- Mood:
Depressed - Listening to: "Fuu Fuu" by Yuko Hikasa
- Reading: Sonic Select Vol.1, Fairy Tail
- Watching: K-On!
- Playing: Sonic Chronicles, Animal Crossing DS
- Eating: N/A
- Drinking: N/A
"Who cares about Knuckles?" ~Sonic the Hedgehog
What's this? BioWare is developing their first portable RPG for the DS? It must be Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic III: It's the same as the First Two!! Nope, it's an RPG starring our favorite blue hedgehog (If you have another favorite, I question your taste), Sonic!! How does Sonic and friends fare in their first RPG? Join me as I review Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, for the Nintendo DS.
==Story==
Not unlike Sonic Unleashed, Chronicles also begins at the end of an unseen adventure, as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy infiltrate Dr. Eggman's latest Egg Carrier (Which suspiciously looks like the airship from Heroes). Proving Eggman can't build machines worth a crap, Tails rips out a few wires, and the Carrier crashes down into the city with a giant explosion, with Eggman in it...
Several years have past since then, and the gang has split up to go their separate ways after Eggman's (assumed) death. As Sonic runs blindly around the world, he receives a distress call from Tails. It turns out Knuckles has been kidnapped, and the Chaos Emeralds have been stolen! After meeting up with Amy, the two rush off to Central City to see Tails, but what's in store may be more than our heroes can handle!
==Gameplay==
Of course, what's an RPG without gameplay? A crappy one, that's what. Like every RPG, there's exploring your environment, and combat. The buttons are rarely used, as you use the stylus to traverse Sonic's world. Actions such as flying over gaps, running through loops, and smashing objects are performed by tapping the Action button near said obstacle. Some actions require a higher leveled skill ,which can be obtained in combat. You can also gather Chao Eggs that lie around the area, some which require certain characters to get. After an egg is collected it'll eventually hatch, and the Chao can be equipped to your Party Members to aid them in battle. As for battle, unlike RPGs like Pokemon, there are no random battles, as the enemies wander around the map. You can avoid them, but it's not gonna help you if you want to get stronger.
Speaking of the combat and such, Sonic Chronicles as a very unique combat system. Similar to other games of the genre, the battles are turned based, as you choose your actions and select your target via the touch screen (if necessary). Instead of Special attacks or Summons though, you get Power Moves, aka POW Moves. POW Moves can be gained after gaining levels and buying them with POW Points, and can be upgraded to be more effective. All POW Moves require Touch Screen Interaction (TSI) to be more powerful, let alone work. An example would be Big the Cat's "Battering Ram", where he runs into the opponent and flails is arms around like Parasite Cage from Kingdom Hearts. If you ignore the TSI, it'll barely do any damage. An perfect example of one that requires perfect movement is Tails' move, "Scan". If one bit is messed up, it does absolutely nothing, so you basically wasted your POW Points just dancing around like a moron in the middle of a battle. Some however, like Knuckles' "Uppercut", can still do a fair amount of damage, even if the TSI is messed up.
The touch screen is also used for avoiding enemy attacks. Like POW Moves, when an opponent uses own, you can use TSIs to avoid them, doing little to no damage. Some are pathetically easy to dodge (Full Auto, Crusher, Chaos Spear etc.), and some may provide a challenge, but I have yet to find one that's nearly impossible. You can also equip items to your characters, like sneakers and gloves, but to tell the truth, I never used them. You really don't need them. With the exception of healing items and POW point restoration items, you basically set. It's basically the same with the character classes as well; There's Power, Support, and Shifter classes. There's also no real strategy into forming your team of 4, either. I basically formed my team with characters I liked (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Omega).
Lastly, the dialogue. Like other BioWare games, you can sometimes select your response when another character speaks. It doesn't really affect the plot much, but can improve relations with other characters. I decided to be nice to Amy, and eventually thanks me for it...okay, it barely affects relations. Also, it's being a complete ass to some of the other characters too. After Shade reveals her face and motive, Tails suggests to me that I speak to Knuckles to help him cope with it. My response? Look at the quote above. If you ever wanted Sonic to be a jerk like he was in Sonic the Comic, this is your chance, and the closest you'll ever see him act like a dick. Some of the dialogue is quite funny, especially from Robotnik, but on the other hand, some is cringe worthy (Yes, Shadow, I know who Omega is, and DAMN it Tails, I remember Super Sonic! I was there!).
==Audio & Graphics==
The Sonic Franchise has had pretty good music over the years, hasn't it? You know, "Live And Learn", "Wave Ocean ~The Inlet~", "Volcano Valley", etc. Well, Sonic Chronicles isn't really going be one of those Sonic games. There are probably 2 tracks, I'd consider "great", but everything else is either "Meh" or "Ugh". This is also the first game I was introduced to Richard Jacques (I heard the music before I got the game), and it wasn't a good one. Thank the stars Steve Sims was there to compose "Battle Theme 4". He may have done the main theme song, but I'm unsure. There's also really cartoony sound effects during battle. I've always questioned why the SWATbots went "Doi-yoi-yoing!" when I blew them up. I actually find so stupid it's funny, but it does get annoying when it occurs every 4 seconds when each of your team members are defeated. Some actually sound like they were made by the producers themselves, not using actual technology. Since when has the Tornado had a constant farting problem?
As for graphics, I'd say that the graphics aren't that bad for the DS. The hand drawn maps and areas are a really nice touch. The art style for the NPCs isn't that bad, as they're a bit similar to Unleashed, but nowhere near as well done. The art for Sonic and Co. is really good during dialogue, though. The character models aren't that bad either, but a close-up at their faces can change your mind. But the cutscenes, ho-HO, are AWFUL! The actually movement of them is fine, but the way they're drawn is practically terrible. They are some that look fine, but, like the music, why couldn't they get the actually artists from past games to do this?
==Final Thoughts==
Sonic's first foray into the RPG genre is a welcomed one, but it's more suited to rookie RPG players. It's fun nonetheless, however.
== Point/Counterpoint ==
+ Funny Dialogue
+ Unique Controls
+ Nice Story
+ Dialogue Choice System Is Fun
- Mediocre Music
- Mediocre Cutscene Art
- Cheap Enemies
- POW Moves Require Perfect Precession
Please comment on your thoughts on the game
Journal 6.5: What the FUCK, Tokyo? (And Updates)
Outraged
Pride
Excited
