Analysis of Sonic Battle's Plot Rouge and Knuckles' Stories
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AmusantTranscription
00:00Now for Rouge's story.
00:03The president says that an ancient gizoid weapon was sealed and misplaced 50 years ago and was recovered by Eggman.
00:11It wasn't his to begin with.
00:14The president tells Rouge she can get all the necessary information at the central lab and gives her the lab pass.
00:20Rouge is happy about the prospect that she can use the computer system to find out the locations of various treasures somehow.
00:27So there's top secret government treasures?
00:31Otherwise, why can't she just use the internet?
00:34The government computer tells her that there's an error because it's being accessed by someone else at the same time, which makes no sense.
00:42And Rouge complains about it.
00:45Rouge finds out that the login username of that other person is Eggman.
00:51Why did he use his own name as his username?
00:53Shouldn't he have used something more anonymous?
00:56Well, he's never been known for his common sense.
01:00That's why he didn't put any loyalty insurer on Shadow.
01:04Rouge finds out that Eggman has been accessing the computer from Highway.
01:09That's the blandest name for a highway ever.
01:12And yet Rouge still figures out that it's just around the corner.
01:16It must be the only highway with that name.
01:19It's really weird to see Eggman saying this.
01:21I get it, he's like 55 years old and this is a video game.
01:25But still, he's an adult and this isn't the 50s.
01:28Rouge tells him that he's wanted by the government for getting ammo.
01:31Wouldn't Eggman have been wanted by the government long before that?
01:35Eggman tells Rouge dismissively that he tossed out ammo at the beach already.
01:40And shows her one of the fake ammos that he built.
01:43After Rouge destroys the fake ammo, she gets a piece of a Chaos Ammo from its rubble.
01:49Why doesn't he put the ammo locators in flying badniks that fly so high that none of his enemies see them?
01:56They could scour the entire world and easily find all the emeralds.
02:01Why would he restrict it to ground robots that are easily defeated?
02:06And contain pieces of emeralds for the heroes to get?
02:10Rouge decides to go to Central Lab and learn more about ammo to prevent Eggman from getting him.
02:15How would that do that?
02:18The security guy gets angry.
02:21She is a jewel thief after all, so it makes sense that she wouldn't have a good reputation.
02:26I like her dialogue here. Recap is boring.
02:30Okay, the message says that you establish a link through external contact.
02:35But Eggman clearly made external contact with ammo when he smacked him at the start of the game.
02:40Eggman couldn't establish a link because he didn't have special powers to show off.
02:45If he had cyborg powers, maybe he could've.
02:50Rouge decides to go to Emerald Beach to find Emerald and sees Sonic showing Emerald his power and establishing a link.
02:58Thankfully, Rouge's story cuts the after Rouge gets Sonic to tell Emerald to listen to her commands.
03:04So we don't have the story pad out even longer.
03:07Amy calls out for Sonic, and Sonic tells Emerald to listen to whatever Amy has to say before running away.
03:14Leaving Tails and Emerald to deal with Amy.
03:17I don't like how Amy looks when she says this.
03:20Tails ends up giving Amy the idea that Emerald is like Sonic's baby.
03:25And Amy interprets this as Sonic being ready for starting a family with her and using Emerald as a practice son.
03:31This game writes Amy like a terrible fanfiction.
03:35Although at least it's interesting.
03:37When Tails doubts her, and Amy gets annoyed, she has this really stupid looking picture with her hand on her back and her leaning over that honestly makes her look like a cranky old lady yelling at kids to get off her lawn.
03:51Tails' picture shakes, and he says he'll go look for Sonic as an excuse to get away from her.
03:57It's actually pretty sweet though, Amy's interactions with Emerald.
04:02It's cute.
04:03Amy asks if he wants to play, and it's clear that she thinks it's cute too.
04:10Huh? I thought Amy hated Rouge.
04:14At least she's not being self-righteous and judgmental to her.
04:18This is keeping in line with her being idealistic, which is good.
04:22But it's inconsistent with how Sonic and Tails have treated her.
04:25Because she admires Sonic, I expected her to act like Sonic towards her.
04:30Maybe she doesn't know how Sonic treats her.
04:33It doesn't even seem to hold it against her that she does dirty deeds.
04:37Amy doesn't really seem to hate Rouge until Rouge decides to try to steal Emerald from her.
04:42And then a fight breaks out.
04:45I like how they gave Amy an actually justified reason to get really mad at Rouge.
04:49Instead of her just fighting her because she implied Sonic didn't love her or she somehow thought Sonic was into her.
04:56After Rouge leaves with Emerald, Amy complains.
05:00You mean she's worked out before?
05:03It is close to essay 1, so I guess it makes sense that she gets insecure quickly.
05:09Amy tells Tails that Emerald was kidnapped by Rouge.
05:12And I like how she apologizes and actually takes responsibility instead of just insulting her.
05:17I like how Rouge admits that she thinks Amy is a tough girl.
05:21It means she still respects her.
05:23Then a Gamma shows up, and Emerald and Rouge have to fight him.
05:27Afterwards, Rouge comments that the guard robo resembled Omega.
05:31First of all, Gamma looks absolutely nothing like Omega.
05:35What, does she think all robots look the same?
05:37She shouldn't if one of her friends is a robot.
05:39And second, if she thought that guard robo looked just like Omega somehow,
05:44then why didn't she see him and immediately go,
05:46Oh, hi, Omega.
05:48Instead of not being confused.
05:50So she knows he doesn't look exactly like Omega.
05:53Rouge tells Emerald to head for her place.
05:56In Night Babylon.
05:58What kind of name for a place is that?
06:01Night Babylon rogues weren't a concept by this point.
06:04Why would she live here?
06:06Maybe she's just more comfortable living where she's always lived,
06:09regardless of how much money she's making.
06:11I guess she thinks she's among kindred spirits here.
06:14Rouge owns a club?
06:16They would only do this to get crap past the radar.
06:19Amy catches up with Rouge, saying she found her from women's intuition.
06:23And fights her again.
06:25There's a hotel to the right of Club Rouge, but you go into Club Rouge.
06:30How does a club have a place for her to live in it?
06:33Rouge tells Emerald that she's going to train and to become the ultimate robot thief.
06:38She says that you'll always have to deal with guard robots when you're hunting for treasure,
06:42even though this is the first and only game where they exist.
06:46Sure, there's gamma robots in SA2, but they're not called that.
06:51Eggman actually sells his own robots to make money?
06:54Well, if he has a large enough amount to them, I guess it makes sense.
06:59But I've always pictured Eggman as having a lot of money because he's rich enough to build so many robots.
07:05Yet Rouge's talk is if Eggman's poor.
07:07Again, he can take whatever he wants.
07:10Why would he run the risk of someone using his robots against him?
07:14I'm saying this because if he does this too often,
07:17he'll get a breezy in the reboot situation where she's got way too many robots.
07:22Rouge wants Emerald to practice dealing with guard robots by fighting the ones she got here.
07:27Why did you think he needs practice?
07:30I guess she doesn't trust him because she has trust issues.
07:33I like that the game actually did something with Rouge being an anti-hero for once.
07:38Usually the only thing anti-hero about Team Dark is that they frown a lot and look menacing.
07:44Rouge and Emerald fight Amy in Central City.
07:47Then the fight ends, and this is where it gets really weird.
07:51The background goes black, and Amy hallucinates Sonic being there with her.
07:56And the weirdest part of all is that you actually have the hallucination of Sonic fighting you and doing damage.
08:02So is Amy a reality warper?
08:05She believes hard enough, and her mind makes it real?
08:08But it comes out of nowhere, and it's never brought up again.
08:11It's so inconvenient that she's only able to do this when she's starving.
08:16I also feel sorry for this hallucination of Sonic because he vanishes out of existence after the fight.
08:22This is a first sign that Amy does have some strong special powers within her, and it's a lot of potential.
08:28It's no wonder she got overpowered in Sonic Frontiers.
08:32Even if they weren't thinking of that.
08:35Rouge tells Emerald to use the technique she taught him to lockpick.
08:39Um, we never saw her teach him to open locks.
08:43Emerald shows hesitation before opening the lock.
08:47Even though we never saw Sonic tell him it was wrong.
08:51Rouge gets the Chaos Emerald, and Emerald reacts to it and instinctively takes it.
08:57He talks like a person, showing that he's growing up from getting stronger.
09:02Rouge fights Sonic alone.
09:04It's weird that he doesn't fight alongside Sonic though.
09:08Sonic tells Emerald that this is serious.
09:11Is this Bizarro World?
09:13Why is he taking Rouge seriously when both of them can easily take her?
09:18Since when is Sonic telling people to be serious, and why does he not get that he's basically looking at himself?
09:24Or at least a parody of himself.
09:27Sonic tells Emerald to stop pulling his needles, which sounds stupid.
09:32And Rouge gives up in frustration with their interaction and insults Amy.
09:37Because she's annoyed by Emerald's childishness.
09:40I love how she teases Sonic.
09:43It reminds me of how entertaining Rouge was in SA2, when she was teasing Eggman.
09:48Rouge has an exasperation that Amy can't have the Chaos Emerald, when she made no indication that's what she was after.
09:55And Emerald already has it anyways.
09:58She wonders what kind of mess she got herself into.
10:01I like that, it makes it relatable.
10:04And we get another of Gerald's diary entries.
10:07First off, Gerald had a collection of model guns. Isn't he a peaceful man?
10:12And second, he didn't verbally swear loyalty to Sonic. Was it because he wasn't able to talk at the time?
10:18And third, what exactly does Gerald mean by broken tones?
10:23Was his voice cracking? Or was he talking the way he first talked to Sonic, and Gerald was just smart enough to understand him?
10:29Knuckles' story.
10:31Knuckles decided to help Emerald realize his full potential, calling him a warrior after his own heart.
10:37Oh, Knuckles.
10:39Never mind that Sonic has beaten you in every single fight.
10:43He's totally not stronger than you.
10:45Meanwhile, Eggman talks about how he wants his feed robots to bring Emerald back to him.
10:50Which we already know by now.
10:52It's revealed that Emerald started talking more intelligently.
10:56And actually, he talks like a mixture between Sonic and Tails.
11:00At least Knuckles didn't get outright angry.
11:03Tails explains that Emerald can only use words that he's heard.
11:07Even though he said thank you before even hearing that phrase.
11:11Knuckles' response is pretty hilarious.
11:14Knuckles decides to test Emerald's strength.
11:18The three of them see a news broadcast reporting on a feed robot being in Night Babylon.
11:23If the cutscene presentation wasn't so abysmal,
11:26I'd be able to actually see the TV in the background of the cutscene at the very least
11:31so that I wouldn't be confused at this news broadcast being noticed by them
11:35when they're standing outside of Tails' lab.
11:38And they meet up with Amy in front of her pink apartment building in Central City.
11:42How could any apartment building be pink?
11:45Why would everyone who lived in that building agree to that?
11:49Somehow, Amy doesn't notice the insult Emerald gave her.
11:53Well, that was pointless.
11:55Does anybody actually laugh at these gags at her expense?
12:00Knuckles and Emerald run into a guard robot.
12:03And Knuckles scolds him for talking like him.
12:06Which is hypocritical.
12:08Why is he made self-conscious so easily?
12:12Why does she even bother saying that?
12:15Rouge complains that Emerald is quite the mouth on him.
12:18Even though he said a word that was barely even a swear.
12:22When did he even hear the word heck?
12:24Knuckles doesn't yell at Emerald.
12:26It shows that he actually does have her straightened out.
12:29I like him a lot better when he's not around Sonic.
12:32And Knuckles asks the store clerk of the bar where the feed robot is.
12:37The store clerk insists that Emerald is the robot
12:39and outright ignores Knuckles when he corrects him.
12:42You'd think being with one of the heroes of the world
12:45would make the ungrateful store clerk believe him.
12:49Eventually, they go to the casino.
12:52And because of the way Emerald's talking,
12:54Knuckles tells him to shut up.
12:56Emerald responds with a silence.
12:58And then he freaks out.
13:01This is one of the most emotionally impactful scenes in the whole game.
13:05For once, Knuckles actually apologizes.
13:08Although it is smart because he's a robot,
13:10so for all he knows, he could start attacking him if he didn't.
13:13It would have been a lot better
13:15if his picture had actually shown him looking regretful.
13:18It makes sense that he wouldn't calm down right away.
13:21So Knuckles leaves without him,
13:23which was an incredibly stupid thing of him to do.
13:26When Knuckles comes back,
13:28he complains about not getting something.
13:31It's Knuckles' story.
13:33Why didn't we see what happened to him?
13:35Get what?
13:37Why did he go there in the first place?
13:40He notices that Emerald is gone,
13:42and gets annoyed and decides to go look for him.
13:45A store clerk tells him that he wrecked Nightclub.
13:48There's no reason he would have done this.
13:51He's supposed to be a hero,
13:53and most of the time he's on Angel Island.
13:55And second,
13:57it's surprising that they got away with saying Nightclub in a Sonic game.
14:00The store clerk sends the guard robo after him,
14:03causing Knuckles to say something relatable.
14:05At one point, Knuckles complains about becoming famous.
14:08Wasn't he famous before?
14:10One of the heroes of the world?
14:12Granted,
14:14we never saw any reporters or normal people in front of him
14:18that could have witnessed his heroism with Sonic.
14:21Club Rouge is a battle club with a membership requirement.
14:25I didn't know Rouge was that into fighting.
14:28This would be more in character for someone else.
14:31Knuckles finds Emerald and Rouge fighting in the ring.
14:33So did Emerald try to go to Sonic for comfort,
14:36and then Rouge intercepted him?
14:38Otherwise, it's pretty random.
14:41Emerald wins, calling herself invincible,
14:44and says happily to Knuckles that he's been looking all over for him.
14:49I love Rouge's line. It's kind of hilarious.
14:52Why would Emerald have missed her?
14:55A feet robot attacks the store clerk,
14:57and Rouge points out the obvious.
15:00It looks like this game is where she got over her crush on Knuckles,
15:04because she's not acting like she likes him in the first place.
15:08Emerald gets two shards of a Chaos Emerald,
15:11and another one from Rouge.
15:14And it gives Rouge a backhanded compliment.
15:17Which is confusing, because
15:19at no point did Knuckles,
15:22or Tails, or Sonic
15:24get backhanded compliments.
15:26At no point do they say that they thought of Rouge as useless.
15:30For some reason, Knuckles apologizes to Rouge,
15:33instead of pointing out that it actually is Sonic's fault,
15:36because Sonic's the one raising him.
15:38Rouge says she's got no use for a measly shard.
15:42I thought she only collected jewels because she liked the way they looked.
15:46Why would she care about whether the Emerald was a shard or not?
15:50She says she'll collect in the debt by taking Knuckles' Master Emerald.
15:54She must be just saying that to tease him,
15:57because if she really planned on it, she wouldn't have warned him.
16:01Rouge suggests that they go to Tails,
16:03because he might know something about shards.
16:06If someone supposedly familiar with Chaos Emeralds didn't know about them,
16:10why would Tails?
16:12And Knuckles and Emerald train at the beach.
16:15Knuckles laughs and calls him annoying,
16:18and Emerald doesn't mind.
16:20So why is he not as sensitive as he was before?
16:23Or it's because Knuckles wasn't angry with him?
16:27Still, that was pretty gutsy Knuckles to say after what happened last time.
16:31When Eggman shows up,
16:33somehow Emerald doesn't remember him.
16:36The next fight is him fighting a fake Emerald.
16:39And Emerald gets an Emerald shard from this.
16:42And Eggman runs away.
16:44You find him in Central City,
16:46and the same fight happens again.
16:49And I have to assume that the reason Eggman stopped using F.E.A.R. robots,
16:53is that they aren't as charming looking as Badniks.
16:56And they always end up dying,
16:58so you might as well just use the Badniks.
17:01After this, Emerald gets an Emerald shard.
17:04And Knuckles calls him his battle partner,
17:07with Emerald being confused at it for some stupid reason.
17:11Eggman's line is pretty funny, actually.
17:14That's a really stupid name for a base.
17:17No one would call a base that.
17:19And why would you say where you're retreating right in front of your enemies?
17:23Oh right, this is the part of the game where Eggman sets up a trap for Knuckles
17:27by yelling that he's going somewhere and getting him to go there.
17:30So maybe you should have known better than to follow him.
17:33Because no one could be that dumb.
17:36I guess everyone in the surrounding area is too afraid to destroy this building.
17:41And it got built really quickly.
17:44Knuckles gets caught in a trap.
17:46An electricity trap.
17:48Just like in the intro of Sonic Unleashed.
17:51Which makes it less original.
17:53Eggman complains that he didn't mean to reveal his plan.
17:56That's pretty humorous.
17:58And I guess it's in character for him,
18:00because he's used to bragging about his plans.
18:03After Emerald fights again,
18:05Knuckles tells Emerald to pull a switch.
18:09And Knuckles complains that he did it on purpose.
18:13Sonic's idea of playing with Emerald is fighting him,
18:16but doesn't Sonic already smack him?
18:19So why does Knuckles think that would be a punishment?
18:22And Tails talks like they're supposed to be hurt.
18:25But they don't look like it.
18:27And he has this happy picture when he's saying that.
18:30Which is really dissonant, of course.
18:32So how does Tails put a Chaos Emerald back together?
18:36I have to assume that the inside of a Chaos Emerald is sticky for some reason.
18:41Emeralds do have the power to attract each other.
18:44So it could make sense that it attracts itself.
18:48Why does Emerald reveal a secret?
18:51He'd know what secret means.
18:53I can't tell if Emerald's being an idiot or teasing him.
18:56It makes more sense that he's teasing him to imitate Sonic.
19:00I love that the game finally reveals in canon that Jiro was trying to save his granddaughter's life.
19:05And I hate that they used the word Echelon.
19:08Because most people would have to look it up.