kingdom Hearts isn't a Disney/Final Fantasy cross over. It's just an RPG that takes place in the Disney multiverse. The FF characters don't belog to any of the levels (as you only go to Disney worlds), don't have a purpose in the plot, and don't become allies like the Disney characters.

I think one feature, minor as it may seem, is his lack of visible eyes.

The eyes play an important role in facial expression, and I really think Eggman would look supremely weird with any approach to eyes beneath those stylish pince-nez. We do catch a glimpse of them in 2K6, but that was for his super-realistic design, so that doesn't really give a clear indication of how that would translate to his usual appearance. (The OVA's attempts to give him Sonic-like giant white eyespace with tiny black pupils was an interesting approach, but it still looked weird.)

Obviously, though, the answer isn't simply to give every human character cool shades. But I feel eye styles are hard to get down, and like other facial features, they've varied a lot over the course of the franchise's run.

There are a bunch of humans in Unleashed with covered eyes and they don't do any better at "not looking like Pixar extras" than anyone else.

Oh, and if Eggman is none other than Wario and Waluigi's lost cousin, then I believe that Wentos just may be the third Mario Brother.

You don't see a problem with this? Sure, they were all excellently designed and fleshed out (sort of), but they still don't match the style. If I may:

Archie_meets_Punisher.jpg

And the humans from Unleashed have basically the same problem.

Is that big honking image I posted not showing up or something? It has caricatures of real people presumably drawn by Oshima* specifically intended to fit next to Sonic.

*There are other pictures in the magazine, some signed "Big Island"

Edited by Phos
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Yeah nice one phos. What did you think about my ideas ? And if not what would you suggest. Imean you can complain but i'd like to see some ideas too :D

thx

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I like the people. they looked almost like Xbox avatars, which I thought was kinda cool for the times. Plus, each country had a slightly different design for the people, it seemed. I though it was pretty good.

But I also hope things stay a bit more consistent in terms of the design of the games....for example, I hope "Project Needlemouse" and the games to follow have Sonic, his friends/enemies, and the people looking like they do in Unleashed.

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I like the people. they looked almost like Xbox avatars, which I thought was kinda cool for the times. Plus, each country had a slightly different design for the people, it seemed. I though it was pretty good.

But I also hope things stay a bit more consistent in terms of the design of the games....for example, I hope "Project Needlemouse" and the games to follow have Sonic, his friends/enemies, and the people looking like they do in Unleashed.

Wait... If Needlemouse is supposed to be a NeoRetro title, then why would they follow with the whole humans idea and Unleashed's art style? Wouldn't they go with the classic style?

Oh and no. Unleashed was great with their humans. I loved the tooniness of them. Just hoping they explore into the idea of more detail, but keeping a cartoon look. I mean look at Pixar characters, they have all sorts of folds and wrinkles on their clothing and beautiful textures. The featheryness of Chicken Little for instance was brilliant Pixar work and Up was awesome. Dug's fur is gloriously stranded and realistic, yet he maintains a gorgeous cartoon look with giant nose and eyes. Though, I still say this, SEGA took The Iron Giant's art style into play, once you start looking at the concept art of the movie and compare it to Sonic Unleashed's human concepts. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't like the strong similarities.

If anything, keep anime as far from Sonic as possible. It doesn't belong in the franchise. X proved this point and '06 scared us with reinforcing said point.

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I didn't mind the design,They looked alot better than the humans in '06. Those designs looked and moved like sims. Pluss no design was ever repeated.

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I didn't mind the design,They looked alot better than the humans in '06. Those designs looked and moved like sims. Pluss no design was ever repeated.

Yep, I do say that you have a good point. I forgot to mention the terrible animation and movement of '06's characters. Sonic and friends moved like classic movie Ninja Turtles was another problem outside of the human animation.

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I hope "Project Needlemouse" and the games to follow have Sonic, his friends/enemies, and the people looking like they do in Unleashed.

I hope they will NOT follow unleashed's too childish(and ugly) design. I don't mind unleashed's design of the overall view but the humans suck balls. It can't be helped, IMO.

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Wait... If Needlemouse is supposed to be a NeoRetro title, then why would they follow with the whole humans idea and Unleashed's art style? Wouldn't they go with the classic style?

Well, I don't think they should keep the human design for the sole fact that there probably WON'T be humans in the game. But as for Tails, Amy, Eggman, etc, I hope they retain their Unleashed design, for consistency's sake. I mean, every single Mario game has a similar feel, while Sonic has kinda jumped all over the place. I hope now things'll be more consistent.

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I hope they will NOT follow unleashed's too childish(and ugly) design. I don't mind unleashed's design of the overall view but the humans suck balls. It can't be helped, IMO.

hahahahaha lol damn this post made me laugh hahaha. Yea i agree on the childish part. I also find it very childish.

Edited by Jaouad
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I've really got to wonder what series you've been following if you're so bent out of shape about characters looking "childish" when we started out with this guy.

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