Sonic Unleashed had the most balanced yet lighthearted plot of 3D Modern Sonic. Anyone agree?

[Narukami07]

Especially in regards to the Adventure games, which i felt Sonic Unleashed almost came close to having an Adventure-like feeling. The lack of corny jokes (Colors), grimderp tripe (Shadow the Hedgheog), believable character interactions, etc really helped. Plus dat Pixar-like opening was possibly the best intro a 3D Sonic had ever presented. What do you guys think?

 

Would love to see Sega continue on Unleashed's presentation, but....yeah. 

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I think that award would go to Sonic Lost World or Sonic Colors. But I love Sonic Unleashed movie theater apporch to it. It was amazing and I love the intreactions in the game.

[SurrealBrain]

I liked Sonic Unleashed's story well enough. It did have a good balance, and I would love to see its writes involved once again.

[Soniman]

I think Unleashed's plot only succeeds in not being actively terrible, otherwise it's a rather bland story with not much going on in it and you can't even fall back on the characters being entertaining (besides Eggman) because they're all pretty bland as well. I just don't find anything remarkable about it whatsoever. I will give credit for the more lighthearted atmosphere though, if only because it set the precedent for future games to follow with varying success..

[Diogenes]

"Balanced yet lighthearted" is kind of an odd descriptor.

I wouldn't call Unleashed's plot bad, but I find it kind of lacking. I mean, it's got a solid beginning, and a solid ending, but the middle...doesn't really go anywhere. It's kind of just checking things off the list; there's not really any significant developments after Apotos until you're finishing Adabat. It's balanced, better than a lot of games in the series, but there's not enough meat for me to really cheer for it.

I think I'd lean more towards either the first Adventure or SLoW. They've both got their own issues, of course; neither is perfect. But I think they both manage balancing the tone pretty well, and they keep things happening throughout the game instead of falling apart in the middle like Unleashed.

[Narukami07]

Ok maaaybe i can admit the characterization and pacing could have been better. Still thought it had more to offer than Colors or Generations. 

[CrownSlayer’s Shadow]

It's got competition with Black Knight and Lost Worlds.

 

Frankly, I think SA1 still holds the award as far being "balanced, yet lighthearted" goes (SA2 holds the "Darker done right" award, since it's obviously not as lighthearted). Don't get me wrong, Unleashed is great, it has a great opening and climax, but like Diogenes said the middle kind of falls and feels weak - it just doesn't continue any gradual building and the pacing has some hiccups.

 

That doesn't mean I don't want them to continue with what they did with Unleashed. I do, but I want them to learn from their faults and not leave the second act of the plot lacking.

[FriendBot]

Ok maaaybe i can admit the characterization and pacing could have been better. Still thought it had more to offer than Colors or Generations. 

 

That's not really saying much since Colors was filled with bad jokes and had a boring plot in general and Generations had a plot?

[Chaos Incarnate]

I have a hard time disagreeing that Unleashed strikes a great balance in what it wants to be and sets out to do- telling the story of a new found friendship between Sonic and Chip, who has a past to uncover, turning the concept of duality with Sonic and his Werehog persona on its head by showing us Sonic's spirit can't be broken or changed: hell, that's actually some pretty deep stuff there.

I don't categorize Unleashed as necessarily being full-on light hearted, however. Despite a cartoony, yet photo surrealistic art style that embraces the outlandish, off the wall feel of the series on a conceptual level, there's actually a lot of heavy shit under the surface that I mentioned earlier. Dark Gaia is a pretty terrifying Villain, Sonic expresses moments of depression with his Werehog form when Amy fails to recognize him, and Chip has to freakin' sacrifice his self and slumber in the planet for a Million years. Jeez, that's actually a punch in the gut there that does a laud-worthy job of touching my emotions.

Granted, I don't view Unleashed as being the best plot in the series, and it's a real shame that the middle act is nearly non-existent. Still, I give the story props for actually trying to do something different and going somewhere, along with striking a perfect balance of cartoony presentation layering a fun yet emotional plot with some dark undertones under the surface.

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

[Solkia]

... A demon with about 9 eyes that split up the earth and causes severe depression in people when his minions possess their bodies is lighthearted?

[CrownSlayer’s Shadow]

... A demon with about 9 eyes that split up the earth and causes severe depression in people when his minions possess their bodies is lighthearted?

Well, considering that the people on the earth didn't suffer anything when the earth split, their depression wasn't as dramatic when possessed by minions, and the 9 eyed dark force of nature came at the very end, I don't think that tips the scales enough to be away from being lighthearted.

 

Now if there was some more dramatic destruction of the cities you visited, the people's depression played for a healthy balance of drama, and the 9 eyed demon was given enough prominence even with it being split into its minions then I'd say you'd have a better point.

[Indigo Rush]

... A demon with about 9 eyes that split up the earth and causes severe depression in people when his minions possess their bodies is lighthearted?

 

 

It can't all be fun and games

[Solkia]

Fair enough, I guess the Perfect Dark Gaia transformation scene just grossed me out too much.

[Sonictrainer]

I like how they handled the townspeople in this game.

 

Besides making them look like they belong in Sonic's world, they helped make the world feel alive.

 

I've already mentioned before how the missions showed Sonic being a kind, awesome person helping people, but the game also had non character mission townspeople with their own plots.

 

Will the elderly Apotos couple ever find the wife's dentures? How will the relationships end for the Spagonian Students? Will the Mazuri Elder's grandson ever find out that his grandfather is a big, fat liar?

 

The Bookshelf's Directory was also interesting information about these people

 

 

Sa'id: A man who loves tea more than breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Long ago, the girl he was dating asked, "Which do you love more, tea or me?" Sa'id looked at his sugar and didn't even blink before answering, "Tea." Not long after, Sa'id was sugar-free.

 

While I do wish we had more animals similar to Sonic and friends as NPCs, Unleashed was a nice change of pace.

[Nattala]

Sonic Unleashed is actually my favourite story from the games due to the way it balances lightness and darkness. You have Sonic making quips and quirky characters like Chip but both have depth beneath them. Even the silly Professor Pickle gets to be serious at times.

You have the growing friendship between Sonic and Chip which is done quite well with both funny and engaging moments.

 

Probably my favourite portrayal of Sonic too, he's got an attitude but it's not full-out snarkiness and corny lingo. You get to see how he reacts to tough situations, how he never gives into darkness but you also get to see him be reckless and make mistakes. You see his kind, helpful side but he's not a full out generic nice guy just there to listen to other people's problems.

 

So uh yeah, I agree.

[GuyWithThePie]

I agree, once Pontac and Graff replaced the old writers, the new stories were too cheesy for my taste.