Sonic Forces Reviews Thread

[Polkadi~☆]

6 minutes ago, Mad Convoy said:

@Polkadi

If you read the review, despite giving it a 5/10 the guy mentions several positives that he liked, such as the visuals and the concept of the avatar. Which I know are contentious topics here for a variety of reasons that I would rather not get into a debate about.

Yeah, I've read the review, and I agree. They've been high-points of the game to me, and I believe they're going to be what gets the most praise. Plus, the refiew did not just slam the game, and say it's terrible, but just "eh". I was refering to the score, because that's likely to be the only thing people will read, though it skips over the whole point of a review.

 

8 minutes ago, Speedi said:

Why would I be desperate for something that I already know is going to happen?

Because you want at least one thing to prove you right. Our first review was positive, then the very next review is mixed. You then forget the positive review exists and cling to this one review, because the score it got appeals to your opinion of the game. It's one person's opinion on the game, and does not reflect everyone as a whole. Which is why I say you need to wait for other reviews, which can give you a more full view on how everyone feels.

[Cyalume]

I can't see IGN or Gamespot being too much kinder, honestly; So I'd imagine thats two more ~4-6/10 scores. I can't comment much into this, as I haven't been keeping up with Forces in a substantial way aside from skimming some posts from here and other websites, in addition to watching Youtube videos of the leaked footage. But, this doesn't set a good precedent for whats to come.

As far as Famitsu is concerned, they gave Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) a decent score (30/40), so their opinion doesn't hold much weight with me.

[Blue Wisp]

As expected. Didn't see Sonic Forces getting any high scores since the leaks happened.

But, reviews don't affect me in the slightest so I'm still waiting for Tuesday to come by. 

[Diogenes]

1 minute ago, Sr101 said:

The Joy people are expressing over this review is venomous. This is a Sonic fan site, not an echo chamber of hate

Yes, it is. And as fans, we want this series to be the best it can be. That means we should want games to be rated accurately, to encourage good games and to discourage bad ones. A bad game getting a bad rating is, ultimately, for the best.

[Wraith]

Quote

SONIC FORCES IS PERHAPS THE MOST LITERAL INTERPRETATION YOU'LL EVER SEE OF A GAME "FOR FANS ONLY"

I remember saying something similar about the story. 

I wasn't sure how well this game would do outside it's target audience, but this ain't that great a sign...just brace yourselves for that.

[Celestia]

I really hope this isn't the only review to talk about this particular issue, cuz it's about time.

3 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

We have one average review which as @Detective Kaito mentioned, from a reviewer who gave the likes of Mania only a 7.

Perhaps we could actually wait for more reviews to come out before claiming one review from a reviewer with a seeming history of meh Sonic scores is totally right while shitting on another review because it disagrees with the idea of "FORCES IS SHIT OMG".

1) Different reviewer. Really don't understand why people use logic like this to dismiss reviews without realizing any given outlet isn't a hive mind.

2) Even if it was the same guy, it still wouldn't be a good case against this review.

24 minutes ago, superman43 said:

Wow, such rating exceeds even my (worst) expectations. Pun entirely intended.

23 minutes ago, A235 said:

Wow. As i predicted.

7 minutes ago, Speedi said:

Why would I be desperate for something that I already know is going to happen?

Is any of this really necessary

[superman43]

1 minute ago, Celestia said:

Is any of this really necessary

I just expressed what I think of review with the game dialogue itself. What´s wrong about that ?

[Celestia]

ALSO Famitsu gave Mania a low (for them, anyway...) score, so I guess that means we shouldn't take their positive review seriously, right?

[speedfreak]

I mean, most of us have seen the entire game already. I don't need a reviewer to tell me it's bad. Just like if it got great reviews I would still personally think it looks bad. 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, Celestia said:

1) Different reviewer. Really don't understand why people use logic like this to dismiss reviews without realizing any given outlet isn't a hive mind.

2) Even if it was the same guy, it still wouldn't be a good case against this review.

Because if anything, it goes to show why this mentality of "one average review" means that we're taking it as the absolute opinion from every other reviewer. It's one person's opinion and yet people are not only trying to disprove and write off the one positive review, but now this one average review is being treated as matter of fact what every reviewer will give Forces and being used to try prove a mentality of "oh, yeah this was totally what was going to happen with Forces".

I should've worded it better in that a given outlet has an history of giving out sort of average scores for these games, and yet when it happened with Mania, which got a score much lower than what other outlets were giving it, no one was taking this attitude of taking that score as matter of fact. It feels like a bit of bias when something like Mania gets a score lower than what people wanted Mania to get and it wasn't brought up much because it disagreed with the other, higher scores of what people wanted, but when Forces gets a score from the same outlet, that one is treated as matter of fact because people don't want to see Forces do very well.

[Cyalume]

1 minute ago, Celestia said:

ALSO Famitsu gave Mania a low score, so I guess that means we shouldn't take their positive review seriously, right?

Perhaps Mania wasn't to their liking for whatever reason; but, any publication that can reward a passable score to a game a broken and unfinished as STH06 is one that I seriously doubt will see eye-to-eye with me in terms of what constitutes a quality product. So for me, personally, I'm willing to discount their opinion of Forces, yes. Their score will most likely be an outlier.

[Mad Convoy]

12 minutes ago, Polkadi said:

Yeah, I've read the review, and I agree. They've been high-points of the game to me, and I believe they're going to be what gets the most praise. Plus, the review did not just slam the game, and say it's terrible, but just "eh". I was refering to the score, because that's likely to be the only thing people will read, though it skips over the whole point of a review.

Yeah (this is an attitude I don't like btw-- if it were up to me, people would just say if they recommended the game, who they would recommend it to if they would recommend it, etc. as opposed to implying some objective scale of game quality).

And yeah, I will again point out that the guy likes a lot of the concepts, just dislikes the execution. If you think reviews like that are seriously going to get Sonic Team to make the perfect Sonic game and ditch Boost forever, you're in for a nasty shock. Sonic Unleashed started development right on the heels of Sonic 06, and it was received mediocre-to-terrible on launch and cited as still having a lot of things critics hate (annoying helper character, dark storyline, monster of the week that usurps Eggman again, etc.). So instead of doing a 360, Sonic Team worked to fix the problems with Unleashed, resulting in Colors and Gens which, regardless of how much you like the boost personally, were significant steps up in quality that set the bar for 3D Sonic games. Which tells me that negative reviews don't make Sonic games good. Trashing Sonic games as bad doesn't make good, well-liked Sonic games happen right away. Sonic Team sticking to what works, refining it, and adding interesting and fitting features does. If only they stuck to it after Gens.

[GentlemanX]

This has a lot of the talking points people have brought up over here regarding the issues with the boost gameplay and its' linear nature. A few interesting things to distinguish the Polygon review from popular opinions here.

- The Polygon reviewer liked the bleaker tone of the levels, something that many here have found a turn off.

- The review gives a lot of love to the Avatar, talking about the wide variety of options available for it. Nothing negative about the Avatar's gameplay is mentioned.

- No mention of Classic Sonic's physics are included in the review, and any comparisons to Mania are general. Given how many have noted how stark the differences between the two are, for that to basically not come up is interesting.

As many here are saying, the Polygon review clearly states this game succeeds Sonic's fan character/fan fiction crowd without appealing to general gamers. I think you could tell that's who the game's been marketed toward though, so I wonder if that could be viewed as a success in Sega's book.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

7 minutes ago, Celestia said:

ALSO Famitsu gave Mania a low score, so I guess that means we shouldn't take their positive review seriously, right?

Well according to threads like this one,  it's because a translation of said review is "absolutely laughable. Barely any better or more informative than a tabloid newspapers gaming section." 

[Spooky Mulder]

3 minutes ago, Sr101 said:

The Joy people are expressing over this review is venomous. This is a Sonic fan site, not an echo chamber of hate

No one here wants the franchise to fail. You may not agree with their feelings on this game, but there are members here who are relieved that the faults of the game and the current approach are being examined by the press.

For a few years, SEGA has been scoring victory points for basically making games that are somewhat focused and playable. The Boost and 2D/3D-hybrid formula haa gotten away with a lot because it was such a departure from the unfocused mess that was the mid-2000s. Generations got away with a lot too simply by including Classic Sonic and fully 2D stages. From the looks of Forces, SEGA has misinterpreted the praise for games like Colors and Generations and reverted to their worst instincts.

I’m not happy Forces sucks. When the game was announced, I had a lot of hope for it. I didn’t want a bad Sonic game, but it’s what I got. I’m just glad at least this reviewer wasn’t simply blinded by the mere presence of Classic Sonic and the return to the Boost style.

My reaction to this review is relief. That’s not me being venemous. It’s me being hopeful.

None of this is to say that you can’t enjoy or defend the game.

[Celestia]

...For the record, I don't take Famitsu reviews seriously since they're really generous, I was making a point about dismissing a review because of another review just doesn't make sense.

[Sr101]

45 minutes ago, TheOcelot said:

Polygon nailed the review. They covered a lot of the concerns the fanbase has with Forces. I hope the other reviewers follow suit with plenty of 5/10's.

 

"Sonic Forces was reviewed using a retail copy for Nintendo Switch purchased by Polygon." So whoever reviewed Forces also bought a copy from a retailer which broke street-date. Lmao.

 

EDIT

Forget it. Ignore this post

[Indigo Rush]

2 minutes ago, Sr101 said:

or didn't actually play it and used fan reactions to make a review that would be safe...

Are you earnestly suggesting that this is the case?

[superman43]

1 minute ago, Sr101 said:

or didn't actually play it and used fan reactions to make a review that would be safe...

Let´s just wait for others then. I don´t think any miracle would happen, but who knows ?

[Shiguy]

That Polygon review highlights exactly what I hoped for. Addressing the negatives while highlighting the positives.

That may or may not recurring trend for other review scores but it's a good start. I don't know whether or not Mania is gonna be the "Eye Opener" (more then likely it will) for the majority reviews as a bases for comparison cause it's bout time some issues in the boost games get brought to attention. (Starting with the 2.5D stuff we need stop shoehorning this into the Boost games plz)

[Sr101]

EDIT: 

REMOVED ignore this post

[Celestia]

Just now, Sr101 said:

Read the review. Look for anything the implies they actually played it. They claim they bought the game right? So either they paid for a leaked copy, or read our threads and ones like them to make a review since SEGA wouldn't send a review copy.

Hm you're right, at no point does the reviewer say "I have played this game myself, holding a controller within my hands and interacting with the game on a screen in front of me." I guess that means they didn't actually play it. We've been bamboozled, everyone.

[Indigo Rush]

4 minutes ago, Sr101 said:

Read the review. Look for anything the implies they actually played it. They claim they bought the game right? So either they paid for a leaked copy, or read our threads and ones like them to make a review since SEGA wouldn't send a review copy.

Either you're giving me the runaround or this is some intense Kubler Ross esque denial taking place.

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for definitive proof of Russell's Teapot.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 minute ago, Shiguy said:

That Polygon review highlights exactly what I hoped for. Addressing the negatives while highlighting the positives.

That may or may not recurring trend for other review scores but it's a good start. I don't know whether or not Mania is gonna be the "Eye Opener" (more then likely it will) for the majority reviews as a bases for comparison cause it's bout time some issues in the boost games get brought to attention.

See now. This I can agree with. Actually resprcting the review for its content instead of just waving its score around to boast. 

[Speedi]

15 minutes ago, Polkadi said:

 

Because you want at least one thing to prove you right. Our first review was positive, then the very next review is mixed. You then forget the positive review exists and cling to this one review, because the score it got appeals to your opinion of the game. It's one person's opinion on the game, and does not reflect everyone as a whole. Which is why I say you need to wait for other reviews, which can give you a more full view on how everyone feels.

Nah fam, you've got me all wrong. I mean of course a part of me is satisfied that this game isn't getting an easy pass, but It isn't because I'm a blind Forces hater. Mostly I am just relieved that it's actual flaws are being recognized and addressed deeper then a surface level. But if this game failing is what it takes for Sonic Team to realize what they're doing wrong then hell yeah seeing a bunch of bad reviews will make me a happy camper. I don't see how wanting a game to get honest critique makes me have some sort of confirmation bias, though.