Sonic Chronicles opening and prologue videos. Be warned, this contains minor spoilers for the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9L7jU7FlDI
The quote at the beginning for those who couldn't read it:
"One thing remains a certainty. At the height of their glory, even they could not have foreseen their fate, or the speed with which it was delivered."
-Prof. Gerald Robotnik
"The Fourth Great Civilization"
How's the game Gyser?
The art is amazing and the combat doesn't sound super bad. I just heard that after a while it can be a bit annoying. But come on pokemon gets gay after awhile too. I'm not buying it.
The backgrounds are very pretty, but the Sonic X-styled art isn't what I would call 'amazing'. As for your "gay am pokemon" comment, ...what?
How's the game Gyser?
Quite good so far, but I haven't had much of a chance to play yet as work takes priority. About to really sink some hours in to it.
EDIT: Also...
ZOMG DIAMOND DUST MUSIC REMIX! <3 <3 <3
^--How are the touch screen controls for both the field and those POW move mini-games?
--Are regular attacks useless in this game? Spamming those POW moves especially if the controls aren't great or if the game doesn't allow leeway for error in excuting them correctly, looks like it could get a bit boring.
--Is the game really as easy as Eurogamer said it was?
--What exactly are you rewarded for with higher rankings/better grade at the end of the battles?
Touch screen controls are ok, but not great. Like when you have to move to a door at the bottom or top of the screen, it doesnt really respond well. Even opening the menu can be a choir as its at the lower left hand corner.
Regular attacks are pretty useless on harder enemies. In fact, I've found about half the time i'm in battles, attacks just miss the targets. They really encourage you to use special attacks.
Anyway, I dont really like the game much. The art style really puts you off; Sonic looked better in Sonic R lol. And the way the game holds your hand at the beggining, it borders on condescending. The game borrows from jrpgs heavily, but doesnt really do anything new with what it takes. It feels like a frakenstein monster with shredded remains of your favourite rpgs. I can imagine I will finish this game and never play it again. cant believe all these positive reviews, people must be on crack. Now time to get back to dragon quest 4.
btw Music is alright though, no complaints there.
I think your over exaggerating. Serously if it's getting these good scores then it can't be that bad. Come on it's bioware for crying out loud!
Well it's just one opinion. Everyone else seems to like it for the most part.
This is not the Sonic rpg we have been waiting for. We wanted a Sonic rpg, but we instead get a run of the mill rpg with Sonic characters in it. The Mario rpgs have a very unique style that you can definitely say is Marios own game, which has evolved over the series. There is nothing uniquely 'Sonic' about this game. Given that it's Biowares first DS game, I can forgive that they decided to overuse the touch screen by throwing in as much "touching" as they could. But I would've preferred at least a control pad option, for those of us who dont enjoy using the stylus all the time, like me =(
And as nice as the hand drawn art is, it also feels very lifeless. Having very bad 3d models of Sonic and co. running on top of it is clashing artistic styles to me. I think it wouldve looked better if they kept Sonics sprite 2d, something like Saga Frontier 2.
edit - oh and I forgot to mention, this game is one of the most ridiculous excuses for a fetch quest ever. A man needs Sonic to help him retrieve his stapler. Yes, a stapler. It made me forget for a moment this game is made by Bioware, because I remember a game called Mass Effect and it was cool, and it had boring sidequests too but they didnt involve staplers.
Clan Nocturnus have now been eliminated, with the exception of a small robotic survivor, its name lost in history.
Emerl?
I think your over exaggerating. Serously if it's getting these good scores then it can't be that bad. Come on it's bioware for crying out loud!
Meh. Another RPG, Eternal Sonata recevied the same amount of good scores from reviews last year, touting it as one of the best RPGs for the X360 and when I finally played it it was one of the worst games I've played that year. The demo and the first few hours of the game made it seem 8.0 material, but then it started to fall apart in its third or fourth hour.
And dude all great developers have their off days. S-E, Nintendo, Capcom, etc. Judging how big-name Western developers treated the NDS at the time of this game's conception I wouldn't be surprised if this really was handed off by the B-team. =
I guess this game isn't a revolution like TWENY is, but eh...hopefully I could find some entertainment whenever I could get a chance to play it. I got some out of B-tier rpgs before.
And Spite, I'm enjoying DQ4 also.
GI lost credibiltiy with me awhile time ago with their atrocious Etrian Odyessy review among other things. 
Even when they are praising games their reviews seems so amatuerish.
I'm still curious about the ranking system though.
So you still think the game will be bad? Well if it is at least we will enjoy the story.
That is awsome!!
Well, here's one more review that Ashide is sure to use to prove this game is meh, but anyway IGN gives it a 6.5!
Yeah I know but they lied in it here is what they did
Here is why, ok well first of all they say that the game makes you do all the quests. I only have one thing to say bull! You get to choose on those if you want to do them then fine if you don't then that's fine too. I know there lying there for a fact because bioware announced that there selfs. Also they say that the game has camera problems when you do puzzles they say that you have to do all this stuff to figure it out when the answer is right in front of you. It sounds like a good puzzle to me and nothing more. Man they could at least be fair!!! Well I think I proved my point on how bad they are at lying.
Ps: the games lowest reviews were 6.5 and 7 otherwise it's gotten 8's and 9's.
Pooh-pooh to the critics, I say. EuroGamer can laugh off Sonic as never being strong on story and completely ignore, say, Sonic 3 and Knuckles. IGN seems almost always diametrically opposed to any kind of novelty. The only way I'll be properly able to judge the value of the game to me is if I play it myself. I've been pretty sceptical about the idea of a Sonic RPG from the inception, but BioWare seems not to have done an insufferable (i.e. Sonic Team-quality) job from what I've seen. I'm at least going to try to like it for what it is and what it's doing.
If nothing else, I'll relish this game for not featuring Jason Anthony Griffith. 
nam1018 wrote:
Yeah I know but they lied in it here is what they did
Here is why, ok well first of all they say that the game makes you do all the quests. I only have one thing to say bull! You get to choose on those if you want to do them then fine if you don't then that's fine too. I know there lying there for a fact because bioware announced that there selfs. Also they say that the game has camera problems when you do puzzles they say that you have to do all this stuff to figure it out when the answer is right in front of you. It sounds like a good puzzle to me and nothing more. Man they could at least be fair!!! Well I think I proved my point on how bad they are at lying.
Ps: the games lowest reviews were 6.5 and 7 otherwise it's gotten 8's and 9's.
So...did you actually play the game yourself to actually prove that IGN is lying? Not saying that IGN review 100% reflects the game especially seeing that Bozon reviewed it but, I'm going to take the word over someone who actually played the game over someone who heard that "X developer is doing this".
So far the game has gotten mixed reviews in nearly the same vein as Sonic Rings, unfortunately. = I haven't seen any nines yet, except from some extremely die-hard Sonic fans, who seem even less credible than certain professinal reviewers. =( But who knows, maybe this IGN review could be on the same stupid level as their God Hand review.
I think Eurogamer is more credible than say IGN, Play, and GI though I do think the best impressions for this game will be from general gaming message boards who played it first hand.
It seems that some of /v/ is actually genuinely enjoying it, if that's any consolation - and let me tell you, 4chan HATES Sonic.
SOME of /v/ being the key word, natch
You're going to play it, SH?
I haven't seen any nines yet, except from some extremely die-hard Sonic fans, who seem even less credible than certain professinal reviewers.
And why do we need nines?
^I was responding to nam's comment, dude.
Though any game getting 9's all across the board and having very few flaws is generally great.
So, it seems that the game is alright and a bit of a fanwank. I think I will be taking the plunge for the game. I'll post general opinions from time to time and maybe even snippets of wisdom as well.
"The Daily Mail shoot was a high point for me, it made me feel classy and upmarket!"*
I speak as a man generally doesn't like turn based RPGs, but enjoyed Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and as a man who does need to play more on his DS. And as a man who thinks Marine the Raccoon made sense.
*A whole internet to the first person to guess where that came from!
^--How are the touch screen controls for both the field and those POW move mini-games?
--Are regular attacks useless in this game? Spamming those POW moves especially if the controls aren't great or if the game doesn't allow leeway for error in excuting them correctly, looks like it could get a bit boring.
--Is the game really as easy as Eurogamer said it was?
--What exactly are you rewarded for with higher rankings/better grade at the end of the battles?
- Touch controls are fine, but occasionally seem to not recognise what you are trying to make it do. The POW mini-games can take a little getting used to on the timing, especially if it's a POW move you've never used before, but are otherwise ok.
- Regular attacks are fine, and are mostly what I use. I mainly use POW moves for support, like healing and buffing/debuffing.
- Yes, so far the game is incredibly easy, but admittedly I'm not that far in to it. Tails will quite often see fit to remind you to save your game if you are coming up to a hard part. I think I've only ever had one character KO'd, and that was because I wasn't paying attention to their HP.
- I haven't noticed any real rewards for A ranking a battle, and likewise, no negatives for C ranking a battle. The ranking system may come in to play at a later point, but so far nothing.
So far, it's been an enjoyable game. Not the amazing rebirth that the Sonic series needs, but an enjoyable romp. Character interaction and growth is the best it's been since Sonic Battle though.
"- Touch controls are fine, but occasionally seem to not recognise what you are trying to make it do. The POW mini-games can take a little getting used to on the timing, especially if it's a POW move you've never used before, but are otherwise ok. "
*very minor SPOILERS warning* Really? I find most he time attacks miss, as IGN noted in their review (which btw is the most accurate review so far). Also, I have trouble with robots, they dont take much damage unless you use POW attacks, usually only 1hp per hit. And only certain POWs seem to do good damage, like Sonic & Shade's Blade Drop. I am up to chapter 6 and my characters are around level 9, I dont know if it's too low for that far in or what. I tend to flee combat a lot. Maybe I use the wrong combination of characters. I haven't even tried playing as Cream yet, and I didnt even find Omega in chapter 5, I hope I can still recruit him though.
Actually I am findng the game difficult. By the time you get to Metropolis, you cant back track to buy items at the store, and they throw a lot of enemies at you by that point so I ended up running low on pp and hp restorative items (especially on Angel Island, it's ridiculous). Sure this game doesnt have random battles, but it's hard to avoid enemies when the path is narrow and the view is limited so you cant see up ahead.
I cant help notice the story has many ideas that were in the early Knuckles comic. Has anyone else playing the game noticed this? It seems more than just coincidence to me, I think Bioware may have decided to adapt the Dark Legion story. Shade seems to be based on Julie-su too.
Here's part 1 of Cyberman's walkthrough
Obvious spoilers, obvious
And already, there's a continuity error. lol
Sonic says that he and Tails had good times while at Green Hills Zone. Of course, Tails was never playable in a Sonic game where Green Hills was a level. Not counting Sonic Drift 1
What about Drx's Tails in sonic 1?
Nothing saying that Sonic and Tails couldn't have visited Green Hills after they met is there?
That's true, but wouldn't it be after some time they defeated Eggman on South Island? And Tails is talking about how all the animals were turned into robots as if he was there during Sonic 1 events. lol
Maybe Tails is referring to the events of Sonic 2 (Game Gear version) which took place on South Island.
But Sega doesn't consider the Game Gear games canon for some reason
What about the Master System version of Sonic 2 (technically GG version is port MS version)? That version came out a month before the Genesis version and it does feature Tails debut as well as he being in South Island at the time. I guess you can fit it into the canon that way.
Maybe, Bioware doesn't give a crap about "proper canon" for a Sonic game and just made a hodge-podge of references for an original Sonic game. I mean there are Swatbots in this game, but I don't remember seeing them in previous Sonic titles.
You're going to play it, SH?
I've already downloaded it, but a certain private release of something else has since diverted my attention. Can't go into detail, sorry.
Also Mega Man 9.
Maybe, Bioware doesn't give a crap about "proper canon" for a Sonic game and just made a hodge-podge of references for an original Sonic game. I mean there are Swatbots in this game, but I don't remember seeing them in previous Sonic titles.
You don't see his sentries in other games either. And he never used Egg Pawns before Heroes, and that's canon.
The game clearly borrows from SA, SA2, and Sonic Battle. The SWATbots are there as a homage to the comics, and have a completely different, though familiar, design. The implication is that he used them before he was defeated a year prior to the start of the game.
Just finished the game. Overall, the story is pretty simple, there's no twists to speak of, no Scooby Doo endings. There's just a bad guy, and you need to stop him. Bioware didnt live up to their promise of making Eggman a proper villain either, he pretty much gets booted from the story halfway through. The dialogue is good enough, although Shadow comes off as being a jerk - but for you shadow haters, dont worry there isnt any new ridiculous revelations of his past, present or future, and really he isnt a big part of the story (I even forgot he was in the game at one point). Pretty much most of the characters are handed to you on a silver platter, the only one I never did recruit was Omega (chapter 5 is the only chance to have him join I think).
I mainly played as Sonic, Shade, Cream and Knuckles. Cream is the most useful supporting character, her healing abilities are miles above Tails, and Sonic and Shade's POW was my favourite to use. They were all around lvl 19 when i finished. And that ending is terrible, worse than "we're Sonic Heroes". I dont know if its a bad ending or just the real ending, because it feels like a bad ending, but I'll wait for more enthusiastic fans to figure that one out.
"Dont forget to save!" is Tails new "Look at all those Eggman robots". XD
i can't believe a fight about CANON storyline almost broke out.
Of all things!
<strong class="quote-title"
B Vulpix wrote:
i can't believe a fight about CANON storyline almost broke out.
Of all things!
Tell me about it. Especially seeing that it is apparent that Sega themselves don't really seem to give a damn about it.
Spite, would you reconmend this game at a discounted price for someone who played a lot of RPGs and is looking forward to other RPGs on the DS as well as on other systems or would you tell them to rent it or even skip it all together.
<strong class="quote-title"
i can't believe a fight about CANON storyline almost broke out.
Of all things!
So yeah, playing the game now: Its pretty good. Combat is simple and enjoyable enough for me. Story is ok so far. Dialogue is good. Art style is more reminiscent of the comics rather than the more recent games. Its cartoony really.
Its definitely not the worst Sonic game I've ever played.
Spite, would you reconmend this game at a discounted price for someone who played a lot of RPGs and is looking forward to other RPGs on the DS as well as on other systems or would you tell them to rent it or even skip it all together.
It is definitely a rent. You can finish it within two days, see and do everything you need to, and probably take only one more day to finish it again as the game leaves you with all your items and the same lvl you finished at when you start again, making those early levels a breeze. I didnt notice many sidequests in the game, and most the ones I did were easy fetch quests with little reward and which add nothing to the story, not to mention once you get to chapter 5 you cant backtrack so unlike a lot of other rpgs you have do the quests when you can otherwise too bad (as I said, I lost my chance at recruiting Omega in chapter 5). But I cant imagine anyone enjoying the sidequests.
And even though this game doesnt have random battles, I say poo to that. The frequency of enemies later on and the narrower the paths get, it might as well be random battles because its hard to avoid them. And the fact that battles can take over 5 minutes simply because over half the time your attacks will miss or enemies will revive again, makes battles very tedious. In the last chapter I fled every single battle, otherwise it wouldve taken me an hour just to get to where i was going.
The only people who could really enjoy this are those casual gamers that nintendo seem to like that probably havent played anything else on the ds except brain training and nintendogs, and the sonic fans who are determined to like it even if they have to paint a smiley on their face to prove it. But for seasoned rpg fans, there is no reason you should play this if you havent played better things, like TWEWY or the more recent DQ4 which is pretty damn good for a remake of an 18 yr old nes game. SC is for the younger Sonic fans who grew up on Sonic X. For anyone who can remember getting Sonic 2 for Christimas, dont add this to your list. XD
I am glad I did not buy this game like I was going to. Rent it if you can, or wait for a friend to buy it then borrow it a few days later after they get bored.
Overall, the story is pretty simple, there's no twists to speak of, no Scooby Doo endings.
Really? I heard
Overall, the story is pretty simple, there's no twists to speak of, no Scooby Doo endings.
Really? I heard
Umm... really? Unless there really is an alternate ending, I dont remember anything like that happening. Unless it involves Omega who I never found...
But yeah the ending was deliberate, not to mention there are certain questions left hanging like a bad Lost episode. I think the end of SC makes a nice segue into Sonic Unleashed's opening though.
I loved The World End With You from what I've played so far. It had some really innovative conventions that introduced to the genre such as adjustable character levels(though correct me if I'm wrong if some RPG did this before TWEWY). It also had a ranking system in which you are actually rewarded for receiving a higher grade in battles(this is assuming that in SC ranking don't mean jack). The only reason I stop playing it is because DQ4 was released. 
So about Sonic Chronicles, rental or discount it is then.
It is definitely a rent.
You can't rent handheld games.
Oh? I rent handhelds from Hastings all the time.
I didnt notice many sidequests in the game, and most the ones I did were easy fetch quests with little reward and which add nothing to the story, not to mention once you get to chapter 5 you cant backtrack so unlike a lot of other rpgs you have do the quests when you can otherwise too bad (as I said, I lost my chance at recruiting Omega in chapter 5). But I cant imagine anyone enjoying the sidequests.
I know quite a few RPGs that put a limited amount of time on sidequests.
A few of the local Blockbusters in my area has PSP and DS games for rental. In addition, you can rent PSP/DS games through Gamefly.
Probably don't really need to post this, especially with the rampant spoilers about but:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9xEJYTvZE
Insider video 9 about Shade and her evil Army... The Dark Brotherhood.
