Is Silver not being used well by Sega ?

[DaMan]

Hello. I’m new here and this is my first post but a question I do want to ask is what do people think about Silver ? He’s not my absolute favorite Sonic character (that’d be sonic himself) but I do really enjoy him and I feel that Silver has a LOT of potential that let’s say unlike Sonic and Shadow ( who IMO have hit there character potential in games like for Shadow SA2 and O6 surprisingly and for Sonic SA2 and the Black Knight and a few others but these are where both characters are portrayed as perfectly as they can be) but Silver has never gotten a chance besides like in the Archie comics to do this.

 

In O6 he was kinda dumb and in Sonic Forces he did basically nothing. Theses are the only games he does anything “major” to the story (I know I haven’t played the Rival games) and he barely does anything in Forces besides fight Infinite for a few seconds. Do you think Silver should have a bigger role in the next game and how ? I’d also be cool if Sonic, Shadow, and Silver teamed up again.

[Tarnish]

Welcome to Sonic games from the past 15 years, where no character is ever used well (besides maybe Sonic, but even that's debatable).

[Wraith]

If had been wondering if another Sonic/Shadow/Silver focused adventure would be possible since Silver and Shadow still get promoted together.  I like the potential that dynamic has along with the gameplay that comes with telekinesis. 

 

Silver has grown on me a lot so I wouldn't mind if he was given another shot. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

3 minutes ago, Wrapped in Black said:

If had been wondering if another Sonic/Shadow/Silver focused adventure would be possible

I had one idea about them.

But honestly, Silver is one of better used character, at least in comparison to everyone else since 2010. He gets fair share of screen time, is playable in most spin-offs and somehow his time-traveler background is almost always acknowledged (unlike Knuckles guarding Master Emerald). If he doesn't get as much love as Sonic or Shadow, it's because he's not 2 most popular characters in whole franchise.

I know he was meant to be "main trio", but ultimately he became "Blaze, but little more important". He wont' get better treatment till we get more Adventure-like games.

[Kuzu]

Interestingly, Silver is the 3rd most popular character in Japan just under Sonic and Shadow. So him getting another starring role with them isn't completely out of the question.

It's pretty weird how that particular trio hasn't been focused at all since 06.

[DaMan]

27 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Interestingly, Silver is the 3rd most popular character in Japan just under Sonic and Shadow. So him getting another starring role with them isn't completely out of the question.

It's pretty weird how that particular trio hasn't been focused at all since 06.

I mean it’s O6 and SEGA would probably want to distance themselves with the game including the characters from it including Silver but if Silver is that popular like you said then that’s probably the only reason he’s still here is because of his popularity.  At least he’s a good boss in generations. Hopefully we get to see him more and as a better character.

[Wraith]

The whole thing where they half-distance themselves from games like 06 never made sense to me. Characters like Silver are still around and his relationship with Blaze is constantly acknowledged, but it's in the background and nothing really fun is done with it. People who don't want to see Silver again aren't happy and people who do want to see him want him to do more than this. Might as well commit hard to featuring him and maybe change some people's minds about him in the process.

[Kuzu]

23 minutes ago, DaMan said:

I mean it’s O6 and SEGA would probably want to distance themselves with the game including the characters from it including Silver but if Silver is that popular like you said then that’s probably the only reason he’s still here is because of his popularity.  At least he’s a good boss in generations. Hopefully we get to see him more and as a better character.

 

17 minutes ago, Wrapped in Black said:

The whole thing where they half-distance themselves from games like 06 never made sense to me. Characters like Silver are still around and his relationship with Blaze is constantly acknowledged, but it's in the background and nothing really fun is done with it. People who don't want to see Silver again aren't happy and people who do want to see him want him to do more than this. Might as well commit hard to featuring him and maybe change some people's minds about him in the process.

Its the usual case where they half-ass the way they handle criticism and try to have their cake and eat it too; they want to distance themselves from 06 and make people forget about it out of fear of being ridiculed, but they don't want to alienate the fans who do like the stuff from 06. Its a very asinine way of doing things because it satisfied nobody.

That being said, Silver hasn't suffered the same levels of flanderization and mishandling that Sonic & Shadow have been suffering from, so it kind of evens out. 

[DaMan]

I’m just really sad that there haven’t been a good Silver fan games that I know of and SEGA sure as hell isn’t doing anything with him.

[Shadowlax]

Eh?

I would make the argument that he in his entire existence has ever been used by sega except mayyybe TSR.

The only version of silver that's good is in the comics. Even in the modern there instances of neat characterization. Silver is only done remotely ok in TSR. And even then, that silver is such a far flung departure from what silver was there's a question to be had as to why he was just allowed to be around for so long. And characters like blaze just were MIA for long instances of time

[Blue Blood]

1 hour ago, DaMan said:

I’m just really sad that there haven’t been a good Silver fan games that I know of and SEGA sure as hell isn’t doing anything with him.

As others have said, SEGA does virtually nothing with any of the cast. Check out the Rivals series of you can. Silver is a main character in both games, and in the sequel he ends up partnered with Espio throughout the story for a bit of unexpected character interaction. He's also one of the better characters in TSR. For a spin-off racing game with static images and text bubbles for cutscenes... Yeah, Silver ain't so bad there.

I honestly don't really like Silver in '06. I'm not talking about his gameplay (which is garbage by virtue of '06), but Silver himself. He's over-powered and incredibly stupid. Not naive, just stupid and that comes off as incredibly annoying. He's totally ineffectual. I don't understand him in the game. The same is true of Rivals series, although that's not exclusive to Silver because everyone just wants to fight each other there for some reason. 

I do however find Silver to be enjoyable in games where his powers aren't massively overstated and he comes off as a bit of a dork. Yes he's from the future, fights for justice and his telekinetic powers are very impressive, but I love it when that's all offset by him being tragically uncool.

 

[Badnik Mechanic]

He was also in Sega Heroes and was one of the higher tier characters at the time of his release.

So it's not like they don't use him.

[DabigRG]

3 hours ago, Kuzu said:

Interestingly, Silver is the 3rd most popular character in Japan just under Sonic and Shadow. So him getting another starring role with them isn't completely out of the question.

It's pretty weird how that particular trio hasn't been focused at all since 06.

Probably because you need a particular tone & scope for the game's story to balance having all three as big parts.

4 hours ago, Kuzu said:

Interestingly, Silver is the 3rd most popular character in Japan just under Sonic and Shadow. So him getting another starring role with them isn't completely out of the question.

It's pretty weird how that particular trio hasn't been focused at all since 06.

Probably because you need a particular tone & scope for the game's story to balance having all three as big parts.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

In previous years, I'd agree, because Silver more or less had no purpose, and sort of blended in with the other cast members. He just comes back to the past, acts serious, stops threat, goes home. Archie/IDW Silver was the only real difference.

However, I thought Silver was handled pretty well in Team Sonic Racing. I love how they more or less just decided to make Archie Silver his canon personality, and turn him more into an innocent well-meaning dork, who doesn't really have it in him to be as snarky or competitive as other people.

You can argue that it's different than how he was originally portrayed as a no-nonsense dude out to change the future, but I personally think this new take works miles better, not only making him stand out more among the cast, but also making him a lot less like Trunks in DBZ. One of my favourite interactions in years was this:

Silver somehow being so cautious as to know something is wrong with the race, but also being so innocent that he just can't get trash-talking, and he just completely no-sells Sonic's taunts was funny as hell to me, made even funnier by the fact they got Makoto Naegi himself to voice Silver now, meaning the literal Ultimate Hope is voicing Silver as this innocent dork was just perfect casting to me. I've sincerely hoping they keep going with this Silver in new appearances.

[Kuzu]

2 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

As others have said, SEGA does virtually nothing with any of the cast. Check out the Rivals series of you can. Silver is a main character in both games, and in the sequel he ends up partnered with Espio throughout the story for a bit of unexpected character interaction. He's also one of the better characters in TSR. For a spin-off racing game with static images and text bubbles for cutscenes... Yeah, Silver ain't so bad there.

I honestly don't really like Silver in '06. I'm not talking about his gameplay (which is garbage by virtue of '06), but Silver himself. He's over-powered and incredibly stupid. Not naive, just stupid and that comes off as incredibly annoying. He's totally ineffectual. I don't understand him in the game. The same is true of Rivals series, although that's not exclusive to Silver because everyone just wants to fight each other there for some reason. 

I do however find Silver to be enjoyable in games where his powers aren't massively overstated and he comes off as a bit of a dork. Yes he's from the future, fights for justice and his telekinetic powers are very impressive, but I love it when that's all offset by him being tragically uncool.

 

I actually agree with this, and never understood why people even liked him in 06 to begin with. But I watched a video that attempted to explain his appeal.

 

[thumbs13]

Story wise? No, only the Rivals games used him well.

Characterization wise? I loved him in TSR, and hope he's more like that going onwards.

Gameplay wise? Well, he had a cool boss fight in Generations.