The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

When I play an RPG or game that has the almost becoming cliché little slider of good to evil, I am almost always a complete goodie two shoes or whatever the current term for that might be. I try to answer as I would actually answer, and that normally involves being, well, as nice as possible to those I’m trying to get help from and those who are watching my back in battle. It’s almost a rule for me to do so in these games.
I’ve made my first exception to that rule, and that exception is Sonic Chronicles. The dialog is, you know… it’s like talking with Sonic’s million and a half friends. I mean, I freely admit I am a furry, but “furry” and “Sonic fan” does not have to overlap, and I am not a Sonic fan. I don’t really care about all of these characters besides, I dunno, wanting to pick the ones I think look cute or whatever. I am not the person the Codex (!!) in the game was made for, a encyclopedia of Sonic lore like in Mass Effect. (No, seriously, the fact that this exists still blows. my. mind.) I don’t give a shit about these characters.
That’s why it’s so great that the game does what it does. Any time I am talking to the character, you have basically four options. Two are the ones I would use most often in any other RPG. You can be supportive and helpful, or you can ask for more information. The other two are one of the reasons why this game is really quite great, even if you aren’t a Sonic fangirl or boy. There is always a “Yeah, yeah, let’s just do it” option to end conversations as quickly as possible, if you don’t want to deal with them at all. Then, finally, there’s the “Sonic is a narcissistic asshole” option, in which you can basically insult every character you come across in the game. Don’t like Amy Rose? Constantly taunt her about the latest lame thing she says. Don’t like Knuckles? Constantly point out how useless he is at his job. Now, I’m early on in the game, so don’t quote me on this, but it really seems like these decisions don’t affect the game much at all. You can mostly just pick them to make yourself happy and have fun. And it’s really great. It was a damn great decision for people who might pick this game up out of loyalty to Bioware and not because they have any sort of affinity or love for it.

The gameplay itself is fairly solid too. It’s a bit Mario RPG mixed with Osu! Tatake! Ouendan! style mini-challenges to hit special moves and dodge enemy attacks. You really have to pay attention. There is also an element of, get this, Skies of Arcadia in it. Your party has very small amounts of PP to use special attacks, and you can’t get by some enemies without using them. You defend to regenerate these points for more attacks, much like how you would charge over and over and then spam attacks in Skies of Arcadia. Well, when I played it, anyway. The overworld exploration is… okay? I wish I could use the D-pad to move as well as the stylus. It doesn’t work as well as, say, Phantom Hourglass. But it works. It’s also kind of odd how… weirdly janky the graphics can look at times, but I’m not one to hold that against a game when it’s not horrible enough to make your eyes bleed. There’s just some out of place pixelation at times.

Anyway, those are my first impressions. Aren’t you impressed?