Sonic X Shadow Generations Gameplay Footage Is Here!

I like how detailed Shadow's quills are.

6:27 if you want to hear Black Doom's voice. 3:48 for Shadow's overall gameplay.

I also like how there are alternate routes in the Radical Highway part, too.

SO FREAKIN COOL!!!! I CAN'T WAIT! AND THE DEVIL HAS COME AGAIN TO CONVINCE SHADOW TO DO SIN!!!!!!

The Remixed Final Chase has elements of Asteroid Coaster and the cannons from Metropolis (Sonic Forces).

Love how the Artificial Chaos now square up with their tentacles.

3 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Makes me wonder if that's Sean back for Black Doom. That sounds like his voice, even though he claimed he wasn't contacted for Doom a few months ago. Obviously things could've changed since then though.

I was actually thinking the same thing. It may possibly still be a different voice actor altogether, but I would not be surprised if that was Sean himself. It may not be him, though, since he said he was not contacted to do the voice work for Black Doom as you said.

I know the delayed homing attack isn't popular but the Chaos Control chain straight from the Shadow game's intro is really slick.

If that's not Doom's original actor, it's one of the best recast jobs the series has had. Very good match.

Seems like they brought back The Ark theme from Shadow's game. I'd recognize that Final Chase remix anywhere!

They're leaning too hard on trying to be cinematic. I don't want a 15 second cutscene of my character doing something cool shoved in the middle of the level; I want gameplay systems that allow me to do cool things. It's just going to drag more and more on replays.

I guess they're finally learning that it's okay to let the player go off a ramp under their own power sometimes, though.

Not sure if I vibe with the overly cinematic nature of Shadow. I rather have, like, actual gameplay over watching cutscenes. I avoid playing most recent games because of this, they lean too hard into feeling cinematic instead of compelling.

But at the same time, the remaster part of the game looks really solid since it's practically untouched from the original. I might buy it just for the remaster.

I wonder what the intent of having Shadow power-slide down that skyscraper was. I couldn't have been the only one who was expecting him to spawn a snowboard.... maybe that's something they are trying to keep as a "sonic" thing?

Either way, I like them leaning into the inception style game-play design for stretches. It fosters creativity.

For an uncut Shadow gameplay this B-roll sure has multiple cuts. 

First Sonic Gens. It looks like PC version of Sonic Gens. That's all I can say about Sonic Gens.

Now to Shadow Gens. It looks like they figured out a lot of things when it comes to cinematics and general visual presentation, because it looks sick as hell. For one, cutscenes at 60fps. Secondly, they actually figured out how to smoothly transition from cutscene to gameplay and it looks glorious! I've already rewatched that part multiple times and every time I just go "holy shit, they figured it out!". Shadow looks cool as hell, probably the coolest he's ever been really. Overall sells Shadow's raw power.

In terms of gameplay, controls, level design it's still kinda hard to tell, but I did notice that the level has more than just 1 path, even by and large they're still boost levels (or I guess a 3D Sonic level, it's been corridor-y since Adventure 2 at least). Still pretty straight-forward, still pretty corridor-y, but I don't really mind as long as they're engaging, either visually or mechanically. Forces had a problem of not doing either of those, which lead to an overall boring experience. This, meanwhile, is going for a more visual/cinematic engagement, which I think imo is fitting Shadow, while also having multiple junctions and seemingly ways to move through a level thanks to the powers. Also the level seems to be a decent chunk longer than your average Forces level, which is also very nice. The turning seems to be smoother, closer to open-zone Sonic, but I kinda need to feel it with my own hands or see more and see people actually turning.

Biolizard can jump, kinda sorta fly and conjure spirit bombs out of the mechanical tendrils covered by gross-ass orbs. Really cool.

Classic Sonic looks a bit different. That top quill looks a bit longer them his original appearance in gens. Not the most important information, but it was the first thing I noticed. Shadow's portion looks cool, I can see multiple paths and such. It's hard to judge on controls since I can't play it but turning seems better. The biolizard boss was cool!

WHERE'S THE FLYING BLACK VOLT? 

20 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

 The turning seems to be smoother, closer to open-zone Sonic, but I kinda need to feel it with my own hands or see more and see people actually turning

Whoever was playing was downright allergic to the boost button, which as we all know is meant to be held at all times with these kinds of levels. We won't be able to gleam much from handling and turning until we get footage of someone with their foot on the gas pedal.

20 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

Biolizard can jump, kinda sorta fly and conjure spirit bombs out of the mechanical tendrils covered by gross-ass orbs. Really cool.

I swear to god my first thought was that homie was gearing up for a Kamehameha

Those anime-ass moments will probably be cool for a first run through, but for the sake of replays I hope they can be skipped or something. Really interested in how precisely Shadow's powers work, but they seem to open up some fairly interesting possibilities. Visually it's an absolute stunner, and I think that's a good part of what makes Sonic fun for me, so it's nice that there's a new game that actually breaks some new bounds visually. 

I'll reserve judgement for the level design when I play it for myself, but I appreciate the high number of differing gimmicks in that level. I like interactivity more than non-linearity and it seems like they're doing a good job with it.

So happy that they reused the Ark music from Shadow's game. Criminally underrated remix, for sure.

Gameplay looks good, and the Biolizard fight looks sick. Great recreation of the original fight before throwing in some fun twists to keep the fight fresh for veteran players.

Dunno if that was Sean Schemmel as Black Doom or not. To be fair, it's not hard to do a Dr. Claw voice, so it could easily be someone else.

Some offscreen footage shows the HUD and UI elements. The control scheme seems the same as Frontiers (with Boost mapped to the same button). You also activate Chaos Control by destroying enemies and filling up a meter, which I personally love.

I love this, people were calling this a Shadow game tied to a Sonic remaster

And then it's revealed to be shorter than Sonic Generations.

Playful banter aside, this makes sense to me. This is still a meaty package regardless of length.

I think Black Doom's new VA was announced when Stephanie Sheh was named as the new Maria, right?

Anyway, love the footage! Hopefully those climactic Chaos Control "kick something" moments aren't ALL mini cutscenes, but I love how the cutscenes are used to transition between levels* during the Black Doom segments. Shadow's levels look like they're using Final Horizon's Cyberspace stages as a template and combining them with Shadow-themed combat which already looks to be a great combination. I know we all suspected this with the initial reveal, but this really does just feel like a mini "Shadow Frontiers" the same way Bowser's Fury played like a cross between 3D World and Odyssey and I am absolutely here for it. The new Biolizard is cool too, I love those weird arms it sprouts in that new phase!

It's also great hearing Kirk's improved Shadow voice. He's come a long way since 2010. (I wonder if they'll touch up the existing Generations dub too.)

* on the other hand, this level alone is both Final Chase and Westopolis. Again, the transition is amazing (what the Phantom Ruby could have done back in 2017) but we probably aren't getting as many levels as we think. It's okay if they're all really long, but for all we know this could be one ~4 minute level, we'll get another mashing up Rail Canyon & Kingdom Valley and then we're done.

The gameplay looks pretty bad. The cinematic stuff is going to be absolute drag on repeat runs, and the way that the you're given item boxes perform Chaos Control exactly when the game wants you to isn't fun design. It's the same issue we've seen with Wisps and Emerald Powers; the move will likely be useless outside of the exact moments designed for it. 

For all other criticisms pertaining to uninteresting level layouts and stiff, clunky controls, just look up anything I've said in the past about Colours, Forces and Cyberspace. This is exactly the same shit. Colours was 14 years ago. I'm so tired of repeating myself... 

I knew this wasn’t going to be as long as generations but I really hope there’s more than just the four levels they showed. They’re all excellent choices, I’m hoping for at least six. 

It's 3D Sonic gameplay, I don't think I need to say anything else. You either fuck with it or you don't at this point.

I wonder if Shadow will have some of Sonic's movement options from Frontiers for White Space.

4 minutes ago, McGroose said:

I knew this wasn’t going to be as long as generations but I really hope there’s more than just the four levels they showed. They’re all excellent choices, I’m hoping for at least six. 

Hmm, that'd make Shadow Generations 2/3 the length of Sonic Generations, with the 2D hub world challenges swapped out for the new open zone. I'm fine with that and I hope SEGA does this (the got some good will from me after the free year of updates for Frontiers AND the emergency patch for Final Horizon) but after seeing how lazy other devs are with remasters I'm too scared to be optimistic.

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I wonder if Shadow will have some of Sonic's movement options from Frontiers for White Space.

@KuzuI hope so, since it seems to have a slight Metroidvania bent of locking areas behind new powers. Also, Shadow seems to have some brawling abilities in the main stages so it'd be weird for him to lack them in the hub. That last part's just speculation though.

By the way, while it's inevitable Shadow will be unlocked for vanilla Generations, I hope Modern Sonic can be used in Shadow's stuff too.

39 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

I love this, people were calling this a Shadow game tied to a Sonic remaster

 

And then it's revealed to be shorter than Sonic Generations.

Playful banter aside, this makes sense to me. This is still a meaty package regardless of length.

Generations has so much padding with its side missions that it's unbearable. If this is shorter but tidier and enjoyable then I'll take it. 

29 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

The gameplay looks pretty bad. The cinematic stuff is going to be absolute drag on repeat runs, and the way that the you're given item boxes perform Chaos Control exactly when the game wants you to isn't fun design. It's the same issue we've seen with Wisps and Emerald Powers; the move will likely be useless outside of the exact moments designed for it. 

I think you're jumping the gun with this. This is reportedly the first level in the game so teaching the player how to use it is important, plus I counted several instances where you're clearly encouraged to use Chaos Control to reach higher/different pathways, but the game doesn't say it outright nor necessarily give you the tools for that. One instance even happens before the initial hint bubble explaining how Chaos Control even works.