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

[Chris Knopps]

1 minute ago, Lord-Dreamerz said:

Has little to nothing to do with budget. SonicTeam likely want Sonic Forces to run at 60 FPS and for the PS4/Xbone/PC version to not look extremely different from the Nintendo version. Meaning they gotta cut corners somewhere. And the fact of the matter is hardly anybody but nitpicky fans will notice the background being a lower render... Or care when they do.

I wouldn't be bothered if it wasn't so prominent/obvious in the title. But you can see all too clearly just where and how much corners are being cut.

Even in Green Hill with it's, currently, minimalistic background in comparison you can still see things looking lacking in the background.

[Bowbowis]

24 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

Anybody else hoping the game has much better rendering by launch?

It's a bit of an urking thing for me to see trees along your path looking crisp and realistic while those in the background look like assets thrown in from several Generations ago...

Get it? Generations? Har.

But yeah, the objects in the background look abysmal in the Modern stage, they've got to be able to make things look better than that. The budget might be shrinking, but the quality of what's around you can't have fallen THAT low this quickly, especially with how much they likely saved with the, lets face it, barren Lost World full of blurry backgrounds and random shapes around you.

Why bother? It's extra work for something that's only going to be onscreen for a quarter of a second and uses up RAM which could otherwise be used for stuff in the foreground.

[KHCast]

I wouldn't mind if they showed maybe 2 or so new stages before release, but not like the entire game. Gives us a bit to look at and see the different styles in action(and hopefully more interesting than GHZ, and what we've seen of the city level level design wise).

[Chris Knopps]

1 minute ago, Bowbowis said:

Why bother? It's extra work for something that's only going to be onscreen for a quarter of a second and uses up RAM which could otherwise be used for stuff in the foreground.

Well, wanting the most out of every aspect of the game isn't wrong really.

I'm kind of hoping for Kingdom Hearts level of obsession over the title on developers parts, that give all, be all kind of game where no pixel is left unpolished.

[Sonictrainer]

What are some new powers and abilities you'd like to see on the new guy?

[Chris Knopps]

1 minute ago, Sonictrainer said:

What are some new powers and abilities you'd like to see on the new guy?

Nngggghhh...

That's really, REALLY hard to say as, going from the marketing, it's just another Sonic that just so happens to look, well, NOT like him, but basically just playing like both versions of the blue blur somehow.

I... Doubt there will be anything special about it, so this is a question that's kind of...

I don't know, and with the Wisps back, I mean...

...I dunno man. I just don't see it being a very special character asides being Sonic with a new and/or your own custom skin on it.

[MudHunter]

8 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

What are some new powers and abilities you'd like to see on the new guy?

If the custom character rumors were true, then I guess having customizable moves wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[Blue Blood]

2 hours ago, Chris Knopps said:

Anybody else hoping the game has much better rendering by launch?

It's a bit of an urking thing for me to see trees along your path looking crisp and realistic while those in the background look like assets thrown in from several Generations ago...

Get it? Generations? Har.

But yeah, the objects in the background look abysmal in the Modern stage, they've got to be able to make things look better than that. The budget might be shrinking, but the quality of what's around you can't have fallen THAT low this quickly, especially with how much they likely saved with the, lets face it, barren Lost World full of blurry backgrounds and random shapes around you.

I'm not that bothered by the trees and other background elements of the city, but yeah they do look a bit naff. What does really irk me though is the grass in Green Hill. Only the grass in the foreground and immediate background has individual blades rendered, while the rest is really flat. It's really jarring.. 

[Multikaris]

1 hour ago, Sonictrainer said:

What are some new powers and abilities you'd like to see on the new guy?

I'd like to see some kind of Hadoken-type attack on the newcomer.

[Zers Editor]

I was thinking about the third character and his importance in the story lately. Something tells me, that it's going to be utilized in THIS style.

You'll do your job to hold the resistance, and will be cheered up along the way by Sonic's friends, like in this video.

[Chris Knopps]

1 hour ago, Zers Editor said:

I was thinking about the third character and his importance in the story lately. Something tells me, that it's going to be utilized in THIS style.

You'll do your job to hold the resistance, and will be cheered up along the way by Sonic's friends, like in this video.

Incorporating ideas from the Olympic series would be interesting I suppose.

[blazefan519]

1 hour ago, Zers Editor said:

I was thinking about the third character and his importance in the story lately. Something tells me, that it's going to be utilized in THIS style.

You'll do your job to hold the resistance, and will be cheered up along the way by Sonic's friends, like in this video.

Really hoping the other Sonic cast will be cheerleaders tho. They need to actually contribute to the resistance and to the plot as well. But I can see it being done in a similar way to the Olympic games (never thought I'd be drawing parallels from the Olympic spin-off to a main series Sonic game lol)

[Chris Knopps]

In regards to the final boss music of the game, take your pic.

Instrumental Rock

Instrumental Orchestra

Instrumental Rock/Orchestra Hybrid

Vocals/Rock

Vocals/Orchestra

Vocals Rock/Orchestra Hybrid

I want YOU to pick your favorite, and don't forget to spay and neuter your hedgehogs!

[JosepHenry]

Instrumental Rock/Orchestra Hybrid. There is no other option.

[Multikaris]

57 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

In regards to the final boss music of the game, take your pic.

Instrumental Rock

Instrumental Orchestra

Instrumental Rock/Orchestra Hybrid

Vocals/Rock

Vocals/Orchestra

Vocals Rock/Orchestra Hybrid

I want YOU to pick your favorite, and don't forget to spay and neuter your hedgehogs!

Vocals/Rock would be the best.

[Shiny Gems]

15 minutes ago, It's a Very Merry Miru said:

Vocals/Rock would be the best.

Same here. I have always liked vocals/rock, such as Crush 40 and other bands.

[Kintor]

The final boss music one thing, as long as it can match the likes Live & Learn/ Solaris Phase 2 I'll be happy with either rock or orchestra.

With that said, I still want to see more Crush 40 vocal tracks in Sonic Forces. The presence of Crush 40 is something I've missed in recent Sonic games post-Sonic Generations.

[Chris Knopps]

1 hour ago, Kintor said:

The final boss music one thing, as long as it can match the likes Live & Learn/ Solaris Phase 2 I'll be happy with either rock or orchestra.

 

With that said, I still want to see more Crush 40 vocal tracks in Sonic Forces. The presence of Crush 40 is something I've missed in recent Sonic games post-Sonic Generations.

Ehhhh...

They were great back in the day but those guys aren't getting any younger. I'd prefer a more... Fresh band come into the picture. Some staples are needed but there are some that are welcome to have changes made, and the composers are certainly ready for a replacement, with TeeLopes a marvelous beginning.

[Marcello]

I want Vocals/Rock. I've never cared for the orchestral themes in Sonic.

Back on the subject of marketing, I definitely appreciate them not going overboard and spoiling everything like with Generations. But, since I have no idea when I'll be able to buy this (or Mania) and I'll be spoiled before playing the game anyway, this time around I wouldn't mind them showing a ton.

[JezMM]

Whatever fits really, but I just hope it has a good amount of oomph and melody to it, whatever they go with.

Considering the music we've heard so far for the main theme and first stage is already pretty (forgive the overused term) epic, the final boss theme will need to be either very unique in style or take that style up to 11, I think.

 

But I'm always game for a really unexpected final boss theme if they can make it work, like something more atmospheric or sombre with a slow-build etc.

[D.K.]

I mean, I'd like the final boss track to be orchestral, but the fact that this is what Ohtani considers a good final boss theme in this day and age has me worried.

 

[Blue Blood]

4 minutes ago, Depression Kong said:

I mean, I'd like the final boss track to be orchestral, but the fact that this is what Ohtani considers a good final boss theme has me worried.

 

Like, there's nothing wrong with that track. It just that everything else was wrong with the boss itself, and so the was too dramatic for it.

And you know Ohtani was behind Solaris Phase 2, Nega Wisp Armour Phase 2 and Perfect Dark Gaia, right?

[D.K.]

3 hours ago, Blue Blood said:

And you know Ohtani was behind Solaris Phase 2, Nega Wisp Armour Phase 2 and Perfect Dark Gaia, right?

And this is part of my problem.

As I said a bunch of pages back, Ohtani doesn't have the same "I'm not used to this style" excuse that most other Sonic composers have. Ohtani is arguably one of the most musically flexible composers to ever touch the franchise. He's shown multiple times that he's perfectly capable of making something as good as Rooftop Run or Wave Ocean. So why did he decide to throw all of his work into a garbage compactor and go with musical styles that make absolutely no sense in Sonic's context?

Lost World's music is not bad, in terms of just being music it's actually pretty good, but the whole thing with Sonic music is that you can listen to the first 10 seconds of a song without context and immediately say "this is Sonic music". Can you honestly listen to the first 10 seconds of a Lost World song and be able to tell it's from Sonic?

[Blue Blood]

Beyond the presence some new Green Hill clones and Sonic himself, almost nothing about Lost World felt like a Sonic game. It was trying to be something else entirely and that's reflected in the music as much as it is anywhere else. It was a definite outlier. 

[Indigo Rush]

But - but I thought it was pandering to Classic Sonic fans! They always get exactly what they want!