Sonic: Should Story Matter?

[Chaos Controller]

Yes, but that was before Colours got popular, and even then, those were just cameos.

Then again, cameos would be an improvement over the nothing we have now so :/

Yeah, they would be. Also, I don't see what popularity has to do with anything. The cutscenes, dialogue, and character appearances were different, because the writers were different. Simple as that.

Hence why I think Ian taking an active role in writing the games would make a world of difference.

[Briraka]

Yeah, they would be. Also, I don't see what popularity has to do with anything. The cutscenes, dialogue, and character appearances were different, because the writers were different. Simple as that.
Hence why I think Ian taking an active role in writing the games would make a world of difference.

I was thinking of the Wii version when typing that, and popularity has everything to do with this. Ever since the Wii version of Colours got praise for what it lacks, the main series has been squandering it's potential for anything beyond cameos from anyone who isn't Sonic, Tails or Eggman.

[Chaos Controller]

I was thinking of the Wii version when typing that, and popularity has everything to do with this. Ever since the Wii version of Colours got praise for what it lacks, the main series has been squandering it's potential for anything beyond cameos from anyone who isn't Sonic, Tails or Eggman.

The Wii version didn't get showered with praise and fame because it lacked a plot... It got praised because it was a solid, well-made game...

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Actually yeah, as much as I would support Ian being the writer for Sonic games - like, mindblowing support for Ian - I can't see him faring any better than Pontac and Graff due to Sega holding things on an arguably tighter leash leash. Ian actually has more freedom with the comics than he does the games, as he's the one with semi-full authority of the writing besides the editor and Sega who can overrule him.

Even if Ian got on, he wouldn't be able to do even half the stuff he'd want to do to make things better, if even that. Only way it'd work out is if he was given the same authority on the game's stories as he has over the comics, with someone helping to keep his ideas from going too far. Really, it's all in authority, as even Pontac and Graff don't have that much influence as we think, hence why we're not exactly enjoying their work.

Edited October 23, 2015 by ChaosSupremeSonic

[Salamander]

I'm aware that Ian Flynn has expressed genuine interest in writing for the Sonic games, but... in practice, I don't think he would like it.  At all.  And certainly he'd end up being tarred for a lot of things that were wholly out of his control.

[PandoloFox]

That's the problem with minimalism, it's very hard to do but super effective when it works. It's debatable if the current Sonic Team's writing would ever be capable of doing this, but this is the joy of hypothetical arguments  . I think it's funny when people say they want minimalism as though that would cut down development resources in the plot department. Minimalism is actually very meticulous and requires a lot of investment to be done properly. It wouldn't magically free up resources for other departments.

I don't think every scene needs to be silent necessarily. I'm in favour of a silent storytelling for Sonic games but I'm not rigidly against dialogue in a Sonic game either. Exposition is obviously important to any game, of course the game doesn't need to have loads of dialogue to throw at the player to weave in exposition as you probably already know.

I think walls of text are against the nature of Sonic games. Sonic games should be fast-paced and always going forward rather than stood still. That's why I think dialogue should be minimalist: short, sweet and to the point. One sentence can carry a thousand words. 

Of course someone else could have a different interpretation for what Sonic should be and that's their decision

Ehh. I think using the environment for expressing the narrative is a technique of minimalism to be honest. Minimalism isn't a half-assed plot like in Generations that's just barebones. Minimalism is an art style where everything that's not absolutely necessary is stripped away. Portal 1 is actually minimalist, and that game has a lot of dialogue.

I just think the minimalism technique fits in very nicely with the tone of Sonic games. 

I agree.