Saying it again: anyone hoping for Chao Gardens in this game is only going to be disappointed. I'm still mystified as to why Sega's never done a mobile game of them, but I hope we never see them again in a console game.
Never fucked with Chao myself tbh. I was an eight year old with ADHD, I did not have the patience for Chao raising. In fact, the only reason I even know about it is because of my sister getting into it and just watching her. But its very apparent that it was popular, at least with the people who came up on it. I do agree they fit better in a side game than a main game, but that's the song and dance for this series. How many concepts has Sonic introduced that would be good as its own sub series as opposed to being shoved into a main one. You solve the character bloat problem by just showing most of them into their own series
if you don't like Chao Gardens then the saving grace is that it's purely an optional side thing, so you could really go through the entire game without even knowing they exist. I think it'd be a nice little throwback if they returned and there are definitely a lot of ways you could evolve the concept but I don't think Frontiers will be the game to do this. I don't think they really consider it a priority.
As someone not too familiar with both the game development process and internal sonic team politics I’ve been wondering: how much more influence do you think Kawamura will have as producer compared to when she was just the art director? As for Iizuka, if he’s not involved in the development of the games I wonder why he moved to America? I assumed he wanted to get closer to American Sonic fans in order to attempt to tailor the next game towards their preferences. Maybe he just moved for “political reasons” (in the business sense) or he’s working on a different game in the US (Origins? A online battle royale sonic title?)
We really don't have any complete picture of how the upper staff members effect the feel of the game. People blame stuff they don't like on Iizuka and Kishimoto all the time, but there's no objective way to know exactly what it is they contributed, at least when compared to something like "this texture artist drew this texture".
The best way to make a Sonic Adventure 3 will be with no hunting, no mecha shooting, no fishing, no hub worlds and no Chao raising. Don't @ me.
Games can have multiple producers, and Forces was produced by Shun Nakamura, don't think what happens with Frontiers is that different
Even as someone who likes the Chao garden, if not having it means more time spent on perfecting Sonic, so be it.
That's exactly it: what defines a Sonic Adventure game differs from person to person. For him, it's just the Sonic gameplay. For you, it's the playstyle variety (I assume from your question). That's why I said the other day that "Adventure 3" is a meaningless term.
Focus on Sonic levels - like SA1 Tails and Amy (plus Knuckles) with action adventure levels - like SA1 No hub world - like SA2 No fishing - like SA2
If you take away everything that sets Adventure apart from other 3d Sonic games then it's no longer an Adventure game. Besides love or hate Chao, they're one of the most popular features of the Adventure series and a SA3 would be expected to have them. If you don't like them you can just ignore them, seeing how they're optional.
Agreed. I love the Chao Garden, and would very much like for it to triumphantly return so long as it doesn't deviate much/at all from SA2:B. Add more mini-games, more animal types, and more unique Chao forms, but retain the mechanics of it all. As for this game potentially delivering an experience worthy of the name Sonic Adventure 3... it could happen, but it isn't there yet given what we know. It checks a couple boxes for me such as having a massive hub to explore and unlock new paths, as well as apparently featuring ability upgrades to collect in some manner that grant access to those new paths in the hub and ideally within the action stages too. The lack of other characters being playable with their own unique playstyles signifacantly detracts from its Adventure-potential however. Basically, the multiple unique characters with overlapping stories, vast explorable hub world, upgradeable/unlockable techniques, and Chao Garden are all pivotal elements for an Adventure sequel. Not having those other elements won't nullify my enjoyment of this game though, as the open world is by and large my favourite element, followed by a playable Amy. So long as Sonic handles right and both the open world and action stages are aesthetically pleasing and fun to traverse, then this will be just dandy. I do have a thought on how Sonic Team could get around implementing other characters, although I'm not sure how appealing it would be even if executed competently. A variety of playstyles could be applied to Sonic, such as emerald hunting. Fishing could be an optional feature to pursue in the hub. Tails' vehicles could be a stage gimmick, or possibly even an alternate means of traversing the hub. Lastly, there could be a Piko Hammer minigame or something. Just a thought, but one I don't expect many to think fondly of.
This makes me remember a time when I felt like the defining element of a Sonic Adventure game was the (literally) titular Adventure fields, and I was a bit put off as to why they were still using that name if they were "going back to the roots" (lol remember how many times we heard THAT back then?) by removing them. So yeah, even the two games we got were so different from each other, it's hard to say there's anything sacred about them, haha. Even the core Sonic gameplay is built on a very different philosophy in SA1 (an attempt at bringing the 16-bit games into 3D, albeit one held together with duct tape and hope) versus SA2 (the more speed-focused "spectacle platformer" style that most 3D Sonic games have built on ever since).
One of life's great mysteries, alongside why they never attempted a Chu Chu Rocket sequel for the DS or 3DS. Seriously, that game would work so well with a touchscreen and stylus!
I don't think Chao are as development resource intensive as it might seem. You basically just need to get a smaller team with different deign sensibilities to work around the systems being implemented by the larger team. To me, though, the best shot at a proper Chao Garden up to this point would have been in the Minecraft collaboration, and that's come and gone, so...
I expect there's no Chao mobile game because the thing that makes them Chao is that they're a downtime chunk of a larger gameplay loop. You engage in action to get resources, then unwind with the Chao who eat those resources up. I used to think a Chao mobile game would be a slam-dunk until I went and played Adventure 1 for the first time as an adult. A game that's 100% Chao would be just a branded version of any one of those weird petcare mobile apps and lack that loop. Which, to bring it back on topic, would work really well in Frontiers. Finding a garden somewhere on an island, choosing to spend as much time there as you like, then running back off into the action - it would certainly be in the spirit of the original, if they chose to direct development resources to such a non-core element (which is a pretty big if for an already expensive-looking title).
Absolutely, I wouldn't be getting my hopes up for a Chao Garden in Frontiers, but if they did have it, it would be great. (Coming from someone who never really got into the Chao Garden, I still liked it, I just didnt spend 500000 hours playing it.) I really really hope that Frontiers will be good, I'll even take being better than Forces at this rate, I just want something to prove to me that this franchise isn't a lost cause that isn't just the movie and comics.
This is almost entirely true, but SA2 locks a Sonic stage behind 180 emblems, which includes the Chao emblems.
