Sonny

Yo, fantastic "Sonny"!

Escape from White November Badge (easy – 5 points)
Fight your way off the starting ship.

From the first moment the jazzy yet elegantly drawn "Sonny" splash screen contacts my eyes, I know "Sonny" must be a special game. How special it is, however, is something that turns out to be far exceeding all my possible anticipations, and perhaps imaginations, about the limits of games that are on the Flash platform of the present day.




There are 4 zones in "Sonny", which should not be bad to know at first; I thought it should be 5 at least so was kinda unfulfilled when it just ended like that.


► Spoiler (Zone 1)

Zone 1 | Stage 1 ~ 7 | White November: Research Ship

A well designed introduction, it's purposely made easy. Just remember to level up your stats and skills, then renew your inventory before confronting the three ZPCI soldiers, and things should just do.

ZPCI stands for "Zombie Pest Control Inc.", by the way.

Sensei Slayer Badge (medium – 15 points)
Defeat the ghostly samurai boss.

The appearance of "Sonny" doubtlessly pushes forward numerous boundaries that were previously known to be "look, things can only go this far for Flash" in the industry. Of the most spectacular is the all fascinating visuals and audios; it's not very much related with technical limitations but more about the time the developers willing to spend on it, or even something more basic - that whether someone with the right sense of art could be put in charge of the job - yet the graphics along with the musics are two major outputs the game would depend on to excite the players' sensations.







The art design in "Sonny" is a complete success.


The secret in the graphical designs of "Sonny" is the extensive usage of rich and bright color gradients, which makes the game all brilliantly vivid. Plus, landscapes are created out of simple yet alacritous shapes and lines, while details about the appearances and poses of characters are all carved into some very tiny levels. Cooperating every outstanding visual factor together, it becomes the source of magnificence which gets to be convoyed in the form of sheer beautiful scenes and interface we see in "Sonny". Not to mention the almighty battle musics, especially the boss battle one which is so heatedly ablaze; it's just even better than the average of commercial retail games! Sometimes they hire a whole lot of symphony orchestras and can't even do half better than this! Further supplemented with decent and full voice acting, the visual and audio works of "Sonny" have been successful in making up some excellent cutscenes and storytelling moments.

► Spoiler (Zone 2)

Zone 2 | Stage 8 ~ 17 | Ishiguro's Rest: Ghost Beach

Once you've defeated the ZPCI soldiers and seen the nicely stitched cutscene, you can now advance onto Ghost Beach, the Rest of Ishiguro. Before you are tempted to go straight into the training fights or, visit the fishing man's item store, remember that you can also re-trigger the previous boss battle via the world map; that means you can kill the boss as many times as you want and collecting other possible trophies. For example the boss fight of Zone 1 will randomly drop you one items out of the following two each time: M7-V Rifle, a Magic-oriented weapon, and ZPCI Blade, suitable for Strength-oriented characters. Both of which are good enough to match the finest weapons you could find inside the fisherman's store, helping you to save some money and gain some extra experience points.








Confronting the Sensei.


It's recommended that you train until Level 5 or 6, by when you should have garnered some capable accouterments as well, then entering the fights of the main plot; typically this shall have you ending the Zone 2 part around Level 9 or 10, not too hard to face the upcoming challenges at Zone 3. As for strategies, it may vary drastically according to your class and play style, but I personally find Smash a very efficient choice for Strength-oriented characters during this stage, and Electro Bolt useful for both Strength-oriented or Magic-oriented.

Alive Monsters Badge (hard – 30 points)
Complete the story events.

One thing smart about "Sonny" is that it knows to choose the kind of presentation style that is most ideal for the platform the game is running on, yet managed to accomplish this endeavor in a miraculous way, in which the optimization is achieved without yielding to certain compromise, thus keeping the fun value of the game sound and intact. Well, in a plainer way of speaking, "Sonny" knows how to make itself attractive without being a system resources monster.

Turn-based RPG itself is, in essence, one of the countable few genres that will be handled better on Flash over the others. Obviously the key is all about performance and processing time, for example one should be able to easily imagine point-and-click adventures being another prominent instance that is most proper for Flash (see all those escape-the-damn-room games around), while shooters on Flash always suck a big time because they either have to be laggy (suffering from excessive real-time processing) or stupid (yield to game performance by taking away advanced entertainment features). The fact "Sonny" does not opt for a real-time system but a turn-based one implies that it was given birth towards the right direction.




Voiced conversations occurring during the battles make "Sonny" being able to provide a far more fluid experience of immersion comparing with other typical Flash-based RPGs.


Yet, the term turn-based nowadays is quite often linked with some not so favorable impressions like outdated, outmoded, even perhaps superannuated, and modern indie turn-based RPGs - like the Max Mesiria series and the MARDEK series - usually propagandize themselves as "in the feeling of NES/SNES style RPGs", being very much pound of this, which I would reason is why "Sonny" comes to be such a huge impact (no exaggeration as it's currently the highest rated game on Kongregate and likely on other Flash portal sites as well upon its debut) - "Sonny" utterly toppled our past recognitions about turn-based RPG on Flash, that could be of one which is beyond a linear leveling up progression, beyond mazes and town maps where your little protagonist should run on, beyond histrionic NPCs that roam aimlessly around in circle repeating the same few duologues over and over again. Certainly there may be various games already in existence containing some of the concepts above, howbeit "Sonny" is without any doubt the first to incorporate all these elements in a delicate manner, ennobling the entirety up onto a higher plane, high above all previous attempts and actual creations of Flash RPGs.

► Spoiler (Zone 3)

Zone 3 | Stage 18 ~ 36 | Gadi'Kala: The Great Plains

After you are done with Sensei Ishiguro - remember to collect the full set of the trophies - you will be traveling into the Great Plains. Same as in the Ghost Beach, you may want to familiarize yourself with local foes, also earn some experience and money in the training fights before proceeding forward into the main battles.

Under normal conditions, Level 11 or 12 is more than capable to cope with earlier fights in this region, and Level 15 or 16 is where you will likely be ready to face the boss of Zone 3. If you are already on a high level with decent equipment, yet continue to come across some demanding moments during your battles, the problem is most probably with your ability tree. Re-Spec your ability points and have a thorough consideration on how to redistribute your points appropriately to match your new stats and new foes. For Strength-oriented characters your focus of development should no longer be those skills of lower ranks (with Electro Bolt being the exception) but on Coup De Grace or Master Strike; for Magic-oriented ones, Electro Bolt is still pretty much a useful skill, though the rest of the development can be really diverse, largely depending on your own play style, being the aggressive or defensive or supportive type, etc.

With that, if you are still experiencing annoying times, it's must likely something related with your strategy and wit. Say if you are facing an enemy currently with an HP of 1100, and you have 1 Coup De Grace on hand which could deal around 900 points of damage, 1 Sunder with an immediate damage of 250 points, and 1 Magic Bolt of 300 points, apparently you will want to use Sunder or Magic Bolt on your opponent first, then finish off the battle with Coup De Grace coming in during the next turn; if you are being not so clever and invert the order, you'll very much likely see the enemy healing a great lot or even calling up Intervention, lengthening the fight into an unnecessary stage - actually, I am talking about the "strategy" to confront Galiant the Paladin in here, though I really think this is only some common sense. With a Coup De Grace dealt in a nice timing, it is not impossible to get rid of this paladin within 2 turns. As of the grotesque Baron Brixius, well it's just too obvious you need to keep the Paladin from falling to have the job done.








"Wooh, scratchy bitch!"


Illuminator Badge (hard – 30 points)
Defeat the shadow boss in the fourth zone.

Although the accomplishment of "Sonny" is one that significantly surpassed previous expectations of, not only the players but the industry as well, on the possible extent of Flash RPG, "Sonny" is still one that was made by human and is not free of flaw. First - it's too damn short! But it is also very nice for the development team to choose quality over quantity, for which I wholeheartedly salute. Second, there are some glitches - ranging from tiny issues of graphical layer orders, to interesting leaks such as one that can grant you all four Kongregate badges within a blink; however if you are not operating a pair of sharp eyes and are not tempted to meddle with things in a way that is unintended by the game design, the game would appear to be just near perfect for you.

► Spoiler (Zone 4)

Zone 4 | Stage 37 ~ 40 | The Infinity: Valley of Illusions

Your journey comes to a halt after the Paladin has been disposed of, but your fight doesn't. The Valley of Illusions is unattached with the main plot, being pretty much similar in nature to the somewhat notorious Battle Mode of "Max Mesiria Chp2 RPG" - you will find a few confrontations here in which the enemies are of ridiculous health and strength comparing with those you've seen inside the main story, posing some real challenges to your strategical talent.

To be honest, I was moderately disappointed when I found out the story part is just that short and what's following is something resembling the Battle Mode thing, one part that I certainly do not enjoy about the Max Mesiria series, and likely everyone who has played it would agree. But soon I came to realize that The Valley of Illusions is not just like a Battle Mode revisited - it's truly for the depth of strategy and tactics.

One of the fundamental differences between Zone 4 and Battle Mode is that you are actually using the characters that have inherited all the stats and items you've built up along the road, that can still level up and purchase new equipment inside the Valley, and save up all the new progress. It's not much, perhaps you might say, but it's the key making this challenge not as demanding as the unforgiving Battle Mode.

As said, strategy becomes extremely important in Zone 4, so do not be afraid of Re-Spec'ing whenever you find your currently skill set is not working against your upcoming opponents. For Strength-oriented characters, it is also important to accept the idea that Coup De Grace and Master Strike no longer rules a big time in here, that you will need to abandon these skills for other alternatives.

The normal training fights are always constituted by three Illusions in a group, always in the same level as you do. They are not hard to beat, so long you put 2 maximized Electro Bolt on your action bar since Illusions constantly cast Intervention to shield themselves; for Strength-oriented players, Electro Bolt will most likely become the main attacking ability you would rely upon throughout the whole zone. Same tactics for that Royal Courier inside the special training as well.

Once you've accumulated some money, you can go purchasing those higher-end equipment inside the stores. For Sonny and your third companion - Amber or Catelin would be a good choice for their chances dealing out critical hits - simply buy away the rows that are for their respective classes, but for Veradux, due to his special class, the best armors he could use are those that drop off after your confrontation with Galiant the Paladin, so again you'll need to return and defeat the boss some more times. Regularly speaking, you will finish the equipment upgrade of the three with Sonny around Level 25, just enough to begin your first main battle, against Ignition.

Ignition:
This dude operates two special skills, one is Dark Regeneration, which can have himself healed with 1000 points of health for 9 consecutive turns, and the other being Fate, killing the cursed 1 turn later within an instant.

Sounds horrible, but with the right set of skills at hand, he'll just be a worm. To counter Dark Regeneration, simply shoot an Electro Bolt; to negate the curse of Fate, use Block if it's on yourself or Heroic Motivation for your teammate (who must has a Speed lower than yours thus acting only after you do, otherwise cannot be saved). With these two tricks busted, Ignition is deemed to be beaten out.

Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Block, Electro Bolt × 2, Sunder, Break, Shatter Bolt, Heroic Motivation

Omen:
This samurai ghost of 320000 HP only has one special ability - and weakness - called Dark Omen; casting this ability upon himself allows him to set loose a lethal blow the immediate next turn, but during which period he is also relatively defenseless and vulnerable.

Reasonably speaking, this is actually your hardest opponent in Zone 4, especially if your Speed is not high enough. The only method to break up the effect of Dark Omen is rendering Omen himself incapable of moving for the immediate next turn, using Shatter Bolt or Break, however the Speed of the samurai is quite high that if yours is too low, you'll constantly miss your shoots, and that will very much likely put one of your teammates as immolation; considering this battle heavily relies on your teammates playing the offensive part, since you are the one being in charged of immobilizing Omen, losing a teammate is just as bad as losing half of the battle.

For the preparation, re-spec and invest all your attribute points into Speed, and if your class is not Assassin, perhaps even go get another suit of the Paladin's armor; set the AI mode of your teammates to Aggressive and that's all you can do beforehand. Once inside the battle, use Shatter Bolt or Break whenever Dark Omen is called, and if you receive some negative effects, better dispelling them away with Heroic Motivation, lest your accuracy be affected. Last, constantly boost your teammates with Aggression, and hope for some solid critical hits. This is going to be a fight of endurance, and as long as your accuracy does not fail you, you will prevail in the end.

Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Break, Shatter Bolt × 2, Magic Bolt, Electro Bolt × 2, Heroic Motivation

Doctor Herregods:
This is certainly one healthy and strong doc you'll ever be dreaming of - the happy guy has a full million of HP and what's better, whenever it drops below 990000, he heals himself with an absurdity lot of two freaking million - essentially invincible to all attacks. So how?

Well, actually it's quite simple once you've got the point; in case you could not find that point yourself, you may want to watch this short video detailing how:

[How to Kongregate] Sonny - How to Beat Doctor Herregods at Zone 4 (Other Bosses on My Blog)

Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Break, Shatter Bolt, Electro Bolt × 2, Sunder, Heroic Motivation, Subversion

Sinjid's Shadow:
I am not sure about other bosses, but Sinjid is clearly a tribute to some early creations of Krin Juangbhanich, the main developer of "Sonny".

This is the final confrontation, against Sinjid's Shadow, and two other Shadow's Shadows. So confusing. Well actually the two Shadow's Shadows are some feebly weak illusions placed by the ninja's "true" illusion, so for convenience you can just eliminate them two at the very start. The real difficulty is that whenever Sinjid's Shadow has his focus full at 100, the next turn he will unleash a deadly blue light ball that sends a random victim back home.

Again, it all turns out to be so easy once you've got your strategy right, and the strategical decision you must make this time is - just let your good comrades get blasted away - it does you no good trying to save them!

Before entering the final face-off, re-spec and you must go for a 10/10 Regeneration, a 5/5 Reform, and a 3/3 Block. Once the battle initiates, deal with the two dummies first while Sinjid's Shadow massacring your teammates - don't worry, no problem.

With your two teammates gone as well, it boils down into a one-on-one; now, whenever Sinjid's Shadow recharges his focus to 100, just Block, and his zippy attack won't touch a hair of yours. And you should know the rest - it's all about endurance yet again.

Recommended Abilities
Aggression, Electro Bolt × 2, Magic Bolt × 2, Block × 2, Reform

Rating



Last time I was so much shocked and awed by a Flash game - and the only time before I came to know "Sonny" - was some time before 2000, when I came across Pico's School. It might be hard for some of the younger audience to catch, but back at that time, Flash games were all of monotonous content and never meant to be more than a 3-minute-relaxation; Pico's School changed all these for everyone. Its scale, length, interface and details are huge impacts of that era, and I never forget that kind of excitement, totally immersed by shocking agitations of wondrous miracle. And I never thought this could happen once more, with so many Flash games these days exploring seemingly almost all possible possibilities already, with so many Flash games seemingly being so good... But it is obvious to me now, that they were all not good enough.

"Sonny" is creating history, right now on this moment, setting already a glorious milestone along the continuing road of the ongoing development of Flash games, that is going to be remembered by the industry even after a decade's time. It is so fortunate for me to enjoy this game without missing it. The only reason it is not made a ten-star is that I want to leave it for "Sonny 2".


: State of the Art