Sonic Forces Reviews Thread

[Sean]

Earlier, the staff made a warning that caused some alarm regarding reports made, and we're formally retracting that warning. We will not strike you for reporting anything - apologies to anyone who feared that.

[RLS Legacy]

Just read the TSSZ review, and while I agree with the score, with all due respect it's VERY poorly written.

This paragraph in particular:

"Visually, while Forces is a solid first outing for the new Hedgehog Engine 2 and holds up well in the Switch’s portable mode, one of the original engine’s major flaws is front and center in the follow-up unresolved. The allowance of real-time in-game detail does not hold well against this dark, moody, war-torn landscape, to the point where I had trouble discerning essential foreground platforms separating me from a retry and a lower score and the, at times, unnecessary background pops."

... I'm sorry? I'm struggling to even decipher the point being made here. It's all fluffed up and runs on too much.

Oh, and to call Forces' story 'the most cohesive, well-planned, satisfying story Sonic's had in years' is more than a bit laughable.

[RedFox99]

48 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

Aye carumba!

A dedicated Sonic fansite won't even give this game a pass. 

But... Whatever. That's just TSSZ for you, right? 

Umm... strong story?

[Sr101]

Just out of curiosity, the tssz review mentions 30 base levels... Does this mean the game can be beaten without playing any of the bonus content? And if so isn't that leaving out half the game? Just wondering because this is the only review to bring it up so far and sometimes post-game content is significantly better than the actual game content

[Indigo Rush]

So what we're saying is that 2/5 is too generous? 

[Lord-Dreamerz]

9 minutes ago, RLS Legacy said:

Just read the TSSZ review, and while I agree with the score, with all due respect it's VERY poorly written.

This paragraph in particular:

"Visually, while Forces is a solid first outing for the new Hedgehog Engine 2 and holds up well in the Switch’s portable mode, one of the original engine’s major flaws is front and center in the follow-up unresolved. The allowance of real-time in-game detail does not hold well against this dark, moody, war-torn landscape, to the point where I had trouble discerning essential foreground platforms separating me from a retry and a lower score and the, at times, unnecessary background pops."

... I'm sorry? I'm struggling to even decipher the point being made here. It's all fluffed up and runs on too much.

From my understanding all they were mostly trying to say was the game's new graphic engine is nice and creates cool visuals... but is somewhat wasting on war torn level themes where the colors sometimes run together making it hard to know the difference of the playable parts of the levels and the backgrounds/decoration. Which resulted in them dying extra number of times trying to figure out what was what.

[RLS Legacy]

Just now, Lord-Dreamerz said:

From my understanding all they were trying to say was the game's new graphic engine is nice and creates cool visuals... but is somewhat wasting on war torn level themes where the colors sometimes run together making it hard to know the difference of the playable parts of the levels and the backgrounds/decoration. Which resulted in them dying extra number of times trying to figure out what was what.

That's all very well, but what exactly are 'unnecessary background pops' and what, if anything, distinguishes them from necessary background pops? 

Semi-joking at this point, but still.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

7 minutes ago, RLS Legacy said:

That's all very well, but what exactly are 'unnecessary background pops' and what, if anything, distinguishes them from necessary background pops? 

Semi-joking at this point, but still.

I couldn't tell you. Watching the game myself it was all pretty obvious normally what parts of the level were playable and what parts were just background... The game never looked cluttered/over detailed enough for me to believe anything I saw that I would consider to be unnecessary background props.

[TheRedRabbit]

5 hours ago, Sir Laptop said:

Calling Polygon a "proper journalist" is an extremely misguided statement. This is coming from the same journalist that gave games like N-Sane Trilogy a 6/10, and Mania a 7/10, yet gave a soccer game that is essentially $90 DLC for the one three years before a 9/10, for crying out loud. That being said, I don't take Famitsu with nothing more than a grain of salt either, their reviews are overly positive and don't put out any flaws unless the game is on Ninjabread Man levels of bad, and it has been like this for over a decade. There's a good reason why Polygon gets a bad rap for being one of the worst journalists in the industry.

When other, more respectable reviewers, such as SomeCallMeJohnny, give Forces a try and give their opinion, I'll begin paying attention and that's where Sega and ST should be paying attention also. For the moment, I'll wait for more reviews to get out.

You're not going to be able to make this a question of unreliable critique, mate, at least not based on past reviews.  All three games have different reviewers.  Jeremy Parish reviewed Sonic Forces, Ashley Oh reviewed Crash Bandicoot and the dreaded white knight Arthur Gies reviewed Sonic Mania.  Jeremy's not even an employee of Polygon, he's an independent writer that used to be the EIC of 1UP before Ziff Davis shuttered it, so you can't even reasonably call it a case of corporate hive-mindedness.  If you disagree with his review, that's fine, but don't call into question his legitimacy for it.

1 hour ago, Speedi said:

I feel like the Sonic fanbase is a smaller minority then people say it is. Granted I have no way of really proving it, but I'm pretty sure Mania didn't get good sales just from the Sonic fanbase alone. The casual crowd also gave that game a lot of attention because of it's incredibly fun and simple gameplay. Sonic fans keep this franchise on life support, but they can't afford to pay for the live saving operation to get the series healthy again.

It's entirely anecdotal but that's certainly the case with my circle of friend, all of whom are gamers.  I'm the only Sonic fan in the lot, something for which my older brother takes the piss out of me constantly (he was a huge Sonic fan until Sonic CD and never made the transition to the Adventure games when Dreamcast came out).

[Gabz Girl]

Welp, looks like even the biggest Sonic fan site around didn’t like it much. Although them saying the story is good ehhhh not sure I agree with that. XD;;

Y’know, I’ve just realised something. I don’t remember fans being so damn defensive about the game when reviews for Sonic Lost World came out so why now? Is it because it’s the first Boost game since Generations so they automatically expect it to get really good reviews? I hope the guy from TSSZ and other critics don’t get vitriol from these so called “fans.”

[Wraith]

4 minutes ago, Gabz Girl said:

Welp, looks like even the biggest Sonic fan site around didn’t like it much. Although them saying the story is good ehhhh not sure I agree with that. XD;;

Y’know, I’ve just realised something. I don’t remember fans being so damn defensive about the game when reviews for Sonic Lost World came out so why now? Is it because it’s the first Boost game since Generations so they automatically expect it to get really good reviews? I hope the guy from TSSZ and other critics don’t get vitriol from these so called “fans"

Oh no they were definitely on the defensive. It was even worse because more people had faith in the game and the bad reviews dropped all at once.

[Meta77]

7 minutes ago, Gabz Girl said:

Welp, looks like even the biggest Sonic fan site around didn’t like it much. Although them saying the story is good ehhhh not sure I agree with that. XD;;

Y’know, I’ve just realised something. I don’t remember fans being so damn defensive about the game when reviews for Sonic Lost World came out so why now? Is it because it’s the first Boost game since Generations so they automatically expect it to get really good reviews? I hope the guy from TSSZ and other critics don’t get vitriol from these so called “fans.”

1 major reason.lost world was on a crappy underpowered system no one cares for besides the duehardest of Nintendo fans. I wouldn't say defensive many people are just happy to play it and support modern sonic. The sonic fandom will always be on of the more divisive randoms in internet lore

[Dr. Mechano]

2 hours ago, Tornado said:

Is it anime-esque?

Add 25 points.

Is it, specifically, shonen-y?

Add 5 more points.

Is it actually any good?

The remaining ten points go here.

This is basically the criteria for a pretty vocal segment of the Sonic fandom too. As long as they get their dark anime story (however incoherent it may be), the game attached to it isn't that important.

Not saying all Forces fans fall into this vocal segment, but there's no small number of people who've outright said they don't care about the quality of the game nearly as much as the story, spectacle, and other bits of window-dressing.

[Gabz Girl]

3 minutes ago, Josh said:

Oh no they were definitely on the defensive. It was even worse because more people had faith in the game and the bad reviews dropped all at once.

Argh that’s right. I only remember I was very surprised when the Lost World reviews came out but I still wanted to give it a chance (and I ended up not liking it much either). I didn’t deny the mediocre reviews and stuff, I was just surprised. Especially when the previews seemed to be quite positive. Sonic Forces has always had a mixed reception though and it looks like reviews are going to reflect that too. 

[Meta77]

9 minutes ago, Super Mechanio said:

This is basically the criteria for a pretty vocal segment of the Sonic fandom too. As long as they get their dark anime story (however incoherent it may be), the game attached to it isn't that important.

Not saying all Forces fans fall into this vocal segment, but there's no small number of people who've outright said they don't care about the quality of the game nearly as much as the story, spectacle, and other bits of window-dressing.

So sonic games with no story are better than one with some?

[Dr. Mechano]

Just now, Meta77 said:

So sonic games with no story are better than one with some?

That's not even close to what I said. All I said was that some fans over-prioritize story and spectacle to the point where they don't really care if the game itself is actually good. People on this very forum have said as much about themselves.

...Though I will say that a hypothetical Sonic game with "no story" (i.e. something that doesn't and has never existed so far) would be better than a Sonic game with a rambling, unpleasant, and incoherent story like Forces.

[caitash]

Yeah, I'm not too surprised by the review scores tbh. I really, really wanted this game to do well and I will find my own enjoyment from it, but it's far from the game I really wanted to see Sonic Team put out there with pride. The customsable parts of the Avatar are pretty fun, but that can be implemented in other ways with the existing cast tbh and doesn't necessarily warrant an avatar to do so.

The next game I want to see totally new ideas and levels. I've been thoroughly bored of Green Hill for a while and now I'm bored of Chemical Plant too :/ Was it Iizuka who talked about how much passion they had while making Forces? Unfortunately little of that passion (or much charm) is obvious thus far.

[Meta77]

5 minutes ago, Super Mechanio said:

That's not even close to what I said. All I said was that some fans over-prioritize story and spectacle to the point where they don't really care if the game itself is actually good. People on this very forum have said as much about themselves.

...Though I will say that a hypothetical Sonic game with "no story" (i.e. something that doesn't and has never existed so far) would be better than a Sonic game with a rambling, unpleasant, and incoherent story like Forces.

Sonic 1s story only existed in the manual. Without it a child growing up would have no idea why a fat man wanted to crush burn impale drown and blow you up so bad lol  xD

[Dr. Mechano]

18 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Sonic 1s story only existed in the manual. Without it a child growing up would have no idea why a fat man wanted to crush burn impale drown and blow you up so bad lol  xD

It's simple, but it's coherent.  Forces' story feels confusing, self-contradictory, and tonally dissonant.

Either way, that's not my point. The story, whether it's good or bad, shouldn't be a reason to excuse bad gameplay. I think it's telling that a good chunk of people looking forward to this game aren't really hyped for the game so much as they're hyped for its cutscenes and dialogue; all things they can experience for free on Youtube without having to actually play (and more importantly buy) the game. And I think that's how a lot of them will experience that story - It was certainly the case with Lost World, when you compare its online cutscene views with how that game actually sold in stores. Which, unfortunately for Sega, doesn't really benefit them at all.

[Kuzu]

2 minutes ago, Super Mechanio said:

It's simple, but it's coherent.  Froces' story feels confusing, self-contradictory, and tonally dissonant.

Either way, that's not my point. The story, whether it's good or bad, shouldn't be a reason to excuse bad gameplay. I think it's telling that a good chunk of people looking forward to this game aren't really hyped for the game so much as they're hyped for its cutscenes and dialogue; all things they can experience for free on Youtube without having to actually play (and more importantly buy) the game. And I think that's how a lot of them will experience that story - It was certainly the case with Lost World, when you compare its online cutscene views with how that game actually sold in stores. Which, unfortunately for Sega, doesn't really benefit them at all.

For better or worse, a good portion of the fanbase prioritize the lore and setting over the game. It's been a thing since Adventure started to emphasize those elements more.

[Meta77]

1 minute ago, Super Mechanio said:

It's simple, but it's coherent.  Froces' story feels confusing, self-contradictory, and tonally dissonant.

Either way, that's not my point. The story, whether it's good or bad, shouldn't be a reason to excuse bad gameplay. I think it's telling that a good chunk of people looking forward to this game aren't really hyped for the game so much as they're hyped for its cutscenes and dialogue; all things they can experience for free on Youtube without having to actually play (and more importantly buy) the game. And I think that's how a lot of them will experience that story - It was certainly the case with Lost World, when you compare its cutscene views with how that game actually sold in stores. Which, unfortunately for Sega, doesn't really benefit them at all.

True but knowing Sega long as the home country gives them good reviews this is what well see more of. I just want my god damn sa3 with online choa gardens!!

[Razule]

37 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Sonic 1s story only existed in the manual. Without it a child growing up would have no idea why a fat man wanted to crush burn impale drown and blow you up so bad lol  xD

Simple/=/Bad

Besides, it's easy to infer the story, or at least make uo your own by watching the game unfold. If you don't read the manual, then you probably don't care too much.

Mustache guy=bad guy

Sonic=hero

Robots with animals inside=Bad guy's trapping animals in robots

[Dr. Mechano]

4 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

True but knowing Sega long as the home country gives them good reviews this is what well see more of. I just want my god damn sa3 with online choa gardens!!

Understand this: Sega doesn't care about reviews. Sega cares about money.

Sega only cares about review scores inasmuch they have the ability to affect sales. But if Forces doesn't sell well, it doesn't matter if Famitsu sings its praises. It'll be a liability to Sega, and a waste of a huge four-year budget. What Sega cares about is their bottom line.

[Meta77]

56 minutes ago, Super Mechanio said:

Understand this: Sega doesn't care about reviews. Sega cares about money.

Sega only cares about review scores inasmuch they have the ability to affect sales. But if Forces doesn't sell well, it doesn't matter if Famitsu sings its praises. It'll be a liability to Sega, and a waste of a huge four-year budget. What Sega cares about is their bottom line.

This is Sega. Regardless they green lights a lot if things in my childhood that never did so well from the Saturn.  anarchy.  bayonetta.  domain. If Sega truly believed in money boom the game . Sega mat like money doesn't mean they will change.much to.see that short

...granted vocaloid does pretty well

Sorry for spelling I can't get a strong signalo n post so it's screwing up my messages with lots of timeouts

[Detective Kaito]

Damn, first a 5/10 now a 4/10? This is even worse than I expected!