Good story, bad gameplay

[batson]

Out of all the games in the series, which one do you think had the biggest difference in quality between story and gameplay, in terms of the story being the good part (as opposed to vice versa)?

I think my attempt at an "objective" answer would have to be The Black Knight. The gameplay is awful, but the story was obviously made with genuine care, to the point where not only is there a solid plot but even a pretty solid thematic throughline. Personally though I'm not really that offended by this particular story being wasted on a terrible game since I could never quite get into a story set in an alternate dimension where none of the characters (except Sonic himself) is actually the actual character that we know from the rest of the series.

The game that hurts me the most personally when it comes to having wasted a good story on a bad game is probably Sonic Chronicles. Now, first of all I should add that I actually personally enjoyed the game just fine, but even so I do recognize that it is of sub-par quality. The game got terrible reviwes upon reliease and is basically entirely forgotten now, which pains me because I really enjoy the writing in this game.

The set up is interesting in itself: Eggman appears to have finally been killed off for good, and this begs the question... what do our heroes do when their fight against Eggman is no longer there to tie them all together? This game gives an answer at least regarding Sonic himself that many hated when the game came out, but which I always found super intresting: Sonic just sorta leaves. Sonic is an adventurer, and at least at this point in the series Sonic was more or less implied to be gone for long stretches of time between the occasions when he joins his friends in the battle against Eggman. That's why nearly everytime he meets another character for the first time in any given game during this era, he says something along the lines of the famous "Long time no see!". This kind of exchange even occurs between him and Tails of all people, heavily implying that before more current writers made Sonic a lot more socially "normal" he was very much a Son Goku-type guy who didn't think twice about leaving everything and everyone behind for long periods of time if there was no particular reason to get together. In Chronicles, this tendency is taken to the extreme in that apparently after the final defeat of Eggman Sonic went without contacting any of his friends for two whole years. When he finally meets his friends again, which only happens because there starts appearing signs that Eggman might have survived, everyone in his closest friend group are shown to have reacted differently to their life without Sonic. Amy starts pretending that she's over Sonic, and does it so hard that she even lies about having another boyfriend. Even when Sonic comes back she goes on and on about this guy "Dexter" in a feeble attempt to try to convince everyone that she didn't miss Sonic at all. Tails seem to take his lack of contact with his supposed best friend in stride untill, well, untill Knuckles starts speaking up about his feelings on the matter. My favorite scene in the game is when Knuckles, who considers himself the leader of the newly reformed group, challanges Sonic when he starts acting like he's calling the shots. Knuckles angrily tells Sonic that he has no right to pretend that everything is the way it used to as he's the one that left everyone behind for two whole years. This is apparently the first time Sonic has even realized that he might have hurt peoples feeling in doing so, and so he openly asks (if the player chooses to do so) both Tails and Amy how they feel. Tails says with a sad expression "Well... you were gone for two whole years..." and then stops, apparently not knowing how to express himself any further, although at this point it's clear he's hurt just like Knuckles. Amy meanwhile apparently doesn't know what to say, and so with a sad and hurt expression just falls back on repeating the line she's been trying to convince everyone of since the beggning "I... I have a boyfriend...". I can't explain it but this one line from Amy always stuck with me; the context in which it is delivered makes Amy almost seem to revert back to being little kid, repeating a fantasy when reality is too much to handle.

And then there is the fact that Chronicles is the game that ultimately tells the story of the Sonic universe, the one we had all been expecting would one day be told ever since Sonic 3; the return of the echinda clan.

Add to this all the surprising chemistry between characters, in ways and combinations that he haven't really seen since, at least not in the same way. Like Rouge using her usual sexy flirty attitude against Sonic and Sonic being completely immune to it, and yet Amy still being disaproving and suspicious over Rouge acting this way towards her darling. Or Tails and Eggman genuinly bonding over technology (Rouge accurately dubbing it "nerd bonding"). Or Shadow, when faced with the prospect of Omega being in serious danger, actually being comletely open for once about considering Omega a friend (in stark contrast to the "Shadow doesn't have friends" attitude of current Sega). There is just so much great stuff in there!

And yet, it all exists within the confines of a sub-par game that let people down to the point it's basically forgotten even by hardcore Sonic fans... and then of course there is the whole Penders debacle which prevents the game form ever being as much as aknowledged by Sega untill the end of time. Sigh...

Edited November 30, 2023 by batson

[cosmichaos]

I think you hit the nail on the head with S&tBK. It had an excellent story, but unfortunately it didn't get as much attention and care as it maybe should have in the gameplay department, especially considering it was limited to Wii controls. In my opinion, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric is a game that hurts to think about, because it could have been so good. If they had just gone with the original plan and put it on other consoles, actually putting time and effort into it, then maybe it wouldn't have flopped so hard.

The gameplay is where the main issue is. It's boring and repetitive and slow, the antithesis to what Sonic is. The story was confusing at times, but with a bit of light shown on it it's not horrible. I think the concept of Lyric is pretty solid, and I didn't mind him as a villain. Overall, the game certainly wasn't good, especially in the gameplay department, but the story, animations, and character interactions kept me entertained while I played. I don't hate Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, and I know that's probably an extremely hot take, considering how rabidly people insult it on the internet. I'm just sad it didn't get the attention it deserved. 

[castell-neath]

I still maintain Sonic 06 had a good story...Elise kiss aside. Ans the gameplay as we know is infamous.

Mephelis, Silver, Blaze...Soleana...it had such rich world building. Even Shadow woking with / for GUN seemed to amke a bit of sense after Shadow The Hedgehog.

I have tried Modding out the gameplay glitches, but....ITS NO USE!

Edited December 3, 2023 by castell-neath

[AlexHidanBR]

I disagree with 06 having a good story. I'd say 06 had a well written and thoughtful story... it just so happens it had a well written and thoughful BAD one lol

But I not gonna lie - at first 06's story seemed pretty good to me, but as I went into more of it, the more I see its story is all over the place. Feels like something a teenager would come up as a fanfic.

Now a game that has a good story and bad gameplay, in my opinion, is Sonic Chronicles... or at least another game to consider besides 06.

There's also Sonic Heroes, but not for me, i'm saying Sonic Heroes could also be that because I know a friend that didn't like its trio styled gameplay but liked the story as if it was some kind of a cartoon episode.