https://youtu.be/JEHBtq4xvS4
>>15481
Nice rant. Imo, on one hand, I've grown rather numb to the 20 years of 3D Sonic, so I'll bite with this direction.
I think making characters play different is great for making said character actually feel like something special. But as a brand, it's became very clear to me over the years that 3D games fail the most when the experience of what a character in a game can do, could either work for the character AND be fun to play, or it doesn't and make the game worse. On one hand, games like Sly, for lack of a better word, are kinda dead nowadays. Unless I'm missing something, what game in the past 5 years had multiple playable gameplay styles (that isn't a spinoff title like Smash Bros), either between characters, or just by themselves? I legit don't see this anymore like I did in the 2000s. I think most people realized when you ask for a mainline game to do x because they want more of x, having the game "share" x with y when people don't like y, is why games like Sonic where Tails don't play like Sonic but with flight, seem to fail. Case in point, why people prefer Sonic 2/Mania Tails over SA2/Heroes Tails. I don't just think its simply "it's kinda janky/buggy/etc so I don't like it", I think just not being what people expect from a series is enough for people to hate it. Even when it's just one character, GoW e.g got flack for having those "balance on wooden planks" so much they removed them from future games. Because people want more of the action packed fighting, not slow platforming sections in a game about killing demons and gods.
Basically, I call it "consistency overrules" syndrome. People genuinely rather have games that actively expects you to play a certain way, to be just as expected so they don't have to handle multiple ways to play. I think the Sly comparison has the one problem of contention, since the only major different between the 3 characters from what I remember was mostly their core abilities, while in general; they still can move around at decent speeds, can platform, and mostly, feel about the same to control, just that all 3 have a special ability the others can't do… which sounds familiar to Sonic and his pals, doesn't it? To me, the problem I feel is this, 2D Sonic is meant to be simply and to the point, while 3D Sonic *has* to be more complex. Or to most, "complicated/convoluted" because it "feels more realistic" or something. Personally, to have multiple characters work, having a "rooted" base for gameplay so controlling them doesn't feel like I'm playing an entirely different game (Big's Fishing, Mechs in SA2, etc), but giving them abilities that actually define their character traits is what I think is needed. Case in point, video related. It gives character special, specific traits that isn't just "replace x with y, leave everything else the same" that the 2D games have to do to work. My only complaint would be if using these unique characters feels forced and unwelcome, instead of seamless and entertaining. Ultimately though, I agree with what you're saying, but at the same time, there's a reason games today barely like to make entirely different playing characters, because it seems most people prefer it this way instead. *shrugs*