Sonic Forces is the other new Sonic game released this year besides Mania. It’s basically Generations 2.
Since it was just released: did anyone play this and, if so, what are your thoughts? I’m debating over whether to buy it or wait until a sale. I had mixed feelings about Generations, so probably the latter.
Every review Ive seen so far states:
-Levels are too short, use the same themes over and over again (rather than play a new stage, most of the time you’ll return to the same level again or similar variation of an old level.)
-Levels feel automated giving the player very little control, it was compared to playing a quick time event or a music game where you just press a few buttons and just watch the screen most of the time
-Classic Sonic feels underused and almost has no reason to be in the game
-Modern Sonic feels like he is stuck on rails, until you get to the minor platforming sections
-Game throws too many ideas/gameplay styles at you and doesn’t know what it consistently wants to focus on
Pros:
-They said the story is a bit more mature (but that’s not saying much considering what we’ve got in the past)
-Avatar character creation, seems like an interesting idea, don’t know how well executed it is, but almost all of the extra content and rewards seem to focus on unlocks for said avatar.
-A lot of people like the soundtrack. It tries something different this time. With catchy dance music…(reminds me of DDR music) Don’t know if that’s necessarily a good choice for a Sonic game though…
I haven’t played the game yet by the way and am in the same boat as you Solo!..
I just watched the first six levels on YouTube. Unfortunately, this point in particular appears to be highly accurate, at least for the start of the game. I think I’ll just play some more of Sonic Mania instead of getting Sonic Forces.
I will share what I thought about it:
1/ I am totally ignorant of the past Sonic games. I have not played them.
Mainly because I never took fun in playing Sonic 2D games. Even Mania which had such a good reception was not fun for me. But that’s just me.
2/ I bought Forces and had it a bit early. I have finished the game yesterday (I started it on Saturday).
I had fun with it, and to me it deserves more than 5/10 (one the reviews I have seen). Personally I’d give it a 7.5/10, but that’s from someone who doesn’t have all the Sonic references remember. So to me it’s a nice effort to try to grow the audience, which is always good for the future of a series.
3/ I played it on the Switch and… I had no problem with it at all, the games looks nice on the go (I haven’t played it docked but I’m not interested anyway, HZD, ACO already keep me busy when I’m home). I have been a bit shocked by the Digital Foundry reviews which should have stick to the facts and not tried to influence people on what version they should get. We are old enough to make our decisions, just give us the facts. So a bit disappointed by the so called “comparison” by DF.
4/ The games alternates 2D and 3D stages as if they were following the Mario Odyssey path but without the same aura.
Anyway, the 2D stages were the ones I liked the least.
2D Sonic have been a problem of readability for me so I’m not surprised I didn’t like them. I simply don’t have fun in 2D Sonic platforms sections, I think you don’t know where to go and you have to do the same stage over and over again to get the best score. Sonic fans are going to hate me. ^^
They are not automated but they are maybe similar to a rail shooter:
You can move left, right, increase, reduce speed but there is mainly one track yes and it’s a matter of reflex when you hit ennemies or jump to get certain bonuses.
Now, that shouldn’t be a problem since we like rail shooters here 
In fact, the good thing here is it is accessible to most players, but the best players will get the best scores. You can still improve and get a better rank when completing each stage. Which is cool I think.
Same in Mario Odyssey: the main game looks easy but it will take commitment to unlock everything.
The older I get, the more I realize good games are the ones that gives me pleasure and do not necessarily punish me with “death” all the time.
I shared my thoughts on Generations and the problems with Modern Sonic in the topic for that game and in the “Sega” topic when I finally played the full game. If you can be bothered reading those posts, does Forces improve anything over Generations to make the player feel more in control? I’m guessing no.
They’re a bit different I think, since with Rail shooters you generally have complete control over the cursor. The limited movement is beneficial because it allows the player to focus on aiming,
I can have a look but I will lack the knowledge of the past episodes… so hard for me to compare to any other Sonic or do a very details analysis… apart from saying I had fun with it. I still think I disagree with the final scores reviews give to Forces.
5 or 6/10 is not what I experienced. The game may be improved but for me it felt like a 7 or 7.5/10. I liked the arcade feeling of the 3D stages.
I do wonder if Sonic burnout is part of the reason for the low review scores. The formula doesn’t appear to have improved much since Sonic Unleashed, an almost ten year old game (a game not without issues).
Burnout ?
I played Sonic Mania and was totally in love with it! I tried Adventure back in the day and saw some videos of every other new 3D realease and I never felt it clicked. 2d is where it is at with Sonic and I’d love if they expanded on what they did with Mania going forward.
Until they can lock on a 3d-based gameplay that feels as enjoyable or BETTER than the original 2d games …and manage to somehow deliver the same feel you had with a 2d camera that enabled you to SEE sonic’s face while plowing through the levels…with the quirky kickass music and the same cute enemies and arstyle…it doesn’t matter how many coats of new paint they throw at this franchise. It’s tough. It requires a serious breaking down and matching of all the key elements of the originals. You can’t just change a franchise from 2d to 3rd willy nilly. One might say Mario managed to do it…but I’m not a Mario fan so I don’t know how close to the original spirit the 3d ones are.
I mean there’s been a number of games using the same formula now, and that formula hasn’t changed significantly. Players can get tired, or “burnt out” from experiencing the same formula with little or no improvements.
Anyone here tried the fan game called Sonic Utopia? I think this might be Sonic in 2D done right, or at least in the correct direction! The level design stays vastly open while placing platforming sections, loops and ramps everywhere! And I believe they nailed Sonic’s physics as well. Basically, if you took a level from any of the Genesis games and transported it into 3D, this would be the result!
I think you’d like it Solo, it’s a very cool and interesting demo:
I recently played through Sonic Forces. While I agree with most of the criticism, the game is essentially Generations 2 minus the (decent) 2D remakes of older Sonic stages. So, if you enjoyed Generations and want more of the same, there’s value here, especially if you can pick up the game for cheap in a sale like I did. The dialogue may also give you a laugh, as Sonic Forces’ writers seem well aware of how absurd the Sonic storyline is at this point.
That said, there a lot of fundamental problems with Sonic which just haven’t be fixed. I couldn’t download the Sonic Utopia demo @legaiaflame linked to, but I watched the gameplay video and it looks better than any modern Sonic game from the last ten years. There’s no question that this series has been in need of a reboot for a long time.
The best we’re going to get is the Sonic Mania series. The problem is: the old Sonic Team is dead. These new Sonic Team developers just don’t understand what Sonic is anymore. And Yuji Naka left in the middle of Sonic 06’s development. And we all know how that turned out!
It also seems Sonic has been lightly rebooted in a way. What I mean is: it’s now geared towards kids ages 7-12. It’s not geared towards cool 90’s kids anymore. See, with the old sonic, he grew up with us and evolved. He started out cool with the Genesis games and got more mature as we became teenagers (Sonic Adventure series).
We’re adults now and Sega still has to sell Sonic to younger audiences and a lot of what Sonic meant to us has completely changed for younger audiences. Why? I don’t know, maybe: Yuji Naka leaving Sega, not enough members of the old Sonic Team…loss of direction and creativity. And most of all, the biggest mistake the new Sonic Team members made is this:
Nostalgia pandering and series confusion. Many of the new Sonic games play off the Nostalgia of the old games in some way. For example, constantly reusing Green Hill Zone themes. Rather than make something truly unique, creative and new. And then we have a game like Sonic Lost world which flat out copies Mario Galaxy. Running through a world of Donuts is not a good fit for Sonic!
Good Sonic Games imo:
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic CD
Knuckles Chaotix (Not technically Sonic but had to throw it in there)
Sonic Adventure
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Heroes
Everything after this got worse and worse as Sonic lost his identity, creativity, and cool factor/personality…
I don’t agree with that. I quite like Sonic Forces, sure it’s a step backwards from Sonic Gen, but its a nice game none the less and for me Sonic Gen, Sonic Colors are some of the best Sonic games ever made. The trouble is Sonic Team trying to push and put in new characters with each game, when I want a Sonic game just build around sonic. It was trend started with Sonic & Knuckles and carried on with Sonic Adv II (a huge step backwards from Sonic Adv)
Sonic Team is still full of talent and some nice tech too
I’ll admit Generations and Colors were decent (dialogue/story were horrendous in Colors though) but IMO Sonic Team doesn’t know what the €u#$k they’re doing! Sonic Forces is a joke. The levels are too short, have dull aesthetics and the story is worse than garbage!
I agree the levels are too short (from the Boom levels seen in Unleashed and Gen) but there are still nice and some of the 2D stages are really well designed and the game features some of the best boss batlles in any SONIC game made to date and the music is really nice too.
Can’t agree with on the story either, Sonic story is like Mario’s a joke. If its story driven gameplay one wants, that’s a role for Naughty Dog, not the Sonic or Mario Team
But Mario doesn’t talk. Sonic keeps shifting personalities, character designs, making kiddie jokes. He’s not cool anymore. Just childish. A cheap imitation of himself…The story doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, but the writing should be clever, not braindead.
What I mean more than story is the horrendous, dialogue. I haven’t played Forces, but Colors and Lost World were cringe worthy. It’s full of horrible jokes made for kindergarteners…Sonic was never like that. In the Adventure games he used to be cool and the dialogue wasn’t puerile throw away lines made for 8 year olds. They actually cared about the characters and story and kept the tone of Sonic being cool. Sonic Colors started to make Sonic a joke and was pretty dopey, but worst of all:
I remember when I played Lost World, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, what I was seeing and the words that were coming out of Sonic’s mouth. I remember after beating Lost World I immediately sold the game. Not even the Nights into Dreams dlc could make me keep the game. That’s how disgusted I was with how they handled the characters and dialogue. Not to mention the game felt like it had more Mario aesthetics rather than Sonic ones…
Mario script is much like Princess Peach; utterly clueless and brain dead and you call Sonic Forces out and haven’t played it ? That’s so typical of people jumping on the Sonic Hate bandwagon and where people with the most to say, haven’t played the Sonic game in question.
Like it or not, Sonic is a game for kids and tbh I never played any Sonic game for its depth of story telling or expecting a great script. I play them for a nice fun alternative to Mario. I enjoyed Forces its a nice well made 3D platform game and I love the Boom gameplay in Modern Sonic games and hope for more.
I so wish Sonic Team would remake Sonic Adv using the Hedgehog II engine
I don’t have to play it. I’ve seen reviews and watched lets plays of it. Which is why I’ve been using Colors and Lost World as examples. But I’ve mainly seen long plays on YouTube. When watching it I could clearly see all of the flaws reviewers were talking about: short, badly designed levels, uninspired level design, badly written villain/story. It’s everything the reviewers say it is. A cheap thrill with no substance.
Like I said: Mario is always full of charm even though the story is simple. From what the characters say, to the worlds/design, to the music. Sonic is all over the place: the designs of the levels are uninspired, banking on nostalgia, the writing is made for braindead kids and Sonic’s personality keeps changing.
As I said earlier, Sonic was made for kids but he kept growing with the fans up until Yuji Naka left, then he slowly started changing and losing his identity/personality. I never played Sonic for its depth of script either, but if I start to cringe at the words that are coming out of Sonic’s mouth along with the characters, something is wrong.