honestly missing already the melancholic Overworld-theme that plays before unlocking the secons theme (iirc that is tied to having free access to the whole island?) - of course they will have focus tested that track to be bullet proof/catchy, since it is the first Touchpoint for the player on the overworld, so no surprise people/me gonna be hung up on that
however, this track reminded me of Sonic Team Racing: Ice World (track iirc was Snow Mountain? Icey something?), also a melancholic-as-hell track for a fun racer.
Seems like I am a sucker for Melo Sonic (and yes, that should be a canon character in the Sonic Universe (Sonicverse?)
gradually building a network of high speed rails around the island is so much more fun and cool than just picking a fast travel point from a menu to instantly appear at. also it actually makes this game more realistic and robustly written than any triple a open world game
on revisiting the third island drags a bit because the 2D sections in the open zone are jarring and navigating the disconnected landmasses via rail connections loses its shine. but i didn’t have a problem on my first go
i’m savouring the tonal clashes like when you go super sonic the first time. it has the overwhelming sublime quality of the peacemaker titles following a somber note, or a deranged amv. but then you’re also pumped to click through the tutorial window the next time it happens because you know what you’re in for
i am excited to read this thread as y’all progress!
for people more checked into sonic as sonic, how is his VA/writing here? it seems so jarring to me compared to every other character, but idk if that’s just how he is.
i thought sonic and robotnik sounded a little odd at first, since in my head, they still have their adventure voices. i got used to it, though.
sonic being a supportive nice guy who wants to help and make friends whenever possible is definitely in keeping with other modern portrayals. robotnik being inquisitive and self-obsessed and occasionally genuinely funny is also true to his character
the voice is roger craig smith, same VA he’s had since 2010, doing a distinctly lower register closer to his own speaking voice. it was jarring to start but I acclimated pretty quickly. the fandom is mostly positive on it after the pitchy cartoon voice had begun to grate
the characterization is perfect for me and about how he is in the IDW comics: supportive himbo. he’s definitely supposed to be a little dense and unnervingly positive relative to the other characters
it’s telling that Eggman is somehow still voiced by Mike Pollack (I think), the only cast member from the 4kids Sonic X dub to make it to the big leagues of real Sonic voicing
personally I’m shocked they didn’t also grab Lisa Ortiz as Amy if they were going to grab random NYC anime voice actors to make official but Sega don’t pay me
thinking back on all the early rumors from playtesters it’s funny how “the ancient history of where the hedgehogs came from” and “eggman making a third girl robot named tribot” were both like half truths
It’s definitely easier than SA2 was as a nine year old, does that help? There’s nothing quite as baffling as bad Knuckles/Rouge RNG here
They might need help on what to do and some enemies but there’s an easy difficulty and lots of optional contextual tutorials (esp. on minibosses). There’s also an autocombo option on the skill tree
fantastic (japanese language) interview with Ohtani
Summary
Ohtani likes singers at the top of their range because it’s more expressive
Jun Senoue is still consulting on the main theme and coordinating recording
featured vocalists write the lyrics themselves with abstract information about the game and a demo of the song
the One OK Rock song was driven by marketing wanting a tie-in
Ohtani’s favorite genre to compose is lofi hip-hop and he’s glad he could fit that in for Big’s area
each cyberspace stage and miniboss has a unique theme
each island has seven open zone themes and they change as you collect emeralds
acknowledges that they made a ton of music and credits it in part to not planning out how much music until the OST releases had to be compiled
ending spoiler: sage is a second protagonist and they wanted a special song for her change of heart (note: when my partner heard the song from down the hall she asked “what the fuck is going on?”)
they considered more minimalist music in line with shadow of the colossus or breath of the wild and decided it didn’t fit, but they also didn’t want the music to be too upbeat
namedrops linkin park
“one way dream” is (metaphorically) a message from sonic team (which is a really sweet thing to say considering it’s featuring a prolific sonic cover artist)
this is an area where it’s easy to do so but regardless I love getting into the component arts in a game
interestingly, because the japanese egg memos are mostly literal translations from the english it seems to now also be canon in japan that sonic gave him the name “eggman” although since he was eggman from the beginning we must assume this did not happen in sonic adventure 1 like it did here. the japanese sonic 1 manual does refer to sonic foiling his plans over and over again even before sonic 1 so legally it tracks.
