Again, it's mainly my stubbornness that makes me refuse to ever play that game. You have to UNLOCK the MAIN character of the series. I don't care if they were trying to force Axl down your throat, or even if you think that Zero IS the main character of the X series, which he pretty much is by X4. I just found it so goddamn retarded. It'd literally be like having to unlock Sonic in a Sonic game...which knowing SEGA is probably not all that far off one day.
This is *ONLY* applicable to the first playthrough. X is unavoidable, he joins you when the 8 Mavs are defeated whether you rescued enough 'roids or not, and he's part of New Game Plus. So, save the intro stage, you never have to be without him again. I guess it doesn't bother me because his nuke-sized charged shot is of such insane strength that you realize why, from a gameplay standpoint, he was delayed, and it is well worth it. He makes bosses several times easier.
I have issues with X in X7 for far different reasons. First of all, his getting shafted from cutscenes. He rocks in gameplay despite any temporary absences, that doesn't bug me at all, but he never DOES anything storywise during the entire course of the 8 Mavericks, not to mention the fight with Red. And second, he is so damn whiney that I'm almost glad the cutscenes shafted him.
Oh, and I do not agree that Zero spotlight-stole from X in X4-onwards. In X5 and X6 Zero is a source of conflict, but he doesn't really have anymore character development than X does (in fact I think X6 was character-wise X's best game). In X4 he did, but that's because it's his introduction as a player, being just now promoted to co-star it's kinda necessary. Although, as with X7, X could have stood more cutscene time.
BURN, BURN, BURNED TO THE GROUND.
I love that part for some reason.
WOOOOOOW.
I mean I always said it and thought things weren't as bad as they looked, but damn, this article is blunt. The line about Sonic Team being bored and close minded really hit home for some reason.
Well, they are. By no means has Sonic Team lacked a good core concept, they've had several. What they lack is polish, and unfortunately I think Journey of Dreams was a new low for them (granted I have not played Sonic '06).
Ironically I think Shadow The Hedgehog was among the more successful, quality-wise, of their recent efforts (besides Secret Rings, anyway). Sure, you need to pretend the Vs. play doesn't exist, and that final boss fork makes unlocking the Last Story complete hell. But the game handles well with a (usually) reasonable level of flexibility, and a proper focus on speed/platforming gameplay. The weapons are, thankfully, an extremely simplified extra feature, so they don't take too much focus away, despite fears to the contrary fed by the game's horrid marketing.