[URL="http://sonicthehedgehog.tumblr.com/post/167237834453/sonic-forces-is-out-now-enjoy-with-a-comic-about"]4th and final comic is out.[/URL]
So the game's file format is pretty much an updated version of Lost World's, showing that the devs really did build this game off of Lost World rather than Generations or prior titles. Potentially explains some wonk.
Also this is a thing.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4C5Ssa3K7I[/media]
So here's my impressions overall now that I beat the game:
Sonic Forces is a classic case of usually any Sonic game - two steps forward and one step back. Sonic controls a lot better than he did in Generations (mostly) and some of his new abilities are really fun to mess around with (the air boost specifically). However this doesn't excuse the removal of a ton of his key abilities that have been around for awhile - specifically the light speed dash, the wall jump, and slide. While the slide is implemented there is no actual use for it. A lot of stages in previous Sonic games have moments where the slide was necessary for traversal. There are no cases which I needed to use it in this game.
[B]Modern Sonic[/B] - Some Sonic levels actually have a ton of alternate routes to them. [sp]Chemical Plant, Death Egg, and Metropolis[/sp] all have alternate pathways that lead to completely unique areas to those paths. While all of which ultimately end up in the same spot, it's refreshing to see this is some of the stages. The main issue I have with the stages is the amount of automation and the amount of times the game puts you into a mini cut scene or QTE. On one hand, the level designers showed some competence in the levels. On the other, they needed to include these QTE's as a segway to other sections rather than making quick cinematic segment like previous games did. Lastly, just when the stages are getting really good, it ends. A majority of the 30 stages I played, I beat in about 2 minutes or under. For someone's first time seeing and experiencing these stages, this is kind of an insult especially when most of it was not challenging. In Generations, Unleashed, and Colors - those stages were large and a first timers run could go from 4-6 minutes, while speed runners can get around 2 minutes there's generally more to do. A lot of the stages rely too much on mindless boosting with no challenge. The 2D sections do open up quite a bit for some exploration, but that doesn't matter when the stage length is so short to begin with.
The homing attack isn't as consistent as in previous games, refusing to lock on to enemies sometimes. There is no drift despite there being some instances where it could have been used. Stomp was utilized in a single level and there were no sections that required a slide. Light speed dash would have added more potential variety in the level design. Instead of the gaming letting you control Sonic and maybe letting you drift through turns, the game puts a million boost pads to aim you in the right direction with a million boost wisps all around to make sure you never lose boost, which brings me to a quick minor point - the boost wisp was pointless. Having them tied to rings like in previous games was fine. In this, there really is no point to it since they're scattered everywhere and force you to use boost when they want you to use it - it's never something that can be used at the players discretion; rather when the developers wanted you to use it.
[B]Classic Sonic[/B] - Truthfully, his inclusion was utterly pointless, and in my opinion hindered the game greatly. The stages are somewhat enjoyable, but mostly aren't. Trying to control Classic Sonic like he did in Mania just doesn't work well. Like Modern Sonic, it's too automated and there are boost pads all over the place, forcing you to do what the game wants you to do. I'm not going to talk much about classic sonic because I really think his inclusion was a huge waste of time.
[B]Avatar[/B] - The tools aren't as extensive as one would think, though there are a ton of clothing options. I only really used the lightning wispon and the fire wispon. Depending on the wispon you can skip entire portions with the press of a button. I remember using Burst to just jump over everything and the game would give you ten more Burst wisps just so you can cheese your way past the entire stage. Lightning is actually really cool and can be used skillfully to get through a ton of obstacles, though I found it to be slightly inconsistent when it would trigger.
The avatar controls just slightly worse than Sonic. I think being able to double jump with them would have helped (this is restricted to the Bird species). For some reason, they included the Wall Jump in one of the last stages in the game and even then it was difficult to actually get right. The wall jump barely worked.
I think both the game and the story would have been 10x better had Classic Sonic and the Avatar had not been included - and rather, allow players to pick and choose between already established characters to act as the "wispon" abilities. Even if the avatar stayed, I think Classic Sonics removal would have helped this game.
Since this is a $40 game I think it's fair to say that the amount of content in the game seems appropriate. I just think, again, Sonic Team and Sega dropped the ball on this. It shows a ton of promise but strips the player of a lot of their freedom and control that Generations and Unleashed had, while also stripped Sonic of a ton of his unique abilities that made controlling Sonic in previous games fun.
The music is amazing, as per usual. The game is actually really beautiful despite some shit cutscene moments. I ran this great on my 980 in 1440p with an unlocked framerate. It's just a real shame that the levels have devolved so much from what made them so good in previous Sonic boost gameplay.
TL;DR
Pros:
- The game controls mostly well - all characters aside from Classic Sonic control great when the game doesn't strip you of all control
- Graphically beautiful - original and fun stages. The PC port is actually mostly good.
- Some wispons are really fun to play around with.
- Story is actually okay. Not the best, but not the worst.
- Decent humor and throwbacks.
Cons:
- Game controls great until they strip you of that control for half the level
- Stages are way too short. Just when the get really good, they give you blue balls.
- Some wispons seem useless
- Classic Sonic is an incredibly pointless addition both in story and in gameplay.
- Game forces you to replay stages for tons collectibles to fill the gameplay void rather than just making a ton of long stages to begin with.
I knew I would be disappointed, but it really is not all that bad. It's not the worst Sonic game in the world - there was a ton of competence going into this project. But there's also just as much incompetence as well, especially in regards to the level design combined with Sonics stripped abilities.
I would give Sonic Forces a 7/10. Only reason i wouldn't give it a 6.5/10 is because at least Sega did not price this game at $60 which helps ease the burn in regards to the lack of content and short stages.
Played a few hours. Right now my only complaints are 30 fps [B]in-engine[/B] cutscenes, awful pacing at the beginning and overusage of automation. And Classic Sonic.
Try to avoid using the Drill Wispon as the Avatar for now. For some reason the devs fucked up landing physics when it's equipped; even if you jump at a standstill, holding a direction whatsoever will result in them rocketing off at max running speed the moment they hit the ground. This carries over to Sonic in the Tag Team stages, too.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8tH7NTAFI[/media]
One of my favorite tracks so far.
This stage was one of the best ones.
[QUOTE=RikohZX;52866597]Try to avoid using the Drill Wispon as the Avatar for now. For some reason the devs fucked up landing physics when it's equipped; even if you jump at a standstill, holding a direction whatsoever will result in them rocketing off at max running speed the moment they hit the ground. This carries over to Sonic in the Tag Team stages, too.[/QUOTE]
One's man doom is another's joy.
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFCSCy82Sw"]Drill is broken but not for speedrunners![/URL]
[QUOTE=alpha00zero;52866769]One's man doom is another's joy.
[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeFCSCy82Sw"]Drill is broken but not for speedrunners![/URL][/QUOTE]
Honestly it's easily the craziest Wispon, but that physics glitch with landings is bound to be a pain for casual players.
Forces was an enjoyable time for me, to be honest. Happy I decided to pick it up despite all the negativity surrounding it.
What console are you guys all getting Forces on?
Agree: Xbox One
Informative: Playstation 4
Disagree: Switch
Wrench: PC
I'm still undecided, since I'm optimistic that the PC version will attract a modding scene like Generations did (it probably won't if Lost World is anything to judge by), but I also have a Switch/Ps4 with very few games to play on them.
[QUOTE=redBadger;52866646][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8tH7NTAFI[/media]
One of my favorite tracks so far.
This stage was one of the best ones.[/QUOTE]
I challenge you with this.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ixaGoyacc[/media]
Also Classic Sonic's music is super wildly inconsistent. Some tracks are a real pain like Green Hill's, and then there's stuff like the track for his first level that sounds like something out of a fangame or a Youtube artist's work.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHjGXQEkXEA[/media]
I fucking hate Zavok so much, I hate him as an villain along with the Deadly Six and I hate him as a boss in Forces. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, either I get an split second to react or the camera won't switch...about 8 mins in the boss battle and I'm still not able to hit him...
I didn't really have fun with Forces, It was pretty much a Interactive Movie that sorta just ended...
"Getting out of your chains does not make you free"
Zavok getting deep.
Everything that wasn't classic sonic or the paper thin plot was pretty fun
solid 7/10 imo
Just beat Forces.
Infinite became one of my favorite Sonic villains about half way through the game, and quickly fell off into one of the most disappointing Sonic characters I've ever seen in the latter half.
It's such a fucking shame.
[sp]Imo Avatar's Metropolis is downright one of the best stages in the game. It has some of the best scripting, atmosphere, and tone. Shit felt intense and fun, and the surprise of Infinite not only showing up right next to you, but making those honestly fucking unsettling constructs of himself was one of the absolute best parts of the entire game.[/sp]
And it pisses me off how quickly they shit the bed afterwards and he never does anything like that again. I mean, his final fight was just [sp]a reskin of Metal Sonic's, and you don't even really know what the fuck happens to him. Is he dead? Was he destroyed with the illusions? Or was he turned back into his normal self?[/sp]
After seeing what he does half way through the game, I can't help but feel like we never see the full capabilities of Infinite's powers and it's so frustrating.
I do like how they characterized him in Episode Shadow, where [sp]it turns out he's super afraid of seeming weak[/sp] instead of just being some random edgeman
[QUOTE=RikohZX;52867061]I challenge you with this.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ixaGoyacc[/media]
Also Classic Sonic's music is super wildly inconsistent. Some tracks are a real pain like Green Hill's, and then there's stuff like the track for his first level that sounds like something out of a fangame or a Youtube artist's work.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHjGXQEkXEA[/media][/QUOTE]
I think Classic Sonic's music is well written, it just uses a bad soundfont. I really think Casino Forest is pretty sweet.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfY2U-FD0JA[/media]
Got the game on PC, the opening cutscene runs at 22fps and the audio sounds like its cutting a lot.
Neat.
[QUOTE=Oizen;52867825]Got the game on PC, the opening cutscene runs at 22fps and the audio sounds like its cutting a lot.
Neat.[/QUOTE]
Try running the game through Steam Offline Mode or Big Picture Mode.
It seems there's some really fucked up shit with running it normally in terms of performance for many people.
The PC port is fine I think denuvo is fucking a lot of people over as per usual
I'm just imagining how good the story might've ended up if they let Ian Flynn loose on it and it's frustrating as hell to think about. Come the fuck on SoJ.
[QUOTE=The Civ;52868131]I'm just imagining how good the story might've ended up if they let Ian Flynn loose on it and it's frustrating as hell to think about. Come the fuck on SoJ.[/QUOTE]
It's so strange to see that Webber has better vision for the games than Iizuka. Shows how out-of-touch Iizuka is with the sonic fanbase.
[QUOTE=RikohZX;52867840]Try running the game through Steam Offline Mode or Big Picture Mode.
It seems there's some really fucked up shit with running it normally in terms of performance for many people.[/QUOTE]
Nah, I'm just refunding it.
I'm sick of supporting shit PC ports.
During the fight against Zavok, you can notice a bunch of prisoners cheering modern Sonic on. Then at one point in the story, [sp]classic Sonic blows up the death egg without saving said prisoners.[/sp]
Kinda jarring to realize that he unwittingly murdered a lot of helpless innocents just to [sp]nerf Infinite.[/sp]
[QUOTE=Nerokhan;52868656]During the fight against Zavok, you can notice a bunch of prisoners cheering modern Sonic on. Then at one point in the story, [sp]classic Sonic blows up the death egg without saving said prisoners.[/sp]
Kinda jarring to realize that he unwittingly murdered a lot of helpless innocents just to [sp]nerf Infinite.[/sp][/QUOTE]
To be fair, in the following cutscene after the fight the prisoners are spontaneously missing if I remember right.
[QUOTE=Oizen;52868203]Nah, I'm just refunding it.
I'm sick of supporting shit PC ports.[/QUOTE]
It's far from a shit pc port.
I’m a major Sonic fan, have been since mega drive days. Sonic mania was an amazing look back that seriously put Sonic back on top, then Forces knocks it down, I’m seriously not enjoying any of it.
Wow, the post-game menu theme is fucking beautiful.
This game's OST is definitely a recent favorite, at least.
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Sonic General Discussion Thread v1
