Hmmm ... there may be a chance of micro transactions with the avatar clothing. If they pull a Halo 5, we could get more free DLC to sustain the playability of the game, while they make money off of the avatars. It would be a smart move if done right.
The Supporting Me remix is quite nice - first time we've seen something of Forces' music that's actually GOOD rather than just passable. The rest of the DLC, eh.
Firstly, like the fact that Shadow is playable in game. Secondly, anyone else get the feeling this wasn't in the plan? I mean, this being DLC and not being something on the Cart tells me something shifted late in development. It's only three levels (and some cutscenes I assume) so this couldn't be a space issue.
Honestly feel that Episode Shadow DLC is something that should had been in the base game, but hey, it's free. Though with that gameplay clip shown, that's easily the least of my problems. I refuse to mince words--that Shadow gameplay was atrocious. I didn't think the Classic Sonic Forces Green Hill could be topped in its abysmal quality but this somehow did it. More of the same stock enemies who do nothing but stand there and maybe shoot after a few seconds. More of the same layout strategy of lining them up in short rows so they can be knocked down like bowling pins. Shadow having that garbage automated Homing Attack chain from Lost World that just blazes through long strings of enemies with just one tap of the button, with lengthy rows of flying enemies laid out to match. Shadow also having a ridiculous expanded Homing Attack range that allows him to hit enemies from several yards away. Some of those clips had Shadow eating through the level design due to how far the expanded range allows you to spam the HA. More stop-and-go style precision platforming over bottomless pits, that breaks any attempt at gameplay flow whatsoever. Instant-contact springs placed solely to launch players into arms reach of HA chains. More flat terrain almost entirely comprised of platforms sitting over bottomless pits. I saw what, just one slope in that entire footage? The level layout comprised of ugly black boxes or gray Radical Highway-striped platforms that don't even try to match the setting. How do I coherency in level theme and level design structure. And of course, this is all crammed into yet another 2D level, and it's still the same Green Hill with Sand Zone. The only good thing I can say is that unlike the other levels, there didn't seem to be any dash panel abuse (I don't think I even saw a dash panel), but if that's honestly the best thing I can say about it I may as well be damning the level with faint praise. There's a lot of things about Forces I'm not a fan of, but the level design/game design is the one exception here that genuinely makes me outright vitriolic rather than simply disappointed or unimpressed. Some of the problems I've listed have been mired in past Sonic games, so they're not particularly new; but Forces in particular shaping up to be a new nadir of bad design decisions. This goes beyond subpar design and treads into a territory of outright laziness. If Sega's not going to hand Sonic to another studio/division completely, the least Sega/Sonic Team could do is ban Kishimoto and his crew of designers from handling another Sonic game again. If that means risking a completely fresh team then so be it; because at this point a Kishimoto crew-directed/designed Sonic game has as much value as no Sonic game.
I kinda get a Sonic Adventure vibe from it. I'm guessing that Episode Shadow is meant to explain why "Goodie" Shadow is now working for Eggman again. I guess you wouldnt really need an Episode Metal though... Which is why I wouldnt mind an Episode Chaos. Find out what Chaos and Tikal had been doing. Episode Zavok can do one though, Mr H Christ. :v: Has to be said second everyone about seeing the old City Escape/Speed Highway assets in SandyGreenHill just looks ugly. This game is being made cheep. CHEEP.
As the Self-Proclaimed Resident Halo Expert in these Forums, I can't see them offering that much content post launch. Sure, there will be bug fixes or maybe a level or two, but nothing grand. Halo 5 launched with 25% of what it has now- it was clear 343i just ran out of time. In the late-marketing stages prior to launch, they announced multiple free DLCs to get fans excited. What we didn't realize until launch was how barren the base game was and how the whole "Free DLC" thing was just a defense for how utterly eviscerated 343 would have been if we had to pay $40 extra dollars for features of a game that should have been there in the first place. Most people agree Forces appears completed, just not worth having been completed. The level design is blocky and trivial, not ambitious like 06. It was a design choice they had to have made from the beginning.
After looking at the Shadow gameplay, I feel so embarrassed for saying I would even consider buying this game.
Free, optional, non-required downloadable content makes you completely reconsider your opinion on the game?
When it's a character without a proper running animation hopping around a bunch of copy-pasted boxes, yeah.
What? You can barely even see his running animation. The whole video he's either jumping, HAing or boosting.
Funny, his Boost sound is playing the Lightspeed Dash / Ancient Light sound from SA1 passively for the duration.
Call me crazy, but I feel as though this Shadow DLC was originally intended as post-release content (similar to Lost World's DLC), but the overall lukewarm response to Forces sort of pressured them into revealing it sooner as an extra selling point. Just a theory ¯\_(?)_/¯
Doubtful, since it's got better impressions from gaming news sources and such than Lost World did. Besides, if such a thing were to happen, why didn't it happen with Lost World?
Just passing by to drop this sin of a shitpost off: This entire game feels like it was made on a rush in an attempt to satisfy the Sonic fanbase while at the same time completely misunderstanding the Sonic fanbase...If that makes sense? Like: "Sir! People are disliking Lost World, they say the gameplay is clunky!" "Okay then, let's make another Boost game and base it on Colours, everyone liked Colours, right?" "But sir; many people don't like the Boost gameplay! What do we do?" "...How about...we cram in Classic Sonic. I mean we already have Mania but we can just reuse the physics and assets from Generations and that way the people who like Classic gameplay can be...satisfied? ...I guess?" "Sir! We showed off the trailer but people seem to hate the fact that this is another game with both Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic in it! They want 3D to have more focus!" "Alright...How about...Uhh...A third playable character, in 3D...but we'll also have to reuse many sections from the other stages so he'll also have a ton of 2D...Ooh! We'll make it a character creation tool! Perfect!" "Sir! People are getting mad at the OC creation tool! They say they want to play as other Sonic characters!" "...Just FUCKING MAKE A DLC WITH SHADOW IN IT, I DON'T KNOW, MAKE IT HAVE A FEW LEVELS OR WHATEVER, JUST MAKE A SMALL SECTION OF A STAGE AND WE'LL RELEASE A TRAILER TOMORROW, OKAY!?" Also, alternate version of the above shitpost: Spoiler
Wow more characters playable in a boost game? Is this really Sonic Team? Hilariously it looks exactly like every Generations Mod. Good job on them for actually doing alternate characters that aren't a drag. But I'm going to have to dock a lot of points for that level. Christ. That's exactly how you shouldn't design a boost stage.
The layout just feels like a Generations side mission to me, which isn't exciting, but I'm down with the novelty of model swapping Shadow into the other Boost levels too. Hoping the extra narrative threads add something interesting / meaningful.
Reminds me a lot of the Generations challenge levels. For me, that's not a good thing, but hey, if some of you find that fun, more power to you. I will say that Shadow's level does require you to time the homing attack, or risk getting hit, which is the level's central gimmick. I mean, that isn't saying much, but it doesn't seem much worse than the Generations challenge levels. I think it's safe to say this game's not for me, every new thing they showed about the game just cements what people thought prior.
