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Vertekins — Keep Sonic In-character in Dialogue Tree's Stamp
Published: 2012-02-06 02:21:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 2557; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 13
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Because as a great aficionado of Sonic's characterization, I do not believe that his character and traits should be exaggerated and/or morphed into something they aren't for the sake of catering to a dialogue tree's options.
I'm talking about Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. A game containing dialogue tree's. I've played this game many times over, selecting all of the "positive" dialogue choices in some playthroughs, selecting "Neutral" ones in other playthroughs and selecting "snarky" choices in other playthroughs. And do you know what gets me?
The fact that those choices are so frequently hideously Out Of Character.
"It's a dialogue tree. You don't have to pick "snarky" if you don't want to" is not an excuse for making Sonic Out Of Character. A well written dialogue tree makes use of the character's mannerism's without exaggerating them or writing them to be completely contrary to what they really are for the sake of "positive choice", "negative choice" or "neutral choice".
Sonic Chronicles very frequently failed at accomplishing the above and as a result, the dialogue tree's just weren't entertaining because they didn't portray Sonic the way he actually is.
I mean, doesn't the appeal of dialogue tree lie in choosing a convincing retort from the selection that is in accordance with the character's established personality?
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Comments: 43
Hey, since you played this game multiple times, i got a question: how important story wise is being mean/nice/neutral.
All I know is that being nice to Amy all the time will unlock little SonAmy scene and being jerk to Shadow will cause him to fight you.
Are there any other major story aspect or gameplay features that will show only with specific decisions?
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It isn't important at all because to my memory, those two instances you mentioned are the only ones where a specific choice leads to a specific outcome.
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Those snarky options are literally the only thing in CHronicles that are halfway fun. Also the only way to get the Shadow boss battle in the Mystic Ruins, which is a handy experience dump.
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Sonic's always been snarky. Since he was created he was designed to be a hedgehog with attitude. You're just a Johnny-come-lately to the series so you wouldn't understand, you probably got into Sonic AFTER the Dreamcast games.
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Funny you say I'm a "Johnny Come Lately" to this series when I've been a fan since April 1994
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Yeah. I liked Unleashed's dialogue choices because they were done well.
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What's the right way to do OoC though?
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Although I've never played the game, am I bad for enjoying the occasional snarky comment from Sonic? You know, like if he's making a joke or being sarcastic, and not all the time-just once in a while?
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Why would you be 'bad' for enjoying something like that? No, not at all! 
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I've seen some of Sonic's dialogue options in Chronicles, and...wow. Not only does he come across as a bigger jerk than in STC or Archie, which is not a good idea for your main character, but you're right: they are out of character. In fact, a lot of the characters seems a little OOC...
At least Mario has the excuse that Nintendo intentionally keeps him a largely blank slate so the "snarky/jerky" options in the RPG's don't seem so forced. What's the excuse here?
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While you point seems minor. It's a good point. Why does Sonic need a dialogue tree? Final Fantasy doesn't have a dialogue tree. Mario and Luigi doesn't have a dialogue. Earthbound doesn't have a dialogue tree. How does it help Sonic's first RPG? But that's only one problem out of many in this game.
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Simple..
This was made by the western gaming company which is Bioware.
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It is kind of true (I'm so mean to Amy lol!) But to make it seem less OOC, although I respect your opinion, the game actually makes me feel like I'm Sonic...Yeah. 
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First off, this stamp is very difficult to read. Either lighten the background or lighten the words please
And, well, they did this in Paper Mario: TTYD. For example, you had the choice to give the Yoshi egg back to the cook, to call the Punies wimps, to basically be a jerk to everyone, which is not something Mario would say, either. I found it kind of funny when his partners would get mad at him for his rude commentary but we all know what the real Mario would say. I'm sorry, this is the only example I have as I have never played Sonic Chronicles.
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Sorry but gotta disagree. You do have a choice of whether you want to pick in or out of character dialogue. No reason to get overworked over something so minor.
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Just because I have a choice doesn't mean OOC dialogue should be there. And you can't convince me that characterization is "minor"
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Dude it's an RPG. They all have dialogue like that. Not only them but other games as well. Ever played Spryo Year of the Dragon? He has stuff in his dialogue tree that doesn't match his character. Where's this "law" that says Sonic can't do the same? Heck he even had the same situations in Unleashed. Sorry but you're kinda getting worked up over nothing.
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Year of the Dragon had dialog trees?
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Small ones. Very small ones.
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I'd like to know where the appeal is in extremely OOC retorts given that presumably, a dialogue tree is only convincing in it's entertainment value when the retorts are in-character.
Unleashed? Sonic's dialogue choices were in-character. You had him acting hilariously like the Werehog in normal form to playfully tease Wentos and some mildly snarky retorts to Eggman's robots in the Eggmanland hub.
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Well I believe summed it up pretty good.
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I miss the old days when sonic's whole personality was that he was a hip video game mascot who ran through rings. Let's go back to that.
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They already tried that recently with Sonic 4 and even Generations. Now that the games has bigger stories, character development, voice acting and cutscenes it seems weird to go back to that now.
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Yeah, but does a shallow radical 90s mascot need an epic story and character development anyway? As long as the games are fun to play (which I've read they've had difficulty getting right in a lot of the newer ten games) that's all that matters.
I think Sega should get some new development team and get back to the essentials. If they can keep churning out decent mario and zelda games, Sonic deserves better too.
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I dunno about you but I like story and character development in the games, it only adds to the entertainment. That's the reason why Sonic appeals to me more as a character then characters like Mario and Link.
Also why do they need a new development team. Sonic Team are getting their stuff together and Sonic is doing better recently then he did 5 years or so ago. They can still make decent games and have good plots and character development, too. Why it has to be one or the other.
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And you created Sonic, therefore you know EVERYTHING about his personality.
So tell me, what's the next Sonic game going to be about? And what platform?
I'm really itching to know. ^^
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Well... you didn't create the people around you, but I bet you know some of them pretty damn well.
There are dedicated fans out there who know characters better than the writers did. If you're going to use a sarcastic "And you created Sonic" remark like that, I hope you at least know that Sonic in Chronicles wasn't written by his creator, and that Sonic games have had writers just as diverse (and sometimes flawed) as the games' fans.
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Actually, it's physically impossible to completely know someone and be able to claim what is 'in character' or 'out of character'.
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I didn't say completely.
I've... never heard anyone say that before, quite honestly. 0_0 If there was 'in character' or 'out of character,' every character and every person would just be unpredictable. What is characterization then, in that case? What's the point of it?
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Characterization is nothing more than a persons perception of what the character or person is like. Whether they actually -know- what they are like or not, is completely irrelevant, since you can 'know' that a person is a sweetheart, yet in actuality they can be complete and utter jackasses.
Something being in or out of character, really is all dependent on a persons perception. And there's no way to prove or disprove if that perception is right or wrong.
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Fair enough. I guess I've just always seen characterization as the collection of traits, flaws, tendencies and beliefs a character has. People can interpret those things differently, yeah, but I don't think that means the character is not what they are. I agree there's no way to fully prove it but you can certainly back up claims with relevant examples.
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Yes, you can. But honestly, what says that it isn't truly in character for them? They could keep whatever it is under the radar, so that they most people don't know about that about them.
How about we kill this conversation >> Seeing as we're cluttering up the poor girls deviation page XD
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True enough.
Hah, m'kay. This is getting too philosophical to debate anyway.
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Lol XD
I tend to do that sometimes. Sorry
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LOL, I was too, it's all good. ^^
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Didn't claim that I did 
I believe the next game to be released will be Sonic 4 Episode 2 in late 2012. Tails and Metal Sonic are going to be in it but the storyline hasn't been revealed yet.
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... Sarcasm is lost on you, isn't it?
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Yeah, pretty much 
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Yeah. I should really lighten up a bit
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