What's The Best Way To Introduce A New Anthro Character?

[Zaysho]

In that case I don't get what's your problem. If Sonic would have Knuckles abilities then ,in gameplay it's like you would play as Knuckles. Same experience, same fun, same game.

Hey, I got an awesome idea. How about I want to play as Sonic, but if I just transplant his skills over to Knuckles... it's practically the same and totally OK, right?

Seriously, people want to play as the characters they want to play as. Why should they settle for a substitute just because it doesn't make a difference to you?

[StaticMania]

In that case I don't get what's your problem. If Sonic would have Knuckles abilities then ,in gameplay it's like you would play as Knuckles. Same experience, same fun, same game.

You're missing the point...other playable characters are invented for the abilities that don't gel with characters that already exist. Sonic should not have another character's abilities because he was not meant to have them, he exist with his own established move-set.

 

The ability to glide and climb walls are Knuckles' iconic...therefore they should only ever be seen with him(and Rouge)and this is the way fans would want it to go down.

Edited November 4, 2015 by StaticMania

[blade57331]

Except I don't want to play "like" Knuckles I want to play as Knuckles with his own abilities intact. :\ Like I can't tell if you're trolling me or not because I really can't get how you don't understand something so basic.

I understand something so basic but I don't find "good" sense in it.

Edited November 4, 2015 by blade57331

[Kuzu]

I understand something so basic but I don't find sense in it.

What about "I want to play as Knuckles, not Sonic with Knuckles` abilities" is so hard to get :V

[Komodin]

I understand something so basic but I don't find "good" sense in it.

He wants to play as Knuckles because, among other things, he likes the Radical Red's gameplay style. What is nonsensical about this? This can't be accomplished by just giving Sonic his abilities as if the blue guy's just some Gary Stu thing.

[Nepenthe]

It's bonkers to want to experience characters completely different from the main character, but perfectly good sense to mangle the main character into a Swiss Army Knife against his defined limits and decent gameplay design in order to prevent the other characters from being playable because reasons? I mean, how far does this argument extend? If someone wants Sega to explore Knuckles within a storyline again, Sonic has to dress in a cheap cosplay of Knuckles, put on an awful voice and play the part like a bad hobby film from the 80s? 

This is probably a worse excuse to bar playable characters than "people who want to play as other people are actually in denial; they just hate Sonic's gameplay!"

Sorry if I'm getting off topic, but I'm legitimately curious about this. Disregarding the direction the games have been going in recently, which approach do you think the Sonic franchise should follow? Do you think we should go back to having each individual title logically flow from the last, or do you prefer the newer episodic approach? Or maybe a mix of both? Basically, if you were hypothetically in charge of the company and money was not an issue, what would you do?

A mix of both. Each style has given me stories I like. My main concern is having a story with characters who cause things to happen and react to things happening to them as far as writing goes. This is most prevalent in SA1 where everyone has an impetus for participating either directly or indirectly in the events and are always on the move. Characters should also make decisions that reverberate through the plot and follow logically from their character and their point of view, (ex. Amy stepping in to stop Sonic from finishing Gamma off). There should basically be good interplay between all of the characters, or at least interesting information about the overall story to be gleaned from a character like Knuckles or Shadow tackling the problem at their own pace away from Sonic's company.

That's what I would ensure first and foremost: to make sure the cast was actively written. Whether or not that's in a story that's standalone or continuous would depend upon the game.

[Regen]

I'm pretty sure we all agree it's a bad decision to give Sonic the friend's abilities.

What do you guys think of giving Sonic new abilities? 

[Multikaris]

I'm pretty sure we all agree it's a bad decision to give Sonic the friend's abilities.

What do you guys think of giving Sonic new abilities? 

Not really. We need to reserve those new moves for new characters. Unless it's in a big balance update for every character in the game.

[Bowbowis]

I'm pretty sure we all agree it's a bad decision to give Sonic the friend's abilities.

What do you guys think of giving Sonic new abilities? 

So long as a new move serves a purpose, does not imbalance the cast, falls within the scope of the character's established skill-set, and does not break the known the limits thereof, I can't say I see a problem with introducing it. But perhaps some examples are in order, first let's look at three moves Sonic has been given over the years and see how they were or weren't worthy additions:

 

Blue Tornado (Sonic Heroes)

Has a Purpose: Yes. Blue Tornado can be used to expose the weak points of various enemy types, remove any shields they might be carrying, and if nothing else can immobilize them for a time. The wind it generates can also be used to move the character in a upward spiral, giving him the momentum to ascend vertical poles.

Makes Sense: Yes. Sonic had already been established to have some wind based techniques in his arsenal and not only that but using circular motions to generate a whirlwind is a pretty common trick among speedsters. Giving Sonic the ability to make a small twister is perfectly reasonable.

The Verdict: Blue Tornado is a fine addition to Sonic's arsenal. It not only has a plethora of uses that are unique to it but it's also a logical extension of Sonic's known abilities.

 

Multi-Lock Homing Attack (Sonic Lost World)

Has a Purpose: No. The Multi-Lock Homing Attack only really serves to automate the navigation of homing chains, which had been just fine as a manual process for 15 years at that point, far from easier the Multi-Lock Homing attack only really serves to inconvenience the player by causing them to home in on things the didn't want to. The only other purpose it serves, dealing more damage to bosses is an effect which could have been achieved any number of ways without changing Sonic's move set.

Makes Sense: Yes. The Multi-Lock Homing Attack simply automates a pre-existing ability so it's still well within Sonic's established skill-set.

The Verdict: If it ain't broke don't fix it. Although the Multi-Lock Homing Attack is not something that is unreasonable for Sonic to do it doesn't really offer any advantages over its single target counterpart. It's pointless at best, frustrating at worst, and an unnecessary change all around.

 

Magic Hands (Sonic Adventure 2)

Has a Purpose: Yes. Being able to pick up and throw enemies as a ranged attack is (in theory) a useful skill which would allow you to hit distant enemies and other targets without needing to move to their position.

Makes Sense: No. Shrinking robots and trapping them in magic spheres to be thrown at other robots has nothing to do with Sonic's established powerset of moving really fast and curling up into a ball. Granted in SA2 it's shown to be the power of the technology (or y'know magic) contained within the Magic Gloves, but it's still really out of left field and would make no sense as an innate ability. Picking up and throwing things is more Knuckles' domain anyway.

The Verdict: To SA2's credit the Magic Hands were pretty clearly intended as a fun little bonus for you to dick around with (remember when games had those) instead of an important skill so it kind of worked. Attempting to ascend it to Sonic's core move set, especially if it's portrayed as an innate ability rather than a gadget, doesn't really work make sense for Sonic as a character though despite its obvious utility.

 

Really though Sonic has plenty of abilities already. Let's just focus on bringing the other characters and their abilities back into the picture before we start trying to make Sonic even more powerful.

[blade57331]

What about "I want to play as Knuckles, not Sonic with Knuckles` abilities" is so hard to get :V

It's sound like a really minor/shallow complain for someomne who cares only about gameplay. It's like compaling that you don't like gameplay just because you don't like a character model, despite the fact gameplay is fun and the way you like.

[Kuzu]

It's sound like a really minor/shallow complain for someomne who cares only about gameplay. It's like compaling that you don't like gameplay just because you don't like a character model, despite the fact gameplay is fun and the way you like.

Who said I only cared about gameplay though? Is wanting to play as a character I like suddenly "just caring about gameplay"?

If I only cared about gameplay, why would I even be in this topic to begin with.

[Sonictrainer]

It's sound like a really minor/shallow complain for someomne who cares only about gameplay. It's like compaling that you don't like gameplay just because you don't like a character model, despite the fact gameplay is fun and the way you like.

"If the Werehog were replaced with Knuckles, Sonic Unleashed would have been received better."

Sure, but what reason would Knuckles only be playable in Night levels?

Wouldn't the situation with Dark Gaia prevent him from leaving Angel Island and have to protect the Master Emerald from Dark Gaia Minions once Night comes?

How different would the gameplay and story be if Knuckles replaced the Werehog?

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I'm pretty sure we all agree it's a bad decision to give Sonic the friend's abilities.

What do you guys think of giving Sonic new abilities? 

As long as we dont take away from Sonic to give to the friends then Im good with it

[Wraith]

Games, like any other medium, are about making us feel. Even the simple stuff like Mario is all about the kick you get from overcoming a challenge or playing around with the game's mechanics. It's not hard to believe that someone just might get more of a kick out of playing as a character they're more attached to and getting to play around with their abilities and limitations. There's a reason Smash Bros isn't just Mario using all sorts of different weapons and items to represent different movesets. Each character is built to feel like that character and the logical strengths and weaknesses they would have. 

[Bowbowis]

I was just thinking about this and figured I might as well put it here: If SEGA does decide to introduce a new "anthro" character I would appreciate it if they actually started putting more thought into the characters species and what abilities that would afford them instead of just thinking up a superpower and attaching a random animal to it like they have since the mid-2000s. Sonic wasn't just given the ability to roll up into a ball for no reason, he was given that ability because he was a hedgehog (or he was made a hedgehog because they have the ability to roll into a ball, either way it wasn't random).

It was the same thing for other characters too: Knuckles was made an Echidna because they can roll into balls like hedgehogs and his burrowing prowess comes from the fact that Echidnas are highly proficient diggers; Big's skill at fishing plays on the fact that cats like to eat fish; Shadow, being a hedgehog, has the same abilities as Sonic; Rouge can fly because she's a bat (still waiting to see her echo-locate though); Espio's camouflage is a natural trait of chameleons enhanced by his ninja training; Vector is seen using his jaws to attack in Heroes and M&S shows that he does indeed swim like a crocodile; and Charmy is seen flying, attacking with his stinger, and making flowers bloom, all things which are associated with bees.

Sure not every character was like that Tails, Amy, and Cream don't do much related to their species (although Cream's method of flight is at least derived from her species's long ears, and Tails' intelligence could be argued to be the "clever fox" archetype at work). Compared to the Babylon Rogues, Blaze, Silver, Marine, Shade, and Sticks though, who's abilities have absolutely nothing to do with their species (the Babylon Rouges are all based on birds that are capable of flight and not even their designated fly-type can actually fly), the difference is noticeable.

[GUILD]

idgi. SEGA has the formula for introducing characters down fine. Pretty sure literally the only time they've "failed" to do what they set out to do is with  Elise cause of the kiss/non-endearing acting direction and Silver and even then, 90% of that was because of the game 06 as a whole. That, and his voice in combo with his persona wasn't the greatest to most people as far as sympathizing with a character goes. But even then he has a fcking massive fanbase.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

idgi. SEGA has the formula for introducing characters down fine. Pretty sure literally the only time they've "failed" to do what they set out to do is with  Elise cause of the kiss/non-endearing acting direction and Silver and even then, 90% of that was because of the game 06 as a whole. That, and his voice in combo with his persona wasn't the greatest to most people as far as sympathizing with a character goes. But even then he has a fcking massive fanbase.

Saying Silver has a massive fanbase is much to say. Its not true at all from what I see. 

[KoDaiko]

idgi. SEGA has the formula for introducing characters down fine. Pretty sure literally the only time they've "failed" to do what they set out to do is with  Elise cause of the kiss/non-endearing acting direction and Silver and even then, 90% of that was because of the game 06 as a whole. That, and his voice in combo with his persona wasn't the greatest to most people as far as sympathizing with a character goes. But even then he has a fcking massive fanbase.

 I don't know if his fanbase is MASSIVE, but if it is...with an odd look, bizarre story, personality easy to use as plot device, quotes that some people consider funny, special powers...I can see why.

 

In the Japanese version, he doesn't have an annoying voice and the fan doesn't see him as illogical or stupid. Maybe the Japanese version portrayed him better?

[Chris Knopps]

Being honest it's just a biased and/or bigoted topic. At the end of the day there's absolutely nothing wrong with having new characters in the franchise, it's a matter of "don't scare me by adding anymore new stuff!!" on the fans part and "new is bad we might not sell!!" on SEGA's part.

Funny thing is, 9 times out of 10, people love whatever new characters appear. Fans just stick to the ones that failed out of the many that succeeded as an argument and SEGA takes it too close to heart.

[GUILD]

Saying Silver has a massive fanbase is much to say. Its not true at all from what I see. 

Not at all lol. I've been around since day one and it doesn't really take that much of a hard look around to see that his character still has a lot of fans and appeal regardless of his position in the game(s).

 I don't know if his fanbase is MASSIVE, but if it is...with an odd look, bizarre story, personality easy to use as plot device, quotes that some people consider funny, special powers...I can see why.

 

In the Japanese version, he doesn't have an annoying voice and the fan doesn't see him as illogical or stupid. Maybe the Japanese version portrayed him better?

It's no doubt because he's a.) a hedgehog who was b.) integral to the story and c.) one of the "hedeghog 3" that was established with him who turned turned super to beat Solaris. That and the whole dynamic with Blaze that ppl like to use to ship them.