User blog:XaikuTheMaverickHunter/Sonic Unleashed... the modern Soul Blazer?

The game's overall concept seems to share several themes with three other games that the former-Enix developer Quintet released for the Super NES, which are, together, known to fans as the Soul Blazer/Gaia trilogy:*Soul Blader (known outside of Japan as Soul Blazer)
 * Records of the Illusion of Gaia (known simply as Illusion of Gaia in North America, and as Illusion of Time elsewhere)
 * Creation of Heaven And Earth (known as Terranigma outside of Japan. This game was not released in North America)
 * Similarities include:
 * The concept of evolution and reincarnation (in Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and Chip need to take the Chaos Emeralds to each of the world's Gaia Temples in order to reassemble Earth)
 * Gaia and Dark Gaia (known as "the Master" and "Deathtoll" in Soul Blazer, respectively)
 * Technology causing destruction of the world:
 * In Soul Blader/Blazer, King Magridd hires Dr. Leo to create a machine to be used to summon Deathtoll/Dark Gaia, as he struck a deal with the monster to exchange a piece of gold for every soul in his kingdom, a plan that left the planet's surface desolate.
 * In Records of the Illusion of Gaia, the comet controlled by Dark Gaia was used in many experiments and rituals, which caused the shapes and locations of the world's continents to change and for evolution of life to decline.
 * In Creation of Heaven And Earth/Terranigma, a man by the name of Dr. Beruga creates a virus that grants humanity immortality by turning them into zombies. Beruga is also implied to have survived the catastrophe caused by Dark Gaia that rendered Earth dead in this game
 * In Sonic Unleashed, Eggman uses the Chaos Energy Cannon to break Earth open, prematurely waking both Chip and Dark Gaia.
 * Gaia being assisted by earthly champions:
 * The Blazer (Soul Blazer, name given in Illusion of Gaia by Soul Blazer's "Metal Mantis," who appears as the secret boss, "Solid Arm")
 * Will and Princess Kara (the "Dark" and "Light Kinghts" of Illusion of Gaia. Known as Tim and Karen in the Japanese version)
 * Ark (Terranigma. A human being made out of a material known as "crystal blue" that Dark Gaia created in the image of the hero that is implied to have existed between Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma, in an effort to conquer Earth)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog is the "champion" that was "chosen" in Sonic Unleashed, as he (as Super Sonic) helps Gaia/Chip (in the form of the Gaia Colossus) battle Dark Gaia.
 * Certain gameplay aspects:
 * An EXP-based levelup system (not used in Illusion of Gaia, traditionally)
 * RPG Beat'em Up-style action contaning some platforming segments (though it also has some influence from other games of the genre that are unrelated to the Gaia series, such as God of War. The platforming is specifically similar to Terranigma)
 * Traveling to places based on real locations throughout the world (most prominent in Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma)
 * In fact, since the Gaia Manuscripts state that Gaia and Dark Gaia are bound to the cycle of the world's death and reincarnation, one could think that the plot of Sonic Unleashed indirectly follows the stories of the Soul Blazer/Gaia trilogy. However, it, and the rest of the game's common attributes seem to be a simple, yet unofficial homage to those games, as so far, no one from Sega, Square Enix, or any of the Sonic Unleashed staff have come forward with an official explanation on the matter.