Sonic Forces Thread

I don't think Boom Sonic is classed as a "brand new character" since we've already seen him and played him.

I'm just glad it's not going to be the Warehog again (as long as it's not going to have any sort of Warehog gameplay I'll be happy!)!

 

I love new characters, I love seeing new designs and all that stuff. I've never gotten the Vitriol + - the Hedgehog   people seem to fling at the idea.

I get the trepidation over new gameplay styles and such, but that's just because Sonic Team hasn't been content to stick with one core gameplay modified only in a single way. Despite that, I loved Adventure + - yes, even playing as Big   and we have a number of characters done right:

Tails:
Plays the same as Sonic in his debut and can fly (as he should) in the sequel.

Knuckles:
"Hard Mode" character, lower jump but can also glide/climb walls.

Amy (Advance):
Taking the main gameplay of Sonic and then asking, "what if a regular platform game character was in the game?"

Cream:
Plays the same as Tails though with shorter fly time and an indestructible super OP weapon. She is pretty much the "Super Easy Mode"

Blaze:
Plays the same as Sonic with slight physics differences, she can also hover/glide though with far less horizontal speed than Knuckles. + - and SHOULD be immune to fire, though I can't remember if she actually is...  

Considering that the framework for Generations gameplay is complete, I'd say it would be the best time to add a new character who plays either simmilarly to Classic or Modern Sonic with a slight difference.

On the other hand, I hate having characters introduced who aren't playable, especially one-shot characters... Different strokes I guess.

 

At this point, the only way to have that is for Iizuka to have a miraculous change of heart, or for someone else to come in and say, "Okay, there was virtually zero thought put into the continuity of Sonic games since Adventure 2, so here's Adventure 3 picking up right where we left off. We've learned where we went wrong with those games and the ones that came after, so we hope you enjoy!"

Then can we start arguing about whether or not we want an actual 3D platforming game for Sonic with extra playable characters and little to no boosting. Or we could do that now and kill some time.

By the way, Iizuka can go fuck himself with his whole, "the Super Emeralds aren't canon" schlock. Way to pull a Yoshio Sakamoto and overwrite Sonic's most popular game.

 

That would be stupid. Pretending nothing happened after Adventure 2 makes no sense. It's really not that difficult to just consider each game as happening chronologically in the order of its release. If you really need the canon to be perfect and totally devoid of plot-holes or mistakes, you're playing the wrong game. Just mentally stitch everything together into something resembling a timeline and move on.

 

Not familiar with Sakamoto, and yes, Iizuka's done a lot of dumb stuff, but come on, "Super Emeralds aren't canon" in no way invalidates S3&K. I always assumed that the Super Emeralds were non-canon bonus items to make up for having to buy the game twice. I sometimes wonder if, in an alternate universe where Sonic 3 wasn't split, the Super Emeralds would ever have existed at all. Of course that's pointless speculation, but still, they lift out so easily. And with Flying Battery in its original position, you'd only have 3 zones to collect all 7.

 

I dunno. The way that they're implemented feels so perfect with the rest of the game. The knuckles hiding the way to the big ring, which leads to hidden palace, and then having the Chaos Emeralds beam to the seven pedestals. It all just fits too well. That build up to one of the most climactic points in the game is in direct relation to the Super Emeralds. It doesn't invalidate S3&K, but it kind of implies that whole concept was an afterthought rather than a cleverly made part of the game's narrative.

 

I still think it's much too early to already think "it's gonna be bad". All we really know is that Classic Sonic will be in it, and there's going to be a new character + component. I can empathize with the anxiety shown here because of Sonic's track record.

The component I'm on the fence about. Boost and Wisps were components that turned out quite well, but there's also the possibility of it being totally shit. It would be really sad to see Sonic regress again on the official development side of things.

 

Truly wondering if that new character is in fact a Dreamcast era Sonic. I mean, Ryan Drummond has been very quiet on Twitter for a while now...



All joking aside, I really wonder if it was the best idea for Sega to show a trailer with no gameplay or info when the game launches in a year from now. Some negative spin can be made on this now for articles on news sites looking for clicks. I don't have much confidence with adding a new character, but I would hope Sonic Team has learned that adding something new needs to be well thought out before just tacking it on.

 

They should be recapturing the glorious Classic formula :v:

Jokes aside, we really can't freak out until we know exactly who they are introducing. I hope it's not a new villain because I really like Eggman as the primary antagonist.

 

Knowing Sonic Team's track record, they'll likely get both the new character and gameplay mechanic wrong rather than right. It ought to be a fun watch, though. :v:

 

The new character/mechanic thing smells a lot like a certain Cycle, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. This is the same team behind Sonic Colors, which had the Wisp mechanic and two new characters (Yacker and Cubot).
On the other hand, this team also made Sonic Lost World, which had a bunch of new mechanics and six terrible characters.
I guess we'll see the direction they're going next year.

As for Iizuka, feel free to correct me on this, but he seems like someone who focuses a lot on the game aspect of games, and he loves filling his games with novel ideas. Both of those things can be good or bad. With the former, it's great that he cares a lot about making the games fun first and foremost, but the story is important for a brand like Sonic, particularly the world. Now, I think he's right to not give Sonic's world a map, but the identity of the series should be singular and consistent (The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell has a chapter on Worlds I think could be applied here). As for novelty, he wants each game to feel fresh, almost to a fault. NiGHTS Journey of Dreams had motion controls, Sonic 4 Episode II had the Tails's tag-teaming, Colors had Wisps. Sonic Lost World is like the ultimate example of this, and it's the one where things got the most out of control. I'm not surprised were getting a new gameplay mechanic in Project 2017, but hopefully he knows by now that the best Sonic mechanics supplement speed.

 

This is exactly why they should have shown some sort of gameplay at the 25th Anniversary party because now that the hype has worn off, the fanbase is spiriling. That, plus the now pervasive "Fans can do it better" mentality pervading the internet after Mania and Utopia, their silence on Project 2017 now means they're starting from net negative, which was entirely avoidable.

 

It could mean that.

But it could also mean Mania and Utopia are good cover for them to continue working on Project 2017 in silence as well. This could be a really good opportunity for them to flesh out things and not rush the game. If they had shown off gameplay footage at the anniversary, that would've implied the development was almost or past the halfway point. A teaser trailer like the one we got might imply how early the development stages are.

But it's really guesses at this point.

 

If I had to guess, Sega only really showed the teaser just to show fans "hey, we've got more than just Mania next year!" Like, they don't want to take any of Sonic Mania's thunder, but they also wanted you to know that Sonic Team is busy with their own stuff. "Mania's the next big thing for the fans! But we have another game. But focus on Mania for now! But just know about this other thing. But Mania! But just know."

 

Whatever they come up with, it's bound to at least look better than a 3D fan game

Sonic Utopia, for instance, does some really neat stuff with the camera in that it shows you the sky, depending on which way Sonic's head is pointing. However, the really zoomed out camera and the model itself don't do much for me at this point. They make Sonic look too tiny in his world. It's a minor nitpick with an easy fix, but you get the idea.

You're putting words into my mouth, but suffice it to say that ignoring everyone from Sonic Heroes onward, when developing an interim title like SA3, doesn't mean they're being overwritten. I personally wouldn't mind that they were, if we're going to play the "Who's Not Canon Now!" game.

 

I'm pretty sure "Dreamcast Sonic" won't be a part of this game. And I don't think he should be. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the style of Sonic's gameplay from the Adventure games more than the boost formula.

However, the game would feel waaay too split up if it had 3 separate Sonics that all played differently. IMHO, there should just be one Sonic.

 

Sure. But if two heads are really better than one, then why not three?

I mean we've also got Rush Sonic and Battle Sonic. Could be one of them.

Sakamoto co-created the Metroid series along with Makoto Kano, Gunpei Yokoi, and Hiroji Kiyotake, as part of Nintendo's R&D department. He went on to direct and write for Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and Other M. He's gotten a lot of flack since the release of Other M for two reasons: one is that he seemed to imply that Prime takes place "in parallel" with the games he worked on, which most fans took to mean that "the Prime games aren't canon"; and the other because of delusional claims like how Other M failed because the protagonist was female.

The meme aside, the point is Iizuka saying something like "Super Emeralds aren't canon" undercuts some neat potential for the series, not to mention a landmark title for the franchise that most fans like. Even if he's not coming out and saying "Sonic 3 isn't canon"--which would be absurd--it's like trying to argue one way or another about whether X got his first buster upgrade from Dr. Light or from Zero.

 

That link leads to p4rgaming, a parody news site. Sakamoto has a lot of problems, but claiming Other M failed because you play as a woman isn't something he has/will ever do.

As for a third Sonic? Iizuka seems to associate Classic with 2D gameplay and Modern with 3D gameplay. Unless the new character is from the 4th dimension, I'm not sure he would care to add another character.