The Story of Shadow the Hedgehog

As always, translations courtesy of Windii. Check her out. / girlbossuran
One thing I chose to leave out of the video is that Eggman does confirm during the final boss that Shadow is in fact the same one from SA2. He saved Shadow from the fall with his robots. I left it out because it ultimately doesn't matter. It could or could not be the same one and it would make no difference. Though the game also does answer the mystery from SA2. In the Prison Island level, Shadow remembers escaping from the ARK and being apprehended by GUN. Which doesn't really make sense because even SA2 Shadow did not know that. Either way, it also doesn't matter, but I'd rather it was left open.
I know the rant seems like I was just blowing some small continuities errors out of proportion. But this is just the beginning. So many errors like this pile on top of each other over time that almost nothing in this series makes sense anymore. As someone that sees so much potential in the stories of this series, it is incredibly frustrating.
I also should mention that I'm fine with Shadow being able to handle his super form here when he couldn't in SA2. He's gone through enough of an arc in this game that it is narratively earned. Shadow has grown since then. He has even gained the free way of living that Sonic has, now that he's no longer letting others tell him who to be. Now he truly is the ultimate lifeform he was intended to be.
Also, I realized after finishing the video. If we want to continue with the religious theming that Shadow has typically had and look at Black Doom as a Satan analogue, that would technically make Shadow an Anti-Christ figure, since he was made from Black Doom's blood. So uhh... take from that what you will.
You can support me here if you want. ko-fi.com/pariah695

[@Pariah6950]

I totally forgot to talk about the President's photo of Sonic and Shadow! When was that taken? It must have been between Heroes and this game, I guess. But it's clearly meant to be a nod to SA2, so that makes no sense. Unless he really just wanted a memento of those events, long after they occurred. But why would Sonic and Shadow even pose for a photo for the President? Neither of them are the types of characters to care about that sort of thing. Such a weird, stupid and pointless thing to put in here. I feel I should also clarify what I meant when talking about the two worlds. I don't care about the two worlds, or if that was a misinterpretation, or if humans and animals live separately on one planet. My point was that any reason they give is a lie. They clearly do not actually care. Humans exist and cease to exist based on what they want to do for that particular game. It's just like the moon. Something that they don't care about, that they retroactively have attempted to explain, and that I will not excuse.

[@davidbeer5015]

If it wasn't between Heroes and this game, I headcanon it as he just really wanted a memento and got someone to photoshop them into the image.

[@DonutSwordsman]

I just thought it was like tails getting the chaos emerald from the town in sa1 in sa2. President is like, you guys are heroes! Lol

[@tonycorona8501]

Eggman attacks the world every week, so just take it as an off-screen adventure Sonic had that Shadow decided to help with for whatever reason.

[@untapped8776]

But it is *hilarious.*

[@Nothavinit00]

Sonic Battle took place after Heroes, and before Shadow The Hedgehog. Most likely it was taken after the events of the Gizoid Incident, and a little bit before this game.

[@tonycorona8501]

There's a Tumblr post that comments on many of the story decisions of Shadow, and one that really stroke me as a genius one is the following: the more evil Shadow is, the more devoted he is to Gerald. The opposite is true, too, the more good Shadow is, the more devoted he is to Maria. I never thought about it until that user pointed it out to me.

[@MSOGameShow]

That's absolutely brilliant. Maria is always on the good-side missions, even when Black Doom manipulates his memories, while the only time we see Gerald speak to Shadow prior to the final story is before he enters the Gun Fortress.

[@theradionicrevival8068]

I’ve been waiting for this day for years, i know exactly what you’re talking about, but lost it long ago before i could bookmark. If you or anyone else can find it, PLEASE link it to me somehow I’m glad i’m not the only one who remembers this.

[@AnotherStarWarsGamer]

I would love to see this tumblr post as well

[@elibonham4388]

It's kind of funny too because eggamn is in the middle. So on one end you have Gerald on the other you have maria and in the middle ofc eggman. 3 robotnicks

[@FirstnameLastname-sb3hj]

I honestly find the plot synopsis of this game to be fucking incredible. "Everyone is killing the shit out of everyone, GUN is here, Eggman's fucking around, Sonic is also here, there's some demon guy walking around, and Shadow the Hedgehog is here to tell them all to fuck off."

[@MSOGameShow]

Huh, something I just now realized about the idea of "everyone else trying to tell Shadow who he is" and him "deciding for himself" is reflected in Sonic 06. When Mephiles, much like Black Doom, tries to persuade Shadow to join him by showing him that the humans will imprison him and asking if he would "forgive humanity this folly", Shadow retorts, "I determine my own destiny".

[@ulysses5439]

it's a direct continuity and even though Shadow goes back to [the past] in that game as well, it's no longer for his own sake (even in spite of Mephiles being in some sense a literal curse from the past haunting him), a subtle but significant character progression Bonus: if you get all the A Ranks in Shadow the Hedgehog, you unlock an Expert Mode in which Shadow "trains to become an agent", which is what he's introduced as in 06

[@MSOGameShow]

@@ulysses5439 I love the dialogue in expert mode, especially when SPOILERS The GUN Commander mentions he recently became a grandfather and wanted to invite Shadow over. Wholesome as hell. Also the fact even Black Doom is cheering him on too is pretty funny since this is supposed to have happened after defeating him.

[@FirstnameLastname-sb3hj]

@@MSOGameShow Doom: Good job, Shadow! You're going to go far! Shadow: Black Doom? But, you're dead. I killed you. Doom: (sniff) I'm just so proud of you, son... sidenote shadow has two dads

[@yungmuney5903]

Really feel like Shadow's arc in 06 really should've been in this game instead, like the premise of choosing between good or evil would make 1000x more sense in this case, especially if they hadn't gone the whole amnesia direction bs. Shadow will have to choose a side between an Alien race that will forever be devoted to him or stick to his guns with his promise to Maria, regardless if humanity won't reciprocate.

[@CardCaptorDeadpool]

I have a soft spot for how wildly the tone of the series flipped in Shadow The Hedgehog. While confusing, I enjoy Shadow's fragmented story paths and how they impact how he's characterised culminating in his 'Good bye, forever, Shadow The Hedgehog' line on the eponymous game's canon ending. I liked how Shadow's characterisation from here continues to show how well he accepts himself, and to be a posh punny fuck, his characterisation in 06 clearly shows he has integrated his Jungian 'shadow'. Short version, the 'shadow' is all our socially unacceptable aspects we hide or sublimate instead of letting them out reasomably at the cost of parts of our sense of self. In his eponymous game, you can see in the alternative paths (particularly the neutral or Dark paths) how wildly Shadow's 'shadow' is integrated. A healthier way to integrate our 'shadows' is to accept the dark parts of ourselves instead of fighting with them (literally with ourselves) within reason. To wrap this up, Shadow pretty much has his 'shadow' sorted out by the time Mephiles tries the EXACT same thing Black Doom did with Shadow.

[@GRAY32X]

It's genuinely such a relief hearing someone not dismissing Shadow's characterisation outside of SA2, Heroes and 06 and summing it up as 'edgy writing' or 'butchering the character' because there's a lot you can get from other games like ShTH. And a lot of the 'oh my god they ruined shadow' clips from this game are either taken out of context from one of the non-canon neutral/dark endings or due to mistranslation. Also I feel like a lot of the people who want Shadow to be exactly what he was at the end of SA2 want him to be a hero when he... is not like that. He's not as nice as those people think he is. He's an anti-hero. In Sonic X JP when Molly praises him for being a 'hero' and saving her he says 'You should stop thinking I'm something that I'm not'. Sure he WILL save people, but it's not down to the kindness of his own heart... he lives by his own rules and his own morals and if he thinks that saving people is the right thing to do then he will do it. He doesn't care for the individual problems/livelihoods of those people like Sonic does; he sees the bigger picture and bases his reaction from that. There's a line from the Sonic X Shadow Sonic Channel wallpaper cover story where Shadow says something along the lines of he's not interested in peace or anything else, he just doesn't like it when foolish people go around doing whatever they please and endangering the lives of others which I think sums up his motivations pretty well.

[@ChaddyFantome]

Exactly. If Sonic is the wind in people's sails, Shadow is the dark gale that howls for ne'erdowells. I like to think of it like "Sonic sticks up for the innocent underdog" and "Shadow punishes the powerful and dangerous." Neither do it out of heroism. They just do what they feel.

[@tigerlowe5002]

You took the words out of my mouth ! I always saw STH as a HUGE, VERY IMPORTANT part of Shadow's story. It explains SO MUCH !!! Even if the paths are "not canon". It's all what Shadow COULD have become. I Am...All of Me says it all. I never saw Shadow as "ooc" - despite questionable writing - just because he is not nice & hates humans & not what everyone wants him to be. That's the point ?! Tbh I actually relate to Shadow here (Welcome to ve being selfish & misunderstood intorvert club) got more inspired, emotional & influenced by Sth ending than by SA2. People only seem to care about his promise, not all the trauma he went through. Next they gonna say Knuckles should go back on his island -_- It IS TRUE ! Fans take moments out of context. "Oh look he hates humans & wont follow Maria's promise, despite saving them in SA2 !" Completely ignoring all the bs humans have and are still doing or the fact he has amnesia & cant remember Maria ! I havent seen this video yet but I think it's good that I found it. I REALLY DONT understand neither when EVERYONE says "Shadow was only good in SA2 & 06" (& the Archie comics; yeah Heroes exists too but he does "nothing" ?) & completely ruined in Sth & should have stayed dead ? Like hello ? Did anyone even watch Sonic X ? Or Sonic Battle ? And 1000 other media he appeared in that appearantly does not exist ?

[@davebrown2056]

One could argue that saving people because you believe it's the right thing to do _is_ heroic. Also, I'm pretty sure the point of that Sonic X episode was that Shadow is a better person than he thought he was, and it took meeting Molly to bring that side of him out. (The same thing goes for that Sonic Channel cover story you mentioned. He may claim that he doesn't care about anything, but there's a moment near the end of the story where the Space Colony ARK becomes visible from the surface, and he stands there, staring solemnly up at it. The obvious implication is that he's remembering Maria and his promise to her, and that this is his real motivation, even if he would never admit it to Sonic.)

[@DaHeis]

​@@davebrown2056Man i haven't read that Sonic Channel story but it sounds really cool how Shadow recognises The Ark and Maria even after he decided to make his own path and his own identity at the ending of his game.

[@davebrown2056]

@@DaHeis Sonic Channel also published a webcomic back in 2016, where we see Maria telling Professor Gerald that he should name his Ultimate Life Form Shadow, because "darkness is darkness, no matter where it goes... but a shadow shows the way to the light". It ends with Shadow waking up from his flashback before riding off on his motorcycle (with the ARK visible in the night sky). He may have moved on from the pain of losing Gerald and Maria, but that doesn't mean he forgot about them. EDIT: The story and the comic were actually written by the same person, Eitaro Toyoda (a character supervisor for Sonic Team).

[@kiddkyle6716]

One thing I like about the story is how Charmy really admires Shadow and copies how Shadow attacked Eggman's computer to the computer on the Ark to play Gerald's message.

[@AFeralTrout420]

True that XD

[@numbug1234]

With Prison Island, the level's aesthetics looks like buildings being taken over by nature, and I think this is a deliberate implication towards the base being abandoned to all except the GUN mechs which, being unmanned, could be sent there remotely to try to clean the base up for re-usage.

[@Lunchbillion]

that "sonic team doesn't care about lore consistency" rant was quite cathartic

[@CardCaptorDeadpool]

'member when the series used to have two separate canons for America and Japan in the 90s lol

[@ConfusedLemons]

@@CardCaptorDeadpool what even is this story lol

[@parjupiter134]

@@ConfusedLemons He's talking about the SatAm cartoon and the Archie comics.

[@evdestroy4121]

@@parjupiter134No, he's talking about the games. Sonic had an entirely unique backstory for the games that wasn't present in Japan.

[@downspiral]

They really don't. Every game feels like it exists on it's own universe and none are sequels to each other. I hate their lack at attention to detail.

[@MasterDisaster64]

I don’t see why they COULDN’T just keep the moon broken. It would create a sense of intrigue for new players. Great video, by the way. Gave me a whole new perspective on the story. Hope you’ll cover Sonic Battle at some point.

[@ALocalClown]

Would also make for nice visual storytelling too, if you picture the moon behind Shadow in the opening, but fragmented/damaged. Like hey we're doing the thing where we represent the main character's mental state via their environment... no Sega? Really? Served for you on a platter and not gonna take it? Gotcha.

[@TSMSnation]

my head cannon is when they were scripting the intro cinematic, the cgi team in ignorance used a normal moon, and later on when the dev team got it, they were like "oh shit... well, back to work!"

[@Tybis]

They decided to fix up the moon while they were fixing up the Eclipse Cannon. 😯

[@MasterDisaster64]

@@TSMSnation It's not really a headcanon if it's a hypothesis about a real event. I could see this being the case, but I think I read one of the Blur Studio guys saying they had the storyboard already handed to them by Sega.

[@HydraBread]

My headcanon is gonna have to be something dumb like the chaos emeralds fixed it

[@ErikSchuessler]

Jesus, the way you've made me rethink nearly every story in the series so far is crazy. I didn't wake up this morning thinking my opinion on the story of Shadow the Hedgehog would be changing so drastically lmao. I really appreciate your fresh (and well supported) takes and you showing off the Japanese audio/meaning as I've never been able to appreciate those before.

[@Pariah6950]

This one in particular was important to me, since this story is so universally hated when it's actually one of my favorites.

[@chaotixsolution5057]

Recently before this video me and a friend went through this game ourselves and also thought the story is not as bad as people and I remember it being (haven’t played since middle school so I had approached this with a different mindset compared to back then) and yeah it’s a pretty interesting story with surprising story themes

[@aortaplatinum]

I definitely agree regarding Shadow's character in the game. Shadow isn't an inherently good person, he does what he believes is right and logical, and that makes him INCREDIBLY dangerous, especially if he's a blank slate like he is at the start of this game. He doesn't give a shit about saving the world until Amy reawakens the truth about Maria's last moments in Shadow's mind, at which point he does a full moral 180 and goes to fuck up his weird mutant lizard brother. Black Doom may have even incorporated this into Shadow during his gestation, we don't get to see much of Project Shadow at all but we do know that Black Doom gave Gerald his genetic material, which Gerald molded into Shadow. During the last story, Shadow is psychically controlled by Black Doom, so clearly there's some sort of direct neurological link between the two. Black Doom doesn't just manipulate Shadow with words and memories, he literally gets inside his head to rebuild Shadow exactly how he wants. Also people complaining Shadow can do evil shit in this game, after they control Shadow to do the weird shit, reminds me of that Eric Andre meme where Eric shoots Hannibal in the chest and then immediately goes "who killed Hannibal"

[@aortaplatinum]

Also I'm really glad this video turned into a rant on Sonic continuity and writing because that shit infuriates the fuck out of me too. It's absolutely hilarious that Sonic Adventure started out as a JRPG, a genre known for well written and complex stories, and now we have godawful-interviewer Iizuka being like "uh, fuck, I dunno"

[@AFeralTrout420]

EXACTLY

[@Sebo994]

I like that he deformed Eggman for 06 Lose weight fatty

[@sonic5993]

The funny thing is that given your explanation for Shadow becoming his own person in the end, it serves as a perfect segue into his modern characterization. If Shadow is only fighting for himself and nobody else, then it begs the question of what exactly motivates him to act, why does he insist on getting involved in every game afterwards? According to Sega, Shadow's current motives are simply to fight powerful opponents and prove his superiority. A lot of fans call that OOC, particularly since they prefer the more pure herioic Shadow from SA2 and the pure Hero path in this game. But that's not entirely true because validating his existing has been Shadow's personality since SA2; he is constantly questioning his purpose and what he's meant to do and when he acts, its to prove to himself that he is who he says he is, Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform. His modern characterization reflects that, in Shadow's eyes, fighting strong enemies is how he validates his existence. In 06 he says he'll just keep on fighting no matter what. So it's kind of ironic how fans praise 06!Shadow but hate his recent interpretations when their motivations are functionally the same lol. Incidently, it also justifies his continuoued rivalry with Sonic. The idea that Sonic might be the real Ultimate lifeform is probably in his head somewhere, that Sonic is just inherently superior. So of course Shadow would antagonize and be somewhat dismissive of Sonic, because as we said, he sees himself as the one and only ultimate lifeform and even if he respects Sonic, they could never truly be friends because of that. And it works because its kind of mutual; Sonic spends all of SA2 trying to catch up to Shadow's level, and even after that game, there's a sense that Sonic wants to continuously prove himself as much as Shadow does. They're complete equals and the idea that one is superior to the other drives them up the wall and naturally puts them into conflict. They're not enemies anymore but not really friends either. I can see why Sega uses Shadow as much the de facto rival to Sonic, no matter how played out it is. The only other characters who really compliment Sonic like that are Tails and Eggman, the sidekick and big bad respectively. Nice little details I noticed.

[@Pariah6950]

Good points. And there is even some precedent for the idea of Shadow wanting to grow stronger in this game. The expert mode has dialogue from all the characters, where they mention Shadow is training. That idea is exactly what I would like to see done with Shadow in the future. What is his motivation now? In 06, he chooses to help protect the world on his own. Why? Why does he join GUN? What's currently driving him? And if we go with his modern version, why does he want to get stronger? Now that he's free to choose for himself, why does he make the choices he does? What is he fighting for? There is room to explore more cool stuff with him.

[@sonic5993]

@@Pariah6950 The sad part is that I feel like Sega are going to intentionally keep all of that vague, generally due to the streamlining of the entire series. You mentioned that in your Heroes video, where a multilayered character like Shadow, is severely out of place in the more lighthearted atmosphere of the current games, so his character has been reset so to speak. So now he's just...well...stock shonen rival character. Which sucks, but there's still room to explore with him...if Sega actually gave him the chance. I will never not be annoyed at how Forces sets up a conflict between him and Infinite, and then just completely drops it and never references it in the game itself. Shadow just drops out of the story and when he shows up again, he's just a supporting character with no explanation on where he was and where he disappeared to. I hate Modern Sonic storytelling, its somehow even worse than Adventure era, because now they don't even bother trying to be cohesive.

[@JordanGD]

I don't think that this was shown in the games, but everywhere else he is portrayed as someone who hates his friends, which in 06 is shown is just not true. In 06 it looks like Shadow is good friends with Rouge and Omega. Unlike the IDW comics and some animations now portraying him as someone who hates his friends. Also I can see where you are coming from with the rivalry between Sonic and Shadow and if you think Shadow wants to prove himself a lot then yeah I can see it. Personally I would see him as someone who doesn't care about such petty things as a rivalry. In SA2 he says that Sonic is the ultimate lifeform (not that he remembers that anymore), but it shows at least that in that game he grew to really respect Sonic. I think that that same respect can still be formed in the newer games, where he grows to really respect Sonic. So at least how I see Shadow, I would think that he would not really care about some rivalry and care more about the things at hand like saving the world. In IDW it shows him obsessed with his rivalry and proving himself that even if something goes wrong he stays stubborn. It really doesn't look like he cares to save the world or people, it looks like he just has a big ego. 06 shows that he joined GUN. He probably did it primarily to save the world now. At least that's how I see it.

[@sonic5993]

@@JordanGD Yea, I get that and that is the probably popular opinion on how Shadow should be nowadays. Personally speaking, I feel like it's kind of a waste to have a character like Shadow who contrasts so heavily with Sonic, and then just have him be another good guy who wants to save the world. The Sonic cast are mostly filled with that and functionally, it makes Shadow no different from Sonic, which would make him feel redundant, which is a issue most Sonic characters have nowadays. They're all interchangeable and have no real standout traits anymore. I have my problems with Shadow's current interpretations too, but for better or worse, he does fill a niche beyond just being another good guy character in a cast full of good guys. I would just balance his compassionate traits with his less than good ones, and keep his rivalry with Sonic. You can respect someone and still see them as a rival after all. Even if Sonic & Shadow are on the same side, they could have totally different ideals on how to be a hero, hence a clash. It just takes a bit more creativity than what the series is going for nowadays. I get the fandom desire to see him as just a straight up good guy who gets along with everyone, but that's a cop out to me and its why characters like Knuckles just aren't interesting anymore; once their story is over, they just become another one of Sonic's friends who get ignored. And I feel like Sega doesn't want that to happen to Shadow, they wanna keep him unique and I don't disagree.

[@JordanGD]

@@sonic5993 I think that seriousness of his stands out pretty well. He is serious like Knuckles when the Master Emerald is involved, only Knuckles is a lot more rash and doesn't know a lot that is outside of Angel Island. Shadow is a lot more calculated than Knuckles I think. So that makes the ways of how they do thing differ and stand out. He is a good guy like everybody, but how he does that should be different yes.

[@EthanGrantC]

I think he's off black because they added a red tint to shadow so he pops slightly more in all of the dark stages

[@tomasiarity]

Something that always made me laugh and my brothers. In the 90's cartoon series of "The Tick", one episode they have a villain trying to write his name on the moon. But the heroes stop him and only manages to write "CHA". In another episode, a Galactus typo villain takes a bite of the moon. The fun thing about it is that in later episodes, each time you see the moon, it still has a piece chomped off and the word "CHA" written on it. So "The Tick" did what Sonic couldn't, keep their moon continuity.

[@tonycorona8501]

Geek Critique compared Shadow's story structure with Understale's. It only makes sense the more you play it, and Sonic games are built with a replayability to them. I see the idea, even if it was poorly done.

[@isaacargesmith8217]

honestly if shadows game story had been WAY more streamlined and if the mechanics and levels felt better, since one issue with shadow is that a lot of people dont like how it plays, I feel it'd be more well recieved. That and the edge. Like it really feels like there's kinda good ideas BURIED absurdly deep into what is a VERY VERY unapproachable game. Undertale works because of how really appoachable it is honestly. The neutral and hero routes flow into eachother and you arent forced to play the dark route to get to the actual "main" ending. Sonic's had this issue for a while now but they lock off "canon finales" from players until they play every scenario ever since like adventure 1. If the hero finale itself led into the final canon ending, they streamlined the game better so there isnt such an absurd amount of bloat, and made the non canon ending optional and actively encourged people might actually be more receptive of the game. They also wouldnt have to think of so many absurd situtions, the game wouldnt be as repetative, scenarios could be more fleshed out and longer if they were much more linear and railroaded.

[@Tybis]

I think someone in charge was just really paranoid of players "completing" their games too fast, considering each playthrough of the main Story mode takes only 1 hour.

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

Man, I'm so glad you exist, since windi is gone and not a lot of people know the Japanese versions of theses stories

[@ALtheBoi]

Great video, keep it up! I do have one thing to say about that rant in the middle about Sonic's continuity and lore inconsistency, some things you said resonated with me a good bit and I've wanted to shed my own light on it, I used to have this perfect image of this franchise in my head not too long ago. A clean continuity with various callbacks, events and themes that stay consistent throughout the entire timeline, solid and cohesive lore that packs the entire series into a neat package with a pretty little bow tied on top of it. But the more I thought about it , trying to actually make this thing into what I thought it'd be, workshopping ideas with other Sonic nerds about everything, It simply did not happen, with the current state of the franchise, it is simply impossible to achieve that. No two Sonic timelines are the same, there's just too much shit that goes against you, too much disagreement over this canon, that canon, this dub, that sub, etc. It's very frustrating, and judging by your manic rant in the middle, I'm sure you're familiar with the feeling. About a year or two ago, I cam to the conclusion that *_Sonic isn't Lord of the Rings, trying to treat it as if it has this concrete storyline behind it, with a specific team of writers and creators that always keep an eye on it, is just a fruitless endavour that will result in nothing but anger and frustration over things you can't control._* So I shifted my perspective, I threw out the timeline I'd spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about, completely deciding to ignore details like character ages and opting to put them in age groups instead. (Teen, Young adult, etc) And instead of focusing on how every game handles the overall Sonic canon, I focused on how each Sonic game handles canon in the context of its creation. What this means is that a game like Sonic Lost World, a game that was *_not_* made with something like Sonic 3 in mind, should not be judged with Sonic 3 in mind. Because the creators were not trying to make the game cohesive with Sonic 3, they were trying to make it cohesive with something like Sonic Colors. Because Sonic Lost World is game made with Sonic Colors in mind, not Sonic 3, SA2, Unleashed, or anything before. This made everything so incredibly simple and satisfying to look at and understand because every single era of Sonic falls into this pattern, because they're divided into when certain groups of devs / writers were making these games. Sonic 1 through S3&K consist the Death Egg Saga, it follows a clean adventure that was started in Green Hill and Ended in the Death Egg above Angel island. Then there's the Adventure Saga, From SA1 to ShTH, The Death Egg saga _still_ happened, but there's a clear tonal and aesthetic shift that separates them. 06 was clearly meant to be the start of a new saga, but it flopped hard so we didn't get it. Doesn't really matter, seeing as it resets everything anyway Unleashed is completely in a bubble, working more towards setting a new, post 06, status quo rather than setting up anything. And then, there's Colors up until Forces, The Wisp Saga, featuring wisps and Baldy Nosehair in every single game and _ironically_ having the most solid continuity out of any of them due to us prioritizing the games working in a collection rather than the entire franchise. So, the timeline goes, *The Death Egg Saga -> The Adventure Saga -> ~06~ -> Unleashed -> The Wisp Saga -> Now* Simple, clean, no headaches I've been doing stuff with Sonic and making videos with this "Soft canon" of mine in mind and have been having a blast ever since, I hope it was of help to you as well!

[@ALtheBoi]

PS. This does not mean that inconsistencies like the moon not being halved or blatant character assassination like Tails being an incompetent coward are excusable just because _"They didn't happen in the same Saga",_ those are, and should be treated as mistakes because they're cemented as events that have happened in the past. The whole purpose of this is to draw lines between different Sonic games being made for different audiences and by different people. Just so we don't obsess over every little thing as if they're made with one head writer that oversees everything and keeps it 100% consistent all the time.

[@Pariah6950]

Believe it or not, I have the exact same thoughts about the "timeline" even down to nearly the same groupings. Only difference is I put Unleashed in the "Nishiyama Group", with the Advance and Rush games. This is something I was planning to address in probably the Generations video. I see people put up their Sonic timelines like it's all one thing. But with each new direction shift in the series, there is essentially a new canon that borrows ideas from previous canons when it feels like it. A single linear Sonic timeline does not really work. There are still problems, as many games still contradict each other and themselves within a single era. And in general I think this is a terrible way to operate a long-running series. I would much prefer something more cohesive. We only got to this point due to so much carelessness. That said, it does also open new possibilities. Every time the series shifts, the old direction dies. People lamented the death of Classic during the Adventure days, and people want a return to Adventure now. And some people enjoy the Modern direction. It's what I talked about at the end of my SA2 Story vid. Adventure essentially hijacked the original series and did something totally different, leaving people who liked the original stuff out in the cold. But if they were to embrace this separation, it would allow all versions of the series to exist simultaneously. I know a lot of people dislike Classic and Modern being 2 different universes. But I actually like it. With the original vision of Sonic being my favorite version, I love the idea of being able to go back to that and explore it in ways it never got the chance to because Adventure took over. And the same can be done with Adventure and Modern stuff. There's even a well liked gameplay style for each one. It's too easy. That's what I want. Full separation. Classic, Adventure and Boost games all being made in tandem, with explicitly separate canons and universes that take advantage of the strengths of each of those eras. At this point, I think that's the best course of action. And they seem to be doing that at least partially with the Classic stuff. Now just throw the Adventure fans a bone.

[@ALtheBoi]

​@@Pariah6950 I guess that's where our canons differ! With my thing, it's still technically one continuous timeline, just separated into eras in a meta sense. Cause I genuinely don't think there's that much dissonance between say, the Classics, and Adventures. They can all _work_ together somewhat, in my eyes. Sonic's diversity in tone, aesthetic, vibe, everything has always been something that I've welcomed. Maybe my suspension of disbelief is more flexible than most, or maybe it's because whenever there's a gap in the lore, I don't see it and say _"Oh then this needs to be explained or else it doesn't make sense",_ I see it more as there being something there that actually does explain everything, and I just have to accept it. No need to overexplain something that wasn't thought out through in the first place.

[@Pariah6950]

@@ALtheBoi I see what you're saying. Personally, I just cannot see it as one canon. There are too many retcons, contractions, and important elements getting ignored. Not to mention totally altering characters to act nothing like their established personalities. I look at it from the perspective of the creators. When I see Knuckles in stuff like Riders or 06 or Lost World, with no reference at all to his duty as guardian, my conclusion is that part of his character does not exist in those games. Which is fine for those games in a bubble. But makes it impossible to be the same character as the established Knuckles. So they have to be separated. At least that's how I look at it.

[@Tybis]

What you're describing sounds like comic book continuity, where the continuity is limited to self-contained runs that each have their own writer.

[@Etrodecim]

I'll say it here, I'm subscribing because of this video and I'll be watching your SA2 essay next. Finally, YOU are one of the few people I've seen on youtube and a FEW people in general that understands the premise of this game. you Understand Shadow and what he has become. He has left the past behind him, it was the ultimate conclusion of this game and Black Doom was the last remnant of his past. There is a line that was missing in the video that Shadow says upon defeating Devil Doom. "This is the end of you and the end to my accursed past." of course you still masterfully got that point in the video with other lines but yeah. dude I was the targeted age demographic when this game was released and I perfectly understood this. This game masterfully enhances Shadow's character, I love this game. I appreciate you man.

[@Pariah6950]

Forgot about that line. Shoulda put that in. Darn. Glad you enjoyed the video. The weirdest part is that the confusing part of the story is all the non-canon stuff. The Last Story is pretty straightforward, yet so many people seem to have no idea what Shadow's arc is in this game. I don't get it. But I hope this video can help clear things up.

[@Etrodecim]

@@Pariah6950 I'm certain this video will clear up a lot for people. Over the years I've met people who criticise this game and yet never having played it themselves. They just follow the loud people who misunderstood the game and it spreads from there. Fans like you who make well put together videos like this will surely open the eyes of others, shining a more positive light on this game. I even found value in the non-canon what-if paths as they also gives information about Shadow's creation and The GUN Commanders character. Both of which were referenced in "The Last Story. during the scene where all the characters were under paralysis, Shadow was reflecting on his journey and he heard the GUN commanders words among other voices from people he encountered on various paths. But yeah The Last Story was pretty straight forward.

[@Collateral_Damage_]

Great video, really gave insight into the story especially with showing all the translation errors the game had. Personally I always saw this game as the last game in the original continuity, since it follows up on hero’s and sonic adventure 2’s story which followed up on the games prior to them. After this Sonic 06 would come out and would try to act as a soft reboot but that flopped so then unleash came out and tried to act as a soft reboot and that was panned at the time so then colors came out and acted as a soft reboot and they went on from there making retcons and weird story changes. In a weird way, to me at least shadow the hedgehog is how the original Sonic timeline ends

[@Pariah6950]

Stop spoiling my future videos.

[@Collateral_Damage_]

@@Pariah6950 lol, whoops sorry man

[@rynobehnke8289]

While 06 was at one point suppose to be a soft reboot did this clearly change before the end as Blazes inclusion was directly mend to link 06 to Rush according to Maekawa (which is properly also why She sealed her self with Iblis in a different dimension at the end of Silvers story to create Rush Blaze) and Shadow joining GUN does fallow up from lose threats from Shadow's solo games expert mode. So while 06 continuity wise is in a strange position especially as it nukes it self in the end do I thing its in its released state to be in continuity with the previous games rather than the original envisioned soft reboot. Also while you have clearly a point for the Main line games does this leave clearly to the old canon tied spin-offs like Rivals, Rush and the story book games in a weird place.

[@Kingbeat1]

Actually sonic has 14 timeline cd to shadow the hedgehog takes place in time line 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoqxZqGelLtmkNE

[@jacobkakyoin6882]

God, I’ve been a longtime appreciator of Shadow’s story, even thinking many of the things this video articulated better than I ever could about the ending and the interesting ideas raised within, and you still managed to say a lot that never occurred to me as someone who’s been revisiting Shadow with unironic appreciation since 2005. These two videos have been the best defenses and analyses of Shadow the game I have ever seen, and the first part alone turned me into a fan of yours. Random aside, I adore the little QoL update that is coins necessary for a stage-necessary light speed dash turning transparent instead of disappearing. It’s such an obvious fix for such a finnicky mechanic and I’m astounded it never came back in other games with obvious coin trails for LD.

[@Lazypackmule]

"How did Shadow get on the black comet to be here? Shut up, don't think about it." immediately after having shown a clip from the literal only possible normal ending where Shadow is on the black comet after fighting black doom lmao

[@SM-th7pw]

In regards to you point about Shadow’s characterisation being justifiable given him having amnesia, I certainly think that has some validity to it, I do think it makes sense for Shadow to become villainous depending on the choices he makes, that is of course the point of the game and I certainly do not detest that, however I do still believe the story did ruin his baseline characterisation. Lets go to Shadow’s introduction in Heroes. When Rouge frees Shadow, Omega wakes up and starts attacking, bare in mind Shadow doesn’t remember Rouge at this point, yet, Shadow’s first instinct is to save this innocent girl from danger, this shows that even at Shadow’s core, without any emotional attachment, he’s still a kinda, heroic soul, now contrast this to the beginning of STH, the Black Arms start attacking Central City, and Shadow proclaims, “look at how pathetic they are, I don’t have time for these humans”, now why would Shadow be so belittling of these humans for no reason? This is the start of the game and no context has been established for Shadows attitude to change so drastically, so it really seems to be an instance of Shadow being a dick for no real reason. Even in the hero story when Shadow works with Sonic, sure Shadow helps Sonic in saving the world, but Shadow’s attitude towards Sonic seems to indicate that he just finds Sonic annoying, rather than having some friendly banter like they did previously. So given all of this, and even the way this game was marketed, all the promotional material and trailers being very grim dark, I do still genuinely believe that it was in SEGA’s interest to rebrand Shadow as an edge lord.

[@Pariah6950]

That line at the start of the game is another one that's not as bad in Japanese, but I see your point. Though in Heroes, he also says something like, "Be grateful I'm allowing you to live" after the Chaotix fight. So he was also a bit of a meanie there. I think a degree of his behavior has to be forced to justify the possibility of him becoming a villain. If Shadow wasn't dismissive of humans in danger, it would be weird for him to suddenly start attacking them, you know? Not perfect at all. But I don't think it's too egregious. More of an issue with how the game tries to present itself, as I said. And the marketing.

[@rynobehnke8289]

I really thing Shadow being so dismissive happened to early. With all that we going on to learn about Black Doom is it entirely reasonable that Shadow at times being more of a dick is his doing using his "mind control" to influence Shadow. But prior to them meeting does it make little sense for Shadow to act this way (unless humanity did something obscenely stupid in the unseen adventure that lead to the Presidents picture of Sonic and Shadow)

[@AFeralTrout420]

Well Rouge is not human though, maybe Shadow was completely fine with Mobians but still distrusted humans.

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Not really pariah. Much like how you believe most of the contuity issues could be fixed with a line or two, there's a way to tell this story without shadow's character feeling forced in any regard.

[@ayrtonjoga]

Exactly, this video made me appreciate Shadow's story more, but it's own premise still shoots itself on the foot because he already had a personality in Heroes, despite his missing memories, it shows he still had a good hearted nature by saving Rouge, not betraying Team Dark for selfish reasons, and helping to defeat Metal Sonic

[@imdajasperbaby]

i like to imagine that prison island in Shadow the hedgehog is actually the ruins of what's left. which is why it's all mossy and it looks like a dumpster

[@Twilord_]

For the fun of it here is my take: Since we actually visually see parts of the Space Colony Ark repaired when its teleported back into place... And since that version of Shadow knew about this coming invasion... He spent extra power to repair the Ark, in the hopes Sonic, Eggman, or anyone else would learn they needed to use it on The Black Comet. ALSO, Prison Island is seriously irradiated; I assumed that was because it did get nuked to hell by Eggman. -------------------- But yeah, the moon thing is total bullshit. They should have kept the moon with a hole in it, would have been awesome iconography.

[@playerback7722]

Yep

[@scattershot1178]

On your point about Prison Island being irradiated. I recently re-played STH game and when going thru that level, Dooms Eye comments to Shadow about how the water is poisoned or whatever and this the kind of damage that humans do. Its fantasticly ironic because he says it to further push Shadow towards believing that humans are terrible and yet although he doesn't recall it, Shadow is the one who helped to this damage!

[@Twilord_]

@@scattershot1178 Some of Doom's Eyes lines are great. They're insideous, so perfidious...

[@seematahir5970]

Dammit Pariah, being an 06 apologist was hard enough as is. Becoming a Shadow apologist too might just kill me outright. Curse you and your well-reasoned, in-depth analyses.

[@lightpriv3425]

If Black Doom is the Sonic universe's version of Satan, then Gerald literally dealt with the devil, then tried to develop the Eclipse Cannon to backstab him -- but humans are *so* corrupt that Black Doom didn't need to do *shit*: Gerald and humans ended up killing each other without the devil getting personally involved at all. Probably not intentional on Sonic Team's end, but man, talk about symbolism 👀

[@AFeralTrout420]

Exactly, fans say Black Doom is boring and generic but I think he's totally opposite

[@graysongdl]

I think it's funny how some complaints about the story (some of which I shared prior to watching this video) play into the story's themes, perhaps accidentally. "What's the point of moral choices and multiple endings if none of them are canon and the final story retcons all of them?" Well maybe Shadow is done with you telling him who to be. If it were me making the video, I totally would've been the dork who'd end the segment about Shadow abandoning his past with "Adios, Shadow the Hedgehog. Long live Shadow the Hedgehog."

[@theminecraft2516]

This video is one of the best Sonic discussions on KZbin. You’re explaining and reasoning made me LIKE Shadow in this game and actually prefer him here than in Heroes.

[@lukescrew1981]

I like to think that the old shadow is voiced by David Humphrey and the new one is voiced by Jason Griffith because both shadow's are different

[@KAarones]

While I agree that the incorrect dubbing of Shadow's last line is a horrendous flub... It somehow only makes the significance of the line only ever being spoken by Maria and Sonic accidentally stronger to me. It either implies that this new Shadow doesn't even remember the exact words that Maria said to him anymore, or that he has made an active decision to remove himself from that narrative, both theories matching well with him tossing the photograph behind him. Again, I still think what was originally intended was more powerful of a callback, but for me, this mistake somehow clicked. Amazing Video!

[@tonycorona8501]

I always held a spot in my heart for this game, because you got it. You understood it. You managed to figure it out on how the story works for Shadow's character. This is why I'm annoyed when people bring up Maria or how Shadow was "Out of character in Forces/IDW" because of Maria. No, Maria has nothing to do with Shadow anymore, whatever the problem with the character is, Maria is not one of them. He said goodbye to his cursed past, so he has no reason to bother with it anymore. Sonic fans playing the selective amnesia game really drives me crazy.

[@Pariah6950]

That was the most important thing I wanted to get across. I think people just like SA2, and STH is "edgy and stupid" so it gets dismissed. Hopefully this video can help clear up the misconception.

[@Lazypackmule]

What rubs people the wrong way is that there is in fact another story-focused game after this where Shadow is written by his original writer, and that writer's intent as well as how Shadow is portrayed in that game is absolutely not 'Cell-saga Vegeta' with no other baggage or character traits

[@ChaddyFantome]

1000% been saying the same thing. Glad I'm not alone

[@rynobehnke8289]

I thing part of the blame for this is to be put on Sonic battle as it place after Shadow's game but was written along side Heroes leading to Shadow in it still fallowing Maria's wish. (at times it even sounds like he is programmed to obey her wish and he has no say in the matter him self)

[@DanielFahimi]

@@rynobehnke8289 Battle takes place after SA2. Heroes and Battle can't coexist in the same timeline.

[@BlinkyRen]

As someone who has this as their favorite Sonic game, this is BY FAR the best video on Shadow The Hedgehog, it feels too often that a large portion of the Sonic community painfully misunderstands his character here and in future games, but you got it perfectly. However like you said, it's a real shame how poorly dubbed this game is and I really blame the poor English writing for most of the misconceptions on post 2005 Shadow. That's why I always hold out hope for a remake of this game, mostly to iron out the plot and better execute the gameplay, but also fix inconsistencies like the moon and the ARK's functionality, I honestly think about how cool would it be for the franchise if you could see the moon blown halfway to hell in every game it's present in, it'd add a unique flare to the series as a whole. That aside I just have to thank you for making this video, I've always wanted content like this to exist but I lacked the resources to make it myself, but now I have this video to direct people to.

[@Spider-Fan006]

I honestly have come to enjoy the English dub for how hilariously cringy and edgy it is the swear words usage of hand guns it's all so ridiculous and I Iove it but it is awful and gets the story wrong leading this game to negative town but it's still enjoyable in its own right.

[@cellperfecto421]

11:58 I love how it seems like Pariah is going to have one of his classic moments through the series where he says "I think this thing that people hate is not that bad", just to go back and say "wait, this is a fucking confusing mess." Subverting expectations as always.

[@ayylmao8031]

Thank you. I never understood why people think Shadow is still supposed to be "Earth's Guardian" when he clearly abandons his past in this game to become another person. Sa2 Shadow's sacrifice will forever be preserved because that Shadow did legitimately die, now we have this new Shadow who is free from the chains of his past. While I think his characterization is still heavily flawed in more recent games, we're at least aware that the Shadow from Sa2 and the Shadow onwards are 2 entirely different entities.

[@rynobehnke8289]

Well I still thing Shadow should be "Earths Guardian" for 3 reasons. 1) Before he heard the full story from Geralds recording did Shadow already decided to stand against Black Doom showing that Shadow does actively choose to protect the world 2) Because fallowing Shadow's solo game does he Join G.U.N. which does imply that he in fact does still try to make the world a better place. 3) Sonic battle which continuity wise plays after Shadow's solo game has Shadow still risking his life all the time in an attempt to save the world.

[@ayylmao8031]

@@rynobehnke8289 Yeah I agree which is why I said his characterization in more recent titles and media have been heavily flawed. Nowadays, they present Shadow as an angsty "Vegeta" type rival to Sonic and has absolutely no friends or connections with anybody, not even Rouge and Omega apparently. I think 06 was perhaps the best send off to his character because it showed that he no longer needed Maria as motivation to protect the world and keep fighting for humanity. That's why I'm still confused as to why people believe he's still "Earth's Guardian" for Maria when he abandoned his past at the end of his solo game. 06 showed he can still fight for Earth and not be chained to his past.

[@rynobehnke8289]

@@ayylmao8031 I thing many people still argue for the Maria position ether because there just ignore Shadow's game outright or because they go in and say Sonic battle happens after Shadow and in it he still cares for Maria (because battle was written before Shadow were the details not finished then) But yes Shadow's modern characterization is bad. And for some stupid ass reason its far worse for the west than for Japan were scripts are often heavily reworked to improve Shadow's Character.

[@chopperbrosadvance9760]

More on that moon turn thing- the moon can't actually turn. We always see the same side of the moon, it always faces toward earth. Also it just so happens that the side that's shown in the opening cutscene is the side that's always facing toward earth - which was supposedly destroyed

[@elevate07]

There's also the fact that debris exists. When the Eclipse Cannon fired, shards of the Moon exploded in all directions. But see the thing is an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. And there is an outside force present: gravity... from Earth. So all of that debris would have no choice but to fall down to earth. The hellscape it would create would be unfathomable. The surface would be inhospitable, the appearance of the Moon would be the least of anyone's worries. So yeah that "Moon just turned away" explanation is bunk

[@Jaylobeans]

Ok

[@rynobehnke8289]

@@elevate07 To be fair its entirely possible that the blow away moon debris didn't impact earth but rather started orbiting around it as the amount of force need to actually make the debris impact rather than make it orbit around would properly have knocked the moon out of its orbit (hey that maybe even explain why it appeared fixed it was no longer tidal locked as the Eclipse canon literally did blow the moon into a new orbit)

[@GGAMER1337BR]

that's a really unique take on the story of the game! i swear you're one of the most refreshing youtubers to ever cover these stories and games, you always approach them with a different and nuanced mindset and it's really cool to watch! keep it up man :)

[@ultramangeed624]

I mean prison island is still technically destroyed. Going by condition of the stage and all the chemicals flowing through the place. And all.thats left of gun in the area and Gun Beetles and Mech Troopers As it's likely not safe for human soldiers st this point. Not the greatest head cannon explanation. But it's something

[@greenD7244]

Shadow actually describes the island as ruined in the recap dialogue so I think it was intended to be a result of what happened in SA2

[@Annuum2]

The one fucking Sonic lore channel thats even better then fucking cybershell i look to check his subscriber count 4K this is literally a fucking crime against humanity, what the hell. this is literally a travesty HOW ARE YOU NOT AT 500K YET

[@tonycorona8501]

"This game does Shadow's character fairly well" YEEEEEEEESSSSS! Take that, you annoying Twitter user who told me Iizuka's contributions as a writer didn't count compared with Maekawa's! As if the guy didn't freaking direct the previous two games!

[@oldnnew1402]

I think the misconception that Shadow is working for Maria's wish comes from how Shadow talking about fulfilling Gerald's wish so he can move on from the past was translated to "I made a promise and I'm here to keep it." That gives a different idea than the fact Shadow fulfilling Gerald's wish was simply a means to an end. It makes it sound like he's actively working for the promise he made to Maria during the end of SA2 going forward. Yeah, the translation for STH is absolute shit.

[@SonoroDASS]

Maria's still in Shadow's mind. But we know that thanks to a spin-off game (Sonic Battle) and an out-of-games confirmation (A Sonic Central's web-comic).

[@aPonderousChain]

You know, I find it kinda funny that as ho-hum a the "Egg-Moon" arc in Sonic X is, at least the showriters TRIED to offer an explanation for how the moon gets fixed. Makes Iizuka's lazy non-explanation even more hilarious by contrast.

[@macaemeia146]

True

[@BlueRainbow101]

Wow. All these years and I finally... get the last line of the game. Somehow it never occured to me that that's what the 'Last Story' of this game was about. I think I just brushed it off with "oh he does a heroic thing and we're defaulting to Shadow from the end of SA2". I knew that it was about finally closing this on chapter of his life but the wording threw me off. But this makes sense. So once again, thanks for the video! It's great being able to sort of re-discover parts of this series, even if I may not fully agree with some points in the vids. Seeing different perspectives is part of the fun.

[@quasar4780]

1:09:00 While you're on the topic of the music, I'm a bit dissapointed you didn't talk that much about the soundtrack, because there's a really subtle piece of storytelling in the final two levels on the evil and hero path involving the music. Whether they're intentional or not, I don't know (it's Sonic Team after all), but still: In the Gun Fortress and the Black Comet, when Shadow teams up with Sonic or Black Doom to get the ending, you have two music clips which sound out of place at first glance, but they reflect well the state of mind Shadow is supposed to be in at the start of these levels. In Gun Fortress, Shadow is just trying to get his revenge on the humans, effectively betraying the promise he made to Maria, whereas in Final Haunt, he has finally recovered his memories and is intent on fulfilling his promise to Maria. In either case, he's at peace with himself. Regardless of how true these endings are to the real Shadow, he knows what he has to do. In the Gun Fortress, he has lost everything he had, and in Final Haunt, he's recovered his memories and his promise to Maria, but what matters to him in both cases is that he's finally found the purpose he's been looking for the entire game, and that brings him at peace, which is reflected by the soundtrack in these levels. In Gun Fortress, the music there is slow, calming, it gives a feeling of sadness, unlike Final Haunt, which is strangely upbeat for a final level where you're supposed to hunt down the biggest threat of the game. It's probably not much, but I think it's a legitimely great way of storytelling, especially in a Sonic game. Also, ppl sleep on this game's OST.

[@CardCaptorDeadpool]

Speaking of the soundtrack, Westopolis, Death Ruins, Gliphic Canyon, Lethal Highway, Space Gadget, Sky Troops, Cosmic Fall, Silent Impact, Final Hanut, Iron Jungle, Lava Shelter, and Gun Fotress, are my favourite tracks in the game. I'm a big fan of the Black Bull, Heavy Dog, and Dioblon boss themes too! I think this was Jun Senoue's best work on the series. He did great work doing lot of the TSR soundtrack a couple of years ago and I'm REALLY looking forward ti what he and Tomoyo have in store for Sonic Frontiers, they said the other day taht it'll have 155 tracks. we'll probably get over 5 hours worth of music, and hopefully a soundtrack that it's STH and Sonic Unleashed.

[@BraviaGames]

And with this video, you've made your channel into the DEFINITIVE way of understanding the stories of this series. I won't be able to talk about these stories without referencing your videos now😂.

[@SurprisedPika666]

1:12:44 FINALLY! I thought I was the only one who noticed the error with the English dubbing at the end. How did they miss something so obvious?? The dubbing team barely cared, they just wanted to see how many times they could put "damn," in a sentence.

[@AceStarThe3rd]

This video is so incredibly good! I'm watching it on stream with my viewers and the way you have been able to make sense of this game and it's story, and with the EFFORT you put in towards understanding AND telling it in a way that's cohesive and easily digestable is absolutely phenomenal! You did an excellent job in taking my understanding of Shadow the Hedgehog (the character) and evolved it into an appreciation of one of the coolest and most interesting characters in the Sonic series. Again, this is just marvelously written and I'm so glad that I got to watch it! I hope the KZbin algorithm is in your favor and MANY more people get to see this video and hear your words. p.s. I love your ranting, it's so well thought out and executed and you had me saying "period" multiple times throughout the video. I'll definitely be subscribing and watching more of your content!

[@Ackeron]

Glad I sent you this video 😁

[@Pariah6950]

Thank you. I hope your viewers enjoyed it. I really tried my best to untangle this mess and make it as understandable as I could, so people can see that there actually is some good in this game's story. I'll check out the stream. I'd like to see some of your reactions. btw, my videos are not scripted. This was just me rambling.

[@Pariah6950]

Thank you for sharing it!

[@davidsterling7570]

Finally someone friggin' gets it! Beneath the clumsy translation, level orders, and continuity, the game's choice to define post-SA2 Shadow as a new character feels like one of the bolder decisions in game writing for that gen. Hell, I struggle to think of other games, E-M rated, that're willing to have a money-making character change so much

[@MetaKnuxXbeats]

Not going to lie, you kind of gave me a new perspective to this game and the character of Shadow. Yes, it was pretty much right in front of me the whole time but it mostly has to do with me and my brother playing Shadow the Hedgehog since we were kids and haven’t really looked back at it in recent times and it also has to do with the fact that we had a some what butchered translation though in more recent years, I always thought this game had so much potential but just didn’t executed that potential in a satisfying way and while I still kind of think that (mostly because of the structure of the different paths, the repetitive nature of the game itself, and the many holes and inconsistencies though to be fair, that was a problem with the series as a whole and yea, I really like the rant you did since I can so relate with everything being said there) I have to give credit where it is due. Shadow’s character wasn’t as poorly done as I thought he was… that is in the Japanese version which I guess is sort of expected considering that one thing I came to realized is that his characterization in the English and Japanese versions are pretty different. Not sure if it is because of poor translation like in here or if it is because of different cultures or because the English writers wanted Shadow to be one way and not like the other, but regardless, the last story somewhat puts Shadow in a logical conclusion after being brought back (even if it is the same Shadow or not), choosing his own destiny instead of someone determining his role in life. I guess in a way, I kind of have a complicated relationship with this game. But yea, one thing I also want to say is I guess it does make since that the “original Sonic” ended after SA2 since that was also the last game the original Sonic Team made so maybe this was kind of expected if the series was going to move forward. I feel like the inconsistencies got bigger and bigger after SA2 which resulted in them wanting to make a reboot with 06 but then kind of chickening out with the whole reboot idea but not at the same time(?) I might have to talk more about that when you cover 06 one of these days which I am guess is the next one unless you do a video about the Advance, Battle, and Rush games next.

[@ak47dragunov]

I think the Eggman hypocrisy has a very simple explanation that doesn't take much logical stretching. He simply didn't want to die himself

[@shupasopni]

Also I'm glad to see you hit the "fuck it my head canon is the story" point when talking about the inconsistency of this universe. That's my favorite way to engage with Sonic. Hyper based.

[@Ultra04channel]

I just can't get past the weapon Shadow uses in the intro. It's somehow an AR-15 that takes MP5 magazines, and appears to also have an MP5's extendable stock, and has no buffer tube, despite being an AR-15, so where does the bolt go? Also it's pump action. I have one question for the animators and modelers who made that scene, and it is simply, "WHY?"

[@itsprodigit]

don't remember where, but i remember reading that the devs and animators were very aware of this and did it as a joke

[@fnaf2754]

i love the way you present information so much. it’s hard for me to articulate, but those moments when you propose others’ misconceptions as possibilities before correcting them are so engaging and entertaining! and your sense of humor is just perfect for commentary. excited for your next content :)

[@HyperSonic1999orJTH]

I'm really glad to have to have come across this channel as it's given me a fresh outlook of the stories in these games with a clearer and more direct translation, which makes me love them more.

[@iamlordapollo]

I've commented on your videos alot recently with my disagreements, but in this case I'm fully on board with you. I always understood that you were pointing out the issue of things not being explained. That being said, one unintended benefit of writing that flies on the seat of it's pants is that it allows the fans to fill in the blanks themselves and become part of the story by engaging with it in that way. That's exactly why the sonic fanbase is one of the most intense and dedicated communities out there. Because we have to work so hard at the mental gymnastics required to make sense of it all, we take it very seriously and also very personally because expending all that effort gives a sense of ownership. Perks of shitty writing I guess lol. As for the stuff that blew up in SA2 coming back, there is a theory that I subscribe to that is very simple and explains everything. I think Sega Scourge was the one that did the video on it but I'm not sure. Anyway the theory says that if you notice the end of SA2, there is tons of debris coming off of the ark as it is entering the atmosphere. After they put it back in orbit, it's back in pristine condition. The theory states that because 2 emeralds can time travel as shown in 06, the 2 super hedgehogs aren't teleporting the ark back into orbit, they are using a localized form of time travel to return it to the state it was in prior to everything happening. This would either prevent prison island the eclipse cannon and the moon from exploding due to the butterfly effect, or the localized time travel just also applied to everything related to the ark incident. Mental gymnastics sure, but I really like the idea that they fixed everything at once and the details of the game support it without saying it directly. Lastly, I'm on your side about SA2 eggman destroying earth. If he wanted to use the eclipse canon to threaten the president, the 6 emeralds he had were more than enough. Why bother putting the last one in at all unless he needed the last one to have enough power to explode the entire planet. I disagree with alot of your statements, but I got your back on this one. Eggman fully intended on pulling a Frieza and would have starved to death on the ark because he's a short sighted dummy.

[@readingaddict605]

I honestly am not sure why everyone keeps assuming that's eggman's intentions in SA2. It seems to me that the "destroy the earth thing" is simply a threat. There is a decent chance that the nations of the earth would've given power to eggman within the 24 hours, but it didn't happen since the leaders of the world didn't respond back to Eggman. To know he was willing to blow up the moon should've made them do so. He could've just blown up a country instead of the entire planet when he planed to push the button in the end of the dark story of the game. There could've been a power meter gauge or something, which is somewhat proved in shadow the hedgehog when they used all the chaos emeralds but didn't blow the earth. You could easily justify Eggman taking all the emeralds by the fact that holding one emerald in the hands of someone else is still threatening. I mean having one of those things is powerful as fuck. Don't want to risk someone like sonic to use it when eggman knew shadow can use one of the chaos emeralds. Since eggman knows sonic can too he might've not wanted to risk it. Since tails clearly has one he plans on taking it so sonic doesn't use that power to than take the other chaos emeralds. Plus it could just be eggman wanting to get as much power as much as possible. What better way to do that than take all of the emeralds? Might as well take all of them. Though it still makes no sense why tails brought both the fake and the original on board the Ark, which lead to Eggman figuring out there's a fake. Maybe I am doing too much mental gymnastics here, but I never actually thought eggman wanted to actually blow up the earth. His just saying that as a threat, and I liked to think that his time limit of 24 hours is him giving the leaders to go give him what he wants out of pressure. He would've than blow up part of a country or something to than give another time limit. They would've eventually decide to give him the planet I would imagine. Maybe that's just me having more foresight than eggman or perhaps it's eggman's plan all along.

[@iamlordapollo]

@@readingaddict605 yeah I get what you mean. That's what I was saying about the 6 he had were more than enough for his purposes. Since the shadow game proves you can set the power to the desired output, putting the last emerald in the machine was hubris. I agree that he wanted to obtain the last emerald to prevent his plan being foiled, but he could have hidden it or had shadow hold it to keep it from sonic and co. The only reason to put it into the cannon is either hubris or OCD lol. In fact if he had given it to shadow, shadow would've put it into the cannon anyway, therefore still triggered Gerald's plan, and eggmans intelligence wouldn't have been insulted. Especially since there was that scene where he told shadow if anything happened to him he trusted him to go forward with the plan. What a missed opportunity that would've been so easy to fix with a tiny change.

[@readingaddict605]

@@iamlordapollo There is a minor issue with giving it too shadow. It begs the question when does shadow put the choas emeralds? Since it's somewhat unclear whether or not sonic won the fight with shadow in the space colony ark. If sonic defeated shadow he would've gotten the emeralds. Maybe make it where shadow puts the emeralds in the cannon before fighting sonic this way still leaving it ambiguous on what happened? That actually would make some amount of sense. You know as a pre-caution and the fact that sonic did something that shadow initially thought should be impossible (using the fake chaos emerald to do chaos control). This way justifying shadow's caution. Honestly I think this solution would've worked. It could easily make the story more coherent. Now how do we solve the issue of tails bringing both the fake and real choas emeralds? My proposed idea is that tails brought the real chaos emerald in case sonic uses it to become super. You know as back up when they take the choas emerald and Eggman brought some weapon or some other threat. The best way to fix the issue of sonic bringing a fake and a real one is to make it where tails invents a device that essentially hides the choas energy. However tails made a minor mistake in his invention and Eggman still found out that there is a fake one. This way tails's plan would still work in a logical sense, and also shows the fact that he still has a long way to go as an inventor. It also doesn't come off as him being a super genius too early in the series. It's a much more slower transition of growth. We could also make it where tails's justification of him saying no machine would be able to tell the difference between the fake and the real one by him stating that no current technology in his experiments when building this invention was able to detect a difference.

[@BurningFlamesofDivineDragon]

I'm looking forward to see how Shadow will be portray in the third Sonic movie. Its sad to hear that apparently a bunch of kids asked for Sonic with a gun and well the staff at SEGA said it wouldn't make sense for Sonic but they could do it with Shadow. Well here we are. I'm much preferring the Paramount movie universe over the game universe.

[@anthonylicata8582]

I've watched almost every single one of your videos and this one is my absolute favorite. Your ability to point things out, the witty remarks, and the superb eloquence keep me coming back for more. Keep up the good work :)

[@ahogammer6895]

You're legit the best KZbinr I've have ever watched.

[@tonycorona8501]

Before even watching this video, I will say: I actually didn't expect to see this video from you, you mad lad! I thought I would miss your cool vids with Windii gone! It's a good thing I saw her translations, so I'm more or less familiar with the gizmo of Shadow's game. This shall be fun!

[@Inactivechannel-r6]

What happened to Windii?

[@tonycorona8501]

@@Inactivechannel-r6 Channel got terminated. I believe it was because of the Megaman OVAs she was translating.

[@CarvedDaWarped]

@@tonycorona8501 Really? Damnit KZbin!

[@archdiangelo7930]

I always liked Shadow the Hedgehog, I had it on PS2 as a kid and played it a lot. NOW, I appreciate it on a whole new level, and I love your analysis of it!

[@AizakkuAnalysis]

These are my favourite parts of your videos. It was your SA2 story video that got me onto your channel.

[@donovansantaella7861]

The way you covered the last story was the EXACT thing I've been waiting for ever since I saw your SA2 story video. Like gosh dang the way you were talking about how Shadow is basically subservient to Maria's wishes in SA2 just got me thinking, "Oh my god I love how they address that later on." Of course I didn't make a comment about it since I figured it's one of those things you were gonna cover when you got to this story. That along with your pretty positive coverage of the gameplay, and the absolutely messy conveyance of the plot that just makes it so hard to process unless you take the time to look at it from an overhead view, made this one of the videos I anticipated the most from you. But I really didn't expect to come to appreciate how neat it was to explore the non canon endings as explicitly saying what Shadow is not. It sounds like such a no duh kind of thing said like this, but it really makes the rest of the journey feel that much more worth it. I remember I once heard someone say they like to view the events of Shadow playing out somewhat like Groundhog Day where it keeps on repeating until he finally gets it right. In this case defining who he is on his own. Even though that very much goes into the realm of headcanon, the whole thought of the endings just reminds me of that a lot. Anywho, great video! I can't wait for what you have next, and I hope you have a good day!

[@tigerlowe5002]

I just found this video thanks to a person on twitter & just wanna say THANK YOU !!! I've been thinking about doing a video about this game & Shadow myself for ages but....nah. While I would do it differently, you explained it so much better than I ever could & make it actually sound quite interesting & intriguing. And...ngl I am emotional now again. The ending of STH makes me always way more emotional than SA2 ever could I grew up with the english version (I just learned about the japanese version & recaps that explain everything not too long ago) but I never saw Shadow as ooc here (maybe because I only saw Shadow in 06 & Sonic X before. And still I did NOT think "WTF why is he so different & such a jerk here ?" I did NOT know SA2 & Heroes yet, so it was VERY interesting to uncover all this mess & figuring everything out. And in fact - despite all the questionable writing & overly dark & edgy & depressing tone, I....dont hate this game. Sure I dislike some things but....still, there this something that just fascinates me about it, this emotional attachement due to my own experience. And after watching a live stream eaerlier this year, I....kinda start to like it. Blame the game, not the character, I say. In fact, I could always relate to Shadow, especially in this game (welcome to the "selfish" misunderstood lone wolf with troubled past club) I never saw Shadow as ooc here - he's always been a selfish jerk & thats ok. He has valid reasons to hate humans - so do I. He's just a dude who just wants answers about who he is & just got thrown into all this mess. Even if it's all "not canon". I always liked exploring this big mess of a puzzle, you gotta put together, to get the complete bigger picture - just like with 06 or SA2 when you DONT know everything yet until you see the other stories. It's so interesting & misterious. Yes these paths are WHAT IFs ? What Shadow COULD have become. And I love that this game does NOT shy away or try to do sugergoat everything as fans love to. -------------------------------- But it's as the video says. This whole game is about that Shadow is NOT what everyone tells him to be or sees him as. Shadow is NOT evil ! He is NOT here to destroy Earth ! He is also NOT an android ! And he is NOT humanity's lord & savior who has a duty till the end of his life, he never chose himself ! He was just thrown into this whole crazy mess, told by people who wanted differnt things, who to be & what to do. And he's no longer having it ! "If it makes me selfish ! So be it !" as I always say ! Damn ! I can relate to Shadow in STH on a personal level & see how insecure & thoughtfull he truly is ! And I HATE how fans do 100% the same thing like everyone in this game. Tell Shadow who to be ! Even when he let go of his past a long time ago & moved on ! "BUT MARIA ! YOUR PROMISE ! You are suposed to like & save everybody !" - Shut up ! And stop completely ignoring his trauma, for a duty he never chose, ignoring his amnesia, parts of his character & story, taking things out of context & move on, like he did ! -------------------------------------------- This whole game is about Shadow saying "F it all ! I am not your puppet anymore !" and I fuckin LOVE IT ! I LOVE the ending, eversince I was a teen with my own troubled past, who just found this game. As said, it always made me so emotional because.....yeah. Shadow moving on from his past & deciding for himself what do to with his life & who to be. Shadow was who I wanted to be ! That Shadow from STH ! I had NO idea how much fans really hate & ignore of his character & story until 2 years ago (there was so much I didnt know & it was better that way) This Shadow & ending from STH was always far more interesting, relateable & makes me cry everytime, alot more than SA2 ever could ! Sure SA2 is "the best story/game ever" & had a very impactful ending....but for me it was STH. And I HATED if he really stayed dead. Shadow in SA2 had such a tragic story, he never got to decide for himself & live his own life, he was only traumatised & used all this time. He never got to be his own person & live his own life, he just did it all for Maria & Gerald. And if he actually died.....yeah I would have cried, but also been kinda disapointed. There's also this AU by Sega Scourge, what if Sonic had amnesia ? While Shadow is a hero there, he is still the same, still doesnt hesitate to kill, be caring yet selfish at the same timea and....has not his happy ending but still lots of trauma, guilt & exiles himself as the new leader of the Black Arms. So....fans would get the hero they want. But at what price ? In some way, I do believe Shadow HAD TO have amnesia, in order to start over & finally live his own life & become his own person. ---------------------------- In that AU there is a quote by Eggman, I really love. That Shadow is like the very chaos energy that flows through his body. Chaos energy can be both good & bad, positive & negative, used for good & evil. And Shadow IS the one who mastered & controls the chaos (Chaos Control ?) Shadow IS that chaos energy ! He can be BOTH humanity's last hope or their biggest threat ! And just WHY is this so hard to understand for people, that Shadow is NOT this angel everyone wants but just a guy like you & me, who does things his own way, because HE chooses to, NOT because sb tells him to ?! There's also a video by Shadow759 Sonic Inceptive part 3 where Shadow says this exact thing to Mephiles, alot more fans should really see. The part about the ending. That explanation ! HECK YES !!!! I coudnt have said it myself much better ! Just SO MUCH FUCKIN YES !!!! THATS WHY it always had such a huge impact on me, THATS WHY Shadow, ESPECIALLY in this game, in this very moment, has changed me & influenced me so much as a person ! And it's so freakin true, that while Sega misunderstands Shadow & all their characters nowadays, fans are no different ! And....I already rant way too much but all I wanna say is THANK YOU for this wonderfull video ! Finally a new, fresh take, that does NOT repeat 1:1 what 10000 others said & just goes "this 1 thing is good, this is bad & ooc cuz I dont like it, these 1000 other things dont exist or * make up other excuse why this is not canon or invalid * Just THANK YOU !!!

[@AFeralTrout420]

FINALLY!! I'm so glad I found someone who shares the same perspective as me!!

[@DaHeis]

Total agree with this take.

[@senranalt9361]

Honestly, I agree with your points regarding the Sonic series' messed up continuity. As an aspiring writer myself, I can safely say that Sonic has the worst worldbuilding and lore execution of any game series on account that the writers can't bother to keep the continuity consistent across all games, and it honestly makes it difficult for me to take the stories and characters seriously. It feels like Sonic Team is trying to preserve the old one-off game philosophy of their arcade roots while trying to expand their scope to include grander stories, like trying to have their cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, this results in the writing being compromised one game after the other that only piles up overtime, and for storytelling, consistent worldbuilding is a must to tie the settings altogether. The Chaos Emeralds' origins especially have been retconed on numerous occasions that they have honestly lost their value as integral pieces of the lore, so now they are basically just glorified reskins of the Dragon Balls that Sonic somehow loses at the end of every game because the writers feel like it. Even now, in Sonic Frontiers, the inconsistency still rears its ugly head, and the inclusion of the Ancients just raises so many questions to the worldbuilding than give answers. It's just a complete mess.

[@softserve1942]

This made we realize how awful the English dub was translated. I already knew it was bad, but I didn't know how much it butchered the story. Your explanation definitely made me appreciate the story more.

[@NESShadows]

I never once hated this game, I remember having a lot of fun with it on my PS2 and I actually just picked it up again just two months ago. Thanks for this awesome video that helped me see the good and bad in this game, and showing me that it’s not as edgy as I once thought

[@fgclash454]

Thank god you exist, seriously, breaking down games piece by piece like this is just awesome, especially since I grew up with them and still love them!! You rock dude!! 😎😎😎

[@Kirbyquaza]

Post-SA2 Sonic being non-canon? That's high-quality copium, bro. I would know, I myself have been huffing it for years.

[@Lionwoman]

It's funny when Sonic X gave an explanation to the moon being whole again and the two worlds issue.

[@sebastiannegron9319]

You know, my first ever sonic game was Shadow the Hedgehog. I remember having fond memories of my brothers and I having a blast playing it on our old Gamecube. We were very young and naive. A few years later, I replayed it and I was very disappointed in the story and gameplay, after playing many other sonic games. Tomorrow, I turn 19, and you uploading this video (coincidentally, just before my birthday) and the one about the gameplay made me think of the relationship the game and I had. It reminds me of how I've changed as a person and buried the past, like Shadow, but for the worst, unlike him. I can only give my sincerest thanks for making me realize that the game does have beauty, even though it's buried on so many mistakes. Now, I'm able to enjoy it much, much more, sort of like when I was a kid, but with a new perspective. Thank you! (Sorry for the long and melodramatic message, but I want to be sincere.)

[@truemang0]

I absolutely love how detailed and interesting your Sonic videos are, I never knew how much better the Japanese versions of these games were at telling their stories so thank you for showcasing them! Keep up the great work.

[@That501st_guy]

Does anyone actually like how the cgi is still good that isn't age badly like other games of the time

[@TevyaSmolka]

I personally thought shadow the hedgehog story was really interesting 🧐

[@meganshaw1949]

Nice bonding moment for Shadow and Omega.

[@rodrigocastilho6644]

Great video as always! I can't wait to see when you cover the more recent games.

[@statenislander4399]

Thank you! This really helped me learn to understand and appreciate this story that I probably would have otherwise continued being confused by

[@Joseph.780.]

Woah this was a great video. This completely changed my view on this game an it’s story. A sonic video with actual new takes and with some common sense like accepting that the continuity is a complete train wreck. Even with the faults you pointed out with the story in the video I gotta say this is probably the most invested I’ve been in the series storyline in a while. I’m very interested in what you’ve said about the previous and stories coming for the franchise. I’m excited to see what new things I can learn about a old childhood favorite series that I’ve been struggling to still be interested in. Continue the great work!

[@mercidicAGES]

Almost at 5K subs now lets goooo, its so fun watching you grow

[@scenikeight]

It's so frustrating how much effort they'll put into writing these interesting stories that hold up surprisingly well in terms of what they're trying to convey in a vacuum, and then like...forget to add important plot details in, or completely ignore previously established stuff. I wonder if the writers just didn't speak to each other? How many passes did they go through back then? SA2 has it worse than this game in terms of its ratio of weird plot contrivances to genuinely kind of complex writing, but now that I've played it, seeing ShtH again, it's wild how much what is essentially a continuation of SA2 just doesn't seem to care what happened in it lmao It's only minor things in this game, really, and I don't think it distracts from it terribly... But it sets a bad precedent and one I'm looking forward to you dissecting further in the 06 video, given you alluded to that game's...disregard of a certain important plot beat before. It sucks going back to these games and simultaneously appreciating them more for what they do well, while also being disappointed now that you know they don't seem to respect their own achievements. I guess that's what you get from a franchise that's soft rebooting itself every second game (PS. I don't know if you will actually read these comments or not, but I thought I'd say thank you for your video on SA2, since that made me go back and play it after I initially didn't enjoy it and dropped it before I finished one story a few years ago. I grew up with Heroes and Shadow so I always wanted to play that game but never had the chance to, and I picked a bad time to do so (late enough the game felt seriously dated, but too early for the modding community to have fixed it yet). Full Story was a great experience and I'm glad I got to see the whole thing that way first. Your video touched on some subtleties I don't think I would have worked out on my own, but left enough unsaid that I was able to piece some things together after playing it too.)

[@Breakaway-ic5gj]

Woah SA2 felt dated ? It's literally the best controlling game in the series, it controls better than heroes and shadow

[@tretendo]

I just want to say I enjoy your video essays on these games. You've changed my perspective on how I look at these games from a gameplay and story standpoint for these sonic games that I never thought about before. I like how you expound and give in-depth detail on why you favor or dislike something not many of these video essay gaming KZbinrs completely convey their opinions like this. I'm curious to hear your breakdowns for the other Sonic games or any other games you do. I'm glad I stumbled onto your channel.

[@supermagnumable]

Why does “Sonic” need a specific tone? I honestly think Sonic Team never had a true definition of what a Sonic game can be, it’s why in the 90’s they tried fighting game styles or racing styles, the point is there is no definition. They wanted Sonic to be an action franchise that can adapt as long as some core elements of the franchise remain. What’s sad is the larger public clearly just wanted him to be a simple action platformer like everyone else.

[@Pariah6950]

Because when you make something with a certain tone and feel, that is one of the things people come to like about it. When you take the things people liked about a series and you throw it out and replace it with something totally different, it can feel like a betrayal to the fans. If you change things too much, it ceases to even be the thing people liked in the first place. Changing things so often and so radically can result in a mess that does not have a clear identity. Then you end up with fans who like one style over another. There are just certain things certain series should not do. Sonic should not be violently murdering people just like Gears of War should not have happy-go-lucky dance numbers.

[@yungmuney5903]

@@Pariah6950 But then you have Zelda series which seems to do just fine with that. Twilight Princess vs Link's Awakening on the switch.

[@Bonniferrous]

These videos always enlighten me on these games and stories that I never got the full parts to cause it was just KZbin reviews of the game. I really like these they make me feel and think differently about these stories that I thought were stupid dumb or whatever

[@RoboticEdward]

As someone who's learning Japanese I can kinda see why that whole "pay homage to Professor Gerald" scene was misinterpreted. Japanese is a very context-heavy language; so context heavy that you can omit words completely if theyre unnecessary. A simple example is like これはペンです。, "or this is a pen". The "これは" part can be ommitted and just say ペンです and the idea is still the same. In regards to the scene in question, the last time you see the president and GUN commander in the Last Story is when the commander says "Professor Gerald?". In that context, I think the localizers thought they were still referring to Gerald because of the context being attached to their last appearance before that infamous scene in the dub. Obviously with Windii's translation she was able to clarify the president was referring to Shadow which makes a lot more sense considering some hidden dialogue in Expert Mode and how Shadow became an agent in 06. Localization isn't easy, especially when the disparity between Japanese and English is so wide, and how a tight schedule can botch a localization even further. I'm still a beginner of JP generally speaking but I'm learning a lot as time goes one. Playing the Sonic games in Japanese has been very fun for me (even if it's difficult. I played the entirety of a Japan only Fire Emblem game for example but damn it was worth it) as someone who's played these early 3D games to death. All in all, good video. This was the first video I've ever seen from you since I wanna say a year ago? Shadow is a game I grew up with and while I think it's one of the worst games in the series, it frustrates me more how it could've been way better than how it ended up being.

[@redjirachi1]

I really wish that there was at least one ending where Shadow joined Eggman. The two have a lot more in common with Shadow and Black Doom

[@Seenospidey]

You have 100% convinced me. This used to be my least favorite sonic game because of how I thought they mishandled shadows character. Upon listening to this fantastic analysis, I gotta say you really made me reconsider and come around on this game.

[@josephsulaiman9959]

it would have been so easy to just be like "sonic and the gang used chaos control to fix all the shit that got broken in sa2" but we dont even get that lol

[@Pariah6950]

I thought the exact same thing.

[@TheGerkuman]

Technically Shadow would be an Anti-Antichrist, since he canonically chooses not to be evil.

[@Twilord_]

That fits oddly well if we take the mural theory as a fact, and assume that he is a response to a half-god half-hedgehog mythological figure who really exists in his world - Super Sonic.

[@DannyBenS94]

Another great video on this game that again; addresses things that don't seem to be brought up much by many people online. There are many things here that I haven't thought of before, but I knew I wouldn't get an explanation from others because a majority of the time, people just rant about this game. Very well made video.

[@davidbeer5015]

I’m glad you touched on this game’s story. I honestly love it, and was really curious what you were going to say in terms of how it was structured and what was said. I’ve been waiting excitedly for this one. I like how you address his characterization. I like how it points to how he is in 06, where he is doing things because it’s what he wants to do. He works with G.U.N., and when he is told people will fight him, he’s already gone through that a bit, so he’s accepted “I’ll just keep fighting.” It’s why he is able to refuse Mephiles’s temptations. An interesting point that he might not have his memories back. I like to think he did, but I can see it being vague to say either way. And regardless, he moves on to be his own thing. But you’ve made me think harder on that as I’m playing through to hit the last story for myself currently. Amusingly, the dub..doesn’t bother me that much? The Circus Park line is just amusing to me because of the emphasis Jason had to put on that line. And the Chaos Emerald line on the ship….I feel like people forgot that that’s an actual metaphor? Like I’ve seen people say “Shadow likes to take candy from kids.” …….but..no? It’s just a metaphor for how easy something seems, and it’s fine by him that it’s easy. Even the line “we’re on our way to the ARK, which I guess that means we’re going too” I’ve seen get meme’d…and when I heard it myself in the scene I do not see how it was a bad line. “The aliens are going back into space, we’re going to the ARK, so I guess that means we’re going [to space] too.” I took the him saying “I have to trust/believe him” was about the Chaos Emeralds being the key, but idk. He is the only one offering to tell him who he is. Maybe I’m weird in how i interpret these lines. The “pathetic humans” is probably the weirdest compared to Rouge in Heroes, but I kinda headcanon it as “oh, another anthro like” vs “oh, those normal humans”. That last line from the president…I can see why the mistranslation happened, since both suffered. I don’t think it’s terrible to want to acknowledge what Gerald did contribute for good, but yeah, it’s an awkward translation, probably the worst of them to me. I feel like the “goodbye forever” still gets the point across, even if it isn’t as hard of a callback. Shadow doing his own thing again :P The way the story was structured though…yeah, that definitely effected reception with things. I love headcanoning that Mad Matrix happened in some form so that Charmy saw Shadow karate chop the computer, which lead to how he got the ARK computer to work. I do wish Last Story gave us a path, but it is what it is. Great video (love the rant about continuity). Makes me excited also to remember that one of the guys that worked on the cutscenes for this game is the Sonic movie director, if they ever bring Shadow on.

[@Fighter_53]

when you mentioned shadow being brown instead of black, I finally noticed it, and oh god, as the video goes on from that point, he looks like he is getting browner

[@lordmandarin7212]

Thank you for defending Shadow in this game

[@nowlwane9623]

Fans: What is up with the bad writing? Devs: It's a CARTOON Me: If you can't care about your lore, why should I care about your story

[@ILikeMakeBelieveUnironically]

Actually, i've heard the 2 worlds thing was a misstranslation, Takashi actually meant that there are 2 separate societies, and i think there were more details but i forgot about them.

[@galacticspecter4364]

You’re reviews and story videos are great, now I want to go and revisit Shadow the Hedgehog after all these years. The Shadow game respecting the decision to keep the Shadow of SA2 dead and managing to create a story that pushed it further is really interesting when you put it into perspective like that. The ending theme of the game “Never Turn Back” hammers this even more with the lyrics being all about Shadow not wanting anything to do with his past.

[@aynDRAWS]

I think "sayonara, shadow the hedgehog" hits harder than "adios" or "goodbye forever" because sayonara has the cultural connotation of what you say to someone when you won't see them again ever, or at least for a long time, without sounding as dramatic as the English "goodbye forever"

[@AlphaOblivion7]

Shadow content in 2022, yes please! There are definitely valid critiques to be had of the game, but I know for a fact that 95% of people's complaints on this game stem from the fact that they haven't played it, and are just going off of hearsay But Thank you so much for this video. This is exactly what this game needed

[@tornic531]

Good quality content for us starved Sonic fans, now able to appreciate the stories in a new way. Keep being awesome please

[@ViltrumiteIsRite99]

Wow, I enjoy English dubbing all the way, but this sub works WAY better for something more dark and dramatic like Shadow the Hedgehog. A lot of these scene feel a lot more badass and earned.

[@rainopaino]

Maybe I just haven't been paying attention, but why was the Ark in space in the first place?

[@Superbabycell_gt]

Let’s gooooooo glad to see another video from you