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What changes do you want to see moving into this new decade?


FloweringFox

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Sonic changes each decade to fit with a certain audience, and now we're moving into a completely new decade of games. What changes would you like to see made moving forward on this new generation of consoles?

What I'd personally like to see is for Sonic to up the graphics. With their new lighting engine they could make it look really nice, plus they could focus on making the characters have more of a realistic look. Similar to the Sonic movie, but a bit dumbed down for the games.

Another thing would I'd like is to change the gameplay style a bit. Have the precise and fast controls of Adventure with the less powerful boost from Colors to allow for longer levels that you can strategically navigate with Sonic's abilities to beat your previous times.

Sonic returning to a more cinematic style is the last thing I could think of right now. With crazy stunts and dramatic stories. I'd like to see this implemented in the gameplay, as well, with level transitions, body language + facial expressions to fit the situation Sonic's in. 

That's all I can really think of for now, but I'll probably come up with more ideas as time passes. 

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Actually make it worth having Nintendo-level development cycles instead of spending too much time on lighting engines. Also can we have more playable characters? 

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1 hour ago, Snowragnarok said:

Actually make it worth having Nintendo-level development cycles instead of spending too much time on lighting engines. Also can we have more playable characters? 

I agree concerning the development cycles (and playable characters). 

We don't need a (main) Sonic game every year of course, but I wish they would make sure the final product is something that makes a wait feel worth it. Even beyond quality (which is the most important), I also mean a game with some volume or sense of depth in terms of length. I don't mind waiting a few years for a Zelda or a Mario game because I know the play time and quality will reflect the amount of time went into development. I know the Sonic games in the first part of the 2010s decade came out relatively close to each other, but it is still disappointing for the games to last only a few hours. I love the franchise but it feels like the games are a little behind of taking advantage of what technology is available to make experiences better (e.g. Cutscenes barely have any movement or emotion in 2017). 

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Give me 3D ball physics or give me death.

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12 minutes ago, Cosmos Rogue said:

Give me 3D ball physics or give me death.

Same. Rolling was one of the formative elements of Sonic, both as a game and as a character, but then they went and threw it out and that's why Sonic sucks now.

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2 hours ago, FloweringFox said:

Sonic changes each decade to fit with a certain audience, and now we're moving into a completely new decade of games. What changes would you like to see made moving forward on this new generation of consoles?

What I'd personally like to see is for Sonic to up the graphics. With their new lighting engine they could make it look really nice, plus they could focus on making the characters have more of a realistic look. Similar to the Sonic movie, but a bit dumbed down for the games.

Another thing would I'd like is to change the gameplay style a bit. Have the precise and fast controls of Adventure with the less powerful boost from Colors to allow for longer levels that you can strategically navigate with Sonic's abilities to beat your previous times.

Sonic returning to a more cinematic style is the last thing I could think of right now. With crazy stunts and dramatic stories. I'd like to see this implemented in the gameplay, as well, with level transitions, body language + facial expressions to fit the situation Sonic's in. 

That's all I can really think of for now, but I'll probably come up with more ideas as time passes. 

I agree with all of these. I want to see the franchise be more ambitious. Additionally, a more distinct and dynamic style in the art direction would be nice. Forces and especially Lost World felt tired in their artistic designs (like seriously I love Minecraft but I can't stand the freaking Minecraft trees and bland textures in that game). I think more playable characters would be nice, or at least the characters being somewhat interesting. I just want to see something more interesting that what we got with Forces. I'm a but of a classic fanboy but I don't want Classic Sonic or Green Hill, keep that in the 2d games. I just want 3d sonic to innovate somehow, to be cinematic, etc. 

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30 minutes ago, Diogenes said:

Same. Rolling was one of the formative elements of Sonic, both as a game and as a character, but then they went and threw it out and that's why Sonic sucks now.

I definitely agree that rolling really made Sonic games, rewarding you with momentum-based speed. It's something I always miss in the boost games that I would want to come back.

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I also thought of something random. This has been said a million times to the point of being trite, but like, can we get some new character renders? For all the characters? Like these ones are getting really stale, using the same ones since 2008. Sure, I guess it was fine in Unleashed, but I have my issues with Sonic's model especially. His head is too big, and so are his hands and feet. In general, the characters are so unexpressive. I kind of want them to bring back the exaggerated, crazy expressions of SA1, those were so fun. And the lighting and general quality of the renders, those can be improved too. Just change it up a little bit, I appreciated that in the 2000s every game had its own little touch, its own flair. Granted, I don't like all the models there, like the ones in Heroes, but at the very least they were unique, and I miss that.

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14 minutes ago, Mr. Ion said:

I also thought of something random. This has been said a million times to the point of being trite, but like, can we get some new character renders? For all the characters? Like these ones are getting really stale, using the same ones since 2008. Sure, I guess it was fine in Unleashed, but I have my issues with Sonic's model especially. His head is too big, and so are his hands and feet. In general, the characters are so unexpressive. I kind of want them to bring back the exaggerated, crazy expressions of SA1, those were so fun. And the lighting and general quality of the renders, those can be improved too. Just change it up a little bit, I appreciated that in the 2000s every game had its own little touch, its own flair. Granted, I don't like all the models there, like the ones in Heroes, but at the very least they were unique, and I miss that.

Oh yes. Definitely. In Unleashed, it looked fine (probably because of the art direction), but everything after looks like a soulless mascot marketed towards young kids. The lighting is off and the expressions look fake. SEGA still seems to be clinging more than they should to Colors and Lost World. There are ideas they could take away from it, like the more nerfed boost, and the parkour, but I overall just want these games to be in the past outside of rereleases.

Along with the render, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not a huge fan of the model they've been using since Unleashed. It looks too cute and pudgey for Sonic, who's meant to be a cool, heroic, free-spirited teenager that's full of attitude. That model never just never really conveyed that message to me. 

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What I would like to change for mainline games is that SEGA should not be heavily reliant on catering to casuals and dumbing down to the point where games hold your hand and provides no challenge for long time players. This has been a complaint I have had with the series since Forces but I didn't realize until I looked back from interviews year ago since colours that they've mostly been catering to Casuals and Non-Fans. The Casuals have had Colours, Lost World, Sonic Boom, the Mobile games, Forces & TRS. SEGA needs to have more games that cater to long term fans in terms of difficulty and challenge.

I would also like to see, in terms of story, a cohesive story that doesn't leave questions unanswered, for example Lost World didn't explain what lost hex is despite Tails knowing about it, and in Forces how did Omega come back when Tails couldn't repair him? another change I would like to see for stories is I would like to have a villain with a good backstory, maybe one that makes you somewhat sympathetic  but you still need to take him down.

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There are many things that I wish would change, mostly regarding the quality of the games or specific technical gameplay aspects, but ignoring that, the only thing unrelated to quality that's a personal preference is that I would like the characters to be used more, and not just the ones that get shoehorned in every game, I'd like to see secondary and obscure characters to return or at least be referenced (whenever it makes sense to). Also, I'd like for the ones that can bring some interesting gameplay concepts to also be playable.

I would prefer if the roster of playable characters was not decided by popularity or story, but by gameplay instead. I would like if the future Sonic games reintroduced an arcade mode like the Egg Shuttle from Sonic Colors, where you can replay all the levels of the game in a row until you do a gameover or defeat the final boss, and I would like that mode to not feature any cutscene, to be not canon, and to allow any character to be playable without need of a story explanation (potentially even allow additional characters released later through DLC).

EDIT: oh and I would like to see the classic/modern split to just not exist anymore and classic and modern to be just a different art style, not a different universe.

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Crush 40 would be nice.

As for everytrhing else, I'm keeping my expectations low, let's see what we get. A good story would also be nice though. Doesn't necessarily have to be grimdark and apocalyptic like Metal Virus, just something more than Pontaff or Forces. Something like Unleashed or even Heroes in terms of tone maybe.

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16 hours ago, Cosmos Rogue said:

Give me 3D ball physics or give me death.

Ah, that too! And grinding physics! SLW made them completely and totally automated, and Forces just copied the physics from Generations to a T. SA2 grind physics were a whole ‘nother level. And some kind of side collectible like the Time Stones.

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I think the parkour gameplay from SLW could really work well in a modern gameplay style. Could be used to find all kinds of cool secrets and bonuses, as well as save you from a few falls.

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A few things I want to change this decade:

1)  Definitely the gameplay and style of the games.  I want them to bring back the classic spin ball move that Sonic had in the earlier games.  Also, make the characters and settings look more unique and stylish.  Like, maybe have Sonic or the other characters kind of glow in a dark environment so that way they can stand out even more in the levels.

2) Change their mandates.  Lately, a lot of SEGA's mandates like "writing Shadow as just a blood knight with no feelings" and "Sonic not showing much emotions" is really hurting the franchise's story developments and not making the characters as fleshed out as they should be.  If SEGA just lay off the mandates for this decade, then maybe things will get better with the characterizations for the characters.

3) Bring in more playable characters in the games.  My biggest issue with the Sonic games in the last decade or so is that only Sonic is a playable character and I miss playing as Tails, Knuckles, Amy and other characters.

4) Have deeper stories.  Look, I understand that Sonic the Hedgehog is geared towards a younger audience, but that doesn't mean that you can't have meaningful story lines for every player to get invested into.

 

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1 hour ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

A few things I want to change this decade:

1)  Definitely the gameplay and style of the games.  I want them to bring back the classic spin ball move that Sonic had in the earlier games.  Also, make the characters and settings look more unique and stylish.  Like, maybe have Sonic or the other characters kind of glow in a dark environment so that way they can stand out even more in the levels.

Yeah. Agreed. The spinball was one of the most iconic moves. Also, they could do that, or maybe make their attacks glow to stand out, and to add a little bit of flashiness.

1 hour ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

2) Change their mandates.  Lately, a lot of SEGA's mandates like "writing Shadow as just a blood knight with no feelings" and "Sonic not showing much emotions" is really hurting the franchise's story developments and not making the characters as fleshed out as they should be.  If SEGA just lay off the mandates for this decade, then maybe things will get better with the characterizations for the characters.

Yeah. How fleshed out the characters were was what made them so interesting. That's why everyone wanted a fancharacter, why everyone liked Shadow, and why alot of people enjoyed the series in the first place. Sonic was such a character-oriented series that by ruining the characters, it ended up ruining the entire series. Regardless of tone, the characters should always come first, meaning Shadow shouldn't be an uninteresting Vegeta clone, and Sonic shouldn't be telling dad jokes for comedy. I wouldn't even mind a comedic game if they were writing the characters right. Just as long as it wasn't taking the whole series up, anyway.

1 hour ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

3) Bring in more playable characters in the games.  My biggest issue with the Sonic games in the last decade or so is that only Sonic is a playable character and I miss playing as Tails, Knuckles, Amy and other characters.

Same here. Sonic Forces did good with that by introducing Shadow as a playable character. There are more characters in a story than just Sonic. With Sonic Colors and Lost World, you could've played as Tails at least. That would've made no difference in the story, really. 

1 hour ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

 4) Have deeper stories.  Look, I understand that Sonic the Hedgehog is geared towards a younger audience, but that doesn't mean that you can't have meaningful story lines for every player to get invested into.

Definitely. Their marketing was much better back in the day, because they were originally aiming Sonic towards teens, which in turn had brought kids into the fanbase. Kids don't want to be pandered to. That's why so many play Call of Duty and other mature titles. Sonic should be like that: a family-friendly series aimed towards teenagers. I've been wanting something cool like I grew up with, not silly shenanigans with Sonic, Tails, Eggman, and the cheerleaders. 

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Honestly, nothing really. This franchise has thrown so many things at the wall that I feel like nothing else can stick in it. So I'm not going to wish for anything right now unless something unexpected happens.

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I also suggest that SEGA shouldn't try to do anymore new gimmicks for the franchise.  They should go back to doing some of their older gimmicks and try to revamp them so that way they wouldn't fracture the fanbase even further.

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If you're unaware of Roblox, it's like the Miis from Nintendo Wii. You make one and you play them in games like Smash. Except in Roblox, you play them in Roblox games.

 

I'm thinking after Sonic Forces, they should embrace the avatar customization + chao + wisps + user content. And then come back to Sonic Heroes where you can pack three characters into a team, and then build a map where you explore it, rather than racing through it.

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Another thing I would suggest is that SEGA should start getting more in touch with the fanbase.  One of the biggest issues with the franchise at the moment is that SEGA rarely interacts with the fanbase and whenever fans start complaining about things they don't like about the franchise, SEGA seems to misunderstand their complaints and do something completely different from what the fans wanted or make things even worse for the franchise.  I think that SEGA should start doing fan conventions or have some fans who are experienced in creating games work for them so that way, they would have a better understanding of what the fandom really want out of this franchise.

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I think the Sonic Twitter page is good at interacting with the fanbase, but it could definitely be better, a lot of those interactions are pretty surface level. At the same time, Sega is a huge company, and it's uncommon for them to take that much from fans in the first place. Multimillion dollar companies mostly just care about our pockets and only listen to fans as much as they have to. SoA is already an outlier in that it pops into Sonictuber's streams, that's uncommon from what I know. Who knows, I may be wrong, but I think if anything Sega's already aware of a lot of fan complaints about the series. I do agree that Sega tends to misunderstand our criticisms, like an all-or-nothing approach. If it doesn't work, get rid of it (i.e. playable characters and everything else that touched 06) and if it does work, go all-in (i.e. boost gameplay and wisps). I agree that Sega should have some sort of fan outreach, despite the things I've said earlier, and it if went well we could have projects like Mania that have a lot of passion and creativity.

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2 hours ago, Mr. Ion said:

I think the Sonic Twitter page is good at interacting with the fanbase, but it could definitely be better, a lot of those interactions are pretty surface level. At the same time, Sega is a huge company, and it's uncommon for them to take that much from fans in the first place. Multimillion dollar companies mostly just care about our pockets and only listen to fans as much as they have to. SoA is already an outlier in that it pops into Sonictuber's streams, that's uncommon from what I know. Who knows, I may be wrong, but I think if anything Sega's already aware of a lot of fan complaints about the series. I do agree that Sega tends to misunderstand our criticisms, like an all-or-nothing approach. If it doesn't work, get rid of it (i.e. playable characters and everything else that touched 06) and if it does work, go all-in (i.e. boost gameplay and wisps). I agree that Sega should have some sort of fan outreach, despite the things I've said earlier, and it if went well we could have projects like Mania that have a lot of passion and creativity.

I agree that SEGA needs to start reaching out to fans more, even though I understand that SEGA is at the end of the day, a business and they only look at how well a game is selling rather than what the fans actually want.

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