stealthblade
Really nothing much to say. Kinda shit, it's a buggy, poorly optimized co-op game with mindless combat and dumb puzzles. The worst section of the game was that big town that was daunting in its scope and lack of direction. Not worth playing except for memesters.
1995
It's alright. I genuinely enjoy the ridiculous nature of Kirby talking to the Dreamland characters. Absolutely out of this world... I don't like how fast the puyo blocks drop on the later levels. It kinda feels too fast. Of course, I just planned it out a little and retried multiple times. Not a fan of this iteration of Puyo Puyo. No rewind used, but I did jump back to the start of the battle for quick retries.
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.
2011
It's really quite interesting. When I first played Generations on the Xbox 360 back in 2011, I really thought that Sonic had finally returned to the former glory days, or at least that was what I told myself when I played it. In reality, Sonic had changed. At that point in my gamer life, I hadn't played even played a Sonic game since Secret Rings, which I held in fairly high regard. During the time I had missed out on, Sonic had kissed a human girl, Shadow had kicked Silver on the head, Sonic became Sir Knave, Sonic Colors had ruined Planet Wisp with an annoying factory section completely undermining the elegance of the level track and the beauty of the planet's aesthetic, but still before Sonic raced Danica Patrick to the death in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed.
BAM! Then Sonic Generations dropped and I was graciously gifted the game during another peak depressing year in my life. My favorite video game rodent was back and according to gamer news at the time, he was really back. So I eagerly played through the game from start to finish and despite the corny writing, I really enjoyed my time. I found it to be the return to quality that Sonic was known for during the Adventure titles. And here I am now with a reality check after having finished every 3D Sonic game ever released. (I won't count Sonic Boom if you won't) Along with that, I'm pretty sure the quality of my reviews has improved since then through excessive amounts of gaming over the years. This is the only real circumstance where I can brag about my gaming addiction as if it's a good thing.
So yeah, now I'm a more experienced gamer with a comprehensive understanding of the 3D Sonic games. My conclusion regarding Sonic Generations is that it's fine. Of course this is not a sensational review full of deliciously marketable controversy. It's not a bad game. It is obviously built well and a good homage to Sonic's history up to that point. Building upon the foundation laid down by Unleashed (which I honestly thought was godawful), Generations makes great strides on streamlining the framework and generally making much needed improvements. Unleashed often felt unfair due to the notable amounts of pitfalls, while Generations is much more conservative with that aspect of the level design. Along with that, the padding in Generations is much more palatable. Compared to Unleashed's crappy combination of terrible medal hunting and atrocious Werehog sections, Generation's gimmicky sidequests are just mediocre padding.
There are also 2D sections with classic Sonic and they're fine. I've never been too fond of 2D Sonic, so I didn't think much of it. Level design wise, Generations is kinda cheating. It's just making a greatest hits collection of levels and hoping to win fans over with nostalgia. What can I say? It worked during the game's initial release. For Sonic freaks like myself however, it's become a bit underwhelming. I do appreciate the remade levels of City Escape and Speed Highway, but besides that, I wasn't all that impressed. I got to relive my Planet Wisp trauma though. Such gorgeous visuals and music at the start of the level, just for it to get bogged down by dumb wisp mechanics and an ugly Eggman factory section. They should've wrote that part out of this level.
Gameplay aside, the writing is clearly a continuation of the tone found in Sonic Colors. Originally I found it to be an acceptable path forward for the series, but now, I can't stand the snarky, self aware writing that's reminiscent of your average cookie cutter cartoon. I miss the writing style of Adventure or Sonic '06. Hell, even Sonic Heroes had more enjoyable dialogue. Instead, I get to watch the equivalent of some bad cartoon show with wacky old Sonic and the gang. No thank you.
I guess my problem is that it's just a bit underwhelming in retrospect. The story lacks impact too. There's just no stakes when the writing is so generically cartoony. There's no reason for me to care since the tone of the game is so upbeat. In the big picture though, I just can't deny that the gameplay is so solid, great even. It was strangely magical seeing City Escape and Speed Highway being reimagined in the seventh console generation. In the grand scheme of the Sonic franchise, there's no doubt that having a game with good gameplay fundamentals is a rarity. Good game, too bad the writing is cringe. It's a low stakes celebration of a moderately successful blue rodent. I enjoyed it. I kinda felt it was a bit short and the filler sections were passable. I liked Metal Sonic's fight, but I thought that Shadow's was too easy. Generations is a game I wouldn't mind playing, but I don't think it's a very compelling game beyond its surface level nostalgia pandering.
And yes, I did write this at 2AM. This is the life I live right now. I wrote an 800 word essay on a kid's game made for nostalgic adults about a blue, furry, anthropomorphic hedgehog and his furry friends. You know I'm living the good life.
P.S. I prefer Frontier's Cyberspace levels over any of the Generation levels on a level design basis. If only they could remake City Escape and Speed Highway with Frontier's design philosophy.
BAM! Then Sonic Generations dropped and I was graciously gifted the game during another peak depressing year in my life. My favorite video game rodent was back and according to gamer news at the time, he was really back. So I eagerly played through the game from start to finish and despite the corny writing, I really enjoyed my time. I found it to be the return to quality that Sonic was known for during the Adventure titles. And here I am now with a reality check after having finished every 3D Sonic game ever released. (I won't count Sonic Boom if you won't) Along with that, I'm pretty sure the quality of my reviews has improved since then through excessive amounts of gaming over the years. This is the only real circumstance where I can brag about my gaming addiction as if it's a good thing.
So yeah, now I'm a more experienced gamer with a comprehensive understanding of the 3D Sonic games. My conclusion regarding Sonic Generations is that it's fine. Of course this is not a sensational review full of deliciously marketable controversy. It's not a bad game. It is obviously built well and a good homage to Sonic's history up to that point. Building upon the foundation laid down by Unleashed (which I honestly thought was godawful), Generations makes great strides on streamlining the framework and generally making much needed improvements. Unleashed often felt unfair due to the notable amounts of pitfalls, while Generations is much more conservative with that aspect of the level design. Along with that, the padding in Generations is much more palatable. Compared to Unleashed's crappy combination of terrible medal hunting and atrocious Werehog sections, Generation's gimmicky sidequests are just mediocre padding.
There are also 2D sections with classic Sonic and they're fine. I've never been too fond of 2D Sonic, so I didn't think much of it. Level design wise, Generations is kinda cheating. It's just making a greatest hits collection of levels and hoping to win fans over with nostalgia. What can I say? It worked during the game's initial release. For Sonic freaks like myself however, it's become a bit underwhelming. I do appreciate the remade levels of City Escape and Speed Highway, but besides that, I wasn't all that impressed. I got to relive my Planet Wisp trauma though. Such gorgeous visuals and music at the start of the level, just for it to get bogged down by dumb wisp mechanics and an ugly Eggman factory section. They should've wrote that part out of this level.
Gameplay aside, the writing is clearly a continuation of the tone found in Sonic Colors. Originally I found it to be an acceptable path forward for the series, but now, I can't stand the snarky, self aware writing that's reminiscent of your average cookie cutter cartoon. I miss the writing style of Adventure or Sonic '06. Hell, even Sonic Heroes had more enjoyable dialogue. Instead, I get to watch the equivalent of some bad cartoon show with wacky old Sonic and the gang. No thank you.
I guess my problem is that it's just a bit underwhelming in retrospect. The story lacks impact too. There's just no stakes when the writing is so generically cartoony. There's no reason for me to care since the tone of the game is so upbeat. In the big picture though, I just can't deny that the gameplay is so solid, great even. It was strangely magical seeing City Escape and Speed Highway being reimagined in the seventh console generation. In the grand scheme of the Sonic franchise, there's no doubt that having a game with good gameplay fundamentals is a rarity. Good game, too bad the writing is cringe. It's a low stakes celebration of a moderately successful blue rodent. I enjoyed it. I kinda felt it was a bit short and the filler sections were passable. I liked Metal Sonic's fight, but I thought that Shadow's was too easy. Generations is a game I wouldn't mind playing, but I don't think it's a very compelling game beyond its surface level nostalgia pandering.
And yes, I did write this at 2AM. This is the life I live right now. I wrote an 800 word essay on a kid's game made for nostalgic adults about a blue, furry, anthropomorphic hedgehog and his furry friends. You know I'm living the good life.
P.S. I prefer Frontier's Cyberspace levels over any of the Generation levels on a level design basis. If only they could remake City Escape and Speed Highway with Frontier's design philosophy.
2023
I love pizza memes. It's pizza time all the time for me. I'll write a real review later, after I get some dominos.
2001
This review contains spoilers
Almost done with playing all the 3D Sonic games and this time, we're on Sonic Adventure 2. If you asked me a decade ago, I'd probably say it was a 5/5 game that was up for debate due to the unevenness of the gameplay. Today, my opinion is mostly unchanged, but from my most recent replay, I can see cracks much clearer.
I love the game from beginning to end. It has the best overall story in the entire Sonic series in my book. Even I'll admit though that it has moments of illogical goofiness, but they can easily be overlooked with liberal use of fuzzy logic. (Eggman breaking into his own bases is pretty funny.) It succeeds through just how cool Sonic and Shadow are. Yes, it's a superficial trait in the story, but works great for what the series meant back then. They're too cool for school and do sick rail grinding. Sonic Adventure 2 succeeds on what Adventure 1 just couldn't. Why's that? Well, it feels like this time around, the voice acting was noticeably improved. Along with that, the animation is a lot better than the goofy facial contortions of Adventure 1. I've always wished for Sonic Team to remake Adventure 1, but at this point, I've just accepted its dumb looking animations as part of the charm...
Anyway, let's talk about the story. It's a lot more focused, which is good in its own way. For modern readers, an easy parallel to compare to would be the Avengers movie. I for one hate Avengers, but let's just say that Sonic Adventure 2 is basically the Avengers of the Adventure games. Sonic Adventure 1 would be the individual stories, while Sonic Adventure 2 would take the individual characters and throw them into a completely connected experience. Of course it's not a perfect parallel, but I'd say it works pretty well in a macro-level comparison.
Along with that restructuring of the story, the game just feels so much more polished. It's clear from the levels, the cinematics, and just how comparatively competent the story comes off, this certainly feels like the next level. Of course this comes with its own consequences. Sonic Adventure 1 is the rougher, more abrasive title compared to the more refined, smoother Sonic Adventure 2. However, it's kinda weird in how the game has changed. Sonic Adventure 1 with its individual characters had more cohesive mini-experiences, while in Sonic Adventure 2, it often felt jarring to go from a Sonic level to those other types of levels. Often times, people tend to say how much they prefer the speed sections and I get it, the other sections don't do feel nearly as satisfying. I don't hear this as often for Adventure 1 though. I think it's due to the separate nature of the stories so you don't have to jump from character to character in such a jarring way. I think the other reason is just because the speed levels in Adventure 2 feel so much more refined than Adventure 1's levels.
Along with that, there's no hub world anymore. Cutscenes glue the levels together compared the previous title's admittedly janky hub world where you ran around guessing where to go next and if there was a key to put in some slot somewhere. This is a welcome edition is the sense that it allowed for a smoother gameplay transition. However, by taking away the hub world, we lost the sense of the world. Instead, it's now abstracted and world spanning. I don't mind since the story is so much more ambitious, but Sonic Adventure 2 just doesn't have as well realized of a world. This is all tied to the trade-offs that Adventure 2 makes and it's worth it in its own way. I'm glad that the sequel tried out different things and managed to craft such a polished, large feeling narrative.
It's clear that Sonic Adventure 2 is essentially Sonic Team seeing what worked and improving upon the formula, while cutting out the more extraneous bits. Here's what I think they were thinking when deciding on Adventure 2's design: "How do we make a more cinematic, cohesive experience? Well, we don't need the hub world since it didn't really add much to the previous game and it hurt the flow of the game at times. We don't need the more unrelated stories like Big the Cat, Knuckles, and Gamma because they don't contribute as much to Sonic's Adventure as a whole. Okay, but let's keep some of Gamma's existentialist theming, keep Amy as a inspiration character, let's throw Big the Cat in the most random spots of the levels just for the memes." Well, I think it went down like that at least haha.
Here's a weird idea, but I think it's a good micro level representation of a macro level quality indicator. Sonic Adventure 2 has a special jumping animation where Sonic or Shadow jump cancels out of a somersault. Sonic Adventure 1 doesn't even have a somersault let alone a unique animation for something so specific. Considering just how much more polished the sequel is to its predecessor, I was surprised that Adventure 1 had a lot more developers. However, after thinking about it for a bit, it kinda makes sense. Since the game cuts off the extra stuff, there's less to worry about. Since the gameplay mechanics are all in place, they were able to focus on just the three game styles.
Let's talk about the cutscenes. They're iconic and it's really sad that we haven't had a story on this level. It finds a good balance between being serious and funny. The bits of suspense and drama are top notch. Some of my favorite moments would have to include Sonic jumping out of a helicopter to go snowboarding down the streets of SF, Sonic and Shadow's funny fake hedgehog banter, Eggman going 4D chess on Tails when tricking Tails into revealing the fake emerald, Sonic figuring out how to do a chaos control when he's about to die, and that perfect Live and Learn climax moment. Looking back at it now, the game really does a good job at highlighting Sonic. That might be obvious in to an outsider looking in, but it's actually the contrary in the previous game. Sonic's campaign in Sonic Adventure 1 was pretty underwhelming. His personality wasn't able to shine due to the inability for him to be as much of a cool guy due to the limitation in the script, voice acting, and animation. Along with that, the individual storylines diluted the Sonic experience such that his gameplay was just part of a much broader game. This time, with the more focused storylines, Sonic can be the lead in his own movie.
Mechanically, I gotta say, Sonic and Shadow's levels are super cool, especially the more modern feeling ones. City Escape, Metal Harbor, Radical Highway, and the cool space levels. Absolute classics. The forest levels are also pretty neat, but I'll admit that I'm not as fond of the Egypt level. Cool stuff overall though. This is the only Sonic game where I like replaying the levels. Of course the Chao levels are partly due to this as well. Great stuff all around, though I didn't do much Chao stuff this time. I can see the inspiration of Speed Highway from Adventure 1 in Radical Highway. Speed Highway is the coolest level from that game, so they did good. However, Speed Highway has the cooler track. Absolutely badass.
Tails and Eggman get to play as a slower version of Gamma. It feels a little more refined and there's a health pool this time. In some sense, Gamma just felt more satisfying to play. Fast and more powerful feeling for some reason, he just had more going for him. Along with that, I loved how Gamma's levels were timed counting down so you could lose if you went too slowly. It gave me a sense of urgency in the story and gameplay. Either to satisfy Eggman or to save his brethren. Regardless, it's still a fun gameplay style that I enjoyed playing through.
Finally, Knuckles and Rouge's gameplay works alright. It adds that last bit of gameplay variety by having the player explore a playground level to find the shards of the Master Emerald. It's fine and I love the cool vibes and tracks from Knuckles' levels. However, the space levels for the both of them sucked due to the sheer size of the levels as well as some of the more poorly implemented emerald hiding spots. The previous levels had them too, but when I played those space levels, it got tedious after a while. For Knuckles this time, I had this super annoying shard in the middle of space floating in the middle of invisible wall space that took me many tries before I could get it because of how hard it was to spot as well as the invisible walls. Rouge's space level was just way too damn big. Not a fan at all, but I got through it. I'll admit though that I did use a secret trick. Whenever I had a emerald location that I couldn't find or was too tedious, I would intentionally kill off Knuckles/Rouge to reset the hiding spot. This also made Rouge's timed level easier since it would reset the timer or something. Their levels are less enjoyable even compared to the previous game's.
I guess I would say that for both the mech levels as well as the hide and seek levels. They got nerfed, while the speed levels were improved. And this kinda builds on what I was talking about with focus. They focused on Sonic, so everything Sonic got a bit improved. Then in Sonic Heroes, everything got diluted again, but without the benefits of Sonic Adventure 1.
Metaphorically, Sonic Adventure 1 is like a big rock, while Sonic Adventure 2 is like an arrowhead made out of that rock. Components are made from the rock, but designed in a way that it's more precise and effective overall. They can both cause major damage, but in different ways. Rock metaphors aside, both great games with vastly differing overall experiences. Sure, blue rat run fast, but does black rat cry?!?
After this powerhouse of a game, Sonic became a very middling series. Gone were the days when Sonic's story could be so serious, while being taken seriously. It was ridiculous so bad its good territory like in Sonic '06 or you had self aware Western cartoon styled writing like in Sonic Colors. The Shadow the Hedgehog game would bring back the world of Sonic Adventure 2, but the quality of the writing went down the drain. All the characters became fake versions of themselves, just there to serve Shadow's story. Sonic Heroes was that special moment in the series where all the characters lost their Adventure 2 souls and traded them in for the ability to go multiplatform. Yay, we can finally play Sega's Sonic games on the Nintendo Gamecube! ...BUT AT WHAT COST???
I love the game from beginning to end. It has the best overall story in the entire Sonic series in my book. Even I'll admit though that it has moments of illogical goofiness, but they can easily be overlooked with liberal use of fuzzy logic. (Eggman breaking into his own bases is pretty funny.) It succeeds through just how cool Sonic and Shadow are. Yes, it's a superficial trait in the story, but works great for what the series meant back then. They're too cool for school and do sick rail grinding. Sonic Adventure 2 succeeds on what Adventure 1 just couldn't. Why's that? Well, it feels like this time around, the voice acting was noticeably improved. Along with that, the animation is a lot better than the goofy facial contortions of Adventure 1. I've always wished for Sonic Team to remake Adventure 1, but at this point, I've just accepted its dumb looking animations as part of the charm...
Anyway, let's talk about the story. It's a lot more focused, which is good in its own way. For modern readers, an easy parallel to compare to would be the Avengers movie. I for one hate Avengers, but let's just say that Sonic Adventure 2 is basically the Avengers of the Adventure games. Sonic Adventure 1 would be the individual stories, while Sonic Adventure 2 would take the individual characters and throw them into a completely connected experience. Of course it's not a perfect parallel, but I'd say it works pretty well in a macro-level comparison.
Along with that restructuring of the story, the game just feels so much more polished. It's clear from the levels, the cinematics, and just how comparatively competent the story comes off, this certainly feels like the next level. Of course this comes with its own consequences. Sonic Adventure 1 is the rougher, more abrasive title compared to the more refined, smoother Sonic Adventure 2. However, it's kinda weird in how the game has changed. Sonic Adventure 1 with its individual characters had more cohesive mini-experiences, while in Sonic Adventure 2, it often felt jarring to go from a Sonic level to those other types of levels. Often times, people tend to say how much they prefer the speed sections and I get it, the other sections don't do feel nearly as satisfying. I don't hear this as often for Adventure 1 though. I think it's due to the separate nature of the stories so you don't have to jump from character to character in such a jarring way. I think the other reason is just because the speed levels in Adventure 2 feel so much more refined than Adventure 1's levels.
Along with that, there's no hub world anymore. Cutscenes glue the levels together compared the previous title's admittedly janky hub world where you ran around guessing where to go next and if there was a key to put in some slot somewhere. This is a welcome edition is the sense that it allowed for a smoother gameplay transition. However, by taking away the hub world, we lost the sense of the world. Instead, it's now abstracted and world spanning. I don't mind since the story is so much more ambitious, but Sonic Adventure 2 just doesn't have as well realized of a world. This is all tied to the trade-offs that Adventure 2 makes and it's worth it in its own way. I'm glad that the sequel tried out different things and managed to craft such a polished, large feeling narrative.
It's clear that Sonic Adventure 2 is essentially Sonic Team seeing what worked and improving upon the formula, while cutting out the more extraneous bits. Here's what I think they were thinking when deciding on Adventure 2's design: "How do we make a more cinematic, cohesive experience? Well, we don't need the hub world since it didn't really add much to the previous game and it hurt the flow of the game at times. We don't need the more unrelated stories like Big the Cat, Knuckles, and Gamma because they don't contribute as much to Sonic's Adventure as a whole. Okay, but let's keep some of Gamma's existentialist theming, keep Amy as a inspiration character, let's throw Big the Cat in the most random spots of the levels just for the memes." Well, I think it went down like that at least haha.
Here's a weird idea, but I think it's a good micro level representation of a macro level quality indicator. Sonic Adventure 2 has a special jumping animation where Sonic or Shadow jump cancels out of a somersault. Sonic Adventure 1 doesn't even have a somersault let alone a unique animation for something so specific. Considering just how much more polished the sequel is to its predecessor, I was surprised that Adventure 1 had a lot more developers. However, after thinking about it for a bit, it kinda makes sense. Since the game cuts off the extra stuff, there's less to worry about. Since the gameplay mechanics are all in place, they were able to focus on just the three game styles.
Let's talk about the cutscenes. They're iconic and it's really sad that we haven't had a story on this level. It finds a good balance between being serious and funny. The bits of suspense and drama are top notch. Some of my favorite moments would have to include Sonic jumping out of a helicopter to go snowboarding down the streets of SF, Sonic and Shadow's funny fake hedgehog banter, Eggman going 4D chess on Tails when tricking Tails into revealing the fake emerald, Sonic figuring out how to do a chaos control when he's about to die, and that perfect Live and Learn climax moment. Looking back at it now, the game really does a good job at highlighting Sonic. That might be obvious in to an outsider looking in, but it's actually the contrary in the previous game. Sonic's campaign in Sonic Adventure 1 was pretty underwhelming. His personality wasn't able to shine due to the inability for him to be as much of a cool guy due to the limitation in the script, voice acting, and animation. Along with that, the individual storylines diluted the Sonic experience such that his gameplay was just part of a much broader game. This time, with the more focused storylines, Sonic can be the lead in his own movie.
Mechanically, I gotta say, Sonic and Shadow's levels are super cool, especially the more modern feeling ones. City Escape, Metal Harbor, Radical Highway, and the cool space levels. Absolute classics. The forest levels are also pretty neat, but I'll admit that I'm not as fond of the Egypt level. Cool stuff overall though. This is the only Sonic game where I like replaying the levels. Of course the Chao levels are partly due to this as well. Great stuff all around, though I didn't do much Chao stuff this time. I can see the inspiration of Speed Highway from Adventure 1 in Radical Highway. Speed Highway is the coolest level from that game, so they did good. However, Speed Highway has the cooler track. Absolutely badass.
Tails and Eggman get to play as a slower version of Gamma. It feels a little more refined and there's a health pool this time. In some sense, Gamma just felt more satisfying to play. Fast and more powerful feeling for some reason, he just had more going for him. Along with that, I loved how Gamma's levels were timed counting down so you could lose if you went too slowly. It gave me a sense of urgency in the story and gameplay. Either to satisfy Eggman or to save his brethren. Regardless, it's still a fun gameplay style that I enjoyed playing through.
Finally, Knuckles and Rouge's gameplay works alright. It adds that last bit of gameplay variety by having the player explore a playground level to find the shards of the Master Emerald. It's fine and I love the cool vibes and tracks from Knuckles' levels. However, the space levels for the both of them sucked due to the sheer size of the levels as well as some of the more poorly implemented emerald hiding spots. The previous levels had them too, but when I played those space levels, it got tedious after a while. For Knuckles this time, I had this super annoying shard in the middle of space floating in the middle of invisible wall space that took me many tries before I could get it because of how hard it was to spot as well as the invisible walls. Rouge's space level was just way too damn big. Not a fan at all, but I got through it. I'll admit though that I did use a secret trick. Whenever I had a emerald location that I couldn't find or was too tedious, I would intentionally kill off Knuckles/Rouge to reset the hiding spot. This also made Rouge's timed level easier since it would reset the timer or something. Their levels are less enjoyable even compared to the previous game's.
I guess I would say that for both the mech levels as well as the hide and seek levels. They got nerfed, while the speed levels were improved. And this kinda builds on what I was talking about with focus. They focused on Sonic, so everything Sonic got a bit improved. Then in Sonic Heroes, everything got diluted again, but without the benefits of Sonic Adventure 1.
Metaphorically, Sonic Adventure 1 is like a big rock, while Sonic Adventure 2 is like an arrowhead made out of that rock. Components are made from the rock, but designed in a way that it's more precise and effective overall. They can both cause major damage, but in different ways. Rock metaphors aside, both great games with vastly differing overall experiences. Sure, blue rat run fast, but does black rat cry?!?
After this powerhouse of a game, Sonic became a very middling series. Gone were the days when Sonic's story could be so serious, while being taken seriously. It was ridiculous so bad its good territory like in Sonic '06 or you had self aware Western cartoon styled writing like in Sonic Colors. The Shadow the Hedgehog game would bring back the world of Sonic Adventure 2, but the quality of the writing went down the drain. All the characters became fake versions of themselves, just there to serve Shadow's story. Sonic Heroes was that special moment in the series where all the characters lost their Adventure 2 souls and traded them in for the ability to go multiplatform. Yay, we can finally play Sega's Sonic games on the Nintendo Gamecube! ...BUT AT WHAT COST???
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
2014
This review contains spoilers
Really a step down from its predecessor. It's a game that hurts the good clean fun of the original. The story is by the numbers garbage. With odd story decisions like taking out the two minority characters from the original game and making them into side characters. Then they make the genius decision to pair them up in the future such that they have a child together. Really not a fan of shipping kids, it's kinda sick actually. Then the story does some dumb "authoritarian" dentist story, but it really just tries too hard and without the depth that something like that would require. It tries to take the aesthetic of stuff that is considered "authoritarian" but without much nuance. Talk about shallow! The original game was a fun romp with a cast of wacky kids. This time around, the fun aspect felt secondary to the mess of a storyline. Also, the level design was kinda shit. The only redeeming factor for me was the hot dog costume, that was sick.
Y'know, it's really not that bad. I remember playing it back in the early days of Steam when there weren't that many indie games on the store. This was actually my introduction to the Katamari type of games.
The Wonderful End of the World is a decent Katamari clone. It lacks the vibrancy and creativity of Damacy, but I did enjoy the more challenging result requirements that this game asked of the player. In order to unlock the final level, you need to get an A rank on all previous levels. This requires practice and level memorization at times thus adding an additional layer of depth to an otherwise basic gameplay clone.
The different approach to difficulty works due to just how much simpler the movement is in this game compared to Katamari. Overall, it's a fun game that I don't mind playing over again a second time. Funnily enough, I got the Wonderful Big Bladder achievement on accident as a result of this recent playthrough. I got all the achievements, what can I say? I'm a master at The Wonderful End of the World. Ask me anything
The Wonderful End of the World is a decent Katamari clone. It lacks the vibrancy and creativity of Damacy, but I did enjoy the more challenging result requirements that this game asked of the player. In order to unlock the final level, you need to get an A rank on all previous levels. This requires practice and level memorization at times thus adding an additional layer of depth to an otherwise basic gameplay clone.
The different approach to difficulty works due to just how much simpler the movement is in this game compared to Katamari. Overall, it's a fun game that I don't mind playing over again a second time. Funnily enough, I got the Wonderful Big Bladder achievement on accident as a result of this recent playthrough. I got all the achievements, what can I say? I'm a master at The Wonderful End of the World. Ask me anything
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.
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.
This review contains spoilers
Interesting little project! Kat is cute and kinda crazy. Her personality was pretty neat in all her smugness. I did think the story was pretty lackluster though and kinda weird to make a game that kills off the main character in the true ending. Wasn't too scary, but has its moments. I was stuck at first when I couldn't find the scissors since I didn't want to push the desks until I found the rune. It's not a particularly incredible game, but it was nice for something I got for free I guess.
2017
A fairly slow puzzle platformer. It's reminiscent of the typical indie puzzle platformer. I found it a bit tedious at times. There's a lot of slow, stealthy puzzle mechanics. Getting chased by big creepy dudes got pretty tedious at times. It never got too annoying though. Graphics-wise, it's pretty nice. The game is dark and edgy. The analysis for it is pretty open to interpretation. I found the excess consumption to be quite reminiscent of our own consumer society as well as the wealth disparity in our society. The fascistic elements are clear and I can't help but see how this is a parallel with our own reality. It is certainly a dog eat dog world.
A pretty cool VN game. I liked the dreamy, dark vibe. It's not relatable in a deeper sense, but I understand some of the struggles displayed here. I wish the controller support was better. It was pretty bad. (Right stick controls mouse pointer and right trigger selects the option) Besides that, I wish it was easier to skip past the "unimportant dialogue" that's redundant after the first playthrough. It's cool and worth playing nonetheless. I get some Lain vibes in its aethestics and a particular plot line. It's a neat VN that doesn't overstay its welcome and doesn't have a clear thesis or anything. Just a girl and her psychological problems.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Just beating this first ending, I'm honestly not impressed. Niko is nice, but there's just not much that compels me to care that much. It has boring adventure game puzzle mechanics and comparatively interesting meta mechanics. However, it is a bit of a hassle at times. I know I need to finish the Solstice ending, but technically, that part of the game wasn't in the original release. I figured that returning the sun was the right thing to do. However, it was a bit vague to me with regards to what happened to Niko at the end of that. I didn't care too much about the ending and I was glad that it was over. I appreciated the game for breaking the fourth wall and making us do wacky things on the computer, but didn't really add much to my overall experience besides that "oh that's nice" moment. There's a lot of bland moments in the game that I wasn't a fan of. Other RPGMaker games somehow kept my interest far more. I guess it's not for me? We'll have to see what I think of that Solstice Ending.