"Sonic Chronicles" trademarked by Sega

[Esrever]

The stylus worked fine for Zelda! Besides, navigating Sonic from an overhead perspective with an 8 direction D-pad is just asking for another Sonic 3D Blast-esque control nightmare.

[Zeta]

Also suspicious about where this icon system is going...it'd suck if all the exploration you can do is scripted to a T.

Pointing and clicking is how Bioware handles all of their environmental interaction. If you want to pick a lock, you don't enter a lock picking sequence. You just click on the item you want picked and select the pick icon. It makes you feel pretty damn disconnected from the game universe, unfortunately - even by RPG standards.

[Neo]

Once again, ghey. -Please- button controls, Bioware.

Uh, no. I hate games that force me to break out the stylus and put away the stylus and break out the stylus and put away the stylus and

[Ngangbius]

I agree with Eserver, if they can nail the stylus controls to be as great as Phantom Hourglass's then it's all good.

Also suspicious about where this icon system is going...it'd suck if all the exploration you can do is scripted to a T.

Pointing and clicking is how Bioware handles all of their environmental interaction. If you want to pick a lock, you don't enter a lock picking sequence. You just click on the item you want picked and select the pick icon. It makes you feel pretty damn disconnected from the game universe, unfortunately - even by RPG standards.

Eh? The only Bioware game I've played was Mass Effect, and I do remember entering lock picking sequences to open doors that lead to treasure in the game.

[Crazy Penguin]

RPGs are perfectly suited to stylus control. It's much more intuitive to touch the environment presented to you rather than stand next to things and press a button.

[FlashTHD]

The stylus worked fine for Zelda!

Your opinion.

Besides, navigating Sonic from an overhead perspective with an 8 direction D-pad is just asking for another Sonic 3D Blast-esque control nightmare.

3D Blast just needed it's controls tightened up to be less slidy. And since when is it taboo for RPGs with overhead cameras to be controlled by buttons?

[Isuka]

I'm all for analog stick-wait the DS doesn't have one-oh well...

Now seriously, if there's a single genre in which the limited controls you have over your character could adapt really well to the DS stylus, that's the RPG for sure.
Shortcuts assigned to the action buttons Zelda-style are also a good idea.

[K2J]

IGN: What kinds of locales will gamers recognize from the Sonic series?

Mark Darrah To name a few: Green Hill Zone, Central City, Mystic Ruins and the Blue Ridge Zone

Er, where? I think they made that one up. Also, this interview reminds me why I don't visit IGN anymore. "Nearly 20 Pictures"... but some of them are duplicates, and a few are exclusive. Also, the grammar and formatting of the interview seems neglected.

As for stylus control; I was expecting it, so it's not that big of a deal for me.

[DackAttac]

I guess I don't quite get the huge stylus-phobia. Worked fine for Rush's special stages, Rush Adventure's between-level exploration, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work in a free-roaming environment where all the battles are turn based, anyway.

[Arcade]

I guess I don't quite get the huge stylus-phobia. Worked fine for Rush's special stages, Rush Adventure's between-level exploration, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work in a free-roaming environment where all the battles are turn based, anyway.

The stylus works well in turn based games, in mini-games, and games that gave “Graphics adventure” elements, and that’s it. It would be great if the game have you the chance to configure the controls, so you just used the stylus if you wanted.

[FlashTHD]

I guess I don't quite get the huge stylus-phobia. Worked fine for Rush's special stages, Rush Adventure's between-level exploration, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work in a free-roaming environment where all the battles are turn based, anyway.

The stylus works well in turn based games, in mini-games, and games that gave “Graphics adventure” elements, and that’s it. It would be great if the game have you the chance to configure the controls, so you just used the stylus if you wanted.

For once, well put. I also point to Mario 64 DS, and you'd have the stylus/your fingers partially blocking your view.

[Ngangbius]

I haven't played Super Mario 64 DS, but I would imagine stylus controls would be a bigger problem for 3D action games such as that, as opposed to RPGs/action games that viewed overhead. :p I kinda expected stylus-only controls for movement, because Bioware seemed liked a company that would be thrilled to utilize it seeing that they started out making computer RPGs, and plus based on their tone previous interviews about the game, they seem to be enthuastic enough to make use of most of DS gimmicks.

[Hybrid]

I also point to Mario 64 DS, and you'd have the stylus/your fingers partially blocking your view.

Have you even played the game? The only thing on the touch screen is a map of the area. All the gameplay happens on the top screen, so your fingers don't block anything.

Regardless, the stylus controls work brilliantly in Phantom Hourglass, the only problem with them is that executing a roll is a little tricky (but you never actually need to roll so it kind of doesn't matter). I don't have any problem as long as they use the stylus consistently (as in, don't force me to switch between buttons and stylus).

[FlashTHD]

The only thing on the touch screen is a map of the area. All the gameplay happens on the top screen, so your fingers don't block anything.

I know that. The point is, trying to have touch movement do the job of a D-Pad/control stick never ends well.

[Neo]

The point is, trying to have touch movement do the job of a D-Pad/control stick never ends well.

Your opinion.

[FlashTHD]

... :(

Well it's never really good to split the audience like this is it?

[DackAttac]

Once again, your opinion.

I think splitting audiences is awesome.

[Zeta]

The point is, trying to have touch movement do the job of a D-Pad/control stick never ends well.

Depends on the game. Didn't work on Mario 64 because you had to use your thumb, and most don't stretch far enough to the center screen to make that comfortable. Using the Stylus like in Zelda, Star Fox Command, Kirby Canvas Curse, Nintendogs and apparently Sonic Chronicles is A-OK with me, though. The problem only really comes up when you try to use the whole DS as a controller and the touch screen as a replacement for a D-Pad. Regulating all controls to the touch screen works great, though. It's really a set-up that requires an either-or proposition. Half-assing it like with Mario 64 DS and Viewtiful Joe DS didn't work.

[Locit]

Like Esrever and Ngangbius said, control worked fantastically well in Phantom Hourglass. Bioware seems like they'd be able to handle a similar implementation, so I'm not worried.

It's stunning how much of the faith I have in this game is derived from the fact that Sonic Team is not making it.

[Green Gibbon!]

So am I the only one here who thinks Phantom Hourglass sucks dickweed?

[Locit]

I'm not really crazy about it either. I liked it at first, but the further away from it I get the less I really like it. Looking back the dungeons were fun, but the whole game felt kind of hollow. The ship segments were really boring, the overall pacing felt tedious (see: ship segments), and considering how much I loved the plot of WW it really let me down. It probably didn't help that its similarities to Link's Awakening (big magical whale, island(s) setting, oh hey its all a dream) were half-heartedly executed.

But I thought the controls were pretty great!

[Ngangbius]

So am I the only one here who thinks Phantom Hourglass sucks dickweed?

I have a few problems with PH myself, but the stylus controls weren't one of them. One of my biggest grievences is that blasted Temple of the Ocean King. Screw that dungeon!

[Segaholic2]

The controls were the shit-colored highlight on a game riddled with mediocre aspects. It was impossible for me to consistently do a roll attack in the direction I actually wanted to go, and combat was boring when all I had to do was tap. That and the dungeons were boring and exploration was dumb and the boat segments were barely any better than Wind Waker's.

I got The Orange Box a week after Phantom Hourglass and never touched it again. Chalk up one more Zelda game I'll probably never beat.

[Green Gibbon!]

I think I was biased against it from the start because I have an innate dislike of the Wind Waker look - sitting down to play it was like trying to eat something I think I should like but got really sick on one time and now my body thinks it's poison. The stylus controls worked fine, but it just wasn't any damn fun and the structure was incredibly generic, like they were relying on the stylus controls to sell the thing (this is the sad fate of many, many DS games). I didn't play very far at all - I packed it up as soon as I saw that 10 minute counter appear at the top of the screen - but it took me two weeks even to get that far because there was nothing in it compelling enough to make me want to sit down and play.

Granted, Zelda is an action game - stylus controls probably wouldn't make much difference in a turn-based RPG, but one way or the other, I would prefer using a D-pad to maneuver my character around the field. I feel completely disconnected otherwise.

[Esrever]

I didn't really care for it, but I'm not much of a Zelda fan anyhow. I did enjoy the stylus controls, though... I thought they worked great! It's just too bad they weren't part of a better overall game.

The DS has a terrible D-pad and navigating an overhead-perspective game with it is a pain in the ass. It's fine for moving characters left and right or up and down, which is why Sonic or even Mario Kart work OK on the system, but as soon as you try to play a game that requires you to do diagonal movements or circular turning rotations on the pad you are instantly reminded of how lousy it is. I'm playing through Lunar Knights at the moment, and it is definitely hurting an otherwise enjoyable experience.