Chao Garden?

[NytroFactor]

Well,alot of people have wanted another chao garden since SA2,and were not talking about SBDC,and hey sonic generations is through time isnt it?So chao should be in it,i mean it does fit with the hub world,so yeah i just posted this so you guys can share your thoughts and opinions,its about time someone made a topic about this

[Indigo Rush]

I love Chao and raising them a ton, but Generations isn't the game for this. The focus needs to stick to Sonic gameplay. Heck, we have no idea if the hubs will be anything more than that white level select screen we've seen in early screenshots.

I think it's possible Chao will appear, but I doubt we'll be raising them.

[Tobbii]

As a HUGE fan of bout Hub Worlds and Chao Gardens I'd love to see it here, but I don't think it'll happen.

I'd love to have a Sonic game with a Chao Garden on 3DS though, so that I can raise my lil' Chao on the bus.

[sonfan1984]

I think chao raising is really boring in the adventure games and I hate the fact that I'm forced to do it if I want to get 100%. I don't see what's the huge appeal of them really.

Edited May 5, 2011 by sonfan1984

[Indigo Rush]

The idea for the Chao Garden was to show off some artificial intelligence technology. It was a fairly simple system, all things considered, but it was certainly fun to have a little pet to take care of. It was nothing more than a little added mini-game of sorts to keep you playing. Unlike the main game where the levels stayed the same, the Chao Gardens always offered a more dynamic experience with your pets.

It's in a catch-22 position, unfortunately. The Chao system isn't one that is balanced with the Sonic gameplay mechanic; the only things connecting them are the rings, emblems and animals you collect. You can play Sonic without worrying about how your Chao are doing, but you can't fully enjoy the Chao Garden without playing regular levels to obtain rings and animals. This prevents the Chao Gardens from becoming useful in the main games as well as on it's own.

Additionally, the data and resources it takes to put into developing and storing the Chao Gardens could be salvaged for more content for the main game. You could either have a Chao Garden, or a whole other level, in other words. As if that wasn't enough, the popularity of the Chao system is pretty mild. Most people play Sonic for some fast and furious platforming, not to raise an artificial pet. It's rather sad, because really, Chao are a fun and addicting diversion to an already awesome game.

I suppose if they could work some way into raising Chao stats and obtaining currency without having the main Sonic gameplay a part of it, they could branch the Chao off into their own Nintendogs-esque sub-series. Nothing's impossible, but I doubt the demand would be very high, even among Sonic fans.

[Tobbii]

I think chao raising is really boring in the adventure games and I hate the fact that I'm forced to do it if I want to get 100%. I don't see what's the huge appeal of them really.

Well, why do you want to 100% it? Okay, I can understand SA2 since it unlocks GHZ but, SA1? I don't see the point of 100%'ing it.

[Indigo Rush]

Completion purposes, really. Also, Sonic Adventure on XBLA requires you to get all emblems to get an Achievement for it.

It's really a case-by-case basis for the player. It matters to them for different reasons.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Indigo Rush

[sonfan1984]

Well, why do you want to 100% it? Okay, I can understand SA2 since it unlocks GHZ but, SA1? I don't see the point of 100%'ing it.

Because I like to go for 100% completion when I'm enjoying a game? SA1 is the only game I've bothered to 100% complete it in multiple versions. SA2 I couldn't bring myself to do the chao raising again.

[Diogenes]

We can only hope...not. Chao raising has nothing to do with Sonic gameplay, the only way you could get any further from it would be to add a dating sim minigame. It's just another element of the Adventure-era genre roulette that died and should stay dead. If you want a virtual pet, find a game that specializes in it; any decent one will have far more depth than a chao garden tacked onto a Sonic game ever could.

[Tobbii]

Because I like to go for 100% completion when I'm enjoying a game? SA1 is the only game I've bothered to 100% complete it in multiple versions. SA2 I couldn't bring myself to do the chao raising again.

Well okay I can understand wanting to 100% a game you enjoy, but if you won't enjoy 100% of the game then I can't relate really. That's why I haven't bothered unlocking all those 300+ different paths on Shadow The Hedgehog.

[Sean]

Why do people want back this mediocre waste of time that doesn't do a single damn thing better than any other virtual pet game on the market.

[Nepenthe]

The completionist issue is quite a simple problem to solve, innit? Just don't make the Chao Garden necessary for completion. That way, both sides get what they want without getting in each other's way.

That said, I have no real interest in the Chao Garden myself. Very few pet and breeding sims have managed to maintain my interest for long, but I wouldn't mind the original A-Life system or some better successor to be used in future hubworlds, so that it influences the landscape and the attitude of the denizens as you make progress throughout the narrative and as natural and game time passes along. It would be aweshum.

[Robogaman]

I never really liked chao to be honest.

[SEGAMew]

The main reason why there's no more Chao gardens (besides no mmore Yuji Naka and his love for A-Life) was that animals no longer pop out of the robots you bop, or nothing runs off of Chaos energy. Story-wise, Chao wouldn't fit in Games like Unleashed and Rush.

I love Chao and want them to return so much, but I understand that you either love the concept or yu don't.

[Tobbii]

Why do people want back this mediocre waste of time that doesn't do a single damn thing better than any other virtual pet game on the market.

Racing and leveling Chao's was much more fun and interesting than teaching your lion to roll around on Kinectimals, and I like both those games.

[Shoot em up Capbusta]

Well when I was younger I used to enjoy going to the Chao garden, raising chao, and going to play the mini games. In this case I don't think that chao gardens suits this game. Hell there not even having other playable characters besides the Sonics. So I guess it's best for them to focus on the main gameplay. Maybe they can incorporate Chao gardens in future titles that don't interfere with the main game and is just something to do on your own spare time.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Chao raising is crap.

It really is. It's just so boring, play a level... go back to the garden... pick up an animal, find the right chao, hope you don't accidentally give it to another chao.

Repeat.

Now try and find another animal so you raise it's other stats... repeat the above... repeat... repeat... repeat. Now Loading... Repeat.

Theres just so many loading screens, so much work, so much replay to do that it losses any sense of fun after the first twenty min. Theres so many different loading screens to go through, and Generations would be no different due to what a chao garden is.

It don't want to raise some alien tamagochi rip off just to get 100% completion on the game.

Please don't try the argument about the game being optional, because they're not optional, they're both such a huge part of the games and so demanding of the players time just to get everything unlocked it looses it's fun before you get anywhere near 100% completion.

It's such a cheap way of adding time to a game by focing the player to grind for hours in order to complete a mini game which you have virtually no control in when it's playing? Thats not fun.

Well, why do you want to 100% it? Okay, I can understand SA2 since it unlocks GHZ but, SA1? I don't see the point of 100%'ing it.

Trophy/achievment completion, game gear game unlock and Metal Sonic unlock. All of those require a player to complete Sonic Adventure 100% accross multiple different releases of it.

To give you an indication of how boring is this. It seemed like Sega actually increased the difficulty of the chao gardens in the PS3/XBL versions just to increase the length of time people would play the game since they knew a lot of people would want 100% trophy completion.

Racing and leveling Chao's was much more fun and interesting than teaching your lion to roll around on Kinectimals,

And thats why I don't own Kinect.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Hogfather

[Diogenes]

The main reason why there's no more Chao gardens (besides no mmore Yuji Naka and his love for A-Life) was that animals no longer pop out of the robots you bop, or nothing runs off of Chaos energy. Story-wise, Chao wouldn't fit in Games like Unleashed and Rush.

There's literally no reason that animals, chaos drives, or some other form of chao-stat-boosting items couldn't come out of those robots, nor is there any reason the system couldn't have been retooled not to use items picked up from enemies (basing it around buying things with rings, for example).

There's nothing preventing them from bringing chao gardens back.

They have chosen not to.

[Sean]

Racing and leveling Chao's was much more fun and interesting than teaching your lion to roll around on Kinectimals, and I like both those games.

Chao races featured no significant input from the player other than being able to cheer them on.

Chao leveling amounted to collecting animals and Chaos drives in stages over and over and over.

And man, Chao were ugly as hell.

I don't miss them.

[Rally the Cheetah]

As others have stated I don't really see the garden happening in this particular game, mostly because of the subject matter: Old Sonic and new Sonic. Since chao didn't come into existence till SA it seems unlikely they'll be a garden in this game. They'll likely be chao cameos though from the later Dreamcast levels.

A game I would expect to see chao though would be a Sonic Adventure 3 game if they ever make one. Since they appeared in both Adventure 1 and 2 then should a 3 come around it's sorta a given they'll at least attempt at throwing chao in just to please the fans. But seeing as games right now are focusing solely on Sonic gameplay I don't see a possibility for a Adventure 3 anytime in the near future. It'd take too much time to program and work the bugs out of other character's gameplay. Sonic 06 showed us just how bad trying to throw a lot of character gameplay in a game can be with the whole "Amigo" system. Tails flew about as well as a kite in a raging tornado, Knuckles and Rouge wouldn't get off the wall once they attached to them and Blaze would fire spin off cliffs. There we other issues as well, MANY issues but I'm sure everyone knows that by now and I don't have to spell it out.

But just because a Adventure 3 seems far off in the future (if they'll be one at all) that doesn't mean a Chao Garden won't make an appearance before then. They'll just more than likely be toned down like the ones from the Gameboy games or be like they were in Chronicles.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Doesn't really matter anyway, it's more or less been confirmed that Generations won't have chao raising in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKSrxnZYHUA

Its right there.

What happens when modern Sonic destroys a badnik? He gets that white energy which is then used for the boost attack.

What happens when classic Sonic destroys a badnik? As of right now, utterly nothing, no animals come out, but significantly there is no sign of any point or capture system on the HUD.

Now, whilst the people supporting chao's will say "Well it might not be finished yet." Thats true it might not be... but... Modern Sonic's badnik destruction reward seems pretty final, for a chao collecting system, it would be rather restricting to limit it to just classic Sonic.

So no animal collecting, no chaos drives, no ingame collections of any kind.

If there is a chao raising section, right now it appears to be more boring than any chao garden in history.

[krazystitch]

I've never been a fan of raising Chao. My sisters were, though. I just found it boring in the Adventure games to be running through a level then go back and take care of them. I mean, they were cute and all, but I didn't have any fun petting them and stuff like that. I suppose they can add it for those who would like it, but I certainly wouldn't be going near there myself.

[SEGAMew]

You wouldn't believe how utterly disappointed I was to see Chao being reduced to nothing more than stat boosting pets similar to those of MMOs in Sonic Chronicles <__<

[Kuzu]

You wouldn't believe how utterly disappointed I was to see Chao being reduced to nothing more than stat boosting pets similar to those of MMOs in Sonic Chronicles <__<

Maybe because Chao serve no purpose other than the generic moe creature?

Seriously I never knew what so damn appealing about them, whenever I did go there I would just torture the bastards, my sister was the only one who ever bothered with it, and it always bugged me that she preferred that over playing the actual game.

You wanna virtual pet? Go play Nintendogs are any other one of those damn pet games out there, it doesn't belong in a Sonic game, and I'm glad its dead.

[Indigo Rush]

Yikes.

I had no idea that people on here hated Chao so much. Gosh.