Sonic Forces Reviews Thread

[Harkofthewaa]

4 minutes ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

Friday releases increasing in frequency is a relatively new thing. Tuesday releases have typically been more common, so no I don't find it weird.

Resident Sonic defendant Tim Turi doesn't work there anymore so probably not.

I know, that's the joke.

[CleverSonicUsername]

Time stamped for when the discussion gets going, but I was really reminded of this with the talk of what is "low" in terms of score and what readers take away.

[Clewis]

13 minutes ago, GuyWithThePie said:

Am I the only one who still finds it weird that they're deciding to release it on a Tuesday? Don't they know that all the major game releases are always on Friday?

I'm sure they do, which is why they're releasing it on Tuesday.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

3 minutes ago, Clewis said:

I'm sure they do, which is why they're releasing it on Tuesday.

South Park Fractured But Whole was a big-name title that had been delayed twice and was highly anticipated. That also released on a Tuesday.  

[SonicLegends]

It's amazing how people will jump the gun only after just 1 review getting a 5 despite the fact even previous games like Colors and Generations with similar gameplay to Forces got just about the same oddity especially since if I'm correct Colors got above all 7, but Jim Sterling's review of 4.5 hurt the overall metacritic score. 

[KHCast]

2 minutes ago, SonicLegends said:

It's amazing how people will jump the gun only after just 1 review getting a 5 despite the fact even previous games like Colors and Generations with similar gameplay to Forces got just about the same oddity especially since if I'm correct Colors got above all 7, but Jim Sterling's review of 4.5 hurt the overall metacritic score. 

Similar maybe, but better, and given that people here have played it and didn't like it, eh, I'm not holding out for Gens levels of praise with only a few stinkers 

[Badnik Mechanic]

4 minutes ago, SonicLegends said:

It's amazing how people will jump the gun only after just 1 review getting a 5 despite the fact even previous games like Colors and Generations with similar gameplay to Forces got just about the same oddity especially since if I'm correct Colors got above all 7, but Jim Sterling's review of 4.5 hurt the overall metacritic score. 

Who here has jumped the gun?

Most people seem to agree with what the review actually says and the score.

If you happen to disagree with it and the content, why hasn't anyone put up a counter argument? See plenty of people going "Oh it's only Polygon" not seen anyone even attempting to counter the arguments and points raised in it.

People have been saying these complaints for months and nobody has put up a counter argument as to why the game is even in the good ballpark area, certainly not when it comes to gameplay and level design.

[McGroose]

While Polygon's review is incredibly satisfying to read and the score is well deserved, I'd hesitate before saying that Polygon would be an ideal indicator of what to expect from most reviewers based on their track record. Expect some sevens and maybe evens eights. I still think the review average will be around 7. Maybe 6.5.

[Clewis]

14 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

South Park Fractured But Whole was a big-name title that had been delayed twice and was highly anticipated. That also released on a Tuesday.  

I'm not saying major releases never occur on Tuesdays, I was just making a cheap joke at Forces' expense.

[Speedi]

1 minute ago, McGroose said:

While Polygon's review is incredibly satisfying to read and the score is well deserved, I'd hesitate before saying that Polygon would be an ideal indicator of what to expect from most reviewers based on their track record. Expect some sevens and maybe evens eights.

I'd honestly be fine with the game getting sevens and eights as long as their flaws were still addressed, that's really all I want out of these reviews anyways. Now I don't personally think Forces deserves anything above a six but eh that doesn't really matter at this point.

[KHCast]

7 minutes ago, McGroose said:

While Polygon's review is incredibly satisfying to read and the score is well deserved, I'd hesitate before saying that Polygon would be an ideal indicator of what to expect from most reviewers based on their track record. Expect some sevens and maybe evens eights. I still think the review average will be around 7. Maybe 6.5.

Why? The points raised line up with the complaints we've brought up for months and the complaints those that have played it here have addressed.seems like a trust worthy wel written review. And I can see other critics having similar complaints 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

4 minutes ago, Clewis said:

:I

I'm not saying major releases never occur on Tuesdays, I was just making a cheap joke at Forces' expense.

Yeah, and the cheap joke doesn't work when the joke itself is contradicted. There's no evidence that major game releases occur on Fridays. It used to be that all releases for games in the UK at least happened on Fridays and that's now seems to be split between Tuesdays and Fridays for whatever reason.

And like despite what your feelings on Forces might be, Sonic is still quite a high-profile series and is relatively well-known to gamers. Regardless of quality, it will still be considered a major release, on par with Mario, CoD and Assassin's Creed because Sonic is that well-known. So like, joke or not, it doesn't really work :U.

But then I'm probably just saying that because I'm getting sick of every cheap shot taken at Forces, so I tend to end up dissecting them.

[Sr101]

As expected the guy with the Danganronpa GIF in his sig has to be the voice of reason. (one of the best girls btw, but I gotta go with Chiaki)

 

Personally, I'm drained from reading all this negativity. Christ, it's a new Sonic game... I know it probably will suck, cool, but do we REALLY need to get excited about it's failure because we don't like the direction it's going? Not everyone is, but some of you guys are really hoping for the death of Sonic Team... and you must be misguided because check out MvCI-- funding leaves when sales drop, changes aren't always made.

[McGroose]

10 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Why? The points raised line up with the complaints we've brought up for months and the complaints those that have played it here have addressed.seems like a trust worthy wel written review

The complaints that WE'VE brought up for months. For IGN, Gamepot, etc, depending on which reviewer they get, their score could go up one or two points. Forces seems to be getting very varied reactions. Plenty of people like Forces, plenty of people hate it. Who's to tell where the reviewers will fall under? It's a trust worthy and certainly a well written review, but that doesn't mean it'll match other reviews. The SSMB hardly encompasses the majority viewpoint on a game with reactions going all over the place.

[Sr101]

2 minutes ago, McGroose said:

The complaints that WE'VE brought up for months. For IGN, Gamepot, etc, depending on which reviewer they get, their score could go up one or two points. Forces seems to be getting very varied reactions. Plenty of people like Forces, plenty of people hate it. Who's to tell where the reviewers will fall under? It's  It's a trust worthy and certainly a well written review, but that doesn't mean it'll match other reviews. 

I really like Colors and Unleashed. Reviewers hated one and loved the other. You're on the money here, Forces defenders will likely still like the game regardless of what they are told.

[CleverSonicUsername]

I've begun to feel more and more over the years that review scores just don't matter. People tend to become fixated on the number over the substance and they let that color their whole opinion, be it of the game, or the publication/reviewer. It can also just be an extra step that impedes a critic's ability to complete a review as they feel a need to reduce all of their feelings into a single numerical value. Some publications use strict metrics that can cause a score to become maligned with the content of the review, too.

That's partly why I dislike Famitsu so much, you can tell they pride themselves more on the score they're dulling out and not actual honest to god critique. You might think 35/40 is too high or too low, and you might have your own opinion on what 5/10 says about Forces or Polygon, but I'd encourage you to divorce the score from your mind and actually see what they have to say, then determine if that resonates with you on some personal level. 

[Clewis]

6 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Yeah, and the cheap joke doesn't work when the joke itself is contradicted. There's no evidence that major game releases occur on Fridays. It used to be that all releases for games in the UK at least happened on Fridays and that's now seemed to be split between Tuesdays and Fridays for whatever reason.

Well, it's the opposite here in the US (as far as I can remember). Most games get released on Tuesday, whereas big AAA titles get released on Fridays.

Quote

And like despite what you're feelings on Forces might be, Sonic is still quite a high-profile series and is relatively well-known to gamers. Regardless of quality, it will still be considered a major release, on par with Mario, CoD and Assassin's Creed because Sonic is that well-known. So like, joke or not, it doesn't really work :U.

Man, it was just a dumb joke relating to how Sega's western branches have been handling this game, maketing-wise. They've barely shown off much of Forces, so obviously even they're not too hot on what the game has to offer, keeping it from being viewed as a "major" release internally, and more of a "Just release it so we can rake up whatever sales it makes and move on to something else" kind of release among some of the higher ups.

Now an unfunny joke is even less funny because I had to explain it.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

7 minutes ago, Clewis said:

Well, it's the opposite here in the US (as far as I can remember). Most games get released on Tuesday, whereas big AAA titles get released on Fridays.

Man, it was just a dumb joke relating to how Sega's western branches have been handling this game, maketing-wise. They've barely shown off much of Forces, so obviously even they're not too hot on what the game has to offer, keeping it from being viewed as a "major" release internally, and more of a "Just release it so we can rake up whatever sales it makes and move on to something else" kind of release among some of the higher ups.

Now an unfunny joke is even less funny because I had to explain it.

Except you didn't have to explain it to me? I got the joke fine, I mean I'm the one here that made an entire topic on why Forces' marketing as a whole completely sucks and has sucked this entire time. That doesn't really change the fact the joke even as a cheap dig against Forces doesn't really work very well. Even then, according to my research on a few release dates, South Park FBW came out on a Tuesday, and I'm sure a few other big names released on a Tuesday too.

I'm sure considering it's one of the few big-name games SEGA has this year, even despite how godawful the marketing was for it, they consider Forces a major release, as does the general gaming market because of Sonic's brand recognition. So again, the joke doesn't really work very well.

But yet again, I'm just sick at cheap shots at Forces' expense so at this point, I'm just dissecting said cheap shots. I know you're just going for a joke at Forces' expense, but at this point, considering the amount of jokes that's been done at it's expense, surely you can understand why I'm getting a bit tired of them.

Edit: Just double checked and I got the release for AC Origins wrong so removed it from the post.

[dbzfan7]

We still got Sonic Mania as the super special awesome Sonic game of the year. So we do have 1 very good Sonic game this year. It's not a complete loss. It might be why a lot of us can be harder on this game. We already have at least 1 very good game with Sonic, so it's not like one game that isn't so great means we don't get nothing. I've replayed Mania over and over again, and bought it 3 times. It's fantastic.

34 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

Who here has jumped the gun?

Most people seem to agree with what the review actually says and the score.

If you happen to disagree with it and the content, why hasn't anyone put up a counter argument? See plenty of people going "Oh it's only Polygon" not seen anyone even attempting to counter the arguments and points raised in it.

People have been saying these complaints for months and nobody has put up a counter argument as to why the game is even in the good ballpark area, certainly not when it comes to gameplay and level design.

Yeah the review pretty much addresses most of the gameplay problems a lot of us were saying as well as going a little into story. Woulda liked more on that but oh well. Can't agree more that if people don't like or distrust the review, can they not at least say why? Place some counter points or something.

[Spooky Mulder]

Lots of talk about how it’s only one review. Here’s the thing. Nothing in the review is surprising and the entire game already leaked a week ago.

It’s not like this is some surprise. If this was 2011 and it was our first review of Sonic Generations, I think some healthy skepticism would be warranted. That’s not our situation though. This is a game that wears its faults on its sleeve.

There’s a reason we only have this and the famitsu review just days before release. SEGA wants as few reviews out there as possible before launch. There’s also a reason we got a demo that times out after one minute.

[KHCast]

52 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

And like despite what your feelings on Forces might be, Sonic is still quite a high-profile series and is relatively well-known to gamers. Regardless of quality, it will still be considered a major release, on par with Mario, CoD and Assassin's Creed because Sonic is that well-known. So like, joke or not, it doesn't really work :U.

A 40 dollar title with spotty advertising, gameplay that looks cobbled together and messy, short play time, and like no massive "hype" built around it from the general populace. Yes, truly comparable to something like Mario Odyssey 

Sonic himself may be a AAA franchise, but by no means does that mean Forces lives up to that already low bar to many. Though at least Forces has no microtransactions. I'll give it-*odyssey also has that* oh nevermind 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

6 minutes ago, KHCast said:

A 40 dollar title with spotty advertising, gameplay that looks cobbled together and messy, short play time, and like no massive "hype" built around it from the general populace. Yes, truly comparable to something like Mario Odyssey 

Yes, because in the eyes of the general consumer who's going to be purchasing a game, Sonic is going to be as much as recognisable brand as Mario. I think it's safe to assume the majority of us are hard-core gamers who actively follow the marketing of a game and were awaiting any and all details we could get. Therefore, we know how much the marketing blew ass. 

A general consumer/gamer buying the game will see Sonic and know him due to how much of a big-name brand he is. This isn't talking about game quality, or play time. This is talking about bare bones recognition. Sonic will be considered a major release because he's a major name in terms of gaming. Assassin's Creed Unity sucks absolute ass considering how buggy it is, how much it locks shit behind micro-transaction upgrades, how much the game in general isn't very fun etc. And yet it's a major release because Assassin's Creed is arguably one of the biggest names in gaming as of now. 

So yes, of course Sonic is comparable to Mario, because the two are arguably the two longest running and biggest names in gaming. To a general consumer, Sonic will be a major release.

[KHCast]

7 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Sonic himself may be a AAA franchise, but by no means does that mean Forces lives up to that already low bar to many. Though at least Forces has no microtransactions. I'll give it-*odyssey also has that* oh nevermind 

*cough* being a long running series isn't some free pass to hype. You have to, yknow, give people something to be genuinely hyped for. Which outside casual sonic fans, I haven't seen from the public on the same level as Mario. Forces itself just doesn't feel or look like some big grand game like Odyssey, or CoD, etc.

[Clewis]

14 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Except you didn't have to explain it to me?

Sorry. Just felt like you were taking a dumb one-liner a bit too seriously otherwise.

12 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Even then, according to my research on a few release dates, South Park FBW came out on a Tuesday, and I'm sure a few other big names released on a Tuesday too.

Again, never said they didn't. I'll just reiterate my point that in the US, most "big deal" releases are done on Friday, and since Forces isn't being released at the end of the week over here, yadda yadda, you can see where I went with this. Doesn't mean I'm not aware that major releases can occur on Tuesday along with lots of other, smaller-scale games, it was just easy material to work with.

16 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I'm sure considering it's one of the few big-name games SEGA has this year, even despite how godawful the marketing was for it, they consider Forces a major release, as does the general gaming market because of Sonic's brand recognition.

Yes, I'm sure sales-wise Sega probably considers this game a big title for the year, but they're certainly not treating it like one in every other area. Also I don't think the general gaming market really views anything Sonic-related as that major of a release, at least not along the same lines as most heavy hitting, AAA titles that are also/have been released during the year. As far as I can tell, most just see Forces as another 3D Sonic game. That's it.

[Dr. Mechano]

10 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Which outside casual sonic fans, I haven't seen from the public on the same level as Mario.

I think the big difference there is that Mario has a consistent record of quality and, hence, credibility with the general gaming public. So even casual fans who aren't really part of the "Mario fandom," per se, get excited for new Mario games. They show up and buy them in huge numbers because these games have a reputation for being fun and well-made.

Sonic has repeatedly alienated casual fans with its shaky reputation and subpar quality. It'll have good (even great) games every now and then, like Mania for example, but the franchise as a whole has an image problem that it can't shake - due to years of badly received games, with a few gems here and there. So while the Sonic fandom may be hyped for Forces, the general gaming public doesn't really care about it. And that's going to be reflected in the game's sales, absolutely.