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SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Dark Beginnings

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Crimson Neo, Sep 25, 2024.

  1. Sneasy

    Sneasy

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    Feel like noting that the credits have Iizuka credited as the Creative Officer for Sonic Team USA.
     
  2. Azookara

    Azookara

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    Just like the Knuckles Frontiers one, it's fucking fantastic. Shadow at the best he's been since SA2, and there are some genuinely amazing scenes in there ( + - the Gerald scene and Moon scenes particularly were so fucking COOL   ). Can't wait to see more of it!

    It's a really good juxtaposition.

    And I hope it reminds Sonic Team of just how joyful and fun Sonic's stories are too, and they can return to making games that capture that spirit. The past few games have felt like they've lost touch with that a bit.. the somber moodiness is perfect for Shadow, but not really for Sonic. We really need them to capture how joyful this series can get!

    Okay I'll get off the podium now. Anyways, good shit.
     
  3. The Joebro64

    The Joebro64

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    This was really fuckin' cool
     
  4. legolloyd

    legolloyd

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    I feel a middle ground between the two tones is the ideal way to go, like Unleashed did.
     
  5. It's basically this meme.

    https://x.com/banana_queen/status/1838652941370298814


    It's actually amazing and hilarious how they took the game with arguably the least amount of plot relevance and decided to add a campaign about the character with the most amount of emotional baggage of the entire cast.

    Sonic gets to have another fun adventure going through his cherished memories along his past self.

    Shadow has to relive all of his most traumatizing memories and might have to say goodbye to his loved ones again who were tragically taken from him.
     
  6. Deep Dive Devin

    Deep Dive Devin

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    This has actually always been the explanation, dating back to that JP strategy guide.

    Anyway, short was cool. The jump in animation quality during the fight and the mental breakdown is kind of insane.

    Hilarious that one side of Ian Flynn's job involves humans, calling the planet Earth and showing the half-destroyed moon, and in the other he's not allowed to do any of that shit.
     
  7. Azookara

    Azookara

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    Ideally that's what I'm looking for, yeah. Something with serious stakes and high energy but is still fun and feel-good. I think Colors & Lost World went too light, while Forces & Frontiers went too melodramatic. If we got a Sonic game that could thread down the middle, that'd be the golden ticket.
     
  8. It's honestly dependent on what the focus of the story is; games starring Shadow are of course going to be darker in nature because that's just how the character was conceived. While doing "Dark" things with Sonic is always going to feel out of place because a positive and upbeat influence is quite literally his defining character trait.

    This is why having multiple campaigns was so important; you had your lighthearted fun adventures with Sonic and his crew stopping Eggman's schemes on one side, while on the other side you had characters like Shadow, Blaze, and Silver having all of the plot and character development.
     
  9. serpx

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    Man, the Knuckles Prologue and this are both the first time I truly felt that Sonic animation went above and beyond the Sonic OVA/Sonic CD days. Just the detail, the style, the love put into it -- obviously other great animations have come out, but these are what I want for the future of the franchise. Please make a new animated movie of this level.
     
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  10. Azookara

    Azookara

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    Yeah, that really was the key to the balance of the Adventure games, and why they succeed at being good Sonic stories. You still get the drama and moodier moments playing out with new or side characters, while Sonic carried the much-needed levity and hijinks that kept the spirits high. Frontiers fumbles because it tries to convince the audience that Sonic (as well as Tails and Amy) are somber and moody and it just.. feels forced? Or at the very least out of place. Knuckles was mostly fine for this, though. Proves this is a case-by-case basis on what feels right for a character.

    Anyways, yeah. Dark Beginnings is proof that this kind of tone and storytelling can work in Sonic. Really well, even! It just probably shouldn't be Sonic himself carrying it. Or at least not without working overtime to earn it. lol
     
  11. Turbohog

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    When tf did Maria get aids/cancer/whatever? Nice animation though. Still hate Shadow's voice.
     
  12. Deep Dive Devin

    Deep Dive Devin

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    I mean having a rare debilitating disease was her whole reason for being on the ARK, but the earliest elaboration on what she had was the Truth of 50 Years Ago document, from the Japanese SA2 guide a few months after release. It's always been referred to as an immunodeficiency, though it can be translated as "primary immunodeficiency syndrome", "native immunodeficiency syndrome", or as the EN translations usually went with, "Neuro-immune deficiency syndrome" (NIDS). All of these suggest it's genetic, so "when" she got it is the same time she became alive at all.

    But yeah, it's a little weird and a lot of people just call it "space AIDS" so I kinda get them not going too specific with it most of the time.
     
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  13. HEDGESMFG

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    Adding to what I said in the other thread, I expected this episode might give us a definitive outside narrative point of view of Shadow's past, yet it's again only shown through the perspective of a distorted nightmare, an uncertain memory...

    Meaning unless the game surprises us, the only clear record of Shadow's pre-SA2 awakening life may be what's said in Gerald's journal... and even that may not be an entirely reliable narrator since Gerald eventually went mad.

    Boy, sure will be interesting to see how this game shifts our perspective on the lore...
     
  14. Chaos Rush

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    I know I'm in the minority here but I'm fine with the story being told through flashbacks while another story goes on in the present time. The whole "Shadow's mysterious past" thing has already been done to death in SA2, Sonic X, and StH 2005 to the point where it's not really all that mysterious anymore, and we're no doubt gonna get another retelling of it in Shadow Generations. I'm more interested in knowing about what Shadow has been up to since Forces (as well as what he was up to in-between 06 and Forces).
     
  15. Vertette

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    Seeing as they're adding to Generations' story there's really not much they can do but go back to the past. Hopefully that includes a story that isn't entirely about the ARK and Maria again, but we'll see.
     
  16. Starduster

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    Peak. No notes except I just wish I could have more.

    I find it interesting that, even after he becomes aware he's reliving the past, Shadow still shows concern for Gerald and tries to get him away from his execution, knowing what he's already done. Granted, you could argue that maybe Gerald having some kind of support rather than being executed as part of a government cover-up would avert the ARK crashing into Earth bit, and maybe even Eggman's whole shtick, but I think the more immediate answer is that Shadow just genuinely cares for Gerald as he does Maria, and I think that's sweet and nuanced. That was always what I liked about Shadow, really. He wasn't justed an edgy doppelganger, there was a heart underneath it all, and I'm glad that's coming back to the fore in this game and it's marketing. Shadow takes some extreme actions, but it's because he cares so fiercely. A lot like Batman, funnily enough.

    In terms of story tone, I'm glad to have this stuff as well as lighter stuff like Heroes and Colours, and I don't even think there's too much of a need to gate it off for specific characters. I think Frontiers' tone works because it starts with Sonic and co. being thrown in at the deep end and just keeps testing them, cutting off the guy who's all about his friends from them and running him through the wringer with a corrupting virus, I think it's appropriate things are more dour there, and Sonic still manages to get some light-hearted lines in during his conversations with other characters. I'd say the Metal Virus was much the same, darker even - granted I'd rather keep that stuff in minority because I do recognise that Sonic iis by his nature a jovial guy, but it's still interesting to see him taken outside of his comfort zone to think and act in ways he wouldn't usually. At any rate, I think the ideal vibe for me is something like the Adventure games and Unleashed, which allows for a little bit of everything.
     
  17. Vertette

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    Sonic is flexible enough tonally that I don't mind the occasional detour into something that's darker or thought-provoking than normal, but then we get into the argument whether a series starring overly saturated and anthropomorphic animals can support that kind of tone to begin with. I think SA2 proves it can work just fine, but I know plenty of people who object to SA2 being such a detour from what they like about the franchise (including on this very forum) and I can't exactly argue against that. On the other hand, I doubt a lot of people want another decade of Colors-esque writing. Something in-between would be hard to pull of, because that kind of nuance takes a very fine touch.

    I think giving Shadow's story a darker tone makes it easier to swallow because he's much more muted and tragic than the rest of the cast and it's actually earnest even if they're having some fun with the idea. It also makes for a good contrast with Generations, so hopefully if Shadow Gens goes over well with people they might try to experiment more with tone in later games, kinda like SA1's stories did.
     
  18. Gestalt

    Gestalt

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    *sigh* Not on board with the portrayal of Shadow here. One second, he's the whiny boyfriend, the next he's fighting like a champ. His naivety is so not justified.

    The whole animation has the quality of a music video on old school MTV, I'd say. Lol

    Anyway, can't wait to find out what's gonna happen next.
     
  19. McAleeCh

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    I acutally think Shadow's portrayal here is pretty consistent with his depiction in the currently-running manga. Aboard the ARK, day-to-day he's stoic and detached, but inside he's agonising about his lack of purpose, and when given a chance to let loose - be it to subdue experimental creatures or stop an ancient weapon from going haywire - he launches into action in a flash, perhaps using it as an excuse to vent some of his own internal frustrations. In Dark Beginnings, he externalises these frustrations briefly - which again fits with the manga, as in that Maria seems aware of his internal struggles already. Actually, the event where Maria shows him the Aurora Borealis also has striking similarities to her showing him the sunrise over Earth in the manga, too!

    Whether you agree with this portrayal is one thing, but it seems to be the direction SEGA have decided to take, and thus far they seem to be remarkably consistent as to how Shadow is written in events taking place 50 years prior.
     
  20. Gestalt

    Gestalt

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    Dunno, haven't read it yet! Maybe it just needs time to grow on me. To me, his outburst makes him look like he thinks of himself as a failure, when in reality it should be clear to him that finding a cure for Maria's illness isn't easy. He's too strict with himself.

    Shouldn't he be surrounded by professionals up there? Hello? Ever heard of mental health care?