THE TRIAL OF DEEMON

The accused is charged with multiple crimes, such as leaving and detonating random weapon-shaped explosives in the middle of public spaces, defamation of Mr. Jimmy ‘’Jimmy T’’ Thang in a court of law, and latest of all, being the main suspect behind the Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog™. How does the defendant plead?

-… I believe that it’s in my best interest to speak with my lawyers first…

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So… if you’ve read any of my Sonic related reviews, you may have noticed that I share a strange relation with the blue mammal, and by strange I mean that despite claiming I’m familiar with the character and the series, before this year I had beaten like… 2 of his games. And hey, it’s not my fault that I happen to suck balls at the speedy simulators… well maybe it is but I digress; my point is that yeah, only now I am finally really getting into the Sonic franchise as a whole an learning more of its philosophy and design decisions, but much, MUCH before that, I became a fan more-so because of its world and characters… I’m gonna point to Sonic X as the main culprit for that because I have no fucking clue how I learnt of these guys personalities otherwise.

Still, it’s not like I was ever a big fan, even in my youngest years I probably would have said I was more of a Mario guy just after finishing eating crayons, but that didn’t change the fact that I actually quite enjoyed the personalities of Sonic’s cast; I really loved the main trio of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, Robotnik is to this day one of my favorite videogame villains thanks to its personality and the fact its still a sort of meme among me and my friends, and Vector was always the coolest fucking guy to ever walk a 2D or 3D space so of course he would become my favorite character in the franchise. These and all of the Mobius inhabitants have an unequivocal charm that’s easy to like, even when the games and stories they tackle pull off some weird ass shit, you are bound to find at least one of the characters pretty charismatic. I myself tend to prefer when Sonic its at its more cartoony, its more goofy and laid-back, cause even then it manages to make some interesting narratives and seeing these Looney Toon motherfuckers interact and evolve even with its incredibly define quirks and traits it’s a joy (and you thought I was pedantic already, watch me when I pull my full blown analysis on Sonic’s narrative and characterization…)

The series knew how to be charming with its protagonist and it captivated me through that, but it wasn’t enough to grab me completely and convince me to sit through the games till their ending, and a big reason that I didn’t fall off completely from the franchise is in big part thanks to my girlfriend, who is much bigger fan of Sonic than I, despite having a kind of love-hate relationship with the series. But aside from the likes of Mania and Generations, I still reluctant to getting more into the games, of finally seeing more of Sonic and their buddies aside from random cinematics on youtube and clips from SatAM, but in the back of my mind, I was always secretly waiting for a perhaps more narrative focused Sonic game, one that kept the simplicity and goofiness that I love, but was more about the characters and interactions, something that finally gave the chance for this fellas to shine once again, to captivate me once again…

It's honestly fucking hilarious that the way they did it was by killing the son of a bitch.

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Mr.Deemon, you seem to be doing a mockery out of this court room, I’m gonna ask you once again to speak the truth and nothing by the truth, stop avoiding the question and telling us, did you Murder Sonic the Hedgehog™?

-Well first of all that feels like too direct and personal of a question, but I’ll say that that this all very funny to put the blame on me considering that porcupine’s obsession with dying; like, have you see him falling to his death time and time again? Have you seen his obsession with drowning clearly visible in its first game? Have you seen his reluctance to make a normal-ass jump like a basic platformer mascot? Have you tried controlling him through a fucking touch screen? Have you tried getting the fucKING CHAOS EMERALDS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SANIITY?! I DID, AND YEAH, I ADMIDT IT, I KILLED THE BLUE BASTARD, THE POINTY MOTHERFUCKER WAS PRACTICALLY ASKING FOR IT, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I’D DO IT AGAIN, ‘CAUSE I LIKE IT, I-

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Funny thing is, I already saw everything this game and to offer back when I watched my girlfriend play it, but decided to hold on writing a review for it until I tried it for myself… let’s just say it took a while for that to happen.

Still, even after my replay and trying for myself the little active gameplay it has to offer, that first experience of seeing it it’s what I think of first when ponding about it, and I mean, obviously it was a ton of more fun, but even beyond that, I think that playing it that way, with someone else by your side, was by far the best way anyone could experience The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog .

To be surprised just as it released on Steam to the surprise of all and the excitement of many (my girlfriend one of them), to jump together into whatever this was about to be, to be enamored by the amazing drawn art-style, to laugh and enjoy at the actually pretty funny jokes, to give voices to each of the characters and trying that they somewhat fit but then failing miserably (something I seem to be an expert of when it comes to voice-acting) and just… enjoying this wonderful, out of nowhere surprise.

Looking at the dates, it’s clear that they wanted this to be some kind of free April fools spoof, but it’s so much, much more than that. The passion and effort put into is clear as day, it’s nothing crazy of course, but it didn’t have to be that, hell, it didn’t even have to exist in the first place, but it does! And I’m so glad it’s thing if only for that wonderful random heist scene, for the snarky-ass dialogue that got a chuckle out of me several times, for sharing that fun moment with someone else that enjoys these characters as much as I and even more, to feel that warmth of a cozy, cartoony adventure… and most of all to see Vector once againLET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VECTOR THE GOAT BABY BUY TEAM CHAOTIX LET’S GOOOOOOOOO-

Sure, some jokes do not land, the overall murder mystery ends in a super strange and kind of confusing way, it really seemed like they were preparing for the goofiest ending imaginable, which in a way they did, but still, I feel like the way they handled the ending of the investigation felt a bit weird and kind of anticlimactic… and that’s about everything strictly negative I can say, really, it’s just super hard to be grumpy about this.

A small, clearly full of passion project that clearly knows what it wants to aspire to be; a gift to the fans, of people that enjoy this cast of cahracters, and beyond that, just a really fun time. It’s not amazing, it’s not exceptional, it’s far from perfect (I remember back when it released my girlfriend encountered some bugs which… I don’t know how you manage to create bugs in a VN but hey, its certainly on the spirit of the franchise), but it sure is… nice, it’s extremely nice.

Maybe it’s because I revisited it after finishing Sigil II, but it’s hard to not look at this as another gift to its respective community, one that tries to have small surprises, but at its core being a piece of what many wanted, something to enjoy as a whole, and seeing so many people and groups of friends coming together to play this alongside each other and make voice-overs and the such is a wonderful proof of that.

And it’s hard to, being here, finally reviewing this, not to look back on this year, to the memories mad, the wonderful experienced had, and how in a way, this game was one of the things that made me jump into the Sonic series as much as I did this year, and even with its lows and highs, I’m beyond welcomed for it, I’m so happened to have experienced all of this, and I’m not only referring to the Sonic games. Times passes and with it, the year ends, but I know that many more wonderful memories will be made next year, and I cannot wait to make more that surround Sonic and its games, ‘cause even when I seem to be getting mad or disliking it… I can never erase the smile from my face.

… and hey, maybe this change of heart and end of year realization will spare me from court… right?


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With what I can only refer to as resounding evidence, I close the trial of Deemon v Literally Everyone Else In The Planet by declaring the accused guilty of all charges, his sentence is to be punished by not having roasted chicken in New Year’s Eve


-… FUCK.

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Happy New Year, everyone!