Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (DS) Review
When Sega announced that another Sonic game was being made exclusively for the Nintendo DS, fans were of course sceptical – they’ve been let down countless times before with several different titles featuring the blue hedgehog. However, as news started to pour in, including the fact that BioWare was involved with the project, many fans of Sonic and even fans of BioWare showed interest. A Sonic RPG? How would that work? Could it work? Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is a RPG developed by BioWare exclusively for the Nintendo DS in collaboration with SEGA. Does Sonic translate well into an RPG environment? Read on to find out.
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood takes place in two overarching environments, and opens with Sonic looking for the recently missing Knuckles The Echidna while also on vacation. To make matters worse, the Chaos Emeralds that hold the world together are also missing. The first half of the game takes place in Sonic’s own world, where Sonic and his friends (yes, they are back) discover that an evil force is threatening to destroy their homeworld. The second half of the story sees Sonic and company taking their act to the home world of the Dark Brotherhood, in order to defend his own town from the threat they pose. Yes, the story is incredibly… well, generic, and all the twists are so blaze that it’s really disappointing. That being said, role playing games have never been noted for a brilliant story anyway (and no, you Final Fantasy fans, I’m not excluding you from this rule either).
So, with two different worlds in the mix, how does the game perform visually? Sonic Chronicles definitely has a very nice variety of worlds packed to explore. The game runs on pre-rendered backgrounds which are visually beautiful to look at and stay very true to the game’s art direction. Almost every single fan of Sonic should recognise the lush world of Green Hill Zone, a classic favourite among all Sonic players, as well as several other environments. BioWare certainly did a good job in ensuring the fans felt well at home within Sonic’s world. Sonic and his fellow party members also look astounding, sporting a fresh cel-shaded look that fits in well with the cartoon approach to the series the game takes. Finally, the framerate is fairly decent and particularly smooth during the battle sequences.
As with any other RPG, Sonic Chronicles features two main “phases” of gameplay. The first is the exploration stage where players can control Sonic (or one of his party members) and move throughout the environments to complete missions, engage in battles in order to earn experience, or just interact with NPCs. Movement in this mode is controlled with the stylus. Tapping an area will see the little blue hedgehog move to that spot. In addition, the face buttons are reserved for moving through unique obstacles, such as the series’ famous “loop-the-loops” that we’ve all seen in the classic Mega Drive titles. Players can also access their equipment, a journal detailing missions undertaken, a codex that explains the characters of the Sonic mythos, and of course, to save the game. Finally, when conversing with NPCs, players can change Sonic’s response in true BioWare fashion; however, the responses that Sonic gives usually have non-existent ramifications to the overall plot.
A bulk of the gameplay in Sonic Chronicles is in the battle mode, which although it appears to be run of the mill, introduces several interesting mechanics that make it just different enough to be enjoyable. Battles, unlike some more classic RPGs, are initiated by walking into an enemy during the exploration phase – meaning players can avoid battles (to a degree) should they need to. When in battle, the system is relatively simple. Actions are all turn based, and players input their actions from a choice of Attack, POW Attack, Item or Flee. POW Attacks are what really drives the battles, requiring touch input to be performed correctly, with some even requiring certain members be in your party in order to occur.
The game does throw in a few different elements to create variation in the battles. During some attacks from an enemy, tapping the stylus on certain points on the screen that light up will make the move less damaging. Again, it’s a small touch, but it makes the battle process a bit livelier. Also, when choosing to flee in the battle system, Sonic simply runs away, and plays must control him to run away without running into obstacles. It’s certainly a much better way to make the battle process more interactive and give it as “faster” pace than other games. However, the battle system in itself is slower than we hoped for. The biggest problem here is that Sonic is a fast character – it just doesn’t feel right having him “wait his turn” considering his speedy reputation AND his brash personality.
The soundtrack for Sonic Chronicles is definitely one of the high points. The audio quality of the pieces playing during the game really does lend themselves to the atmosphere of the game, something that is very important in an RPG. Fans of the game will notice some of their favourite tunes have been included, while some may be put off by the inclusion of some of the more recently made tracks in the series. Regardless of this though, the music is suited to the game and really shines, with the arrangements included setting an appropriate atmosphere as you play.
The game also marks the return of the lovable Chao characters from previous game. And what better way to show off your “shine” by raising Chao’s in your Chao Garden? Available from the start of the game, players can enter their Chao Garden in order to raise a Chao. Chao’s can then be equipped with Sonic to give various effects in battle, which is a useful feature. In addition, players can utilise their DS’s Wireless capabilities to trade Chao’s and collect them all. It’s definitely a nice feature that detours from the main plot but still yields results in the main game.
There are, however, some things inherently wrong with Sonic Chronicles. The first thing that many seasoned gamers will notice is that the game is just too easy. It’s as if the game was made specifically for children, which is really a shame since a lot of people will be picking this up expecting something challenging when it really isn’t. Secondly, the battle system may be overwhelming for some who have little to no experience with RPGs. Finally, the ending for this game is quite possibly one of the most disappointing endings I’ve ever witnessed in a video game. It’s really quite perplexing as to WHY BioWare felt the need to include this particular ending. I won’t spoilt it for anyone here, but it’s worth playing through just to see either way.
Sonic Chronicles is a colourful and bright game that will really satisfy Sonic fans in particular, but when stripping away the Sonic aesthetics, it’s may be seen as a very simple and bare bones RPG. It’s hard to recommend Sonic Chronicles to someone who is looking for a traditional BioWare RPG, as the game simply doesn’t match the calibre of it’s console cousins. However, I would have no hesitation in recommending Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood to a younger player looking for an “entry-level” RPG, and in that respect, Sonic Chronicles is a very suitable game for those interested in the genre but too scared to dip their feet too deep into the RPG pool.
