User blog comment:Ultrasonic9000/The Shattered World Crisis has concluded/@comment-4533965-20161014230836

First and foremost, thank you Ultra for dedicating this blog to me. I was originally planning on writing a blog about the conclusion of the Shattered World Crisis, but you summarized my words perfectly. But, that doesn't stop me from my writing my own opinions and viewpoints of the three-year-long saga.

I definitely was not expecting a Sonic Unleashed adaptation in the new world, though by the time the cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #256 was revealed, I kinda figured it would have happened. The journey there and the journey's end, however, was full of surprises though: as someone who considers Unleashed the pinnacle of Sonic game writing, I knew Ian Flynn would do justice to this arc. And, for the most part, he did: sure, the home-stretch before "Panic in the Sky" was formulaic and predictable, and I do wish Worlds Unite didn't exist, but I enjoyed the saga the entire time (even during the less-enjoyable moments, like, as I've said, the Gaia Key hunt).

I loved the introduction of new, Sonic characters that actually look like Sonic characters and I cannot wait to see what direction the writers have in store for them. I personally like most of the new characters, but a few that stick out to me include Razor the Shark, Captain Striker the Mantis Shrimp, the Desert Raiders, and the Egg Bosses. I somewhat enjoyed the reincarnations of beloved characters we knew, such as Bunnie D'Coolette, Nicole the Holo-Lynx, and Dulcy the Dragon, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed by certain characters, namely Sally Acorn who I still have problems with because of her "flawless" personality.

My favorite story arcs during the arc have to be "Waves of Change", "Total Eclipse", "Hidden Costs" and "Panic in the Sky". Most of them, to me, were epic in their own right: "Waves of Change" introduce perhaps the most memorable post-SGW characters in the new comic universe but also had a ton of effort put behind it (nice Greek mythology references, Ian); "Total Eclipse" was my favorite Sonic Universe arc for a number of reasons, but to keep it short, I loved the arc because of Yardley's stellar artwork, the argument presented from both Shadow and Knuckles, Eclipse's role, the Dark Arms, and the list goes on; "Hidden Costs" mostly dealt with the pronghorn sisters, both whom are excellently written characters, along with the entirety of the third part of the story; and finally 'Panic in the Sky" was a very epic and satisfying conclusion to the Shattered World Crisis: the artwork was amazing during the whole thing, the action was top-notch, we actually saw the heroes lose for once and suffer the consequences, and the slight changes to the climax and finale of Sonic Unleashed. All four of the story arcs helped demonstrate the Shattered World Crisis's strongest points and helped exemplify what Ian has in store for us.

Overall, the Shattered World Crisis has concluded and I couldn't be happier or sadder. Was it long? Yeah, but I personally wasn't bothered by it: I believe the claims of the story arc being too long is exaggerated and that you should point out that the story of Sonic Unleashed isn't exactly something that can be covered in two years. I still feel like the saga was rushed a bit at the end, but hey, Ian has to do what he is told or there is no story, or even no comic. The Shattered World Crisis is over, but its impact is far from gone.


 * "And I'll never forget you. I'll be here with you always. A part of the earth you tread."