Rate the Story: Sonic Unleashed

[Shikushi]

Then you have absolutely no idea what the point of the story was.

 

And really, like Sonic can't have more than one best friend?

 

 

This is complete rubbish. And it's such a faulty notion to utilize to downscore Unleashed's story.

 

I'm just going to reiterate what I've said before;

 

First-off, Sonic is entitled to have close friends other than Tails. Tails has been a near-constant player in the games for 16 years before Chip and his very cool and well-written friendship with Sonic was introduced in a single game. Why be so offended by this? It's not like he even constantly shunted Tails aside either in Unleashed because Tails was in the game too and had input in assisting Sonic! That's more than what Knuckles and Shadow or hell! Pretty much every single other character can say. And even today, you Sonic-Tails bromance lovers, me included, are having your cake and eating it! Does Colours ring a bell? Some fans would love to see Sonic's other friends even get half of Tails' roles and such in games today. Tails being slightly sidelined in a single game is not the end of the world and, more importantly, is not a fault of Chip as a character. Faulting Chip for that is completely misguided and meritless.

Secondly, Chip was absolutely imperative to the game and he was written into it very well. Sonic Unleashed had a running theme. The cyclic nature of death and rebirth, the duality of light and dark, both of which pertain to Chip's nature and existence not to mention the fact that the World Adventure, which I'll also add is the game's Japanese title, correlates very well with Chip's desire to see and experience the world he's been a part of since time immemorial. And no, claiming that the character should have been written-out because the story could've been written multiple other ways including for the sake of incorporating Tails in a far, far more dominant role is not only disregarding the game's awesome theme but is also disrespectful to the nature of writing as a whole. You can literally undermine every story and the fundamental nature of writing by claiming that they can be written in ways specifically to suit your prejudices and exact specifications.

Thirdly, Chip's utilization as a character brings out the wonderful traits that Sonic has as a character and it even advances the plot. Sonic leads himself to believe that the reason as to why he doesn't lose himself in Werehog form is due to Chip's influence and yet as Chip himself states, this isn't true; Sonic's willpower and innate goodness is what prevents him from succumbing to Dark Gaia's influence. Not only does this endearingly prove that Sonic is pure and good and whilst he does have behavioural changes to an extent in Werehog form they don't really affect him on a deep level but it proves that Sonic is oblivious to his own good traits and how they protect him, which shows how second-nature goodness is to him despite his shortcomings i.e short temper, impulsiveness. It was convincingly put upon Chip to give exposition on this important plot point.

Did Sonic need a reason to help a friend? No. He didn't. That's Sonic for you. It was an amazing cutscene that, the game's theme and the way Sonic's and Chip's relationship was written and focused-upon taken into consideration, couldn't have been elaborated-upon by any character other than Chip.

Chip even saved Sonic's bacon thrice, the first time when Sonic falls from space and likely would've sustained serious injury or death if he had impacted the ground at that velocity without Chip halting his fall, the second time right after Sonic selflessly told him to run after Dark Gaia had forcibly ripped-out it's last piece and clearly seriously injured him and the third time when Super form had exhausted Sonic to the point of collapse. He would've had a flame-broiled death in lava and would've been sealed inside the core if Chip didn't grab him whilst he was falling and then throw him out of the core.

I know, Chip is the point of the game's story, but I just don't like Chip as a character. He's not completely bad, I just think that he's not quite as important in my eyes. Calm the fuck down. Also, I don't mean that Sonic can't have more than none best friend.

Edited October 3, 2013 by SonicDude

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I know, Chip is the point of the game's story, but I just don't like Chip as a character. He's not completely bad, I just think that he's not quite as important in my eyes.

That is absolutely no excuse in claiming he was "stealing Tails' role as his best friend" or disregarding the story themes it had and was telling. I don't particularly care whether you hate him as a character, but the asspull of criticisms people make over it is just ridiculous.

Edited October 3, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[Shikushi]

That is absolutely no excuse in claiming he was "stealing Tails' role as his best friend" or disregarding the story themes it had and was telling. I don't particularly care whether you hate him as a character, but the asspull of criticisms people make over it is just ridiculo

Ok ok, I'm sorry for saying my nitpicky opinion. Just calm down.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I am calm. I don't see how me getting onto you for nitpicking is a sign that I'm angry.

[Shikushi]

I am calm. I don't see how me getting onto you for nitpicking is a sign that I'm angry.

Just trying to keep this a friendly thing. We cool?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I guess, but a thing you should know about this place is that we can be friendly and have a lot of heated debates that can get very aggressive. So don't expect the atmosphere to stay like that all the time.

[Vertekins]

...hmmm.

 

I'll elaborate more specifically.

 

What I refer to with that quote is how Unleashed's story-detractors claim that Unleashed should've been 'written like this' for the sake of forcing Tails into the limelight i.e literally undermining what Unleashed's writer(s) was going for with it's themes and it's intentions for Sonic's character elaboration in regards to his Werehog form as well as Chip's role and development.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I'll elaborate more specifically.

 

What I refer to with that quote is how Unleashed's story-detractors claim that Unleashed should've been 'written like this' for the sake of forcing Tails into the limelight i.e literally undermining what Unleashed's writer(s) was going for with it's themes and it's intentions for Sonic's character elaboration in regards to his Werehog form as well as Chip's role and development.

I was actually thinking of putting the comment in the Words of the Wise. I knew what you were saying.

[Vertekins]

I was actually thinking of putting the comment in the Words of the Wise. I knew what you were saying.

 

Oh. I was under the impression that you were gonna say that I'm one to talk considering I keep hankering for Sonic to be portrayed less like he was in Colours and more like he was in the Storybooks  ...which still isn't relevant to the point I was actually making. Curse me and my silly jumping to conclusions

 

And wow, really?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Oh. I was under the impression that you were gonna say that I'm one to talk considering I keep hankering for Sonic to be portrayed less like he was in Colours and more like he was in the Storybooks  ...which still isn't relevant to the point I was actually making. Curse me and my silly jumping to conclusions

Well...no, because I happen to have similar sentiments over how to portray Sonic or the themes and the likes that were presented in Unleashed (and I think we can even do better than the Storybooks, but that's just me). Then again I'm one who prefers going over things pragmatically anyway, so for whatever my grievances with any narrative I would go more in-depth with it. 

 

And wow, really?

Well, yeah, but that one sentence is heavily overpowered by everything else you said...that and whether or not I could make it fit considering everything else I have in it.

Edited October 4, 2013 by ChaosSupremeSonîc

[-blank-]

Heh, I always welcome topics to gush about any aspect of my favorite game in the franchise.

 

Unleashed has one of my favorite stories in the series. As a matter of fact, the only game that I find with a better tale is Black Knight. There's just so much it does right. It starts out very strong and though the plot does falter in the middle, it's still fairly good. And once we get to the 'no reason' cutscene (one of my favorites in the game actually) we start heading to a strong final act with my favorite ending of the series. Also, I love the slight character development the Werehog gives Sonic, even if I do wish it could have been explored further in the game.

 

So, I'd give the story a 9/10.

[Phos]

Still better than Colours, a game that so desperately tries to get you to laugh but fails utterly and miserably and which shunts aside every other factor that needs to be considered in a story to push it's 'humor' to the forefront. Unleashed never does that. Unleashed knows subtlety. Colours wouldn't know subtlety if it stripped and danced in front of it.

ok

 

 

This is different from an extremely obvious ploy involving a theme park with poor safety standards and then a deus ex machina undermining his entire plan?

Wait do you think that I think colors did anything right?  

 

 

 the world being split apart and the very incarnation of darkness reawakening, a sense of tenseness coming from the time limit you have to take it out once it reaches it's perfect form.

As i recall you learn about dark gaia's perfect form when he turns into it anyway after being beaten.  There is no time limit in place or implied; it is the most leisurely world saving pretty much full stop.  The NPCs were impacted less by the earth breaking apart than by just about anything else.  Best example: Pickle's assistant is more put off by the whole pack of robots than by the earth being in pieces.  Any sense of urgency originated with you.  

 

 

 

'Aborted side plots'? Where? All I can honestly recall as being a completely disregarded plot point is Tails getting shot away above Eggmanland.

Sonic lamenting his Werehog form when Amy doesn't recognize him goes nowhere, squandering the only pathos this plot manages to scrounge together.  Sonic claims that he's going to help get chip's memory back and then he really doesn't and then it happens on its own.  

 

And I just remembered the anger that they thought it was seriously OK to do any of this stuff.  The lycanthrophy the stupid little sidekick the droves of gormless filler people everything everyone always complained about.  

 

 

Pickle factors into here perfectly well. The story is in no way detracted-from just because Sonic and Tails have very little idea initially about what's going on.

Pickle had all the character of a wikipedia article.  You could replace Pickle with the transcript of what pickle says and change nothing.  

 

 

And Sonic and Tails knew what the fuck was going on in Colours until Yacker exposes it? They knew about the mind control cannon? Severely detracted from any sense of danger.

Seriously why does anyone think I like colors.

 

 

Again, don't see how this in any way detracts from the story. Chip's amnesia is sensical and is an important thing regarding his character development. 

It really isn't.  He's completely oblivious to his connection with anything that's going on until a white light just fixes his brain.  

 

 

Actually he does. And he summizes himself that his new form's properties can be useful.

Does he really?  I recall him once remarking that his stretch armstrong powers could be useful.  This was long before him lamenting his change in appearance.  I think you like the werehog and are projecting.  

 

 

Fail to see how the way the Emeralds factor into Unleashed's story are any more stupid than other instances in which they're incorporated. Stupider than turning your thoughts into power?

The Gaia Colossus et al were clearly not created by mortal hands and must have existed as long as the planet.  That means that either the chaos emeralds were made for this purpose or this cycle was a complete accident because without the emeralds Dark Gaia would have gone unopposed.

 

Oh and I remembered another major flaw with this game's story.  Remember how in Sonic Adventure, the biggest conflict takes place on the Egg Carrier and the entire second half of the story is falling action?  Unleashed managed to one up that by putting the climax in the game's intro, the story never reaches that level again and the entire plot takes place in falling action.  Sonic is never seriously opposed again until the final battle and everything in between comes off as something to do while on vacation.  

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

The Gaia Colossus et al were clearly not created by mortal hands and must have existed as long as the planet.  That means that either the chaos emeralds were made for this purpose or this cycle was a complete accident because without the emeralds Dark Gaia would have gone unopposed.

Or, like every other supernatural force that has been in this series, the Chaos Emeralds just happened to be a convenient tool to deal with a supernatural threat or force of nature like Dark Gaia.

 

Although, it should be noted that the whole point of the cycle in the first place was for Dark Gaia to destroy the world until Light Gaia puts it back together, and that the Chaos Emeralds were equally used to release Dark Gaia in the first place hence Unleashed's opening scene. So they weren't there solely for the purpose of fighting Dark Gaia, as they are equally responsible for his birth power as well as either his defeat or repairing of his destruction of the world; in short, they're neutral to both of the Gaias, by virtue of helping them both.

Edited October 15, 2013 by CreepySpiritSonic

[Phos]

Or, like every other supernatural force that has been in this series, the Chaos Emeralds just happened to be a convenient tool to deal with a supernatural threat or force of nature like Dark Gaia.

 

Although, it should be noted that the whole point of the cycle in the first place was for Dark Gaia to destroy the world until Light Gaia puts it back together, and that the Chaos Emeralds were equally used to release Dark Gaia in the first place hence Unleashed's opening scene. So they weren't there solely for the purpose of fighting Dark Gaia, as they are equally responsible for his birth power as well as either his defeat or repairing of his destruction of the world; in short, they're neutral to both of the Gaias, by virtue of helping them both.

Just happened to fit into the pedestal and restore a chunk of the earth and then power up a chunk of it. Yeah, sure.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Just happened to fit into the pedestal and restore a chunk of the earth and then power up a chunk of it. Yeah, sure.

Yes, just like how they happen to be able to turn thoughts into power, seal demons and spirits, randomly make hedgehogs and/or other species go super sayian, make water gods into water dragons, allow teleportation, stop or travel through time, resurrect people from the dead, open dimensions, etc in a series with talking superpowered animals.

 

Yet somehow, fitting into a pedestal to restore part of the earth and power a temple after powering an ancient force of nature is too far-fetched?

Edited October 16, 2013 by CreepySpiritSonic

[Carbuncle]

I hated Sonic Unleashed's story. It was a large reason for why I never finished it. Chip was just horrific, with one of the worst voice actor's I have ever heard, and the other Voice Acting was just awful.

 

Generations actually had much better cutscenes, although the story in that was virtually non-existant and it's not exactly hard to trump Sonic Unleashed is it?

 

I never quite get what the fandom sees in Sonic Unleashed. I thought every aspect of the game was awful.

 

Yeah, Sonic Adventure 2's story is very pretentious, but it's executed in a much less ear-bleeding way than Sonic Unleashed.

[Diogenes]

I'm still not sure what requires the emeralds having been made for the Gaia Temples rather than the other way around.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I just look at it like every other thing the Emeralds were supposed to be used on. We're talking about the series' resident Deus ex Machina McGuffins, what other explanation is there for them when they're used for almost everything that happens in the series?

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I just look at it like every other thing the Emeralds were supposed to be used on. We're talking about the series' resident Deus ex Machina McGuffins, what other explanation is there for them when they're used for almost everything that happens in the series?

Or it's possible that being mystical artifacts of immense power, that they were juggled around various ancient civilizations over the course of centuries and thus had various relics, temples, and even cultures based around them.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Wonder ED

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Yeah, that's the long version of "Every other thing the Emeralds were used for."

[Phos]

Yes, just like how they happen to be able to turn thoughts into power, seal demons and spirits, randomly make hedgehogs and/or other species go super sayian, make water gods into water dragons, allow teleportation, stop or travel through time, resurrect people from the dead, open dimensions, etc in a series with talking superpowered animals.

 

Yet somehow, fitting into a pedestal to restore part of the earth and power a temple after powering an ancient force of nature is too far-fetched?

 

 

I'm still not sure what requires the emeralds having been made for the Gaia Temples rather than the other way around.

Either the dark light cycle had been started when the planet was created or it would have had to be imposed by an outer force, and being a cycle, all parts of it have to be in place when it was created.  That means the two final fantasy creatures, the temples, and the emeralds all had to exist at the time of the cycle's initiation.  So, were the rest of the pieces sitting around waiting for the emeralds arrival (from where?) or were they made by whatever force made the temples et al?

 

Oh, and sticking the emeralds into the pedestals reenergizes them.

[Mauro Fonseca]

The Emeralds exist since sometime. The temples are made after the Emeralds, to use their power, since they are connected to the two monsters. How? Why? Does it contradict itself?

 

Yes. Yes it does. That's kind of the point, it was a lost element of history everyone's forgotten.

[Nepenthe]

I don't see why the Gaia Gates can't be the result of divine retribution. Whenever a civilization so much as sneezed wrong and blew themselves up with the Emeralds, the gods would be there either to do something with the Emeralds or throw an island in the sky or something in the aftermath. Heck, wasn't the Master Emerald supposed to be a heavenly means of controlling the Chaos Emeralds to prevent shit from constantly going down? Why would they remain silent in regards to something that is truly apocalyptic?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

So, were the rest of the pieces sitting around waiting for the emeralds arrival (from where?) or were they made by whatever force made the temples et al?

It was probably made by whatever force made them and everything else. The same force that may have made the Master Emerald, the Emerald shrine, and gave the Emeralds the flexibility to be used by whoever wanted to use them.

 

Oh, and sticking the emeralds into the pedestals reenergizes them.

Yeah, thanks for telling everyone what they already knew.

[Diogenes]

... and being a cycle, all parts of it have to be in place when it was created.

We can't assume that everything we see is accurate to how the cycle normally goes. I mean, it's kind of a big point that the cycle isn't going as usual, with Dark Gaia being woken early, Light Gaia lagging behind, and a spiky blue hedgehog helping out. Maybe Light Gaia just made a stone body out of the earth at first and then started incorporating the temples once they were built. And even if the temples were there from the start of the cycle, there's no reason that the emeralds can't simply predate the cycle entirely.