Characters that never grew on you (Games only)

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, DCFCSonic20 said:

 

I just found him to be the dumb gullible person who doesn't think with his brain until his timeline is pretty much fucked. 

 

He was dumb and gullible because his [original?] timeline was fucked.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Blame bad storytelling and writing for that one.

Archie Silver was still gullible and prone to fucking up with a lot of dumb decisions, but that came with the added twist that he was actually doing his own research—the main problem he had was that a lot of knowledge was lost, so he had to make educated, yet just as dangerous guesses over the cause.

Speaks volumes how the same character and their traits can be made good or bad based on how they’re portrayed.

[Skull Leader]

I don't think that storytelling is the only reason for Silver's issues. Even if character flaws such as his sense of justice being something where the end justifies the means, like when he was more than OK with taking a life in exchange to saving the world and his future, there will be people that might not grow to like the character.

Personally, I prefer more morally sound ones like Amy, who is more concerned with helping out others, even the bad guys to find redemption and change, than in looking like a hero or following some code of justice since doing the right thing matters much more.

Add this franchise's tendency to reward such characters,,while not giving proper credit to the ones that do a more believable job, and you have further reason for the likes of Silver not appealing to some of the fans.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

47 minutes ago, Skull Leader said:

I don't think that storytelling is the only reason for Silver's issues. Even if character flaws such as his sense of justice being something where the end justifies the means, like when he was more than OK with taking a life in exchange to saving the world and his future, there will be people that might not grow to like the character.

That’s kinda my whole point behind why storytelling and writing is a primary issue.

People don’t like Game!Silver because the way he was written had him cone off as jumping the gun and trusting information based off what a complete stranger who somehow knows the full cause told him without looking into it himself, and went along with the idea of killing someone to save his future. Yes, it’s easy to understand that as desperation, but it being poorly portrayed doesn’t sell it so well.

By contrast, people look at Archie!Silver differently because, while retains his naivety, tendency to jump the gun, and determinant to find the cause of his bad future, he doesn’t take the immediate word of a complete stranger, and actually thinks of what he’s doing.

Two different takes on the same characters.

[TheUltimateHedgy]

Knuckles. I don't hate how he plays (His climbing is slow, but it does create a different dynamic for people who don't like breakneck speeds), but his character... God, is he useless. He's not a good rival for Sonic, is incredibly stupid (Even dumber than Eggman or Amy even), and has no motivation other than "UAAAGH, MUST PUNCH EVERYTHING". Heck, he's not even a helpful friend, because most of the time he just.... Stands there, while Sonic, Shadow or Silver do all the dirty work.

Tails. He has no real reason to be in most of the games (Other than to babble about planes and to say the obvious), and he's just... Not cool. He's a twelve-year-old, who can't fight for sh*t, and who can't even use weapons or chaos control. He can fly, but he never does anything with his ability, and usually just... Stands there.

Eggman. A worthless, pathetic nobody, who isn't even a real villain. He's so pathetic, that he has to resort to asking Shadow, his arch-nemesis, to do the work for him! I mean, Mephiles was a much better villain, but they just had to banish him from the main canon just to keep this clown as the main villain.

[Bobnik]

Orbot and Cubot - while Orbot wasn't as bad in Unleashed as everywhere else, I never liked that character, and in pair with Cubot as Eggman lackeys they just made me sad. They're literally just there for comedic relief, especially Cubot. They don't add anything to anything and overall just make me go "ew, no"

Deadly Six (all of them) - when they were first shown off before Lost World's release, I said "wow, they're going to be boring one-note stereotypes, aren't they". I wasn't wrong, that's for sure. Not only that, the designs just didn't fit what's been established in the Modern-verse at all. Hell, I feel like even in Classic-verse they wouldn't fit, they look like they're from other planet... Which makes sense I guess. But still, I just didn't like the overly cartoony designs they had, and their personalities were non-existent.

[Cayenne]

Imo, Chip is one of the worst characters of this franchise. The Sonic equivalent of the "Generic Cute Anime Critter".

Every cutscene that was supposed to make him a fun and charismatic character feels very forced and poorly done. Honestly, he is one of the very few things that I don't like about Sonic Unleashed.

[Sean]

Shadow never exactly grew on me in an overall sense. The one aspect of him I do end up appreciating these days is his original SA2 appearance. I hated him when SA2 first came out and honestly I acted pretty fucking dumb about it, but looking back at SA2 and underneath its extremely shoddy storytelling, I think its plot backbone was good and Shadow's characterization and screentime were a lot more understated than I gave them credit for at the time. So nowadays I like him in SA2 just fine.

After that though? I definitely don't hate him like I once did but I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around what happened to him after that. He never had any interesting moments for me to latch onto like he had in SA2. I think he suffers pretty heavily from power creep; it felt like Sonic Team was getting more ridiculous with his powers with each passing game while downplaying or not acknowledging his weaknesses, and I'm sure they're there but you really have to look for them, because on paper Shadow sounds like a typical DBZ denizen. It's bizarre just how much stronger he is than literally everyone else in the franchise, while having abilities that nobody else's can even compare to. It's stuff like that that makes it hard for me to line him up with the rest of the characters and believe he realistically meshes well with the rest of the cast, or Sonic's world in general. I just try to look at SA2 within a vacuum where the writers (probably) had no intention of incorporating alien backstories, guns, and BIGGER AND BETTER chaos powers (that he doesn't even need a chaos emerald for!) and appreciate him and the game better for it.

[DabigRG]

4 hours ago, Sean said:

I think he suffers pretty heavily from power creep; it felt like Sonic Team was getting more ridiculous with his powers with each passing game while downplaying or not acknowledging his weaknesses, and I'm sure they're there but you really have to look for them, because on paper Shadow sounds like a typical DBZ denizen. It's bizarre just how much stronger he is than literally everyone else in the franchise, while having abilities that nobody else's can even compare to. It's stuff like that that makes it hard for me to line him up with the rest of the characters and believe he realistically meshes well with the rest of the cast, or Sonic's world in general. 

Yeah, that's definitely a reason as to why it can be hard to include him in certain stories.

[E-122-Psi]

On 6/11/2018 at 2:33 AM, Conquering Storm’s Servant said:

That’s kinda my whole point behind why storytelling and writing is a primary issue.

People don’t like Game!Silver because the way he was written had him cone off as jumping the gun and trusting information based off what a complete stranger who somehow knows the full cause told him without looking into it himself, and went along with the idea of killing someone to save his future. Yes, it’s easy to understand that as desperation, but it being poorly portrayed doesn’t sell it so well.

By contrast, people look at Archie!Silver differently because, while retains his naivety, tendency to jump the gun, and determinant to find the cause of his bad future, he doesn’t take the immediate word of a complete stranger, and actually thinks of what he’s doing.

Two different takes on the same characters.

I think it's also the fact they maybe tried to give Silver too much of a 'dark' edge, he didn't just unwillingly try to kill Sonic, he toyed with him verbally and physically gangster style and wanted him to know he would die horribly at his hands, in both cases it's pretty much the only reason he fails. And of course like all the 'anti heroes' of the Sonic franchise when he finds out the truth he makes his usual 'too cool to apologise' quip and is forgiven instantly.

Comic Silver faced more repercussions for his callousness, becoming ostracised and chewed out for jumping the gun to the point Sonic himself pretty much threatened to pummel him if he ever so much as came into seeing range again. I'm still not quite sure if this befitted Sonic's characterisation in particular, at least not after he'd had time to cool off, but it worked in making Silver see the extremity and outright tactlessness of his directions and actually learn from his mistakes, making him way more sympathetic, while games Silver had to be dragged forcibly by Shadow to find out his mistake. There was nothing to suggest he'd learned anything compared to comic Silver.

Not to mention comic Silver thought he was dealing with a genuine bad guy and traitor, game Silver had nothing to suggest the Iblis Trigger was actually willingly causing harm.

[Gumbit]

9 hours ago, Sean said:

Shadow never exactly grew on me in an overall sense. The one aspect of him I do end up appreciating these days is his original SA2 appearance. I hated him when SA2 first came out and honestly I acted pretty fucking dumb about it, but looking back at SA2 and underneath its extremely shoddy storytelling, I think its plot backbone was good and Shadow's characterization and screentime were a lot more understated than I gave them credit for at the time. So nowadays I like him in SA2 just fine.

After that though? I definitely don't hate him like I once did but I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around what happened to him after that. He never had any interesting moments for me to latch onto like he had in SA2. I think he suffers pretty heavily from power creep; it felt like Sonic Team was getting more ridiculous with his powers with each passing game while downplaying or not acknowledging his weaknesses, and I'm sure they're there but you really have to look for them, because on paper Shadow sounds like a typical DBZ denizen. It's bizarre just how much stronger he is than literally everyone else in the franchise, while having abilities that nobody else's can even compare to. It's stuff like that that makes it hard for me to line him up with the rest of the characters and believe he realistically meshes well with the rest of the cast, or Sonic's world in general. I just try to look at SA2 within a vacuum where the writers (probably) had no intention of incorporating alien backstories, guns, and BIGGER AND BETTER chaos powers (that he doesn't even need a chaos emerald for!) and appreciate him and the game better for it.

That's mostly why I don't like him , in his own game he felt like 10 years OC . He is  Immortal , overpowered and can blow everyone at once . Would be better if Sonic Team at least followed Sonic Heroes roots where he brought back .  

[DabigRG]

5 hours ago, E-122-Psi said:

I think it's also the fact they maybe tried to give Silver too much of a 'dark' edge, he didn't just unwillingly try to kill Sonic, he toyed with him verbally and physically gangster style and wanted him to know he would die horribly at his hands,

Did he?

1 minute ago, Gumbit said:

That's mostly why I don't like him , in his own game he felt like 10 years OC . He can blow everyone at once .

Um...

1 minute ago, Gumbit said:

Would be better if Sonic Team at least followed Sonic Heroes roots where he brought back .  

How so?

[UpCDownCLeftCRightC]

Feel like I say this every time I post about sonic related things, but man do I wish Silver had never been born, so to speak.

 

Everyone else I'm more or less at least neutral or positive on overall on their design and potential. My only continued wish is that the series takes care in how they are handled, and dont try to shove too many of them in games (causing a nonsensical, incoherent story) just to please some fans. Any of them can be fine otherwise.

 

Edit: I forgot infinite. Yeah me no like him either but....its sort of easy to forget about forces as a whole, isnt it?

My comment is really aimed more so at the cast of sonic and friends, and not the villains.

[Skull Leader]

Game's modern version of Knuckles is a character I feel to grow more indifferent towards over time, and Sonic Team's efforts to make him "relevant" with nonsensical decisions like making him the Resistance's commander over better suited characters that actually know how to lead convinces me that the only reason he's still around is for being lucky enough to be introduced in the third Genesis title. Not to mention that in retrospective, he's kind of boring and not as fun as in other media like the post reboot Archie or the IDW comic, both of which did a much better job than the games ever did, especially when they do not rely on the forced "Classic Trio" that has caused for Knuckle's character to be degraded over the years by putting him in situations where he wasn't needed nor contributed, turning him into a joke at his very own expense.

It's very sad, since I do think that Knuckles can, under the right writer, be a fun character that is a bit of silly and serious when needed, as well as very sympathetic, especially when you see him having doubts like him wondering if he's actually worthy to protect the ME, which in the last issues of Sonic Universe led to a heartwarming interaction with Amy. Sometimes I feel that Knuckles is more enjoyable as a character when he's doing his own thing and interacting with other characters than when he gets pegged to Sonic and Tails as a second sidekick (something that just doesn't fit nor makes sense for his character) because of some "fanservice" that only seeks to exploit a shallow association with the Genesis games.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Even though I'm the kinda guy who doesn't like the idea of removing Sonic characters outright (especially considering the oftentimes Classic purist mentality that often tends to follow), I honestly tend to find Cream one of the more superfluous characters. It sometimes feels like her character overlaps heavily with Amy's character, and I've frankly felt as of late that Amy probably could have fulfilled Cream's role in Sonic Rush to an extent, and maybe even add in another unique dimension to it all, what with her kindness and dorky tendencies counterbalanced by her obsession with Sonic and occasional aggressive and temperamental moments, thus creating more unusual interactions with Blaze who becomes her best female BFF in a sense while also being a onesided rival for Sonic's affection.

That's not to say I think Cream is bad or anything, since there IS a dynamic evident in her being very polite compared to the more bombastic or downright aggressive personalities, but it doesn't really make for an interesting character unless she has another character to bounce off of. I honestly think she'd benefit the most from a greater expansion on her character (games wise) or possibly an overhaul.

[DabigRG]

14 minutes ago, SenEDDtor Missile said:

 I honestly tend to find Cream one of the more superfluous characters. It sometimes feels like her character overlaps heavily with Amy's character.

That's not to say I think Cream is bad or anything, since there IS a dynamic evident in her being very polite compared to the more bombastic or downright aggressive personalities, but it doesn't really make for an interesting character unless she has another character to bounce off of. I honestly think she'd benefit the most from a greater expansion on her character (games wise) or possibly an overhaul.

Honestly, the big reason as to why that is is because the games have rarely done much with Cream from a narrative perspective.

I've said it before, but I honestly feel like Sonic X and the Archie comics did more of note with Cream than the games really ever did.Thus far, only Battle(which I haven't played)and to an extent Advance 2 & Rush 1 have explicitly done much with her as a character, off the top of my head.

The first point worth noting is that she was supposedly conceptualized as a sidekick for Amy, but there's fairly little interaction between them. I mean, there's definitely a few scenes & links here and there, but seldom is it one-on-one, let alone meaningful. And I still haven't done observant re-playthroughs like I've been meaning to, but it really says something that most of the interaction I remember from Heroes(her original) was with her&Big, rather than her&Amy(or honestly, Amy in general). 

The other issue is that, yes, she works really well as a contrast and support to the rest of the cast(except Tails), but isn't given too much personal focus or initiative outside of her introductory year(s) and other media spinoffs.

[Scape]

1 hour ago, DabigRG said:

Honestly, the big reason as to why that is is because the games have rarely done much with Cream from a narrative perspective.

I've said it before, but I honestly feel like Sonic X and the Archie comics did more of note with Cream than the games really ever did.Thus far, only Battle(which I haven't played)and to an extent Advance 2 & Rush 1 have explicitly done much with her as a character, off the top of my head.

The first point worth noting is that she was supposedly conceptualized as a sidekick for Amy, but there's fairly little interaction between them. I mean, there's definitely a few scenes & links here and there, but seldom is it one-on-one, let alone meaningful. And I still haven't done observant re-playthroughs like I've been meaning to, but it really says something that most of the interaction I remember from Heroes(her original) was with her&Big, rather than her&Amy(or honestly, Amy in general). 

The other issue is that, yes, she works really well as a contrast and support to the rest of the cast(except Tails), but isn't given too much personal focus or initiative outside of her introductory year(s) and other media spinoffs.

Of course Sonic Team doesn't have the attention span to follow through on a concept that doesn't involve Team Sonic or Team Dark

[Your Vest Friend]

I'd argue that Cream's a difficult character to work with on a fundamental level, at least if you want to make her stand out. Games like Battle and Rush have loads of set-up to get her in a position to have her character made to work. Meanwhile, Heroes doesn't have this setup and she ends up swamped by the rest of the cast who are far more adaptable. Same applies for games like Free Riders, Colours DS and even Generations. 

[Scape]

With all sincerity, what could Cream do that Amy couldn't?

[Iko]

2 hours ago, Scape said:

With all sincerity, what could Cream do that Amy couldn't?

-have an unique design that's not pink Sonic in a dress with a different hair style

-have a different gameplay based on interacting with a chao (well technically every characters can do this if it's a game gimmick, but Cream can always do this since it's her defining trait) - notice that in Sonic Forces Speed Battle she is one of the few characters who has all 3 attacks unique to her and specific of the character, while most other characters have at least 1 or 2 generic elemental shots.

-reference chao garden's gameplay in regular Sonic gameplay (stuff like, in Advance 2, if you attack too much with Cheese, he will refuse to attack with an annoyed/angry expression)

-have a deeper interaction with character such as Blaze and G-merl (if only they decided to bring it back...), and with said characters, she could technically have a team on her own that's not Team Rose... if only Sonic Team wanted to (but they don't seem to care).

-Be a character that I like (Amy is not)

[Scape]

6 hours ago, Iko said:

-have an unique design that's not pink Sonic in a dress with a different hair style

Amy is a hedgehog, of course she's going to look like him

6 hours ago, Iko said:

-have a different gameplay based on interacting with a chao (well technically every characters can do this if it's a game gimmick, but Cream can always do this since it's her defining trait) - notice that in Sonic Forces Speed Battle she is one of the few characters who has all 3 attacks unique to her and specific of the character, while most other characters have at least 1 or 2 generic elemental shots.

-reference chao garden's gameplay in regular Sonic gameplay (stuff like, in Advance 2, if you attack too much with Cheese, he will refuse to attack with an annoyed/angry expression)

What is preventing Amy from having her own chao?

6 hours ago, Iko said:

-have a deeper interaction with character such as Blaze and G-merl (if only they decided to bring it back...), and with said characters, she could technically have a team on her own that's not Team Rose... if only Sonic Team wanted to (but they don't seem to care).

What is so special about Cream's relationship with Blaze and Gemerl that it couldn't have been done with Amy [Provided the hacks at Sonic Team had written Amy properly]?

6 hours ago, Iko said:

-Be a character that I like (Amy is not)

1. Who cares

2. Amy has seniority. Why should an older character be watered down to a shit gag just so a newer character has purpose?

[DabigRG]

8 hours ago, Scape said:

With all sincerity, what could Cream do that Amy couldn't?

You mean besides fly, be sober, and not have a habit of intimidating/muscling people?

5 hours ago, Iko said:

 

-have a different gameplay based on interacting with a chao (well technically every characters can do this if it's a game gimmick, but Cream can always do this since it's her defining trait) - notice that in Sonic Forces Speed Battle she is one of the few characters who has all 3 attacks unique to her and specific of the character, while most other characters have at least 1 or 2 generic elemental shots.

 

Really now? That's nice to hear..

5 hours ago, Iko said:

 

-reference chao garden's gameplay in regular Sonic gameplay (stuff like, in Advance 2, if you attack too much with Cheese, he will refuse to attack with an annoyed/angry expression)

 

Oh, is that why that happens?

I assumed it was cause he wasn't in [occasionally buggy] range.

Neat.

6 hours ago, Iko said:

 

-have a deeper interaction with character such as Blaze and G-merl (if only they decided to bring it back...), and with said characters, she could technically have a team on her own that's not Team Rose... if only Sonic Team wanted to (but they don't seem to care).

And/or with Amy as well, as I pointed out.

But honestly, I'm a little more interested in pairing her up with characters like Knuckles and Sticks.

6 hours ago, Iko said:

 

-Be a character that I like (Amy is not)

Eh, subjective, to different extents.

10 minutes ago, Scape said:

 

What is preventing Amy from having her own chao?

 

She already has her trademark hammer--she doesn't need a Chao. And Cheese is really only there to add to Cream's specific air on top of her moveset. The fact that he happens to be a Chao is a nice bonus if you really like Chao.

 

11 minutes ago, Scape said:

 

What is so special about Cream's relationship with Blaze and Gemerl that it couldn't have been done with Amy [Provided the hacks at Sonic Team had written Amy properly]?

 

In the former, providing a nonthreatening morality pet to get Blaze and soften her walled-up demeanor.

To which I say, let Cream have that and let Amy have her own dynamic with Blaze that she'd be expected to have. Or better yet, have Blaze show up period because it's a moot point. 

.

6 minutes ago, Scape said:

2. Amy has seniority. Why should an older character be watered down to a shit gag just so a newer character has purpose?

I'm gonna step in right now and say that she shouldn't. Amy should be whatever her thing happens to be this week and Cream should be Cream.

Any "watering down," perceived or otherwise, speaks more to the quality/effort of writing the author is putting in and to the inverted integrity anyone(but let's focus on a specific type of person--the stuckup "Cream steals from Amy" types) happens to have of Amy as a character interdependently.

[Iko]

1 hour ago, Scape said:

Amy is a hedgehog, of course she's going to look like him

Which is boring, especially when you have characters with original designs.

1 hour ago, Scape said:

What is preventing Amy from having her own chao?

Nothing, as I said, everyone can have a chao if the story or the gameplay requires it. Though, Cheese is what makes Cream unique, so it makes more sense to give priority to her when you want to give a chao to someone. I can say, everyone can wield an hammer too, what's preventing other characters from using an hammer?

 

1 hour ago, Scape said:

What is so special about Cream's relationship with Blaze and Gemerl that it couldn't have been done with Amy [Provided the hacks at Sonic Team had written Amy properly]?

Cream is canonically Blaze's best friend, and Gemerl lives at Cream's house. You need to make up a completely new story in order to involve Amy in this, and it would be worthless when you already have a character who has very close connections with them. The friendship between Cream and Amy has always been a joke, at least in games.

1 hour ago, Scape said:

1. Who cares

I care. And it's kinda in topic too, Amy never grew on me, I was neutral to her but with the time I dislike her more and more, and it's mainly due to some people who are obsessed with her and want other characters to be scrapped because Amy exists (not just Cream, even Knuckles and some others).

1 hour ago, Scape said:

2. Amy has seniority. Why should an older character be watered down to a shit gag just so a newer character has purpose?

I'm sorry but that's just flawed logic in so many ways. Using seniority as excuse to have a character shoehorned everywhere even when it doesn't make sense is just stupid.

Also, thinking that Amy is bad because of Cream is just absurd, and many people think that way for some reason. Cream never replaced anything of Amy, they are different and they have nothing in common aside of both being girly girls. They have different personalities, different roles, different abilities and gameplay, different designs. If story writers gave them a similar role once or twice is not a problem of the character but of the writers, and by the way, those traits that people say Cream stolen from Amy, are generic traits of kind characters who aren't necessarily an exclusive of Amy: even Sonic has part of those traits and shows them at times.

[DabigRG]

10 minutes ago, Iko said:

 

Nothing, as I said, everyone can have a chao if the story or the gameplay requires it. Though, Cheese is what makes Cream unique, so it makes more sense to give priority to her when you want to give a chao to someone. I can say, everyone can wield an hammer too, what's preventing other characters to have it?

 

 

I like how you cite Forces with the Cube Wispon before Sonic Advance 3, where everyone got their own custom hammer--including Amy!

13 minutes ago, Iko said:

 

Cream is canonically Blaze's best friend, and Gemerl lives at Cream's house. You need to make up a completely new story to involve Amy in this, and it would be worthless when you already have a character who has very close connections with them. The friendship between Cream and Amy has always been a joke, at least in games.

 

By the same token, though, there's little reason as to why you can't have one of those connections intersect.

I'm not 100 about "best" friend, but Cream being an important person where Blaze's attitude is concerned is totally possible alongside having Amy be more friendly with her. In fact, you can just say Cream had a hand in getting both to a point where they could get along with the other despite the differences.

25 minutes ago, Iko said:

it's mainly due to some people want other characters to be scrapped because Amy exists (not just Cream, even Knuckles and some others).

 

That is annoying, yes, and not a very good counter-stance to have, but at that point, you kinda have to hold that against them, rather than Amy herself

And/or just ignore em. That helps too.

31 minutes ago, Iko said:

If story writers gave them a similar role once or twice is not a problem of the character but the writers, and by the way, those traits that people say Cream stolen from Amy, are generic traits of kind characters who aren't necessarily an exclusive of Amy: even Sonic has part of those traits and shows them at times.

 

This.

I've been wanting to point this out for a while.

[Sonic Fan J]

I think perhaps part of what hurts Cream is her passive character and her use in series. Whereas most of the other characters have some goal or purpose for heading out as well as a go get 'em attitude, Cream herself has no personal initiative or possibly even agency outside of Advance 2 (rescue her mother), Heroes (find Chocola), and Rush (help Blaze because helping people is the right thing to do). This does not necessarily make her a bad character, but it does put limitations on her that put's her more into the role of being dragged along rather then putting herself out there. You would think this would work with Amy's personality since they are supposed to be like Sonic and Tails, but I personally find Amy's character too overbearing compared to Cream to where she just gets smothered and doesn't have a chance to be anything other than decoration. In that regard she works better with Blaze as she is actually able to be more assertive with the princess which benefits her character in my opinion. Really, I could argue that part of the reason that Cream isn't able to grow on anyone as a character is simply because she is paired off with the wrong character to the point that even though Blaze rarely appears she would still see better use in those rare appearances than continuously showing up next to, and being overshadowed by Amy. It is one of the reasons I personally argue for adding Blaze to Team Rose , as it brings Blaze more prominently into the main cast, gives Amy a role model in her pursuit of becoming more respectable in Sonic's eyes, and those traits that people feel Amy and Cream fight over would instead become synergistic as the two play off of each other in bringing Blaze out of her shell. From there the contrasts in their personality, such as Amy's obsessive tendencies and Creams more passive tendencies would also stand out more in their individual interactions with Blaze. In short, I think both Cream and Amy would benefit from having Blaze with them as a member of Team Rose that would also significantly help out Creams character by giving her a chance to both contrast with and compliment Amy and vice versa.

On the topic of Amy replacing Knuckles, as someone who feels it makes more sense for her to be following Sonic around rather than Knuckles as it  is part of her character and not the red echidna, I can at least say that I would not want to see her replace Knuckles. I simply feel that motivation-wise Amy makes more sense in a trio mentality than Knuckles. It's one of the reasons why I enjoy SA2 so much. Sonic, Tails ,and Amy make up the main trio which makes sense since both Tails and Amy would get themselves involved with Sonic due to who they are as characters, while meanwhile Knuckles is off doing his own thing but joins up with the others when it benefits his needs and objectives which I feel fits his character. If I have any complaint about SA2 in this regard it's simply that Amy is not playable due to the need of the game to have balanced and matching gameplay styles between the two sides of the story. 

In short though, I think Cream is overshadowed by Amy and would benefit from having Blaze as a member of Team Rose to allow her to stand out and actually compliment Amy, and I don't believe that Amy should replace Knuckles but that character-wise she makes more sense then him to just randomly follow Sonic around.