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Sonic's future as an RPG series


Swing

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One of the biggest complaints that I heard over the years from the Sonic community, is that Sega doesn't used any of Sonic friends anymore as playable characters for their recent titles. And to be honest, I can see why. First, it is not easy to make different gameplay styles workable and second, their are so many beloved characters now, that, if you make one of the playable, you also have to make the others playable, because everybody want's to have their favorite character in the game.

I honestly can not see that this could work, unless their are all just one to one clones from Sonic like Coco was it in the Crash Bandicoot. N. Sane Trilogy. But different gameplay styles or the Sonic play style with different abilities for each character is probably way to much work now. Especially how Sega seems to not actually care anymore for Sonic I can not see this work at all. So does this means, we will never see our beloved characters in action anymore. Well I think I found an solution. 

They could still work in an RPG. Sonic Chronicles had 11 playable characters, their for I can see this as one of the very few ways left, to use Sonic's friends again in a meaningful way. Sure, it isn't a typical Sonic gameplay style, but at least we can have a bunch of them again in some sort of action. Sonic Chronicles wasn't that bad of a game. I mean sure, like most modern Sonic games it also had some really huge flaws like a horrible soundtrack, forgettable new characters and a very tricky battle system and stiff controls, but I see it as one of the better games out their.

And I think a new, good RPG is actually a good way to bring Sonic (for the seventh time) back to the fans with a (hopefully) decent game. I actually see Sonic more as an RPG series now, believe it or not. Let's be honest here. Almost non of us really care deeply about the gameplay. Most of us have fallen in love with this series mostly because of it's cool characters, egdy stories, the soundtracks and the over presentation. With Sonic it was never really about a solid gameplay experience like with Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro or Ratchet & Clank it was always about been cooler than the other mascot characters. 

But been cool can also work in other game genres for Sonic. It doesn't really have to be always a platformer. And as an RPG series we actually can bring back all the things, that people like so much about Sonic. An egdy story, many playable characters and an overall cool feeling.

What do you think about this idea? Can you see Sonic in the future more as an RPG series or even as another genre like an action adventure game?

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Spoken as a person who's been mostly distant with Sonic over the years yet sees how atrocious Chronicles was, i would still love to see an RPG based on this franchise, something akin to the Mario & Luigi series with interactivity tied to button prompts that actually work and are in context with the moves used.

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I already once mentioned this before I believe

Quote

I've wanted an Alpha Dream Mario & Sonic RPG staring Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails. But I fear it may not work considering the two games that had 3 or more characters at once had problems. PIT for having confusing Bro items which get more confusing as the different red and green colours breeze by the screen, screwing up my timing, as well as being super linear without really making the linearity fun. While Paper Jam isn't really let down by gameplay, but more a story that plays it waaaaay too safe. I'm near endgame I believe and the Paper Mario/Mario crossover has pretty much sucked as a storyline. I'd hope if Alpha Dream, Nintendo, and Sega could come together, we could get a game that has a story like the first 3 games (4 was alright at best), and the Paper Jam circle thing that helps you not get lost with 3 characters, but for 4 when dodging.

Though honestly I don't think people are asking for different gameplay styles. Just one style with some slight variation to it depending on the character you pick. Mania did it perfectly.

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1 hour ago, Swing said:

Almost non of us really care deeply about the gameplay. Most of us have fallen in love with this series mostly because of it's cool characters, egdy stories, the soundtracks and the over presentation. With Sonic it was never really about a solid gameplay experience like with Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro or Ratchet & Clank it was always about been cooler than the other mascot characters. 

But been cool can also work in other game genres for Sonic. It doesn't really have to be always a platformer. And as an RPG series we actually can bring back all the things, that people like so much about Sonic. An egdy story, many playable characters and an overall cool feeling.

What do you think about this idea? Can you see Sonic in the future more as an RPG series or even as another genre like an action adventure game?

I for one, completely disagree. As a fan who was first introduced to Sonic by my older brother with Sonic 2 when I was 5 years old way back in the day, I didn't know anything about the story, I didn't know about the characters, all I saw was the fast, smooth, fun gameplay and that was what fascinated me. Sure, there characters seemed cool, but had they used the same character for a Mario style block platformer, I wouldn't have cared nearly as much.

And to this day, I'm looking for gameplay first in every Sonic game. If the gameplay sucks, everything else could be perfect and I still wouldn't care. When I discovered Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, I saw it as a (mostly) fun game with good gameplay, the story/plot being a neat bonus rather than the main appeal.

So maybe it's no suprise that when I heard about Sonic Chronicles, my reaction was, and is to this day: "What is the point of this? Sonic is a platformer game, change the genre and it's not a Sonic game anymore, just a game with Sonic characters." Maybe that's enough for other people, but for me it's not.

It's like if my favorite rock band suddenly started playing country music: they might be good at it, and others might like it, but that's not what I want/expect from them.

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In addition to an RPG, I could see a beat em up or tower defense game working in their favor. The tower defense could take cues from Metal Slug Attack (THE most arcade tower defence ive played), and have a huge number of units. That game features every Metal Slug protagonist ever, including ones that were from spin-off games. Plus a substantial number of enemies, bosses, and even brand new characters. There’s a lovely fan-made Sonic realer which takes characters from multiple canons and even special guests.

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The series has the depth of characters and potential to tell stories to do it fantastically. Even as shitty as Chronicles was, it showed that.

 

 

You need to be able to write a story for that though.

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Almost non of us really care deeply about the gameplay. 

With Sonic it was never really about a solid gameplay experience

It would also do best to not to act like such a claim is fact, that's just ridiculous.

For serious.

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I've said it before, but I think a fast paced action JRPG styled sonic game similar to like Kingdom Hearts(mainly 3D with its flowmotion and parkour) could be pretty awesome. Especially if multiple characters are available to use 

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2 hours ago, Diogenes said:

Okay no. No no no no a thousand times no. Sonic may not be about solid gameplay now, but that's because Sonic Team is fucking garbage at their job, not because it never had genuinely good games. I'd rank games like 3&K and Mania up there with the best 2D platformers ever made, because they're genuinely great games, not because they have a bunch of characters or just because they're "cool" or "epic".

How are you even going to say almost nobody actually cares about the gameplay when there's so much discussion and debate over it?

How can someone even call themself a fan of a game series if they don't care about its gameplay?

Well seems people now only cares about the classic gameplay, for the modern one has been taken to the dumps lately. Considering Sega trying to make excuses to make more classic games, might as well just have classic be about gameplay, and modern about RPG, because what else can they do? Adventure? *pfft* Not unless they pull their spines out of their asses.

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I'm all for the idea of a Sonic RPG, but I don't believe that it absolutely needs to be fast-paced or "action-y" at all, as long as it delivers a good experience (even if I would personally prefer it). There are a few fans of the series that like the characters and world but won't play the games (because they're not good at them, etc) and it would certainly be more in their alley.

 

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The way I see it Sonic can only function in an rpg if the gameplay isn't turn based, which is one of many aspects where Chronicles failed. That structure just doesn't lend itself to a series where it's characters are most famous for their speed. Sure turn based games can be fast paced, just look at Final Fantasy VII if you jack the battle speed all the way up, but they're still very stop and go by design which people aren't fond of with this series (just look at how stop and go the werehog is for an example).

An action rpg seems like the most appropriate choice and if I were to pick a developer to make it, it would be PlatinumGames. The engine used for Nier Automata looks like it would be a perfect fit for Sonic as it not only allows for fast paced action combat with general rpg mechanics but traversal of the environment in large open spaces, which is something Sonic fans have wanted to see for quite a while if fan projects like Sonic Utopia and Green Hill Paradise Act 2 are anything to go by. Not to mention Platinum is good at creating batshit insane stories with high levels a cheese, and we all love our cheese. At least I do.

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This should be in Green Hill Zone, since Upcoming Sonic Games is specifically for official games, not theoretical speculation. I'm moving it.

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I think it'd be interesting to see a Sonic RPG that takes after the Mario RPGs in that the overworld has "simplified" Sonicy platforming. Gain speed to use use ramps to launch yourself around and all that fun stuff, but for the most part you're adventurin' around like in an RPG.

I don't really have a strong opinion on whether I'd want turn based or action RPG, both fit my tastes, but admittedly something more actiony would fit Sonic better. Would all depend on the execution I guess.

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The biggest problem with RPG is that it must sell a world and Sega has no idea how Mobius looks. Chronicles had reeeeally bare and boring world until we moved to Twilight Cage and that place could use fleshing out too. So either story takes us in space or another dimension (but not Blaze) or Sega must finally draw some god damn rules.

But overall I would be all for Sonic RPG. With a good writer, it could do wonders for the franchise.

(And I think we can all agree that Sonic cast has a large impact on his popularity (more than for Mario or Megaman), but it doesn't eclipse the importance fo gameplay.)

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Guys, let's be honest here. Really, really honest. If gameplay is really the only thing that matters for Sonic, than this franchise would have died many years ago. At the least when Sonic 06 arrived. The characters, the cool and edgy presentation and the stories are the reasons this franchises could have survived so many mediocre to downright bad games over the past years. No other franchise could off pulled that move. Every other series would have died with only one of this mediocre games in it's lineup.

This is why I think that this is the series strongest aspect. It's characters and presentation. And to work with this idea we have to put this series in a genre, that can use it to it's full potential and that is as an RPG game. 

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06's story was just as shit as the gameplay, and would have also killed off Sonic by that logic. Most of the Sonic stories past adventure and ways the characters were written would have killed the franchise by your logic.

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Nobody said gameplay is the only thing that matters even though it is it's just that saying "no one" cares about gameplay for Sonic is just straight through wrong.

Not even its characters really get it, because Sonic Team reduced the role of them for 10 years in the games where it really matters.

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5 hours ago, Swing said:

Guys, let's be honest here. Really, really honest. If gameplay is really the only thing that matters for Sonic, than this franchise would have died many years ago. At the least when Sonic 06 arrived. The characters, the cool and edgy presentation and the stories are the reasons this franchises could have survived so many mediocre to downright bad games over the past years. No other franchise could off pulled that move. Every other series would have died with only one of this mediocre games in it's lineup.

Amusingly, the last Sonic game I really, really played was released before STH '06. Even if other people have continued to buy Sonic games just because they are written like a shitty ripoff of the already crappy shonen shows they see on Disney channel, that doesn't mean that it's true for everyone.

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5 hours ago, Swing said:

Guys, let's be honest here. Really, really honest.

If you want everyone to be "really, really honest", can we maybe admit that hardly anyone gives a shit about the series for its story and characters, outside a small contingent of hardcore fans? This series' storytelling is as much of a joke as its gameplay and even within the fanbase a lot of games' stories aren't looked at fondly.

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I've had an idea for a while where there would be a mechanic in a Sonic RPG where you could build momentum in the "overworld" section and the faster you hit an enemy, the more damage they take as combat starts.

This is assuming the game is turn based, but I'd honestly prefer a fast paced turn based game over anything else. You'd be able to fit in more characters that way and Sonic character fighting styles aren't really complicated enough for a full on action RPG imo.

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11 minutes ago, Josh said:

This is assuming the game is turn based, but I'd honestly prefer a fast paced turn based game over anything else.

Can you name an example of this kind of RPG?

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I think a Sonic RPG with a Battle Engine more in line with Kingdom Hearts could work. Turn based is Fine but I think it'd work better if it just seamlessly went into battles.

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