Sonic's first foray into the RPG genre. Developed by Bioware even! Does this stand up to classics like Final Fantasy? Paper Mario? Pokémon?............NOPE. Not at all.
Bioware wasn't even that good to begin with. I guess compared to the trash Bethesda was releasing at the time Bioware was releasing Mass Effect and Dragon Age, their games looked far better by comparison. But their games had a ton of problems that people just chose to ignore and overpraise the shit out of the game as a whole.
Darragh Duffy no, it wasn't. Did you not watch this entire video? Besides, decent doesn't equate to great. There is no such thing as a great Sonic RPG to this date.
It was a decent game. When i played it as a kid i beat it twice, as a kid i thought the models were bad, but i loved the gameplay and the cool maps. I also loved the winter levels song for some reason
Unshakeable Spirit I get it, guy. You dislike popular things. That doesn't make you unique. Also, it's people like you that make me hate Sonic fans. Grow a pair and realize that this game isn't very good.
some people just have different taste in games. Theres people out there that would give Sonic 06 a 9/10. Sonic Chronicles isnt even that, Clement just sucks at the touch screen thing. (although the game is still pretty poor)
***** I guess that people who think the Action 52 was bad are just discussing their taste? We're talking about what's good and bad, not what we like and dislike, taste has no place in this discussion. And who brought up the touch screen? I'm talking about the game having typical Bioware Syndrome.
Something I'd like to say about the music: the composer had no idea how to use the DS' sound system and a lot of trouble with it and no one seemed to care enough to help him or replace him.
Isn't it sad that Sonic Chronicles has nothing but MIDI files while Pokémon Platinum, released the same year, has the Frontier Brain theme, and Bowser's Inside Story, released a couple of months after, has In The Final?
13:26 "Missed." "PERFECT!" Jokes aside, I can never bring myself to dislike this game, even though I know from an objective critical perspective it's kinda bad, but childhood nostalgia is a powerful entity and I still enjoy it to this day for some reason.
I'd love to see it done again after the success of Yakuza 7: Like A Dragon. I doubt SEGA would have the balls to outsource it again, but with actual brain-haver and fellow Sonic ultranerd Aaron Webber way up in the company, it's not impossible.
Wait....The music in Chronicles was remixed Sonic music? I'm sorry, the music in this game was so horrible I didn't noticed. I think that if SEGA ever wants to do another Sonic RPG, they should try something like the Mario & Luigi series.
@@PeruvianPotato I feel like it was trying to do it's own thing with the pow minigames. What I don't get is why I can dodge all the powerful attacks but not regular attacks.
Sonic Chronicles was a big disappointment to me not because of Bioware, it was the fact that it was a MASCOT RPG. Mascot RPGs are the simplest type of RPG you can make. You don't need to build a mythos. The Characters and Mythos are already there for you to put together. I love the Mario RPG's and how they put quirky little twists and lampshades on the Mario Universe and tradition. Paper Mario: TTYD is one of my favorite games of all time. Superstar Saga is a great game too. A Mascot RPG is impossible to fuck up, yet Bioware managed to do that with Sonic. It's like a fucking curse. Something done really well? Well here comes a Sonic iteration that proves that it can be done badly. Adventure Tours in Mario & Sonic Vancouver DS is a much better RPG-like game than Chronicles. Yes, the fucking SPORTS game is a better RPG than the RPG.
Megaman X Command Mission although lacking in story and exploration did give us a decent combat system (even though it was a FF10 knock off) and had good boss battles Chronicles was just a wasted opportunity
***** Now you trippin. MMXCM voice acting was atrocious. Sure compared to past games it was decent ,but as a whole it's still pretty bad and the awful dialog didn't help either.
MrTheDerper You are not alone I loved Sonic Chronicles enough that I beat it 6 times! I am really looking forward to a sequel which I think they are already doing.
White. That's fine. I'm not saying that I don't like Sonic. I'm just saying Sonic didn't had that many successful games as Mario has. Not all Mario games are great reminding u. But I just found Mario had so many successful games than Sonic. Mania was great; though.
Okay, I'll admit, I'm not one for RPGs. But I didn't have a problem with POW Moves, did I fail, yes, did I have a problem, no. I thought the game was rather easy as well. I will agree the music was AWFUL, except the battle themes.
BadCandyStudios My point was that any Mario RPG is bound to be a grand affair, with the exception of Sticker Star (Super Paper Mario doesn't count and Partners in Time was admittedly weak, but altogether not that bad).
Superfield I will admit that Sticker Star wasn't as good as it could be, but I still found it pretty good, stickers were cheap and plentiful, the Sticker and Thing Museum was awfully relaxing, and I overall had a good time with it. Though I WILL admit it's the worst Mario RPG, it's still a good game nonetheless. But in a Mario RPG, I found making Bowser silent was one of the STUPIDEST DESICIONS THEY COULD HAVE MADE.
***** I haven't completed it yet, but I did enjoy what I did play, it's just that there are so many odd design choices. It's still a decent game though, and nowhere near comparable to THIS monstrosity.
A theory people have about why this game was so cheap despite Sega's large budget for Bioware, it is believed that Bioware used the funds for Dragon's Age, stole a bunch of midis from the internet, and overall gave it as small of a budget as possible. Why Dragon's Age specifically? Something about the release date or something, I dunno, but it does seem pretty plausible. *And even if they didn't use the budget for DA, we know what happens to Bioware even with a big budget*
WOOT! So glad you're doing both versions, Clement! I love the Wii version to death and have very...mixed opinions about the HD version. Can't wait to see what you have to say, or what any Guests may have to say!
I played this game as a kid and I liked it. So i decided to play it again to see what I would make of it now and........ I still enjoy it......please don't hurt me.
I think Sonic Chronicles was the beginning of the end of the Sonic Cycle, but the start of the Bioware Cycle. It was after Chronicles that many of Bioware's games were hammered for having many poor design decisions in future titles.
***** So the reason sonic got out of the dark age was giving the dark age disease to bioware? well the disease has returned to sonic with sonic lost world.
AthercraftRELOADED (I will warn you, this post is going to be long. Most likely way too long, but I feel that I need to explain my viewpoint and I apologize for how long this thing is. I do respect your opinion and if you don't want to read all of this then you don't have to. I should also mention that this may include spoilers for Lost World for anyone who doesn't know what happens in the story, not that anyone seems to care these days...) Lost World wasn't that bad...yeah the 3DS version was kind of...less than thrilling...but the Wii-U version was actually pretty good. I enjoyed the levels, I liked the story, the gameplay was pretty fun, I play the DLC levels (especially the Zelda level) all the time. Hell, I even went out of my way to get all of the Red Rings because I thoroughly enjoyed the game as a whole (having the ability to get so many lives rather easily helped with that too, because I know I died a lot trying to get a few). I even loved how Sonic and Tails kind of got into an argument for maybe the first time in the series (as far as I'm aware of anyway, do correct me if I'm wrong) and even teaming up with Eggman to take on the Deadly Six after a certain point. And I can safely say that I didn't go into Lost World with high expectations, Sonic 06 (and Majora's Mask, I hated Majora's Mask as much as I hated Sonic 06 and Megaman X6) taught me not to do that, so when I picked up Lost World I didn't expect too much or too little. I reserved judgement until I actually played the game. I'm doing the same with Sonic Boom and I do admit that I like what I'm seeing so far, but again, I'm going to reserve judgement until I actually play the game for myself instead of going off of trailers. The fact that people are instantly saying that Sonic Boom is going to suck is insane to me. They've never played the game and as far as I'm concerned the game still seems to be in development, this thing isn't even out yet and it's already being bashed. This is exactly why I've started to distance myself from the Sonic fanbase, I feel that a vast majority (not mentioning anyone in particular of course, I am aware that not everyone thinks like this) just aren't pleased no matter what SEGA/Sonic Team does, good or bad. I can't even count how many people I've seen bashing Sonic Boom because it's "not Sonic Adventure 3". Calling a game that isn't even out yet "bad" without having any experience playing the game whatsoever (or if it's not a game that it feels like a chunk of people want) isn't even remotely logical to me. Long story short, I did enjoy Lost World despite feeling like I'm in the minority and I do have hopes (though not too much) for Sonic Boom when it's released.
Burraku Dusk 1.I don't understand why you like lost world so much (I personaly thought it was a step back to the dark age of sonic with the lazy story, experimental gameplay[that was bad. A RUN BUTTON IN A SONIC GAME?], Immersion breaking hints that don't help at all and the worst part of it all THE BLATANT COPY AND PASTING FROM MARIO GAMES!) but you are entitled to your opinion so go ahead and like this game. 2.YOU HATE MAJORAS MASK?! sorry your entitled to your opinion I forgot 3. I agree that its ridiculous when people make big judgements about sonic boom when its not even out yet. I once saw sonic boom on someone's top 10 sonic games list and it was at NUMBER 1! HOW DOES THAT WORK!? 4. I fully agree that the fan base is mentally insane but i don't distance myself from the fan base because i am a hardcore sonic fan and am probably just as crazy(although i do not have a religious hate cult about elise [although i hate that bitch])
I enjoy watching anything you LP Clement, your commentary is golden. It was by watching your video's of Sonic that I decided to give his games another go. Mega man games may be my bread and butter, but I enjoy the Sonic series to.
Good to see you make a video of this game. When Sonic Chronicles was announced that it was going to be made by Bioware, Super Mario RPG first came to mind as Square created an amazing game which lead to many more RPG series later on(Paper Mario/Mario&Luigi).
Why not get Sega to make a deal with Squaresoft, the creators of Final Fantasy, to make "Sonic Chronicles 2:Eggman's Revenge"? And make it a lot better, without touch controls, and not as bad as Final Fantasy XIII.
"Look, I know it seems like most of this video is gonna amount to the POW system sucks & that's why the game is bad" Personally, I see nothing wrong in that judgement. It doesn't matter how good a game's story, graphics or music are when the core gameplay element is busted. Hell, even if there was a silver lining to all this like Clement mabye doing something worng, it's still bad design when a game on it's default difficulty (no challenge mode or anything) accepts nothing but A+ perfection from the player. Even seemingly impossible games like Zelda 2 or Castlevania 3 have some form of safety net to get you back on your feet after fucking up. Chronicles doesn't even give you that & it's not like this was a doomed mechanic from the start. Take for example Cream's healing moves. Why not have it so that you have the 8 QTEs to hit, but for each one you hit, it will guarantee you 12,5% of the gotten health. Then there are the drag events. Why can't the game judge the excecution on a relative sence? Still count the hit if it was just close enough, but you'd miss out like some kind of critical hit bonus. But again, if the game demands these kinds of outrageous requirements from the player, then none of the good stuff in the game is worth a damn. The graphics could sparkle all they want & the music could be as feet tappingly awsome as it wanted to be, but I wouldn't wanna bother getting there because the proccess is too painful & in the end, an all-around emotionally painful video game is a bad game. Not worth caring about in the slightest.
This was the video that introduced me to your channel. i wasnt too little when i saw this game. When i got to the end, being the young kid i was, i still thought "ARE YOU SHITTING ME"(without the profanity) i returned it lighting speed. I was miserable for weeks that i spent my money on it. I had forgotten the name untill i found this video
hey clement, you have two more games for the dark age of sonic.. you forgot to do a playthrough of Sonic 06 :) .. (I'm aware of the review and the fact that he doesn't want to do a playthrough of Sonic 06)
I wonna play that. I just started getting into the Dragon Quest games. 8 being the first & I enjoyed it. 11 was next & I love that game to death. So I wonna try out other Dragon Quest games. So is 9 any good?
I've heard the Big Arm remix god-knows how many times now, yet I'm still in hysterics whenever I hear it. It's the pinnacle of "I don't even think you tried at all"...
Your Banjo-Kazooie LP was what made me a die-hard fan of the series. It's one of my favorite of your LP's. I am very much looking forward to Sonic Unleashed.
This is one of the few Sonic games that got a really positive review from GI and they're praising this game like it's the best Sonic game they've played in years. I dunno if they really like this game for what it is or it's because Bioware is working on it but I'm willing to bet if Bioware wasn't behind it they would've been a lot more harsh on this title.
MastaGambit It's not just Game Informer but a lot of gaming websites. I think this game also received gaming rewards too for "Best Handheld RPG of 2008" or something after it came out. I could be mistaken but I remember these sites giving this game a whole lot of praise.
Clement might shoot me for saying I actually enjoyed the WereHog parts of Unleashed.. Then again, I'd played Unleashed right after a heavy binge-play of The Bouncer, so I was used to it lol
So if anyone's still watching this video, can you tell me the name of the track that starts around 15:30? I can't remember its name for the life of me.
I actually liked Sonic Battle, I played it all the time as a kid. The music is great, the animations are well done and it's fun to create your own Emerl fighter. It can be a bit repetitive in some missions but overall I think it's pretty fun.
Ditto. I had a great time with Sonic Battle! Really sad my game save got corrupted. I didn't feel like playing it again with all that progress gone, but it was a great game from my childhood.
ummm, I'm not sure if I have one, it's been awhile since I've played it. Take advantage of your strong attack since it sends the opponent flying. It's useful in a lot of missions where you have to survive until the time is over. You should definitely get it if you can, it's a fun Sonic spin-off
Sonic Battle was alright, but it had bullshit pacing. Early in the game, you were required to fight with emerl, but aquired moves were random, meaning you were screwed if you were left with default attacks.
So I'm assuming you liked Bravely Default? Aside from a certain part (if you've played it, you know the one), the game was one of the best turn-based RPGs to come out in a long time.
The game isn't considered bad, it just was still in the dark ages. Ya gotta remember, this came out when Sonic games were in the toilet as far as the franchise was concerned. I, personally, loved Sonic Unleashed; it wasn't my absolute favorite game in the franchise, but it showed promise and made us aware that Sonic could be good again. Man, what I wouldn't give to be a guest commentator. Too bad I haven't started LP's yet... X3
Sonic Unleashed is a gigantic metaphor for nighttime. During the day, everything's hunky dory. During the night, everything that can go wrong goes wrong.
"Elite Beat Agents the RPG"? Elite Beat Agents was an awesome game, though. Sonic Chronicle's POW moves are more like playing a rhythm game without any music.
I see this game as a turning point for both the Sonic series and Bioware. Before Sonic Chronicles, Sonic was well in the mire of the dark ages, and Bioware was simply untouchable as a developer. Sonic Team sucked, but Bioware was the best on the block! There was no way this game Could fail! But this game came out and it sucked, surprisingly Sonic and Bioware went in two completely different directions. While the Sonic Dark Age persisted for another two years, the Sonic series started to recover, and Bioware? Well...let's just say they were never quite the same after this. It's like the dorkiness of Sonic's Dark Age rubbed off on Bioware.
I actually liked this game when I was younger. It's true, I never played an RPG before but I loved Sonic for the speed and I always had high expectations for Sonic games and this one will always be on the top 3 list of best sonic games, 1.Sonic Adventure 2 Battle 2. Sonic DX 3. Sonic Chronicles
5:10 Nitpick here: The Nocturnus Clan is not from Angel Island. The area that would become Angel Island was very much associated with the Knuckles Clan - the Nocturnus Clan was a separate faction, who lived in their own city of Nocturne. They may appear on Angel Island during the game, sure, but that doesn't mean they're from there - or else can we assume Eggman is from Angel Island since he appears there in Sonic 3 & Knuckles?
@@DestinyZX1 Don't forget it's Archie's fault as well due to not having the legal papers and not bothering to continue the case(I can't blame them when you're up against "This guy"). Then Scott Fulop came in to sue Archie and became the final nail in the coffin(At least Archie won the case) Edit:Turns out, Archie was the one doing the cease and desist against Penders. It is still their fault due to not providing any sort of papers proving they own these characters signed by Penders while he himself file a copyright to his characters back in 2009 and finalized in 2010. So this dude got the legal advantage and got what he wants. Still bullshit for what he did, both sides are to blame.
By the way, does anyone know if he's still going to do more Sonic games. I know he said he's doing the whole series, so is he just going to have a long break after Unleashed?
Honestly, I've NEVER had problems with the 3DS' touch controls. I mean, yeah on 3rd part stuff, but not the keyboards, not navigating menus, not drag controls. I honestly think that Clement is just having personal issues that having nothing to do with the system.
i'm confused. you said at the end of Advance 3 the Shadow started the dark age, but now you say Battle and Advance 3 were part of the dark age? When exactly was this dark age exactly?
Its not a great RPG by any stretch of the imagination, but I still had fun with it. I thought the writing was pretty damn good, it had me in stitches at times. But there are majors problems with it. The music sucks, and it was too long for its own good. But they obviously did a TON research for this and I can appreciate that. As a big Sonic Battle fan, I grinned like a dork when they brought up Emerl. I dunno, I plan on playing it again one day.
A firend once showed me Shadow Hearts: The Covenant, where you can't just choose an attack and sit back, you still have to be quick on the buttons with a spinning wheel in order to actually perform the attack, and I liked that idea. When an attack went through, and especially if you made a critical it felt earned.
Your experience and my experience are the exact opposite. I started with Sonic Chronicles, and i loved it. The game you're breaking down was the game that got me into RPG's and stuff like that. However, I'm not the biggest fan of RPG's, even though I like them. So I can't really handle what people would call "good" RPG's. So I tried Final Fantasy, and I can't bring myself to play them again. Oh well, one man's treasure is another man's gold.
So, I wonder what he thinks about the Archie-Ken Penders legal situation that ended up indirectly spawning from this game, which ultimately forced Archie to reboot the Sonic comic universe right in the middle of several then-ongoing plot threads?
I find it funny that Clement considers Sonic Unleashed the Last game of the Dark Age..I'm gonna have to disagree with that, that title goes to Sonic and the Black Knight (2009). A lot of people I know forgot about that game, it was such a forgettable sequel. Most people I know passed on it. Dark Age of Sonic officially ENDED on 2010... That's when the Sonic Renaissance Age begun :)
conlia That is a really stupid way of looking at the series. How do you know the dark age started again because of Rise of Lyric? Because the game didn't do well? It was ONE bad game!
back on topic with this game. this game disapoints me EVEN more knowing that THEY EXPLAINED the gizoids. YET there is no trace of Gemrl (emerl has passed by this point and sonic advance 3 happens) and its EVEN more of a missed oppertunity. this game looks like it couldve done the same skill customizing Sonic Battle Does and it disapoints me even more
You still have Sonic and the Black Knight to contend with as part of the Dark Age of Sonic, so you are not out of the woods yet Clement. Just so you know that I don't mind you taking a break from the Sonic Franchise, you have done such awesome work that I believe that you deserve this break. Can't wait to see what you have got cooked up after Sonic Unleashed.
First played chronicles and then unleashed. The difference between these two game is just too huge (in terms of presentation, graphics, pace, everything). Despite having flaws Unleashed is always my favorite Sonic game of all times.
@@jarekjellison817 Rise Of Lyric didn’t have a bad soundtrack, it was actually a relaxing soundtrack. It wasn’t Sonic quality but it was still not bad. But Chronicles is literally just bad
is it wrong I have the exact opposite opinion of the werehog to daytime stages? if anything because it was my first 360 game ever and it was impossible to dodge some stuff in mach speed mind you sonic adventure 2 battle was the most recent sonic game I played at the time
