If it weren't for the disgrace of a video game I have as my only .5 star, Shadow The Hedgehog would probably be the closest game to being the absolute worst I've played to completion. Its 4am when writing this and I could make the argument that this game wasted more of my time than UDG, but that could just be due to how fucking long each route drags on despite only clocking in about an hour after the first couple runs.
This game isn't worth going the extra mile to analyze gameplay or story wise so I'll just summarize my thoughts as best as I possibly can. Story wise, I genuinely think this is the worst the franchise has to offer. The story is so fucking bad that I'm blanking on literally anything to say, as it retreads the worst beats SA2 covers, defeating the point of what that game and Heroes were trying to set up. Instead of this being about Shadow rediscovering himself through those living in the present, of which are his friends(?), we instead have him leaving his past behind him and making good on his promise to Maria (and now Gerald)... AGAIN. Its a waste of time by itself and I'm just describing half of the routes. The Dark side routes are laughably bad as morality choices and spit in the face of every single character involved, but it would be a pretty cool mechanic in a competent game. The idea of siding with the heroes for 90% of the game then switching at the very end to the Black Arms would be hilarious, as long as it meant playing a game that wasn't this. Speaking of the routes, hope you like playing the game 10 times to get the "true ending"! I'm perfectly fine with replaying zones in Sonic games, sometimes even just for an hour straight to familiarize myself with the level in its entirety, but there isn't a single stage in this game that deserves that kind of repeated attention, its just lazy and each level isn't designed for this at all, as these are probably the most linear stages in the series other than Forces. For the gameplay itself, it is quite literally Heroes but even more slippery, thats it. As per the course with Sonic Team games, there's always something unfinished about it to its core, and the reuse of the engine and past level assets are flat out vile. To specify the reuse of engine would be fine but Heroes handling shouldn't be used in anything but that game, as it rarely even worked there either. As far as the gunplay, its not the worst thing ever. There are a lot moments of jank but its one the only new additions to this game that I can say I'm fine with. The other new addition I can say I like is the new english cast. Not much to say as they don't stay very long but this, Sonic X and 06 are probably the worst way to start voicing the characters, as Sega didn't have much in mind for what they wanted them to be. It wasn't until Unleashed where I'd say they hit their stride consistenly, which sucks but such is the enjoyment of mid 2000s voice direction.
So yeah this wasn't fun, and it didn't help that I had no nostalgia of this entry to speak of, something I can't say for most of the other games of this era and going forward. Also I know its not that serious but at the same time, the people who pass this off as just mid or harmless in context of the franchise are part of the problem as to why Sonic had an identity crisis after this point (although Sega is mostly to blame for it obviously, about 75% I'd say).
This game isn't worth going the extra mile to analyze gameplay or story wise so I'll just summarize my thoughts as best as I possibly can. Story wise, I genuinely think this is the worst the franchise has to offer. The story is so fucking bad that I'm blanking on literally anything to say, as it retreads the worst beats SA2 covers, defeating the point of what that game and Heroes were trying to set up. Instead of this being about Shadow rediscovering himself through those living in the present, of which are his friends(?), we instead have him leaving his past behind him and making good on his promise to Maria (and now Gerald)... AGAIN. Its a waste of time by itself and I'm just describing half of the routes. The Dark side routes are laughably bad as morality choices and spit in the face of every single character involved, but it would be a pretty cool mechanic in a competent game. The idea of siding with the heroes for 90% of the game then switching at the very end to the Black Arms would be hilarious, as long as it meant playing a game that wasn't this. Speaking of the routes, hope you like playing the game 10 times to get the "true ending"! I'm perfectly fine with replaying zones in Sonic games, sometimes even just for an hour straight to familiarize myself with the level in its entirety, but there isn't a single stage in this game that deserves that kind of repeated attention, its just lazy and each level isn't designed for this at all, as these are probably the most linear stages in the series other than Forces. For the gameplay itself, it is quite literally Heroes but even more slippery, thats it. As per the course with Sonic Team games, there's always something unfinished about it to its core, and the reuse of the engine and past level assets are flat out vile. To specify the reuse of engine would be fine but Heroes handling shouldn't be used in anything but that game, as it rarely even worked there either. As far as the gunplay, its not the worst thing ever. There are a lot moments of jank but its one the only new additions to this game that I can say I'm fine with. The other new addition I can say I like is the new english cast. Not much to say as they don't stay very long but this, Sonic X and 06 are probably the worst way to start voicing the characters, as Sega didn't have much in mind for what they wanted them to be. It wasn't until Unleashed where I'd say they hit their stride consistenly, which sucks but such is the enjoyment of mid 2000s voice direction.
So yeah this wasn't fun, and it didn't help that I had no nostalgia of this entry to speak of, something I can't say for most of the other games of this era and going forward. Also I know its not that serious but at the same time, the people who pass this off as just mid or harmless in context of the franchise are part of the problem as to why Sonic had an identity crisis after this point (although Sega is mostly to blame for it obviously, about 75% I'd say).
archivistbluum
7 months ago