Unpopular opinion: I like Sonic's universe more than Sonic himself

[Multikaris]

The difference between the mysteries of the series then and now is... intrigue. Both the mystery of why the Echidnas vanished and the mystery of the cacti having eyes and small mouths have me saying “why?”, but the former is in curiosity and the latter is in confusion and anguish. The latter has no interesting ideas behind it, rather just being confusing and present.  It’s basically meant to being stock kawaii platformer artwork akin to something like Snow Bros, but in a franchise that had actual lore? It just doesn’t work, and it raises questions rather than being a “cute” detail. If Sonic Team wants a platform series full wth Japanocentric kawaiiko assets, try making a new one! (Apparently sega Forces them to do Sonic, when they are blatantly out of energy). 

 

Also, Sonic Team sometimes picks the worst aspects imaginable to elucidate on. Why were the Lost Hex Sandworms in GHZ? Their ham-fisted explanation for the Wisps doesn’t help at all. In fact, it raises more questions than it answers. If they wanted to stay and help, why do they remain in bondage? Why are there not only still corrupted wisps, but also what appears to be a NEW corrupted Wisp (Bomb), and even a Wispon that uses a corrupted Wisp type (Void) being used by the Resistance? The Wisps are easily the worst at this, to the point i’ll need to make a new topic devoted to them. 

[E-122-Psi]

I tend to like fictional universe that expand into a full world with many developed characters, but still remember their main one. While I don't really like works where the main character is the constant centre of attention and all the lessons, development and arcs centre around them with everyone else barely getting limelight, I also don't really like those works where it's the opposite and everyone is developed BUT the main character (the old Disney shorts and Hey Arnold are infamous cases where nearly everyone can hold a story BUT the so called star).

In that sense I like them remembering to give Sonic star appeal while still respecting their supporting cast.

Satam I tended to consider one extreme, since most of the activity revolved around Sonic, not only was he the most important hero by miles but he was also the most flawed, while everyone was kind underplayed as a straight man (besides Antoine who was comic relief to make Sonic at his worst look less incompetent). As a result no one really felt as fully fledged as Sonic, who himself swayed a lot more into his flawed qualities and learning the same lessons over and over, a consequence of putting the personality focus mostly onto one character.

Sonic X was the opposite, nearly everyone was spotlighted and given humanity BUT Sonic, who was more a figurehead and kinda intentionally dullened of emotions and human qualities. We saw Sonic through the supporting cast's eyes only, which is an interesting twist, but does get a bit boring long term because the main hero feels infallible and boring throughout the whole series. It also means Sonic's not even that interesting as a support character compared to the others.

Sonic Boom I suppose was the best in terms of spotlight balancing and interchanging these two premises, besides occasional imbalances, everyone got their fair turn for limelight episodes and showing off their character in full.

[DabigRG]

8 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

 the mystery of the cacti having eyes and small mouths have me saying “why?”, but the former is in curiosity and the latter is in confusion and anguish.

Which ones?

8 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

 Why were the Lost Hex Sandworms in GHZ?

I feel like that's another sign that the villains were probably gonna be more involved than they ended up being.

8 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

 Their ham-fisted explanation for the Wisps doesn’t help at all. In fact, it raises more questions than it answers. If they wanted to stay and help, why do they remain in bondage? 

Admittedly, the explanation in Issue 3 just kinda solidified what could've just been a gameplay thing.

 

 

5 hours ago, E-122-Psi said:

 

Sonic X was the opposite, nearly everyone was spotlighted and given humanity BUT Sonic, who was more a figurehead and kinda intentionally dullened of emotions and human qualities. We saw Sonic through the supporting cast's eyes only, which is an interesting twist, but does get a bit boring long term because the main hero feels infallible and boring throughout the whole series. It also means Sonic's not even that interesting as a support character compared to the others.

I mean, there was stuff like the cruise ship episode and his more Looney Tunes-esque behavior early on.

[Razule]

The Wisps staying in the capsules is dumb. I get they want to help, but don't they get bored? Have lives? Literally anything else to do but float in a capsule all day in case a Sonic adventure happens to start?

[Multikaris]

56 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

Which ones?

The cacti in Desert Ruins. 

[DabigRG]

9 hours ago, Miragnarok said:

The cacti in Desert Ruins. 

You consider that Kawaii?

[Multikaris]

3 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

You consider that Kawaii?

Indeed. Or closer to “derp”, really. 

[DabigRG]

10 minutes ago, Miragnarok said:

Indeed. Or closer to “derp”, really. 

Derp is far more accurate.

Honestly, I just chocked stuff like that in Lost World up to reflecting the Deadly Six.