Who wrote "The Truth of 50 Years Ago"?

I think it was just their interpretation of the documents in question, which can cause so much confusion when that interpretation differs from the actual intent. But Aonuma did confirm at one point they had access to development documents, he just didn't put any input in to see what they came up with. And The Legend of Zelda's fanbase has suffered ever since.

Still, this may be a similar case, they had access to documents, wrote something while someone from SEGA observed, and that was that.

 

Has anyone thought to ask Maekawa-san about it? If he's answering questions on Twitter, he'd probably be willing to answer.

 

I've considered it, but I always advice caution with asking these things. He responds sometimes, but it's hard to tell if he responds to everything.

I'd say if we do it, make sure we have someone reputable do it with a message we discuss beforehand.

Also, that's why I liked to all the Shadow related material from 01-06 in Japanese, while he did the bulk of his work with the character. There are so many things in English that I think were lost in translation/localization, and any questions that are asked should only be asked with as much of the original written versions of events in mind as possible. Including whether or not he wrote the "Truth of 50 years ago" document, and if what it suggests is still accurate.

He also retweets a whole lot of fan art and comics of Shadow and Maria, so take that as you will.

 

This is speculation of course, but SA2 itself seems to play with the idea that Shadow might not be the original during the scene where he confronts Rouge.

So it's no surprise the report mentions the capsule tidbit to add more mystery.

But, I always saw it as a backdoor that Sonic Team left themselves as a way to bring back Shadow after his death.

They were already thinking to do more with the character, so maybe this was a way to have a Shadow that dies during SA2 and somehow releasing the original one later on.

Obviously they went with another route and the events of his game leave no doubt he was the original one.

 

I agree with you, and the things he retweets often point to multiple theories being possible, so he sincerely seems to enjoy some of the openness of the "truth", and how fans interpret it. Which is fine.

I do think your last line is important though; a carefully worded question about the document specifically may at least get a brief answer on whether or not he wrote it. We can debate the content of it internally, and he may or may not prefer to keep it that way.

I suspect he did write it. It lines up almost perfectly with everything else he wrote about the story in that time period, if you follow the Japanese story exclusively and not any of the flawed English adaptations.

 

I do need to go through the japanese scripts of all the 2000s games up to 06 at some point, I've only really known the english translations and reading through this thread ive clearly been getting some bad info from some of those translations, especially shadow 05 which ive felt for the longest time was an absolute nothing of a story to me. Im very curious to see how different it may actually be

 

Windii on YouTube is a good source. I always check those when I reference something.

Playlists:
Reuploaded Sonic Adventure after third-party claims got their old channel closed.
Their actual channel and newer translations.

Their videos are also always high quality.

 

Good to know, I actually know windii from back when i was on Chao Island wayyy back (cannot remember for the life of me what their old username used to be). They've always seemed like a reliable source. I'll check those out when i get back from work.

I dont have much other input on the source of that writeup though, but I do feel like I agree with the general consensus that it's *probably* Maekawa or at least consulted by Sonic Team

 

I think it's really frustrating that he wrote the story so it can be thought of in any way. It essentially means, to me, that there's no one truth, and it's not worth bothering with.

 

She mentioned something about the Japanese manual of Sonic the Hedgehog (Mega Drive) that Robotnik is after Sonic... except...

It in no way mentions him trying to capture Sonic. He expressly notes his intention is "to crush him with the power of my science! Heheheh...", while otherwise seeking out the Chaos Emeralds.

So I'm a bit confused on how she drew that conclusion...

 

Damn, his 2005 game really was faithful after all.

 

So the box and preorder have leaked and don't open if you don't want some story elements to be spoiled:

Spoiler

 

Buddy, I’ve got bad news for you about most fiction in general.

Anyway, I think asking Maekawa about any plot elements is a bad idea, but just attaching a photo of the page from the guide and asking if he wrote it or knows who wrote it would be fine. I can do it if no one else does.

Spoiler

Interesting, I guess they’re going to explain the origins ARK’s master emerald shrine and artificial chaos stuff by him going to Angel Island. I doubt they’ll reference the S3K mural though. Since it’s Gerald’s diary, I wonder if it will cover the information from Battle too?

 

Spoiler

For all we know, it can just be him talking about there being a legend of a floating island so I guess we'll know when we get the game.

But if it does confirm he went to Angel Island then is not my favorite choice since I think story choices like this make the universe smaller instead of expanding it since everything is connected.

I just think it takes away from Sonic and Eggman ending up on this ancient island by accident when Gerald seems to have discovered it decades ago. Now Sonic, Tails and Eggman are just the second guests in their modern history that have visited the island.

That's what I mean when trying to connect everything it just makes everything smaller and less special.

Feel the same way about other stuff like trying to connect the Babylons to the bird ruins in Sonic 1 or the Kukku Army and Bean. Not saying it can't be done, but most of the time it just feels like the easy way out.

Reminds me a lot on how in Star Wars everything or everyone is playing a game of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, or recently with Beetlejuice which seems to have turned a gag from the first one to Monica Bellucci's villain character.

I won't lose sleep over it but not digging it if that's what the journal says. Still I'm looking forward on reading it.

 

Spoiler

Agreed. I prefer the idea that Angel Island was "lost" for centuries until the Death Egg crash-landing on it led to its rediscovery.

We know there are remnants of the Knuckles Clan outside of Angel Island, like Lost World. So it's not like it's necessary for Gerald to have literally visited AI. He could have learned of Chaos and the emerald altar from ancient murals like the Lost World one.

 

What do you mean? I doubt most fiction is written in a way that the backstory could be anything. It makes for a poor foundation.