And to think that I saw 50 minute essay just yesterday, from Character's In-Depth on Shadow, albeit it covered the whole run. So I suppose all that's left to say is... Here we go again 😆😅
I suppose that the G.U.N., a direct reference to the CIA, getting away with their actions on the Ark and never being named or held responsibile while still covering up the past can be seen as realistic.
Finally, a concise breakdown of Shadow from SA2 and why he's such a cool character, theories and all. There's another story element that links Adventure 1 & 2 together; being that Amy's compassion is strong enough to influence Gamma & Shadow (both creations of the Robotnik family) to become good, even sacrificing themselves for their newfounded causes.
Excellent video. Bad translation aside, Shadow’s English voice was the only time the localizers realized what this game was going for. A calm but confident character. Shame they kept getting it wrong with each voice change.
Faithful or not, SA2's dub is too iconic to replace. It's so quotable and memorable that changing it would never go over well, but for games with dubs or localizations that are universally considered bad a re-translation could probably give them a second life.
@@Diwasho tbh I'll take an accurate and faithful translation over a "quotable and memorable" one, but i understand the loyalty to the first translation
@@roidoredasu4563 We could have both, the original dub intact and a re-translation added as subtitles to the Japanese audio also included with the game. That way everyone wins.
I found this video in my recommended on a whim, and because of my fixation on Sonic I clicked on it and I was not at all disappointed. Shadow is my favourite character from the franchise, but I could never quite put it into such eloquent words as this video has, and the retranslation and your recap of it has helped me really see Shadow for who he is (or was). Let's hope Sonic Movie 3 does him the same amount of justice that you have.
To be honest, I'm only vaguely familiar with your channel, but this is probably the most cohesive breakdown of Adventure 2's story I've seen. A lot of people seem to get hyped about the plot's surface-level elements, such as super hedgehogs fighting a giant lizard in space, but a lot of the subtleties often get brushed over. As SA2 is my favorite childhood game, its story had a huge impact on me growing up, so I've analyzed it a bit more than most. It was one of the first pieces of media I was exposed to with such a jarring, but effective tonal shift. I think the game is an effective way to introduce kids to the concept of trauma and how difficult it can be to process it. The juxtaposition of the colorful anthro characters and dark political intrigue works in a way I can't really describe. I started off by playing the classic Sonic games as a kid, and those certainly made me a fan. However, Adventure 2 is the game that made the Sonic franchise live rent free in my head into adulthood. Up to that point, I hadn't experienced anything quite like it. I didn't know video games could tell complex stories and it made me appreciate the medium in a whole new light. I agree with a lot of the conclusions you make here. It's too bad the official translation botched so much of the story. However, there is an even worse example of this in the franchise with the metarex arc of Sonic X. It's a rabbit hole worth looking into if you aren't aware of it. Anyway, I think your video does a great job on elaborating what makes the story of SA2 so appealing, and how it falls short in a few areas. It shows why I'm so excited (and nervous) to see what they do with the third Sonic movie. I really want to see a version of this story without any limitations on presentation and with some of the kinks ironed out. I'm crossing my fingers that the third movie delivers on that.
The character arc of Shadow in the 2000s sonic games is honestly one of my favorite charachter arcs of all time from a vengeful villain seeking to destroy the earth to someone who will keep on fighting to keep a promise to a dead friend even with the possibility that the world he promised to protect could one day turn against him.
I just replayed this game with the Japanese voices recently (though it was with an official copy on real hardware, it's got dual audio but unfortunately that means it has "dubtitles") and I was FLOORED at how well the story held up over time. Truly a magnificent game, and you made a magnificent video covering it!
As someone who didn't have the brainpower to even beat this game as a child, let alone understand it, yet grew up fascinated by its plot and wanting to know? This video is a fucking goldmine
I'm just here to say that the thumbnail is dope as hell It looks like the Blue Omen Operation artist, if anyone remembers that game That's it. Thanks for the video and see ya around
@@superbro6413 Thanks! We're still working on a new game that we'll be releasing a demo for soon. I hope you check it out! And then once that game is done, we'll finally go back to WSW and make it what it was always supposed to be! Take care! PS Of course WSW fans love Shadow, it's because we all have good taste 😂😂
You didn't mention it, but another interesting fact is that the music cue hints at the connection between Chaos and Biolizard: czcams.com/video/yNk2fuD0wPA/video.htmlsi=wv4--Bhp1Sjdk-qs&t=500 Where the cutscene music is incorporating this track from SA1: czcams.com/video/8fzqrFoHF3Q/video.html that plays in cutscenes with Chaos. As a kid I always loved and appreciated how SA2 tied the narratives of the two Adventure games together in a seamless and understated way towards the end. They don't make direct reference to it, but instead have the restraint to hint towards it and respect that a player of both games will get the memo. It sounds ridiculous to say, but you don't get that kind of story-telling in modern games in general, and this is just a freaking Sonic game.
I really miss shounen-era Sonic. Used to think it was the coolest thing ever as a kid. I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in these games as a kid if it had featured the modern memey, chili-dog eating Sonic.
I think another aspect to consider with Shadow burning out his Super form during the final battle is experience. Sonic has, at this point, used his Super form multiple times, he's very familiar with the form and he knows how to pace himself. By contrast, Shadow is using it for the first time in an extremely high-stress situation. Additionally, if you do the boss fight perfectly, then it will be Shadow that strikes the final blow. This means that Sonic has had a chance to recharge, and Shadow hasn't. He's going in with a depleted ring count/energy reserve, and that's actually visible in the game: During the boss gameplay, Shadow is flying under his own power, just like Sonic. But in the final cutscene, he's using his hover shoes. I think he's outright running out of power because of a lack of experience with the form. I also have to appreciate you calling out the similar themes between SA1 and SA2, and how their plots echo each other, because a similar thing happens in 06, and it's why, for all its faults, I view 06 as a part of the same lineage as these games. The Duke is a dead old guy like Pachacamac and Gerald, who had parental relationship to a tragic young woman with a connection to the game's antagonist- Elise for himself, Tikal for Pachacamac, and Maria for Gerald. All three ended up tampering with forces beyond their control- Pachacamac wanted the power of the Chaos Emeralds so he could win the war with his enemies, Gerald wanted to cure Maria's illness and then later wanted vengeance upon the whole world, and the Duke wanted to use the power of Solaris to bring back his dead wife. And that action ended up unleashing the antagonist on the world. Chaos was driven into a hateful rage by Pachacamac's violence, Shadow was manipulated into seeking vengeance for Maria's death, and Mephiles was separated from his other half and driven to reunite with it through the most sadistic means he could imagine. The connections between SA1 and SA2 are also why I quite like that Chronicles did a bit of canon welding between SA1 and Sonic Battle. Emerl, the main character of the latter game, is also an ARK experiment, although not one Gerald or any of his colleagues made, rather something Gerald _found_ and was studying. Come 2008, Chronicles reveals that his creators, the Fourth Great Civilisation, were actually Pachacamac's mysterious enemies, another tribe of Echidnas who focused on technology. And like Pachacamac, they created their own downfall- Pachacamac enraged Chaos in his pursuit of power, and Ix, his counterpart, sought to create their own artificial god of war. Which went horribly, horribly right. I think that's why, warts and all, I still love the overall story of this series. Different writers across multiple different games (though I know Shiro Maekawa worked on SA1, SA2, _and_ 06) iterating and expanding on the themes and messages of the ones that came before. Despite everything, much of Sonic has a coherent and recurrent theme and lore that comes together over and over, and I think that's why it stands out when things like the 2010 games bungle that, or the comics do something completely counter to it.
47:00 ah, there's the nuke metaphor! No, not the lazers or mass driver impacts- THIS. The 'government' involved with the ARK and Shadow projects knew that 'emerald power' (atomic power) and its capacity for good and evil. They thought they could fast track bringing a pure good manifestation of 'emerald power' into existence in a lab before a disaster occured. They saw murals saying an ultimate being can face a disaster, and thought 'we need to fast track bringing about the ultimate being'. In reality, the appearance of the true natural disaster brought about the true natural ultimate being. Their occurence was linked. By endeavoring to create the ultimate being early, fast tracking the giving of power and access to unstable people like Iva Robotnik, they failed to understand the linked nature of the prophecy. By trying to create an artificial ultimate being they made an artificial disaster. To be crude, ya got purified plutonium but in the end you're still going to make buclear waste. To be elaborate, Trying to get ahead of the next disaster by ammassing power first is.. a literal arms race.. No wonder Iva, weapons developer, went M.A.D.
This is the first time I've ever seen anyone point out that the Biolizard's weak point might be a brain. I never once thought about that. That's something to think about.
This video is amazing and delves into facets of this game's story that I've always thought about a lot but I've never heard anyone else talk about. The connections between the Ark, Gerald's research, and the ancient echidna tribe are fascinating. I think it honestly brings up a lot of questions about the origins of Sonic and friends in those 50 years that G.U.N held Shadow in stasis. There are a couple things I would like to add here for anyone who loves theory crafting and analyzing this game's plot: - G.U.N and the (not) U.S. government are not affiliated and Rouge, therefore, is not affiliated with G.U.N during the events of this game (you never explicitly state this to be the case but a lot of fans seem to think she is. Sega even seems to think so in their own sequels to this game). - I can't explain other characters' reactions, but G.U.N definitely knows Sonic and Shadow aren't the same hedgehog. A lot of people think G.U.N are incompetent or stupid because they arrest Sonic, but there's no way that the ultimate life form super weapon that they kept in stasis for 50 years under heavy surveillance would break out and they would confuse it with another hedgehog. They simply use the misunderstanding caused by the media (or orchestrate it by manipulating the media) to cover their tracks as they try to re-capture their lost asset. After all, it would look really bad for them if people found out that they stormed the Ark, murdered its inhabitants, kept a sentient being imprisoned for 50 years, and then let it escape, jeopardizing the existence of the planet and all of its inhabitants in the process. So of course they would use Sonic as an easy excuse to cover up their own culpability in the matter. Just wanted to spew out a couple ideas I've had in my head a while that no one seems to be speaking on online. I feel like they line up with your interpretation of the game pretty well! I hope that more people take this game's plot seriously and analyze it more as time goes on. SA2 is the best-written game in the series imo and it deserves more credit than it gets (hence this short essay on a very long video) and it deserves all the love in the world for what it accomplishes. Cheers!
I think Shadow strugles more to keep his Super form because of the prior fight against the Biolizard, at the end of the fight before his Super transformation we see him tired catching his breath, going Super on that state probably made him more vulnerable than Sonic
Great analysis, I’m not a longtime fan but I’m going to take a look at your other content after such a strong first impression. I agree that Shadow is such an iconic character with a fabulous narrative arc in SA2, and that this game represents the spirit of deepening narrative ambition within technological constraints of the era. The cracks were already starting to form in the 3D Sonic gameplay structure, but as a whole product, the game is fun and thrilling in a way that no other 3d platformer aspired to be, at least, from my experience. As a huge fan of S3&K, this game was such a great continuation of its ideas and dichotomy (tech/nature, prophecy and free will, etc) that it will always hold a place in my heart, even in spite of its flaws. Excellent work!
To comment on the imposter plot, one theory I kinda subscribe to is the idea that GUN is actually using Sonic as a scapegoat to cover up the existence of Shadow. Considering they were willing the kill the entire Ark colony, it wouldn’t be that out of place. Since Shadow is first seen holding a chaos emerald, and Sonic was publicly seen using them to transform into Super Sonic (who bares a striking similarity in terms of silhouette) it would be easy to pass it off as another form he has. Then they’d capture and lock up Sonic while continuing to hunt Shadow, with the former having no real idea why. It’s not exactly how it’s portrayed in the game, but it’s a fairly easy idea to come to with what’s shown and actually makes a good bit of sense. I also love how Shadows level themes feature scrambled vocals in places that really drive home how unclear his mind truly is. The lyrics regarding revenge and him being assured as the ultimate life form are usually clearly heard, but muffled and mixed in are various lines of doubt, and even sections that imply he had a greater hesitation to do what he does than is ever let on in the cutscenes. The theme used in Final Chase in particular is a favorite or mine in that regard, since as a kid I didn’t even realize the second verse and chorus were even there at all. Beyond that, I like the idea that Shadow’s design was actually based on Super Sonic from the mural in Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic 3, while the Biolizard takes from Perfect Chaos as seen in its roar and the fact it guards the Master Emerald shrine. Gerald was said to have visited the Echidna ruins on Angel Island and Lost World, so it would make sense he’d be aware of these and use them for inspiration for the “ultimate life form”. It’s also worth noting how in their super forms, Sonic’s is gold with his quills spiking up, while Shadow’s is a weird silver-gold in between color and his quills remain the same as his regular form. Someone also once pointed out that while Super Sonic’s quills move, Shadow’s don’t which really sells the idea of him being this unnatural creation since his body doesn’t even react the same despite having the same powers at that point as Sonic. A lot of blocky text but I’ve always loved this game. As you put it, the final stretch is the peak of the series narratively, which I wholeheartedly agree with.
Wow, Hero drops a video after a long time and it's almost an hour long! Neat! Game Informer did a complete playthrough of Sonic 06 (they call it Super Replay) and played some of Shadow The Hedgehog. My main source of Sonic lore is from them. It's fun to see some's summary who knows stuff a little deeper. All these Sonic videos from GI slowly turned me into a Sonic-enjoyer, or maybe even a Sonic fan even though they were laughing a lot on the games, I grew fond of them. Since you are covering a lot of Sega games, did you ever thought of covering the Trauma Center series? You know, Sega now owns Atlus and it's just a quick jump from Yakuza through Sonic to end up at Trauma Center :D BTW, did the announcement of SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS inspire you to make this video?
Nah, I actually finished writing this video last march, but didn't get it through the vocal recording/editing stage until recently. The new Generations having Black Doom in it does make me want to replay Heroes/Shadow/06 though, maybe to make a sequel video about his later characterization.
This video was an AMAZING deep dive into shadow and SA2's story/ gameplay and development! I know you don't care for much after this game in regards to shadow, but I would love to hear you talk about it! Great work here 💯, thanks for sharing with us and I look forward to your next video.
I can't tell you how happy I was to get a notification that HyperBitHero finally uploaded another Devious Intent video, and it's about SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
The fact that Sonic saved the world multiple times doesn't mean that everyone know him personally. Also Amy is somewhat crazy in terms of love for Sonic so it's kinda makes sense that she'll see the guy in everyone.
Dude this game looks so good on original Dreamcast, wow. Even the mod that was recently created that adds Dreamcast lighting and cutscene fixes don't do the game justice.
This was great. I played this game on the Gamecube as a young teen and absolutely was not paying attention to the story, just enjoying the music, the gameplay (even the treasure hunter stages) and vibes. This story is awesome, I wish it was localized better and I had paid attention. Also, forgot about your Devious Intent series, this is great.
Ah yes, taking me back to those innocent tweenage days when I studied Resident Evil lore like a bible and thought Sonic Adventure 2 was the best Sonic because of the story.
HbH realizing that japanese game localization has been fucked for decades and every game you loved as a kid is not even close to the original creator's intent.
Despite the problems future entries introduced I am happy Shadow the hedgehog was brought back I even like the role he was given in 06 as a character the ultimate lifeform and the ultimate defender of the earth.
Sonic Adventure 2 is peak! During the 2000s developers were getting more ambitious with platformers and storytelling. The story is not perfect, but Shadow is a great character. Your analysis was on point.
FUCK man, this game was/is SO COOL!!! 😤 I’m like literally tearing up rn thinking about just how cool it was/is while watching. If only we can get a story like this again in a new Sonic game! Like that feeling when you beat SA1 or SA2, in those final moments you feel like you’ve been on such an adventure with all these characters. Frontiers gave me a little iota of that feeling and I need moooooore!!! Come on, Frontiers 2!! 🙏🙏🙏
I'm never going to be able to look at that scene of Maria ejecting Shadow from the ark the same way ever again now, holy shit! Edit: Today I learned editing a comment unhearts it. Makes sense why, but I just wanted to update to the proper spelling of "ark".
can there be as comprehensive a video for another sonic characters story like this in the future?? or even discussing shadow more from future games like 06?
Yeah, I’d like to do more videos on the series. I was thinking about either doing future shadow videos or using the villains of the next games as a catalyst to talk about both. Black Doom & Mephiles for example. I’d even like to go back and do Chaos.
Have to be honest, I never would've expected you of all people to speak on the game as favorably or for as long as you did. I'm less sympathetic to SA2's story because for as ambitious as it is, it just isn't fleshed out well enough for it to really land, especially as it was presented to western audiences in 2001. That said, I'd easily take a story like SA2's or any story we got in the 2010s. It is indeed a very pleasant surprise that this is one of the few hour-long videos on SA2 that doesn't regurgitate arguments everyone's been making for over a decade. It is a shame that you couldn't discuss Sonic 06 as it relates to Shadow's arc, considering that a popular interpretation of Mephiles's bargain to Shadow is that he tired to reopen wounds of Shadow's distrust for humanity but I understand why you chose just to talk about SA1 and 2. As crazy as it sounds, that game is to me what SA2 is to you. Great video.
Shadow is not a edgelord. Hes done way more good to this series by helping people out, hes no hedgelord. Vergil is a edgelord, Vergil always loses and just never learn from his mistakes. Vergil is a edgelord
My only nitpick about the video is the usage of "Robotnik" instead of Eggman but beside that,amazing video Been forever sincr your last upload,i love your content
I would say Shadow's current design still works with people mistaking him, as it's either a minor instance or has justifiable reasons. Amy is played for humour on her obsession with Sonic, and Eggman is just for a moment in a dark room, with both being quick. The newscast can easily be explained by the unreliability of eye-witness reports, amplified by them moving at high speeds at night in the same city, alongside Sonic's ability to change forms such as Super (which Shadow does look similar to) and GUN covering Shadow's existence with a false narrative. GUN itself is never depicted as mistaking Sonic for Shadow (Sonic only comes up with that idea himself before he knows what's going on), with them already knowing about Shadow and of course not wanting his existence to be known both as a military secret and their involvement in the ARK's "accident." This all probably would have been easier to covey with the earlier designs, but there still are reasons behind each case of mistaken identity, so I think it still works without knowledge of Shadow's concept art.
Interesting how both the Perfect Chaos and Biolizard take inspirations from a monster called Biollante featured in Godzilla VS Biollante. While PC distinctly takes major cues from this kaiju in terms of appearance BL on the other hand takes cues from its story in the movie. Wouldn't be the first time Sonic games got influenced by something from Godzilla but it is the most notable influence.
Canonically; Shadow The Hedgehog is faster and stronger than Sonic The Hedgehog. He uses the four bracelets & anklets/rings to suppress his raw power and glides on the hover shoes like ice skates just for ease/convenience. Back in the day I just assumed the hover shoes allowed Shadow to be as fast as Sonic and he was too weak otherwise, but that just isn't the case. If Shadow had similar shoes to Sonic, he would be capable of running faster. But Sonic is supposed to be the fastest thing alive, so they need to curb the power creep somehow so Sonic isn't out-shined. Much like how Metal Sonic has a faster top speed than Sonic, but has terrible acceleration and manoeuvrability while Sonic can stop and turn on a dime, being able to react quicker even though having a slower top speed.
>doesn't upload for 10 months
>drops a 50 minute essay on shadow
>refuses to elaborate
>leaves for 10 months again(?)
And to think that I saw 50 minute essay just yesterday, from Character's In-Depth on Shadow, albeit it covered the whole run. So I suppose all that's left to say is... Here we go again 😆😅
I’ll make sure he doesn't leave for that long again.💯
Just when 2024 was already informally dubbed The Year of Shadow, now we get a friggin' near hour long Devious Intent on him?!
Running with the Japanese script/dub, you truly are a man of culture.
I suppose that the G.U.N., a direct reference to the CIA, getting away with their actions on the Ark and never being named or held responsibile while still covering up the past can be seen as realistic.
Dreamcast footage plus Japanese with windii’s retranslation. I salute you
Finally, a concise breakdown of Shadow from SA2 and why he's such a cool character, theories and all.
There's another story element that links Adventure 1 & 2 together; being that Amy's compassion is strong enough to influence Gamma & Shadow (both creations of the Robotnik family) to become good, even sacrificing themselves for their newfounded causes.
Excellent video.
Bad translation aside, Shadow’s English voice was the only time the localizers realized what this game was going for. A calm but confident character. Shame they kept getting it wrong with each voice change.
I wish David Humphrey got a chance to voice him again.
I still cringe when I think of the end of generations..."You got this Sonic!" in just...ugh, hate his voice
Jason Griffith was a good Shadow tho
@@JapanFreak2595 He’s just as bad as Kirk Thorton IMO
@@RedLegend13 Agree to disagree
It’s a good day when hero remembers he’s password
Ahhhh, I never made the Chaos/Biolizard connection. I love that, it connects a lot of dots.
we need to start pushing for more faithful re-translations of old.... and new games
i missed your content so much hero, glad to have you back
Faithful or not, SA2's dub is too iconic to replace. It's so quotable and memorable that changing it would never go over well, but for games with dubs or localizations that are universally considered bad a re-translation could probably give them a second life.
@@Diwasho tbh I'll take an accurate and faithful translation over a "quotable and memorable" one, but i understand the loyalty to the first translation
@@roidoredasu4563 We could have both, the original dub intact and a re-translation added as subtitles to the Japanese audio also included with the game. That way everyone wins.
Hyperbithero doing what TGB won’t do make an hour long dissection into fiction’s greatest hero
Who’s TGB
I found this video in my recommended on a whim, and because of my fixation on Sonic I clicked on it and I was not at all disappointed.
Shadow is my favourite character from the franchise, but I could never quite put it into such eloquent words as this video has, and the retranslation and your recap of it has helped me really see Shadow for who he is (or was). Let's hope Sonic Movie 3 does him the same amount of justice that you have.
I can't even put into words how much I love and appreciate this video. I'm in genuine tears.
Thanks, I'm glad I could move you like that!
Had the prediction that the comments were going to be a choir of people saying variations of “we missed you”, happy that it didn’t disappoint.
To be honest, I'm only vaguely familiar with your channel, but this is probably the most cohesive breakdown of Adventure 2's story I've seen. A lot of people seem to get hyped about the plot's surface-level elements, such as super hedgehogs fighting a giant lizard in space, but a lot of the subtleties often get brushed over.
As SA2 is my favorite childhood game, its story had a huge impact on me growing up, so I've analyzed it a bit more than most. It was one of the first pieces of media I was exposed to with such a jarring, but effective tonal shift. I think the game is an effective way to introduce kids to the concept of trauma and how difficult it can be to process it. The juxtaposition of the colorful anthro characters and dark political intrigue works in a way I can't really describe.
I started off by playing the classic Sonic games as a kid, and those certainly made me a fan. However, Adventure 2 is the game that made the Sonic franchise live rent free in my head into adulthood. Up to that point, I hadn't experienced anything quite like it. I didn't know video games could tell complex stories and it made me appreciate the medium in a whole new light.
I agree with a lot of the conclusions you make here. It's too bad the official translation botched so much of the story. However, there is an even worse example of this in the franchise with the metarex arc of Sonic X. It's a rabbit hole worth looking into if you aren't aware of it.
Anyway, I think your video does a great job on elaborating what makes the story of SA2 so appealing, and how it falls short in a few areas. It shows why I'm so excited (and nervous) to see what they do with the third Sonic movie. I really want to see a version of this story without any limitations on presentation and with some of the kinks ironed out. I'm crossing my fingers that the third movie delivers on that.
The character arc of Shadow in the 2000s sonic games is honestly one of my favorite charachter arcs of all time from a vengeful villain seeking to destroy the earth to someone who will keep on fighting to keep a promise to a dead friend even with the possibility that the world he promised to protect could one day turn against him.
WHEN ONCE THOUGHT LOST TO THE ANNELS OF HISTORY HE RETURNED WITH THE BEST CHARACTER OF ALL TIME
I just replayed this game with the Japanese voices recently (though it was with an official copy on real hardware, it's got dual audio but unfortunately that means it has "dubtitles") and I was FLOORED at how well the story held up over time. Truly a magnificent game, and you made a magnificent video covering it!
I always wondered why Shadow wasn't done in this series before, he's probably one of the best characters to dig into.
My boy out here returning to talk about my favorite character for an hour eh? Count me locked the fuck in.
As someone who didn't have the brainpower to even beat this game as a child, let alone understand it, yet grew up fascinated by its plot and wanting to know? This video is a fucking goldmine
The font & resolution-accurate subs are a super nice touch! Had me wondering if they were actually a mod for the DC version at first
Just when we though he quit, he comes back with fucking Shadow the Edgehog of all videos.
Im locked in lets fuckin go
I'm just here to say that the thumbnail is dope as hell
It looks like the Blue Omen Operation artist, if anyone remembers that game
That's it. Thanks for the video and see ya around
It is!
Hey, I made the game your profile pic is a screenshot of. It makes me happy to see it out in the wild. Lmao
@@MosiahWhite
We Shall Wake? Hell yeah!
Gotta rep the goat
Gives my regards to you and your team, it _incredibly_ inspired me all those years ago
@@superbro6413 Thanks! We're still working on a new game that we'll be releasing a demo for soon. I hope you check it out! And then once that game is done, we'll finally go back to WSW and make it what it was always supposed to be! Take care!
PS Of course WSW fans love Shadow, it's because we all have good taste 😂😂
Thank you for recontextualizing a childhood favorite of mine. There are several things in this video I just never thought of as a kid.
You know it's a good vid when you have to periodically exit to find the BGM
You didn't mention it, but another interesting fact is that the music cue hints at the connection between Chaos and Biolizard: czcams.com/video/yNk2fuD0wPA/video.htmlsi=wv4--Bhp1Sjdk-qs&t=500
Where the cutscene music is incorporating this track from SA1: czcams.com/video/8fzqrFoHF3Q/video.html that plays in cutscenes with Chaos.
As a kid I always loved and appreciated how SA2 tied the narratives of the two Adventure games together in a seamless and understated way towards the end. They don't make direct reference to it, but instead have the restraint to hint towards it and respect that a player of both games will get the memo.
It sounds ridiculous to say, but you don't get that kind of story-telling in modern games in general, and this is just a freaking Sonic game.
I really miss shounen-era Sonic. Used to think it was the coolest thing ever as a kid. I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in these games as a kid if it had featured the modern memey, chili-dog eating Sonic.
The greatest video game character of all time!
I wasn’t expecting a 50 minute devious intent, let alone one on Shadow the Hedgehog, but I’ll take it with open arms.
When the world needed him most...
Man, the footage you captured is PRISTINE!! And your writing is excellent. Great video--you've earned a sub, and I'm sure you'll earn many more :)
Hyperbithero is back from the store
I think another aspect to consider with Shadow burning out his Super form during the final battle is experience. Sonic has, at this point, used his Super form multiple times, he's very familiar with the form and he knows how to pace himself. By contrast, Shadow is using it for the first time in an extremely high-stress situation.
Additionally, if you do the boss fight perfectly, then it will be Shadow that strikes the final blow. This means that Sonic has had a chance to recharge, and Shadow hasn't. He's going in with a depleted ring count/energy reserve, and that's actually visible in the game: During the boss gameplay, Shadow is flying under his own power, just like Sonic. But in the final cutscene, he's using his hover shoes. I think he's outright running out of power because of a lack of experience with the form.
I also have to appreciate you calling out the similar themes between SA1 and SA2, and how their plots echo each other, because a similar thing happens in 06, and it's why, for all its faults, I view 06 as a part of the same lineage as these games. The Duke is a dead old guy like Pachacamac and Gerald, who had parental relationship to a tragic young woman with a connection to the game's antagonist- Elise for himself, Tikal for Pachacamac, and Maria for Gerald. All three ended up tampering with forces beyond their control- Pachacamac wanted the power of the Chaos Emeralds so he could win the war with his enemies, Gerald wanted to cure Maria's illness and then later wanted vengeance upon the whole world, and the Duke wanted to use the power of Solaris to bring back his dead wife. And that action ended up unleashing the antagonist on the world. Chaos was driven into a hateful rage by Pachacamac's violence, Shadow was manipulated into seeking vengeance for Maria's death, and Mephiles was separated from his other half and driven to reunite with it through the most sadistic means he could imagine.
The connections between SA1 and SA2 are also why I quite like that Chronicles did a bit of canon welding between SA1 and Sonic Battle. Emerl, the main character of the latter game, is also an ARK experiment, although not one Gerald or any of his colleagues made, rather something Gerald _found_ and was studying. Come 2008, Chronicles reveals that his creators, the Fourth Great Civilisation, were actually Pachacamac's mysterious enemies, another tribe of Echidnas who focused on technology. And like Pachacamac, they created their own downfall- Pachacamac enraged Chaos in his pursuit of power, and Ix, his counterpart, sought to create their own artificial god of war. Which went horribly, horribly right.
I think that's why, warts and all, I still love the overall story of this series. Different writers across multiple different games (though I know Shiro Maekawa worked on SA1, SA2, _and_ 06) iterating and expanding on the themes and messages of the ones that came before. Despite everything, much of Sonic has a coherent and recurrent theme and lore that comes together over and over, and I think that's why it stands out when things like the 2010 games bungle that, or the comics do something completely counter to it.
Maekawa worked on the stories of SA2, Heroes and 06. SA1 was Nishiyama.
RETURN OF THE KING
DAMN
NOT HERE
Been a while, dude. Speaking as a Sonic fan, I definitely enjoyed this one.
I missed you, my friend. And coming back with a new Devious Intent it's just a pleasure surprise. Keep up! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A HyperBitHero upload? And it's not even Christmas time. Maybe we'll get lucky boys and also get a Bit and Brit this year too.
28:50 - 30:20 Such an excellent showdown
There is something kinda of funny about this serie's return with Shadow the Hedgehog.
47:00 ah, there's the nuke metaphor! No, not the lazers or mass driver impacts- THIS.
The 'government' involved with the ARK and Shadow projects knew that 'emerald power' (atomic power) and its capacity for good and evil. They thought they could fast track bringing a pure good manifestation of 'emerald power' into existence in a lab before a disaster occured.
They saw murals saying an ultimate being can face a disaster, and thought 'we need to fast track bringing about the ultimate being'. In reality, the appearance of the true natural disaster brought about the true natural ultimate being. Their occurence was linked.
By endeavoring to create the ultimate being early, fast tracking the giving of power and access to unstable people like Iva Robotnik, they failed to understand the linked nature of the prophecy. By trying to create an artificial ultimate being they made an artificial disaster.
To be crude, ya got purified plutonium but in the end you're still going to make buclear waste.
To be elaborate, Trying to get ahead of the next disaster by ammassing power first is.. a literal arms race..
No wonder Iva, weapons developer, went M.A.D.
This is the first time I've ever seen anyone point out that the Biolizard's weak point might be a brain. I never once thought about that.
That's something to think about.
Cheers to now just waiting for Cybershell to cameo in the comments! 🍻
vid was good
i must have amnesia cause i forgor that you are him
Bro got the Inkuusan art in the thumbnail. This man got some amazing taste.
The legend is back! Running the og JP version too!!
Kept us waiting, huh?
you glorious bastard, I've been waiting for this
This video is amazing and delves into facets of this game's story that I've always thought about a lot but I've never heard anyone else talk about. The connections between the Ark, Gerald's research, and the ancient echidna tribe are fascinating. I think it honestly brings up a lot of questions about the origins of Sonic and friends in those 50 years that G.U.N held Shadow in stasis.
There are a couple things I would like to add here for anyone who loves theory crafting and analyzing this game's plot:
- G.U.N and the (not) U.S. government are not affiliated and Rouge, therefore, is not affiliated with G.U.N during the events of this game (you never explicitly state this to be the case but a lot of fans seem to think she is. Sega even seems to think so in their own sequels to this game).
- I can't explain other characters' reactions, but G.U.N definitely knows Sonic and Shadow aren't the same hedgehog. A lot of people think G.U.N are incompetent or stupid because they arrest Sonic, but there's no way that the ultimate life form super weapon that they kept in stasis for 50 years under heavy surveillance would break out and they would confuse it with another hedgehog. They simply use the misunderstanding caused by the media (or orchestrate it by manipulating the media) to cover their tracks as they try to re-capture their lost asset.
After all, it would look really bad for them if people found out that they stormed the Ark, murdered its inhabitants, kept a sentient being imprisoned for 50 years, and then let it escape, jeopardizing the existence of the planet and all of its inhabitants in the process. So of course they would use Sonic as an easy excuse to cover up their own culpability in the matter.
Just wanted to spew out a couple ideas I've had in my head a while that no one seems to be speaking on online. I feel like they line up with your interpretation of the game pretty well!
I hope that more people take this game's plot seriously and analyze it more as time goes on. SA2 is the best-written game in the series imo and it deserves more credit than it gets (hence this short essay on a very long video) and it deserves all the love in the world for what it accomplishes.
Cheers!
worth the wait
I think Shadow strugles more to keep his Super form because of the prior fight against the Biolizard, at the end of the fight before his Super transformation we see him tired catching his breath, going Super on that state probably made him more vulnerable than Sonic
YAY DEVIOUS INTENT IS BACK
We got a movie coming out soon, Shadow Generations, and another Devious Intent?? Yeah, its the year of shadow for sure
seems the hardwork paid off~
WE'RE SO BACK
Great analysis, I’m not a longtime fan but I’m going to take a look at your other content after such a strong first impression.
I agree that Shadow is such an iconic character with a fabulous narrative arc in SA2, and that this game represents the spirit of deepening narrative ambition within technological constraints of the era. The cracks were already starting to form in the 3D Sonic gameplay structure, but as a whole product, the game is fun and thrilling in a way that no other 3d platformer aspired to be, at least, from my experience. As a huge fan of S3&K, this game was such a great continuation of its ideas and dichotomy (tech/nature, prophecy and free will, etc) that it will always hold a place in my heart, even in spite of its flaws. Excellent work!
I appreciate it, but this comment is extra funny considering CZcams is saying you've been subscribed to me for 3 years.
@@HyperBitHero lol I honestly thought I wasn’t! I can’t even remember which video of yours I watched before this! XD
Always good to see a devious intent vid
How do you come at the most random moments to bless us?
To comment on the imposter plot, one theory I kinda subscribe to is the idea that GUN is actually using Sonic as a scapegoat to cover up the existence of Shadow. Considering they were willing the kill the entire Ark colony, it wouldn’t be that out of place. Since Shadow is first seen holding a chaos emerald, and Sonic was publicly seen using them to transform into Super Sonic (who bares a striking similarity in terms of silhouette) it would be easy to pass it off as another form he has. Then they’d capture and lock up Sonic while continuing to hunt Shadow, with the former having no real idea why. It’s not exactly how it’s portrayed in the game, but it’s a fairly easy idea to come to with what’s shown and actually makes a good bit of sense.
I also love how Shadows level themes feature scrambled vocals in places that really drive home how unclear his mind truly is. The lyrics regarding revenge and him being assured as the ultimate life form are usually clearly heard, but muffled and mixed in are various lines of doubt, and even sections that imply he had a greater hesitation to do what he does than is ever let on in the cutscenes. The theme used in Final Chase in particular is a favorite or mine in that regard, since as a kid I didn’t even realize the second verse and chorus were even there at all.
Beyond that, I like the idea that Shadow’s design was actually based on Super Sonic from the mural in Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic 3, while the Biolizard takes from Perfect Chaos as seen in its roar and the fact it guards the Master Emerald shrine. Gerald was said to have visited the Echidna ruins on Angel Island and Lost World, so it would make sense he’d be aware of these and use them for inspiration for the “ultimate life form”. It’s also worth noting how in their super forms, Sonic’s is gold with his quills spiking up, while Shadow’s is a weird silver-gold in between color and his quills remain the same as his regular form. Someone also once pointed out that while Super Sonic’s quills move, Shadow’s don’t which really sells the idea of him being this unnatural creation since his body doesn’t even react the same despite having the same powers at that point as Sonic.
A lot of blocky text but I’ve always loved this game. As you put it, the final stretch is the peak of the series narratively, which I wholeheartedly agree with.
maybe my 8 year old self who loved this story and ending to death was onto something
We are so indisputably back
Wow, Hero drops a video after a long time and it's almost an hour long! Neat!
Game Informer did a complete playthrough of Sonic 06 (they call it Super Replay) and played some of Shadow The Hedgehog. My main source of Sonic lore is from them. It's fun to see some's summary who knows stuff a little deeper. All these Sonic videos from GI slowly turned me into a Sonic-enjoyer, or maybe even a Sonic fan even though they were laughing a lot on the games, I grew fond of them.
Since you are covering a lot of Sega games, did you ever thought of covering the Trauma Center series? You know, Sega now owns Atlus and it's just a quick jump from Yakuza through Sonic to end up at Trauma Center :D
BTW, did the announcement of SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS inspire you to make this video?
Nah, I actually finished writing this video last march, but didn't get it through the vocal recording/editing stage until recently. The new Generations having Black Doom in it does make me want to replay Heroes/Shadow/06 though, maybe to make a sequel video about his later characterization.
@@HyperBitHero heeeey make a sequel video hiiiii
got my 2 liter of mr pibb, a basket of boneless wings and blue cheese and an edible my older brother bought me. oh yeah, it's hero video time!!!
shut up
QUICK! Before you disappear again for months we need some more videos. Maybe Silent Hill or Resident Evil?
IT'S SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, BABY!
Shadow? He’s just like me…
This video was an AMAZING deep dive into shadow and SA2's story/ gameplay and development!
I know you don't care for much after this game in regards to shadow, but I would love to hear you talk about it!
Great work here 💯, thanks for sharing with us and I look forward to your next video.
He lives!
Up next on Devious Intent:
Hero's upload schedule.
I can't tell you how happy I was to get a notification that HyperBitHero finally uploaded another Devious Intent video, and it's about SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
Hero has become HyperBitHero again!
This is exactly what we needed
This is your best Devious Intent video yet, or rather of all time if i may be so bold.
The fact that Sonic saved the world multiple times doesn't mean that everyone know him personally. Also Amy is somewhat crazy in terms of love for Sonic so it's kinda makes sense that she'll see the guy in everyone.
Dude this game looks so good on original Dreamcast, wow. Even the mod that was recently created that adds Dreamcast lighting and cutscene fixes don't do the game justice.
IDK if you read these but I really liked the video and am a new subscriber, can't wait for the next :D
@AllStarKingD Of course, thank you!
cant say i expected you to cover the sonic series of all things
This was great. I played this game on the Gamecube as a young teen and absolutely was not paying attention to the story, just enjoying the music, the gameplay (even the treasure hunter stages) and vibes. This story is awesome, I wish it was localized better and I had paid attention. Also, forgot about your Devious Intent series, this is great.
It’s good to have you back 😢😢
Ah yes, taking me back to those innocent tweenage days when I studied Resident Evil lore like a bible and thought Sonic Adventure 2 was the best Sonic because of the story.
HbH realizing that japanese game localization has been fucked for decades and every game you loved as a kid is not even close to the original creator's intent.
All hail
Despite the problems future entries introduced I am happy Shadow the hedgehog was brought back I even like the role he was given in 06 as a character the ultimate lifeform and the ultimate defender of the earth.
Where u been
This guy introduced me to Gravity Rush and Patlabor, two of my favorite stories. His return is glorious to see. He’s like the Avatar.
Sonic Adventure 2 is peak! During the 2000s developers were getting more ambitious with platformers and storytelling. The story is not perfect, but Shadow is a great character. Your analysis was on point.
FUCK man, this game was/is SO COOL!!! 😤 I’m like literally tearing up rn thinking about just how cool it was/is while watching. If only we can get a story like this again in a new Sonic game! Like that feeling when you beat SA1 or SA2, in those final moments you feel like you’ve been on such an adventure with all these characters. Frontiers gave me a little iota of that feeling and I need moooooore!!! Come on, Frontiers 2!! 🙏🙏🙏
Now this was a very pleasant surprise.
I'm never going to be able to look at that scene of Maria ejecting Shadow from the ark the same way ever again now, holy shit!
Edit: Today I learned editing a comment unhearts it. Makes sense why, but I just wanted to update to the proper spelling of "ark".
can there be as comprehensive a video for another sonic characters story like this in the future?? or even discussing shadow more from future games like 06?
Yeah, I’d like to do more videos on the series. I was thinking about either doing future shadow videos or using the villains of the next games as a catalyst to talk about both. Black Doom & Mephiles for example. I’d even like to go back and do Chaos.
Have to be honest, I never would've expected you of all people to speak on the game as favorably or for as long as you did. I'm less sympathetic to SA2's story because for as ambitious as it is, it just isn't fleshed out well enough for it to really land, especially as it was presented to western audiences in 2001. That said, I'd easily take a story like SA2's or any story we got in the 2010s. It is indeed a very pleasant surprise that this is one of the few hour-long videos on SA2 that doesn't regurgitate arguments everyone's been making for over a decade.
It is a shame that you couldn't discuss Sonic 06 as it relates to Shadow's arc, considering that a popular interpretation of Mephiles's bargain to Shadow is that he tired to reopen wounds of Shadow's distrust for humanity but I understand why you chose just to talk about SA1 and 2. As crazy as it sounds, that game is to me what SA2 is to you. Great video.
Welcome back king!
Great analysis and video
Shadow is not a edgelord. Hes done way more good to this series by helping people out, hes no hedgelord. Vergil is a edgelord, Vergil always loses and just never learn from his mistakes. Vergil is a edgelord
My only nitpick about the video is the usage of "Robotnik" instead of Eggman but beside that,amazing video
Been forever sincr your last upload,i love your content
I would say Shadow's current design still works with people mistaking him, as it's either a minor instance or has justifiable reasons. Amy is played for humour on her obsession with Sonic, and Eggman is just for a moment in a dark room, with both being quick.
The newscast can easily be explained by the unreliability of eye-witness reports, amplified by them moving at high speeds at night in the same city, alongside Sonic's ability to change forms such as Super (which Shadow does look similar to) and GUN covering Shadow's existence with a false narrative. GUN itself is never depicted as mistaking Sonic for Shadow (Sonic only comes up with that idea himself before he knows what's going on), with them already knowing about Shadow and of course not wanting his existence to be known both as a military secret and their involvement in the ARK's "accident."
This all probably would have been easier to covey with the earlier designs, but there still are reasons behind each case of mistaken identity, so I think it still works without knowledge of Shadow's concept art.
Can't wait for Jeff Fowler to give us our lord and savior again at the end of the year.
Interesting how both the Perfect Chaos and Biolizard take inspirations from a monster called Biollante featured in Godzilla VS Biollante. While PC distinctly takes major cues from this kaiju in terms of appearance BL on the other hand takes cues from its story in the movie. Wouldn't be the first time Sonic games got influenced by something from Godzilla but it is the most notable influence.
Hero doesn't upload often, but when he does the videos are fire!
Sonic was a popular series for a reason, I dismissed 2 after playing 1 because I felt a drop off in quality but I'm glad to see 2 get some attention
Damn dude good to see you make a new video.
Canonically; Shadow The Hedgehog is faster and stronger than Sonic The Hedgehog. He uses the four bracelets & anklets/rings to suppress his raw power and glides on the hover shoes like ice skates just for ease/convenience.
Back in the day I just assumed the hover shoes allowed Shadow to be as fast as Sonic and he was too weak otherwise, but that just isn't the case. If Shadow had similar shoes to Sonic, he would be capable of running faster. But Sonic is supposed to be the fastest thing alive, so they need to curb the power creep somehow so Sonic isn't out-shined. Much like how Metal Sonic has a faster top speed than Sonic, but has terrible acceleration and manoeuvrability while Sonic can stop and turn on a dime, being able to react quicker even though having a slower top speed.