Yeah it does look like classic Sonic is pissed the collaboration is even happening, lol. So three weeks until release now. Please be good. The system requirements should be revealed soon on Steam and then of course we have the reviews that are likely to drop in the week before release depending on a potential embargo. Predicting a ~70 Metacritic and even then I think I'm being optimistic.
Classic Sonic's like "what is this filth, I'm so sick of having to help out Modern yet Sega keeps dragging me back into this nonsense, and now we're in Hooters of all places because Sega made some drunk booty calls at 4 AM." Oh yea speaking of all this, here's my OC Hooters the Owl. I'm surprised Owl's not a species choice as a result of this cross promotion.
"Bird" is a species to choose from and that really really bothers me. It's tantamount to having all of the other custom hero species just being called "mammal". And the series already has a hawk, a swallow and an albatross, so "bird" just doesn't work. Could they not have called it a sparrow, a pigeon or some other type of bird? It's just so.... Urgh.
I would assume bird is the word* they chose precisely because it's non-distinct. I dunno about other people, but I certainly don't know a sparrow from a pigeon any more than I know a water dragon lilac from a chrysanthemum. Unless it's a really obvious bird that stands out, like an owl or a penguin, I'm completely lost, and I doubt I'm the only one. * + - Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
I don't really know bird species either, apart from the super obvious like you mention. But it's just weird to me that they would suddenly go with "bird", when it's one of the six major types of animal, rather than an a species. I get that birds often are lumped together into one big group whilst we differentiate between mammals more regularly, but the series already has defined bird species.
Final thoughts on Sonic Forces before release: Sonic fans share a wide range of opinions and because of that it's possible for Sega to develop many different gameplay styles. Next time, see us as a whole and believe that there's a Sonic game that is Super Sonic-supreme for all of us. Social media let them show personality, which I thought was cool (Mania totally saved your butts question mark?), soundtrack is gonna be a grower (no Crush 40 though), Avatar caught me by surprise (it took me forever to create one for Xenoblade Chronicles X though). I really don't care much about mobile games or VR and everything else that's sorta niche, but I definitely want Sonic to leave an impact before it all becomes 'Krampf'.
New gameplay footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl5eLNzq7Rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqaP9GOYk-E
Riiiight, that's not Chemical Plant. It's a Space Port. Okay, great. Rental Hero looks kinda neat though.
For the first clip, i don't know.. I assume this takes place sometime later in the game judging its location, the level design still kills it for me. It is a straight up hallway for 3D and a line in 2D with a singular automated loop with a couple jumps up a wall. I'm sounding like an echo chamber at this point, but it doesn't look great. And the automated cutscenes, I wouldn't have a problem with. But how long the cutscne lasts mid game and how it slows down to just tell you that OC is doing cool stuff while you go back to doing one button actions.. I don't know, doesn't feel right On the bright side, at least it opens up for the ability to add more storytelling? Seems like something they've been doing. So thats good I suppose. Also having Infinite go "UGH OOF" while staying completely motionless is hilarious
QTE's in Definitely-not-chemical-plant zone. Everywhere. Avatar Music seems to be getting anime themes. This one being one of the weaker one's we've heard so far in my opinion. Sound Effect in Infinite Battle Spoiler definitely is the same one from Sonic Mania. This is beyond conspiracy. They're definitely tied in.
I love how there's an in-level cutscene during which the character does cooler moves than any you can you yourself. That's the most painful scripted gameplay--not even QTEs. It reminds me of the Ratchet and Clank Future games without the fun.
Ok so after watching both the Sonic channel and Gamestop footage I have some constructive criticism: Hero: Levels are really linear imo. Especially in 3D. The QTE took way too much time in the 3rd shot. I am hoping to god they fix the drill wisp and lightning wisps 'push' cause it will be useless on areas that are not huge surfaces. Where are the 3D branching pathways, I hated Color's way of doing 3D. They were basically hallways that connected 2D sections. Unleashed and Generations handled the 3D very nicely. Grapple points are used a bit too much, like 2D is supposed to be platforming but they use the grapple points to skip the platforming. Pointless grind rail section... I like how the hero has grunts. The boss battle with infinite is cool and unique in my opinion but infinite looks a bit stiff when he charges at the hero. Classic Sonic: Not sure if in the previous video it was a glitch but in this one of the forest level, Sonic didn't roll down a 30 degree difference wall. So im guessing they improved the rolling a bit. Both: The levels assets look VERY modular. In Generations and Unleashed they were also modular but at least they didn't feel like it. Levels still feels empty. Detail seems to be non existent. Also why is there a 100 ring ring cap? Overall I don't think this game is going to be bad, but these videos aren't helping it.
What is this, Sonic or Metal Gear? There is NO reason for a cutscene of that length to be slapped in the middle of an already short and automated looking stage. And don't get me started on the level design again, just... UGH. On an actual POSITIVE note... The Infinite battle actually looks pretty okay, all things considered. Doesn't look heavily scripted and you can attack at almost any point consistently, kinda gives me the feel of a Mega Man boss. A bit refreshing to see this rather than the typical "Wait until the obvious point that you can press A twice or boost to attack" shtick.
So, going off of this footage, I have some questions... Why is the player being railroaded into gameplay-interrupting hint triggers? What's with the 100 ring cap? Does the OC really need to do a full loop around every other thing he grapples? (Although I will note the grapple points seem color coded to indicate swing vs loop, which is something, I guess.) Why does the OC do two show-off grapple stunts as a cutscene before the player has to trigger the third one themselves? Why is the player being encouraged to wait for almost 3 seconds to time a QTE like this is a rhythm game? (Even better, the timer has to pause just for that QTE so waiting for a Perfect doesn't punish you.) Seriously, are those extra rings going anywhere? Also, based on the YouTube footage, that drill weapon sure looks like a homing shot resembles Modern gameplay with those homing attacks and dashing through enemies. I'm not quite sure what to think about that.
I've just seen this in my second viewing and it baffles me it even has a cap on how many rings you can collect in this stage and really makes other rings redundant to collect if you can't go past 100 rings. Even Classic Sonic has the 100 ring cap in Casino Forest zone
"We heard the concerns raised about the amount of rings placed within levels. In past Sonic titles, perhaps you may have collected too many rings at some point, and then thought you had too many rings, impacting your enjoyment. In addition to this, Sonic is a fast character and the development team thought to give this game it's own flavour, that maybe this time Sonic doesn't have time to carry too many rings as well. To this end, we set a cap of 100 rings so players won't be overwhelmed if they collect too many rings! Please look forward to collecting rings to your heart's content without getting overwhelmed by large numbers when Sonic Forces releases November 7th!" hire me sonic team
So the August reveal of the Tag Team stage didn't have a limit on rings nor does E3 Sunset Heights Modern Sonic but newer footage has the ring limit on both Classic Sonic and Avatar's stages. Could it be only these stages that have a ring limit or last minute change by Sonic Team ?
Once again, the official YouTube channel gameplay sucks and you have to look around to find a more lengthy video. Why do they keep doing that ? The stage look awesome thought. Probably my favorite looking stage from the game so far. It doesn't even feel like Chemical Plant at all. also that music track is awesome pls release it sega
