Sonic RPG: Completed! Fun game and all.
Note: Given the nature of how much people "care" about this game's plot, I will reveal minor spoilers and such...if they can be called that >.>
Now a rant cause, well, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT COMING!
-Plot is actually not as bad as SONIC PLOT!!! would imply. It owns Sonic 2k6! ...not that this says a lot, but at least it means we don't have any SonicxSome Princess Whose Into Furries action...actually, we don't get any SonicxAnyone situations, which is a good thing! Plot is basically evil invaders from another dimension come, **** happens, Chaos Emeralds stolen, Sonic and Co. need to deal with it. Tries to add some interesting back story to the Sonicverse, but you know, its the Sonicverse; YOU DON'T CARE. The plot is really just pure fluff and doesn't try to pretend to be anything else, it mostly tries to make witty dialog and facial interactions and lets you control some of it by controlling all of Sonic's reactions.
...yeah, the end result is the plot is inoffensive, but you may as well ignore it barring telling you what you're suppose to do next <.<
-Game is rather well polished. The only thing I'd have liked is for it to explain how Damage Values work; it tells you tiers of Attack and Defense, and how much your equips are raising them by through terms like "Slight" and such, but doesn't tell you what they mean, thus you aren't sure quite how much a difference they make. Beyond that? Tells you exact multipliers on techs, the exact status rates, how much healing items do and such; its pretty good at actually telling you stuff. Even tells you your PC turn order at the beginning of each round to let you know what order you're doing stuff in!
-Speaking of which, of all things, I think Sonic RPG made the best use of Standard Turn Based System. Yes, that's right; the RPG based off a platforming series probably has the best use of that style. Its mostly cause the multi Turn thing; it lets speed matter more for the characters who actually get multiple turns (...and Shadow and Sonic who are the triple actors just HAPPEN to have game best speed go figure...), since now Sonic can get 2 turns before some characters get their first, for example, allowing for a pseudo Double Turning feature. Combo attacks are a nice way to encourage using certain characters, as combo attacks can help cover many flaws.
-The difficulty, however, is a bit lacking. Admittedly, this is cause items are really damned broken. They tried to compensate by making your PP Pools rather low, but you can get so much PP Healing its not even funny.
-Though, timed hits can make things interesting; I sometimes forgot they existed so I'd set characters to attack, turn my head for a bit and then realize a timed hit was going off and thus lose a fair bit offense/screw up a support move/take a lot of damage. This is a fault of myself, not the game! Timed Hits weren't too hard barring a few moves which I can understand why (Refresh is...pretty cruel; MT PP Healing and all that; its a self restoring POW move that works on the rest of the party! Yeah, Refresher Devices make it a bit worse, but the upshot is you need to spend less.)
-Game is nice at making quirk enemies, so you can't just select attack and sit back and watch. Some enemies actually evade (some eventually gain counters through evasion, even parasitic healing!), some have ludicrous defense, others are just whores you want dead before they can do annoying stuff. Its good at promoting using different kinds of attacks, and trying to mix up your PCs.
-PARTY SPLITS! The game wants you to use lots of PCs, and thus, party splits happen a few times with two forced PCs a team (Knuckles and Tails forced both times, go figure; Sonic is a given.) This would be annoying...if the game didn't basically give every PC EXP you gain regardless if they're in your team or not; might be a little reduced, but hard to say; either way, it insures no PC can truly fall completely behind; the instant you put them in your team, they level up the number of times they'd have if they gained the EXP, which is nice.
-USEFUL DEFEND COMMAND! Defending restores PP, how much varies from character to character; its just nice to have a reason to use defend and some other useful free action besides attack (which has the added factor of risking counters.)
-MACH SPEED!!! Actually, a neat way to handle running away. You don't innately fail or succeed, and the game tells you about being unable to run through "Trapped" indicators, and greying out the Flee option. Anytime you flee, you're forced into Mach Speed; ditto to the enemies. If the pursuers catch up to the escapees within the alotted time, the run fails, otherwise, success. Now, you running is an obvious case of "faster than dealing with crap EXP enemies" or "You're in trouble, EMERGENCY!" etc. Enemies running, however? Yeah, you lose rewards for the fight if they escape, but you can catch them. However, its done in a way that you can still benefit even if they do run since there are rings scattered around, thus you can at least make SOME profit. Not the most effecient way of getting money, but hey, better than nothing, no?
Now for thoughts on how PCs are...gameplay wise cause this is fucking SONIC PLOT which branches off to SONIC CHARACTERIZATION and I'd rather not talk about how they are plot wise <_<
Sonic the Hedgehog:
In Game: 3 Turns = Yay! Game Best speed (SHOCK!) means he pretty much always goes first, sometimes getting his second turn before other characters get their first (usually slower PCs.) Axe Kick was decent ST damage and high mult to make up for his low base damage (which is partially made up by an extra action of course), though couldn't pierce which was annoying since he's forced, and Whirlwind...ok, it sucked cause its weak MT on a commonly resisted Element. HOWEVER, he does have a boat load of unites which help make up for his flaws; Amy helps make his damage even better (and by contrast, helps her out too!), Knuckles and Shade give Sonic piercing damage off a nonfail Mult even, and Shadow makes him have actually nice MT damage off a not commonly resisted Element. There were times I did want to remove him just so I could use a more varied team, but eh, he's solid enough, which is good for a forced PC.
IN THE DL? HE BEATS SHEDINJA! ...ok, more seriously, depends where his damage falls. His good HP makes up for his low defense, his speed is game best, which is only compounded by his getting 3 turns to the average 2. Axe Kick should be at least passable on damage, but...eh, hard to say. Thinking Heavy cause even if he ends up 3HKOing, his speed can probably take him the rest of the way, giving him 3-2's on average against most opponents.
Amy Rose:
In Game: She starts off your powerhouse, since you're not using PP moves much given how much you lack PP, so her damage being free is really nice. Slowly, she starts becoming less good in damage given her Mults on Low Blow kind of suck, though, Fastball unite with Sonic helps compensate for this some. Blow Kiss is her money move, however; raising someone else's damage by 50% is pretty awesome, and gives her something to do against High Def enemies who require piercing damage. Speed kind of sucks, but she gets two turns so in practice, she's a lot more viable than the One Turners. Neat niche PC, in any event.
IN THE DL? Low Blow and Tantrum aren't much on damage, but at least they add status, Low Blow's status apparently increases damage by some amount, but unsure how Vulnerable works. Tarot Draw can screw over Crit Whores or something, I guess, and Blow Kiss helps compensate for her low mults some, as does naturally high base damage, though no getting around low speed. I guess some sort of Middle? Yeah, not someone who really translates.
Miles "Tails" Prower:
In Game: Support character...and he kind of sucks barring literally two moves. Medi Bot is good once built since its a way to restore PP AND HP, and starts making up for itself. Adrenaline is pretty awesome as well, letting him give anyone he wants an extra turn *AND* increasing their speed. Especially nice when given to a PC who has Big Nasty damage but only one action and is slow...but its not like any of THOSE exist *rolls eyes*. Otherwise, he can't really do much; he's too oriented around screwing over Mecs, and has some crappy status moves that just aren't practical in game.
IN THE DL? One hell of an annoying tanking game. See, Hyper status from Adrenaline doesn't just boost his speed...it also makes his high evade EVEN BETTER, making him a whore to hit. This leads to an annoying tanking strategy, which compensates for his lack of damage; Flash Bang is also suddenly not useless one on one, since Distract helps the defensive game. Damage sucks no matter how you slice it though; beating him basically requires getting past his defensive game, which has some holes in it. Probably a shade of middle.
Rouge the Bat:
In Game: She...sucks. She really lacks anything that stands out at all. She can steal thus good for making money! And...that's about it. Her Unites don't really help her out either, at least not enough. Has some status moves like Tails, but they aren't practical either. Frankly, she's probably LVP of the game all things considered.
IN THE DL? Light. So very Light. Crappy damage and no real way to make up for it like, say, Tails' Defensive game. By crappy damage, I mean 2 tiers lower on damage than Amy, with a similar Mult, and no Vulnerable status option or Blow Kiss to help compensate some. Well, at least you can't argue she doesn't translate accurately! <.<;
Big the Cat:
In Game: Defensive PC!!! ...in a game that clearly is more offensive oriented. This game's battles are sort of like Wild ARMs 4, only less extreme; you win them in slug fests, not through clever strategies. This is why pure status attacks often fail, and buffers that aren't related to offense (Tails' Adrenaline Rush and Amy's Blow Kiss) are just not worth it. He's slow and has one action to boot, WINNING COMBO THERE! BUT HE RESTORES 3 PP UPON DEFEND! His basic attack sucks cause his attack stat (aka accuracy) is low thus he has issues hitting things, he goes after like all enemies, his combos are lacking...really, his only decent move is Battering Ram which is pretty good ST damage. But one action + slow + no real special aspects make for a crappy PC.
IN THE DL? He translates too well for his own good. Bulldozer should be an easy 2HKO, and he has some defensive strategies that are suddenly useful one on one like massive Regen. Grah, hate, etc. Borderline Heavy, as I think the speed sinks him and he's an easy target to status.
Knuckles the Echidna:
In Game: He's Amy with more speed, but recovers less PP upon defending (1 a turn instead of 2), and trades in Blow Kiss for ITD...probably ends up about even. Uppercut is a nice cheap ITD damage attack, and Quake Punch gives him some MT damage with Stun attached for some variety. Has some good unites with Shadow to give him ACTUAL MT damage and with Sonic or Shade to give him actual Mults on his attack. Solid enough PC overall.
IN THE DL? Doesn't really translate. The "unites help cover his weaknesses" thing doesn't largely help when you're alone. He's still got passable speed, and should 3HKO with Uppercut, and wanna say he's reasonable durable, but...yeah, too one dimensional. Quake Punch helps some, I guess...but yeah, doesn't translate. Probably some form of Middle, I guess, much like Amy.
Cream the Rabbit:
In Game: She's a Healer. That's...really all I have to say. Pain in the ass timed hits I guess, but she's still a healer. Thankfully, she's GOOD at it. All her abilities are MT and she can help with Item conservation. Refresh = Hax, etc. Admittedly preferred more offensive approaches as the game went on, but putting her in my team when I needed to use more than one didn't feel like a massive flaw. One action hurts though...with MT support abilities like that, can you really blame them? She is fast, though this felt like a bad thing at times since I often wanted her to go AFTER characters like Shade or Amy so they'd get PP healed instead of before, but guess you can't have everything. Oh, and while her only damage move is her physical, its not melee, which was nice since it means counter whores can't counter her (and you'd think the Cat with the BIG FISHING LINE would be considered ranged, but NOPE! Also Melee -_-)
IN THE DL? A Pure Healer...well, she has some minor status but...uh, yeah, do I really need to explain how this translates? Pretty much text book Light in any event.
Shadow the Emo Angst Whore Hedgehog:
In Game: He's Sonic+. Really, outside of lower HP, he's pretty much Sonic but better in like all ways. His speed is lower on a pure numeric level only, cause he's so close in speed that it really doesn't matter (ie he acts before all enemies too.) Well, ok, he lacks any MT damage since he gets Chaos Blast for a Blast attack (adjacent enemies take 50% damage), but it kind of sucks, and Chaos Spear while awesome on ST has a mild issue of not focusing if more than one enemy is there (its two hits, one hit goes after the guy you targeted, the other chooses a random enemy), but these are relatively minor issues. Chaos Spear being Piercing helps so much, as does him having 3 turns. Of course, that MT Damage Lacking thing is a nonissue most of the time given Sonic is forced for most of the game, and the two of them can use Atomic Strike for a damn nice MT attack; and one area where Sonic isn't forced, Knuckles is instead, and Knuckles Express works just as well (if not better in some cases since its not elemental.) Yeah, he's...in running for MVP, frankly.
IN THE DL? He's got speed just slightly below Sonic, damage should be similar (lower mult, but higher base damage, and its ITD), and durability is probably equal (Higher Defense but lower HP.) HOWEVER, he has one very important thing Sonic does not; Chaos Rift. This normally useless move in game is really good in the DL. Why? 60% chance of instant Death, which on failure, is 100% chance of distract (ie massive accuracy loss.) Yeah, pretty clearly a Heavy considering he has all of Sonic's advantages and adds Instant Death to the list.
Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik:
In game: Uh, he's a temp, so usage of him is limited. He's...pretty much all about nice MT damage from Barrage and that's about it. He has an annoying as hell to pull off Unite with Tails that's just 100% ID to a single Robot...thankfully that's all you face when he's around, but still. Yeah, not exactly a varied PC, but Barrage was nice enough to make him pull his weight...which is quite a lot.
IN THE DL? He sucks. Lacks any real damage moves, he's got only one action and he's slowish. No variety either. Yeah, Light; he wants his Egg Carrier or whatever.
E-123 Omega:
In Game: Everything Big wishes he was. His basic physical DOESN'T SUCK since he's got the HIGHEST BASE DAMAGE IN THE GAME, combined with GOOD unique equips meaning he doesn't have to actually worry about being screwed by other characters (see those two Cursed Gloves? They're awesome...but everyone wants them and there's only two. OMega just laughs and uses the unique Cursed Claw which is equivalent but unique to him...and store bought <_<) Oh, and his basic physical is ranged *AND* has Blast meaning he can hurt multiple enemies. It doesn't end there though; he also has GOOD TECHS. Laser Cannon is basically Chaos Spear but lacks the unfocus issue, and is off much higher base damage, Flamethrower is good MT damage; by that I mean it does more damage than Big's Froggy Rain even when resisted, and does nearly as much as Atomic Strike...which is a unite. He's also durable having game best armor and good HP. And Machine Gunner has O_o mults though kid of mrfs against high defense, but still a fun option if pulled off. So what's his flaws? Slow and only one action, also only restores 1 PP a turn (worst rate in the game). The fact that he's still really good despite this proves they succeeded a making a worthwhile tank character; its like they took lessons from Wild ARMs games or something! He's also pretty much completely broken if paired with Tails since Adrenaline Rush is like the PERFECT ability on him; raises his speed *AND* gives him an extra turn? FUCK YES!
IN THE DL? Slow and one action = bad! But his damage should be pretty freaking sweet (might even OHKO?) Laser Cannon is good for ITD back up since Machine Gunner kind of falls off dramatically if the enemy has good Defense; it should still 2HKO, to give you an idea, also adds Vulnerable status on top of that but...given he's only using it for ITD, its only really useful if he needs to get that OHKO desperately or something. Also Flamethrower owns Shedinja! But believe it or not, that's not ALL he has. His big move? Temporal Field. This adds Hyper Status (increases Speed and Evade significantly), which partially covers one of his flaws...but then decides to add Phasing Status. Phasing Status can be summed up as "YOU CAN'T GET HIT, PERIOD. EVADE IGNORING BE DAMNED." Yes, the game distinguishes evade ignoring, and there's even a 100% Evade status that enemies use (aptly called "Evading") which some techs get around and others do not (ie any Tech labelled "Can't Miss") But Phasing takes it a step further and mocks those! So yeah, its Invincibility, IOWs. The end result is if Omega gets a turn, he can raise some hell. Though, being slow and having only one turn to compound to that means I can't really see him getting out of Heavy, but he's still a nice fun one!
Shade the Nocturnus:
In Game: She's Sonic trading in speed and an extra action for better damage, basically. She doesn't like high defense but...then again, the only forced PCs she'd be with (Sonic and Knuckles) both have a unite that happens to have Piercing, so that covers the problem some. Blade Rush is a cruel ST damage attack which also heals her, and her base damage isn't even that low (Same tier as Shadow's.) Original character and all that, but still a decent one nonetheless.
IN THE DL? Pretty much a text book Heavy. If she doesn't 2HKO, I'd be very shocked. She's a bit on the slow side, but parasitic healing on her damage helps make up for it some. She also has Hyper for an Evasion and Speed Buffer, which FURTHER offsets it. Uh, yeah, like I said, Text Book Heavy.
So yeah, that's my rant! Game is getting probably a 7/10. Its fluff, but its enjoyable enough and what not.
