I'm in an Amy Rose mood tonight, and I'm gonna make it your all's problem. >:)
What is it with these wars over her characterization?
For starters, one of the defining traits of Amy Rose is her admiration of Sonic, to the point of outright crushing on him. It used to always be played for comedy, sometimes to a painful degree, and it did make Sonic pretty uncomfortable around her. At first glance, you can't really tell that they're supposed to be "friends", because the connection was pretty toxic on both ends.
The apex of all this was the mid-2000s era of the franchise, when Amy's Sonic obsession was pretty much at its worst in stuff like Heroes and Battle. Seriously, looking at those now, her character was very imbalanced in those games. She turned from a hopelessly-devoted fangirl with a heart of gold to a deranged stalker who flies off the handle way too easily.
Wouldn't this era of Amy get a lot of heat today? Indeed, a lot of people derided Amy's 2000s characterization for making her seem too Sonic-oriented to an unlikeable degree while sometimes glossing over her own individual traits.
Not to say that the 2000s--or as I'd like to call it, the "4kids era"--was a completely bad time for Amy. Towards the end of the decade, there was a gradual recovery for her character, including a pretty good showing in, of all games, Sonic 06. Mostly thanks to her involvement in Silver's story, which featured an epic moment of stopping him from killing Sonic. It showed that Amy's feelings for Sonic weren't really shallow, and that she places a lot of trust, faith, and loyalty in him.
"If I had to choose between the world and Sonic, I would choose Sonic."
As well, despite Sonic being teased with one-time character Elise, Amy never expresses any jealous hostility towards her or treats her like a rival, instead bonding a bit with her.
"Love changes everything. It feels like every little moment in your life is huge!"
Her interactions with Sonic also showed more layers, namely in that Sonic isn't as uncomfortable with her around when things get serious; to start with, he's genuinely thankful when Amy saves him from Silver, and in Unleashed, he's given the option to go on a date with her--no strings attached. Black Knight's ending indicates that a date was going to happen, but then things happened, Amy thought Sonic stood her up, and heartbreak was sensed.
Then comes the early 2010s--the shift from Lisa Ortiz to Cindy Robinson, a bit of growing pains, but from Lost World onwards, Amy's interactions with Sonic became more amicable and less uncomfortable. Amy's feelings for Sonic also took a backseat to instead focus more on her individual traits--best shown in Frontiers, which gave her a personal mini-arc that showcased her compassionate and caring side. More than that, the game ended with her deciding to go off on her own to share her love with others, entirely independent of Sonic.
"When this is over, I want to share that love with the world. Even though... it may take us far apart."
More than that, the remaster of Sonic Generations also altered Amy's involvement to be more in line with her modern characterization. A few key comparisons:
In theory, these alterations of Amy Rose in the modern day shouldn't be an issue. In fact, they should be appreciated for toning down her love for Sonic to a more sane degree, which allows for Amy to stand on her own as a character.
Yet for some reason, I've seen people claim that this characterization is actually "worse" than the 2000s period's own take on Amy.
To be honest, I'm quite confused. Are people worried that Amy's feelings for Sonic are being "erased"? I honestly can't buy that--to me, they're still there, but are being shown in a more low-key "show, don't tell" kind of way, like the cupcakes in the Generations remaster image above.
Besides, isn't there criticism for the "satellite character" archetype nowadays? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when a side character is only shown in direct relation to a more prominent character and rarely gets to stand as their own character) If nothing else, people should appreciate that the modern writing is doing its best to not make Amy's connection to Sonic all-encompassing.
Not to mention, Amy's characterization in the mid-2000s (still glaring at Heroes and Battle) might be reminiscent of some more annoying Japanese media tropes, mostly in relation to abuse of double standards for the sake of "comedy".
idk what else there is to say, but point being,
I find little issue with Amy's characterization today compared to some more hit-or-miss moments during the 2000s.
And even if she is overshadowed by other female characters like Rouge and Blaze, Amy is still one of my favorite characters in the franchise. I love her lots, and her modern-day bond with Sonic is so sweet.
