I think what stings the most is that I can't feel the soul or heart of this game. Even the biggest blunders that aren't offensively bad in the Sonic franchise have a heart or charm to them. Here it doesn't feel that way and I can't pin why beyond maybe just how watered down it feels. I'm seeing what they're trying to do but I just wish they'd accomplish it through better means. I REALLY REALLY hope for this game's sake that the stage design improves tenfold as you progress through the game cause the worldbuilding is good and the ideas aren't completely terrible. It just feels all half-baked. Oh, and probably better sound design too =P.
Just a thought that popped in my head. Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06. Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Sonic Boom, Sonic Forces. The way this lines up is making me paranoid. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who considers Sonic Heroes a good game.
I sincerely hope that going forward Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic will be treated as two separate series. Both the classic series and the Unleashed trilogy are fantastic sets of games, but they are two entirely different sets of games. I don't mind if the Classic Sonic series becomes the Mighty the Armadillo series instead (as long as it continues). I don't mind if the Unleashed series becomes the Shadow the Hedgehog series instead (as long as it continues). I don't see how this is fracturing the fanbase so much as separating out the two different groups that are currently muddled somewhere in the middle, fighting for control of the series. The best way to continue (and has been for a while) is to cater to both of these groups, but separately. If that's via "Classic Sonic" and "Modern Sonic", fine. If that's via "Mighty the Armadillo" and "Sonic the Hedgehog", fine. If that's via "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Shadow the Hedgehog", fine. If that's via "Mighty the Armadillo" and "Shadow the Hedgehog"... still fine, but you should probably keep the main star around for the title of at least one of the series.
Ign has posted a video of tag team stage with every character. http://www.ign.com/videos/2017/08/24/sonic-forces-duo-gameplay-with-all-characters Yep, interchangeable. Will say that having fist bump play during the Rolling combo was a good choice though.
Wait, so the Double Boost gives you boost energy from rings like the Unleashed/Generations style? Wasn't expecting to see both styles in the game. I wonder if drifting also refills the boost meter or if it's even possible to drift in that state at all. Shame the first half of the stage is a straight line that somehow devolves further into literally "boost to win". Even most of Colors' 3D boost sections required more interaction than that. The second half of the stage wasn't much better. A short, straightforward path that gives the player the choice between chaining light dashes or slowly jumping between platforms that slightly rise and fall with a kill all enemies section? Perhaps I should be more cynical, but the five stages shown all taking place around Green Hill and Park Avenue, two early game areas, still gives me hope that the stages have more to their level designs. I haven't played Cloudbuilt yet (I did purchase the first game earlier this year, though), but the 3DS game had a lot of obstacles like the ones in that video. I know the 3DS version has some glaring issues that the Wii U version doesn't, but I wish it'd get recognition for having some complexity to its levels and actually giving the player several opportunities to make use of the new mechanics, sometimes in such a way that allow them to bypass some of the more tedious parts of the stages. It should be the game with a cult following, not Sonic '06 of all things.
https://assets14.ign.com/videos/zencoder/2017/08/24/960/fda760035755c491087bb4df1d90860b-1129000-1503593016-w.mp4 Pulled out the video source in case the shitty player is messing people up on mobile or something. Or if you just don't want to give it clicks.
This proves my point Sega has no idea how to market this game and that it should've been on the reveal from today. I can't get mad if it stays this cheesy. (I know it'll get old af after one time but whatever)
Using the theme song in a big cool finale moment is one of my favorite anime bullshit things so this would be really cool if this was used like once at a huge moment in the game and only one time in the game. Here it seems to be used in the tutorial level at kind of just a regular moment in the game and it looks like a gimmick that'll return in later levels so welp
Okay, I can't take it anymore. Just seeing the full stage play makes me realize that this game's entire design is flawed from the ground up. Rings are literally everywhere and clumped together by the quadruple-dozens for no real use besides extra points and Double Boost power, the platforming (at least early game) is mindless and basic even for Sonic, the attempts at combat are more pointless than Sonic Boom since you are literally a crowd-clearing monster making actual fights pointless, and the music is just forgettable background noise for the pyramid. What the fuck is that massive lurching forwards with the lightning whip in tight arenas? Did they not even bother looking back to the Werehog for Unleashed in terms of melee combat? They had edge gravity so as to not allow the player to shoot themselves off into a pit, but if it stays like that then I never, ever want to use the lightning whip Wispon. They're trying to be both Sonic Heroes level of the super power of teamwork cheese, but they also want to be taken seriously with the darker storyline. They want Modern Sonic Boost formula but the level design in every instance is dogshit compared to Generations, or even Colors and Unleashed. And enemies are just being liberally peppered in to be destroyed by the dozens for feelgood heroism rather than actual obstacles in game design. As curious as I am for the story, the more I see of the gameplay, the more I don't want to play it. And this is coming from someone who's been critical of the developers but cautiously optimistic; I feel like they're both trying to play it safe and also take risks without knowing what actually worked before, they want to have their several-year-old fermented cake and eat it too after putting some fancy new sprinkles ontop.
Ok yeah this is quite the pile of garbage. Where to even start? -Full 3D, but everything is one big hall way. What are they thinking? Plus a fully automated section where you do nothing but mash a button at the start. To rub it in they even play the vocal version of the theme song. -What the hell is with the layout? There are rings, boosters, wisps, launch hoops, and enemies everywhere so you can't miss them. It's like an entire level full of 'THIS IS WHERE YOU USE THE GIMMICK' design. -Drifting is now automated for you. Also you can automatically swing if you were in the air with the lightning wisp and gobbling up hundreds of rings in the process. -Avatar weaponry is wonky, stupid powerful, and makes everything a complete cakewalk. They throw a ton of enemies at you and the avatar just needs to spin in a circle or hammer the ground twice and win. The lightning whip has an atrocious leap that will probably be the death of many a player. -Enemy gating is giving me Heroes flashbacks in the worst way. -Swapping characters is jarring but Sonic really doesn't do much to contribute other than boost. -There is no level substance. There is nothing to gain on replay. And the level is short as dirt similar to the other levels we've seen so far. Either there are a lot of them, or stages are pathetically short.
And yet again, hopes and dreams are dashed. I dunno about the rest of you, but this screams lazy and rushed so far. Not 06 rushed, where the game's clearly unfinished and they didn't have time to fix it. I mean rushed as in very hastily cobbled together with no cohesion or thought. Unless the development team is really just this out of it, they MUST have had some other grand idea that got cut, forcing them to do this instead. From all the news and videos I've seen, it sounded like the Green Hill levels (for the modern characters at least) were later on in the game. So if this is the quality we can expect from some of the later stages...welp. I didn't want to slam the music too hard, in case it got a lot better near the tail end of development. But no, this shit sounds AWFUL. It's bland, repetitive, cheesy, synth dance garbage, with guitars in the background so that it sounds "sonic-y". What the fuck happened? They got Kenichi Tokoi (Adventure/Colors), Naofumi Hataya (Sonic CD/NiGHTS), and Tomoya Ohtani on this game's soundtrack and it's some of the blandest shit since Shadow the Hedgehog. The gameplay is legit awful. I'm having a hard time telling what's going on with the tag mechanic, but it doesn't look as solid as heroes in my opinion. They automated simple shit like drifting, they add long ass strands of nothing so that you can see all the nothing they made, they brought back the stop and kill enemies shit from Heroes and 06, and the stage is STILL only 2 minutes long on a normal playthrough? That's it. I give up. I wanted this to be at least passable, but it looks so mediocre and safe that its uninteresting to anyone who wants something more than a cheesy Sonic game where you make your own OC. If this is the "Sonic game for everyone", I do not fucking see it.
I gave up long ago, I don't give a damn about it. In fact, it seems so irrelevant and unimportant, I'm not concerned if this kills or revives Sonic, I'm not worried about if they'll do it better next time or not. What I said, I don't give a damn, but about the whole 3D franchise, not just Forces. I'll probably end up buying it at some point in the future, like ask me in 2020 or so, when it gets on sale on Steam and it costs less than 10€. I may play it for that price, I bought Lost World for that price and I haven't played it yet. That's all, I guess; after all, who cares.
I thought the internet was already won but I was dead wrong! Forces just seems so empty compared to the previous games... even 06 (which I've never played).
Idk, I still think it might be fun, but good lord does this game lack direction. They're really trying to do a please everyone thing here aren't they? Adventure multiple play styles? Check. Original the character? Check. Heroes team game play? Check. Wisps? Check. Classic Sonic (on face level)? Check. Boost? Check. Characters talking nonstop? Check. Nostalgia? Check. Adventure esq edge? Check check check. Like they're trying to cram too much shit into one game, they should know they're not good at doing that when they can hardly please any particular group in general. I mean, all the pieces seem like they work at least, but said pieces are put in environments that don't really allow any of this stuff to be used to its full potential. Speaking of the word "general," why the fuck is Knuckles one all of the sudden? I mean, he's not stupid, that's good, but he's talking about tactics and sending in backup and troops. Also really hoping there's a way to shut these characters up.