Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Review (DS)

Sonic jumps from simple side-scrolling action to pages worth of statistics

A few weeks ago, I had a playthrough and review of Sonic Rush and thoroughly complimented its brilliant throwback to better times in the blue critters’ career. Its retro formula mixed with modern twists gave the series a new lease of life in a retro mould. Now, here I sit with Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Sonic’s first step into the realms of RPG…and I must say, I’m surprised in many ways.

Now, don’t close your browser in disbelief, I did put the words ‘Sonic’ and ‘RPG’ in the same sentence, and any attempt for the hedgehog to cross this unfamiliar road would usually be ran over by a truck filled to the brim with snarling games critics…possibly driven by Mario. However, BioWare have stepped in to aid the series across this road that’s plagued by numerical damage and status ailments to present a whole new Sonic.

Easing in with familiar territory, the plot is fooling no one. Sonic appears to be on some sort of gap year from saving the world, travelling the globe after stubbornly thinking he’s defeated Eggman for the last time when news comes through that he’s needed for yet another adventure. Although the game wanders down some unexplored plotlines involving some sort of clan of cyber echidnas, it ultimately boils down to collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds that Sonic always glorifies during every adventure, yet has some sort of problem keeping hold of.

It’s not some small RPG that has a classic gaming icons’ face plastered across it

So the story may not be as deep and thorough as those we’ve come to expect from RPG’s, yet the presentation is second to none. As soon as I tapped ‘New Game’, I was treated to a comic book style opening film, a peculiar style of story telling that makes itself incredibly comfortable in the Sonic universe. Despite its clear cut presentation and lush cartoon exterior, it doesn’t deter mature players away and actually manages to add more depth to the experience than any basic cut scene would. Dialogue segments also embrace comic book fashion with all characters confronting each other with huge speech bubbles by their heads. Sonic gets a special advantage in these instances, allowing him to choose from several lines of dialogue to respond with, chosen by the player. This is, of course, a touch of BioWare magic, and although none of the responses provoke a good or evil response, nor effect the ending or whether you sleep with an alien or not like Mass Effect, they at least make the plot devoted sections bearable and even adds some admirable efforts of dry humour.

Although Sonic appropriately takes centre stage, he needs the help of all his fellow party members in order to progress. Gathering a strong party of four is as important in exploring the world as it is in fighting battles. All characters have special abilities, such as Sonic’s ‘Dash’ ability and Tail’s ‘Fly’ ability, which all help the player progress through the game and uncover secrets in seemingly hard to reach areas. All abilities also level up with experience, allowing characters to enter even harsher areas later on and making levelling up a necessary requirement, rather than a mindless and repetitive chore. Curious players are rewarded with symbolic rings to spend and new Chao which can bond to specific characters, giving them certain edges in battle. The benefits of these are incredibly helpful during later sections of the game, meaning that exploration of the game areas are genuinely enjoyable and rewarding. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the main storyline missions. At first, they’re pretty basic fetch quests, often involving going somewhere insignificant on the map, gaining an item and then returning with it. Later on, however, missions are pretty basic fetch quests, often involving going somewhere insignificant on the map, gaining an item and then going somewhere else before returning with it. As the plot evolves, the main playable adventure seems to get stuck in a repetitive rut that it cannot escape from, and without the incentive to explore areas thoroughly, the adventure would quickly become linear and dull. Puzzles are littered throughout in an attempt to steer the journey away from simple delivery missions, and in fairness do work to some extent, yet are ultimately too simple to challenge the veteran gamer

Of course, battles play a key part in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, yet don’t play out like your standard RPG encounters. Once Sonic stumbles into a patrolling enemy, a fight ensures that resembles a mini-game more than a vicious fight to the death. To inflict more damage through special moves, players must respond to various prompts during the battle, from tapping the screen frantically to following a circle around with the stylus. These small QTE-esque segments also determine whether you can successfully dodge an incoming attack, and despite sounding like a pathetic little gimmick, do well to hold your attention during battles. No longer can you enter a fight, simply tap ‘Attack’ and turn your head to watch TV until all the experience is gathered. You must keep an eye on enemy movements, learn attack patterns and it all delivers a fresh take on RPG combat.

It’s lucky that I was allowed to play some part in determining whether I could get damaged or not in the early battles, as the difficulty of the game actually started off incredibly high. Battles would last a surprisingly long time in a test of endurance from the enemies who would constantly dodge all my attacks if they decided to try and evade the scene. Halfway through, when I thought my characters were butch enough to take on anything, I came across enemies who would only take 1 damage from any attack inflicted, standard or special. With no foreseeable weaknesses and a HP of 410, the fight lasted so long it soon slipped into a horrible monotony I was unable to flee from. This does not happen often, but it’s unfortunate it has to happen at all, as battles like this one force a huge groan out of your mouth.

Despite these stupidly unfair balancing issues in terms of difficulty, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is a great step into new territory for the Sonic franchise. It may not be enough to convince those who believe combat shouldn’t be fought in polite turns that RPG’s will now be their cup of tea, but is a good introduction to the genre.

BioWare have done a particularly good job with this potentially shaky project. It’s not some small RPG that has a classic gaming icons’ face plastered across it. It has elements of the series’ blood running through it and looks at the franchise from a completely new perspective brilliantly. The prospects of a sequel depend on how well this instalment is received, and I have no doubt that BioWare will clean up the mistakes of