don't click here

Sonic Unleashed

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Adamis, Mar 12, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. GeneHF

    GeneHF

    SEGA-ier than you'll potentially ever be. Site Staff
    8,429
    59
    28
    Scenic Studiopolis
    Complete Global Conquest
    He's negative on mostly every game he reviews. Keyword: mostly. It's just not Zero Punctuation without rapid angry British ranting.

    Also, that damn Video #27 has finally been found and they did a pretty good job of hiding it. The video is in Adabat Night Act 2. Near the end of the level, right before the goal ring, there's a box that continually respawns. Usually, this box is to be used as a platform to reach what I believe used to be a CD on a cliff. Well, just off camera from there is another pillar you can jump to. The video is up there.

    Credit to Billysan of GFAQs for finding it.
     
  2. muteKi

    muteKi

    Fuck it Member
    7,850
    131
    43
    Yeah, he was equally negative about Brawl, maybe more so.
     
  3. Tweaker

    Tweaker

    Banned
    12,387
    2
    0
    Yeah, I'd prefer discussion of game reviews not take place in here at all, at least until the initial wave blows over. It's much less productive and much less interesting than talking about the game itself.
     
  4. BlazeHedgehog

    BlazeHedgehog

    A "Community Enigma"? Oldbie
    1,467
    11
    18
    There really should've been an achievement for getting over 1000 rings in Rooftop Run Act 1. Shit was hard.
     
  5. Endri

    Endri

    Officer I don't have my drivers license with me. C Tech Member
    ... and in Jungle Joyride Act 1, and in Skyscraper Scamper Act 1, and in other levels that you can actually get more than 999 rings that didn't come to mind right now.
     
  6. jman2050

    jman2050

    Teh Sonik Haker Tech Member
    634
    4
    18
    I know I'm LTTP with this, but I finally rented the PS3 version of Sonic Unleashed, and I can happily say that it is everything I feared and then some.

    I really don't understand how people can say the day stages play like Sonic Adventure. This is about as different as you can get. Hell, Sonic 06 levels played more like Sonic Adventure than this. Does that automatically make it bad? No, of course not. Does the day stages being Sonic Rivals trying to be Sonic Rush except with shittier level design make it bad? Hell yes it does.

    I guess I can't fault them for trying. Sonic 06 made me feel like the developers gave a big middle finger to their fanbase. Sonic Unleashed day stages make me feel like the developers really tried, like they actually put some effort into trying to find a way to rebound from the horrible mess we've been accustomed to. And in a few respects, they did. Technically the game runs well, no awful level-breaking glitches so far, and reasonably well-explained mechanics. Oh, and only one shitty friend who isn't as shitty as I expected. Unfortunately, that's about where my praise ends.

    Ironically, going at 500mph while pressing up/right is about the only time I ever feel like I'm in control when playing. Not that it's fun, but at least it works. Of course, the trial-and-error gameplay when moving at this speed is so ridiculous that I now vow to slap anyone who ever tries to tell me Sonic Rush is trial-and-error gameplay. Any time Sonic isn't at top speed (basically, any time I'm going for those damn medals, but you all know that complaint already...) I once again have to fight with the controls to do anything of substance. Oh, it's not like I've died a lot, at least, not in any way that I didn't immediately know it was my fault, but it's a frustrating experience just to do anything when you aren't running. I won't complain further about the day stages, as I've only done a few stages and want to confirm the rest of my misgivings before I say anything else.

    Of course, none of what I say above holds a candle to the other half.

    If Unleashed were only the day stages, I might be willing to give this one a "meh" so far. After all, it isn't as egregiously bad as Sonic 06 or Shadow, and it's far more well-designed and technically sound than the abomination that was Sonic Heroes. But noooooooooo, Sonic Team had to screw it up even more again. The werehog stages are an abomination of good level design, and that's putting it very nicely. It's like this weird bastardization of Prince of Persia that manages to be completely unfun and waste my time. Seriously, the werehog stages last about 4x longer than they should, and by the time I finished Mazuri Night I was ready to just turn the damn thing off.

    Seriously, everyone who said that the werehog stages are "not that bad"... I mean, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I don't want to say they're outright wrong, and perhaps this whole thing just rubs me the wrong way but... god, they're really really bad. Why was this necessary Sega? What was wrong with actually trying to make the day stages worth something? Is every Sonic game gonna have some stupid gimmick to "keep things fresh"?

    This post sounds vitriolic, and maybe I'll feel better about it later on, but if there's one thing I'm confident in, it's my ability to judge my own preferences. I'm going to beat the game, or at least get as far as I can, during this rent period to give the game a fair shake, milk those $8, and make sure that I don't have any excuse to touch this game or talk about it ever again. Things will be better that way. Until then, I wait for Sonic Rush 3 :(
     
  7. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    Actually, I think the Werehog stages are probably the only good thing about the game. The daytime levels are impossible to control and really just don't click with me, while the more methodical, slow-paced beat-em-up action of the Werehog is quite controllable, and even vaguely fun. The platforming is often quite inventive and intuitive. There's incentive to explore around. The combat... is kind of weak, yeah, but it's not absolutely terrible (although the QTEs rather suck - save them for the last straggler or the biggest badguy in the arena, else you increase you chances of messing up and giving a badguy more health when you meant to kill him dead). The tightropes really suck, though.

    But Sonic himself? Too damn fast. I've said time and again (albeit maybe not here) that Sonic shouldn't be moving at the speeds he does, given that these insane speeds make what should be intuitive platforming boil down to trial-and-error. Yahtzee's verdict on these segments are spot-on.

    Momentum-based Sonic is dead... but he really, really shouldn't be. It was always sooo much more fun and more properly designed than the "RUN RUN RUN FAST FAST FAST AAAGGH" BS that Sega insists we get these days.

    As for why Sega keeps shoving alternative playstyles down our throats... I'm pretty sure this has been said, but back in one TGS, somebody asked a Sonic Team employee why they keep doing this. The reason? Sonic's speed is so insane, a full game of just that would require an inhuman amount of miles of level to be designed, and would be completable in a scant few hours, and thus hardly would be worth the $50-$60 asking price. They introduce the alternative gameplays so they can pad the game out. Another reason why Sonic should slow the hell down - a slower-paced Sonic would mean shorter levels could be designed, which would probably be easier to design and maybe easier to create more of, and yet Sonic would probably traverse these shorter levels in about the same time that he does the current ones, so there probably wouldn't have to be so much padding - just more levels.

    Of course, Sega doesn't realize this anymore, so...
     
  8. muteKi

    muteKi

    Fuck it Member
    7,850
    131
    43
    Well, if Sonic was slowed down a bunch of other people would complain as well.


    I see what jman is saying about the non-SA styled levels. While a level in SA was fairly linear with little to no branching paths, it had a wicked number of shortcuts in most levels, some of which were hard to find or required proper [ab]use of the spin dash when playing as Sonic. It was far more interesting to happen upon them -- the one thing the game definitely has over Heroes in my opinion. This game is similar in that the multiple routes are all laid out and rather clear; at best the ones that are hard to access involve a QTE that gets messed up. Less replay value to try to improve times then, because there's just that much less that you can actually do to cut down on a time other than better learn the level layout and get lucky a few times. There's nothing secret or hidden.
     
  9. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    Right, because making Sonic move about as fast as he did in the Genesis games is so awful baw Sega why did you do this

    I'll admit, though, if you roll down the right ramps in the old games, you sure as hell go really fast. It's just that those typically had a good rhyme and reason behind them, and were placed in just the right spots so as to not royally screw you over for going fast. Compare to now, where you're being pressured to go that fast all the time, and often are PUNISHED for it by thrusting yourself into something unsavory. Trial and error does not a fun game make.
     
  10. Phos

    Phos

    Going for the high score on whatever that little b Member
    3,318
    0
    0
    The point muteKi brings up are all the guys on SSMB you honestly think Sonic Adventure 2 is the best game ever, aka, the enemy.
    j/k... or am I?

    I agree that he's going too fast in this game, or rather, speed is too easy to come by.
     
  11. Tylinos

    Tylinos

    Member
    914
    0
    16
    I was playing Rooftop Run Night Act 1 in the PS3 version earlier, just trying to explore every part of the level out of sickness-induced boredom. About one-third of the way through the stage, I came upon a box intended to be moved forward a few steps so you could get to a small bonus area. Instead, I decided to push it along with me to see if I could get any other unintended use out of it. The unexpected happened. I'm guessing that I brought it to a point where the next part of the stage loaded, so the box was no longer needed in memory.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JU38FY6rzM

    I apologize for the coughing and my scrachy voice in the video. Sickness and all.
     
  12. Sik

    Sik

    Sik is pronounced as "seek", not as "sick". Tech Member
    6,718
    1
    0
    being an asshole =P
    Remember that we're talking about two different audiences, geese, I would even say three (old-school, new-school and this generation). And they're 100% different. Anything is prone to cause dislike to at least one of them. It's simply impossible to target them all. Moreover, Sega actually knows that, and is only focusing on the current one, and sadly that's what other generations don't understand and think new Sonic games should appeal them too.

    So muteKi is right, you complain because Sonic goes too fast, but if Sonic was slower, people would complain too. And that's people from the current generation, much at your dismiss.
     
  13. jman2050

    jman2050

    Teh Sonik Haker Tech Member
    634
    4
    18
    Oh, I understand that. I just don't care.
     
  14. Jayextee

    Jayextee

    Unpopular Opinions™ Member
    3,253
    61
    28
    Atro City
    I DONE MAKED GAMES.
    Also a bit late to the point, but I like to wait until "new toy syndrome" wears off a thing before I can call my opinion balanced enough to let people know.

    And here it is: Sonic Unleashed (PS2, the only version I could really get, although I may well acquire a 360 in January) is pretty good. Not excellent, not terrible. It has some moments which remind me of games that are no longer fashionable, and ironically it's most evident in the Night stages -- the simple "diet version of generic 3rdperson combat system" is stress-free enough for me to genuinely wander around levels without feeling frustrated; a far cry from games like, say, Devil May Cry which try and make every encounter the most epic thing you've experienced. No. Seriously, alter the rhythmn a bit, and change down occasionally. So, the Night stages are a welcome change of pace from the frenetic pace of the Day stages. The combat lacks depth and the stretchy-arm platforming seems rudimentary and occasionally clumsy, but this is appealing stress-free platforming these days, a thing forgotten by most developers and very welcome in a series who's target audience is primarily children (A fact that Sega seem to forget).

    The Day stages in themselves seem to be a bizarre hybrid of a solo, amphetamine-fuelled Sonic R (Or Sonic Riders Lite, if you prefer) meets Sonic Rivals - One-Player RUSH Remix(tm). The physics seem extremely clumsy, especially at low speeds; which hampers the flow somewhat, but when you're playing as intended; hitting all the ramps and gimmicks and so forth; this is a rush. I enjoyed what I was seeing, and the blissfully sublime soundtrack only enhanced what was already there. However, upon reaching Eggmanland, the record is tarnished. Conversely to what precedes it, Eggmanland's Day Stage is an über-linear clusterfuck of narrow pathways, rote-learning sets of traps and occasionally glitchy collision. Thankfully, it only has to be played twice, in it's entirety because the time attack challenge is the whole level instead of the short section found in the other Day stages.

    All in all, this is an enjoyable game. It's not the best thing ever, although I do wish there was more of it (And so I'm thankful the 'high definition' version is largely a completely different game).

    7/10
     
  15. Random Hero!

    Random Hero!

    Member
    12
    0
    0
    London, UK.
    Sonic 2: Remix Project (Music)
    I don't really get how everyone can get angry about most of the current and/or next-gen Sonic games really...

    I mean sure, they're nothing like the 16-Bit Era back in the day, but surely SOMETHING that Sonic Team are doing is worthy of a high five and a cookie?

    I must be totally honest, the 3D Sonic games aren't perfect, and have plenty of flaws, but doesn't that just leave more room for improvement in future games?

    Just imagine, one day we're gonna get the perfect 3D Sonic game that is worthy of being the "next in the series, canon, this is after S&K" and we're gonna forgive SEGA for the other titles. :P
     
  16. Jayextee

    Jayextee

    Unpopular Opinions™ Member
    3,253
    61
    28
    Atro City
    I DONE MAKED GAMES.
    Soundtracks by and large are consistently catchy, although not all are completely memorable (Sonic Rush Adventure springs to mind).
     
  17. muteKi

    muteKi

    Fuck it Member
    7,850
    131
    43
    As noted, the storyline and art direction in this game in particular seems to be high quality as well -- it doesn't take itself too seriously and has a more cartoony flair.
     
  18. TimmiT

    TimmiT

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Member
    Did you play Sonic 06?
     
  19. Cooljerk

    Cooljerk

    NotEqual Tech, Inc - VR & Game Dev Oldbie
    4,505
    201
    43
    He said most

    That said, criticizing a game for the flaws of another game is stupid on a scale that's unmeasurable.

    EDIT: Not calling you stupid, if there's any confusion. Rather, I'm saying that people who criticize SU because 06 sucked are stupid (which I realize you didn't do).
     
  20. SonikkuForever

    SonikkuForever

    Be cool, be wild, and be groovy! Member
    576
    0
    16
    Gathering information on Sega World Sydney and collecting Sonic merchandise.
    I don't know if it's realistic to expect one single game that will revive the series. It took several games to screw it up, and it will take just as many good ones to fix it.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.