The GHZ Forum

Dasher wrote:SoA also had a part in changing the feel of Sonic, removing Madonna, fangs, rock band ect...

Oh, Dasher! You so crazy!

Huh? What did I say?

PS. I'm on SonicRetro looking at the hacks, man! good stuff in there!

Dasher wrote:Sonic Team is also starting to get elements from Archie which may spin this series into even more chaos.

Le'see here... As far as Archie elements go (and not counting Sonic Spinball), we've got...

1) Official confirmation that Sonic likes chili dogs
2) The appearance of Swatbots in Chronicles
And maybe, just maybe...
3) The loose adaptation of the Dark Brotherhood from the Dark Legion

So, that's three things which have had little/no effect on the atmosphere/storylines of recent Sonic games, and absolutely no effect on how Sonic games are supposed to play (as opposed to Sonic Mars)...

OH LORDY!!! Run for your lives! The floodgates have opened!!!

Gasp! A franchise that was made with Westerners in mind is drawing inspiration from Westerners' interpretation of said franchise.

Craziness.

Of course they could've drawn from a less furry-oriented source, but I don't think there is one.

Dr. BUGMAN wrote:Of course they could've drawn from a less furry-oriented source, but I don't think there is one.

You act as if Sonic was never meant to be this way.

I don't think Felix the cat or Mickey Mouse ever devled into melodrama and sexual tension... W-would they be more relevant today if they had?

Sonic eating chili dogs was in almost all the comics/books and cartoons, why should they ignore it? It is a very well known trait of Sonic that almost all the fans know about it. I really do not see how chili dogs = sexual tension.

And what about Captain Whisker, supposedly the Japanese nickname for Robotnik? Only cool when Japan does it, you baka jagins >.<?

And a developer in Canada added SWAT Bots in their own spin-off series, big deal...? Sonic Adventure added Namco's queer little virtual pets too. Tell me which is worse.

It is not like they added Mina the Mongoose and Sonic's harem of tranvestities from Archie.

Kogen wrote:I really do not see how chili dogs = sexual tension.

Nah, it's more like "confused human teenaged princess X nekkid anthromorphic hedgehog = sexual tension. Chili dogs got nothing to do with it.

...Sonic's harem of tranvestities from Archie

With that, sir, you have made my day!

Getting back on topic, I was kind of disappointed by the narrow range of enemies on each of the individual Twilight Cage planetiods. It always seemed as If I was fighting Kron Warriors on Kron or some variety of Voxai on the Voxai colonies, with the occasional Gizziod or Nocturne soldier. I also think they squandered some potentially epic boss battles. I'm thinking the N'rrgal Queen couldv'e been an interesting fight.

Sonic Chronicles is just a mess, to be honest. Maybe the plot would be interesting if the production values were higher, and the game long enough to characterize everyone instead of just inserting a conversation about "Dexter" at the start and then having an awkward choose-your-response scene at the end for Sonic/Amy. I can't help but think that if it had been a console game, it would be a bit better in its storytelling ability. Of course, not releasing a half-finished game (with placeholder graphics, using the new artwork only at the level-up screen) would have also made this better.

Kogen wrote:And what about Captain Whisker, supposedly the Japanese nickname for Robotnik? Only cool when Japan does it, you baka jagins >.<?

What? Whisker was clearly a red herring for longtime fans. Unless I'm missing something in the translation.

Kogen wrote:I really do not see how chili dogs = sexual tension.

Freud, discredited, etc.

K2J wrote:Sonic Chronicles is just a mess, to be honest. Maybe the plot would be interesting if the production values were higher, and the game long enough to characterize everyone instead of just inserting a conversation about "Dexter" at the start and then having an awkward choose-your-response scene at the end for Sonic/Amy. I can't help but think that if it had been a console game, it would be a bit better in its storytelling ability.

A game appearing on a handheld instead of a console isn't neccesarily tied to a drop in story quality. Mother 3 for example, plotted a much better story than most console RPGs last gen and currently on the market.

Yeah, but I think the handheld division of BioWare was made up of new recruits. Might be hearsay, I'm not sure.

Bioware has what, 3 studios? They are not all the same people.

Right, but this particular one wasn't used to the DS development cycle:

BioWare is used to long massive production on the PC or next generation consoles. We had to learn to work on [a] shorter timeline and with a smaller team. This was a challenge for both the company and the team as they had to adapt to a different style of project. In the end, we learned a lot from it and I do believe we all have now a better understanding of what making a game on Nintendo DS means.

Source. I might be reading into this, but it sure sounds like a cop-out answer a student would give on an assignment reflection by noting that he thought he had learned a lot from the experience, even if the end result wasn't good. By focusing on what the team learned for future projects, it draws the attention away from the current one.

Baba O'Riley wrote:

Kogen wrote:I really do not see how chili dogs = sexual tension.

Freud, discredited, etc.

It'll get all the more evident with the next-next-gen titles, when Sonic Team comes up with the Hedgehog Engine® v2.0 and enough processing power to render the mayo on them.

And I wouldn't mind the crappiest of game's stories if it played well. I mean, nobody really cares 'bout Grandia II's excuse for a story, it's all about the experience of, you know, actually playing a game. And yeah, it's always better on a non-portable home system.

I liked Grandia II's story at the time, but I'm sure I'd be a lot less interested in it if it had been used as a book. It's all about the overall presentation. And at that time I was still amazed at in-game voice acting for entire scenes.

I have to say, I enjoyed Grandia II's story as well, though yeah, as a not-game, it probably wouldn't have done quite as well. With that in mind:

Isuka wrote:I mean, nobody really cares 'bout Grandia III's excuse for a story

Fixed. :P

The first Grandia game is a much better experience than the second one. However, Grandia II battle system is an improvement over the first even though it makes that entry so much easier as a result.

Ngangbius wrote:The first Grandia game is a much better experience than the second one.

I don't know many people who have played the first one. I only have a foggy recollection of it, myself. I have vague memories of Justin, Feena, maybe a Ralph somewhere in there?

Grandia was better than III (or what I played of Extreme), but II's still my favorite. Then again, I played that one first, so I could have colored my opinion some, but the coin-for-powerups system is very much preferred to the use-spell/ability-a-million-times-to-power-it-up system -- I'd always end up with no SP or MP for bosses. Also, I found the characters rather obnoxious, especially near the end of the game when everyone leaves Justin and says things to make him feel bad, then rejoins the party ten minutes later telling him how awesome he is. What? Really? It's not terrible, though.

Grandia 2 was a noble effort, but it never managed to capture the same sense of high adventure that made the original so awesome and memorable. Grandia 1 is my single favorite RPG of the 32-bit era and still one of my all-time favorites.

This is an old story now, but it was only the second game I played through completely in Japanese, which at the time I couldn't read a word of. I sold all my Mana Eggs because I didn't know what they were. And I managed to beat it regardless!


How was Grandia 3, anyway? I didn't touch that one, but in retrospect, I think my preconceptions may have been a bit harsh. Were they?

Green Gibbon! wrote: How was Grandia 3, anyway? I didn't touch that one, but in retrospect, I think my preconceptions may have been a bit harsh. Were they?

Awful story. Awful characters. Amazing battle system. XOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRN!!!!!!!!!!

I tried to pick up Grandia 1 a few years ago after hearing how great it was. Moments after popping it in though, it became clear that the game was from an era that really had no standards with regards to voice work. Like watching an older anime series' dub, nearly every performance was grating to the ears. I pressed on as best I could but In the end, it was Mullen's voice that broke the camel's back.

I haven't touched it since.

Also, I didn't know you could heal at save points.

BUT I STILL BEAT IT

What about the story? Did you get any of that?

Not the first time through, at least nothing that the action didn't make obvious. I played the English version when it was released on PS, though the translation was so bad I don't think I was much better off. (Coffee? Seriously?)