Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

[Vertekins]

 

I'm loving how Sonic's just standing there looking at Knuckles quizzically. I'm genuinely fascinated with how Sonic is going to be portrayed in this game. He apparently gains development and grows from being highly independent and unsocial and with no propensity for looking to the future to being more embracing of teamwork.

[Kuzu]

So Sonic's the Straight Man to Knuckles it seems, funny how I always imaged the opposite occurring.

[Tani Coyote]

- Lyric gets reawakened from sealing. He states that he and Sonic have unfinished business. I recall someone saying that this game incorporates time travel of some sort. So perhaps Sonic seals him in the past? Doesn't make sense though considering Sonic says he has no idea about what Lyric's talking about.

Actually it does.

If Sonic defeats Lyric in the future and seals him in the past, then the version of Sonic that meets Lyric won't recognize him yet, because that version has yet to defeat Lyric.

Time travel is confusing, I know, haha. But it's like how Shadow didn't recognize Mephiles despite the fact Shadow would eventually seal Mephiles in the past.

[Vertekins]

Time travel is confusing, I know, haha. But it's like how Shadow didn't recognize Mephiles despite the fact Shadow would eventually seal Mephiles in the past.

 

I always thought that Shadow's failure to recognize Mephiles despite having sealed him was a consequence of his prior amnesia.

[Tani Coyote]

Well no, that version of Shadow had yet to seal Mephiles in the past. Shadow would, in the future, travel back to the past and seal Mephiles there. The nature of the time loop is that a character has yet to travel back in time, and so has no memory of what they will do in the future (because at that point in time, the character hasn't gone back).

Oh god this is so confusing to explain.

1. Sonic unleashes Lyric in the present. Lyric recognizes Sonic but not vice versa.

2. At some point, Sonic goes back in time and defeats Lyric there, turning him to stone. THAT Sonic would remember Lyric.

3. Time loop repeats itself. The younger Sonic will repeat 1, and not know Lyric because he is not the same Sonic (in terms of his place in time) as 2.

Another way to put it is Lyric faced off against a future version of Sonic, but in the past.

What would be bizarre about this, however, is that Lyric's memories should be intact and he knows that he will be defeated and sealed in the past. It's possible all the memories he gains after being awakened are lost the moment he is sealed somehow.

[Blue Blood]

More direct feed footage? More direct feed footage.

[Tani Coyote]

Boom!Knuckles looked weird in the original promo cutout of him and such, but put me down as saying I'm very adapted to his new look and it's not weird to me anymore.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

It's because pretty much every other render of him has looked 400% better.

[Debug Ring]

Okay, so after watching a few more videos of the game, here's what I think.

I don't think graphics are that bad. Sure, maybe not being used to the full potential, but this can be changed before release, but even now, I'm not particularly bothered or fussed about graphics, though I do see why some people may not like them. I know they could be better, but maybe they will be.

Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. So, people say he's too slow and yadayadayada, and I know where you're coming from, yeah, he's slow when relative to what we've previously experienced. But I have to say, after watching a few different videos, he still moves fairly quickly, and I don't think the speed will feel as if he's lagging behind for me. He looks about as fast as Crash Bandicoot, if just a little faster, maybe. And, I'll say this, I certainly don't find speed a problem with Crash games. While I know speed is the core of Sonic games, and we will experience the speed in places as shown, but to be honest, for me, I don't think the adventure stages are that bad for speed, especially with me playing Crash Bandicoot games a lot. He may not be as fast we we're used to, or would maybe like, but I'm not particularly bothered, to be honest. He looks controllable, and has a nice pace to him. His combat looks quite swift from what I've watched too. Looks like you can beat the enemies we've seen with some nice quick combos and move on.

Story wise, I'm very interested, especially considering what we've be given the last few Sonic games, this one looks to be a bit meatier, and has a lot more character moments. The characters all seem to interact well and none of them seem bland, which is certainly a plus. I look forward to what we'll see in this story. And the in game interactions between them seem quite lively and bring a smile to me at points, as with the cutscenes. So, I do want to see more, yes.

So, yeah, I'll say I'm still cautiously optimistic, but more so than I was when we first saw new gameplay. After watching a few videos it's certainly growing on me and I'll certainly be keeping up to date.

[DarkRula]

You do realise the easiest way to explain time travel is with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, right?

Harry, Ron, and Hermione go through the events not knowing that it is them affecting events until the point Dumbledore tells them to go back in time and they do. The previous versions of themselves wouldn't have any knowledge of the TT-ed group being there, but they are still affecting the events.

[PickleBrows]

Love the irony with that footage:

 

"You think you can keep up with me?"

 

*Proceeds to jog everywhere or stay in one place to fight enemies.

[Kuzu]

More direct feed footage? More direct feed footage.

 

 

Why is the audio so shitty when Sonic & Knuckles talk, goddamn. 

 

 

 

That said, Knuckles is slowly warming up to me despite being ditzier.

[Tani Coyote]

It's because pretty much every other render of him has looked 400% better.

That and he no longer looks like Knuckles' head plastered on a buff body, so it's a pretty big dealbreaker on that front alone. He looks natural.

[Lady Soniko]

Holy shit like, the in game dialogue is genuinely good, and doesn't seem to spammed very much during battle.

 

I like it.

[Tani Coyote]

Holy shit like, the in game dialogue is genuinely good, and doesn't seem to spammed very much during battle.

 

I like it.

Indeed, even if the gameplay won't be perfect, I think the humor and possibly story will make up for it.

It's a genius move on SEGA's part. They might not be able to make older fans really like the gameplay, but they can satisfy the older fanbase's desire for better writing and narrative.

 

You do realise the easiest way to explain time travel is with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, right?

Harry, Ron, and Hermione go through the events not knowing that it is them affecting events until the point Dumbledore tells them to go back in time and they do. The previous versions of themselves wouldn't have any knowledge of the TT-ed group being there, but they are still affecting the events.

That works too...

Though really it's just a case of you haven't gone back in time yet, so you don't know anything that your future self (who is in the past) will do.

The real conundrum comes from the fact Lyric would be part of this time loop, and would presumably remember the chain of events leading to his being sealed. So he must lose his memory somehow each time Sonic seals him in the past, or he'd know Sonic going back in time is what leads to his defeat, and events would play out differently each time.

It would make the idea that another hedgehog who's a predecessor (whether biological or spiritual) of Sonic defeats Lyric more plausible. Though the mention of going back in time makes one wonder.

[PickleBrows]

Ogilvie, I meant to ask you something earlier since you played the demo.

 

In the Wii U version, can the spindash be used as a means of travel like Sega Sonic? I can't tell, but it seems to only go a few feet unless you hit a ramp with it, in which case it automatically launches you into the air.

[Tani Coyote]

Ogilvie, I meant to ask you something earlier since you played the demo.

 

In the Wii U version, can the spindash be used as a means of travel like Sega Sonic? I can't tell, but it seems to only go a few feet unless you hit a ramp with it, in which case it automatically launches you into the air.

I confess I walked everywhere.

It didn't seem to have an option to stay in the spindash mode, though. It looks like the spin dash is used as a means of attack, not transit.

Predicting that Sonic's roll is going to be used in speedruns a la Ocarina of Time. It will be beautiful.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

I confess I walked everywhere.

It didn't seem to have an option to stay in the spindash mode, though. It looks like the spin dash is used as a means of attack, not transit.

Predicting that Sonic's roll is going to be used in speedruns a la Ocarina of Time. It will be beautiful.

I think they should increase the distance it sends you depending on how long you charge it. Then it could be an actual spindash and a means of attack.

[PickleBrows]

I confess I walked everywhere.

It didn't seem to have an option to stay in the spindash mode, though. It looks like the spin dash is used as a means of attack, not transit.

Predicting that Sonic's roll is going to be used in speedruns a la Ocarina of Time. It will be beautiful.

 

That makes sense I suppose. I imagine the spindash as we know it would break these levels. You could probably launch yourself from the upper level and bypass the first combat area in the Sonic and Knuckles level.

[Tani Coyote]

There's always room for change!

It very well could be charged, since I didn't really explore the buttons. I was more focused on completing the stages.

I wish I wasn't under so much pressure to get off the console, or I'd have probably explored the buttons a bit more.

[SlickEvan]

It looks as it might be able to continue depending on how long. I noticed a couple of times it actually had a trail sometimes it didn't. Guess we'll have to find out.

[Your Vest Friend]

The real conundrum comes from the fact Lyric would be part of this time loop, and would presumably remember the chain of events leading to his being sealed. So he must lose his memory somehow each time Sonic seals him in the past, or he'd know Sonic going back in time is what leads to his defeat, and events would play out differently each time.

 

Unless he never found out that Sonic went back in time back in the past, maybe?

[MegasonicZX]

There's always room for change!

It very well could be charged, since I didn't really explore the buttons. I was more focused on completing the stages.

I wish I wasn't under so much pressure to get off the console, or I'd have probably explored the buttons a bit more.

I think it can be charged since if you notice in the toxic plant level while the guy was on the ramp he had charged a bit before actually going up it. Not sure if that will influence how far it goes or not but it can definitely be charged.

[Willsy]

Actually, I think I did see some gameplay where someone used it by accident and it propelled Sonic forward a distance. So I suppose you could use it to move around, but it works closer to SA2 where you can't spam it.

[Tani Coyote]

Unless he never found out that Sonic went back in time back in the past, maybe?

The "unfinished business" part makes it sound like Sonic personally is the one who defeats him, though.

It could be his entire memory post-sealing is wiped, barring what he last saw: Sonic himself. Villain swears revenge on X just before they're defeated, etc.

Indeed, it sounds like the other three don't deal the final blow, because Lyric's gaze only becomes focused when he sees Sonic himself.

In essence, Lyric remembers Sonic beat him, but not how many times. He only assumes one time, when he's in fact doomed to live out his life over and over being defeated by Sonic, in a way that's more akin to torture than the relationship Eggman and Sonic have.

 

I think it can be charged since if you notice in the toxic plant level while the guy was on the ramp he had charged a bit before actually going up it. Not sure if that will influence how far it goes or not but it can definitely be charged.

Well that's a definite plus.