SEGA: "Sonic game quality will be fixed over time"

[Phos]

Huh? If I heard correctly, it was more specifically Hashimoto who was responsible for the Werehog. At least two divisions (Sega America, and I thought Sega Japan... I supposed I -might- be mistaken) told him not to include the Werehog, but he did it anyway (and he was the primary one responsible for it). I heard that in the topic talking about Hashimoto leaving Sega. He may have done some good things with Unleashed, but it doesn't mean he isn't at fault for the bad things, either.

Initially, I had only blamed him for not vetoing the idea, but if I'm interpreting this correctly:

So, before beginning development, at the earliest stages of drawing up the concept design, Art Director Sachiko Kawamura and I discussed what to do, and we knew that we could make the

[JaidynReiman]

Honestly, judging by what Mr. Ratcliffe was saying, it sounds like he doesn't really care what the older Sonic fans want. He seems more concerned about kids. What he doesn't realize, when most of us became fans, we WERE KIDS ourselves. But it would be hard since today's kids aren't the best judges of good games. As long as it has nice graphics, they like it. That's why most of the games you see nowadays are pretty to look at but not much fun to play. I really don't care how a game looks as long as it's fun. Graphics are just icing on the cake for me. (That's not a good analogy for me since I prefer cake without icing.)

But I do have faith that Sonic games will once again return to greatness eventually. I've been a Sonic fan for 16 years, and I always will be.

Huh? I don't get this vibe at all. It seems to me that he's saying, while many of the "kids" liked Unleashed, a lot of classic fans do not, and he's assuring them that they're still trying to work in making the games better. From what I read (I don't know if you read it differently or not), he's actually insisting the exact opposite--that Sega's intention isn't to just appeal to kids (or to just the classic fans, for that matter), but to everybody. A kid isn't going to be worried much about game quality, as long as its fun, but a kid isn't going to complain about a high-quality game, either.

In my opinion, Unleashed -is- high-quality, but the problem lies in some of the other concepts that -weren't- accepted by a lot of classic fans (and frankly, which I too found necessary, though admittedly I consider myself a "classic" fan who simply prefers modern Sonic games, as I myself did grow up on the classics, too).

EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the added note, Phos. Sorry, I had been meaning to remark on that, but I forgot to when finishing up my post, heh.

Edited August 1, 2009 by UltimaHedgie

[Candescence]

I see these kids haven't played an actual brawler, the Werehog is an utter disgrace to the beat-em-up genre. They blatantly took inspiration from God of War, which is a hack-and-slash game. Excuse me while I go wait for Spyborgs.

But really, I was under the impression that Sonic was supposed to be for EVERYONE, much like Mario still is. Unfortunately...

Also, if it were up to me, I'd throw everything about Unleashed out the window and start again from scratch. I'm of the dissenting opinion that it seriously sucks, but I'd rather not rant about it.

Edited August 1, 2009 by The Sniper

[serpx]

That's not true. When you hit rock bottom you can still dig a grave.

And even then you can still dig deeper and find ancient monsters.

lol

Recent news: New Sonic game rates below 0, SEGA almost bankrupt, ancient monsters discovered.

[Joseppi]

Huh? I don't get this vibe at all. It seems to me that he's saying, while many of the "kids" liked Unleashed, a lot of classic fans do not, and he's assuring them that they're still trying to work in making the games better. From what I read (I don't know if you read it differently or not), he's actually insisting the exact opposite--that Sega's intention isn't to just appeal to kids (or to just the classic fans, for that matter), but to everybody. A kid isn't going to be worried much about game quality, as long as its fun, but a kid isn't going to complain about a high-quality game, either.

In my opinion, Unleashed -is- high-quality, but the problem lies in some of the other concepts that -weren't- accepted by a lot of classic fans (and frankly, which I too found necessary, though admittedly I consider myself a "classic" fan who simply prefers modern Sonic games, as I myself did grow up on the classics, too).

You could be right. Maybe I did read it wrong. The main thing that he said which brought me to my understanding was the following.

I think older, die-hard Sega fans who grew up with the franchise and the first Sonic the Hedgehog associate Sonic more with 2-D side-scrolling super fast, and they liked the daytime gameplay, but when it came to the slower paced gameplay they were fairly critical of that, and that's fine – they have their opinions.

Him saying "that's fine – they have their opinions" leads me to believe that he respects their opinions but doesn't really care about them. But I may have just misinterpreted what he was saying.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Joseppi

[Greg the Fancat]

I see these kids haven't played an actual brawler, the Werehog is an utter disgrace to the beat-em-up genre. They blatantly took inspiration from God of War, which is a hack-and-slash game. Excuse me while I go wait for Spyborgs.

But really, I was under the impression that Sonic was supposed to be for EVERYONE, much like Mario still is. Unfortunately...

Also, if it were up to me, I'd throw everything about Unleashed out the window and start again from scratch. I'm of the dissenting opinion that it seriously sucks, but I'd rather not rant about it.

Well, think about it this way. There was a lot of good in Sonic Unleashed. For once, it was more toony, and the visuals seemed to fit well with the exotic worlds of the Genesis titles. Heck, I appreciate how they did the human designs. Despite being void of down to the stitches of their clothes detail, I quite loved the PIXAR-ish humans.... Still.... When I went to go see Monsters v.s. Aliens I was quite frankly impressed with Dreamworks making a better movie than PIXAR. I mean it... I thought that movie was the BOMB. If SEGA/Sonic Team really wanted to do that psuedo cartoony realistic look then they should learn a thing or two from Dreamworks.

Just my two cents.

[JaidynReiman]

'eh, I thought the human designs are ridiculous. They should've stuck with higher-def SA-based humans. The humans in the Adventure games were the best ones in my opinion. Chronicles' humans weren't bad, either. Shadow's were about the same as in the Adventure's, though I don't think they need to be as realistic as in Sonic '06. I hope they -don't- keep the human design from Unleashed.

[Flyboy Fox]

I agree; I didn't like the overly toony humans from Unleashed either. They were a little TOO goofy and caricature-ish for my tastes. Nor did I like the uber-realistic humans in '06. A middle ground would be nice. The ones in the Adventure games were okay, but kind of boring. I'd like the humans to have character and quirkiness but without being over-the-top cartoony caricatures.

[Toby]

Yea, why the hell should a cartoony hedgehog be surrounded by cartoony humans anyway? That's just silly.

[Flyboy Fox]

Yea, why the hell should a cartoony hedgehog be surrounded by cartoony humans anyway? That's just silly.

I don't think they should be too cartoony OR too realistic. Like I said, I don't like either extreme. I wouldn't want Sonic and co to be any more cartoony or any more realistic than they are now, either.

[Toby]

I was just teasing. =p

[Candescence]

Well, think about it this way. There was a lot of good in Sonic Unleashed. For once, it was more toony, and the visuals seemed to fit well with the exotic worlds of the Genesis titles. Heck, I appreciate how they did the human designs. Despite being void of down to the stitches of their clothes detail, I quite loved the PIXAR-ish humans.... Still.... When I went to go see Monsters v.s. Aliens I was quite frankly impressed with Dreamworks making a better movie than PIXAR. I mean it... I thought that movie was the BOMB. If SEGA/Sonic Team really wanted to do that psuedo cartoony realistic look then they should learn a thing or two from Dreamworks.

Just my two cents.

The environments, I can't really argue with that, and though I also think the humans in Unleashed weren't a good fit... So it looked amazing. But it honestly didn't help the gameplay a bit, and as I said, I hated Unleashed. Eggmanland, no matter how interesting it looked and stuff, I will utterly despise it forever. Also, the Hedgehog engine was good, but IMO, it's already beginning to seem technically outdated.

So... Really, the only good parts Unleashed brought were really interesting environments and some different music, to me.

[Greg the Fancat]

The environments, I can't really argue with that, and though I also think the humans in Unleashed weren't a good fit... So it looked amazing. But it honestly didn't help the gameplay a bit, and as I said, I hated Unleashed. Eggmanland, no matter how interesting it looked and stuff, I will utterly despise it forever. Also, the Hedgehog engine was good, but IMO, it's already beginning to seem technically outdated.

So... Really, the only good parts Unleashed brought were really interesting environments and some different music, to me.

Hmm.. Yeah, I can see what you're talking about. But... uh... What's wrong with--- you played the 360 version didn't you? Yeah.... That was a nightmare. I played the Wii version. That one was reasonable except for all the Werehog injected into it.

[Arrow]

Lol, my dad's gf's kids bought Sonic Unleashed for the Wii and hated it more than I do, so I'm not sure I believe that kids love it.

Also, the fact that it immediately was on sale, is a tell tale sign that it wasn't well received.

I think they are lying to themselves, frankly.

EDIT: Amongst the shitness of Sonic Unleashed was some potential. I was really disappointed with the laziness of it, though. Objects that look like objects you are supposed to destroy, in out of bounds places, was something that almost made me sad. The environments are the worst thing about that game. Worse than the gameplay and the werehog concept. Every level looks exactly the same and they are so bare. The 20/5/whatever ring things upset me too. If you just put RINGS around, it wouldn't look less bare. The awful command for charging has killed me on numerous occasions, when all I wanted to do was edge forwards or backwards to move the camera. These aren't the sort of errors that are excusable anymore, they are just awful, awful flaws.

The pointless talking to random people thing, also, was beyond annoying. No child has the patience for that.

Does anyone else have trouble jumping from object to object that you're supposed to grab hold of, too? Like, it seems complete fluke whether or not you swing far enough or in the right direction. I also have an issue with over compensating jumps, because the placement of shadows seems off... And some objects, such as swinging axes, don't even HAVE shadows. So telling where they are is actually impossible.

I have the PS2 version.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Arrow

[MobileChicaneX]

Hmm.. Yeah, I can see what you're talking about. But... uh... What's wrong with--- you played the 360 version didn't you? Yeah.... That was a nightmare. I played the Wii version. That one was reasonable except for all the Werehog injected into it.

Wait you say that like if the 360 version is terrible comapred to the wii verion sorry but wtf i have both versions and the 360 version is miles better i bet you haven't even play it so you honestly you cant say anything.

[Sean]

Wait you say that like if the 360 version is terrible comapred to the wii verion sorry but wtf i have both versions and the 360 version is miles better i bet you haven't even play it so you honestly you cant say anything.

People are entitled to their opinions - please refrain from making rude remarks just because you disagree with someone.