I Played Shadow the Hedgehog · 2:16pm May 1st, 2020
Ugh, where to begin.
Look, I haven't liked much of Sonic after Adventure on the Dreamcast, and if you ask me it's for good reason.(Mania is the real exception to that.) I did like the 3D Green Hill Zone in Sonic Adventure 2 and …
I'm already getting into a different game.
So, Shadow …
This is a choose your own adventure story in the style of the 3D Sonic games. I like the idea of the story changing significantly depending on your choices, not so much the 3d Sonic style game play. The only thing about the controls that felt good was moving fast and ignoring everything else. Which prevented me from continuing the game. So, nothing was really satisfying.
For the story: Look, I write bad fan fiction. I don't pretend that it's not. As much of the story as I could get through just felt like bad fan fiction to me. Introducing an entire race bent on taking over the world thanks to some Faustian bargain Eggman's uncle made to make Shadow. What was wrong with Shadow's back story as it was in Sonic Adventure 2? It was fine, why toss all this in?
As for the game itself: Okay, I get wanting to do something different with Shadow's game, he's not Sonic. But they rely so heavily on the Sonic formula that making you slow down and even stop to shoot enemies with the guns you're using for no real reason kills the momentum of the game. And the mandatory objectives that if you make it to the goal without completing it just sends you back to the beginning … They should have done this game in a completely different style or played with the gun aspect so you didn't have to lose your momentum. Something.
I get it, Sonic Team wanted to try something experimental, I don't begrudge them that. But play testing should have brought out so many problems with this, not to mention bugs. I can't tell you how many times I just fell through the floor, or a platform/rails, or the pole would throw me in a random direction. The auto aim never worked right, which also kept me from advancing. I turned the game off at the start of the credits because I didn't want to start blaming the people who made this game, but I imagine there is no QA department, and that's to their benefit.
The path I took was pretty neutral but the game in general was so dark, like it was trying to look edgy, I could barely keep looking at it without wanting to walk away. Maybe a different path would have helped, but I really don't think so. I'm sorry, I usually review more and possibly better than this, but I just didn't like anything about this game.
I'm sure there are fans out there, and you clearly see something in this game that I don't. That's a great thing. I applaud that they tried something different, but they should have gone further to separate this and make it it's own style of game too. Not just Sonic but you have to stop constantly and look around. And not throw in that ridiculous curve in Shadow's back story.
Sorry, I'll see about getting another review up with a game I enjoy and can better evaluate.
Shadow the Edgehog is in my opinion, a great game; but it's not a good Sonic game.
5254069
Could well be the case. I did see a lot of potential, just not as the game I played.
They'd have to change up a lot of it for me. Perhaps change it from a Faustian bargain to sabotage or something.
I get playing on Eggman's uncle's desperation, but that takes away from Shadow to do things that way. Or even have it as Shadow himself making the bargain and the fall at the end of SA2 making him forget all of it.
Some time fixing the bugs would have made the game fun for me to play even without the story.
5254110
The big gripe I have is that none of the endings (or even the bits leading up to them) actually matter except the 'True Ending'.
How do you get the True Ending?
See all the other endings and then do another playthrough.
5254271
Wow, really?
I only had the patience for one play through. But to only get a true ending by getting all other endings and then nullifying those endings with that final ending instead of building a story with all of the endings that's capped off with the true ending just sounds like bad planning.
I'll say it again, this game could have been so much better.