stealthblade
2005
Easy GOAT. I admit that it has its flaws, but it excels so well past any minor gripes that I honestly don't care. The game challenges one's owns perceptions asking them to look beyond the surface and dig into the truth of the world as it guides the protagonist in theirs. An art house game, killer7 is a unique product of its time that manages to surprise, intrigue, and ultimately a work that asks a lot out of the player through in depth analysis.
2016
Pretty cool game. Not a fan of the whacky story, but the gameplay is pretty cool most of the time. The idea is very intuitive and works well for a short game like this. It's a unique experience that gives that... oh wait.
IT’S THE MOST INNOVATIVE SHOOTER I’VE PLAYED IN YEARS
IT’S THE MOST INNOVATIVE SHOOTER I’VE PLAYED IN YEARS
Really enjoying my time with it so far!
You get to be a badass pilot murdering people with your mech. What more could you want?
You get to be a badass pilot murdering people with your mech. What more could you want?
Is this a joke?
2003
Cool ideas, but not executed all that well. Love the Amy scenes. I think Jennifer Douillard's execution of Amy's cheesy lines is spot-on. Basically, this is peak Amy Rose. This is capped off by Team Rose's theme, "Follow Me". Easily the best song in the game in my book. It's a bold statement piece that is has a strangely echoes Sonic Adventure 1's "Believe in Myself" as it's another song hyper focused on Sonic. Also, Charmy Bee is hilarious. I love his crazy energy. However, it seems like everyone else's lines feel a bit phoned in. They lack the spirit of the past games.
Here's some Wikipedia context that I find important for why Sonic Heroes is the way it is: "The majority of the development team had worked on previous Sonic games. Iizuka did not want to make a sequel to Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), as he worried it would only appeal to Sonic fans. Interested in returning to gameplay similar to the Genesis games, Sonic Team decided to design Sonic Heroes so casual players not familiar with Sonic could adapt. Iizuka said the development period of Sonic Heroes was the most stressful of his career because of deadlines and Sega management. A fellow designer became ill, so he worked relentlessly, lost 22 pounds, and suffered from insomnia."
It seems that the lead designer wanted to deviate from the Sonic Adventure formula in order to appeal to a larger fanbase. This was a fine idea, but in terms of sheer execution, it opened the game up to compare unfavorably to its predecessor. Sonic Heroes dumbs down the story and style for a child's version of Sonic. The tone is super wacky and unappealing for fans of the Sonic Adventure titles that had many interesting dramatic moments. In Sonic Heroes, all we get is characters being goofy and the good guys being good all the time. Eggman is back to just being a simple goon man and for a fan of Sonic Adventure 2, I can't help but find that this game is a clear regression from what they had going for them prior.
Gameplay comes in the form of a melding of three different forms: Speed, Flying, and Power. However, I found that Speed was a mostly useless formation. It was most likely to cause death and lacked the sheer functionality of the latter formations. The levels are decently varied, but having to play them four times each made them quite a chore by the end of the game. It doesn't help that its a game you beat on easy, normal, hard, and chaotix difficulties. Such a grind that was not nearly as interesting as the Adventure games.
The story is repeated through the course of four different campaigns. Nothing of note happens between any of the campaigns besides maybe the end of team Chaotix. It's mostly just flavor dialogue to show off the personalities of the huge Sonic cast. I admit, Charmy Bee is badass. I love when he pollinates the flowers and I'm not afraid to admit it. As mentioned before, Amy Rose's voice actor is pretty much perfect and it's sad that after this game, she lost the role. Sonic and co don't really stand out besides Tails. The kid has really become a kid. It's disappointing in two ways. Tails's voice actor from the Adventure games was great. The way he delivered the lines was iconic and in Sonic Heroes, Tails has become a dumb child. No longer is he the smart kid from prior titles, but a babbling buffoon of a character. A regression through and through.
The level select sucks too. You can only select the start of each pair of levels. And getting chaos emeralds requires you to beat the 2nd level of each pair while having a key. (If you take damage while holding a key, you lose it) Of course, there are ways to mitigate the suffering such as playing Team Rose to get the keys. However, you have to beat the first level of each pair if you are just going through the level select. Why did they do this? It's terrible padding. I didn't even mention that once you take the key to the end of the level, you get a chance at getting the chaos emerald. You chase it in this slippery bonus stage. (My suggestion is to get the star bonuses and hold down the dash button. I mistakenly kept pressing the dash button and it didn't work nearly as well.)
Finally, the Metal Sonic angle was pretty neat. I do like the reasoning for why it did what it did, but it wasn't fleshed out due to the structure of the game. Overall, Heroes is a big disappointment of a game, but I have to admit that I did have my fun with it. The dialogue is pretty funny in an iconic way. For example, "THOSE WERE THE EASY ONES." or when Rouge starts talking about knowing what those Chaotix creeps want. The gameplay was strangely fun to master in the sense that the jank was something to learn how to deal with. And once you get the hang of it, everything is manageable, though pretty messy. I think it's a fun game, just not very good. I mainly recommend this to Sonic diehards. Others can try it, but it's really another Sonic game that you really have to try to enjoy.
Oh yeah, Espio is a massive weeb lol
Here's some Wikipedia context that I find important for why Sonic Heroes is the way it is: "The majority of the development team had worked on previous Sonic games. Iizuka did not want to make a sequel to Sonic Adventure 2 (2001), as he worried it would only appeal to Sonic fans. Interested in returning to gameplay similar to the Genesis games, Sonic Team decided to design Sonic Heroes so casual players not familiar with Sonic could adapt. Iizuka said the development period of Sonic Heroes was the most stressful of his career because of deadlines and Sega management. A fellow designer became ill, so he worked relentlessly, lost 22 pounds, and suffered from insomnia."
It seems that the lead designer wanted to deviate from the Sonic Adventure formula in order to appeal to a larger fanbase. This was a fine idea, but in terms of sheer execution, it opened the game up to compare unfavorably to its predecessor. Sonic Heroes dumbs down the story and style for a child's version of Sonic. The tone is super wacky and unappealing for fans of the Sonic Adventure titles that had many interesting dramatic moments. In Sonic Heroes, all we get is characters being goofy and the good guys being good all the time. Eggman is back to just being a simple goon man and for a fan of Sonic Adventure 2, I can't help but find that this game is a clear regression from what they had going for them prior.
Gameplay comes in the form of a melding of three different forms: Speed, Flying, and Power. However, I found that Speed was a mostly useless formation. It was most likely to cause death and lacked the sheer functionality of the latter formations. The levels are decently varied, but having to play them four times each made them quite a chore by the end of the game. It doesn't help that its a game you beat on easy, normal, hard, and chaotix difficulties. Such a grind that was not nearly as interesting as the Adventure games.
The story is repeated through the course of four different campaigns. Nothing of note happens between any of the campaigns besides maybe the end of team Chaotix. It's mostly just flavor dialogue to show off the personalities of the huge Sonic cast. I admit, Charmy Bee is badass. I love when he pollinates the flowers and I'm not afraid to admit it. As mentioned before, Amy Rose's voice actor is pretty much perfect and it's sad that after this game, she lost the role. Sonic and co don't really stand out besides Tails. The kid has really become a kid. It's disappointing in two ways. Tails's voice actor from the Adventure games was great. The way he delivered the lines was iconic and in Sonic Heroes, Tails has become a dumb child. No longer is he the smart kid from prior titles, but a babbling buffoon of a character. A regression through and through.
The level select sucks too. You can only select the start of each pair of levels. And getting chaos emeralds requires you to beat the 2nd level of each pair while having a key. (If you take damage while holding a key, you lose it) Of course, there are ways to mitigate the suffering such as playing Team Rose to get the keys. However, you have to beat the first level of each pair if you are just going through the level select. Why did they do this? It's terrible padding. I didn't even mention that once you take the key to the end of the level, you get a chance at getting the chaos emerald. You chase it in this slippery bonus stage. (My suggestion is to get the star bonuses and hold down the dash button. I mistakenly kept pressing the dash button and it didn't work nearly as well.)
Finally, the Metal Sonic angle was pretty neat. I do like the reasoning for why it did what it did, but it wasn't fleshed out due to the structure of the game. Overall, Heroes is a big disappointment of a game, but I have to admit that I did have my fun with it. The dialogue is pretty funny in an iconic way. For example, "THOSE WERE THE EASY ONES." or when Rouge starts talking about knowing what those Chaotix creeps want. The gameplay was strangely fun to master in the sense that the jank was something to learn how to deal with. And once you get the hang of it, everything is manageable, though pretty messy. I think it's a fun game, just not very good. I mainly recommend this to Sonic diehards. Others can try it, but it's really another Sonic game that you really have to try to enjoy.
Oh yeah, Espio is a massive weeb lol
This review contains spoilers
Honestly, this is one of the best surprises from Sega I've ever encountered. To think that a Sonic story would actually be fun and enjoyable like this after the great descent post Sonic Adventure 2, I'm very happy with this game. I highly recommend playing this if you're a Sonic fan. Otherwise, I'm not sure you'd really appreciate it. The game is a strong mix of detective light novel, the Sonic cast, and a pretty enjoyable platforming mini-game.
- SPOILERS -
I really liked how they went from the DreamGear to Sonic literally taking action. It was a very creative transition that I didn't consider at first.
- SPOILERS -
I really liked how they went from the DreamGear to Sonic literally taking action. It was a very creative transition that I didn't consider at first.
2020
The killer app of the PS5, one of the most weakest console releases in the history of video games at least for me. One of the original reasons I got the console was for this very game. And here I am just shitting on the remake like any other bog standard remake. So why is that? Well, I am a bit of a purist I'll admit. When Bluepoint Games remade Shadow of the Colossus, I didn't like it much. Now they made a game that clearly had inspirations from the Colossus killing title, From Software's Demon's Souls. It's a beloved classic from the late 2000s and I love the original. So what's the deal? Well, I just don't like what they do to the games. The improvements are marginal at best and detrimental at worst. From Software's lack of character facial expressions honestly added a great deal to the player's own imaginations. Instead in the remake, I get to see Bluepoint's mediocre facial animations. I didn't like the facial work they did in Shadow of the Colossus and I didn't like it here.
One critical annoyance I ran into this time around was so bad that it colored my entire experience. The shitty PS5 controller's analog stick was having a fit and causing my character to occasionally walk instead of run. This added an additional annoyance that the original didn't have at all. What can I say? The PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller is cheaply made garbage. People can sell it all they want as innovation and amazing, but I honestly feel like it's a downgrade. What kind of controller has such a bad analog stick? Yes, I can just buy another controller, but for a console I paid a premium price for, why do I have to deal with such a dumb issue? Also, the price of the controller itself is a ripoff.
Of course, this is only tangentially tied to the game itself. It is a shame that it is on the PS5 in some sense. Graphically, I'll admit that it looks pretty nice, but even then, it's just the shallow technical niceness that BluePoint is known for. All graphics, no artistry. Clear aesthetic downgrades all around, while having such a terrible control issue. While I do love that a new generation of players can enjoy one of From Software's most inspired works, I feel like it's a downgrade from the original's artistic vision as it was as with Shadow of the Colossus.
There is one really neat feature that I can't help but mention however. The game finally gives us the ability to pay for online functionality. And I for one chose to play offline. My god! I loved the feature in Bloodborne and now I get to enjoy the very same quality of life feature in a game from the PS3 era. /s
TLDR Gimme the old game back. The remake is for suckers
One critical annoyance I ran into this time around was so bad that it colored my entire experience. The shitty PS5 controller's analog stick was having a fit and causing my character to occasionally walk instead of run. This added an additional annoyance that the original didn't have at all. What can I say? The PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller is cheaply made garbage. People can sell it all they want as innovation and amazing, but I honestly feel like it's a downgrade. What kind of controller has such a bad analog stick? Yes, I can just buy another controller, but for a console I paid a premium price for, why do I have to deal with such a dumb issue? Also, the price of the controller itself is a ripoff.
Of course, this is only tangentially tied to the game itself. It is a shame that it is on the PS5 in some sense. Graphically, I'll admit that it looks pretty nice, but even then, it's just the shallow technical niceness that BluePoint is known for. All graphics, no artistry. Clear aesthetic downgrades all around, while having such a terrible control issue. While I do love that a new generation of players can enjoy one of From Software's most inspired works, I feel like it's a downgrade from the original's artistic vision as it was as with Shadow of the Colossus.
There is one really neat feature that I can't help but mention however. The game finally gives us the ability to pay for online functionality. And I for one chose to play offline. My god! I loved the feature in Bloodborne and now I get to enjoy the very same quality of life feature in a game from the PS3 era. /s
TLDR Gimme the old game back. The remake is for suckers
2020
I'd love to give this a higher score, but it's clear to me that game is greatly hindered by the camera and the occasional sections that ask for a lot more precision than would be viable for controls that slip and slide as much as this game does. I do commend the game for its excellent use of the Peach's Castle as a spot with many hidden secrets and in some sense, the game inspires a great degree of exploration. It's reminiscent of how a kid might know about little secrets in their backyard. Despite how well the game captures the spirit of youth in its playground design, as a game played by someone like me, who doesn't have all the time in the world to faff around, I just started looking up how to get certain starts by the 50ish star mark. The game is a nice blast from the past, but I certainly don't enjoy getting all the stars at all. The 3D level design is rather punishing when you fall down to the bottom of the level and have to run all the way back up. I greatly appreciate the sandbox design, but I feel that as the levels go on, they get worse and worse. I would much prefer levels like Bob-omb Battlefield than a lot of those other levels. It's just such pure fun and there's never a moment where I hated the controls in that level. If more levels followed that design style, I wouldn't mind giving the game a higher score. Also, fighting Bowser feels very luck based. The spin throw is iconic, but I definitely don't like the timing vagueness of the final fight.
1988
I'll have to admit, it's the definitive Mario game. Just too hard for me. I beat it, but it was a tough, frustrating time. Does a good job at presenting Bowser as an actual threat. His extreme military is pretty impressive. Repeat mid bosses kinda sucks, but since it was relatively predictable, so it wasn't all bad. Can't deny the game's quality, but lacks a lot of quality of life features that I'd want in games. I'll always prefer Super Mario World just for that. (As well as World's iconic and beautiful ending credits) Also, I loved Peach's joke at the end of this game. Good stuff!
Mechanically, it wears out its welcome by the halfway point. I really did want to enjoy it, but eventually, it just became a chore. It's clear that it's a low budget game and the gameplay just became a mindless game of mashing buttons. I do like that you can time your blocks, but it never felt as satisfying as something like Bayonetta or Ys VIII.
The Senran Kagura character portraits are godawful. They look too stretched out in the Y-direction and its weirdly unsettling. Even the goddess herself, Yumi looks mediocre. Homura's eyes in particular are ridiculously weird and it's clear that the artists spent more time making sure the non Senran Kagura girls looked good. Character models wise, I do like Black Heart and Purple Heart's ninja designs. They're cool additions that strengthen the ninja aesthetic of the game. Also, it's clear that they just ported over the Senran Kagura models with minimal effort.
It's fine for fans of the games, but it would've been spectacular for them to actually put more effort in this project...
The story is standard Neptunia writing. It's got its fun moments that occasionally put a smile on my face, but those moments were few and far between. The more serious nature of the Senran Kagura games was not there. The game totally does the generic calling for everyone's help trope with very little effectiveness. It's really not anything to write home about besides how mediocre it is.
Combat feels too stiff. Dodging and guarding lacks the responsiveness you'd expect in an action game. At times, it would feel like the block wouldn't trigger. The forms are neat to some extent, though the costume changes are really lame. The special moves are fun to spam at times, but it felt like they either break the flow too often or cause you to end up taking too much damage. I like the shurikens and kunai, but throwing them felt too slow. Strengthening your characters also felt too indirect. Gems to allocate to damaging specific types of enemies, gain more EXP from specific enemies, etc. Not a fan since it was too specialized.
It's still nice to support Neptunia and Senran Kagura, but it felt like IF just leaned completely on the marketing. Also, I hate that mode where you balance on a peach with your controller. Was tempted to get all the achievements, but that peach mode and the general tedium I felt once I completed the game left me feeling pretty unmotivated.
The Senran Kagura character portraits are godawful. They look too stretched out in the Y-direction and its weirdly unsettling. Even the goddess herself, Yumi looks mediocre. Homura's eyes in particular are ridiculously weird and it's clear that the artists spent more time making sure the non Senran Kagura girls looked good. Character models wise, I do like Black Heart and Purple Heart's ninja designs. They're cool additions that strengthen the ninja aesthetic of the game. Also, it's clear that they just ported over the Senran Kagura models with minimal effort.
It's fine for fans of the games, but it would've been spectacular for them to actually put more effort in this project...
The story is standard Neptunia writing. It's got its fun moments that occasionally put a smile on my face, but those moments were few and far between. The more serious nature of the Senran Kagura games was not there. The game totally does the generic calling for everyone's help trope with very little effectiveness. It's really not anything to write home about besides how mediocre it is.
Combat feels too stiff. Dodging and guarding lacks the responsiveness you'd expect in an action game. At times, it would feel like the block wouldn't trigger. The forms are neat to some extent, though the costume changes are really lame. The special moves are fun to spam at times, but it felt like they either break the flow too often or cause you to end up taking too much damage. I like the shurikens and kunai, but throwing them felt too slow. Strengthening your characters also felt too indirect. Gems to allocate to damaging specific types of enemies, gain more EXP from specific enemies, etc. Not a fan since it was too specialized.
It's still nice to support Neptunia and Senran Kagura, but it felt like IF just leaned completely on the marketing. Also, I hate that mode where you balance on a peach with your controller. Was tempted to get all the achievements, but that peach mode and the general tedium I felt once I completed the game left me feeling pretty unmotivated.
2005
It's the GOAT. Essentially, it's the game unrivaled in it's willingness to experiment on an artistic level.
This review contains spoilers
TLDR: Oddly creepy boss designs and occasional hardcore JRPG design keeps the game interesting. It's a nostalgic classic for me through and through.
Longer version: It's a weird Mario/Square Enix hybrid. There's clearly a Final Fantasy influence in the general JRPG design and the difficulty ramp up towards the end is clearly reminiscent of classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI. This also includes the trademark "this isn't even my final form" memes. Some character designs creep me out and the occasional difficult boss fight threw me in for a loop. I beat the game this time at around level 22 with the very powerful Lazy Shell combo. I admit the game lacks story depth besides the simple character development of Mallow. And it's fine, it's a simple Mario game, so something on that scale would be out of place. The gameplay is great in many ways. Of course the timed button presses in battle add that extra spice to the experience. Also, deciding on who to have in your team is also fun. I started with a Mallow/Bowser combo, then moved to a Peach/Bowser, then Peach/Geno till the end. The game gets drastically harder towards the end. I noticed a difficulty spike at the cloud land. Isometric platforming felt weird at times, so I wouldn't mind that getting improved. I am fond of the sprite art and the odd character designs. Some of them add a feeling of unease to an otherwise happy Mario game. This is unique to this game alone. I remember being a child once and when I played through some of the sections, I was creeped the hell out. Memorable gaming moments haha. I was rushing towards the end of the game, so I didn't grind to level 30 this time. The lazy shell was a lifesaver for me. I had trouble fighting Smithy, but I lucked out and managed to eke out a win this time. Smithy is no joke and I honestly didn't expect this degree of difficulty from a Mario RPG game. I honestly thought I was set once I got the Lazy Shell. Boy was I wrong. It was still a tough match that took quite a bit of time to get through. I admit that the game has its shortcomings, but I cannot deny the game's creativity and charm. No matter what Mario RPG games have come out after this game, Super Mario RPG is still worth coming back to even to this day. Memorable characters, beautiful music, hilarious character writing, I had a blast returning to this old school JRPG.
Longer version: It's a weird Mario/Square Enix hybrid. There's clearly a Final Fantasy influence in the general JRPG design and the difficulty ramp up towards the end is clearly reminiscent of classic JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI. This also includes the trademark "this isn't even my final form" memes. Some character designs creep me out and the occasional difficult boss fight threw me in for a loop. I beat the game this time at around level 22 with the very powerful Lazy Shell combo. I admit the game lacks story depth besides the simple character development of Mallow. And it's fine, it's a simple Mario game, so something on that scale would be out of place. The gameplay is great in many ways. Of course the timed button presses in battle add that extra spice to the experience. Also, deciding on who to have in your team is also fun. I started with a Mallow/Bowser combo, then moved to a Peach/Bowser, then Peach/Geno till the end. The game gets drastically harder towards the end. I noticed a difficulty spike at the cloud land. Isometric platforming felt weird at times, so I wouldn't mind that getting improved. I am fond of the sprite art and the odd character designs. Some of them add a feeling of unease to an otherwise happy Mario game. This is unique to this game alone. I remember being a child once and when I played through some of the sections, I was creeped the hell out. Memorable gaming moments haha. I was rushing towards the end of the game, so I didn't grind to level 30 this time. The lazy shell was a lifesaver for me. I had trouble fighting Smithy, but I lucked out and managed to eke out a win this time. Smithy is no joke and I honestly didn't expect this degree of difficulty from a Mario RPG game. I honestly thought I was set once I got the Lazy Shell. Boy was I wrong. It was still a tough match that took quite a bit of time to get through. I admit that the game has its shortcomings, but I cannot deny the game's creativity and charm. No matter what Mario RPG games have come out after this game, Super Mario RPG is still worth coming back to even to this day. Memorable characters, beautiful music, hilarious character writing, I had a blast returning to this old school JRPG.
Only played it for a few hours so far and I have to admit, it's very charming! Stylistically, it reminds me of the sort of Japanese comedy drama similar to Kamen Rider Kabuto. (One of the few Japanese live action shows I've seen)
This review contains spoilers
Bold, ambitious, and even strangely thought provoking at times, the first Sonic Adventure is a landmark title that stands above the rest of the Sonic games in numerous ways.
In the modern day, Sonic has been mostly a train-wreck of a franchise full of bad gameplay mechanics and sloppy writing. Though Sonic Frontiers has been changing that narrative as of late, the era after Sonic Adventure 2 was a drastic step down in quality. Despite the charm in games like Sonic Heroes, Sonic 06, and even Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic has never been the same after the Adventure games. It was lightning in a bottle, Sonic Team were making groundbreaking game after groundbreaking game and then the dream was over, the Dreamcast that is.
Perhaps Sonic Team no longer had any reason to make quality games since they were forced to make them as third party developers or maybe they just realized they could release anything they wanted and despite its quality, kids would buy it regardless. It was a real downer to see back when Sonic Heroes dropped in 2003. As a huge fan of the Adventure games, I saw the writing on the walls. All the hallmarks of what made the Adventure games so good were gone. And what made the Sonic Adventure games so good? Well the secret in the sauce is built into the original Sonic Adventure.
The game has six playable characters and each of them has their own distinctions that differentiate their gameplay and story from one another. This provides an additional depth to the story in that we get to understand the perspectives of pretty much every major player in the narrative. Prior to this game, the Sonic games didn't really have much of a story focus, so it was really neat to see the characters interacting with each other. With six individual stories however, there are ones that are notably impressive and others that are disappointing.
The easy highlight was E-102 Gamma's story, which deviated so heavily from your typical Sonic story that it left me with a lot of conflict when I played through it as a kid. Even now, it still leaves me awestruck at its writing and themes. It has such an existential vibe to it and the closest modern day equivalent that I'm aware of is Nier Automata, but even that is a far cry from the emotional chord that Gamma's story struck with me. A lot of it probably has to do with his theme. It's an elegant and haunting electronic piece that is timeless and says so much even on its own. In conjunction with the story, it paints a dark existence of conflict and existentialism. I admit I could be giving the developers too much credit, but art is in the eye of the beholder after all and I've never encountered such a story as Gamma's in any other game. To me, it's the timeless gem of this game and probably a sign that I'm old considering how old this game is. The ending left me wondering about so much even beyond the story itself. If this were merely a review about Gamma's story, things would be so much more simpler.
I also really enjoyed Tails' story a lot. It's a simple coming of age story that really makes sense for Tails. The gameplay works in the context of Tails and it culminates in an exciting showdown with Dr. Eggman without Sonic's help. Admittedly, the levels are pretty much short, trimmed levels from Sonic's campaign. However, it's a neat moment where they reuse assets to make a fun twist on typical Sonic gameplay. Since it's Tails' story and since Tails is not faster than Sonic in a conventional sense, it's fitting that for Tails to beat Sonic in a race, he would have to make use of his unique flying skill. Beyond the gameplay, the subtext is the classic message of how everyone has their own strengths that they need to play towards in order to be the best they can be. And I have to say, Believe in Myself is a great song. The best character themes tend to resonate with the core stories of the characters and this is one of the best examples. The song captures Tails' point of view perfectly and defines his character development throughout the game, while also including that message that I just mentioned. I also just really enjoy rock music, what can I say?
So far, I've just been gushing at the stories and that ends here. The rest of the stories are either just okay or bad. You see that 5/5 rating I gave it and you're wondering why I would do this. To me, it's the fact that the highs in the game are so high that the lows really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. If some of my favorite moments in gaming are in this title, why should it matter that some of the game isn't all that great? It's the price of experimentation. If you don't take risks when experimenting on gameplay and story, you don't get any rewards. This is the biggest risk that Sonic Team have ever take and it paid off in full. Making character themes for all six characters allowed for some of the most memorable moments in gaming ever. Sure, I hardly even remember any of Sonic's theme and Knuckles' theme is the best part of an utterly forgettable story, but the idea for giving every character a full song really paid off with Tails and Gamma. Obviously Big the Cat's sections suck, but they're kinda funny and really surprising in its ridiculousness. Also, can we talk about how Knuckles is a joke in this game? He acts so dumb and messes up so much in the overall story. Thankfully this gets rectified in the sequel. Amy's story is neat in the sense that it makes your typical Sonic level into a kiddie horror chase game, but there's not much besides that. The character interactions are also pretty fun to watch, so even if the story is lacking in some of the campaigns, it's never boring. I like how they redo the lines in such a way that makes sense for whoever's story it is since its their perspective of how the events transpired. Finally, Sonic's story is pretty basic and the levels are overall pretty solid, just not all that noteworthy. It's passable, but nothing to write home about.
I won't pretend that the game is perfect in any sense of the word. Sonic Adventure is only perfect in just how flawed it is. The collision is definitely janky and the camera certainly has its moments of stupidity. The Big the Cat sections were frustratingly obtuse at times and out of place in a Sonic game. The acting is dated in relation to our modern day cinematic obsession in game. But those are all just the resulting effects of the game's ambition and experimentation. This was an era where gaming was transitioning into the 3rd dimension and with it came so many possibilities.
Sonic Adventure is a game I can talk about for hours, but let's just summarize my points. Gamma and Tails have the best stories in the game. Gamma's story stands above and beyond any story within the Sonic canon. The themes add a lot to the best stories. The other stories are okay at best and bad at worst, but never get unplayably bad. The game is a 5/5 despite its flaws because of just how high its highs are.
I've honestly been debating this within myself whether or not the game deserves a 5/5, but considering how impactful the game has been in my gaming timeline, it earns its 5/5.
In the modern day, Sonic has been mostly a train-wreck of a franchise full of bad gameplay mechanics and sloppy writing. Though Sonic Frontiers has been changing that narrative as of late, the era after Sonic Adventure 2 was a drastic step down in quality. Despite the charm in games like Sonic Heroes, Sonic 06, and even Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic has never been the same after the Adventure games. It was lightning in a bottle, Sonic Team were making groundbreaking game after groundbreaking game and then the dream was over, the Dreamcast that is.
Perhaps Sonic Team no longer had any reason to make quality games since they were forced to make them as third party developers or maybe they just realized they could release anything they wanted and despite its quality, kids would buy it regardless. It was a real downer to see back when Sonic Heroes dropped in 2003. As a huge fan of the Adventure games, I saw the writing on the walls. All the hallmarks of what made the Adventure games so good were gone. And what made the Sonic Adventure games so good? Well the secret in the sauce is built into the original Sonic Adventure.
The game has six playable characters and each of them has their own distinctions that differentiate their gameplay and story from one another. This provides an additional depth to the story in that we get to understand the perspectives of pretty much every major player in the narrative. Prior to this game, the Sonic games didn't really have much of a story focus, so it was really neat to see the characters interacting with each other. With six individual stories however, there are ones that are notably impressive and others that are disappointing.
The easy highlight was E-102 Gamma's story, which deviated so heavily from your typical Sonic story that it left me with a lot of conflict when I played through it as a kid. Even now, it still leaves me awestruck at its writing and themes. It has such an existential vibe to it and the closest modern day equivalent that I'm aware of is Nier Automata, but even that is a far cry from the emotional chord that Gamma's story struck with me. A lot of it probably has to do with his theme. It's an elegant and haunting electronic piece that is timeless and says so much even on its own. In conjunction with the story, it paints a dark existence of conflict and existentialism. I admit I could be giving the developers too much credit, but art is in the eye of the beholder after all and I've never encountered such a story as Gamma's in any other game. To me, it's the timeless gem of this game and probably a sign that I'm old considering how old this game is. The ending left me wondering about so much even beyond the story itself. If this were merely a review about Gamma's story, things would be so much more simpler.
I also really enjoyed Tails' story a lot. It's a simple coming of age story that really makes sense for Tails. The gameplay works in the context of Tails and it culminates in an exciting showdown with Dr. Eggman without Sonic's help. Admittedly, the levels are pretty much short, trimmed levels from Sonic's campaign. However, it's a neat moment where they reuse assets to make a fun twist on typical Sonic gameplay. Since it's Tails' story and since Tails is not faster than Sonic in a conventional sense, it's fitting that for Tails to beat Sonic in a race, he would have to make use of his unique flying skill. Beyond the gameplay, the subtext is the classic message of how everyone has their own strengths that they need to play towards in order to be the best they can be. And I have to say, Believe in Myself is a great song. The best character themes tend to resonate with the core stories of the characters and this is one of the best examples. The song captures Tails' point of view perfectly and defines his character development throughout the game, while also including that message that I just mentioned. I also just really enjoy rock music, what can I say?
So far, I've just been gushing at the stories and that ends here. The rest of the stories are either just okay or bad. You see that 5/5 rating I gave it and you're wondering why I would do this. To me, it's the fact that the highs in the game are so high that the lows really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. If some of my favorite moments in gaming are in this title, why should it matter that some of the game isn't all that great? It's the price of experimentation. If you don't take risks when experimenting on gameplay and story, you don't get any rewards. This is the biggest risk that Sonic Team have ever take and it paid off in full. Making character themes for all six characters allowed for some of the most memorable moments in gaming ever. Sure, I hardly even remember any of Sonic's theme and Knuckles' theme is the best part of an utterly forgettable story, but the idea for giving every character a full song really paid off with Tails and Gamma. Obviously Big the Cat's sections suck, but they're kinda funny and really surprising in its ridiculousness. Also, can we talk about how Knuckles is a joke in this game? He acts so dumb and messes up so much in the overall story. Thankfully this gets rectified in the sequel. Amy's story is neat in the sense that it makes your typical Sonic level into a kiddie horror chase game, but there's not much besides that. The character interactions are also pretty fun to watch, so even if the story is lacking in some of the campaigns, it's never boring. I like how they redo the lines in such a way that makes sense for whoever's story it is since its their perspective of how the events transpired. Finally, Sonic's story is pretty basic and the levels are overall pretty solid, just not all that noteworthy. It's passable, but nothing to write home about.
I won't pretend that the game is perfect in any sense of the word. Sonic Adventure is only perfect in just how flawed it is. The collision is definitely janky and the camera certainly has its moments of stupidity. The Big the Cat sections were frustratingly obtuse at times and out of place in a Sonic game. The acting is dated in relation to our modern day cinematic obsession in game. But those are all just the resulting effects of the game's ambition and experimentation. This was an era where gaming was transitioning into the 3rd dimension and with it came so many possibilities.
Sonic Adventure is a game I can talk about for hours, but let's just summarize my points. Gamma and Tails have the best stories in the game. Gamma's story stands above and beyond any story within the Sonic canon. The themes add a lot to the best stories. The other stories are okay at best and bad at worst, but never get unplayably bad. The game is a 5/5 despite its flaws because of just how high its highs are.
I've honestly been debating this within myself whether or not the game deserves a 5/5, but considering how impactful the game has been in my gaming timeline, it earns its 5/5.
2015
Easily my favorite FromSoft title. I'm a sucker for Gothic horror, Lovecraft, and fast, stylish gameplay so Bloodborne is an easy masterpiece in my book. I'll certainly admit that some bosses and levels are hit-or-miss, but when the game is at its peak, it's absolutely immaculate.