Sonic Forces (Xbox One, PS4, PC & Nintendo Switch)

[Danny Felixe 330]

Make a hedgie character. That's a start

(Nice avatar)

[Lena Stan Account 60]

Is there no info if you can make their... "hair" more spiky? More spikes!

(Shinomi's Work :3 and same to you)

Edited 4 Sep 2017 by NMS

[ChaosKaiser 174]

Seems that Sonic Forces will have a "Bonus Edition" with a controller skin (can someone explain to me how does that work?) and exclusive content for the Avatar Hero, which will include:

• A Jet Set Radio costume
• A Persona 5 costume
• Puyo-puyo hat
• Super Monkey Ball outfit
• NiGHTS outfit

For me that "Bonus Edition" sounds like "Day One/Pre-order edition", so...

Sonic Forces WILL HAVE DLCs??? Because that doesn't sound right to me. Knowing today's videogame industry is becoming more and more agressive with their prices and (in my humble opinion) abusive politics against the wallet of the consumer, the fact that Sega is joining these politics feels wrong for a game like this...

Edited 5 Sep 2017 by ChaosKaiser

[NegaMetallix 27]

Seems that Sonic Forces will have a "Bonus Edition" with a controller skin (can someone explain to me how does that work?) and exclusive content for the Avatar Hero, which will include:

• A Jet Set Radio costume
• A Persona 5 costume
• Puyo-puyo hat
• Super Monkey Ball outfit
• NiGHTS outfit

For me that "Bonus Edition" sounds like "Day One/Pre-order edition"

It's more like a typical Special Edition, like Sonic Lost World's "Deadly Six Edition". However, there is some Day One DLC (for EU and Australia, at least) for those who pre-order the Bonus Edition:

Oh boy! Now we can play as SHADOW...'s dissected body over the Avatar!

(...Have I mentioned that I'm not excited for this game? No? Well, I'm saying it now!)

[Lena Stan Account 60]

Eh me too. Metal Sonic surely isn't going to get any big rule this time either. The gameplay with the avatar seems too easy with that flamethrower thing.

[Danny Felixe 330]

I'm excited for it just because it's clearly them trying to give the fans what they keep whining asking for what with the OC maker and it kind of looking like a Sonic Generations 2. I want to see if they can make it work. If they do I think it'll be a fairly decent game. If not... wellllllllllll... 

I'm probably just easily pleased when it comes to games

[Shinomi-chan 294]

I'm excited for it just because it's clearly them trying to give the fans what they keep whining asking for what with the OC maker and it kind of looking like a Sonic Generations 2. I want to see if they can make it work. If they do I think it'll be a fairly decent game. If not... wellllllllllll... 

I'm probably just easily pleased when it comes to games

Well in that case same here too. (Damn I gotta remember to pre-order this game o_o 

[Lena Stan Account 60]

Shini you like the ripped of Shadow skin that much? O.O

Well I would love another Egg Dragon Boss Fight like Sonic Generations. XD It's one of the cooler robots he pilots.

[Shinomi-chan 294]

Shini you like the ripped of Shadow skin that much? O.O

Well I would love another Egg Dragon Boss Fight like Sonic Generations. XD It's one of the cooler robots he pilots.

No I meant the other skins you get with the Pre-Order, Puyo Puyo, Ai Ai, NIGHTS, Persona 5 etc.

[Lena Stan Account 60]

For each pre-order one innocent shadow gets it's skin ripped off alive. Do not pre-order to save them. XD 

Is the Mexican Monkey outfit coming too? His name was Samba I guess. 

Do you guys think the OC can go super with the emeralds?

Edited 7 Sep 2017 by NMS

[Danny Felixe 330]

I thought his name was Amigo

As for going super I would doubt it. Giving your oc a chance to save the world with Sonic is one thing. Giving them a super form with it would probably be a little much

[Lena Stan Account 60]

Right right Amigo. XD

EhI can totally see it happening in the "final battle". Isn't it pretty much traditional to go super? And it wouldn't be exactly fair for the OC to sit back and do nothing. But I suppose he could help in other ways during it eh?

[Shinomi-chan 294]

going to pre-order it from Gamestop tomorrow :3 can't wait.

[ChaosKaiser 174]

Ermmm... So... Shadow will be playable in Sonic Forces. This... THIS IS THE ULTIMATE!!

I still don't like the idea of DLCs in a Sonic game, but it seems it's going to be for free, so I'll be okay with it...besides, SHADOW WILL BE PLAYABLE AGAIN IN A MAIN GAME, PEOPLE!!

Edited 19 Sep 2017 by ChaosKaiser

[Lena Stan Account 60]

There will be no Chao Garden right? T.T

Like they could add it as a dlc...

Edited 23 Sep 2017 by NMS

[Shinomi-chan 294]

There will be no Chao Garden right? T.T

Like they could add it as a dlc...

Chao Garden hasn't been a thing in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time.

[NegaMetallix 27]

So, I got a chance to play the game at EGX this year, and I can honestly say that this game feels like a major step in the wrong direction. To summarise...

Modern:

Modern Sonic feels incredibly awkward to control. For some reason, his speed jumps from 0-60 faster than you can react, which leads to incredibly janky turns and jumps that you should be able to do just fine, but can't because of the weird momentum (or lack thereof). This impacts the platforming pretty badly, despite the incredibly basic (and honestly boring) level design.

Classic:

Classic Sonic feels pretty much exactly like Generations, with only one real difference; he can't hold the X/Square button to perform a Spin Dash like Generations, but can now perform the Drop Dash by holding the Jump button mid-air, like in Sonic Mania. Not much else to say, though, since the only 'level' he gets is a boss fight.

Avatar:

The Avatar felt like the worst character of the bunch to control. Like Modern Sonic, their jumps are also finicky, but you don't even get a double jump to somewhat help with platforming (unless you choose to be a bird). The grapple feels like a delayed Homing Attack, which makes it feel like it should take out multiple enemies at once, but can't (unless you choose to be a bear). The Wispons, while cool in theory, are very boring in execution, since they all just mow down enemies without any need to think ahead. The Wisp powers that they allow range from interesting at best (Burst) to outright lazy at worst (Lightning).

The platforming is much worse than Modern Sonic's, and the constant feeling of "I should've made that jump!!" after falling between two platforms for the eighth time gets incredibly frustrating. Also, on a side note, giving each Avatar species a 'unique' skill bothers me, since a lot of these skills (such as the aforementioned double-jump and powered-up Homing Attack) would be very useful to have together. But no, they're all separate, which leaves me choosing a species not because I want to be that species, but because a want that species' ability, even if I hate the look of them.

Tag-Team:

Basically, it's got the same problems as Modern Sonic and the Avatar, but combined. It really just feels like a glorified Avatar level, with short segments where you're 'required' to boost as Modern Sonic. The only thing that surprised me was that, if you 'fail' the Double Boost QTE, then the game won't play the vocal version of Fist Bump, but the instrumental version instead. As someone who likes the instrumental, but can't stand the lyrics, I'm fine with 'failing' these segments more often!

Overall:

I wanted to stay at least optimistic for this game until I had a chance to play it myself. And after doing so, I'm afraid I just can't. Above all else, this game feels like a major step back from Generations in terms of gameplay. It feels incredibly unfinished, uninteresting, and ultimately unsatisfying. And this is due to come out in just over a month! (No matter what anyone says, that's not enough time to work these things out. This is pretty much how the game will be when it releases.) I'm still interested in how the story will play out, but that's it at this point.

Edited 25 Sep 2017 by Captain Metallix

[ChaosKaiser 174]

That sounds nothing but bad news at this point... I was expecting Modern Sonic to have a fully polished gameplay style, looking for Classic to have its well-known momentum based mechanics and the Avatar to add something new and refreshing, as well as having a slower gameplay, but still well made.

Seems that isn't the case...

[NegaMetallix 27]

It's weird. You'd think that Sonic Team would look at Generations (or even Unleashed) to replicate Modern Sonic's gameplay. But instead, they went back to Colours' approach, and somehow made it feel worse than that. Classic's gameplay is basically what I expected, since unfortunately the current development team don't seem to understand how the classic games' physics worked. Not completely terrible, but unimpressive nonetheless. (Heck, if the team behind Mania had worked on Classic Sonic's gameplay and levels, then I imagine it could've been one of the more impressive parts of Forces.)

It really is a pity, and I can only hope that Sonic Team learn from this. I'm not really confident that they will, but one can hope at least.

[Thire 121]

By the sound of things, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the sake of sanity they polish their poop 'til it shines...

[Shinomi-chan 294]

So, I got a chance to play the game at EGX this year, and I can honestly say that this game feels like a major step in the wrong direction. To summarise...

Modern:

Modern Sonic feels incredibly awkward to control. For some reason, his speed jumps from 0-60 faster than you can react, which leads to incredibly janky turns and jumps that you should be able to do just fine, but can't because of the weird momentum (or lack thereof). This impacts the platforming pretty badly, despite the incredibly basic (and honestly boring) level design.

Classic:

Classic Sonic feels pretty much exactly like Generations, with only one real difference; he can't hold the X/Square button to perform a Spin Dash like Generations, but can now perform the Drop Dash by holding the Jump button mid-air, like in Sonic Mania. Not much else to say, though, since the only 'level' he gets is a boss fight.

Avatar:

The Avatar felt like the worst character of the bunch to control. Like Modern Sonic, their jumps are also finicky, but you don't even get a double jump to somewhat help with platforming (unless you choose to be a bird). The grapple feels like a delayed Homing Attack, which makes it feel like it should take out multiple enemies at once, but can't (unless you choose to be a bear). The Wispons, while cool in theory, are very boring in execution, since they all just mow down enemies without any need to think ahead. The Wisp powers that they allow range from interesting at best (Burst) to outright lazy at worst (Lightning).

The platforming is much worse than Modern Sonic's, and the constant feeling of "I should've made that jump!!" after falling between two platforms for the eighth time gets incredibly frustrating. Also, on a side note, giving each Avatar species a 'unique' skill bothers me, since a lot of these skills (such as the aforementioned double-jump and powered-up Homing Attack) would be very useful to have together. But no, they're all separate, which leaves me choosing a species not because I want to be that species, but because a want that species' ability, even if I hate the look of them.

Tag-Team:

Basically, it's got the same problems as Modern Sonic and the Avatar, but combined. It really just feels like a glorified Avatar level, with short segments where you're 'required' to boost as Modern Sonic. The only thing that surprised me was that, if you 'fail' the Double Boost QTE, then the game won't play the vocal version of Fist Bump, but the instrumental version instead. As someone who likes the instrumental, but can't stand the lyrics, I'm fine with 'failing' these segments more often!

Overall:

I wanted to stay at least optimistic for this game until I had a chance to play it myself. And after doing so, I'm afraid I just can't. Above all else, this game feels like a major step back from Generations in terms of gameplay. It feels incredibly unfinished, uninteresting, and ultimately unsatisfying. And this is due to come out in just over a month! (No matter what anyone says, that's not enough time to work these things out. This is pretty much how the game will be when it releases.) I'm still interested in how the story will play out, but that's it at this point.

I mean to be honest, in ANY Sonic games case, (except 06 but that can burn in hell with all the mosquitoes) I never really thought that the controls were bad, but that I as a player just didn't know what move to use and WHEN to use it. Then again aren't test plays there to give the game developers more time to fix some late problems they didn't know existed?

[NegaMetallix 27]

I mean to be honest, in ANY Sonic games case, (except 06 but that can burn in hell with all the mosquitoes) I never really thought that the controls were bad, but that I as a player just didn't know what move to use and WHEN to use it. Then again aren't test plays there to give the game developers more time to fix some late problems they didn't know existed?

I can tell you now, this was definitely not just a case of not knowing what to do or how/when to use a move. The controls were legitimately awkward, since you seem to gain an unnatural amount of speed both on the ground and in the air. So when you think you're gonna land on a platform, you often either go too far in one direction (and fall), you don't go far enough (and fall), or you do land on the platform only to find yourself slipping off the other end (and fall). The momentum in this game is completely out of whack.

I say this as someone who liked how Sonic controlled in Generations (and Unleashed, though to a lesser extent). In Forces, he and the Avatar just flat-out aren't fun to control, primarily because you don't truly feel like you're in control of their movements. I don't want these criticisms to be seen as me needlessly hating on Sonic Team or the game, but I am genuinely disappointed in what I played.

To answer you're last question; these demos should provide a general idea of how the final game will play, then the developers work on bug-fixes and gameplay tweaks. The earlier the demo, the more they can fix, theoretically. Yet the first playable demo for Sonic Forces was E3 this year (only a few months before release) and no real improvements have been seen since. Not at Gamescom, not at PAX, not at EGX, and not even at the Tokyo Game Show that just finished! There's only 43 days until this game is due to release, so any feedback they receive isn't gonna mean much now. The most that the developers can do by the time the demo comes out is work on some basic bug-fixes and slight gameplay tweaks.

Even if that 'fixes' the control of the characters, that doesn't change the levels and their design. If they're bland at launch, they'll still be bland afterwards.

[Shinomi-chan 294]

I mean to be honest, in ANY Sonic games case, (except 06 but that can burn in hell with all the mosquitoes) I never really thought that the controls were bad, but that I as a player just didn't know what move to use and WHEN to use it. Then again aren't test plays there to give the game developers more time to fix some late problems they didn't know existed?

I can tell you now, this was definitely not just a case of not knowing what to do or how/when to use a move. The controls were legitimately awkward, since you seem to gain an unnatural amount of speed both on the ground and in the air. So when you think you're gonna land on a platform, you often either go too far in one direction (and fall), you don't go far enough (and fall), or you do land on the platform only to find yourself slipping off the other end (and fall). The momentum in this game is completely out of whack.

I say this as someone who liked how Sonic controlled in Generations (and Unleashed, though to a lesser extent). In Forces, he and the Avatar just flat-out aren't fun to control, primarily because you don't truly feel like you're in control of their movements. I don't want these criticisms to be seen as me needlessly hating on Sonic Team or the game, but I am genuinely disappointed in what I played.

To answer you're last question; these demos should provide a general idea of how the final game will play, then the developers work on bug-fixes and gameplay tweaks. The earlier the demo, the more they can fix, theoretically. Yet the first playable demo for Sonic Forces was E3 this year (only a few months before release) and no real improvements have been seen since. Not at Gamescom, not at PAX, not at EGX, and not even at the Tokyo Game Show that just finished! There's only 43 days until this game is due to release, so any feedback they receive isn't gonna mean much now. The most that the developers can do by the time the demo comes out is work on some basic bug-fixes and slight gameplay tweaks.

Even if that 'fixes' the control of the characters, that doesn't change the levels and their design. If they're bland at launch, they'll still be bland afterwards.

Ooooh so in a sense, it's like Generations on the graphics department, but... 06 on the gameplay?

[NegaMetallix 27]

Ooooh so in a sense, it's like Generations on the graphics department, but... 06 on the gameplay?

Eh, more like a mesh between Unleashed and Lost World graphically, but gameplay's a little harder to explain. Simply put, Modern is like Colours but with wonkier momentum, Classic is like Generations but without a stupidly powerful Spin Dash, and the Avatar is similar to Modern but with even less control. I will say that the characters' unnatural controls can make 'em feel, in some ways, broken. Not quite in the same way as 06 was, but it's certainly noticeable. However, unlike 06, nothing felt quite as... precise as that game. It's more like the extreme opposite, I guess, since the characters feel far more floaty and imprecise than they realistically should.

Edited 25 Sep 2017 by Captain Metallix

[Lena Stan Account 60]

And here I thought it was going to be good. Meh.  Just gonna just watch it on YouTube then when it comes out.