"Sonic Chronicles" trademarked by Sega

[James McGeachie]

I don't have too many issues with Phantom Hourglass, the main one would be the blatant lack of difficulty that plagues any modern Nintendo title. The stylus controls are mostly well executed and are well utilised for some items and puzzles throughout the game that couldn't have been accomplished otherwise. You can say things like "If they were truly creative they wouldn't need to rely on gimmicky controls to impliment new ideas" but when you've done a gameplay concept like 2D Zelda to death as much as Nintendo has, you need a fucking mastermind to think of new ways to make it fresh again without any control changes

Anyway I said that I don't have "many" issues which means of course that there are still a few others. Wind Waker was slated for having a huge ocean but next to nothing of interest in it, however the little it did have at least had some soul and there was a good deal of replayability with shittons of sidequests on the town based islands. PH has more islands to visit, but towns are once again sparse and the few there are completely lack anything to make them interesting whatsoever, with boring sidequests, few stand-out characters and minigames that grow tiresome within a few attempts.

Music wise the game's soundtrack is completely uninspired and lacks any prominent themes whatsoever, but of course as is the norm nowadays Kondo didn't contribute a single track.

I never actually finished the game though I was near enough the end to make a solid judgement on the experience. As a whole it felt like a pretty solid title to me even if it wasn't anywhere close to being "triple A" or anything some people had hyped it up to be. The most positive thing I can say though is that the main dungeon, though it can feel like a chore to re-visit it several times, is generally really well designed and has a fair degree of complexity (by NIntendo standards) as it progresses, which was fairly refreshing in a time where Nintendo likes everything to be simple enough for a 3 year old to understand. Unfortunately though that doesn't mean it's remotely hard as the ability to take notes on the screen renders most puzzles easily-solvable in no time.

...

Errr....so I think this discussion was related to stylus control in Sonic Chronicles? Well i'm all for that, especially full stylus control as if you're going to have the stylus in a game at all (and not in separate minigames that are accessed through alternate menus) then you should be using the stylus all the time so there's no picking it up and putting it down garbage. In a title like this where most action is going to be menu based and actions outside battle are probably going to be no more simple than jumping or clicking some sort of "ability" button per character, face buttons aren't going to be necessary and I can't see the stylus detracting from the game design in the least. If the interactive battle elements are pulled off well then it should only enhance the game and make it more fun to play with this control method rather than traditional controls.

Part of me actually thinks maybe they should've went the whole way and designed the game for the "book" method of holding the DS, which is the most comfortable to use in stylus focused games and works excellently in titles such as Hotel Dusk.

[Forza Johnman]

Source

SONIC CHRONICLES™ - A RACE TO NAME
SEGA Announce Competition To Name An Enemy Race In Forthcoming RPG

LONDON (19th February,2008) - SEGA Europe today revealed that they are to allow fans the chance to help name one of the all new enemy races in the highly anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog RPG adventure, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood™.

Developed by industry admired story-telling specialists, BioWare, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood will appear on the Nintendo DS™ system during Autumn 2008.

Between March 3rd and March 14th fans will be able to visit the Sonic City website (http://www.sonic-city.com) to cast their vote in naming the new race.

After the votes have been counted the winner will be announced on March 15th and then appear in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood when the game launches in Autumn 2008.

For more information about SEGA please visit http://www.sega-press.com.
For more information about BioWare please visit http://www.bioware.com

I wish I could say this sounds interesting. But it sounds like its just a poll of names to choose from.

Also, has this game been announced to Japan at all? I ask because it doesn't appear to have been mentioned on the Sonic Channel blog.

[Zeta]

Why do I get the feeling the most faux badass sounding name will be the winner? "THE BLOODSPEWERS"

[MiraiTails]

I thought it wasn't coming out in Japan, Forza. I must admit, though, that I don't think I've actually read that anywhere.

Zeta ( or anyone else): I guess it's a little early to ask this question, but what "kind of" name do you think would be best? (i.e. one that conveys...)

[Ngangbius]

I thought it wasn't coming out in Japan, Forza. I must admit, though, that I don't think I've actually read that anywhere.

Well, I think it would be odd that a DS game that seemingly emulates JRPGs and had a name that was trademarked on Sega of Japan's webpage wouldn't be released in Japan.

[MiraiTails]

According to CVG, the latest issue of NGamer (on sale this Wednesday) has an article on the game.

>There's a screen shot (<-thumbnail) that shows Sonic's attack list.

>The game is also going to be "...more linear than typical Bioware titles."

>Amy calls Rouge is a tramp at some point during the game. NGamer cites this as an example of the game's "darker" tone.

[via TSS Sonic News]

Someone at CVG commented that the new shots have been replaced by the old ones. The thumbnails are still available, though. (See the comments.)

Maybe the new ones (non-thumbnail) will be back up by the time you read this.

[Zeta]

>Amy calls Rouge is a tramp at some point during the game. NGamer cites this as an example of the game's "darker" tone.

LOL I can just see the little 12 year olds "She totally should have called her a motherfucking bitch pussy dong! That would have been so much COOLER!"

[Isuka]

Wow, BioWare's gonna push the Sonic universe to new horizons!
ESRB scandal, here we go!!

*Looks at Shadow the Hedgehog*

Oh... forget it.

[DackAttac]

The original line was totally "cunt". You know it's true. That's just the kind of series Sonic really is, yaknow?

[cjmcray]

Why do people feel the need to 'darken' the franchise?

[Zeta]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... rtIsAngsty

Because true art is angsty.

[cjmcray]

The Sonic franchise doesn't need to be dark. It needs a wiseass blue hedgehog that runs through checkerboard hills, neon cities, destroys giant robots, and outruns insanely big explosions, all while blaring techno plays in the background.

[MiraiTails]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrueArtIsAngsty

Because true art is angsty.

What best defeats evil? A bullet between the eyes, or The Power Of Friendship?

It's interesting that we have such textbook examples from either side of the of "Idealism vs. Realism" within the Sonic series. Or is it just a mark of lazy storytelling?

I agree with what you're implying, that angst for angst's sake is ridiculous. I also believe that a certain amount of drama is necessary for a compelling story. Without it, I might as well just keep playing the Genesis Quadrilogy for my Sonic fix.

I think the series is well suited to a "dramedy" story framework. It needn't be a Dark Comedy, though.

[Esrever]

I think Sonic's storyline benefits, if not from angst, then at least a bit of an edge. The original games had little in the way of in game narrative, but even the settings of the stages themselves conveyed a sense that the game's central conflict was at least somewhat epic in scope. Mario rescued princesses from fairy-tale castles; Sonic dodged buzzsaws in giant mechanical death factories and blew up space stations.

Attempts to make the Sonic story less serious and more light-hearted just result in pablum like Sonic Heroes, where Robotnik mails Sonic a letter bragging about his plan and everyone involved seems to operate at a 2nd grade level of intelligence. I would just as soon never see that again. I think the two Sonic Adventure games really got it right on a conceptual levl, coming up with stories that had the right balance real menace and goofiness -- it's just a shame that the actual execution of those stories was not particularly well done.

[DackAttac]

I'd like to thank Esrever for putting my opinions into words for me. There's a difference between some artfully applied black nail polish (SA2), dressing in all black (Chronicles, hopefully) and just flinging one's self into a vat of black paint (Shadow).

I think the series is well suited to a "dramedy" story framework. It needn't be a Dark Comedy, though.

Is dark comedy relevant to Sonic? I mean, even dramedy is laying it on a bit thick. Usually there's some paint by numbers G-rated humor that's not particularly easy to laugh at to fill the gaps between the plot revelations that happen to be dramatic. Capable as Bioware may be, I just don't see them breaking that formula.

[MiraiTails]

I didn't need to mention dark comedy. You're right that it isn't really relevant to Sonic.

Even when I referred to "dramedy", I really only meant that they could fit in some dramatic elements without it feeling out of place. As much as I didn't care for SatAM, maybe it's a good example of what I'm trying to say. Also SA2, as others have said.

Blue hedgehogs jumping on whimsical robots is fun. I'd like to see a well-written story, and characters with some realistic depth, in addition to that.

I think Bioware is capable of delivering more than the standard bad "G" comedy between incidentally dramatic plot points that you mention. We'll see.

The key here will be the (hopefully!) well-written story and characters. Haven't they said they want to explore the relationships between Sonic and co.? Didn't they also mention wanting to make us care about the characters? (Nintendo Power.) Maybe some developers forget that a game can appeal to adults as well as children.

With regard to this game taking place two years after Sonic "defeats" Eggman (Doesn't he kind of do that every game?) I kind of think that you could age the characters up by several years without really having to change their personalities.

How often do they really "act their ages?" By and large, I think Sonic could be 21 just as easily as 15. Tails could pass for 14. Knuckles might be more problematic given how easily/often he's tricked...

[P.P.A.]

Excuse me for going off-topic, but speaking of story and timelines...
One of the clients for Shadow's loading screens city missions, a G.U.N. soldier, explains that the following task is a test all new GUN people have to do when joining (I'd really like to see normal humans running around rooftops jumping through giant floating rings!) and makes a remark about Shadow already having gracefully beat said test a few years ago when he joined GUN. However, assuming S06 takes place right/shortly after ShtH, "a few years ago" Shadow would still lie dormant in his capsule on Prison Island, wouldn't he? So Sonic Next would be set a couple of years after SA2/SH/ShtH? :o

Don't get me wrong, I don't give a shit about story in Sonic games. "Robotnik is being a dick again, stop him by smashing up his robots!" is all I need. But if there happen to be any inconsistencies in the present story (ShtH's aside, because absolutely nothing made sense there), it keeps bothering me.

[MiraiTails]

CVG has a new article, but I don't think there's really any new information. Apparently, they've played it for a bit.

Bioware promise to address [the normally weak narrative in Sonic games] with a tale that begins as a simple 'oh no, Knuckles has disappeared' but grows into something much darker, with a promised twist that splits the game into two different acts. Possible hint: Tails dies?

FF7 reference, wishful thinking, or both? You decide.

[Dasher]

a bizarrely adult moment in which prim Amy says to mammalian slattern Rouge the Bat, "You're a tramp!".

Im going to like this game.

[Adamis]

a bizarrely adult moment in which prim Amy says to mammalian slattern Rouge the Bat, "You're a tramp!".

http://membres.lycos.fr/adamis07/Dessin ... tfinie.png

[K2J]

This is sounding too good to be true. Sonic's world, treated as a world of its own, not just a bunch of platforms? Check. Characters calling each other out on their character quirks? Check. Each character using his/her individual skills, as opposed to lumping them into groups such as "Speed", "Flight", "Power", and "Idiotically Annoying"? Check. I don't believe I've ever been more excited for a Sonic game... or, perhaps, a game at all before. More than Brawl, yes; I knew Super Smash Bros. was going to continue to deliver, but this defies all expectations and leaves me wanting more. I can say this without hyperbole for myself - it has a chance to be truly great, if it continues this way.

I'm hoping for no Executive Meddling, because this could end up being a Sonic game worth reminiscing about. And that's saying something.

[cjmcray]

Im pretty excited for this too, in terms of story, I just wish it wasnt turn-based. I suck at those type of games.

[MiraiTails]

Whatever you say, fish bulb.

I normally don't like turn-based games. At all. I expect this one to be a major exception because it's a Sonic game made by a respected developer.

Also, did everyone notice this?

Just 15 minutes of play saw Sonic consider leaving Knuckles to rot - a choice on the conversation tree that can't, sadly, be acted out

[Dasher]

So what does that mean? to rot? Sonic always treats Knuckles that way...recently anyways. >_>

[Ngangbius]

My biggest concern that this game will be more of a Bioware RPG with a Sonic skin and not a Sonic RPG that happens to be created by Bioware. Sort of like what the former Square did with Super Mario RPG placed an easy-type FF game dressed in a Mario(or their version of Mario) skin.