"Further complicating level streaming, the design for Soul Reaver also called for dimensional shifting. During gameplay, players swap between the spectral and material planes - a key gameplay concept that ties in closely to both puzzle-solving and storytelling. Loading two different versions of the map would have placed too much strain on an already heavy system, but Crystal Dynamics' solution was elegant, innovative and efficient. The same basic map data is utilised, but geometry is mapped to different coordinates in each version of the level. Shifting between planes interpolates from one set of geometry to the other. Per-vertex colour data is also modified when shifting between planes, adding further to the illusion."

"So how does it work? Essentially, the game is broken down into a series of units, with each unit representing a room, hallway or path to other rooms. Once the game is running, Soul Reaver stores three of these units in memory at any point - the room the player is standing in and the two adjacent units. As the main character moves into a new unit, the furthest one from the player that resides in memory is cleared and the next one loaded. Maps are designed so that loading a new unit into memory requires less time than it takes the player to cross the current unit. Clever, right?"

"Elder God: I know you, Raziel. You are worthy."

"Dumah: Unbound at last! I thank you, brother."

"Our biggest challenge, hands-down, was getting the data-streaming working, to allow us to have a seamless, interconnected world with no load events. I think we were one of the first developers to tackle this problem (along with Naughty Dog, on Crash Bandicoot). It proved to be way more difficult than we had initially anticipated – if I recall, we were still struggling to get the textures to dynamically pack correctly, just a couple months before release. We ultimately got it working by the skin of our teeth, but I wonder if we would've embarked on such an ambitious plan if we'd known how difficult it was going to be! Our second challenge, of course, was figuring out how to store two sets of data for the spectral and material realms, and how to implement the real-time morph between the two environments. Our initial plan was over-ambitious, involving texture-morphing as well as geometry-morphing, but we realized pretty early on that our texture memory (and time) was too limited to achieve this. We came up with the idea of leveraging the 3DS Max animation timeline to attach spectral values to the vertices in the geometry – i.e., frame 0 was the material world, and frame 1 was the spectral realm (or vice versa; I can't remember for sure). This way we could alter the x,y,z coordinates of each vertex, as well as its RGB lighting values, to create a twisted, more eerily lit version of the physical realm. Our ultimate challenge, though, was schedule and scope. Conceived as an open-world, Zelda-esque 3D adventure game, Soul Reaver was incredibly ambitious. Crystal Dynamics’ Gex engine gave us a leg-up on the 3D technology, but in essence we were writing a game engine from scratch, while developing a new IP. These days, a developer wouldn't think of attempting such a thing in less than three years (minimum), but Eidos wanted the game in less than two. In the end, we shipped Soul Reaver in under 2.5 years, but not without some unfortunate eleventh-hour cuts which still pain me today. The scope of the game was definitely too ambitious, but if we had shipped the game that Fall, instead of that Summer, I think we could have reduced the scope of the game more elegantly."

"You want S.T.A.R.S.? I'll give you S.T.A.R.S.!"

"I know. You wanna ask me out. All the foxy ladies love my accent. It drives ‘em crazy."

"It all began as an ordinary day in September. An ordinary day in Raccoon City. A city controlled by Umbrella. No one dared to oppose them. And that lack of strength would ultimately lead to their destruction. I suppose they had to suffer the consequences for their actions, but there would be no forgiveness. If only they had had the courage to fight. It's true that once the wheels of justice begin to turn, nothing can stop them. Nothing. It was Raccoon City's last chance. And my last chance. My last escape."

"September 28th. Daylight... The monsters have overtaken the city. Somehow... I'm still alive..."

"Are you crazy!? You could have barbecued both of us!"

"So that’s it then, huh? You’re giving up?"

"By Odin's left eye, the final boss encounter is truly incredible, especially since you're treated to a awesome animation of Super Sonic... oh and Dragonball Z fans will definitely love the true ending to the game."

"Naturally, no game is without its faults, and SA2 is without exception. The largest problem, as with the original, is the dynamic camera. It often switches to the most awkward positions possible, leading to death at the hands of an out-of-view gap, or a monster hidden under a wall which you didn't see because the camera couldn't catch up to your position in time. The trigger buttons to serve to alleviate this somewhat, with the ability to swing it round to your preference, but sometimes it just doesn't budge at apparently random times. Another niggle which surfaced - albeit extremely rarely - was some slightly dodgy collision detection when attacking monsters and trying to hit speed boost pads whilst running - that is, however, an extremely slight complaint. Sonic Adventure 2 is a triumph. Whilst its predecessor was a fantastic game in its own right, it could be a little overbearing with the "adventure" aspect, and with this Sega have gone back to Sonic's roots in style - buy it now."

"Developers simply don’t make games like Sonic Adventure 2 anymore. It’s a totally innocent, bubbly game that doesn’t bother with a complicated plot or clever scriptwriting. The dialogue is as eye-rollingly cheesy as ever, but it wouldn’t work any other way, and it just wants to you to sit back and have a ball playing it."

"Fifteen years later, and my early, illustrious English education has clearly paid off. At the time of writing this, I am unemployed and addicted to Postmates. I am also about to beat Sonic Adventure 2 for the first time in over a decade, and have been forced to reconcile my nostalgia with the harsh reality that it is not a terrific game: The controls are frustrating, the “treasure-hunting” levels dramatically upset the game’s pace and the Doomsday plot reads like a Bob Books Armageddon."

"Whew, that big truck scared me."

"Phew. I was a little scared."

"I'll find my own way home. Bye-bye."

"Wow! I'm flying!"

"It's too high here. I'm scared of heights!"

"Whoo-hoo! It's like a trampoline!"

"The soundtrack is definitive. Pop culture pundits will tell you that the quintessential piece of video game music is the theme to 1985’s Super Mario Bros. To ’80s kids, that’s probably still the case. But to a generation of gamers who came of age in the late ’90s and early ’00s—especially those who were reared on primordial, “All Your Base Are Belong To Us”-esque meme culture— Sonic Adventure 2‘s “Escape from the City” is an epochal anthem. It’s a song cherished by so many that some have even fought to have it replace the Star-Spangled Banner as the United States’ national anthem."

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge, once all the seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me, will feel my loss, and despair!"

"This is a death sentence for every human being on Earth. If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the Earth in twenty-seven minutes and fifty-three seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with your beloved planet Earth."

"[while being picked up] Hey! Stop it!"

"Shadow, I beg of you, please, do it for me."

"Look, half of the moon is gone??"

"Just wait a minute!"

"For all the people on that planet."

"[Sigh] I was so scared. What hint?"

"I’d heard time and time again that Adventure 2 was Sonic’s magnum opus. [...] But it hasn’t aged well. Hell, I don’t even know if it was considered good at the time. Reading about frustrations I had on old forums, I found people from two decades ago moaning about the same things, but the slither of good seems to have washed away the rest as time marched on. [...] The speedster levels are incredible, and easily some of the best 3D platforming out there. But that only makes up a third of the game. The rest is split between frustrating treasure hunting, in which you follow a janky detector in wide-open levels that take an age to complete, and a clumsy tank shooter that, when it tries to sprinkle in platforming, falls at the first hurdle. [...] [Playing as] the other characters [is a grating chore] that you have to push through to get to the good stuff, which is a strong way to sour the entire experience considering they make up two-thirds of it. [...] Many boss fights are just the equivalent character from the opposite story, i.e. Shadow vs. Sonic, which is pretty dull since you can just spam leap on their head to win most fights."

"Is this it?"

"Because you just told me, fox boy!"

"Just let it go! You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

"I came here following the signal from the Emerald… If I'm not mistaken, this is the Master Emerald, is it not?"

"Those idiots will never find my hidden base inside this pyramid. Let's take care of business here first, then get inside."

"What's that? Is that you, Sonic? Are you trying to spoil my plans again? Wait a minute, you're not Sonic. This is impossible!"

"Hah, hah, hah! Citizens of Earth, lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully! My name is Dr. Eggman, the world's greatest scientist, and soon to be the world's greatest ruler! Now, witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!"

"So this is the space colony ARK. I have got to locate the central control room that Shadow mentioned before he left."

"Well, I guess I can use it for something. I'll just take it with me. Farewell knucklehead!"

"This time I'll let you go. But the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

"You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald, didn't you?"

"You! I'll make you pay for this!"

"Oh no! My power is going down!"

"Sounds more like the work of Shadow!"

"What's the matter, Sonic?"

"Oooh, I hate it when they leave me behind."

"I hate you! You guys always leave me behind and have all the FUN! (voice echoes)"

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"I thought I could do it!"