Something that's been on my mind the past few days: Sage's character arc in Frontiers is no worse than Shadow's in SA2's, in terms of pacing. It's easy to forget, but a whole load of Shadow's characterisation came after Adventure 2 in his eponymous game and particularly 06. Not that he doesn't do anything in SA2, but the main beats of his arc are showing up as eeeevil Sonic, saving Rouge, revealing his motivation to just burn everything, finding respect for Sonic, remembering Maria's wish and then redeeming himself by helping stop FinalHazard. Meanwhile, Sage shows up to throw Sonic at a mountain (by proxy), shows her dedication to Eggman and ability to protect him, demonstrates how this can in fact be detrimental, grows conflicted as she becomes unable to see Sonic and friends as mere obstacles to be removed, comes to have faith in Sonic and then redeems herself by helping stop the End. I'm not going to pretend it's the most compelling arc ever, but it's pretty standard Sonic fare. Blaze, probably my favourite character in the entire series, goes through an even less nuanced arc in her debut game.
You didn't have moments between murder attempts where you just casually chit chat with Shadow and having the exact same conversation throughout the entire game (Why are you trying to kill me? "Hehe, well" You shouldn't do that). The pacing is absolutely off because of this and it throws off the tone as well. That's not to say that SA2's presentation and execution was flawless, but its fast paced and linear nature made Shadow's moments really hit and memorable for years. I don't think anyone brings in Shadow's characterization from the games afterwards when they think of SA2 Shadow. They don't really have that much relevance or an impact to his character in SA2 since he's essentially brainwashed and "dies" shortly after waking up.
I love Sage herself but I can't pretend to care about her arc myself. I don't find her relationship with Dr. Eggman super believable or compelling because the development of their relationship feels so slapdash to me, like with Shadow and Maria I can fully suspend my disbelief because it's all stuff that happened in the past. Shadow already cared for Maria the whole way through in SA2, while Sage starts out not super attached to Eggman beyond calling him 'father' and has to develop over the course of the game, which is okay on paper, but that development feels slapdash with their cutscenes together so it falls flat for me. In that way I think Sonic and Chip from Unleashed is a better comparison. With those two you can feel their friendship throughout the entire game, in nearly every cutscene. Him and Sonic having emotional moments near the end of the game (such as this scene) feels very earned and well built up to. Contrast that with Sage and Eggman who... well they have a few cutscenes where they sit and talk to each other in Cyberspace. She protects Eggman once. And then when you get to Rhea and Ouranos island it feels like the game expects you to be fully invested in their relationship, despite the game just not having sufficient buildup to it. Even if you think Chip is annoying I think you have to admit his relationship with Sonic is much better executed.
I like him, too. I honestly loved his relationship with Sonic in Sonic Unleashed, that honestly was very wholesome. Like, you can't be real you didn't feel anything watching this cutscene?
It's funny to me, because I had the tendency to think that Mario Galaxy itself borrowed a ton of ideas from Sonic Heroes in particular about how to pace stages and present flashy sequences to the viewer. It was a significantly more linear game than other two 3D Marios, and had a lot more segments where you needed to collect a certain number of trinkets or kill a certain number of enemies to progress between sections (something that happened a few times in SA2 but was mostly a focus in Heroes because power formation). Like, Melty Molten Galaxy may as well be a Sonic level for its pacing and showmanship. Also we gotta be honest to ourselves, the SMG2 level that is most close to a 1:1 with ideas in Lost World is itself just a variant on the half-pipe special stage formula: I mean, I'm not surprised that Lost World looks and feels as much like a Mario game as it does, because the reformulation of Mario in 3D for Galaxy that lasted through Odyssey was much more in line with the design of the 3D Sonic games and probably took a lot of direct inspiration for it in a number of places.
Oh how I yearn for the day Chip's bracelet becomes part of Sonic's design At least he's always with us, a part of the Earth we tread
Sometimes I wonder if I would have hated Chip less if the Hanna-Barbera sound effects weren't present.
This is exactly why Melty Molten Galaxy is my favorite Mario level tbh, and Galaxy 1 in general being my favorite Mario game, there was a greater emphasis on spectacle alongside fun gameplay that made it click for me in a way most Mario games just don't. Funny how the 3D Marios I enjoyed have more in common with Sonic games...
I'm with you. I'm surprised at how much hate he gets, he's harmless at worst for most of the game. I like him as Sonic's weird deity buddy that pulls chocolate out of his ass.
I think pretty much all of Chip's hate can be put on his English voice. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. In Japanese, he's likable and cute. In English, he sounds like an 80s saturday morning cartoon mascot. A parody of one. I can't stand to listen to it.
Clearly, thinking that the synth hi-hats used in android S1 and S2 sound worse than the original PSG noise channel is an unpopular opinion, as is thinking that trying to implement the unused PCM loops in Sonic CD's soundtrack leads to a jarring shift in sound quality
Chip's Japanese voice is unbearable. His English voice was an unexpected choice, and I remember that cutscene leaks had a lot us thinking that he may have shared Silver's VA at the time (he didn't). But I actually like it. It suits him really well. It's the delivery that turns me off it too often though. Too often, Chip talks really slowly and a bit too gently. When his lines are delivered with more energy though, I really think he's sounds great. The other problem is that Chip's brand of humour was something of a precursor to the Pontaff era of writing that would start in the next game. So yeah... I'm not really a fan of Chip. But his voice is actually a really fitting, likeable choice. The Japanese voice makes him a million times more unbearable.
I never knew it was popular to hate chip either. I've never really heard someone say too many things about him.
I never had a problem with Chip outside of his voice in English. I prefer his Japanese voice more. Idk if the English one was trying to sound cute, but it didn't land for me.
Yeah (as in "no"), you commented on this same thread. (I'm not the biggest Sonic 3 fan to ever exist either, mind you)
