Can we pull off another Sonic-based RPG?

[Old dead account]

I feel that if we don't get a competent RPG developer, making an action RPG we'll just get something clunky like Sonic Heroes or Shadow the hedgehog with Unleashed's level up system. I think that the flowmotion from KH3D would suit Sonic perfectly, with the combat flowing just as fast as actual movement of progressing through the level. Turn based RPG, I don't know but Anything would be better than Chronicles anyways.

[FourCartridge]

A big part of the genre is progression from a wimp to a force to be reckoned with, but since Sonic's a pretty tough dude even in this RPG setup, I don't see how a a tradional system would do the series "justice", especally conisdering Sonic's speed. Why not take a page out of Batman's Arkham games and Bioshock, and have it be more focused on freeflow action(The former's combat system may be a golorfied chain of QTEs but it seems to do it's job quite well) as Sonic take out one Badnik after the other, dodging their attacks and traps? And instead of stats, have character building be more focused around perks and options and-

 

Oh wait Secret Rings/Black Knight did that. =V Those two are the closest you'll get to a Sonic RPG that isn't traditional.

 

If Bioware can't pull it off I don't have much hope for other devs...

Edited February 20, 2013 by FourCartridge

[Tornado]

 

I mean, it's no Skypatrol, but....

Tails' Adventure (while enjoyable in its own right) is more like the Simon's Quest of the Sonic series rather than the big daddy Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night. But duly noted.

[Solkia]

Metroidvanias are RPGs?

 

Anyways I'd like a new RPG, just not turn-based. Turn-based is so lazy and overused that I've gotten tired of it unless it's Paper MArio or MArio and Luigi.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Solkia-kun

[SenEDDtor Missile]

Wasn't there some kind of Wild West Action RPG involving an Armadillo released some time ago? I seem to recall rolling around being one of it's gameplay mechanics?

Edited February 20, 2013 by 743-E.D. Missile

[Tori Himemiya]

Metroidvanias are RPGs?

 

Castlevania SotN and the other CV games have RPG elements with the platforming aspects.

I'm afraid it might a bit too slow for Sonic.

 

Wasn't there some kind of Wild West Action RPG involving an Armadillo released some time ago? I seem to recall rolling around being one of it's gameplay mechanics?

Wild Arms?

I can't tell you because I'm not familiar with the series.

[Salamander]

Wasn't there some kind of Wild West Action RPG involving an Armadillo released some time ago? I seem to recall rolling around being one of it's gameplay mechanics?

 

Dillon's Rolling Western, for the 3DS eShop.  I don't think it's exactly what you're looking for, given that it's a hybrid RPG and tower defence game.  Sure you roll around at reasonable speeds, and can attack enemies by rolling... maybe some of the faster-paced battles would be suitable, where you can chain attacks from enemy to enemy, especially if you were to take out the battle stage mechanic and have this take place on the field map.

[Semi-colon e]

Metroidvanias are RPGs?

 

Anyways I'd like a new RPG, just not turn-based. Turn-based is so lazy and overused that I've gotten tired of it unless it's Paper MArio or MArio and Luigi.

 

The Castlevania ones have RPG elements, which only got stronger over the years.

[Tani Coyote]

Even more movement-centered RPGs like Kingdom Hearts will still be brought down by the expectation of Sonic having speed. Short of a mass of gamers accepting a slower Sonic (fat chance), the best idea would really be to center it on someone else, which opens its own can of worms.

 

You either end up with Sonic being unable to run for some reason, and as the Werehog stages tell us, combat-centric gameplay is heavily panned. Or you end up with a side character being the focus instead, which will also be panned by the usual suspects.

 

It would be helpful if Sega could establish Sonic in something that isn't a speed trip. If an RPG is made, Sega needs to clearly establish that it is NOT about speed, and while running shall remain a key component of the main titles, that shall not be the focus of the RPG. Sega will want to aggressively market to other RPG players as a result, so it can attract an audience that won't criticize a lack of X button spam.

[Exblend]

Honestly if they put the effort in a Sonic RPG could work, but would it really be necessary? I'd rather just have a main series game with RPG elements like they kind of implemented in Generations. (The skill customisation). 

[\Lennox]

Okay--here's my idea.

Sonic Adventure 3/Sonic the Hedgehog and the Generic Subtitle is a Awesome FREE--(Fully Reactive Enhanced Entertaiment)--Running Action RPG, or AFARPG for short, ideally developed by Monolith Soft, in collaboration with Sonic Team's Unleashed and PSO2 teams.

 

It has 13 playable characters that can be organized into parties of three (excluding their respective Super forms), each one corresponding to a Speed, Power or Flight class. Each class has a Default Ability that cannot be changed, like a Speed-class Character's Speed Boost, a Flight-class character's Free Flight or a Power-class character's Air Glide, accessible by a unique button combination. This Default Ability is the base for most Trick Attacks, which consume R-BOOST Energy, also known as Ring-based Outcome Overriding Special Technique Energy.

 

Customization involves the use of the Chaos Circle System, in which one earns Chaos EXP, spending it on new abilities and attacks like FFXIII's Crystarium System or FFXII's License Board. Chaos Circles correspond with how many Chaos Emeralds are present at the current plot point, and each Chaos Circle has different specializations depending on the Emerald's color. There is a level cap of about 100 per Chaos Circle, but level scaling is imposed on all enemies whenever in combat, so that all players are challenged no matter what level you are.

 

The battle system used here is called Swooshing Combat Initiatives ver. CHAOS, which melds the controls of the Adventure and Unleashed series with RPG-style growth and customization--its main feature is the aforementioned R-BOOST Energy, consumed by Trick Attacks or using the Default Ability. Trick Attacks are carried out by inputting various button commands, much like the technical attacks of Werehog!Sonic found in Sonic Unleashed. 

 

The R-BOOST Energy Gauge takes place of the Boost Gauge of Sonic Colors, and expands on the Ring Energy concept found in Sonic Unleashed, and is meant to fulfill the role of the Magic Point/Technical Point system found in most video games. The R-BOOST Energy Gauge can be recovered by defeating enemies, collecting Rings, or standing where you are. However, the Hit Point/Health Point system found in most RPG's is replaced by the Ring Capacity System, in which the Defense stat of any given character determines how many Rings are lost upon taking any amount of damage.

 

However; one of the features unique to this AFARPG is known as the Lives System: the Lives System symbolizes how many times a character can respawn when they take damage after their Ring Capacity reaches zero. When a character Lives System is fully exhausted and reaches zero, that character cannot be used for the entire duration of the Act unless a revival item is used.

Zones will resemble Adventure Fields of Sonic Adventure or the hubworlds of Sonic Adventure. These Zones will be HUGE, resembling the scale of Gaur Plain from Xenoblade, but with citizens, fully functioning buildings and shops, in which characters can increase their Ring Capacity or boost the recovery of their R-BOOST Energy when attacking enemies

 

Transitions from Acts to Zones will be seamless--Acts will be entered by triggering an event flag, such as taking an elevator down to the Spagonia catacombs in order to access Rooftop Run - Act X, or breaking through the window of the top floor of a skyscraper in Station Square in order to access Speed Highway - Act Y. The areas in which Acts are played are fully modelled and seamlessly integrated into the Zone in order to broaden the scope of Sonic's world, but their use in Act-based gameplay limits them from being entered. Every Zone should have six Acts; three of which are optional missions, while the other three are required to advance in the story.

 

Master Emerald Shards will be located throughout the game, but they will take the place of Red Star Rings found in Sonic Generations. They aren't necessary to advance the plot, but they can help achieve 100% Completion as a sidequest--much like Xenoblade's Colony 6 Restoration.

 

Special Stages will make a comeback in the game, but they can only be activated when a character has cleared an Act with 50 Rings or more. Every Special Stage is unlocked in a certain order. These Special Stages can either be Bonus Missions or Emerald Challenges--Bonus Missions enable characters to customize their stats without leveling up and gain a shard of the Master Emerald, while the self-explanatory Emerald Challenges will be able to net you a Chaos Emerald, and consequently, one more Chaos Circle. 

 

The Special Stage design will resemble a full-blown Act in an otherwise inaccessible Special Zone, and their gameplay can vary from having to collect a certain amount of Rings or defeating a certain amount of enemies. Act design will still take cues from the Unleashed-era hybrid of 2.5D/3D design, yet the 2.5D aspect of the gameplay is replaced by 3D with a fixed overhead-sideview hybrid camera, and some Acts can span multiple floors or areas of a single Zone.

 

Lastly, you can switch characters in real-time, much like Sonic Heroes, but their assistance can also be called upon by programming their AI in a Gambit-like system known as the Flexible Attitude Programming System, also known as FAPS. The FAPS (ahahahahahHAHAH) can help determine what characters should do under certain conditions, such as automatically using an item whenever their Ring Capacity is reduced, or saving a character from having one Life depleted. One character can have up to 28 Attitudes, four for every Chaos Circle they have. Each attitude can have up to ten different Behaviors that dictate how they act in battle.

WELP, TL;DR, Sonic Adventure 3, but with R-BOOST and BlazBlue-style fighting game techniques that consume it and a Crystarium and Gambit system.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Lennox

[Salamander]

I think it says a lot about modern RPGs that I have no idea if the above post is a parody or not.

[\Lennox]

I think it says a lot about modern RPGs that I have no idea if the above post is a parody or not.

 

It isn't. The worst part is, the Gambit and Crystarium-style customizations are now becoming trends in modern JRPGs. Xenoblade compromised the both of them into its respective Arts Level and Skill Tree systems.

[The Matticus]

Make it an open-world action RPG... Kinda like... one VERY BIG level... you get what I'm trying to get at, right?

[Clouder]

Or how about make it like Super Paper Mario?

[Mauro Fonseca]

I actually like the idea of a Metroidvania Sonic game...

 

I think this idea is pretty much the way to go, adding perhaps the same logic as a Maplestory, or the cancelled Mega Man Online, or Mega Man ZX. 

 

Open-World where you run around as the character you choose. Maybe make it a Heroes-style choice of three characters for the party. Side-scroller, too. So the base root of the gameplay would be normal 2D Sonic. But the focus wouldn't be speed, it'd be story and upgrading, so badniks drop xp, xp allows you to get new abilities and improve the ones you have, a base spot where you'd be able to return to to change characters in the party (so let's imagine this base spot is Green Hill Zone, if you're feeling like adventuring to Scrap Brain you better choose your party well, otherwise you'll have a lot of running back and forth to do).

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Tail's adventure is somewhat of the style, despite some dislike of it, it was somewhat sucessful. and it did have metrovania elements.

[Tani Coyote]

I'd love for there to be a Kingdom Hearts-esque Sonic game.

 

Unfortunately I can see problems with it not being a speed trip.

 

Provided the actual combat is quick enough though I think it'll make up for it. People don't want speed so much as they want to avoid getting bogged down fighting one or two enemies. There was plenty of stopping in the original games as much as areas you'd have to react very quickly. A quick enough gameplay is ideal, but rabid speed should not be a necessity, merely a bonus...

 

Of course there's also the problem of handling Sonic in a wide open world. A lot of attacks would require some sort of homing feature... that boost would do no good if you go to the right or left of the boss.

[Splash the Otter]

I don't think an action adventure with RPG elements (similar to Okami) would be too bad.

Edited March 27, 2013 by ElectroKyurem

[8ther]

I know Sonic Chronicles had it's flaws but i think SEGA should give Sonic another go at the RPG genre, only this time with Atlus, given their work and writing in the Shin Megami Tensai series, Atlus could make a better Sonic RPG than Bioware did.

[JaidynReiman]

I'd like to see the Sonic Chronicles series continue, perhaps including a remake of the original which fixes the flaws in the storyline while keeping the good parts. It'd be cool, but I don't see it happening.

 

On another note, if they do another Sonic RPG, it should probably steer away from the original turn-based gameplay they did before. Make it a 3D platformer game with RPG elements perhaps with some similar mechanics to Sonic Chronicles, but with the gameplay closer to traditional Sonic games. And of course make it way longer.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

While I would like to have that cliffhanger in Sonic Chronicles answered, if Atlus were to do this they should make a completely different universe, like Sonic Boom.

 

(Oh, and Atlus you better make another Trauma Center, before I start throwing medical tools like weapons at you)

I'd like to see the Sonic Chronicles series continue, perhaps including a remake of the original which fixes the flaws in the storyline while keeping the good parts. It'd be cool, but I don't see it happening.

 

On another note, if they do another Sonic RPG, it should probably steer away from the original turn-based gameplay they did before. Make it a 3D platformer game with RPG elements perhaps with some similar mechanics to Sonic Chronicles, but with the gameplay closer to traditional Sonic games. And of course make it way longer.

I think Sonic Chronicles is flawed because of it's gameplay. Would it actually work if it was like Persona or should it just be a action RPG platformer?

[Diogenes]

Atlus may be good at making the kind of games that they make, but I don't think those kinds of games are a good fit for Sonic, in gameplay or in writing. Honestly I am not a fan of the vast majority of RPGs, I think what's become the basic template of the genre has enshrined a lot of really bad ideas, so it would take something really far off the beaten path to get me interested in another Sonic RPG regardless of who's responsible for it.

On another note, if they do another Sonic RPG, it should probably steer away from the original turn-based gameplay they did before. Make it a 3D platformer game with RPG elements perhaps with some similar mechanics to Sonic Chronicles, but with the gameplay closer to traditional Sonic games. And of course make it way longer.

I think the only thing I hate more than generic JRPG gameplay is the trend of tacking RPG elements onto perfectly serviceable genres. Super Paper Mario tried to be a platformer with RPG mechanics, and all it managed to do was be shit at both. I don't see how it'd be any better for Sonic.

[SonicandTails58]

Honestly, I would love to see another Sonic RPG. It is a great concept, and there is enough lore to make a damn good RPG. Hell, I would be content with an RPG remake of the Death Egg Saga, but with more content and story.

[Solkia]

I'd rather have a Sonic RPG made by someone who knows what the hell their doing for once. Atlus isn't that.

 

That aside, Sonic would fit better as an Action RPG. Turn-based crap is a stale formula and is highly unfitting for Sonic.