I've completed the first island and I am... genuinely compelled... by this game???
It's clumsy and inelegant in a lot of ways to be sure, but not offensively so. And alongside the jank? It's got soul.
Some notes for now:
(click on the spoiler notices to open them)
spoiler level: her behavior and some context on the gameloop/progression. no narrative details
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Again, the characterization has improved significantly, but Amy in particular stands out. They've finally done some justice to our girl. She's a thoughtful, intuitive, strong willed, romantic. The way they manifested that latter trait healthily into her character is just so neat. And as for her and Sonic, when the two interact they actually feel like real friends and comrades.
In fact you interact with her quite a bit on the first island. It's a part of the progression, which means we'll probably be spending time with someone on each island.
spoiler level: acknowledgement of what trailers/promotional content revealed and my feelings on what little I've seen in game. No narrative spoilers.
- I was intrigued, but very nervous around Sonic Team revealing that they'd be exploring the backstory behind the chaos emeralds in this game together with a new Ancient Civilization™. Well so far I'll say the suggested narrative elements around them, while still very vague, might be pretty neat.
spoiler level: very light descriptions and feelings on gameplay so far, not ready for significant analysis
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I've got to play more to develop my thoughts on the gameplay, but while there are cool moments I feel like I'm mostly just vibing between story beats. Though that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Aaa. Really, there's too much to say about gameplay so I think the bulk of my thoughts are best saved until I've played through more. For now I'll comment on a handful of things:
-cyberspace levels: janky, simple, serviceable
-overworld: half-organized chaos, overwhelming and chill at the same time
-combat: less awkward than I expected, curious design, taking a bit to get a handle on
spoiler level: comments on music and the general vibe/experience, some specific gameplay details
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This fucks.
It's got a clumsy camera, but it fucks.
There are couple weird momentum halting design choices, but. it. fucks.It's just so goddamn cool. It plays the perfect kind of mid 00s edgy rock track while you do sick ass super versions of your moves, parrying attacks or getting swatted a mile away over a view of the island
Probably the best Super Sonic fight I've played.
spoiler level: performance details, nothing to spoil here
- It plays well. The game runs at a cap of 30 fps, but it's felt like a very consistent 30 so far, regardless of scene intensity. It feels much better than I anticipated. The resolution isn't very dense and pop-in is prevalent, but I haven't been consistently distracted by it.
Update: Okay, it's starting to struggle on this next island. Framerate's steady, but moments when the resolution dips hard and I can barely make out what's happening in a particular setpiece
spoiler level: details on the little guys
- You can collect a lot of little guys and they are very polite.
There's so much on my mind, but I'm inclined to play much more before going off on a big meaty chost. I might like this game.
