Key things
- Shadow Generations gives Shadow a new story for the first time in years.
- Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of anxiety.
- A little more surprisingly, Shadow shows an emotion other than anger, and even sheds some tears.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is out today in early access, so anyone with the deluxe edition can play before it launches on October 25th. Unsurprisingly, many are immediately going through the new story mode, Shadow Generations, to see all the new content added to this release.
Spoiler warning for Shadow GenerationsAs we've all come to expect, Shadow Generations is a tour of Shadow's past – or rather, his trauma. Here he meets some familiar faces again and reopens some old wounds at the end of the story.
More specifically, Shadow meets Maria again. She retreated from the past as Shadow moves through the story, allowing old friends to see each other again. He's there for most of the story, but since we're talking about Shadow, a good thing can't last forever.
The story ends with both Maria and Gerald Robotnik being sent back to the past – condemning them both to their original fates. It's a bittersweet ending, Maria accepts, despite Shadow's desperation to save her this time. Understandably, this is all too much for the hedgehog, and as he runs away in the final moments of his story, we see him shed some tears.
The Sonic series has a special relationship with the concept of crying
Crying after all this is very understandable, but this is revolutionary for the Sonic series. As we have already stated, Sega is very very especially about how her characters are portrayed in games and other media. It is generally believed that one of the rules that Sega put in place is forbidding Sonic from crying, as it has seemingly enforced this in the past.
Shadow seems to come with his own rules. Sonic Boom's writers have previously said in interviews that they didn't use Shadow that much because anything they wanted to do with him required “layers of permissions”. This included not letting him tell jokes or stray too far from his edgy personality.
Related
Sonic X Shadow Generations Review: Good remaster, fantastic remake
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a good remaster of the fan favorite game, but it's Shadow's story that steals the show and feels more like a remake.
With that in mind, it's amazing that Shadow Generations shows him crying rather than dealing with his emotions with violence. I mean, he still kind of does it, but there are a lot of tender moments here too.
Hopefully this means we'll see more of Shadow in future games and projects. Sega called 2024 the Year of the Shadow due to the amount of appearances he made after being benched for so long. Considering how well Sonic X Shadow Generations was received, I'm sure many are hoping it will continue into 2025.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is a double pack of the remastered version of the 2011 Sonic Generations title along with a brand new campaign featuring Shadow the Hedgehog and both 2D and 3D levels.
