Live Blogs A Double Liveblog of Sonic Unleashed

Komodin2010-12-11 02:54:49

Okay, since Blueeyedrat has already done the cutscenes given so far, I might as well just skip straight to:

Windmill Isle Act 1

A.K.A: A Sunrise Stroll Through The Hills Of Apotos

This level serves as a tutorial for Sonic the Hedgehog's gameplay. I must say, after over a year of ownership, the visuals of this level still impresses me with its beauty. Makes me wonder if the actual island of Mykonos looks anything like this.

Back on topic, the first area of this level is a rather straightforward run, with little in the way of actual obstacles. Along the way, Chip gives us various tips, some of which are rather obvious to the seasoned Sonic fan.

After a run through a loop, we're launched into the second area. We run up into a group of springs, the weird thingamabobs of the series that can launch you to higher places. After using to leap to the higher elevation, we come across the first hint of actual platforming. Hitting the nearby Question Ring (a Question Mark floating in the middle of a ring of small, rainbow-colored spheres), Chip gives us a... "helpful" hint.

Chip: That's a big step, huh? Maybe you can jump it with the A button

Yes, Chip, I do know how to jump. No need to remind me...

Anyway, jumping up to the next platform, we come across a huge group of pots with a Question Mark informing you that yes, you can do the Spin Attack in the game. Perhaps, this section was made in response to Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, which didn't have the standard Spin Attack as a technique.

Spin-Bouncing along the tops of the pots, we come across the "Homing Attack" challenge. This tutorial is actually somewhat important; unlike the other 3D Sonics, the Homing Attack is not initiated by pressing the jump button twice. Rather, it's by pressing the A button, then pressing the X button. It's a little jarring the first time around, but you'll get used to it after a while.

Using the Homing Attack on the spring, we're launched to a gtrind rail, where we're sent to the third area of the level. Passing through the Point Marker, we coming across our first enemies, the Egg Fighter. The Egg Fighters are the main line of Eggman's Badniks for this game, not unlike the Egg Pawns from Heroes and Shadow. The Egg Fighters even bear a close resemblance to them; perhaps that's why they're colored red in this level. This level's Egg Fighters are the basic grunts, with only a single punch as their attack. A Homing Attack can easily destroy them.

Wiping the floor with them causes a Pulley to activate. Using it sends us to the next area, complete with more Egg Fighters and a new enemy, the Aero Cannon. There are two variants of these enemies: the standard Blue Models, and the rarer Gold Models (which are basically the Gold Beetles of this game). To my understanding, these enemies are a lot bigger in the SD versions; close to the size of the Egg Fighters, in fact.  ^*

Clearing house, we come across the final are, the "Quick Step" challenge. The Quick Step is one of the new abilities added to Sonic's arsenal for this game; this allows to quickly step over to the left and right of you while running. This is an essential skill, as this challenge shows. Here, you must run down a long, twisty bridge, while using the Quick Step to dodge the various Spike Traps laid a strewn throughout the pathway. For this level, it's quite easy, and the game gives you hints of where they'll be.

Reaching the end of the bridge, we're launched over to a corkscrew path, a staple in the Sonic series. Zooming through, we finally reach the Goal Ring. In this game, it's a giant ring with a red star in the center. Touching it, the game evaluates our score. For the daytime stages, the overall score is graded in four categories: Time, Rings Collected, Speed and Enemies Defeated. Like in the SD versions, Sonic and Chip will at the score as they're being graded.

For this runthrough, I've earned a B, with a score of 103,989. Not too bad, but it could be better.

Pressing A shows us the Status screen. In this game, you can level up both forms of Sonic, obviously improving his abilities and all that RPG-related jazz. This screen will also show the number of medals you've collected so far. I'll elaborate on this at a later update. For Sonic the Hedgehog, you can upgrade his speed and Ring Energy bar. For the Werehog, you can upgrade the number of combat skills you can use, your strength, your lifebar, your Unleashed bar and the numbers of Shields you can use.

Note: For the purpose of this Liveblog (and because I like a challenge), I will not upgrade either Hedgehog or Werehog.

Moving on...

After skipping the cutscene, having already been covered by my fellow Liveblogger, we are now in the first hub world: Apotos.

Unlike the hubworlds of Sonic Adventure and Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, the hubs of this game are much smaller and concentrated. The hubs are split into two sections; right now, we are in the "Village". The Village (or the Country-Specific Equivalent Thereof) is where you can interact with the locale. Right now, I'm going to go through the village, searching for medals. Might as well shoot the breeze while I'm here.

Going over to DAN GREENthe Ice Cream Man, he has this to say:

Ice Cream Man: Hiya! So how'd you like my ice cream? Best you ever had, right?! Even if the planet were to crumble all around us, it'd still taste amazing!

Hey, you gotta respect a man who loves his work.

Moving on, we meet our next NPC: Sandra, an elderly woman. She has this to say to our colorful pair:

Sandra: Hello. Lovely weather we're having today, isn't it? Oh! And who's this little fellow here? Huh? Do I know him?

Huh? She seems interested in Chip. I wonder if she knows of Chip's ori-

No. I can't say I've seen him before. Perhaps someone else has.

Aw, pickles. Looking to the left, I spy my first Moon Medal in the game. Might as well pick up now; trust me, the reason why will be made apparent within a few updates.

Moving along, we meet Gregorios, who appears to be the game's equivalent of a priest. He has this to say:

Gregorios: Well, what have we here? Travelers? What a pleasant surprise. Hm? trying to figure out which way to go, hm? Not an easy choice.

Well, I wouldn't say that...

If you continue straight ahead, you will come to the Entrance Stage. I have an inkling that it leads to your future.

Now, we have a list of three option of what to say in response. Let's assume Sonic has a mild case of amnesia himself and don't know what the heck's an "Entrance Stage", shall we?

Sonic: An entrance what?

Surprised, Gregorios responds with:

Gregorios: An inquisitive response! It is good to have a curious mind. You see, the Entrance Stage is a gateway to... To what you'd call... Eh, it's a sort of hub where you may access several action stages. Gathering medals from all over the world will open new paths for you.

Now, we have two choices for Sonic to say. Let's assume Sonic has never seen a medal in his life and is curious as to what they are, shall we?

Sonic: What are medals?

Surprised again, Gregorios responds:

Gregorios: There are two kinds of medals in this world: sun and moon. Gathering sun medals increases the power of the sun within you. Gathering moon medals boosts the power of the moon within you. and increasing your power will... well... increase the number of action stages available to you! I could explain in more detail, but experience knows no substitute. May I suggest you go to the Entrance Stage and see for yourself?

Gladly. Moving along the Entrance Stage's... entrance, we meet two NPC's. One's a big, strappin' man (Lambros), the other's a small boy (Alexis). Talking to Lambros, he says:

Lambros: I haven't seen you in these parts before. Are you a tourist? Do I know who this little guy is?

Well, do you?

Nah, sorry. I've never seen him before.

Aw, pickles. Moving along to Alexis, he has this to say to us:

Alexis: This kid? Nope, I don't think I've seen him before.

Aw, he doesn't know Chip either. Maybe if we explain the situation...

For real?! He's lost his memory?! That's got to be tough.

Naw... really?

You can go all kinds of places from just up ahead. Who knows? Maybe that might jar something.

Good plan. Now, we can move along to the Entrance Stage. I'll go through the area once we've completed the act.

As Gregorios explained, the Entrance Stages are where you can actually get to the Action Stages. These areas are like a "sample" of what the Acts have to offer. These areas also contain Sun and Moon Medals. Since, as of now, only a small part of the Entrance Stage is available, we might as well go straight to the Act.

Entranceways to the Acts are symbolized by glowing, bronze panels. Within the glows shows the "Levels" of Medals I've collected. For Windmill Isle Act 1, the minimal level one can access it is Level 1, which I'm currently at right now. Moving over to the Entranceway, I'm shown the records for the level; it's blank right now. Selecting the level, we move on to Act 2...

Next time.

Comments

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:47:24 AM

Part 7: 2-4 Split

We seem to be travelling around a lot, aren't we? I mean, backtracking is fairly typical, but as a part of the story? Not quite as frequent. Anyway, let's go back to Spagonia.

And we're met with a cutscene... yay? Sonic's walking down the street around midnight, when he's ambushed by— oh, no. It's her. Everyone's favorite pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, jumps onto Sonic and... oh wait, she must have mistaken him for someone else. Like she usually does. Bitch. In a nice bit of Hidden Depths to Sonic's character, he almost feels rejected when Amy doesn't recognise him. And Chip's not much help; after some failed attempts to cheer Sonic up, he gives up and shrugs at the audience. "Oh hey Fourth Wall; I didn't see you there."

Music: "Spagonia - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. This one's really nice.

How about a quick stroll around Spagonia? Nothing really that interesting, except the Nameless Assistant seems to be slightly irritable tonight. Seriously, take a chill pill or something. We go to talk to the prof about it, and he informs us that we'll need to have an intervention for him, as he has fallen prey to the influence of drugs alchohol Dark Gaia. Apparently, the Eldritch Abomination gains power during the night, and can affect people's personalities. Since no one cares about the assistant, we'll put that on the back-burner for now. Afterward, we learn of two more Gaia Temples: one in Spagonia (we actually get to do somthing here?), and another in... Holoska. Where the hell is Holoska?

Upon returning to the World Map, it seems that the Spagonian populace has some more to say. I guess we might as well check it out. Checking the main street, we encounter two young kids. One of them actually gives me a Moon Tablet, saying that "his granddad gave it to him". Heh. Nice kid. The lady over at the bakery gives us a record (Soundtrack 39), the assistant's still moody, and... that's about it. I considered going to the Gaia Gate, but first, let's check out Holoska.

Music: "Holoska - Day"; by Fumie Kumatani. Out of all the hub themes, this one has to be my favorite. It's just so pretty...

So, this is the resident Slippy Slidey Ice World. It's currently inhabited by a senile old man ("aren't you that seal we ate yesterday?"), a couple, and their young child. Apparently, the father is kind of a wimp, and his wife wants him to go over to the shrine. We agree to go in his stead, so she gives us a Sun Tablet, and— wait.

...We have two options, don't we? Crap. It looks like that's the case. Well, since we're at a fork in the road, I'm actually going to let you guys decide where I visit first: Spagonia (Night) or Holoska (Day). (Hopefully, I can get a decision by tomorrow afternoon, since that's when I usually do this stuff.)

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:47:39 AM

Part 8: Hedgehogs On Ice

With a landslide avalanche victory of... one vote, we're taking on Holoska first. There's nothing to do in the hub for now, so we move on straight to the Gaia Gate. This particular gate is a temple coated in ice. There's just the faintest bit of light peeking in, and it provides a beautiful effect. But, since we've got our Sun Tablet, on with the show!

Music: "Cool Edge - Day"; by Tomoya Ohtani. It's all-around ~awesome~, and it has a kickin' bass line.

Well, there's actually a tutorial mission first. most stages introduce you to a new gimmick, although in the SD version, you have all of your abilities from the start. These are pretty redundant, as a result. This particular tutorial introduces us to the Stomp. Moving on...

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Day Stage 2 - Cool Edge

• Go for the goal ring

Welcome to your first Difficulty Spike of the game, folks. Windmill Isle is cake, but Cool Edge might kill you once or twice if you're out of practice. I have a feeling the lack of a Savannah Citadel level in between might have something to do with it. We start off on a bobsled (akin to the snowboarding in Adventure, etc.), which I still have trouble controlling effectively. Before the cliff, be sure to hit the boost pad, or else you'll go careening into the water below. Everything after that takes place in a massive icy cavern, which still looks amazing. Some giant icicles will fall from the ceiling, but they're just obstacles— there is one item, though, that can be tricky to get without aiming for it. All in all, this wasn't my best run. I'll have to go deal with that stuff later.

• RESULT: B Rank; one Moon Medal.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 33 & 73

• Collect rings at top speed

This one's simple— collect 150 rings. It starts you off at the 2D bobsled portion. A quick tip for item hunters— try to avoid some rings if you can, 'cause in a few cases, there will be items at the very end, and you might reach your goal beforehand otherwise. It doesn't seem to be the case here, though, so we go onward.

• Don't break anything along the way

Ugh. I dislike this mission. My first time through, this is one of the early missions that gave me the most trouble. The trick here is that there's a bunch of ice here, and you have to reach the goal (within a 1:30 time limit) without touching any of it. Go too fast, and you're toast without lightning-fast reflexes. I'm pretty sure you're meant to use the Quick Step, but it doesn't work as well— Sonic keeps shifting back over and running into stuff anyway.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Another tablet fragment.

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Well, I suppose that's all for now. Tomorrow, we take on the level you guys (and by that, I mean Cliche) didn't choose.

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:48:08 AM

Part 9: Spagonian Escapades

So, let's recap what we've done in Spagonia thus far: We've gone there, done nothing and went straight to Mazuri; came back with the professor, and then went to Mazuri again; opened up a level, but decided to go to Holoska instead. Dammit, Spagonia, stop being such a tease. Can we actually do something here now?

As it turns out, yes. Now that we have a Moon Tablet, we can enter the Spagonian Gaia Gate; and my god. This particular temple resembles a cathedral, with stained glass and fountains everywhere. And it is amazing— this is, by far, my favorite of the Gaia Gates. Sadly, we have no time for sightseeing; it's time to enter the next night level:

Music: "Rooftop Run - Night"; by Tomoya Ohtani. Actually, Ohtani composed most of the day tracks, but this is the only night track he did.

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Night Stage 2 - Rooftop Run

• Act 1 - Alleys of Spagonia

This one's mostly linear. Go over here, do some platforming, beat stuff up, repeat. There are a bunch of items off the beaten path, though. We're also introduced to a new enemy— the Dark Bat. This level has two varieties: the basic version (completely harmless), and the Sniper version (Ugh). A few aerial attacks should do them in— once your Attack's leveled up enough, you can take them in one hit (CATHARSIS!) The last section of the level takes place over some rooftops, with some alleys below if you fall down. There's a bunch of stuff down in the alleys, but I couldn't be bothered to collect it right now.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: Attack Level Up.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 1; Movie 4; Illustrations 15, 24 & 79

• Act 2 - Jet Black Back Streets

Try saying that 5 times fast. Anyway, why are there spikes and buzzsaws in the middle of the road? Is the security here really that tight? Anyway, we're introduced here to the Dark Master— your basic wizard enemy. This one doesn't do anything special, but later "Master"s do. The end of this level features an obstacle course of sorts— this one took me a lot of tries to do my first time around. Admittedly, the camera doesn't help much. Today, I beat it in one attempt. Go me?

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: Learned the "Beatdown".
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Illustrations 38 & 70; Movie 5

• Act 3 - The Great Aqueduct

This is another stage that's linear, but not linear. It takes place atop a large wall, and it's fairly intricate— one item even requires you to backtrack all the way to the beginning of the stage. It's also somewhat precarious— the wall isn't very well maintained, so chunks of it have fallen off. Conviently, there are Dark Bats you can use to swing your way across. Oh, and that Dark Master I mentioned? Now we meet the Fright Master. It's surrounded by a squad of Magikarps Frights, and if you kill them all, it summons more. All in all, it's not hard to beat.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals
• UPGRADES: A larger Unleashed gauge.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 12; Illustration 20; another tablet fragment.

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Oh, it looks like we've got a cutscene! And HEY! There's an awesome party going on. Oh wait, these people are possessed. Crap. The Nameless Assistant is flirting with Amy (which brings up some disturbing imagery, unless it's somehow a gender-flipped Take That to Sonic '06), and everyone's just acting weird. Chip takes a photo of the festivities, which somehow causes an exorcism to occur; and then—

A wild Nightmare attacked! Sonic pressed random buttons! The Nightmare was defeated! Sonic gained 30 XP.

...And repeat. No, really. It's set up as a mock-RPG battle. It's so convoluted, it's downright hilarious. After dispatching the Nightmares (Freaking Random Drops. Where's my Sword of Kings?), we're treated to another short cutscene, where everything is back to normal. Assistant: What was I just doing? [You don't wanna know, kid.] Amy realizes that the big, fluffy monster is indeed her Sonic (after he's already skedaddled), while Dan Green Professor Pickle arrives and sets the record straight.

We should go see the Prof about this, but we'll save that for next time.

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:48:23 AM

Part 10: Let's Not Go to China

Well, we're still in Spagonia, where we go to the professor. Amy is also there, where she apologizes for not recognizing Sonic. Pickle informs us that he's made progress in discovering more temples— we now have a new destination: Chun-nan.

Music: "Chun-nan - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Really pretty.

So, if the name didn't tip you off, Chun-nan is this game's Expy of China. And I guess our arrival here was well-timed, as this village is in trouble— the elder has vanished. Everyone's in an uproar (except for one chick, who gave me Soundtrack 41), and we agree to go find the man for them. We're putting a lot of people out of a job here, aren't we? By the way:
Useless NPC Shuifon: There's a holy shrine not far from here... What do you mean, "That again."?
So, it seems we have a Moon Tablet now. Hooray?

And Now For Something Completely Different. It's time for another detour— I'm going to go collect a few medals, and maybe some items while I'm at it. Why? Well, you'll see. First off, another pointless Werehog tutorial mission— this time, it's the Beatdown. It's pretty simple— pick up an enemy (they usually need to be stunned first, though), and then L+R. It's very satistying to watch. After that, we've got another extra mission in Windmill Isle (Day): "Time Attack! Race for the goal!" This one takes place in Act 2, and initially gives you 40 seconds— every checkpoint you pass gives you more time, though.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Soundtrack 13.

There's also a Time Attack mission in Holoska, which works basically the same way. I will admit; it's easy to miss one of the items here.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Documents 21 & 22.

...Which just leaves the matter of medals. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go improve some ranks.

• Cool Edge - Day - S Rank; two Moon Medals.
  • ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 9.
• Windmill Isle - Day (2) - S Rank; one Moon Medal. Freaking Interceptor, wasting my time.
• Windmill Isle - Night (Moonsoaked Alleys) - A Rank; one Sun Medal. This one's easy enough to S-Rank, but I only needed the Time medal, so I sped through the level.

I guess that's all I can do for now. My count currently stands at 28 Sun Medals and 23 Moon Medals. See you next time!

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:48:41 AM

Part 11: Gaia Gate Interlude - Prelude to Puzzlement

Well, now you know what I was collectng all of the medals for. Perhaps you're curious as to what's actually behind all of those doors, strewn throughout the Gaia Gates? Well, it's about time we found out. I don't have many doors unlocked right now, but there's still plenty of stuff inside.

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• Apotos - Door 2

Open sesame! We go down a long corridor, into a large, spacious room. There's no sunlight in here, so we revert back to Werehog. There's a pole, so I jump and... miss completely. Don't worry— you won't lose any lives in here; you'll just respawn at the entrance, and everything will reset. Actually grabbing on, we climb up to the next platform and find our first item capsule (Soundtrack 31). Moving forward, there's a conveyor belt, moving way too fast for the Werehog; but what's this? There's a patch of sunlight shining from the ceiling. It's here that we're introduced to the main mechanic for these Gaia Gate puzzles: switching back and forth between Hedgehog and Werehog. Stepping in the patch of sun will revert you to normal Sonic, but only temporarily; you're given just enough time to do whatever you need to do. In this case, you need to run past the conveyor belt, nabbing Soundtrack 47 in the process, and landing safely on the other side. You can grab Soundtrack 4 as well, and that's everything in this particular room. All in all, it's a nice introduction— later temples and later puzzles will become more complex.

• Mazuri - Door 1

The first step here consists of a small bit of platforming— jump across to reach the higher ledge. This gives you access to a switch (activating another platform) and another spotlight. Using Sonic to Lightspeed Dash (which we happen to know already), we reach another ledge, with Illustration 63. I was quick enough to reach the platform on the other side (via the lift we activated) and crawl under the fence to attain a 1-Up. These raise your maximum life count— now I can begin a stage with 3 extra lives, as opposed to 2. And believe me, they'll be very important later on.

• Spagonia - Door 3

Well, it gives us Secret Mission 1 right off of the bat. Apparently, we unlocked a mission in Apotos. Anyway, this room has a unique puzzle: there are beams of light coming from the walls, and you're given metal crates to block them with. We collect Soundtrack 6, and place some more crates. The trick to this area is, you need to avoid the light— you can only lift these crates as the Werehog. This took me a few tries to figure out my first time through, but now I can solve it without a problem. We get another 1-Up for our troubles, but wait! There's more! Not placing a crate on the pressure switch (thus, not reversing the direction of the conveyor belt nets you Secret Mission 3, somewhere in Holoska. -sigh- I wish I could take these crates back out to the main area; what fun I could have.

• Holoska - Door 3

Another item is given to us from the get-go; this time Soundtrack 5. We start out pretty simple:

1. Revert to normal Sonic.
2. Run across conveyor belt.
3. ???
4. Profit! (And by that, I mean collect another 1-Up. And I think I used this joke already.)

After this, you lift up the door (it can only be opened from this side, by the way) and grab the crate from the entrance. Upon doing so, it's only a matter of using it to reach the higher ledges, gaining yet another 1-Up (not that I'm complaining, mind you) and Soundtrack 14. And it seems we can bring the crate out this time! It doesn't accomplish anything, though.

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And, well, that's all there is to it. We unlocked some stuff, increased our life count, et cetera, et cetera. I guess that's all for the Interlude. Maybe tomorrow, we'll actually do something interesting.

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:58:28 AM

Part 12: Big Trouble in Little Chun-nan

Well, we're stocked up on lives, so let's kick off a new page and jump straight into the action!

Music: "Dragon Road - Night"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Very much awesome.

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Night Stage 3 - Dragon Road

• Act 1 - The Floating Shrine

If you like platforming, then you're in for a treat today. The first part of this level takes place in a long corridor, littered with walls you can destroy for some various goodies. I feel sorry for the people who have to fix this stuff. This stage also introduces us to a couple new enemies— Little Rexes (who are only annoying in swarms), and a red variation of the basic Nightmare. We then cross a bunch of bridges, and end off in front of a large structure; I believe this is the eponymous shrine. By the way, make sure to take the right entrance first: you'll need to open the upper door before you can reach the Goal Ring.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: Larger health meter.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 13, Illustrations 81 & 84.

• Act 2 - Rising Dragon Falls

From what I've heard, this particular level is Love It Or Hate It. Personally, I love it— it's very platforming-oriented, and said platforming is really well designed. The shtick here is, the later half of the stage comprises of a massive waterfall, with various rocks and poles jutting out. The goal is to reach the very top, and make sure not to fall back down. It likely depends on how good you are with the Werehog— you can control him well, this stage is really fun; you can't, this stage is really bad. Again, I'm certainly the former.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• UPGRADES: More attack power. Killing things, yay!
• ITEMS OBTAINED" Illustrations 27, 68, & 78; Movie 6

• Act 3 - Path to Darkness

For the record, this stage is why I was so keen to collect those 1-Ups. Compared to the first two acts, this particular level requires utmost caution, lest you go sailing over the edge. Most of this level is essentially the Great Wall of China Chun-nan, and while it provides a nice view, it's somewhat dilapidated and very precarious. This is especially true for the last battle, which takes place atop various high platforms.

Music: "Vs. Titan & Big Mother"; by Kenichi Tokoi. It gets really good near the end, but it probably won't last that long in-game.

We're also given a proper introduction to our first night mini-boss: the Titan. It's somewhat powerful, and likes to knock you around, but there's a simple strategy to defeating it: presuming you have Unleashed mode at the ready, use it, go up to the Titan, and air-combo the shit out of him. Hopefully, it'll do the trick.

• RESULT: S Rank; three Sun Medals.
• ITEMS OBTAINED: Movie 7; Illustrations 53 & 82; Soundtrack 19; yet another tablet fragment.

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So, that's the end of this part. We'll see what happens ne— wait. What? We have to fight a boss now? Oh, fine then.

Music: "Boss Battle - Night"; by Hideaki Kobayashi. I like how this one throws in a riff from a Sonic Riders: ZG track. By the way, is it "Hideki" or "Hideaki"?

• Boss 2 - Dark Gaia Phoenix

Yes, upon finishing the stage, Werehog and co. are suddenly ambushed by a large bird-thing. It happens to be on fire, so conventional methods are out the window. Instead, you need to throw barrels of water at it, thus forcing it to return to the center to recharge— this happens to be the precise time to wail on it. Lather, rinse, QTE, repeat. Given enough practice, this boss is an absolute pushover. Otherwise, you might get knocked around quite a bit; and the camera will not help you. There's also something annoying about this fight: there are only two ranks. Miss the S-rank mark by a millisecond, and it's an instant C-rank for you. Huzzah.

• RESULT: S Rank; one Sun Medal
• UPGRADES: Larger Unleashed gauge.

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Oh hey, it's the elder dude that we were supposed to look for. Yay? Sure enough, now he assembles our tablet fragments, giving us access to a boss that we just fought. Nuts to that; let's restore another Chaos Emerald— this time, it's the red one. Progress! And... another cutscene! Jeez! It's explained that the bird we just fought was meant to guard the temple, but went berserk when the emeralds were drained. It's actually rather pretty. By the way, why does Chip offer the bird chocolate? That stuff's toxic to birds. And then, why does the phoenix take it anyway?

Music: "Cutscene - Eggman's Idea"; actually by Hideaki Kobayashi this time.

But we're not done yet. Time for yet another cutscene. I'm not really complaining, since this is one of the best scenes in the game. There are no words for it, just... have a look.

And with that, I am out of here. Goodbye, and see you next time.

Blueeyedrat Since: Dec, 1969

Dec 11th 2010 at 9:58:53 AM

Part 13: Utterly Forked

Don't mind this part being a few hours later than usual. That's just me being lazy.

Well, after that last unnecessarily long part, let's head back to Spaghettionia, to learn where we're headed next. As it turns out, our next destinations are Spagonia and Chun-nan. Aka, where we just were. An old man in Spagonia gives us a Sun Tablet, which could be used to open up another level, but let's check Chun-nan first— I've got a hunch that something's up there as well.

Music: "Chun-nan - Day"; by Kenichi Tokoi. Meh— it's a good song, just a little too upbeat for my tastes, compared to the night version.

By the way, did you know that a little kid in the village had Soundtrack 40 in his pocket? I'd ask how it got there, and how the record hasn't been crushed yet, but I'd rather not question it. Anyway, we talk to some more people, and get... another Sun Tablet.

This again? Yep, we've stumbled over another split. Since I have no idea which stage to tackle first, I could theoretically end this episode right here. However, we haven't actually done much. I can't leave off like this, so... mission time!

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Windmill Isle (Day)

• Gather rings at top speed!

Yep, it's another one of these. It takes place in the first segment of Act 2, and you need 100 rings. That's pretty much all there is to it; I don't think there are any items to find here.

Cool Edge (Day)

• Time Attack! Race for the goal!

It's another mission involving those checkpoints. This time, it's the bobsled portion. This one might give you trouble if you miss enough checkpoints. I actually cut it a little close, myself— only 5 seconds left.

• ITEMS OBTAINED: Document 11.

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Well, I guess that's all I can do for now. Now, I'll let you guys decide, once again, where I'm heading next: Spagonia (Day) or Chun-nan (Day).

96.63.36.153 Since: Dec, 1969

Feb 26th 2011 at 2:36:16 PM

"Forked". That's actually a good pun because its Spaghettionia.

96.63.36.153 Since: Dec, 1969

Mar 1st 2011 at 5:06:06 PM

HEY, KOMODIN!

I'm enjoying the other liveblogs around here. They talk about lots of interesting stuff!