Sonic X Shadow Generations thread, movie level out on the 12th

This is tangential but I would've honestly liked Unleashed (for example) a lot more if Sonic could do stuff like turn his head smirking after blasting through a row of enemies, or desperately reach at a passing ring monitor while low, or IDK just shit like looking at the player in panic when he slips off a cliff or something. The Sonic 1/CD team seemed to understand the charm of a character that still has personality even while being controlled and it's nice to see the edgehog of all characters finally move the needle a bit in that regard.

 

I never said there was anything wrong with it, just that I personally did have a problem with it

 

So I just beat the final boss of Shadow Gens and... It's no HD Dark Gaia, but 2nd place is good enough. Vast improvement from not only the ShtH version of Black/Devil Doom from what I've seen, but also Time Eater. And unlike Supreme End there's nothing vague about it. It's clear as crystal what you're supposed to do, so it's also an improvement from that, even though I enjoy that fight.

 

Sickness prevented me from beating Shadow Generations until now but now that I have am I really really pleased by it. I'm gonna go back and read through this thread, so I assume this has already been brought up, but wow, the difference in level design between this and Frontiers/Forces is kinda nuts. Just the fact that the levels regularly crack the 3-4 minute mark alone is good enough, but I was consistently impressed with all the different routes, and the fact that the game is actually aware it has mechanics and does interesting things with them.

However, I think they still have trouble making these characters control right for tough platforming, the jumping in particular feels weirdly inconsistent and a bit annoying (fine early on, a massive headache for Radical Highway). Also, I really don't know why they don't bring back the Forces airboost, the one good thing I think that game added to the boost formula.

Also, it's really funny to me that they keep making the boost less powerful with each game. Shit is barely faster than running normally by this point lmfao.

I honestly could take the next Sonic game just being this again but with like, 15-20 zones instead of 6 and longer levels, to be frank.

 

I can't believe how good this game is. Hope this is the direction for the Sonic team making 2 styles of games one with the Boost style and then the Frontier style a bit like how Capcom is giving fans a new Resident Evil game along with a remake style (if that makes any sense)

 

Found a funny thing in pre-release interview:

https://onemoregame.ph/2024/10/sonic-x-shadow-generations-interviewtgs2024/

It's interresting how they view Shadow that way. I guess it's their version of the "ironic edgy emo teen" or something. Since being ironic is not much of a thing in Japanese culture.

 

I gotta say going back to Sonic Gens after playing Shadow Gens makes me dislike the 2D sections of the former even more. I can't believe it took THIS long for this series to go back to a game with entirely 3D levels but god, I'm so glad we finally did. I am SO GLAD that Shadow Gens has levels that don't suddenly switch perspectives and make me go "oh boy, time to play Genesis Sonic But Not As Good!"

The funny thing is, the fact that the 3D levels in Shadow Gens are FULLY 3D makes me much more forgiving of the 2D levels in the game itself, because unlike Sonic Gens the game isn't literally like 80% 2D. Radical Highway is a million times better of a final level than the utterly deflating disaster than is Planet Wisp.

 

Yeah, I did notice for some time now that Koji Yusa's take on Shadow oozes with chunibyo energy, unlike the much more "comically serious" way Shadow is voiced in English.

Btw, irony and sarcasm are an important part of Japanese culture, they just don't translate well into English. Overly polite Japanese honorifics can be used to deliver some truly vicious irony. Some Japanese swear words began their life as polite labels that degenerated after centuries of increasingly ironic usage.

 

I think some things in this analysis left a little to be desired...

They didn't mention what the resolution is in quality mode on PS5/Series X and they didn't mention the resolution of any of the Series S modes (it says it has a hit in resolution on the perfomance mode for Shadow Generations, but it doesn't mention what the resolution is in performance mode or quality mode in it so I have no idea how big the hit in resolution is in favor of performance) not to mention that a more complete analysis of the resolution and performance on old-gen consoles was also missing and the video don't give any idea how stable the framerate is on these consoles (I heard that the Xbox One has more framerate drops in Shadow Generations than the Switch version and I really wanted to see if that was true)

I really wanted to see how the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro compared to the Xbox Series S considering that it holds up pretty well in Sonic Frontiers with the PS4 Pro running Sonic Frontiers at the same resolution as the Series S and the Xbox One X even managing to run at a higher resolution.



PS: He mentioned that the game's HUD was upgraded to 4K (the original game only had a 720p HUD even on the Series X) but he didn't mention that the FPS boost had glitches on the Series S/X, you literally couldn't finish the Chemical Plant with it was activated and this was corrected in the remaster, also the cutscenes in the Xbox 360 version ran at just 480p while the PS3 version ran at 720p, in the remaster they all run at 4K or 1080p (even on the Switch) which is much sharper.

 

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo filed a patent for this, I know Link does a similar thing in Wind Waker as well. Nintendo are so weird with their patents, they weren't even the first to do this! Sonic Team did it in 1998!

 

Nintendo patents a lot of shit they have absolutely no right patenting. They have a lot practices that are harmful to the industry, but it's all brushed aside a because it's just "the Nintendo way". People just accept their bullshit and move on. I wish they got called out on their shit by the industry, and not just a small subset of consumers.

 

Yeah, Nintendo is notorious for patenting basic mechanics that they didn't even invent themselves. Though it's not like Sega is above reproach in that regard. (See: The Simpsons: Road Rage)

 

Afaik its pretty common for gaming companies to do this, Nintendo is just always getting singled out cuz they're an easy target

 

Agony.

 

Truly. At lest you can look up guides that will mark them in the map or list the chests by the collectable they contain. How're those machines parts coming along?

 

75 out of 80. Actively peeling my skin off.

 

You know, after playing around with Doom Wing in the open zone hub I think I'v come to a realization. Super Sonic, iconic though he may be, is boring as hell as a reward. Barely even qualifies as a reward. Even moreso in Sonic Gens where Modern Super Sonic is actual garbage because if you're boosting a lot (which, let's face it, you are) you won't even be in it for long.

 

I tried Super Sonic for a bit and then turned it off immediately after seeing how quickly it depletes your rings when I first played Sonic Gens. Such an easy fix.

 

Potentially unlimited invincibility and speed shoes is a great reward...in 2D.

But flight should be a standard in 3D, it would be more useful. A dash, flight, hovering over water...there are plenty of ways to make this useful.

 

I was able to find all the chests myself pretty easily. Had to give up and look up the final two machine parts after hours of looking. I've spent 25 hours with this between time trials, additional content, and just screwing around. Best 3D Sonic imo