Indeed. Lore can be deep, even in the simplest of games. Look at the Kirby series: the lore is oddly deep and rich, and far more consistent than Sonic the Hedgehog's lore. Hell, I've mentioned before that Super Mario's lore is more consistent than Sonic the Hedgehog's lore. Both need addressing equally, but gameplay should always be the primary focus. However, that does not mean we should neglect lore at all: that just results in a world feeling incoherent and slapped together half-heartedly. A soft reboot, if invoked, should address both issues in gameplay and in lore.
"oddly deep". It's deeper than you'd think given the nature of the games. It's not The Elder Scrolls, but it's got more to chew on than say, Tetris. All the characters have histories, goals, and motivations that remain consistent throughout the franchise. I could be talking about Kirby. I could be talking about Mario. I could even be talking about Rayman. Buuut not Sonic. Not really.
The thing most of those franchises is that they're pretty open for interpretation. Which helps with fan speculation and theory crafting and all, but I don't think that's the same as actual depth ya know.
What about any of the things I actually cited as contributing to "depth"? Seriously go take a look at a Kirby Wikia. You'll be surprised.
I seriously don't know why Sega just can't keep a consistent lore with the series. I don't know why they couldn't just have Classic Sonic to now just all be the SAME Sonic and the it's ALL in the SAME universe, instead of this whole two timelines thing. It's gotten to the point where we gotta wonder what games are canon and we really shouldn't do that, as ALL the games should be canon. Even storybook games like Secret Rings and Black Knight. Just strange how this is even a thing in this series.
tbf it's very easy for Mario games to keep a straight canon when Nintendo just shrugs and says "well, they're all like theatrical plays, or something" lol, not to mention the franchise has always played it way more safe than Sonic Sonic still has that old-school gaming mentality where canon is treated as a much lesser concern than the gameplay and aesthetic. Don't think that's necessarily a bad thing honestly, stories can still be engaging even if continuity is fuzzy, and that's assuming you want that kind of thing out of Sonic :P
Yeah that's true. I guess that can be an appeal to Sonic depending on who you talk to. It's just a personal issue for me. I always liked seeing the series as one big franchise (Games wise at least) than split timelines. It's the main reason I will always prefer Sonic Generations Modern Sonic speaking to Classic Sonic as his "younger" self and not the Sonic Forces idea of Classic Sonic being another Sonic from another dimension.
The idea of a "cohesive" timeline for Sonic was certainly feasible in its early years, but the series has grown too much at this point. It feels like what happens when comic books go on for too long, at some point, things just stop making sense. And trying to make sense out of it just makes it worse. Other platforming franchises had the right idea of just keeping lore and stuff to a minimum to avoid that situation, but alas. Sonic gotta be different.
I'm glad Sonic didn't do that, the series' lore and continuity has been a thing that fascinated me since very young.
Indeed, hence the frustration. It doesn't help they don't even bother trying to explain the lore problems, and seem more content to point fingers and say "they did it!" like what happened with the "Iizuka inherited the two worlds from Naka" thing when Naka has always, always set the series on Earth, to the point that Sonic was born on Christmas Island, Australia. That's right, Sonic's an aussie. Not to mention the bastardisation of the cast to simple one note characters. Remember when Rouge was the President's top agent who just happened to like jewels, but was always working to identify threats and otherwise making sure the innocent were safe like with Emerl? Now she's a thief! Remember when Shadow was a complex character who wouldn't bend the knee and would fight whoever threatened those he cared about while working to ensure the world was safe because of his promise, to the point of willingly operating as a G.U.N. Agent? Now he's a Vegeta! Just pickin' fights and tellin' everyone to f*** right off! Clearly, a true understanding of their characters. Honestly, I think the soft reboot would be best for the characterisations of half the cast.
