Sonic Forces | PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC "The Next Generations"

[JingleBoy]

I feel as though the main reason people are saying this seems too dark is because it's takes place in "a city" and it's vicarious association with things like '06 and Shadow, but this brings up a good point though... where exactly are we? Not a Green Hill Zone for miles in this! This is a problem with Sonic in general though, it was never really established where the games take place. I never liked the idea of Sonic meeting the President of America(?) in SA2 cause it always seemed so silly both in concept and execution. The pure essence of Sonic was always Nature Vs. Technology and having the Sonic game take place in human civilization with no context whatsoever will always rub me the wrong way. Seeing the big robots tear through Emerald Hill or a similar natural motif and seeing all the flickies fleeing would've had more impact on me than a generic nameless city. Would've been the perfect embodiment of everything the classics were about.

[Nepenthe]

@Dizcrybe No one is under the impression that Sonic Team doesn't ever decide to run too far in the opposite direction when criticized for something, but that doesn't have anything to do with the argument here which is: "What is and isn't appropriate for the franchise to visualize in any capacity?" 

Most people here seem to agree that a setting being destroyed and/or set on fire by Eggman isn't out of bounds. However, for some of those who do disagree, a city on fire merely as a vacuous concept has been arbitrarily linked with Sonic 06 and every single narrative problem it had (which did not actually hinge on Crisis City's existence in the game unless you think taking it out would have fixed everything). It's just really fucking terrible art criticism and logic because it ignores the majority of surrounding context to make a correlation between "burning city" and "narrative quality" without any solid causation being established as to why that is, which is nowhere near how competent thinking works. You could take the same argument and say we can't have beaches, whales, snowboarding, underwater bases and a whole host of other things from Sonic 06 in Sonic games anymore, simply because they were in Sonic 06.

Seriously, it's utterly mind-blowing how bad this argument is; I'm talking about "Lot's wife looking at God and being turned into a pillar of salt from His sheer gloriousness" levels of mind-blowing.

[AstroSeedP]

Some people have already pointed this out, but the more and more I look at the trailer the less it looks like what we would consider CGI. The textures on the buildings look a bit blurry, and almost like they were given fake detailing. The lighting also looks, well it's hard to describe but let's just say the way it bounces off of objects kinda looks like the way the Hedgehog Engine worked in Unleashed (It still looks more beautiful here though). The shadows also look a bit jagged which is something games are still struggling with, but that can also be due to video encoding.

This is most likely still pre-rendered and animated like a CGI cutscene, but probably done with the in-game engine and models. Besides, Marza has recently been working on a way to render CGI in realtime:

I'll leave this image here and let everyone choose for themselves.

Spoiler

[ChikoLad]

Man, this crowd reaction. Wish I could have been there.

 

[TheLaw34]

12 minutes ago, BxB-Meister said:

Some people have already pointed this out, but the more and more I look at the trailer the less it looks like what we would consider CGI. The textures on the buildings look a bit blurry, and almost like they were given fake detailing. The lighting also looks, well it's hard to describe but let's just say the way it bounces off of objects kinda looks like the way the Hedgehog Engine worked in Unleashed (It still looks more beautiful here though). The shadows also look a bit jagged which is something games are still struggling with, but that can also be due to video encoding.

This is most likely still pre-rendered and animated like a CGI cutscene, but probably done with the in-game engine and models. Besides, Marza has recently been working on a way to render CGI in realtime:

I'll leave this image here and let everyone choose for themselves.

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Working on a way to render CGI in realtime? all graphics are cgi. Pre rendered graphics usually just use different methods. I mean do you mean they are working on a way to do pathtracing in real time? or faster global illumination? Realtime CGI really doesn't mean anything and it just sounds like you are trying to find a way to say the game is pretty.

[JingleBoy]

6 minutes ago, BxB-Meister said:

 

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That's pre-rendered af d00d. Now that you mention it though, I really do want this game to look amazing. Ratchet & Clank 2016 and Uncharted 4 have really upped the bar for what big budget games can look like and I know that the Hedgehog Engine is capable of creating beautiful visuals!

[VolatileMike]

I think there's a bit more we can glean from this trailer if we stretch. 

This probably isn't a cutscene they use in the actual game. Remember when they last pulled that? Sonic Generations. A City Escape teaser with the two Sonics working together. Only in the final game they were separate from each other. But the location was very real. I really do think these mechs and this location will be part of a level. 

[Indigo Rush]

GameXplain is on the case

 

[Dejimon11]

Just now, Indigo Rush said:

GameXplain is on the case

 

Man between Pokemon SuMO and this Derrick is on a roll.

[Marcello]

R&C and Uncharted 4 are both 30 fps. Sonic should aim for 60 fps, though.

[doctorbenMD]

So, long-time lurker, first time poster, but like many of you, longtime fan of Sonic (and personal friend of Johnny Gioeli--I helped work on his pledge music campaign to raise money for a good charitable cause and his solo album). Here's my thoughts:

I got the sense from the trailer that it wasn't really going for a "full-blown grimdark" scenario, but more of a "here's this shitty world we have right now, it's all up in smoke and flames and shit, we're at our wits end, and we need a hero but we're probably all screwed." We get Modern Sonic to take them on, with Classic Sonic as well.

My hopes and thoughts with this: Modern Sonic is there to give the metaphorical finger to "the man" and give the game and franchise a jolt of punk-rock attitude. Read carefully what I said about "punk-rock attitude," as I think over the years the whole "edgy, serious, dark, grimdark, grimedgy, angry" undertones got kinda thrown into a messy pot where those words became synonymous with "attitude,"...but they aren't. Everyone curled up into a little ball and rolled away whenever they saw any sort of attitude or hint of attitude that they mistook as angst...and then the games went all "Felix the Cat" with Classic Sonic to try to recover. 

The general atmosphere of the game (with what little we know, and that a "resistance" is involved) is that it's got some serious aspect to it, yeah. But I take it as the atmosphere of the game is more it's own character and the two Sonics are there to be defiant towards it, not give into it. 

(Full disclosure: I never really got into Sonic Lost World fully because of medical school being so busy)

I get that there's no "full pleasing this fanbase" and whatnot and I was one of the one's who moaned out loud at the Mania reveal. It's like with Pokemon Go right now: I've been with that franchise for years, but a lot of casuals and people who have been gone from the game are getting into it, but do you think they would've been into it if they had more than just the original set of Pokemon from the original games? Nostalgia only goes so far, and a brand should not define itself by nostalgia--it prevents evolution of the brand. Idk, I hope I articulated this well enough for all to understand and it didn't come out as just verbal diarrhea. 

And I mean, it goes without saying, but I'm hoping for more Crush 40. 

[StaticMania]

Just now, Indigo Rush said:

GameXplain is on the case

 

Geez, mang. Only GameXplain could make such a long analysis video and speculate game-play stuff on a 1 minute trailer with zero game-play in it. They don't need to stretch the road so far, every piece of effort counts.

[PSI Wind]

When was Generations main gimmick Modern and Classic Sonic together? I thought Generations' gimmick was celebrating 20 years of Sonic by taking stages from 20 years of Sonic games and compiling the best ones from each mainline 3D game.

[HylianSith]

Totally excited for this.  I don't know why people are so upset.  The Sonic fanbase (IMO) is very hard to please.  People want classic Sonic gameplay, we get Sonic Mania, and people get pissed.  We get a modern Sonic game with (presumably) the same amazing gameplay everyone loved in Colors and Generations, and people get pissed anyways.  I'm excited about both games, cause I love Sonic, and will play them regardless if they're good or bad.  Because I love the hedgehog that much.

[SkippyTheRobot]

Welp, I'm hyped. I fell off from the Sonic series last year and now I'm back because 2017 just looks pretty damn good. The whole "Resistance" thing makes it seem like other characters (including Classic Sonic) will arrive to help defeat whatever threat is destroying the world this time around.

[doctorbenMD]

I should add, I am more excited for this game than I have been for any Sonic announcement in a while. I loved Unleashed, Colors, and Generations, and I'm just as excited for this game, if not more so.

[Betz]

It's been confirmed my Mike that Eggman HAS conquered the world in the new game.

 

[Tails spin]

5 minutes ago, Terriful said:

It's been confirmed my Mike that Eggman HAS conquered the world in the new game.

 

I'm sorry but that's a pretty vague answer. He basically dodged the subject

[Betz]

Just now, Tails spin said:

I'm sorry but that's a pretty vague answer. He basically dodged the subject

He didn't deny it though.

[Nepenthe]

He probably thought you were joking versus actually conducting a professional interview.

[Betz]

Just now, Nepenthe said:

He probably thought you were joking versus actually conducting a professional interview.

Probably but whatever. As far as I'm concerned, my boy Eggman conquered the world. On a different note, I have a theory on why Classic is there.

Spoiler

Eggman travels back in time and conquers the world before Sonic came around.

 

[DC111]

Holy crap. It's non-Boom Modern Sonic. And a tone that seems closer to something like Unleashed? And "join the resistance?" Oh wow. I think I'm low-key hyped.

There's no reason for Classic to be there though, IMO. I'm a bigger fan of Modern as it is, but it's not because of my preferences. It's because Classic Sonic literally has no reason to be there. Everything else about it screams modern, and Classic already has its own 25th anniversary game. But I'll reserve judgment until we have more to go on than a teaser.

...I feel like I just went back in time to like 7-8 years ago. I'm not accustomed to being this optimistic for a Sonic game anymore. o.O

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I guess Teen Titans got grimdark

I guess Kim Possible got grimdark.

I guess The Powerpuff Girls got Grimdark

[E-122-Psi]

Looking at the start of the trailer I was worried it might be Sonic Team taking critique the wrong way and going the whole opposite extreme of super dark and apocalyptic again...then Classic Sonic came and thumbed us up.

Hopefully this just means a balanced style that has a decent story climax.

[Balding Spider]

Anyone else just indifferent to this teaser altogether?