Oh. OH. Oh lordy!
You guys got to check this out!
https://twitter.com/TGjj456/status/924422032917450752Apparently it was taken down sometime after as the game isn't "officially" released to the public, but IGN... wow guys! You gave Forces a HIGHER score than Mania? Prepare the biggest crud-storm since you said "too much water". A 9.2 for Sonic Forces... what did Mania get? A 8.3?
[spoiler]Honestly this is either a fake or posted WAY too earlier. Most likely fake, but if this is real... how much do you think Sonic Team piad them?[/spoiler]
Anyway onto some INTERESTING news about Sonic Forces, apparently the game only have THREE LEVEL DESIGNS for it.
Twitter source: [spoiler]https://twitter.com/NTom64_Lyfe/status/924702364715634689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboard.sonicstadium.org%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsystem%26controller%3Dembed%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNTom64_Lyfe%2Fstatus%2F924702364715634689[/spoiler]
Holy... that explains a lot. Not to mention one of them is a total newbie and the other is sort of a newbie. The other guy worked on Lost World and was promoted to Lead Level Designer.
So less level designers than Lost World and Colors.
Well I do like the aesthetic of the stages. Honestly for total newcomers not bad for their first attempt, but seriously Sonic Team. STOP. CUTTING. YOUR. TEAM. APART! This is why Sonic 06 failed big time (even though I enjoyed it... some parts) because you split up your team. Can't you keep your best members around to make better Sonic levels and improve with each game?
Ouch, this hurt Sonic Forces a bit. Isn't the guy in charge of the team's direction Kishimoto? If so, what are you doing dude?
Also a little bit more insight on Sonic Forces development tidbit:
The following is an account of what I was told about Sonic Forces at EGX 2017 from someone who used to work at Sega, they were there during Forces' public and internal announcement as well as several other Sonic and big Sega games dating back a good few years, they would have had access to information on par with what Aaron Webber has.
There was also another witness to this conversation who can confirm what was said if they ever bother to log into SSMB these days.
Anyway, during our chats with various developers and friends at EGX the conversation of Forces popped up, this individual said the following.
"SOJ actually came over to reveal that, needless to say... There was a number of us in the room from SOE and SOA, Sonic Team were there and they showed the video of Forces and demonstrated the game, they showed off the Avatar then told us their plans.... needless to say, there was a 'reaction'"
At this point their tone became very negative, they even did a facepalm motion.
"A lot of us didn't know what to say, then ST told us their plans for the game, at the time, they had a lot more plans for the Avatar, it was going to be a much bigger focus and part of the game than it ended up being. They had quite a lot of crazy ideas and plans for it. Needless to say, it caused a 'reaction'. A lot of people from both SOE and SOA told ST that they couldn't do that, that it wasn't a good idea. The next time we saw the game their ideas had been scaled back a lot." Based on what I was told, the Avatar was going to be a much bigger part of the game, the primary focus with Sonic playing a much smaller role, I want to say that they also said that the working title was Sonic Wars but might be getting mixed up there with the other rumour which is looking more and more true.
Now I did wonder if there was anything to suggest that this was the case, such as trace evidence or some leftover clues. Aside from the fact that the Avatar has so many more gameplay mechanics put in there (granted they don't work well and most are dull) compared to Sonic (either one), the game is technically about the Avatar, since he's a reflection of you and the game is about how you join the resistance, you rescue Sonic and you and Sonic defeat Infinite.
Another hint is the trophy image for the game on the PS4:
It's got the title... Sonic Forces... but doesn't actually show Sonic, instead the focus is on Avatar characters.
Compare this to past Sonic titles which have either always showed Sonic or have been just the title logo.
So it sounds like at some point last year, or even late 2015, Sonic Team had a lot of plans and focus for the avatar, but then after showing it to SOE and SOA, due to their reaction they scale back a lot of the plans.
The only other hint I've found to support this and it's a weak one; is in the pages of several licensing mags. Recently several license mags have reported that Sega is to open an online store soon which we know about...
but they've said that there would be focus on 'personalised and Customisation' items, bit of a weak link, but considering all of them mentioned customized and personalized items as a big thing which is a lot harder to do logistically, it doesn't seem too much of a coincidence.
source: https://board.sonicstadium.org/topic/22999-sonic-forces-development-speculation-spoilers/?tab=comments#comment-1173645Well... that certainly says a lot. I don't mind the Avatar system, I like creating my own character and joining my favorite characters and series on their adventure. I do, however, think it was too soon to be adding an Avatar creation to Sonic. Especially when none of Sonic's friends have been playable in a long time for their 3D games which is a shame.
I love playing as Sonic, but I do wish to play as Tails, Knuckles, and Amy again in another 3D Sonic game. Heck if they added them playable again along with the Avatar it wouldn't have been that bad.
What's done is done I suppose. Let's see where Sonic will go next after this unusual adventure.