RE: Story or Gameplay?
Tominique > 12-07-2024, 10:55 AM
That's a tough one to answer for me since I feel Sonic has always kind of had story on the focus in some way or another. As far back as Sonic 2 having a very blink-and-you-miss-it character arc with Tails in the Tornado getting shot down at the start of Wing Fortress Zone, then coming back at the end with a now upgraded Tornado to save Sonic from falling (if you got the bad ending, that is). Mainline Sonic had always tried to tell a story somehow.
I struggle to imagine any Sonic game that wouldn't feel like it had something missing if it ditched the story. Of course Adventure 2 wouldn't work since every stage has some story context to it. Heroes, while not having that big of a story, still used it to lead all the team's campaigns into one big climax. Shadow '05 exploring the many what-if paths Shadow's character could have fallenl into.
And that's not even mentioning how often Sonic stories have deeper, more meaningful messages to them. Rush, having Blaze learn to open up and accept help from others. Secret Rings, having Shahra dealing with getting out of and coming to terms that she was in an abusive relationship. Superstars (best new Sonic release yet, by the way), having Trip overcome her social anxiety and learn to stand up for herself against those pushing her around. Heck, Tails' whole deal started out with him being bullied for his twin tails, before turning that abnormality of his into his biggest strength. If not big shonen plots, Sonic still have their merits in the genuine lessons the games have.
Right, Generations kind of had a story, I suppose.
Point being, for me, I don't separate Sonic gameplay and story, but that's just how I see the franchise as a whole, always trying to see the good in everything a game has to offer until I'm saying fully with my chest out that '06 isn't that bad.
But for the sake of the question: Story. All the way. We did get that back with Superstars, and don't get me wrong, I really like the mechanically rich games like Adventure 2 and Unleashed, but I really want the franchise to fully pick back up that sincere and personal touch the stories had.
