Sonic Unleashed - What is it now after four years?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Honestly, I was actually one of those who prepared for the worst the moment I saw Chip...but when I saw the guy's portrayal, I was actually fond of him. He dodged a MASSIVE bullet with me.

[T-Min]

Chip is mostly annoying because of his voice and the fact that the story keeps shoving his "KAWAII DESU"-ness down your throat with all of his bad jokes and "Want some chocolate"-ing. Story-wise, he's perfectly fine, but the writing and voice acting made him hard to like for me.

[Emmett L. Brown]

I seriously doubt adapting the gameplay to Knuckles would be anything decent if everything else about the gameplay would remain:

...

You'd be better off starting straight from scratch for something like this.

Couldn't agree more.

[Solkia]

Newsflash.

 

In SA and SatBK, Sonic was falling from within the planet's atmosphere.

 

The Werehog was falling from OUTER SPACE. AND HE WAS SEMI-CONSCIOUS!

My internet cut out before I could reply to this, but I just wanted to get this out of the way:

 

If you're expecting me to believe dropping from either height and landing on your head would end up with Sonic coming out alive, you're sadly mistaken. Not only did Sonic not die from that drop, he came out unscathed.

 

You were applying logic to where logic never existed.

 

 

 

But this argument was over with a long time ago, so ignore this.  

Edited December 23, 2012 by Underaged Hot Anime Girl

[Pawn]

The trouble with Chip is that there isn't anyone or anything much else to focus on. I'd quickly become bored from the lack of a plot and character development, so any minor annoyances were amplified. I also found that he and Sonic acted like 'best buds' a little too quickly, their bond feeling a little forced at first. That said, I didn't find myself hating the character and actually started to like him when he regained his memory.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Pawn Crackers

[Kuzu]

Saying Chip is annoying is one thing(I personally didn't think so, but whatever), but why does everyone act like replacing him with Tails would make any bit of sense? Last time I checked, the story is about Chip and his memories, and unless Tails has any relevance to that I don't see how he can suddenly play Chip's role unless you completely rewrite the story, which defeats the whole purpose to begin with. It's the same shit with Knuckles. People need to stop acting like if Character A isn't in a role they want them to be they're suddenly considered "shit", it's fucking annoying, and this isn't even getting into the fact that Sonic & Tails were together in the entirety of the next fucking game anyway.

[Emmett L. Brown]

 Last time I checked, the story is about Chip and his memories, and unless Tails has any relevance to that I don't see how he can suddenly play Chip's role unless you completely rewrite the story, which defeats the whole purpose to begin with.

So Sonic turning into a Werewolf, the world being shattered, the Chaos Emeralds being depowered, Dark Gaia running loose, and Dr. Eggman FINALLY succeeding in building Eggmanland is just boring background stuff agains the riveting tale of Chip's memories?

 

Because Tails can fit just fine with all those other story aspects, but you're right. When it comes to Chip's memories, Tails is completely redundant. Now, to avoid a rerun of a previous argument, I'll say right now that I'm fine with Chip. It's a great story of friendship, and it's nice to get a fresh perspective now and then. I'm just saying that your argument for Tails being incompatible with Chip's role is very weak.

 

Also you swear a lot. Does this really make you that angry to think about it?

[Nepenthe]

Tails is not so much incompatible with the game's conflicts so much as he isn't necessary to the actual relationship the game wanted to explore. It's no different from the Black Knight developing the relationship between Sonic and Caliburn, and frankly I've never seen any bitching from people that Tails was relegated to blacksmith duty and didn't muscle in on Sonic and Caliburn's action. Because I'm assuming people inherently know the blacksmith isn't important to the dynamic of the main protagonists in that game. The same standard should ideally be levied on Sonic and Chip's relationship, but here we are, four years later, despite Colors' knocking Sonic and Tails bromance out of the ballpark, still arguing about this.

[Jack / Joker]

So I've been playing through this game recently.

 

Louie Montaine is still a creepy shit.

 

The most memorable NPC in the game by far besides the "main" characters... for all the wrong reasons.

 

What is it with Sonic and attracting the weirdos, eh? First Amy, then Sally Acorn, Princess Elise and this... good chap.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Jolly Joker Frost

[Komodin]

So I've been playing through this game recently.

 

Louie Montaine is still a creepy shit.

 

Hm, he kinda reminds me of Tingle and his weird obsession with fairies.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Hm, he kinda reminds me of Tingle and his weird obsession with fairies.

 

OH MAH GAWD! SEGA ARE SO CRAPPY THAT THEY NEED TO COPY FROM DA LEGUND UV ZELDA! THOSE NO GUD RIPOFFS! - "Hypothetical Nintendo Fanboy who sees this"

 

.../joke.

[Nepenthe]

You guys need to stop hating on the Montaine Man. He's already hopped on the Caravan of Love and is on a journey to make the world a more peaceful place. Where's your ticket?

[Diogenes]

So Sonic turning into a Werewolf, the world being shattered, the Chaos Emeralds being depowered, Dark Gaia running loose, and Dr. Eggman FINALLY succeeding in building Eggmanland is just boring background stuff agains the riveting tale of Chip's memories?

Kind of.

 

The way I see it, 99 times out of 100, great stories are about the people in them, less so about the events that go on around them. That is, those events are in service to the characters. And Chip more than anyone is the focal character of Unleashed; he's the one with the most significant arc, even if he isn't the main protagonist. Meeting Sonic, traveling the world, learning who he is, and deciding to change the cycle that the Gaias and the planet have been following, that's the heart of the story, that's the part that is (or at least should be) compelling. Sonic may be our player character and he may be the one doing 99% of the fighting, but for the most part he supports Chip, not the other way around. He does have his own arc dealing with the werehog transformation, but it's largely inconsequential; most of what he does is the same straight-up heroing. Eggman is an antagonist and an instigator, but he falls apart in the end for a reason; the Gaias are bigger than him, and he just doesn't have a place in the real conflict. And Tails and Amy exist just to support Sonic, and Pickle's mostly for exposition. To what extent they succeeded at all this is up for debate, but I don't think it's wrong to say that Chip's story is the most important part of Unleashed's story.

[Vertekins]

One thing I found freaking hilarious about this game is the fact that you can answer Iman with answers that make Sonic sound greedy and money-motivated;

 

 

Now you know why he likes collecting Rings.

 

Sonic's answers to NPC's questions could be genuinely funny. Like when you can choose to torment Wentos in the first few instances when you talk to him, normal form imitating Werehog form in an attempt to be intimidating XD

 

I also loved Chip's responses to food he is fed. The following are only a tiny handful yet stuck out to me as being particularly cool/funny;

 

"Sonic....you're not...naked...are you!?"

"I wonder what Eggman keeps in his belly"

"!$#)&!?" (When fed the Canned Horror)

"When you're running, do your eyes ever get dried out Sonic?"

"I bet Eggman gets to eat good food every day. Look how round he is!"

"Is there someone you like Sonic? There is!? Tell me!"

"What do you do with your gloves at night Sonic?"

 

"Eggman's a funny name. Did his mom call him that?"

[Jack / Joker]

The way the Werehog fights is downright brilliant. He somehow manages to flail about like an idiot with the skill and mastery of a real fighter! Gotta love it when you've got all of his best moves and he sets off on a totally explosive set of ridiculous moves. Probably the highlight of his gameplay for me, honestly...

[JezMM]

Gosh this reminds me that I really ought to replay all the extra stuff on my PS3 copy.  I forgot how nicely all the NPC stuff was done.

[Kuzu]

So Sonic turning into a Werewolf, the world being shattered, the Chaos Emeralds being depowered, Dark Gaia running loose, and Dr. Eggman FINALLY succeeding in building Eggmanland is just boring background stuff agains the riveting tale of Chip's memories?

 

Because Tails can fit just fine with all those other story aspects, but you're right. When it comes to Chip's memories, Tails is completely redundant. Now, to avoid a rerun of a previous argument, I'll say right now that I'm fine with Chip. It's a great story of friendship, and it's nice to get a fresh perspective now and then. I'm just saying that your argument for Tails being incompatible with Chip's role is very weak.

 

Also you swear a lot. Does this really make you that angry to think about it?

 

 

Because stories tend to be more focused on the characters and their development involved instead of the events surrounding them? Like Dio said, Chip's story arc, and by extension Dark Gaia's are the focal points of Unleashed, and while Sonic & Eggman are major players, their actions are mostly inconsequential by comparison to them. There's really no bigger role Tails could have played unless you're willing to shoehorn him just for the sake of having him there, and that's already a problem this series dealt with before.

 

I understand Tails & Amy had lesser roles compared to normal, but considering they're recurring characters who will without a doubt return,  while Chip is most certainly not coming back, I think people are making a bigger deal out of this than it really is. How the hell are new characters supposed to develop and shine if everyone is going to complain if a long standing character gets shoved aside for a game or two, it's annoying and screams of bias.

 

 

Also, I was kind of a crappy mood before, hence the cursing.

[JezMM]

Btw if it hasn't been mentioned already I feel Chip was necessary to add an element of intrigue to the story.  Without Chip it's just "rar rar off to fight the Eggman".

 

Even if it didn't amount to anything until the very end, the mystery behind who Chip was drove the story a little too.  Also agreed with earlier posts about how the whole "discovering the world with Sonic" thing just wouldn't work with an existing character like Tails.

 

But I do agree Tails and Amy should have had larger roles and I'd have liked some interaction between all of them.

[EXshad]

Myself, I dislike Unleashed, but still find plenty to enjoy in it. I guess I should talk about the HD version, since the SD version isn't even worth the time.

 

For one thing, I enjoyed the game's tone. The story itself is kinda barren and leaves much to be desired, not to mention that it has Chip in it, the Jar-Jar of the franchise. But the game knew when and when not to take itself seriously, and pulled off both tones really well. It's the style I think all Sonic games should follow, rather than the overly-silly nature of the most recent few games. And it was funny! Remember when Eggman got pegged in the face with a rock?

 

The music was also great: diverse in instrumentation and tone, depending on the level. The songs were tailored to each fit the culture of the level you were in, but still sounded like something you would hear in a Sonic game. I prefer Jun Senoue's stuff, but it was still an excellent soundtrack. Rooftop Run is one of the best level songs in any Sonic game ever.

 

The world itself was also diverse and gave the game a sense of scale I haven't felt in a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure. The unique cultures of each country and vibrant atmospheres made the game a joy to just take in, mainly in part to the absolutely amazing graphics. The hubs had interesting people and the entrance stages were chocked full of secrets and places to explore, and getting to the level was half the fun.. unless of course you didn't have enough sun and moon medals, but we'll get to that shortly. The only problem was traversing the "entrance level" portion of the hubs, due to how slippery Sonic controlled at low speeds. This was fixed in Generations though, so if this concept returned I feel it would work beautifully. Oh, and the art-style was also spot-on for the franchise, being super cartoony and stylized as opposed to super-realistic like Sonic 2006 tried and failed to be. In fact, it worked so well that it's the style that the franchise has stuck to since then.

 

The day-time stages were, overall, really fun, and set the blueprint for the franchise's future by merging 2D and 3D gameplay. Platforming was indeed present, but took the backseat to blazing through the level as fast as you can. Your score was dependent on how cleanly you made it through the level, by relying on making split-second manuevers in order to keep the pace going. These kinda levels made you feel like you were Sonic, like you could finally do all the cool shit you saw Sonic do in the cutscenes of the previous few games. The only real problem I had with these levels, besides the slick controls at slower speeds, was the boost. I still have mixed feelings about it, as it totally removes the need to include any momentum-based physics, nullifies the usage of the spin dash, and makes enemies a complete joke as Sonic can now just run through everything without fear of any reprocussions. I even had this gripe with Generations and hope they can find a way to limit the boost and reintroduce the feautres that the franchise was built upon. Still, for what it was, the day stages were solid, and definitely better than anything that we've gotten on a home console since the Adventure games.

 

The problem comes with the night-stages. The reason that the day-stages barely focus on platforming at all is because Sonic Team decided to contrast the day and night stages as much as possible, making the day stages feel like racing levels, with the night stages containing almost all of the platforming. But they also decided to combine the platforming with combat. And, for the most part, the combat is actually done well. Rather than being a dumb button masher, you're encouraged to use combos to take out as many enemies as possible, as quickly as you can. And hell, there's actually a lot of combos you can use, so what is there, is well done. But given the Werehog's lumbering pace and focus on combat, as well as slow and methodical platforming as opposed to high-speed platforming, it's definitely alien to the traditional elements of the franchise.

 

And that in and of itself is not bad, but the problem is that the game FORCES you to play as the werehog. What's more, in total, his gameplay accounts  for 50% or more of main story. There are times when, after playing a 3-4 minute day stage, you cannot progress the story until you beat a 7-8 minute Werehog level that feels absolutely nothing like the day levels, and it doesn't even matter how many medals you've collected. This jarring change of pace not only contradicts the entire point of the franchise, but even when you play it as a stand-alone game, it STILL feels disjointed and unfun. After getting immense satisfaction by blazing through a level, the game expects you to have fun by slowly meandering through environments where you have to backtrack to find the items you need, so you can slowly progress to the next designated area, in which you cannot progress until you eliminate all enemies, so you can slowly progress again to an area where you have tight-walk carefully over a chasm at the speed of a snail with parkinson's, then rinse and repeat until you want to hang yourself.

 

The werehog on its own wouldn't be so bad if the levels were designed for him to move quickly through them, but they're not. They're designed exactly in the same way I mentioned, and it's not fun whether you're a Sonic fan or not. It doesn't matter that these levels completely contradict the point of the franchise, they just suck on their own merits. It just happens to add insult to injury when you're doing this stuff in a Sonic game. I mean, hello, the main character's name is SONIC, what kind of levels do you think the fans expect in a SONIC game?!

 

But beyond the fact that these levels are longer than the day stages, you have to progress to the next levels by collecting sun and moon medals. Moon medals allow you access to the night levels, and sun medals allow access to the day levels. The problem is that, for some ungodly reason, the majority of moon medals are found in the day stages and the sun medals are mainly in the night stages. So that means you have to drag your feet through the night levels and search as thoroughly as fucking possible in order to find the sun medals to get to the next day stage. At times, this can easily double the time of an already bloated night level. If the Wii version of the game did anything right, it's that you were awarded sun medals and moon medals based on how high your ranking was after beating a level, and you actually got sun medals for beating the day stages and moon medals for beating the night ones.

 

And that's why I dislike the game as a whole. It's the same problem Sonic Adventure 2 had, but amplified, since the Werehog doesn't even move very fast. I feel that if the game focused on tightening up the day-stage formula, the game would have been excellent. And hell, they still could have done something creative with the day and night cycle. For example, the entire game could have been played as normal Sonic, but depending on whether or not it was day time or night time in the level, there would be different challenges, like the Dark Gaia enemies would only come out at night, or you could only access certain paths of the level during the day. That would have been awesome.

 

But as it stands, we have Unleashed, and I think it did a lot of good for the franchise, both by setting the blueprint for the games to come and by affirming that shoehorning in a completely different gameplay style to flesh out the game was no good. Gimmicks should enhance the overall style of the franchise, not completely can it. Totally different gameplay styles should be saved for the spinoffs or minigames.

Edited December 23, 2012 by EXshad

[Nepenthe]

But I do agree Tails and Amy should have had larger roles and I'd have liked some interaction between all of them.

Saying Tails and Amy should have had larger roles implies that the story suffers to some in degree without a greater focus on their presence or that there is some kind of obligation on Sonic Team's end that would've warranted it, but I personally don't think either because the story isn't about them. If more development was to be had, it should have happened on Sonic and Chip's ends, either exploring their arcs separately or giving greater elaboration on their travels and budding relationship. I honestly can't think of why either Tails or Amy needed more elaboration in the grand scheme of things.

Edited December 23, 2012 by North Pole Nepenthe

[Wraith]

Saying Tails and Amy should have had larger roles implies that the story suffers to some in degree without a greater focus on their presence or that there is some kind of obligation on Sonic Team's end that would've warranted it, but I personally don't think either because the story isn't about them. If more development was to be had, it should have happened on Sonic and Chip's ends, either exploring their arcs separately or giving greater elaboration on their travels and budding relationship. I honestly can't think of why either Tails or Amy needed more elaboration in the grand scheme of things.

It honestly just doesn't make much sense for either character to just sit there, if that makes any sense.

[Nepenthe]

It honestly just doesn't make much sense for either character to just sit there, if that makes any sense.

 

It doesn't make much sense for the entire cast not to take interest in the world getting blown up and thus for all of them to enter the fray and get some screen time, but most people weren't asking for a veritable Heroes 2. 

[Wraith]

It doesn't make much sense for the entire cast not to take interest in the world getting blown up and thus for all of them to enter the fray and get some screen time, but most people weren't asking for a veritable Heroes 2. 

I'd be different if they just didn't show up, but they were just...there. Which is arguably even worse considering how eager they were to help out in the past.

[Kuzu]

I'd be different if they just didn't show up, but they were just...there. Which is arguably even worse considering how eager they were to help out in the past.

 

Tails flew Sonic from continent to continent, introduced him to Prof. Pickle who in turn was the one who explained the plot, and Amy's presence allowed at least some hidden depths to Sonic's character. That sounds like a whole lot considering "they were just there"

[Wraith]

Tails flew Sonic from continent to continent, introduced him to Prof. Pickle who in turn was the one who explained the plot, and Amy's presence allowed at least some hidden depths to Sonic's character. That sounds like a whole lot considering "they were just there"

And since when did Tails do nothing besides being sonic's personal pilot? In any other game, he's fighting alongside him. The same goes for Amy.