I do believe that this is Canon. I would look at this as Sonic’s time off to hang out with friends after everything that has happened in Frontiers, but Eggman has to ruin it of course. Also, having Sage there at the end there with Metal wearing those shirts is so adorable
I think this game marks the death of Vegeta the Hedgehog. Shadow in this game is responsive, thoughtful and introspective. He has a sense of pride in himself, competition and does try to flaunt his intimidation factor at times, but he’s ultimately one of the pals, and he always jumps at the chance to help, just like everybody else. He is cold, but he isn’t rude. He’s curt, but he isn’t dismissive. Intimidating, but not aggressive. This, I think, is the Goldilocks zone. I like how they portrayed Shadow’s introversion too. I don’t really like how Shadow is pushed off in the side in IDW and Sonic Prime, like he’s some kind of black horse. In this game, however, it legit feels like Shadow just wants his own space, especially while he’s trying to sort out Amy’s present. He goes out and plays games with Knuckles and Vector; he’s not some kind of douche, he’s all around just some dude who likes his space. I really look forward to the new direction Shadow is moving in. Shadow has no beef with Sonic, and there are so many cool and interesting character dynamics that Shadow can explore, if he’s JUST allowed to interact with the cast and be a friend, instead of being sidelined like he’s Hiei or something.
I cannot understate how absolutely thrilled I was at Shadow's portrayal in this game. Everyone has been gushing about how great he is in Sonic Prime (and I will be the first to admit that he's a big step up from what he has been) but he still seemed too aggro and trigger-happy to me in that show. Still too quick to go in on the offensive (yes I understand Sonic was being a brat who wouldn't listen but Shadow straight up rams into him before even trying to call out to him, and also when he sees that vision of Sonic causing a cataclysmic event of some kind, he's not concerned or confused at all, he just growls and says "Sonic..." like it's confirmed what he's always suspected from the get-go). But this isn't about Sonic Prime, this is about The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog. This is about my wonderful Ultimate Lifeform, who I haven't seen since about 2006. This is about the quiet, somewhat distant but deeply caring Hedgehog who is introverted and somewhat cold, but not at all angry, aggressive, dismissive, rude, or harsh to anyone. Amy invited him to her birthday party. She didn't invite Cream (probably an age restriction thing) but she invited Shadow. And he not only accepted but he dressed up for it. He may not have realized that he was supposed to bring Amy a birthday present, but once he did, he quickly figured out what to get her because he cares enough about his friends to know what they like. And quickly, too. He didn't turn down the invite to go to the concert with Amy. He tried to play it cool, but he agreed to it. Gosh I wish Amy and Shadow interacted more often, considering she's the one who reminded him of his promise to Maria. He may have been too proud to let anyone else know what he was doing, but he wasn't so gruff as to lock everyone in their rooms, he gave them all an exit (except Espio and Vector cuz he couldn't talk to them) He taught Vector and Knuckles how to play Super Monkey Ball. My dude plays gamecube games. He called it foolish but he plays it. And he took the time to show them how it works. He's a dork who put his name on the score board as "ULTIM". Dude put his Ultimate Lifeform title on an arcade high score board. He likes coffee. He likes chocolate. He wasn't upset at all when Sonic broke him out of the Lounge car (though why he didn't do that himself is weird but Sonic had to do something to contribute to the plot I guess) but the first thing he says is to tell Sonic that Amy and Tails are still trapped in the conductor's car. Not annoyance. Not "I was about to do that myself, faker, I don't need anyone's help, I hate everybody blah blah blah". Concern for his friends. He wasn't lippy with Sonic at all. In fact, there was no tension between the two of them at all. There was no competition, there was no one-upping the other, there was nothing like that. FINALLY SOMEONE REALIZES THAT THESE TWO CAN INTERACT WITHOUT BEING "RIVALS" OR COMPETITVE JERKS TO EACH OTHER. Admittedly, they didn't interact much at all, but any interactions were respectful and brief. Gosh that was refreshing. This is the Shadow I've missed for so so long. Everyone was was so in character, characters interacted with characters they don't normally hang out with, and it was just a wonderful, fun experience. Was it simple? Yes. Was it short? Yes. Was it just an April Fool's joke? Perhaps, but this is the best portrayal of these characters that I've seen in a long, long time, and I can only hope that they will be portrayed like this in future games, or the upcoming Sonic movie and show (please don't ruin Shadow, Sonic Prime. You're so close to nailing everything, Season 2 is supposed to heavily involve Shadow, please don't turn him into an angry edgelord, I beg you). Sorry for the novel of a reply, but I cannot stress enough how absolutely satisfying and validating it was to see the characters behave the way they're supposed to after all these years, especially Shadow. Gosh, I missed him. What a delightful game.
@@jimmybobfred696 No, you’re right. I’d have written a novel like this many times over. I really hope we see this Shadow return for IDW, and I hope Prime Shadow REALLY justifies himself next time.
Man, I seriously want more of these type of games for the Sonic cast. To be an April Fool's joke, this was the most pleasant, elaborated, and most well done joke ever done. I finish it yesterday and it was so cute and funny. Challenging in some part which made it even more fun to play it! ❤
I think we can all collectively agree that this is one of the best April Fools jokes we had ever from this series, no memes, no self deprecation, none of that trash, it's the most insight we had to Sonic's world in a long time and in a casual view. What's interesting is how much respect they gave to my pink girl, Tails and Amy really shine in this game, there's no particular complains I have with their portrayals, if this is how Amy is going to act in the future (away from the false role model they pushed down our throats), I believe I'm more than happy for it, and Tails acts like a kid again, never thought I'd ever see the day. And also Shadow being there for Amy's sake, he might never go to Sonic's events but he's willing to stand the blue menace for her sake. We really need more of these casual sights to Sonic's world, playing as a nobody as opposed to a reccouring character enhances how they see these heroes.
I loved watching the mystery unfold in this game, and I would agree that the best part was getting to see all my favorite characters ( Blaze, Espio, and Vector especially) be included in such an engaging plot. Each character had enough screen-time to themselves, so it felt like everyone had an important role to play in the story!💖 Great video review, Sonicsta! 😊
To be honest when i saw the trailer I really thought that sonic team or sega was making a april fools prank but man its was real and great love your vids
I was really surprised by its quality. It was a fun little game. They got my girl Rouge in there so that makes me happy. And about time we got to see Espio and Vector again! Blaze was the only character that was irrelevant imo... but its still cute they included her.
I played this game with my brother, and we did a dub for it. This game is nothing more than a charming loveletter to Sonic lore, and I can't help but love it. I liked the art style of the characters and the backgrounds. The interactions between characters are very cool, and I also like what your character thinks in their head. I'm hoping that they could port this game to other systems or something because I hate that this marvel of a project is stuck on Steam. This game is nostalgia done right! 😄😁
I loved this game. I didn't even know I wanted a Sonic game like this until I played it. I'm glad they also made a point of making awesome music for it too, can't get more 'Sonic' than that. 😀
" I bet your favorite character was in this game." Me, whose favorite character is Silver: 🧍♂️ (I understand why they couldn't put everyone in, but it's kinda sad seeing my fluffy boy not there. Hopefully, other characters like him will get their chance to shine soon)
That is strange. It’s also strange how Amy invited Vector AND Espio, but not Charmy. Even weirder, why’d she not invite Cream, her not inviting Big I can understand as she probably couldn’t find him, but not Cream?
@@lilboygthorns7373 Probably an age restriction thing. I guess Tails made the mark, but Cream and Charmy are still very clearly children. It was a weird exclusion, I'll admit, but they also couldn't have too many characters or it would confuse the plot and spread the focus too thin.
@jessicavance5192 Didn't Sega remove all the characters' ages? But I agree this game was made in a year, and adding more characters can be difficult or confusing for the plot. Since Sega is now willing to use other characters, I'm excited for characters like Silver and Creams future
@lilboygthorns7373 I think while looking out of the window, you see Big, but I don't think it's an age restriction thing it's just overwhelming the game with characters, if the game was longer than maybe more characters could come but it's a free 3 hour game which is understandable it's still an amazing game
I think what accentuated all of this is how the player character not only acts as an audience surrogate, but also their own character. They have their own neurotic quirks and likes that they can easily identify with, where their inner monologues also make them a riot. Phoenix wright and Takayuki Yagami would be proud. I’d love another smaller scale adventure like this - maybe with the Chaotix Detective Agency investigating something. Hell bring Barry on board as an intern that’d also be a fun idea.
You have no idea how long I've wanted a Team Chaotix detective spinoff game and/or series. And I think a visual novel could do the trick! Barry would also be a really fun character to include, maybe not as part of the main cast but as a side character who helps them out at the office or something. And he would of course contribute regularly, I don't mean relegate him to the sidelines, but I wouldn't consider him part of the Chaotix Detective Agency by any means. Include him in the story, make him relevant and useful, but keep the focus on the main boys. I would like to see Barry in future titles, though. His "normal" is just a hilarious contrast to everyone else's wild shenanigans. He's like Big, but not dumb. Just a normal dude. I love him.
I truly believed that this just an April fool thing but dear Primus I did not expect that it's not just a joke. It's an actual game. All I can say is I'm in love with Amy expression and her dress. It's looks so good on her. And how it pretty good looks and really like that we're talking with some other characters except Sonic (I would like tbh see if Omega would be on Amy birthday).
Finally someone who didn’t find the game predictable at times. Like sure knuckles breaking the arcade was expected, and the train being eggmans but that is literally it. I was suspicious of the conductor the whole time, not the train, the conductor was so nice and was not present during most of the story, so I thought the entire game “conductor is actually Eggman trying to kill sonic and friends.” Cartoons always have the least suspicious character and/or have the character in charge of the place be the one to do it, so to have the conductor be completely innocent in it all , and instead have the train who wasn’t even portrayed as a character until the reveal was surprising to me. The murder of sonic the hedgehog>Wednesday. Both were good but sonic was better.
This IS cannon. also, the character you play as is officially called "Barry" ( or at least that's what his name is in the announcement trailer) Man, I felt like I WAS the character. W.W.S.D. ( What Would Sonic Do ) I love this game!
I’m sure this game is canon, they only mentioned that the only reason it WOULD’NT be is because it’s not a sonic team title, a lot of games sonic team didn’t make are canon
MY only small issue is that your character was sorta put aside at the end. I mean I get it, they're just a random civillian, but still... You helped out! You hung out with Tails. But at the end, when Tails is explaining to sonic how he deduced everything, found all the clues and interrogated everyone, he doesn't even mention you. I'm bot saying everyone should have celebrated you but, you know... I just hope your character got at least a slice of that cake. Because they deserved it
I would be down for SEGA to create more visual-novel Sonic games like this in the future! We get a chance to see characters interact with each other that we don't normaly see interacting in the other Sonic games! I feel like this and the open-wolrd zone layout could be a fresh new way for them to continue creating the Sonic games in the future because I love both a lot!🙌
9:27 I haven't played the game yet but i can imagine an interaction between them E: GOD D- GRRRH... Alright, next time I'll show him... M: OPERATION FAILED. S: Father, have we lost? E: Sadly, yes. But it's not the end! Next time I'll show him the true power of- M: ERROR IN THE PROTOCOL. THE MEMORY CANNOT BE "READ". S: ... E: ... E: I think it's time to repair someone. S: Father, can i help you? E: Of course, sweetie. Can you give me tha-a-at thing over there?
I agree with you! I love your videos, somehow you always say all the things I want to hear, you have similar opinions as mine and I'm just so happy seeing your videos!
Amy’s best outfit is from this game, Tails with his detective gear is so adorable, the artwork of this game is amazing, the soundtrack is expectedly a bop, Sonic games need more “slice of life” filler stories in my opinion, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge need to where these outfit in the main games, SAGE IS BACK. But the game is suppose to be the 2023 Sonic game which greatly disappointed me at first but it grew on me so I like it now.
@@lilboygthorns7373 I can't tell if this is a joke about how horrendously bad the game is or if you genuinely couldn't find info about the 2008 Nintendo DS game published by SEGA I mentioned above.
I'm see how Sega is going with sonic cannon same as how batman stories are cannon are to each other if they or the fans like it and it can be worked into the story then it's cannon in some form, for example from what I heard Batman's Kill Joke wasn't written to be cannon to main batman witch was why DC allowed Barbra to be shot and paralyzed, then people really liked the story so they made it cannon.
