Sonic Forces - Custom Hero can be shared, returning zones confirmed?

[Red Hot Jack]

8 minutes ago, Psychicmoose103 said:

I bet chemical plant will be the second zone

Honestly though, who says they will all be classic zones? We could very well get stages from adventure, heroes, unleashed, colors, etc

Indeed. But Chemical Plant has to be 3rd or something because City Heights/Park Avenue is first, Green Hill is the second stage as it looks harder. If the first stage is a new one, perhaps they will be the majority?

[Psychicmoose103]

1 minute ago, Chameleon of the Spoilers said:

Indeed. But Chemical Plant has to be 3rd or something because City Heights/Park Avenue is first, Green Hill is the second stage as it looks harder. If the first stage is a new one, perhaps they will be the majority?

Im definitely hoping that it is more new zones this time around. One thing that kind of disappointed me about mania is that there were only 4 new zones and they were the minority. Hopefully forces can have old zones be the minority this time around.

[Waveshocker Sigma]

Don't know why this surprises anyone. In a game about Eggman winning and ruling the world, I would expect to go to old places to see how they've ended up changing due to Eggman's hold on the world rather than only new places that we've never seen before said hold.

Not a big deal to me.

[JingleBoy]

6 hours ago, Diamond X said:

Hold on.

So of Mania gets old stages, that's cool.

But if Forces does that too it's bad?

A lot of people didn't like the idea of returning stages in Mania either, but they could learn to live with it because of how well they were done.

Forces having returning stages is just annoying because it completely goes against what they said about this game not being Generartions 2.

[Mark1]

After playing through Mania, don't think I'll have too much of an issue with returning stages especially if they are shown to be portrayed under Eggman's rule. 

It'll feel like Sonic Team (quality dependent though sadly) are continuing on from Mania's success (although in this case I'm suspecting Iizuka in the end wanted Mania to remix old stages like Forces)

[Dee Dude]

Frankly, if returning stages have to be a thing, I'd much rather see Adveture/Heroes era stages we don't get to see anymore such as Power Plant, Twinkle Park, Mission Street etc.

But I swear...if I see one more Seaside Hill....

[RK64]

6 hours ago, Diamond X said:

So if Forces was released before Mania you would've hated it on Mania?

Be honest, you wouldn't.

No, and here is why. Taxman and team add a lot to the returning levels and in some cases, completely transform them. 

Spoiler

Both Stardust Speedway and Metallica Madness, outside of some very small bits of level design, are more or less band new zones for BOTH acts for example.

Mania shows an insane burst of personality and creativity with the returning zones. For Sonic Forces, what we've seen from Green Hill Zone was...lacking, to put it lightly. Classic Sonic's level pales in comparison to both Mania and Generation's take on Green Hill. Very stop-and-go movement, a high level of speed bosters and springs and very blockly platforming. 

Avatar's Green Hill is very bland too, though the Wispons and the chase section at the end made it 'okay' for me. Also if you guys didn't notice, Park Avenue takes many notes from City Escape Modern. At least one bit of the level (the middle section with the zip-lines) mirrors the park area in Modern's version of City Escape. Granted, that is just my thoughts but hearing 'Iconic Zones Returning' doesn't sound very promising. 

Forces needs to prove that if it uses older zones, it has the inventiveness and creativity Mania oozes at every pixel. If it doesn't and Sonic Team simply re-uses level design from Generation and Unleashed, than they are just lazy. 

[Jango]

Hopefully one of said "iconic" zones is PRESS GARDEN.

Because daaaaamn. That zone just became an insta classic. 

Ah, who am I kidding, it's gonna be Chemical Plant and Seaside Hill, isn't it?

[Sonictrainer]

I am curious about the way Chemical Plant was mentioned in the Avatar Stage.

It sounded like Chemical Plant Zone was turned into a Resistance Base.

Though part me wants to fight Chaos there.

Also, I agree that I wouldn't mind if the Iconic Zones aren't just exclusive to the Genesis Era.

 

[Kellan]

While I'm usually annoyed by nostalgia pandering, luckily my intense love of continuity balances it out. I say bring on the old zones, I wanna see how time in an Eggman-ruled world has changed them!

[Cornelius Fudge]

Honestly, the return of old zones have never bothered me. Modern Sonic games gameplay is constantly renovated with almost every new iteration, so actually witnessing these stages change drastically through different gameplay styles is actually very interesting. I enjoyed seeing how Sonic Team would handle Generation's take on Seaside Hill and it became the strongest stage in the entire game.

I wouldn't want to see areas in Colors, but closer to the Adventure games where both Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic's gameplay styles are very different from the Adventure days which would force the development team to reinvent these stages to accommodate for their different gameplay styles.

I can understand why it'd be a nuisance, but I just never had an issue with it at all.

[Kuzu]

I would say I'm surprised, but this game is Generations 2 in all but name despite how much Iizuka insists it's not. Soooo, whatever. Hopefully they're play differently enough to the point where it doesn't feel like a complete rehash.

 

[Whatever the WhoCares]

I'm actually open to the idea of returning zones, as long as they're changed from their originals. Maybe Chemical Plant is all busted up. Ice Cap Zone is all overcast and harsh. Stuff like that. 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

The fact that green hill changed any means every other zone probably changed more. I wouldn't be surprised if brand recognition has a tight hold on what GHZ is allowed to look like.

 

Anyway, returning zones is just a thing in Sonic at this point. I don't see any reason to get mad specifically now after so many years of green-hill-in-all-but-name. As long as we get some new looks to new zones, and the game isn't two hours long like Generations, I think it'll turn out ok.

[septimus01]

3 hours ago, Chameleon of the Spoilers said:

Btw that new render for Eggman makes him look quite menacing.

It is a nice render.

 

Also the returning zones are inevitable at this point, the hasn't really been sonic games since Colours and Unleashed that has been comprised of completely original zones in layout, name, gimmicks and music or aren't a mixup of previous ones like in Sonic 4:EP2.

I'll be more surprised when they make a game that doesn't have returning stuff in it rather than one that does.

Thought if the zones in Forces look notably different due to being run or destroyed by Eggman then it will be a nice enough change.

[Salamander]

While it is a rather odd change to years of precedent of always inventing a full set of new zones every game, I actually wouldn't mind starting to see more zones return from game to game.  I think there are a few key conditions to such usage, though: There should always be a decent selection of new zones, the use of old zones should be meaningful and innovative - and they shouldn't just use exactly the same ones over and over again!

[JezMM]

I'm fine with it because JUST Green Hill Zone would've been awkward, but I do have two conditions (which can be one or the other) to be fully satisfied:

Either we have re-imagined levels that WEREN'T in Generations already, so they pretty much have the appeal of new stages for a pretty HD 3D game as is

OR

We get a good minimum of at least 7 brand new zones - ideally 9 as is standard by Unleashed/Generations, but I'll settle for a solid 7

I'm fine with them re-using assets from Generations (and Unleashed, if such a zone is included) if it allows them to extend the game further than we'd get with JUST new stages.  But if we are gonna be retreading familiar ground that we've already experienced in this kind of fidelity, I don't want it to be INSTEAD of brand new content.

 

In short, the more "made with modern quality visuals for the first time" stages we get, the more lenient I'll be about them eating into a typical zone count for a modern Sonic game (i.e. say, 5-6 new zones, 3-4 old, for 8-10 zones overall).

Alternatively, if we're purely getting stages that benefit from having existing high quality 3D assets (stages seen in Unleashed, Colours, Generations or Lost World) I'm fine with it if it boosts the typical zone count for a modern Sonic game (i.e. say, 7-9 new zones, 3-5 old, for 10-14 zones overall).

[Chris Knopps]

So...

Two games in a row with majority rehash with old stages and old enemies...

Alright then.

[blueblur98]

if they're bringing back previous stages, then aquarium park could be cool.

imagine a chase scene where the glass around you is broken by the giant death egg robots, and you have to run away from it. 

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, Jango said:

Hopefully one of said "iconic" zones is PRESS GARDEN.

Because daaaaamn. That zone just became an insta classic. 

Ah, who am I kidding, it's gonna be Chemical Plant and Seaside Hill, isn't it?

Green Hill

Chemical Plant

Seaside Hill

Lost World Zone

Planet Wisp

Keep in mind the people in charge of Forces and the places/ideas they favorite most, you can make some pretty easy speculations based on that.

(Crisis City maybe too)

"Remember this place Sonic...?" - Mephi (I mean Infinite)

In regards to folks talking about the "menacing" Eggman render, that's likely where him being a real villain begins and ends in Forces.

[Red Hot Jack]

If a Mania zone got in, I'd love Studiopolis. As for other returning zones, Eggmanland please, it only makes sense in this game. With this game they can make up for the shitty selection in Generations, but don't expect any obscure zones, they already said the returning ones will be iconic.

[Psychicmoose103]

40 minutes ago, Chameleon of the Spoilers said:

If a Mania zone got in, I'd love Studiopolis. As for other returning zones, Eggmanland please, it only makes sense in this game. With this game they can make up for the shitty selection in Generations, but don't expect any obscure zones, they already said the returning ones will be iconic.

I'd be fine with either Studiopolis or Press Garden. Both are my favorite and the music is so good!

[Auroxen]

I hope they don't go the super lazy route of just doing the stages Generations did again.
If I see Chemical Plant in this game too I'll not be happy (one of the few things I don't like about Mania is the first two stages being the same as Gen's, let's not do that again please)
If they really have to make stages return I hope they select some stages that haven't showed up in a long time (in particular the adventure era is rarely used as source for returning levels so they should look in those games imho)

I don't even know how I feel about Forces anymore so I'll just wait for other news about this before making a more concrete opinion

[Guest]

If we must have returning zones, then I'm sorry but this will only be acceptable to me if Green Hill is the only one from the combined Generations and Mania roster. I can vaguely let Green Hill Zone off the hook in this regard since it's tied heavily to the concept of Classic Sonic etc, but if we have to be stuck with Chemical Plant for a third time then I'm out - This game has been in development for around 4 years and from an asset-production argument there is no excuse to hide behind in using the same zones from Mania/Generations. There are only so many times I can be excited about Stardust Speedway and Chemical Plant.

Returning zones? Okay. Returning zones that have already been revisited? Enough.

 

[Azure P]

If they're going to reuse zones. I'd rather they'd reuse zones from later in the series (pre-Unleashed because they're just too new as well) as the classic zones are being done to death.

 

Don't like Sonic heroes much. But Egg Fleet/Final Fortress or even Sky Troops (Music was awesome in those ones) recreation I'd love. Instead of beginner zones like Seaside hill. Why not reintroduce final zones? Death Egg, Ark, Chaos Angel, Egg Rocket, etc.