Topic: Sonic Forces ~Join the Uprising~

[VirusChris]

NEW VIDEOS DROPPED TODAY!

A sneak peek at a boss battle with Infinite, possible the first fight with him, and we finally see what the Rental Hero feature is:

Rental Heor & Infinite Boss Battle sneak peak
[youtube]iqaP9GOYk-E[/youtube]

It's Mega Man X8's TAG TEAM SYSTEM! You can use another player's Avatar on Avatar Stages and Battles and swap them out to use their character and equipment. So if you have a Burst Wispon and the second Avatar you're using from a friend uses a Lightning Wispon you can switch between the two and explore the stages with both abilities. Don't know if there's a limit to it.

That's kinda of cool.

As for the the Infinite boss fight... I'm taking it that it's the first fight with him and he's not taking you seriously just going easy on you. Not to mention when you get hit by the red cubes you're sent into a slow down time dimension? Still trying to figure this out a bit, either Infinite timed his time attack in or the red cubes send you to another dimension where everything is red and slow.

Space Port Gameplay (Frozen Chemical Plant Zone?)
[youtube]xl5eLNzq7Rk[/youtube]

Wow... just wow. This looks amazing fun! I was grinning from ear to ear watching this and the music too! We also get a look at actual gameplay of the Drill Wispon and it looks like fun! Not exactly like the Boost gameplay, but a quick burst like it.

There's a QTE event in that stage too, even though the prompt window isn't shown, but I like how it added a cinematic part of the stage to it. Makes it more like an epic adventure through the stages, even if it's only one time. There appears to be other areas with the line of rings for Lighting Wispon powers.

I do hope they have the airships in the sky move in the distant later instead of being static in the sky. Though I do like the snow effect as well and what appears to be the blue liquid from Chemical Plant being frozen on some parts of the stage. The area looks like it's on the higher parts of the Chemical Plant.

We might be going to the Death Egg from here as the Death Egg is more or less confirmed to be in the game. If you looked carefully at the concept art of the Hidden Base Zone artwork.

Another video I found of Space Port with a different Avatar, with dialogue and has the Rental Avatar feature shown more:
[youtube]zt0CV3Tmb3s[/youtube]

Apparently the QTE thing is only the ONE thing in the end. Kinda like The Bingo from Mania, the Rocket from SA2, and The Tornado part from SA1. Just short and quick little events for some fun story telling.

[Flame]

That avatar gameplay is some of the most linear railroaded gameplay I've ever seen in a sonic game. And that cinematic qte stuff seems really pace breaking and out of place. A QTE should be a QUICK time event, not a cutscene time event.

If you think that's fun, then no offense Chris, but your standards seem super easy. I'm glad you're enjoying this train wreck, but I just can't match your strange enthusiasm.

And I still think it's super lazy that they've been reusing the sonic voice from Colors every time there's wisp pick ups.

[Phi]

The QTE was fine. It didn't last too long like, say, KH2's QTEs.

The mind-numbingly linear level design is hot garbage though. It also doesn't help that you can mow down enemies with a single attack.

If you think that's fun, then no offense Chris, but your standards seem super easy.

That's Chris for you.

It don't take much.

[OBJECTION MAN]

Holy [parasitic bomb]. It's literally a straight, flat, corridor. I expected a bit of hyperbole in your impressions, but it really is just that...

[Frozen Potato]

For the first time, I am legit worried for this game on the fact that we just plow through enemies with absolutely little challenge. Just looking at it makes me nausea. Hold your horses game what the [tornado fang].

[youtube]! No longer available[/youtube]

[Flame]

it really is amazing to see how the boost formula has been watered down more and more since unleashed.

But Boost is at least limited by it's energy meter. (in theory anyway) but the avatar just has a massive reaching main attack that seems to kill enemies instantly.

[VirusChris]

Some more update news on the game.

There's an Easy Mode included in the game, here's a description:
"I can offer more insight into ring collection, because the 100-ring limit only exists in the lower difficulty mode of the game. In this mode, getting hit causes you to lose only 20 rings, so you can take a number of hits before running out – hence the 100 ring limitation.

In the other mode, you’ll lose all your rings when you get hit, but you can also collect as many as you can grab and go well into the hundreds, just like past Sonic games.

Hope this helps clarify – there’s even more to talk about in the future and further updates not yet reflected in this footage, so stay tuned!"

source: http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=252336617

Also about the Rental Hero feature:
"The new free "Rental Avatar" feature allows access to Hero Characters built be players around the world, granting them the ability to use their Wispons and swap between their character and the "Rental Avatar" at any point in the level. Besides seeing some gorgeous and/or hilarious characters as a result, this feature will let players utilize two different Wispons in a single level to find secret paths and overcome any obstacles in their way."

[Flame]

Because the game definitely needed an easy mode when it already practically plays itself

[VirusChris]

Reminds me of why Fire Emblem Fates has the PHOENIX Mode added to it. Apparently Casual Mode for Fire Emblem Awakening was TOO hard for some players which is why Phoenix Mode was made for Fates.

Don't be so surprised that gaming companies are ADDED an easier mode than easy mode for their general audience. Still won't stop players for dying to pitfalls and being crushed to death.

Anyway the second part of the comic issue of Sonic Forces is released today and it focuses on Knuckles, Silver, and Chaos:
https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgehog/status/921045504607133696/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fnintendoeverything.com%2Fsonic-forces-moment-of-truth-prequel-comic-issue-2%2F

http://nintendoeverything.com/sonic-forces-moment-of-truth-prequel-comic-issue-2/

This issue focusing on Silver coming back in time to warn Knuckles about what's happening and Chaos emerges from the Master Emerald and suddenly attacks Knuckles and Silver for some reason. Not to mention Pachacamac's village, the Knuckles Tribe village, suddenly appears on Angel Island and both it and Chaos suddenly disappear. Silver mentions how history is messed up and makes no sense how it became ruins in his timeline which is why he's here and Knuckles decides to lead the resistance of whatever is going on, on the surface.

Also Eggman is using the Phantom Ruby (no Infinite) for some test runs which he plans to use to defeat Sonic. Though looking at it now perhaps the village and Chaos were just an illusion? Then again they DID hurt Knuckles and Silver so maybe not.

All in all we're getting some answers cleared up here. Apparently Chaos might be from the past summoned to the present day due to the Phantom Ruby's powers as this is before he was reformed by Sonic, however he came out of the Master Emerald without it shattering so perhaps the Phantom Ruby is just messing with his mind reverting back to being evil. So far a good read.


Also we find out what the whole Hooters x Sonic Forces promotion thing was for...
[youtube]93ZVyiSaEPc[/youtube]

Selling Chilidogs as Sonic's signature food to eat at the restaurant. Seriously that was why the promotion exists... along with some Sonic Forces renders cup/mug rugs as well.

Aside from learning that Japan has a Hooters restaurant there... was Hooters really the choice to go for a restaurant promotion? I know in America we have the "Sonic" restaurant which would be perfect to sell them there, though I'm not sure if Japan has that food court joint there.

[Phi]

Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG franchise, so even in easier difficulties, you will still need to plan ahead and think about your actions.

Forces is a linear-as-[tornado fang] platformer with enemies you can tear through like tissue paper. It doesn't need an easy mode. What it desperately needs is an expert mode.

[VirusChris]

Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG franchise, so even in easier difficulties, you will still need to plan ahead and think about your actions.

Forces is a linear-as-[tornado fang] platformer with enemies you can tear through like tissue paper. It doesn't need an easy mode. What it desperately needs is an expert mode.

Let's be honest... when has ANY enemies from Sonic games EVER been a threat? Heck in the Genesis games you can roll into a spindash and kill enemies in a row. They all die in one hit when you jump on them or roll into them. Sure there's some enemies you can't roll into or jump immediately onto, but they're more annoyance really. Or you can jump over them and continue on your merry way. You TEAR through them in the Genesis games too with a spindash or roll. It's always been easy to take out enemies, nothing new.

I've done it in my runs in Sonic Mania. I tear through them like tissue papers, except for those buzzsaw beetlebot from Sonic CD which I jump on or just ignore. Boosting is the SAME WAY with the Spindash or rolling attack, you tearing through them as well. Either you're rolling into them with Boost at high speed or rolling into them from a spindash or pressing down to roll. I really see no difference between the two of how they take out enemies. So paths are linear for a bit with enemies placed there in the older Sonic games, not as much or focused as Modern Sonic games, but it's still there however small.

Speaking of harder stages apparently Sonic Forces getting EX Stage which might be Extreme Stages (otherwise harder versions of the stages) if the trophy list is anything to go by, and so far it's been accurate with the latest news of Sonic Forces. We'll see.

Also we got more news on Sonic Forces. Two new videos also dropped today! We get an Overview/Introduction Trailer and shows more of the game's story and more look at the Modern Green Hill Zone and Tag Team stage of Sunset Heights:

[youtube]QxM3uKSYhD0[/youtube]
EDIT/UPDATE: English Subtitles!

Let's take a bit to dissect what the trailer has shown us:

- E-123 Omega is OFFICIALLY confirmed in the game and in a similar position like he was in Sonic 06? Being beaten and deactivated it seems with Tails looking over him at first before calling out to Sonic to save him. (I will never get tired of hearing SONIKKU from Tails in Japanese anytime soon)

- More story bits and more proper looks to Modern Sonic's Green Hill Zone, with someone mention they say a pathway on the side at the beginning of that video start that seemed to be an alternate pathway... it could be, but I can't make it out too much.

- Infinite takes out the Resistance Soliders and is shown that the scar part of his helmet glows when he uses his powers. Uses it to distract Sonic and Silver in the cutscene right after that segment.

- Sonic saves Tails and random animal citizens from the Story Trailer from a group of Egg Robots.

- Classic Sonic attacks Eggman in a cutscene in Green Hill Zone, which Eggman comically yelps about it, and Tails meeting Classic Sonic apparently in Sunset Heights for the first time with him saying "You're Sonic from another dimension?!"
(I've also hear people who have been watching the recent video stated that Classic Sonic's physics have improved... from the IGN video of both Space Port Avatar Stage and the Casino Forest Classic Stage video yesterday)

- A tag team stage of Sunset Heights where both Sonic and the Avatar take down a Death Egg Robot together.

- Another look at the Character Customization which reveals that you can't have Hair and Head accessory together as they both share the same "Head Costume" slot. I'm disappoint to be honest about that bit, but SEGA did clarify that the Customization wasn't some in-depth character creator like other games and more simple which I get. So no hair and google combine if you wanted to, it reminds of some games where hearing a hat will change or hide your hairstyle too. (looking at you Xenoverse)

- Also it looks like we can color the Avatar's eyes individually giving them heterochromia irises if you want. Kinda cool. Though I'm not sure if the pupils which change to normal or have that slitted look to them. Also you can wear Shadow's shoes by themselves with the Shadow Outfit, so the Shadow Outfit is in parts so you can mix and match if you want.

Not to mention even Female Avatar can have Shadow's fur chest part on their upper torso as well. Wonder how's that going to work for Female Avatars, are they going to hide anything they think is inappropriate or go the Sally Acorn original look route?

- Medals you earn from completing stages so I guess there's some in-game challenges for stages you must do and you get Costume parts as rewards for clearing stages. Though listening to the voice and I know I don't understand or speak Japanese, but it looks like you have to complete missions on the Avatar stages to unlock the new Costume parts. So you got your work cut out for you.

- That eyeliner of the punk rabbit in the movie cutscene part... oh boy. SEGA fix that please if you can! Though I do like the punk rockstar look to her.

- First look at the Metal Sonic Boss Fight and... it's a Tag Team Boss Fight? Also is Metal Sonic a GIANT in that fight? Must be related to Infinite's powers if that's the case.

- They've updated the UI of the prompt for the Double Boost part of stages. Liking the Resistance symbol for it now.

- Something we've learned from the Rental Hero gameplay video, but the Network feature tells us we use our friend's Avatars from their game to join your Avatar's game.

- New cutscene involving the not-X-Wing Sonic rides on to take out the not-Deathstar and being shot down by lasers (which might lead to the Sonic falling into the Death Egg's pitfall area from the Story trailer)

- Sonic protecting Silver from Infinite most likely as it's the same scene from earlier when Infinite interrupts Sonic with his powers.

- A cutscene of flashback of the Avatar hesitantly or fearful pointing his gun at Infinite most likely and can't shoot him, seeing as this looks like the same scene where Infinite took out the Resistance Soldiers I suppose it makes sense why the Avatar is afraid of shooting in case Infinite sees him after the shot does nothing to him and kills him, and then we see him clench his fist overcoming his fear of Infinite.

- Infinite taunting the Avatar saying "Do you really think you can be a hero?" or something along those lines, I don't know Japanese completely dudes! Sorry.

- Sonic taking out more Egg Robots to allow the Animal Civilians to run away.

- Finally see a cutscene of both Classic Sonic and Tails together.

- Last scene of Sonic and the Avatar taking one of the spaceships to go to the Death Egg at the end and the Avatar holding what appears to be a communication device.

- Also throughout the trailer... you get hear part of the full version of Fist Bump and what I could make out of the lyrics from being drowned out by the Japanese narrator, I'm loving it so much.

Now before you guys get on the "it's too linear" complain train about Modern Sonic's Green Hill Zone let me ask you this; Ever since Sonic Adventure, what Modern Sonic games hasn't been linear in stages? In a sense you get from the start point to the finish point? I suppose Colors did have the alternate pathways and Unleashed did that a bit too, but most of the time... aren't Modern Sonic since the beginning had linear routes?

Though I do believe some stages in SA2 had some alternate routes like Shadow's White Jungle, but not a lot. I'm not saying alternate pathways are a bad thing, but do we really need them? Though I understand the complaints, honestly I don't want alternate paths in a 3D Sonic game. Let me blaze through at full speed with some platforming here and there.

Anyway I have been excited for this game since it has been announced and my excitement levels have went up with this trailer. So far the story is going to be grandiose adventure and I like where they're going with it. Though it does very anime-ish for the cinematic and story, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Heck this could be a movie and would LOVE it if it was just a movie. I've been reading comments on Youtube and other Sonic forums and people are excited for this game.

Now onto the second new video.

Sonic Forces OST - Main Theme "Fist Bump" (Piano Ver.)
[youtube]b_5GvaQsgbA[/youtube]

Wow... that piano version of Fist Bump. What a beautiful piece of music. Most likely the credits song, but man is it something else. Sonic games by Sonic Team usually have incredible music and Sonic continues this tradition. I cannot wait to hear what the other tracks in the game are going to be like. So far Sonic Forces is going to be among my top favorite Sonic game OST of the series.

I can see SEGA and Sonic Team is putting they're heart and soul into this project even if some of their choices don't sit well with some of their fans, especially with the level designs which I honestly don't see a problem aside it being linear a lot. Well I know I said I don't want alternate routes honestly, having some branching paths to the right and left would be make fun detours a bit. One with lots of enemies you can't boost through if you want and the other a lot of platforming and the middle just standard boost and slide and jumping.

Honestly I know I'm going to love this game to bits. I respect you guys here don't have much faith for Forces and I understand you're dissatisfaction with some of their designs, but please be courtesy and respect the decisions of people who DO enjoy and like what they see of Forces. I understand a bit of the level design as it's EGGMAN who's conquered the world and so is re-imagining it to his liking with how the world looks under Eggman's rule and the war that's going on to take back the world from him.

I'm not saying it's going to be the best Sonic game ever (S3&K is still number one for me), but I do think it's going to be one of good ones so please... ease up a bit OK? I know there's some problems and issues, but I'm not too bothered by it however I DO want SEGA and Sonic Team to improve and fix this issues to make a really great Sonic 3D game.

Though if you find fault please give a detail explanation why is that instead of saying "It sucks, it looks horrible!"... that's not criticism, just complaining which doesn't help. Well go about your day and debate about this new information if you like. I'm going to go back and listening to piano theme and trailer again. ^_^

EDIT: OH! There does seem to be a splitting pathway here...


Nice eyes whoever spotted this.

[Phi]

Sonic enemies not being a threat isn't the point. It's the fact that Forces has completely straight paths with little to no challenge.

At least in the old games, blindly running ahead would get you hurt or killed. There was a true sense of platforming in enemy placement, spikes, bottomless pits, floating platforms, etc. You know, coherent level design.

CD was probably the game that most demanded you memorize obstacles and traps. Although I have certain issues with that game, I appreciate that it isn't a brainless "hold one direction to win".

[Police Girl]

I can appreciate CD for having the level design with slower methodical routes being the main if only because it lets me listen to the soundtrack more. But there's also plenty of routes that let you bypass a huge chunk of the levels (metallic madness 2 has a fantastic skip using a piston to skip the long ass shrinking area, great for time attack.)

Its probably why its my favorite, all the others feel much slower in comparison to CD nowadays.

[Reaperoid]

Metallic Madness and Wacky Workbench are just frustrating in general, though. Seriously, I hate them so much.

[VirusChris]

Been playing Sonic Colors recently in preparation for Sonic Forces... and it's been a long time, but god was Sonic ALWAYS this heavy to play as? Basically he feels like he's wearing weights when you jump and move somehow and some stages are frustrating to play as. Now I remember why I didn't replay all the stages again after unlocking all Wisps and the Final Boss, not even for the Super Sonic unlock. Now I'm 100% the game so that's a hassle.

Color's soundtrack is quite good still and some levels are enjoyable. Some are super short and some are super long. I wonder if Forces is going to do. Hopefully Sonic will control much easier in Forces. Seriously there's like a half a second delay when I jump and the drifting can be tricky to play. Then again it's an old Wii game and I'm using the Classic Controller.

Would play my other Sonic games... until I found out my sister robbed me blamed and stole them. Only Sonic games I have left are, Colors, Unleashed -Wii version- (my PS3 version is gone), Secret of the Rings, Black Knight, and Zero Gravity. Yeah, losing Generations, Unleashed PS3, and Sonic Mega Collection. Yeah, I'm P.O. about it.

But I'm not here for it.

Got more updates on Sonic Forces. In the Official Twitter page of Sonic and SEGA and during a livestream it's been revealed the following characters are NOT in Sonic Forces:

Cream the Rabbit
Big the Cat
Blaze the Cat



[youtube]qe7umMJeJ3g[/youtube]

Honestly I knew Cream wasn't going to be in the game... too much is happening and Her friends and mother would worry for her safety as she's not that invested in battles even though she'll fight when she has too. If she (and her mother properly) did appear I would expect being a nurse or something similar to take care of the civilizations and sheltered them during Eggman's takeover of the world. Hopefully they'll refer her in some fashion. Well Aaron mentions he thinks she's not in the game, but those who appear in the Resistance Base is the full cast you don't see them they're not in the game.

Big... well I know people were JOKING if he would be in the game, but SEGA outright said he's not in.

As for Blaze... honestly I didn't expect her to be in the game as she's from another dimension and she has to take care of her world. She did appear in Generations for Sonic's birthday as they're friends, and the game is announced as "non-canon" to the series. Though Forces is dealing with things cemented in its dimension and timeline so Silver fits more with him being there and Classic Sonic's dimension is similar to Modern Sonic and not to mention what happens at the end of Mania which leads to the events in Forces. Would've been nice if she were here, but no biggie.

Not SEGA also mentions that there will be NO DLC for the game in the near future, aside from the Shadow DLC Episode. They did state if there WERE going to do DLC for the game it will ALL be free. We'll see SEGA, we'll see.

Also about the Avatar Costume parts... they are NOT Gender Restricted meaning both Males and Females can wear ALL outfits so they can crossdress if you want. Yes, the Male Avatar can wear dresses if you want them to. It's cool to see they're not restricting your customizable character, but I fear what monstrosity combinations we're see.

Also you can change the voice of the Avatar. What the means if changing the pitch and tempo of them or simple picking a different voice for them anytime.

And about the Stages... if might not be 50+ as some thought. Some areas will have the 4 stages; Modern, Classic, Avatar, and Tag Team. While some areas will only have one area so like Classic Sonic has a stage exclusive to him. They did say the game's length is around or longer than Generations and Unleashed, though that depends on how quickly each player gets through them. However it was never stated how many stages are there, and seeing as there's like more than 9+ areas to take back from the world.

Cool on some parts, disappointed on some news. Hopefully Sonic Forces is still a good or great Sonic game when it comes out in the 3D. Though playing Colors... it makes me miss the Adventure games so much. Going to buy them on PC when I can.

EDIT/UPDATE: Oh! Someone found a recent article from Eurogamer which has an interview with Nakamura

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-23-sonic-mania-and-its-impact-on-the-future-of-the-sonic-series

Some insight into the series at the moment. Iizuka Nakamura openly talks about at the subsets of fans as though they're all different and can't all appreciate the same games, which is very irritating to hear.

Here's a summary of the interview, thanks to the people who took the time to translate it:

• He's not surprised by Mania's success because he knows "people like 2D games because they're easy to get in to".
  It was interesting to see Mania get the reception it got.
• "From the team's perspective, we're still going to be making 3D games for the audience that likes that style of Sonic - when we see the reactions that Mania got, the entire team sat down and thought it was really interesting, and we should break down what people liked about Mania, and in the future - when we build our 3D games - see what essence we can take from Sonic Mania and put into a 3D world, to give people what they're looking for and that they've found in Sonic Mania."
• Forces started many years before Mania.
• Iizuka was the only one from Sonic Team really involved in Mania. However, he was feeding back to Sonic Team telling them to include things from Mania in Forces (like the Drop Dash, I guess?).
• The Avatar is aimed at engaging kids, and Forces as a whole is targeted at the modern/younger audience.
• "From a reverse standpoint, we wanted to reintroduce classic Sonic to fans of the modern games - and maybe bring our group of very divided fans together."
• Shadow is there in the story and playable  in Forces to appeal to the Adventure fans.
• He clarifies that a new Nintendo hardware version was planned before they knew anything tangible about the Switch. The Switch was different to what they were expecting in the end and it threw them into a bit of a panic.
• He wants to make a Samba Di Amigo game for the Switch.

Sounds nice, hopefully they can put it into practice... also no more 2D aspects of Modern Sonic's gameplay or at least not as much. Though I can't help as long as Iizuka Nakamura is the head of Sonic Team, Sonic might continue to have hit and miss for his 3D games. Honestly he's the one who kinda messed up the whole timeline and dimension things making the series overly complicated than it needed to be... Modern and Classic being separate dimension, Sonic and his friends can (at will) travel between a "human world" and "animal world", and such...

I do like the lore behind Sonic, but this is just making a mess of things.

Not only the lore, but he doesn't seem to get it at times with making a Sonic game. I mean I do love most of them, but some of the things he says... really? Truth by told, I'm hoping someone else kinda takes his place as head of Sonic Team.

[Phi]

The Sonic Forces demo has a [tornado fang]ing 1 MINUTE TIME LIMIT.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdCQ1Ufu3LE[/yt]

And there have already been reports of people beating the Green Hill level just by holding down the boost button the entire time.

This is hilarious.

[OBJECTION MAN]

Holy [parasitic bomb]. They just can't help but to continue [tornado fang]ing up.  That one minute time limit is [tornado fang]ing insane. Who keeps making decisions for this game? The demo just makes it look like garbage. I don't know how they learned nothing they did right in generations and somehow made a game even worse looking than Unleashed or 06. Not even touching on the Mania comparisons. My mind is just [tornado fang]ing BLOWN.

[Frozen Potato]

I just hope the bad things presented in the demo, stays there in the demo and not the real game. But I guess the damage is pretty much done(at least in this forum). Haven't really checked much the heavy critics the demo got outside of this forum. Though I am of course worried how Forces will be doing considering Mario Odyssey is already getting full score reviews.

Ok i've just watched that demo, that is the worse demo i have ever seen.

[VirusChris]

Holy [parasitic bomb]. They just can't help but to continue [tornado fang]ing up.  That one minute time limit is [tornado fang]ing insane. Who keeps making decisions for this game? The demo just makes it look like garbage. I don't know how they learned nothing they did right in generations and somehow made a game even worse looking than Unleashed or 06. Not even touching on the Mania comparisons. My mind is just [tornado fang]ing BLOWN.

The one minute timer is something Japanese demos have over there and the Japanese people are OPEN-MINDED about it apparently which is why almost no Japanese player is mad about it. There was a twitter post with no negative response regarding the timer. Also it's confirmed the demo isn't coming to the West because Aaron mentioned SEGA of America prefers people to experiencing the full game.

Hey there's Gamefly I guess to rent it if you can or Redbox, but having no demo in the West with no timer would've been better.

By the way the game got leaked, a store sold it before street date.

Also that's a bit inaccurate about beating the demo with JUST the Boost Button. True it's mostly because of it, but the timing to jump between obstacles and using the alternate pathway leads to finishing the level quickly. Not to mention that's the very first level of the game and made into a tutorial stage. Honestly it was very fun trying to speedrun through it and see how to beat the level so fast.

Anyway going with some of the leaked stages the base game might have over... 70 levels for Sonic Forces, considering clearing 19 stages results in 26% of the game's story completed. If that's the case Forces has the most levels in a base Sonic game with Unleashed having 78 for extended content.

Though honestly, Sonic Team and SEGA should have marketed it a bit better.

From what I've seen of the story and gameplay, I like what I see. Sure it's the early stages, but it looks and feels fun to me. I enjoyed playing the demo and trying to do better within the one timer each time, trying to get further and further. Also the Switch version runs and plays beautifully, no issues really though Sonic does recenters himself automatically in the 3D running parts (I guess people complained about Sonic being off center in 3D sections before?) and the Avatar turns from left to right a little sluggish during the 3D sections instead of being smooth and precised.

A few complaints here and there. I know to play more to see as I just finished playing Sonic 1 and Colors for my preparation for Forces. Oh man... some stages in Colors ticked me off and especially getting some of the Red Rings (I'm looking at you Starlight Carnival with the Frenzy required color last Red Ring). Getting Super Sonic feels... kinda worthless in Colors when you can't use Colors and Wisps are needed to advance in some parts of the stage, though I do like smashing through things as SS so there's that.

Anyway people have been saying this is among the best written versions of Sonic, Knuckles, and Silver so far (especially Knuckles... I loved how he roasted Charmy a bit in the beginning of the game). Also Infinite's edginess as people call it quite fun and enjoyable.

Also I think some of you are going to be PEEVED about how Forces's... handles Mania's story in this game from what spoilers I've read so far. Especially that one troll post over at SSMB mentioning that [spoiler]Mania/Classic Sonic is the one who dies at the end of the game[/spoiler] because as bad as some decisions that Sonic Team and SEGA has made they wouldn't go that far. Some of the people reading the "supposed" leaked image post from a conversation didn't sit too well for some who thought it was real.

Now seeing parts of the game I think it's score will be around 70 ~ 80 most likely, with a few 60s here in there. I'm a optimist, but a realist as well. I see it doing well, but I like to see some areas of the game... better.

[Phi]

Chris, there is no defending a one-minute timer.

There just [tornado fang]ing isn't.

[VirusChris]

Chris, there is no defending a one-minute timer.

There just [tornado fang]ing isn't.

It's a JAPANESE culture thing. They're fine with it. I'm not. I hate the one minute timer, though I do like trying to beat it as a challenge, I honestly prefer having NO timer. Just give me the stages as is as I can try them out and see how the characters control.

I don't recall saying I LIKED it or was defending it. Just stating why it's there in the first place and why the Japanese are OK with it.

[OBJECTION MAN]

Also it's confirmed the demo isn't coming to the West because Aaron mentioned SEGA of America prefers people to experiencing the full game.

There is only one reason a demo of a game doesn't get released. The company feels it would do more damage than good, and will not help drive sales.

This is the most telling aspect. Basically SEGA of America is a little worried that if you play this demo you will decide NOT to buy the game. I think they realize now they have a stinker on their hands. So now, the best course of action is to let the hype trick people into buying it and pocket what money you can.

[VirusChris]

Full version of Fist Bump:
[youtube]TngnwXEIDq0[/youtube]

Tune in before it's taken down!

[Frozen Potato]

It's a JAPANESE culture thing. They're fine with it. I'm not. I hate the one minute timer, though I do like trying to beat it as a challenge, I honestly prefer having NO timer. Just give me the stages as is as I can try them out and see how the characters control.

I don't recall saying I LIKED it or was defending it. Just stating why it's there in the first place and why the Japanese are OK with it.

I asked around, even to a few Japanese friends who are able to speak english and people who are quite knowledgeable about the Japanese culture knows nothing about the 1 minute timer demo thing being a cultural thing, they only said don't know or maybe yes. I'm gonna keep asking around if this is even true.

[VirusChris]

Well I don't know if it's a culture thing, but Japanese game companies seem to be adding the one minute timer to their demos recently... unless it's been around longer than I know. It was a Japanese twitter post that had no gamer mention about the timer or anything negative about it. There was a link, but I forgot where I saw it. Either the SSMB, Sega, or GameFAQs board, can't recall which one and which topic.