Sonic Forces Impressions

[The Deleter]

And thus the point of another platformer's iconic, collectable gimmick, fades away into pointlessness. Rest in peace, actual value for collecting lots of rings. We hardly knew ye...

 

If platformers really are going to pander to the "respawn-behind-where-we-died" favoritism of the modern age, they need new systems to make their levels filled with to replicate the old days, STAT. Mario Odyssey has the right idea, but even that is kinda lame in that a death hardly dents your wallet in the first place...

[rosedust]

give amy her promo sega wth.

[Milo]

4 hours ago, Josh said:

That kind of makes sense. I think the solution there was less rings though. Not none. 

They don't give you lives and they don't help you when you get hit so now I feel like they made Rings too unimportant. 

The only real value rings have in this game are contributing to your score/ranking, but that's only one of several factors (time, enemies destroyed, etc.) so it doesn't really amount to much. So unless there have been other changes made to Sonic's system mechanics we don't know about yet, they may as well had given Sonic and co. multiple hit points. Rings in this game are now only a slight cut above acting as standard coins to collect as in many other platformers.

And speaking of one potential solution about having less rings, that reminds me of another point--a Sonic game where there are no lives system, you lose all of your rings in one hit, and you can't recollect dropped rings result in a game where dying is much easier, but dying itself is virtually meaningless on your performance. If there aren't any other changes being made to the system mechanics to balance the game difficulty, then the game's level design will have to be significantly more challenging; lest your risk the game coming off as a cakewalk to beat.

And that in itself creates its own problems. Sonic generally isn't known for being on the higher end of the difficulty scale in the platformer genre, so you'll have to be really smart with making the increased difficulty for the game's levels seem fair and not coming off as cheap. The difficulty spike in the later half of the game was one of the biggest problems people had with Sonic Team's previous Sonic game (especially since Lost World also removed the "100 rings = 1 life" mechanic until Sonic Team patched it back in).

[CleverSonicUsername]

Eh nevermind

[Graystripe2000]

Nevermind what?

[Graystripe2000]

Another preview from Mirror. They called it "definitely one for the fans". 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/hands-sonic-forces-egx-2017-11213001

 

[Salamander]

And to anyone wondering if that was a sincere statement or a backhanded compliment, it's very much the latter:

Quote

It's all quite a spectacle, but it's mostly cinematic; your input here mostly consists of holding the analog stick forward.

Ultimately, if you hadn't already gathered, these four levels prove that Sonic Forces is fully intended to be fan service. It succeeds at that, as it incorporates everything hardcore Sonic fans love - custom characters, classic levels and 3D level, terrible pop songs - but it's unlikely to please anyone else.

 

[Graystripe2000]

Another one of the Switch version from Attack of Athens Fanboy. Really like how he did this one. 

https://aotf.com/articles/preview-sonic-forces-on-nintendo-switch-is-a-bit-of-a-mess/

[NoKaine]

22 hours ago, Yeow said:

The only real value rings have in this game are contributing to your score/ranking, but that's only one of several factors (time, enemies destroyed, etc.) so it doesn't really amount to much. So unless there have been other changes made to Sonic's system mechanics we don't know about yet, they may as well had given Sonic and co. multiple hit points. Rings in this game are now only a slight cut above acting as standard coins to collect as in many other platformers.

And speaking of one potential solution about having less rings, that reminds me of another point--a Sonic game where there are no lives system, you lose all of your rings in one hit, and you can't recollect dropped rings result in a game where dying is much easier, but dying itself is virtually meaningless on your performance. If there aren't any other changes being made to the system mechanics to balance the game difficulty, then the game's level design will have to be significantly more challenging; lest your risk the game coming off as a cakewalk to beat.

And that in itself creates its own problems. Sonic generally isn't known for being on the higher end of the difficulty scale in the platformer genre, so you'll have to be really smart with making the increased difficulty for the game's levels seem fair and not coming off as cheap. The difficulty spike in the later half of the game was one of the biggest problems people had with Sonic Team's previous Sonic game (especially since Lost World also removed the "100 rings = 1 life" mechanic until Sonic Team patched it back in).

The problem with Lost World is that if you game overed it's back to the beginning, and also the difficulty was bullshit paired with questionable design choices.

Yeah, but this isn't good. They should go back to the Shadow ring system, where you only lose some rings.

Also, deaths do count towards the ranking, it actually counts ihow many too.

[Graystripe2000]

PushSquare preview. 

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2017/09/hands_on_sonic_forces_offers_both_slick_speed_and_colourless_customisation

[Danthehed2031]

While I can see how some people may be bothered by it, I don't think of the new Ring system as that big of a deal. If anything, it makes up for the lack of lives in the game, as someone else previously stated. My best guess is that they'll serve as in-game money for new Avatar equipment and even Wispons, the most valuable/rare ones being the priciest ones. Very pricey. That may be why there seems to be such copious amounts of Rings on every stage we've seen thus far.

Or you could just unlock them by clearing missions, if there's any at all.

[Badnik Mechanic]

5 hours ago, Operationgamer17 said:

Another preview from Mirror. They called it "definitely one for the fans". 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/hands-sonic-forces-egx-2017-11213001

 

I think you need to read this one before you take much stock in that.

The guy who wrote that article effectively combines all the stages into one super stage, and he was bragging on twitter how he got 10 articles done about EGX before anyone else... he did not take his time on anything he wrote. 

The majority of his preview just describes what happens, at no point does he talk about how well the game plays or anything important.

[Dr. Detective]

Randomly, I just decided to watch all the footage for Sonic Forces we've gotten so far. I was taken by surprise when I got to the Avatar's version of Park Avenue because I immediately realized that I hadn't actually seen it before. Not in a way that wasn't squinting at someone else playing it on a small screen while also looking through my own computer screen... in 240p.

I'm really liking the dialogue and the fact that they're making certain that each stage has an in-story objective they're trying to complete.

Amy: I need a status update on the people who couldn't evacuate in time.

Espio: Espio here. We're engaging enemy forces and can't search for civilians right now!

Sounds tense at the start but by the end Espio's all happy and like "Good job everyone!" 

Yay~!

Even if everything else about the game turns out to be a let-down, I hope when they overreact and chuck things in the garbage yet again, they'll consider keeping the interaction around. Maybe even take aims to improve upon it. 

Might be a bit much to hope for though. I'm pushing my luck considering this is happening at all. This alone feels like a miracle. 

[CleverSonicUsername]

On 9/22/2017 at 4:06 PM, Operationgamer17 said:

Nevermind what?

I wrote up something that I read over after I posted it, and it just seemed stupid and really nitpicky. I couldn't find a way to delete my post so I just blanked it out.

[Badnik Mechanic]

This is me playing Sonic Forces.

Full article going live in the next hour. Grab a coffee you'll need it.

[Sega DogTagz]

14 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

This is me playing Sonic Forces.

 

Way too outshine all the noobs who play the thing. Kudos for that.

We've seen footage of what happens when you fail the double boost button mash (the characters stumble for a second and then blast off like normal). There doesn't seem to be much of a penalty there. Kinda pointless to even have the prompt.

and at the very least, you did manage to find another small alternate route. The lightning wisp ring trails lead you to an entirely new area at the end of it, not just flying above the normal route, so thats nice I guess. 

 

Aside from that, thanks for sharing dude.

[Dr. Detective]

Holy shit. It's been a long time since the light speed dash looked so cool.

To bad about that automation.

[Badnik Mechanic]

17 minutes ago, Sega DogTagz said:

Way too outshine all the noobs who play the thing. Kudos for that.

Believe it or not, this was my 3rd playthrough of the stage. I think most people should be able to master it in that time, it is literally just "Hold triangle, then push X to home attack, then hold triangle" it's not hard in the slightest.

The Burst wisp route though is much harder, it's dull to watch but so much more fun. It's almost the exact same route as the light dash wisp.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Here we go.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2017/09/sonic-forces-egx-2017-hands-on-impressions/

 

Any questions?

[JosepHenry]

19 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

Here we go.

https://www.sonicstadium.org/2017/09/sonic-forces-egx-2017-hands-on-impressions/

 

Any questions?

That was really good, very informative, you made your points perfectly understandable.

So question.

What score would you give the game in its current demo state? (PS4 and Xbox separate from the Switch because I know the Switch version is gonna lose a few points.)

[Diogenes]

18 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

Any questions?

Yes; why does Sonic Team hate gameplay, fun, and also their audience?

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

Just now, Diogenes said:

Yes; why does Sonic Team hate gameplay, fun, and also their audience?

Well... Ya know...

[Badnik Mechanic]

Just now, Diogenes said:

Yes; why does Sonic Team hate gameplay, fun, and also their audience?

Well I once asked Tim Spencer this in a bar once.

"So I imagine this happens a lot when people make a game, the developers are told 'OK, we are making a game, it is going to be like this, it will do this, and it will do this. Everybody please work on this.'

In the corner, sat perfectly still, is a clown, and the leader of the project says 'everybody, ignore the clown, do not do anything that the clown tells you'

For months, the team works on the game, they get it working really well... then all of a sudden the clown yells

"COMBAT MECHANICS! PLATFORM MECHANICS! BONUS FEATURES!"

Everybody stops what they're doing and does what the clown says.

The game is released and the project leader says... I thought I told you people to ignore the clown?"

 

He looked at me and said.

 

"You're wrong, there are multiple clowns"

[Soniman]

impressions was about everything I expected. Sucks aboutthe Switch version being dog shit, guess ill look into a steam purchase then if I really still wan a play this lol

[Badnik Mechanic]

7 minutes ago, Joseph Henry said:

That was really good, very informative, you made your points perfectly understandable.

So question.

What score would you give the game in its current demo state? (PS4 and Xbox separate from the Switch because I know the Switch version is gonna lose a few points.)

I'm not giving it a score, if I give it a score people go "Well that's the same as" or "It's higher/lower than this" and get the wrong impression in a bid to try and either make it better/worse or around par with their own beliefs. 

Keeping a score off means you get the facts of my impression and have to deal with just the content of what I said and not a parable comparison.