Sonic Forces (2017)

[Hero-of-Time]

 

[S.C.G]

*Reads the above quotes about Sonic Forces*

But... I already have bought Sonic Mania again, on every available platform.

I'm still buying this, all in for the Switch version on day 1!

[Lens of Truth]

Not being one to prejudge a game but...

Following the beauty, spirit and attention to detail of Sonic Mania, this looks, sad as it is to say, rather shameful for Sonic Team. Seemingly all the worst elements of modern Sonic, badly implented, with poor to non-existent level design, haphazard aesthetics, dodgy controls, 'serious' tone and returning characters such as Silver and Shadow, who are practically calling cards for jankiness at this point.

Why do all this gunk and then try to square the circle with 'avatar' customisation?

Christian Whitehead and co understood that Sonic is about joy, colour, charming characters and replayability. Forces' take on noughties epic emo 'tude looks conversely more dated than a pixelated 90s throwback.

[Hero-of-Time]

I was surprised when this showed up yesterday. It's not out until next week and I forgot I had even preordered it. Another surprise is that it came with one of those Sonic hats that make you look like him.  I finished the game yesterday evening and figured I would give my thoughts on it for those who are interested or still on the fence.

Straight off the bat I'll let everyone know that I think the game is great. The way that people are talking makes you think that this is an absolute mess of a game, when really it's not even close to being that. I played the whole thing using the Switch screen off tv mode and there were no crashing or freezing. So no major bugs were present. There were a couple of technical issues/weird choices, though. For some reason the audio when characters talk sounds really weird. It's as if they were going for making the characters sound like they were chatting on a radio. Maybe that's exactly what it was? It's just weird because sometimes it's there and other times it's not. Another weird thing is that when you boost with Modern Sonic the music goes loud and then goes quiet again when your boost runs out. It's pretty off putting and I'm not sure why they've done it.

The game starts off with Modern Sonic being beaten and captured by Infinite, who is the new antagonist. With Modern Sonic out of the way, the world soon falls to ruin. The rest of Sonic's friends fall back and decide to form a resistance. Its the standard type of story that you expect from a 3D Sonic game ( thankfully no Sonic on human female action going on here )  but it also works as a way to introduce you to the character creation tool and helps fit your character into the world.

When it's time to create your character, there are a few options to choose from at the start and while it may seem a bit lacking, you'll soon be overwhelmed by just how much you can customize the character once you start unlocking items. Things like gloves, hats, shoes, tops, body wear, all can be unlocked as you go throughout the game. 

There is more to the character than how it looks. Each of the animals that are available comes with a special trait. Some can jump high, while others can give you a ring bonus. I went with a wolf and this gave me a bonus where items would be drawn to me. This came in handy if I mistimed a jump and the items were just out of reach. The trait would kick in and bring the items to me.

Once you have created your character you then get to use him or her throughout various points in the game. Your character will also be present in all the cutscenes from here on out.

The game is broken up into 30 main stages. You will play as your created character in these, as well as playing as Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic at various times. There are also times when your created character and Sonic will team up in a stage. These sections feel like a call back to Sonic Heroes, with both characters being able to use each of their individual abilities. There is also a link up move that occurs at set times during the game. You just need to hammer the Y button when prompted to see this in effect.

Each characters stages play slightly differently. Modern Sonic plays as he has done in games like Unleashed and Generations, with a fast past, 3D stage being the main focus for him. Classic Sonic sticks to the usual 2D stages that he is known for. Lastly, your created character tends to play more like Modern Sonic but he has Wisp abilities and a weapon at his disposal. We aren't talking Shadow the Hedgehog style run and gunning here, it's just a hookshot and a bullet type, depending on the Wisp that is chosen.

Speaking of Wisps, as you can guess these have once again made a return and play a big part of the game for your created character. Each Wisp is used in your characters weapon, which is called a Wispon. These will give your character certain abilities depending on what Wispon you pick.  A certain Wispon will allow you to fire your weapon as a flamethrower and also give you the rocket boost ability if you find the Wisp in a stage. Another Wispon gives you the abilities to use a lightning whip and then lets you charge towards enemies and rings if you find the corresponding Wisp. Modern Sonic gets in on the Wisp action as well but only uses them as a refill for his boost gauge.

The length of the game may be a sticking point for some. I managed to see the credits roll after about 4-5 hours play time. I guess this is why it's a budget release. However, I personally think it's a good thing. In the past, I've often found 3D Sonic games stages to overstay their welcome. Certain stages would just drag on and on and sometimes have crazy difficulty spikes that would keep you pinned at the same spot for a while. This isn't the case with Forces. A lot of the stages are over very fast. I think my highest time on a stage was around the 4-5 minute mark. This kept the game flowing and kept things fresh, which is also helped by the way you keep switching between different characters.

While the main game may be short, there is a crazy amount of extras to be unlocked. There are special stages, extra stages, S ranks to be earn, 5 red star rings to be found in each stage, daily and regular challenges to be completed, time trials to beat, moon coins to find and many, MANY custom items to be unlocked. There looks to be more content on the way as well. Inside the box there was a leaflet saying that Shadow DLC is on the way. So the game certainly has lots to keep players busy.

S ranks aren't a new thing to Sonic games but there is a nice new twist to how they work in this game. You get scored on a stage like you always have but you can help boost your score a little by doing a daily challenge. Completing a daily challenge will give your character a score boost. When I played through the game I had a score boost of 1.3 for half an hour. This allowed me to reach the requirements for S rank more easily and makes the game less punishing in the long run. You can do a daily challenge once per day but you can also do a challenge that is 1 or 2 days ahead. This will come in handy if a person is unable to play the game on the following day and he or she can now get tomorrows bonus a day early.

It wouldn't be a Sonic write up if the music didn't get mentioned and this game really delivers on this front. The music in the game really reminds me of things like the Sonic Adventure games and even Sonic R, to a certain extent. I realize this is very much a taste thing and many will be reaching for that mute button, but for me this is a fantastic soundtrack and one I'll certainly be listening to in the future.

Sonic Mania released a few months ago and it was a fantastic game that really captured what the 2D games were all about. I think this game is a perfect companion piece and one that fans of the 3D Sonic games will enjoy. It's by no means a masterpiece and i'm not going to sit here and say otherwise. What it is though is a short and sweet 3D Sonic game and certainly better than a few of the stinkers we've had in the past.

[Glen-i]

Pretty much how I expected it to be really. The vocal disdain for this game before release is just people who find the idea of this outselling Mania somehow offensive. And it will, because DeviantArt. In reality, it's another pretty decent 3D Sonic game.

It's so hilariously edgy and it seems like they're embracing that for laughs and I'm fine with that.

Thanks for the write-up!

[Ike]

22 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Pretty much how I expected it to be really. The vocal disdain for this game before release is just people who find the idea of this outselling Mania somehow offensive. And it will, because DeviantArt. In reality, it's another pretty decent 3D Sonic game.

To be fair, the trailers for the game did look bad, Green Hill zone looked pretty bland compared to the Generations version. They reused assets from Chemical Planet and just changed the colour a bit.

Honestly, I'm surprised @Hero-of-Time gave it such positive impressions. I've seen people complain about the game length, but I'm pretty sure Generations was about the same length. Mania is around an hour. 4 - 5 hours is a good length for a 3D Sonic otherwise the rest is just filler.

To counterbalance my arguments a bit, Mania relies a bit too much on nostalgia to the point where most of the original stages weren't original and pretty much just reskins. I enjoyed the game a lot, but it's not better than the originals.

[bob]

POST THE HAT!

[Glen-i]

1 minute ago, bob said:

POST THE HAT!

bob there, asking the questions we all want to.

[Hero-of-Time]

16 minutes ago, bob said:

POST THE HAT!

[bob]

Worth the price of the game IMHO.

[Sméagol]

2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

.. Now post a pic of you wearing it. In public.

[MindFreak]

On 11/5/2017 at 3:42 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

I was surprised when this showed up yesterday. It's not out until next week and I forgot I had even preordered it. Another surprise is that it came with one of those Sonic hats that make you look like him.  I finished the game yesterday evening and figured I would give my thoughts on it for those who are interested or still on the fence.

It's out tomorrow according to everywhere I can see...?

 

Also, launch trailer:

 

[Lens of Truth]

Thanks for the impressions @Hero-of-Time - I'm severely tempted to give this a try now!

[bob]

HoT finished the game before the launch trailer hits...

[Glen-i]

12 hours ago, bob said:

HoT finished the game before the launch trailer hits...

There's a joke about a certain Smash Bros. Brawl Taunt in there somewhere.

[Hero-of-Time]

13 hours ago, bob said:

HoT finished the game before the launch trailer hits...

[Cube]

On 05/11/2017 at 7:07 PM, Sméagol said:

.. Now post a pic of you wearing it. In public.

Not in public, but...

 

[Sméagol]

25 minutes ago, Cube said:

Not in public, but...

 

Wouldn't it be great, if that was actually a "helmet" for Commander Shepard to wear?

Looking good man.

[bob]

Not in public, but...

 

Now give it back to @Hero-of-Time.

 

[Ike]

Watched some gameplay footage and now I kinda want to play it. Did I miss it being sold for £25, or was the Switch version not sold for £25?

[Hero-of-Time]

11 minutes ago, Ike said:

Watched some gameplay footage and now I kinda want to play it. Did I miss it being sold for £25, or was the Switch version not sold for £25?

Switch version was always more expensive than the others when it came it preordering. I think Argos have it for £28.

[Ike]

Picked it up this morning (from Argos, cheers @Hero-of-Time) and I've been enjoying it, not the best Sonic game sure, but certainly not the worst.

I was against the create your own Deviantart character but I gotta admit it was kinda fun. I went with the Rabbit as a throwback to Sonic's original design.

The controls don't feel very responsive, holding down when playing Classic Sonic takes a second or two for him to start to roll which meant I ended up taking damage as I pressed too late.

Speaking of Classic Sonic, his levels are actually the worst out of the 3. The physics feel a bit too stiff, I bounced off an enemy expecting to gain enough momentum and bounce over a gap, but I didn't.

[Ike]

Well I finished it, it started to drag a little towards the end. I forgot to mention in my previous post that the levels felt a little short, this is probably because there's ~30 story missions and you end up revisiting a lot of areas which I think contributed to the making the game drag a bit, there's not a huge variety in levels. The level designs also aren't particularly interesting either.

Encountered some extra issues with the physics/mechanics, I found a few times that Classic just would not build up speed even though I was holding right. When boosting with Modern I often fell off the track, not sure if that was me being bad at controlling it, it being hard to see or how sometimes at the end of the path there're springs to launch you to the next area that are easy to miss or a combo of everything. Sometimes you can stop instantly or fall off a platform because you kept going and ran straight off the platform.

The story is a bit nonsensical, but so was Mania's (or at least I had no idea what was going on).

Spoiler

Weird the Chaos Emeralds weren't in this at all, Eggman needed a power supply, you would think a Chaos Emerald to fit the the bill perfectly.

I was all aboard the hate train but honestly it's not that bad and dare I say it's actually kinda fun despite it's issues. I think it's worth checking out if you find a good deal on it. I'll probably dip back in and out to S rank all the stages and collect the red coins every so often.

[S.C.G]

Well, that happened!

"Sanic Hegehog" is now officially canon.

The T-Shirt is available as DLC to download right now (presumably for free) on all versions.

"Cumon step it up!!!!!"

Edited November 27, 2017 by S.C.G

[Aneres11]

I started this yesterday. I actually am quite impressed so far. But I don’t like how the created character controls. That hook shot thing just breaks the gameplay up too much for tastes. Stops the flow that you get when playing as Somic. Weapon is decent though. 

Overall I think it’s had a bad rep as others have said. I can’t say that with certainty yet though as I only just started it, but I’m having a fair bit of fun so far and I guess that’s all that matters.

i also find the story to be good which is not normally the case in these type of games. 

Looking forward to playing some more anyway.