Journal 001: I'm A Knight Of The WindIt's that time again. A new Sonic game is released and the fan-base goes at war. Retro fans complain it's not 2D, so it's automatically bad. Newer fans complain about reviewers giving the game average to low scores, accusing them of being bias, even though there is no such thing as an unbiased opinion. While almost every fan is killing each other, take cover as I review Sonic and the Black Knight.
== Story ==
The game kicks off on a dusty trail in Camelot,
== Gameplay ==
Like many, when I first saw the game, I was worried about how the game would play. Now that I've actually played and completed the game, I can say the game plays great. Unlike Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic no longer runs automatically, but can be controlled via the Control Stick. You jump with the "A" button and press it again to use the Homing Attack. Of course, the main feature of the game is the sword mechanic. You swing with the Wii Remote, even while running. The Homing Attack no longer does damage in normal stages, but it can be useful for locking on enemies, such as using the Homing Attack and then swinging the sword, performing a Buzz Saw technique while homing in on enemies, allowing you to chain together more Combos. It's useful for getting a good ranking, or completing Rampage Missions that require you to get a certain number of Enemy Chains, or aiding you to cross a gap, though certain enemies repel you with their shields, and it can be frustrating while you repeatedly dash at them 20 times before you can slice them.
Speaking of missions, Sonic and the Black Knight no longer makes the player complete tons of missions to advance in the game's story mode. While some of the missions can be tough, they're much easier than Sonic and the Secret Ring's Pirate Storm Mission of "Don't Get Any Pearls!" which I have still yet to complete. After completing a mission, you get ranked on your performance, but it's a little different this time around. Instead of getting letter grades, the ranking system is based on stars, with a perfect ranking being a 5 out of 5 stars. Some missions can be incredibly difficult to master. I found myself doing one mission several times, but still only get a ranking of 2 or 3 stars out of 5. It's worth the frustration, because getting perfect ranks on certain missions unlocks extra content in the Gallery, such as Artwork, Music, and Character Profiles. There's also tons of items to collect throughout the game, many you can equip to enhance skills such as resistance to Poison or Increased Defense. There are over 200 in all, giving the game tons of replay value.
After a certain event in the game, the three Knight of the Round Table become optional playable characters, which I consider a great move from SEGA. Each knight represents one of the three styles: Lancelot is Knight, the balanced and default style, Gawain is Paladin, the more powerful yet slow style, and Percival is Cavalier, the faster, but less powerful style, and can be leveled up by playing with the respective knight, so you don't always play as Sonic to level up. Only Sonic can switch between the three styles though, which you can do at the Blacksmith. Only the Knights can gain new weapons that can be created by going to the Blacksmith and forging them with the items found within the game. Don't expect to create a blade by forging a donut with a Samurai Helmet though.
== Sound ==
Unlike Sonic and the Secret Rings, which had an almost horrendous soundtrack, Sonic and the Black Knight delivers and more, with many of the songs performed by Music God Jun Senoue. Other artists include Howard Drossin, Tommy Tallarico from G4's "Judgment Day" and "Electric Playground", and Richard Jacques. The game also marks the return of Crush 40, with many new songs, like "Fight the Knight" and "Through the Fire", which are fantastic. Even the minor songs, like when you fuck up a mission is catchy, but I don't advise you to do just so you can listen to it.
The game's voice acting has incredibly improved, with it being probably the best by the 4Kids cast. Jason Griffith does a fantastic job as Sonic and Shadow, because they both sounded horrible in SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (2006). Dan Green does a great job as Knuckles, providing a somewhat English tone to his voice, and because he's DAN GREEN, that's why. Bella Hudson also does a fine job with Blaze, though I don't recall her ever disappointing, even in SONIC 06. I believe she voices Merlina, but I'm unsure. Whoever did though, they did a good job with her voice. Tails never sounded better, with Amy Palant actually making him sound like a boy, even though she did a great job in Sonic Unleashed. Like Merlina, I'm unsure who voiced Caliburn and King Arthur, but I absolutely love their voices. Lisa Ortiz does an adequate job as Amy, but there's one bit of dialogue that was just awful. Black Knight owners, you know what I'm talking about.
==Final Thoughts==
Like many recent games, Sonic and the Black Knight has received a lot of flack from media and fans alike. I say "Fuck Them", because Sonic and the Black Knight is easily my favorite 3D Sonic game of all time.
== Point/Counterpoint ==
+ Fun Gameplay
+ Fantastic Music
+ Great Voice Acting with Good Dialogue & Quirky Humor
+ Fantastic Graphics
+ Tons of Unlockables = Lots of replay Value
- Swinging May Make Your Arm Tired
- Level-Up System Takes Too Long
- Massive Difficulty Spike In the Game's Second Half
- Takes a While to Get Used to the Controls
- Annoying Enemies Can be Frustrating
Please comment on your thoughts on the game.
Devious Comments
I have yet to get the game, sadly, but I'll get it really soon. I keep hearing it is really great. Some say it is better than Unleashed and it's WAY better than Secret Rings.
I did watch the spoilers but I'm still gonna get the game ((mainly for Lancelot xDDDD *bricked* )).
Also...I don't recall Lancelot saying that quote in the game o.o *shot* Correct me if I'm wrong
The game is also inspiring. The music and the story just made me create a roleplay based on it in Gaia Online.
Anyway, I look forward to playing Sonic and The Black Knight. Even watching the spoilers, I'm getting impatient to play. T.T
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Shadow has more fan girls than any other SEGA character. If your 1 of them, copy and paste this into your signature. Yay for Shadow!
Sally Acorn= FAIL.
Everytime you call Shadow an emo, he kills a kitten: think of the kittens!
As for the quote, if you take too long when you're fighting him, he says it. I don't which battle it was, I think it's the Lancelot Returns fight.
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"Now, let's massage the giant, sweaty cat." ~TheHellDragon
"All the slammin' shorties in the house say 'Yeah'." ~Optimus Prime
That's what I plan to do because lately you hear sweet things during boss battles and they are really interesting :0 thanks!
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Shadow has more fan girls than any other SEGA character. If your 1 of them, copy and paste this into your signature. Yay for Shadow!
Sally Acorn= FAIL.
Everytime you call Shadow an emo, he kills a kitten: think of the kittens!
--
"Now, let's massage the giant, sweaty cat." ~TheHellDragon
"All the slammin' shorties in the house say 'Yeah'." ~Optimus Prime
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SONIC FANS! the joiner of sonic fans!
I reside in [link]
Pround Member of the Cartoon UNDRGRND [link]
Hated it.
The control scheme, that is.
I absolutely HATED the controls for this game. It's always so damn iffy whenever I home and shake. Most of the time it doesn't even connect and I fall down a fucking pit or into a boulder because of it. And nearly every time I swing that sword, a damn townsperson is somehow hit. I could be in the middle of fucking nowhere, I swing my sword once, I'd say "holy shit, where'd that peasant come from?!"
I actually liked Secret Ring's control scheme better. Had less to worry about, easy to use, and the levels were easily varied (minus the dinosaur level, that was just stupid).
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"Now, let's massage the giant, sweaty cat." ~TheHellDragon
"All the slammin' shorties in the house say 'Yeah'." ~Optimus Prime
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