Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24012316-20141011062741

             After the alright Sonic Unleashed, Sega released the sequel to Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic and the Black Knight. This game’s trailers… made the game look like sh*t. Sonic simply didn’t look fun his latest appearance. Was I right? Was I wrong? Well…

 SONIC and the Black Knight

 Story Lake;

 The GOOD type of weird

             The story of Sonic and the Black Knight opens with a spectacularly awesome CGI cutscene. The detail and crispness of the cutscene really caught me off guard. I know Secret Rings and Unleashed were great, but this was a completely different kind of amazing. Merlina, a wizard (wouldn’t it be witch?) is running away from a black knight. After getting surrounded by a platoon of dark knights, she summons a hero of wind… and Sonic falls out of the sky as a result. Ok…

 Merlina warps Sonic away after he dispatches the platoon, preventing him from taking on the king.

             Sonic, after training with the rusty Clarent, is chosen to draw Caliburn. The sword doesn’t go along with Sonic, vice versa. After running into a lot of parodies of characters, Sonic defeats King Arthur (yes, that’s him), and saves the day! Well…

             There’s a plot twist, but I’ll let you find out yourself… who am I kidding, I’m posting this on the Sonic New Network, and you could just look it up!

              Overall, this is wasted potential. I would’ve liked to see Sonic’s personality get fleshed out in the world of knights in armor. Overall, it’s enjoyable, and I like how it’s portrayed in the awesome book presentation.

 Presentation Woods

             The graphics are damn straight, with amazing model and animation quality. The graphics are a bit jagged, but hey, it’s a Wii title. I still think the game looks fantastic, and I wish this style of graphics returns. An HD remake would definitely help the wonderful graphics of both Black Knight AND Secret Rings.

             However, one thing Black Knight trumps Secret Rings in is THE MUSIC. This soundtrack ANIHALATES whatever Secret Rings has. The main theme, Knight of the Wind is INSTANTLY recognizable, I freaking love all the level themes, overall, amazing soundtrack.

 Gameplay Castle

 …

             Sonic and the Black Knight simply takes Sonic and the Secret Ring’s formula, and tweaks it. Sonic is still in an on rails style of progression, but now is controlled with the nunchuck. Sonic no longer has to charge his jump, and now has a lot more momentum. The dash jump is still there for getting a good start, and overall, I like the movement. Sadly, Sonic still controls too linear on foot, but with the linear progression of the levels, I really don’t mind. Sonic can still perform the jump dash, as well as the homing attack, which in itself is pointless unless in the legacy missions, but it can be combined with the game’s main gimmick; sword play. It really is only for waggle reasons, and I have to say, this actually is pretty fun. Sword play is fast and frantic, and I find it fun to chain back flips and dash slashes. Of course, homing attacking and THEN swinging the wiimote lets you do some sort of spindash, which kills a whole chain of enemies.

             Sadly, just like Secret Rings, the game is completely mission based; however, they are a bit better. Though honestly, I just wish it was simple progression. I kinda stretched it a bit when I said I thought Secret Rings could’ve been my favorite Sonic game. This game certainly is more enjoyable, and later down the road, we get to play as multiple characters, each with slightly different play-styles.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Percival is Blaze (wouldn’t this make it Dame Percival?), who has speed type attacks (though she really isn’t great in combat), but her athleticism is AWESOME. Three jumps and THEN a jump dash, she can just WALK up walls, overall, she’s great for those tough platforming segments and speed running. Gawain is now portrayed by Knuckles. He’s a tough fighter, and is adept for fighting the swarms of enemies the game would occasionally throw. He also has the ability to glide, and I believe it’s more useful than the three jump/air dash combo of Percival. Finally, Shadow is now used for Lancelot. He’s very similar to Sonic, in fact, outside a different combo chain, he’s just like Sonic. However, when equipped with later swords, Shadow actually would fire projectiles. That alone, makes him superior to his fellow knights, as well as Sonic. Better get in to that.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Sonic and the Black Knight has a forging system. Certain items earned in levels can be used to upgrade your swords for better attack strength and such, or even new abilities. Sonic is stuck with Caliburn throughout the entire game. However, LIKE Secret Rings, this game is relatively fair, and the lack of extra mobility doesn’t bother me. However, if the OTHER knights can upgrade, why not Sonic himself? It’s not like he has any traits that makes me like him the most at all. But then again, the first half doesn’t require Sonic to do more than necessary, so I’m ok.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> There actually are some RPG elements, as Sonic has three fight styles. I forgot one of their official names, and I’m too lazy to figure it out myself, so I’ll just name them as I know. Your standard is Knight Style. It is incredibly balanced, and more than capable of taking the army down. Paladin is more or less action oriented, specializing in overcoming all the hordes of enemies. Speed is sacrificed for incredible damage output, which is nice for some occasions. The third is speed oriented, and is very nice for speed runners. It’s not very good for offensive measures, but the swiftness of your attacks and movements certainly makes Sonic more agile.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Each of these styles can be leveled up, of which can make each broken in their own regard. The Knight style is my favorite due to how great both mobility AND attack power is distributed. Paladin is my least, because I never was all about the sheer brute force at all, but for those who like whaling out on enemies, go on ahead. The speed style is not so bad, but I really never have tried it out so much. It just feels like a slightly weaker Knight style, and a little faster. Hell, in certain sections, due to a speed cap, it moves even SLOWER.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> The final gimmicks that set each character apart are two things. One, each knight other than Sonic is locked to a certain style, though they can make even the Paladin style good. The other gimmick is the soul-gauge, which can be used for blazing down areas with no enemies, and when there ARE enemies, each character has different attack styles that set them apart, and is probably THE reason anyone would select them gameplay-wise. Sonic is simply jumping from enemy to enemy, slashing them with his sword. Lancelot uses the power of chaos control, teleporting to enemies on foot or on air. It’s really a faster and flashier version of Sonic, with a bit more efficiency. Knuckles is the only long ranged attacks, as he throws HIS swords like boomerangs from a distance. This is great for dealing with potentially dangerous threats from a distance without risking ring loss. Blaze is the only MANUALLY controllable style, as she surrounds herself with fire, and you can control her to unleash HAVOC amongst enemies. Overall, a nice addition to the game, though I wish the gauge didn’t deplete so fast.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"> Overall, I feel that Black Knight, while a solid action game in itself, is not very fitting for Sonic. I kinda wish Sega used a different character, but hey, this is still good enough. For those simply wanting some fast paced Sonic-styled sword-swinging, this is for you. However, newcomers should steer clear from this. Go play Sonic the Hedgehog 2, or Sonic 3&Knuckles at that rate.

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