This is the worst game in the series.

I'm not even gonna pretend like if I have some extensive prelude as to my experience with it or whatever. I've played it before, it sucked just as much then as it does now. But Sonic 4 Episode 1 for me sucks in a very special way compared to any other Sonic game, because it embodies literally every single thing that I don't want this franchise to be.

Bland visuals that are plasticky and lifeless, zero attempt to have any sort of story or deeper narrative theme via cutscenes or in-game storytelling other than "Eggman bad. Go stop him", horrendous controls that fundamentally fail at replicating the physics of the Genesis games and even on their own merits are completely trash, level design that is either automated up the ass or tediously boring, gimmicks shoved into every stage that make the whole game feel unfocused and take away from the gameplay rather than working alongside it, models without any sort of life that move like puppets on a stage (with ugly fullbright filters on top of them on the PC version, as if to add insult to injury), a horrible soundtrack in which the only good track is one from a past game and every other song is an ear bleeding mess of synths and Sonic 1/2 drums, a pandering towards nostalgia that feels shoved into your face and completely misses what made any of those things meaningful to begin with, replacing them instead with husks of themselves, and perhaps most importantly of all, a consistent, inescapable lack of care from part of the developers.

I mean, why would they care? They made this as a quick little mobile game before Sega rebranded it as the sequel to one of the greatest 2D platformers of the 90's just so that it would sell more. As long as the game ran fine and there weren't that many bugs and Sonic's stupid friends weren't anywhere to be seen, who cared if the game was a complete betrayal of what came before? Who cares if this would forever be the official sequel to that beloved legacy of classics by name and name alone? Who cares if the game is nowhere near the level of quality that it should be? As long as it's not Sonic '06, just ship it out and let 'em have it.

I wish I could be mad towards this game, I wish I had some sort of visceral hatred towards it that made me pour foam out the mouth in pure autistic rage whenever I saw it, but the truth is that when playing Sonic 4 Episode 1, I feel nothing. Genuinely nothing. During this playthrough I had to talk to myself just to not fall asleep in sheer boredom, because there was nothing to be enthralled by. It's just going through the motions because Sonic, getting the Chaos Emeralds because Sonic, and fighting some robot at the end, because Sonic. It almost feels like if it's saying: "That's all this series should be, that's all it'll ever be allowed to be for the general public, and that's all that is worth praising about it forever and ever. Now shut up and take another Green Hill rehash".

I know this game is way past the point of getting truly mad at, I mean for fucks sake it's old enough to use social media now, and obviously looking at the series now, it's clear that Sonic Team is if nothing else making an attempt to be better and to try with their projects again, but to me? This right here will forever remain as rock bottom. The ultimate testament to when Sega and Sonic Team put no effort into what they make, slap Sonic on the cover and call it a day.

Just go play Triple Trouble 16-Bit instead, and leave this in the dumpster where it's firmly set it's throne.

we can talk in circles about the art that may have inspired fallow, we can waste time talking about the long lineage of story-driven rpgmaker games that led up to this behemoth; that won't stop fallow from haunting me.

it is infinitely more than another sob story or moody indie game. it is the metaphorical place where all of us who have been outcast from society reside, brought to physicality. stroll down the dusty hallways of the fallow residence and relive memories that are not yours - and yet they are ours.

when i hear the credits theme, "shame", i do not feel the remorse i so often do for characters i've loved or fictional worlds i had to leave behind; i feel something watching me over my shoulder. a comforting kind of sadness that will cocoon me even as everything i loved crumbles away.

on the wall above my desk rests these words: "my sisters and i had a secret wish to die in a place that cared for us". i think i will remember them in those final moments.

Substantial improvement over Trigger Happy Havoc in nearly every way. The cast is so endearing and lovable, and much more consistently written. Even people who I disliked or didn't care for at the beginning ending up completely changing my perspective of them. When the murders eventually start happening, it genuinely hurts to see a character you've gotten to know so well either die or be found out as the culprit - there's some real emotional gut-punches to be found that just aren't there in the prequel. The gimmicks within investigation periods are also brilliant; the separate game to find out the culprit, the funhouse, the main idea of Case 5, it all feels really experimental and it definitely paid off, every case (excluding 3) is superbly written and so damn engaging. The trials are much more involving as well; attacking with the correct piece of evidence and figuring out the culprit is actually more challenging since you don't have someone like Kyoko giving away all the hints, the addition of agreeing with someone in Nonstop Debate is also a clever addition. The Run-2/3-esque Logic Dive is fun as hell to navigate. The truth blades... kind of fucking suck and feel redundant, I would much rather just play another Nonstop Debate, and well Hangman's Gambit will just always be complete shit - but somehow they made it worse here. Really the only other aspect that THH does better in, is the setting and atmopshere. For what it's worth, Goodbye Despair is a near perfect sequel.

So I needed something to cleanse the palate after 100,000 hands of Balatro and this did the trick nicely. Beat the game in 10 hours-ish and now going back to find all manual pages.

Stuff I really liked: The manual of course. Its so goddam cute, and a nice way to give hints and maps to the player. The music is superb, with some absolutely gorgeous tracks (between this and Cocoon, we're in a great era for indie soundtracks). I like how it rewards the player for exploring every inch of the maps, as secret rooms are often out of sight and obscured.

Stuff that was ok: graphics are nice, but not jaw dropping. Combat is basically Dark Souls-Lite, you got attack, dodge and then items and magic to use. Pretty basic, but serviceable. The game is pretty hard, and you will get more than a few very cheap deaths because the combat is not refined enough, and also the camera is too pulled back for really precise combat. Level design is ok, and the way the maps all connect is cool (and once again very Souls).

Stuff that got old, fast: cheap combat deaths, annoying enemies. Bosses are pretty hard, but mostly because of how spongy they are and how easy it is to get hit because of the imprecise controls and camera not being close enough to the action. Backtracking and not knowing where to go next. The manual gives you just enough hints, but man there is so much random wandering around and backtracking through areas, over and over again. Constantly pulling up the manual to check the maps to see where to go, just to get to the fast travel nexus area, to get to another area, just on the off chance there is some treasure or some room that wasn't accessible the first time through, but now with new abilities might be.....yeah that aspect of the game is tedious and boring.

With its Zelda inspired aesthetic and Dark Souls mechanics, this was a lot of fun. I like how getting the manual pages are so important, because without them you are basically wandering blindly through this world. Cute graphics, great music. Really good game, and with a few tweaks could have been a classic.

Edit: an extra 5 or so hours to get the Plat. The puzzles you need to decipher to get the secret treasures and fairies, not to mention getting all the manual pages and opening that friggin' mountain door tho.....ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. Took me about 5 hours using online guides, without those it would have been about 50 hours, if I could have done it at all. Really obscure crazy "how the fuck did anyone work this out?" kind of logic. That input to open the mountain door is just bananas on its own. I kinda respect it, but at the same time, I don't wanna have to use guides to work this shit out. If anyone got the Plat without using a guide or getting any help, I call bullshit.

To me, this game thrives on vibes majorly, and isn't bad to play. I don't love what it's billed as vs. what it is. It's sort of sold as this kind of chill vibe-out game, but is a lot more difficult than it seems on the surface. Which isn't really bad. The chillness comes mostly from the bits of dialogue and character archetypes in it, and the tunes are pretty good. It is a bit frustrating at times but nothing too unfair, generally. I do wish there was a bit more variety to levels, and maybe some more(with more checkpoints in them), but what is here is very good. Maybe just get it on a slight sale, 2 or 3 bucks off.

But it's hard to go wrong with a low-poly raccoon game. It's somewhat becoming a niche subgenre/aesthetic and I am one hundred percent supportive of that and will buy into it even if the game itself doesn't hit me just right.