The official PlayStation Blog has shared an interview with Sonic series producer, Takashi Iizuka, where he explains Shadow’s new Doom Powers and how he acquires them in the upcoming Sonic X Shadow Generations.
In the interview, Iizuka-san discusses that the main reason behind creating Doom Powers was to differentiate Shadow’s gameplay from Sonic’s. Without these powers, Sonic and Shadow would play too similarly, even with Shadow’s Chaos Control ability returning. The new powers were designed to give Shadow unique ways to attack enemies and traverse stages, which allowed the development team to experiment more with level design. Iizuka-san also reveals that Shadow gains these powers when he “awakens to the power of darkness.” As the name suggests, the powers draw their energy from Black Doom and are closely tied to the game’s story, though Iizuka-san couldn’t delve into too much detail just yet.
In terms of gameplay, the team wanted to make Shadow Generations’ action more unique to differentiate it from what Sonic can do, so we added the Doom Powers. Shadow’s new powers are essential because they give him new ways to attack enemies and traverse the world, giving our team more to build upon in each stage’s level design. While we can’t share much about the story, the Doom Powers play an essential role in Shadow’s journey and development throughout his campaign, giving him more powers to save the world. Shadow receives these when he awakens to the power of darkness in the game, so players will see how closely they tie into the narrative when the game comes out later this year.
Takashi Iizuka
Iizuka-san further explained the design philosophy behind each power, stating, “The Doom Powers had to embody a sense of danger and mystery that are reflected in Shadow’s actions and movements.”
Shadow is a dark, anti-hero character, so the Doom Powers had to embody a sense of danger and mystery that can be seen in Shadow’s actions and movements. The level designers also incorporated many ways the Doom Powers can be used in this platform action game, so they are not just additional combat moves. Shadow can use Doom Powers to platform around the world.
Takashi Iizuka
When designing the levels in Shadow Generations, we wanted to make the most of Shadow’s existing move, Chaos Control, which enables him to find new platforms to run through each stage and find new ways of attacking bosses. However, with only Chaos Control, the core of Shadow’s gameplay is very similar to what Sonic can do, so we introduced the Doom Powers to give the game more unique action. Not only does it increase the variety of things you can do in the platform action stages, but it also allows for great exploration and traversal abilities in the 3D White Space Hub World for Shadow
Takashi Iizuka
The idea for the Doom Powers came up when we realized we needed to give Shadow new abilities and powers to create new gameplay formats. It was important to provide Shadow abilities that Sonic can’t do to make the action more enjoyable, while ensuring each power reflects his dark, anti-hero character. As the name suggests, the Doom Powers draw energy from Black Doom, so that was taken into consideration in the design of all the Doom Powers.
Takashi Iizuka
He also mentioned his excitement for players to try out the Doom Wing, Shadow’s new black wings, first revealed in the Summer Game Fest trailer.
Doom Wing, the black wings that come out of Shadow in the Summer Game Fest trailer, was an impactful idea early in the design process, so we wanted to make it the coolest looking of all the Doom Powers. The wings that come out of Shadow make you think of a devil, which goes well with Shadow’s dark hero elements and allows us to present something cool and new, something we couldn’t do with Sonic.
Takashi Iizuka
Additionally, new renders of the Doom Powers and a fresh screenshot from the Metal Overlord boss fight, which was briefly shown in today’s trailer, have been released. Check them out below!
Stay tuned to Sonic City for more Sonic X Shadow Generations News and Updates!
