SEGA West CEO Sees Chances Ahead For Sonic to "arc out to do different things"

[thedude2011]

While you guys are talking about Chronicles, how do I open the forcefield in Chapter 2 I think.

[Rusty Spy]

One of the things I hated about Chronicles was that the hand drawn maps only sounded good on paper, but in the end, depth perception was royally fucked and made the game a collection of tiny hub worlds with absolutely no exploration or sense of openness. When I play an RPG, one of the things I look forward to is traversing a huge world with lots of stuff to see and a natural bigness to it all. Chronicles has none of that, and suffers greatly.

The game for me was ok at best. Wouldn't call it bad, but definitely shoddily made.

[Octarine]

I'm saying everything was done badly, not that it should be taken out.

Sure, but if you have to fix pretty much everything but the basic story and that basic story isn't particularly original or interesting, then there's really not much point. Better to start from scratch, I feel.

[Kuzu]

A game that was basically the Archie comics in disguise and it's later half seemingly straight out of the 3rd Season of Sonic X is very imaginative.

Well obviously he's never read the comics.

I'm not saying its a good game, I still think its terrible.

[DarkLight]

Well obviously he's never read the comics.

I'm not saying its a good game, I still think its terrible.

I'm aware he's never read the comics, I was just rebuttaling your claim that Chronicles was imaginative in terms of story, when really wasn't if you read them.

[HUNTER297]

You will probably say its stupid idea but I would like to see Sonic RPG with more sandbox elements. Where every character have story, bosses etc. Can level up but the game wont be slow. For example every character will have statistics like:

-Physical Strengh

-Speed

-Mental abilities

-Tech abilities

You know what I mean? To make RPG elements simple but present. Certain chars will have their speciality for example: Knux-Strengh, Sonic-Speed, Silver:Mental abilities, Tails-Tech abilities etc.

Of course there will be all-around characters like Shadow but he wont be more powefull in any of skills than someone specialized in them. And chars. That will be specialized in 2 statistics but will pay for it having lower speciality in other two statistics. Characters like Blaze for example- +Speed and Mental abilities but huge "-" in tech and physical strengh. Because of that fact she wont be faster than Sonic or more mental powerfull than Silver but will be more powerfull in one of those stats than Shadow for example.

Everything will take place in huge open-world with stages as dungeones (dont know if spelled that right). It will be RPG sandbox but ACTS would take place of dungeones.

After every level up in certain ability character would get new skill related to this ability. Of course for example chars. Specialized in for example Mental abilities will have level cap for physical strengh on lower level than chatacter specialized in physical strengh.

Edited August 15, 2011 by HUNTER297

[-Mark-]

Personally, I'd really like to see another Sonic fighting game, more along the lines of Sonic the Fighters than Sonic Battle.

That said, I do think Fighters was perhaps a little too hardcore a fighter, so it'd be nice to have it simplified somewhat (yet without becoming a one-button mashfest). I mean, Sonic's had plenty of racing games in the last few years (with the Riders series being the most prevalent), and in my opinion, beat-'em-ups and racers are basically the two best genres for multiplayer.

I mean, Fighters had eight characters. Chuck in the entire current cast, make the fighting system slightly more accessible, and you've got a winner there.

Don't think a Sonic FPS could ever work though. >_>

[HUNTER297]

Personally, I'd really like to see another Sonic fighting game, more along the lines of Sonic the Fighters than Sonic Battle.

That said, I do think Fighters was perhaps a little too hardcore a fighter, so it'd be nice to have it simplified somewhat (yet without becoming a one-button mashfest). I mean, Sonic's had plenty of racing games in the last few years (with the Riders series being the most prevalent), and in my opinion, beat-'em-ups and racers are basically the two best genres for multiplayer.

I mean, Fighters had eight characters. Chuck in the entire current cast, make the fighting system slightly more accessible, and you've got a winner there.

Don't think a Sonic FPS could ever work though. >_>

I think if there is new fighting game it should be inspired by Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm series and of course add something orginal like running battles.

[Sami]

We're 34 posts in, and not one person has mentioned the possibility of a good on foot racing game.

SSMB, I am disappoint.

[-Mark-]

I think if there is new fighting game it should be inspired by Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm series and of course add something orginal like running battles.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Ultimate Ninja Storm games, but I do think the fighting system is a bit... basic. I'd prefer something a bit more traditional. If anything, I'd go with a similar style to the Clash of Ninja Naruto games, myself.

[Ekajra]

Don't think a Sonic FPS could ever work though. >_>

What if you play as Shadow?

No!

Wait...

OMEGA

Then again, that many weapons would be a bit crazy. Maybe if they did an on-rails arcade light gun shooter type thing, and as you advance you can upgrade and get more of Omega's arsenal... Hmmm, that sounds kind of interesting, if it were just a downloadable game.

Moving on, I don't see anything wrong with them wanted to expand things. That means they're more confident about the stability of the main games. If the main chunk of Sonic Team's work is spent on making solid main series installments, then I see no problem in small teams or other companies working on spin-offs.

Regarding Chronicles, I think part of the reason it ended up kind of meh was BioWare having not worked on portable games before. I'm sure if SEGA let them make the sequel then they could drastically improve on whatever went wrong with the first one. I enjoyed it, but there were definitely flaws (especially Shade's reveal... way too sudden).

In conclusion, Sonic R 2. Make it happen.

[Mike]

I think if there is new fighting game it should be inspired by Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm series and of course add something orginal like running battles.

I would love it if Cyberconnect made a Sonic game. Dat cel-shading. Don't know about a fighting game though.

Of course I would also love it if they made Mega Man Legends 3 too, but Capcom makes nothing but bad decisions.

[Old dead account]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this, and I hope I am, but changing gameplay genres yet AGAIN? I really hope he means that it will be kept within spinoffs because if they mean in the main big titles then they clearly haven't learned at all(werehog). I come for the special brand of platforming this series offers, nothing more. Disrupt that again and I'm outta here.

[Mike]

I'm outta here.

Wait, don't go! We have food and movies!

[thedude2011]

I want Sonic Unleashed 2 with Shadow instead of the shithog. Make Shadow as fast as in SA2 and give him Chaos Powers.

[Vertekins]

Regarding Chronicles, I think part of the reason it ended up kind of meh was BioWare having not worked on portable games before. I'm sure if SEGA let them make the sequel then they could drastically improve on whatever went wrong with the first one. I enjoyed it, but there were definitely flaws (especially Shade's reveal... way too sudden).

And that excuses;

- Batshit insane writing of characters?

- Horrible rendering?

- Mostly bad art?

- Complete lack of balance regarding characters?

- The almost total lack of exploration and rewarding for this exploration?

What is wrong with Chronicles can't just be chalked up to "Not being used to developing for hand held consoles" The lack of finesse in developing for the DS doesn't really explain away the above, because bad writing, bad art, poor gameplay and a total lack of balance is not attributable to a lack of familiarity with the DS. It can be chalked up to just not caring.

[Exploder]

I am encouraged by this news. I don't want yet another situation where just because an idea wasn't executed well in a Sonic game the first time, it should never, ever be tried again.

[ChikaBoing]

Hopefully they do a Fighting game at some point. Sega Allstars Fighting, SEGA vs. Capcom. Whatever. It's the only thing I really want from them now. And a Mario & Sonic plattformer, next gen maybe.

[azoo]

We're 34 posts in, and not one person has mentioned the possibility of a good on foot racing game.

SSMB, I am disappoint.

Sonic R. No really.

I will admit the gameplay is very tank-ish, which sucks. But still, I would like another proper on-foot racing game (not another Rivals, geez those games sucked). I feel gameplay that highly resembles what they have going on right now for modern's Generations stages / daytime Unleashed, put into massive stages with many shortcuts and curve into laps would make a fantastic racing game. You can even pull a Sonic Riders and make specific characters who are specialized in certain things (speed, power or flight). It'd be just like the layout to Generations' modern City Escape but with some SASASR mixed in. I'd pay top dollar for that.

A fighting game would be great too, but that's more suitable for covering all of Sega's flagship characters. Then again, what I really want is Sega All-Stars vs Smash Bros vs Marvel vs DC vs Capcom vs Namco vs Tatsunouko vs Mortal Kombat. :V

An RPG though? Please, no. That's easily one of my least favorite genres, just for the fact that turn-based gameplay bores me to tears. It's the main reason I couldn't get into FF or Sonic Chronicles, and it's why I can't go back and play Pokemon anymore like I used to. Make a game like this upcoming FF Versus 13 or whatever they call it, and it would be 4000x better, but it's still completely contradictory to how a Sonic game is supposed to be handled. Why would you give Sonic a whole arsenal of combat moves and the like whenever Sonic can bash up nearly anything by either spinning, stomping, or headbutting right into it a couple of times? And with that in mind, how would you combine this combat setup with the trademark "extreme speed" concept? Don't forget the fact that Heroes-06 tried this whole "badniks/enemies with lifebars" thing, and it was obnoxious to a T.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Azukara

[Blue Blood]

An RPG though? Please, no. That's easily one of my least favorite genres, just for the fact that turn-based gameplay bores me to tears. It's the main reason I couldn't get into FF or Sonic Chronicles, and it's why I can't go back and play Pokemon anymore like I used to. Make a game like this upcoming FF Versus 13 or whatever they call it, and it would be 4000x better, but it's still completely contradictory to how a Sonic game is supposed to be handled. Why would you give Sonic a whole arsenal of combat moves and the like whenever Sonic can bash up nearly anything by either spinning, stomping, or headbutting right into it a couple of times? And with that in mind, how would you combine this combat setup with the trademark "extreme speed" concept? Don't forget the fact that Heroes-06 tried this whole "badniks/enemies with lifebars" thing, and it was obnoxious to a T.

Uh, RPGs don't have to be turn based at all. KotOR, one of Bioware's better games, is real time instead of turned based and works an absolute treat. You give characters an arsenal of moves because it adds depth and variety to the combat system. With what you're saying, it like Sonic Battle should have consisted of little more than homing attacks.

A Sonic RPG shouldn't be a turn-based, slow and combat based like Chronicles was. It would have be platform based, an adaptation of what the series is. That's what makes Paper Mario a Mario game instead of Generic RPG #184726592.

[Ekaje]

And that excuses;

- Batshit insane writing of characters?

- Horrible rendering?

- Mostly bad art?

- Complete lack of balance regarding characters?

- The almost total lack of exploration and rewarding for this exploration?

What is wrong with Chronicles can't just be chalked up to "Not being used to developing for hand held consoles" The lack of finesse in developing for the DS doesn't really explain away the above, because bad writing, bad art, poor gameplay and a total lack of balance is not attributable to a lack of familiarity with the DS. It can be chalked up to just not caring.

It can't be attributed to not being used to handhelds, but it can be attributed to the game being handed to their new handheld team whose members had nothing to do with any of Bioware's good games, though that comes back to not caring so yeah.

@Blue Blood

Paper Mario's combat is platform based? It's attacks involve timed button presses but I think Mario & Luigi would be a better example of a platform based RPG. [/completelypointlessnitpick] Sorry, thought when you said a Sonic RPG shouldn't be turn based, and then referred to Paper Mario, you were still talking about the battle system.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Ekaje

[Diogenes]

but it's still completely contradictory to how a Sonic game is supposed to be handled.

[ChikaBoing]

A RPG with a Speed-Element should be the mindset of creating a Sonic RPG. Not with elements of Chronicles, Adventure 1 where it was basic and against the nature of Sonic. Half-a-Minute Hero is an exapmle, altough more fleshed out.

[HUNTER297]

A RPG with a Speed-Element should be the mindset of creating a Sonic RPG. Not with elements of Chronicles, Adventure 1 where it was basic and against the nature of Sonic. Half-a-Minute Hero is an exapmle, altough more fleshed out.

[azoo]

To some extent that's true of every genre spinoff. Good ones will try to infuse it with as much of the main games' style and feel as possible, but RPGs (and kart racers, and sports games, and virtual board games) are never going to play much like platformers.