The core issue is that character variety is the entire reason to have multiple characters to begin with. Our level design has a few alternate paths that require specific characters, but we simply do not have the manpower necessary to do things like S3K where Knuckles occasionally had entirely unique stages only for him. Thus, the characters are mostly going to be approaching the same obstacles as everyone else, and if the answer of how to approach those obstacles is always the same, why play as another character to begin with? This is why character differentiation is so important. It's key that when a player unlocks Fang and decides to play as him, they get a genuinely different gameplay experience than their first playthrough. Instead of talking about why Metal does it and thus why can't everyone else, the problem here is that Metal is already too similar to Sonic.I really don't feel like it hurts things nearly as much, but maybe that's just a sort of playtesting thing I'm unaware of where people who get super as characters with unique abilities just stop using their abilities.
We don't consider this to be a problem. If you don't enjoy the process of getting the emeralds again, don't! Our game isn't trying to force you to grind the special stages six times for a significant benefit. We want you to play the game the way you enjoy, not do things because we attached an artificial repetitive requirement to get some kind of reward. I totally got the emeralds on most of my saves because I found it fun to replay the special stages a lot, but if you don't, we're not going to try to force you to do it again.I can understand this reasoning. The problem now is I feel no incentive to get the tokens and emeralds if I'm not Sonic or Metal Sonic.
The specific mechanic that causes the problem here is the timer on your rings. By making you need to move fast to keep the effect, the effect mandates overly similar gameplay across all characters. Thus, if we were going to do this by creating alternate effects as a reward, those effects would need to not have a timer, and therefore the invincibility is absolutely a problem because that's the reason the timer is necessary.I'm of the opinion that everyone absolutely needs to be fast, invincible, etc.
I am incredibly tired of people aggressively stating that my opinions on the camera, controls, or other game design elements are informed entirely by my own personal preferences. This is not the case. I am not stating that I speak for the entire dev team, but it is absolutely not just me that has this problem. Do not disrespect me with ad hominem fallacy. If you don't like my conclusions, provide evidence that contradicts those conclusions instead of questioning my competence. It's massively insulting.Mystic's issue seems to stem more with a personal play style than anything objective.