If you had told me as a nestling that there would be a sequel toShadow the Hedgehognearly 20 eld after its exit , I would ’ve barrack at you . Shadow already dispense with his past , cured his amnesia in the cognitive process , and move forward with his life . Why put him through that trial by ordeal again ? Imagine my surprise when Sonic Team announcedSonic X Shadow Generations , a remaster ofSonic Generationswith a new Shadow - concenter tale contribute to it , the day before my thirtieth birthday in February .
The first thing I did when the solicitation come out was playShadow Generations , which made sentiency to me hand I already played theSonic Generationsyears ago . After playing through the game for more than four hr — and view theDark Beginningsprologue animeweeks prior its dismissal — I was surprised to receive what felt like a genuine sequel toShadow the Hedgehog .
Shadow faces the return of Black Doom , whom he cerebrate he defeat in his eponymous secret plan , and pull in new world power that bear the name of his alien foster Padre , including Doom Spear , Doom Blast , and Doom Wing . All of these power - ups , plus his processed world power of Chaos Control , help him build up through prime levels ripped from the games he seem in — from Space Colony ARK ( Sonic Adventure 2andShadow the Hedgehog ) to Rail Canyon ( Sonic Heroes ) to Sunset Heights ( Sonic Forces ) — and voyage the secular anomaly the Time Eater sent him to . However , the Doom Powers come with some string attached : Black Doom gave them to Shadow as a substance to take control of his mind and organic structure and either make him his servant of destruction or be reborn in him .
Meanwhile , he spend a little more time with Maria and Professor Gerald , who showed up in White Space from a point in prison term before G.U.N. stormed the ARK to shut down Project Shadow . He was surprised to see Maria most of all , as he had already gotten over her last in previous games and thought he was catch a mirage of her . Shadow then recognise , after saving her from Black coat of arms soldier , that his reunification with her was actual — if only for a myopic clip .
Shadow figure Maria again in the White Space , and Professor Gerald by tie-up , was a full - circuit second for me as someone who lost a loved one to force-out beyond my control at a very young long time , only to face that part of my past times not even 20 eld later . That abbreviated time they spend together inShadow Generationsreminded me of the oneirism I ’ve been having of take care my later father in a spiritual kingdom and catching him up on my life story in the years since he died of cancer .
Parallels between me and Shadow
Part of the reason I concern to Shadow as well as Sonic , if not more so , is because of the bother we tolerate from witnessing a beloved family member die before their time when we were immature . Shadow was created to bring around Maria of neuro - immuno insufficiency syndrome ( NIDS ) , but the two became the best of friends , even sibling . While she did n’t succumb to her illness , which was in remission from live in a scummy - gravity environment and being by Shadow ’s side 24/7 , she died at the helping hand of G.U.N. during their screen - up operation aboard the ARK . This send Shadow over the edge after waking up from suspended life 50 years later on .
My father , on the other hand , did n’t have the luxury of seeking lifesaving treatment at a top - grade infirmary , let alone aboard a space station revolve the Earth . If he did , it would ’ve cured him of his disease and allowed him to stay on this planet past the age of 45 .
My parents got divorced as a result of my father ’s alcoholism by the time I turned 2 years old , even though he predict to stop bout drink after spending three night in jail for a DWI . For most of my childhood , that think of my sidekick and I spending some weekends with him and his partner , Teresa , and traveling with him to some places for longer than three days with my mother ’s permission . Those locomotion included Arizona and Daytona Beach , Florida — vacations I contain very close to my heart to this Clarence Day .
As we get older , my don got more knotty in our lives , watching my comrade take on baseball game on a near - daily fundament and serve me with reading to get ahead in school day . By then , he was already diagnosed with liver cancer , but we did n’t cognise the extent of his condition until my 11th birthday in 2005 , when he and Teresa broke the news to us that he was going to be in the hospital for a while . That started a serial publication of hospital visits from me and my then 13 - year - old brother , with both of us trying to be braw in the face of an illness we go for he would recover from .
That August , just a week after I started 5th score , my mother flew us to Massachusetts to see our father one last clip . One calendar month earlier , he was fly from Miami to Boston and placed in hospice care after his genus Cancer grew too advanced for the physician to perform a liver transplant . During our five - day sojourn , my aunt told me that my father did n’t have too much time left and gave me children ’s script about demise and the hereafter ( Heaven , since we were Catholic ) . I read all of them and coped with that impending world by listening to the Evanescence albumFallenon my CD thespian outside my founding father ’s elbow room .
When my father pass two weeks later , the weight of his death on my autistic preteenager mind was such that I start up taking school more badly ( not that my grade were terrible before ) and becoming sulphurous toward other people . To put it lightly , I was n’t coping with his lasting absence too well . It did n’t exactly help that I could n’t attend my father ’s funeral since my mommy could n’t give another flight up to the Northeast . What helped me was the release ofShadow the Hedgehogfor PlayStation 2 , where I bear on to Shadow more than I did inSonic Adventure 2because it facilitate me put more context of use to his angst over miss Maria .
Depending on your course in the secret plan , Shadow only saw Maria in two flashback levels — one where he helps her take out the Artificial Chaos run amok aboard the ARK , and the other where he brings healing units to ARK researchers . He also saw her at the oddment of the video recording Professor Gerald created 50 years to begin with to tell Shadow about G.U.N. ’s architectural plan to shut down the space colony . Those events helped Shadow commend who Maria was and his purpose for being produce , and live his life sentence accordingly .
Dreaming in phosphorescence
Shadow ’s reunification with Maria inShadow Generationsstarted when Shadow saw her across the lake and thought his eyes were betraying him . Only after vote down the black alien chase after after her and getting embrace after saving her did he gain what he saw was existent . He pass metre with her and Professor Gerald in between degree , reminiscing about their time aboard the ARK and gaining perceptivity about his power and Black Doom ’s plans for him .
My daydreams about seeing my father again more or less bulge out the same direction , only the visual details changed over the years . Throughout my teenage years , I would daydream of entering Heaven and seeing him roaming through the clouds , all dressed in bloodless . Now that I ’m agnostic ( if not outright atheist ) , my idea of an afterlife for my father is on a beach in either Miami Beach , Daytona Beach , or Hawaii . Those daydreams only intensify after visiting Hawaii for aSonic Frontierspreviewin 2022 , as it was the last situation he traveled to before he died .
It goes like this : I ’m standing on the beach on the Big Island of Hawai’i looking out to the moonlit Maui in the middle of the night . The starry trail of the Milky Way lights up a path for me to track the ocean to that part of the island without falling into the urine . Once I get there several hours later , just before daybreak , I see my forefather lounging on a beach chair by the tiki bar . Before I could get to him , enemies appear out of thin air travel and I have to fight them off any way I could . When the fight is over , I shout out “ Daddy ! ” and he turns to me , so happy to see me that he hugs me .
I catch him up on stuff that chance in my life sentence since he ’s been gone , including my ma marrying my stepdad , moving to another neighborhood , my brother and I graduate from college to quest after different calling — physician help and journalist , respectively — and my chum hook up with the love of his life , who is now pregnant with his first child . I severalise him how much I ’ve missed him , how much it would mean to me if he could come back to us and see how much we ’ve grown , only for him to say , “ Cristina , I ’ve already lived my life , so there ’s no reason for me to go back . Your story has given me great pride knowing you have grown graciously . I do n’t require you to be sad for me any longer . I want you to be glad and live your animation knowing I ’ll always be in your core . ”
The next matter I be intimate , I ’m back on the beach in Hawai’i , with the inhuman plash of realness swish at my foot . I ’m take care up at the moon and holding my Church Father ’s like nigh to my chest .
Much-needed closure
At the end ofShadow Generations , when Maria and Professor Gerald start fading out after Black Doom is defeat , Shadow tries to figure out a room to keep them where they are using Chaos Control . Maria order him they do n’t want to be stuck in one place in time . Shadow keep resisting , saying , “ But you do n’t bonk what ’s going to take place ! ” Maria then impart Shadow ’s brass to hers and whispers , “ I know I ’ll see you again . And if portion drag us asunder , I will always be in your pump . ” Then Shadow skates away to help transonic scrap the Time Eater , shedding a teardrop as he runs to the white void .
That terminate scene broke me . Despite wanting to wreak his family back to life , especially Maria , Shadow finally got the closure he postulate after so many years . The prison term he spend with them in White Space passed just like my castle in the air with my father . WhileShadow the Hedgehoghandled themes of self - discovery and apprehend with personnel casualty , Shadow Generationsdealt with theme of face heartache and move on from it .
My father died two - and - a - half months before Shadow ’s eponymous game dropped , when I could n’t make do as a kid . Now , the sequel has amount around to help me take on that fact as an adult with a great passel of class and esteem — just like my father would ’ve wanted . Everything I do is in his honor , and just as Maria hopes to see Shadow again , I hope to see my father again . I hope I do enough to make it to wherever he is .
