GabeTheGrouch76
Member
A bit surprised this wasn't brought up before here.
As we know, Forces has a few previews from its E3 showing. But there was also quite a glut of previews on the game that came out in the past couple of weeks, there was recently a post-E3 event of Nintendo games coming soon for the Switch that was demoed in Europe, and Forces was among them.
And interestingly enough....none of them were exactly glowing.
E3 2017 previews:
PCMag - Sonic Forces (for PlayStation 4) Preview
Twinfinite - "Sonic Forces Embraces Modern Characters Like Shadow and Will Be Fuel for Fanfics"
AppTrigger - "E3 2017: Sonic Forces escapes the city, not its past"
Post-E3 2017 previews:
Nintendolife - "Running Scared from Sonic Forces"
NintendoLife also put out this critical video preview. Fandom reaction to it hasn't exactly been the greatest.
Eurogamer - "Maybe it's time for us to leave Sonic Team's take on its own series behind"
Metro - "Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces hands-on preview and interview The focus is on old school fans"
VG247 - "Sonic Forces is rough to the point of being comical is there any way to save Sonic Teams soul?"
Waypoint - "Mario vs Sonic in 2017 is looking mightily one-sided"
WCCF Tech - "Sonic Forces Hands-On - Thoroughly Forced"
Trusted Reviews - Sonic Forces Preview (The Google search for the preview has the subtitle "one step forward, ten steps back")
Movies Games and Tech - Preview: Sonic Forces
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As we know, Forces has a few previews from its E3 showing. But there was also quite a glut of previews on the game that came out in the past couple of weeks, there was recently a post-E3 event of Nintendo games coming soon for the Switch that was demoed in Europe, and Forces was among them.
And interestingly enough....none of them were exactly glowing.
E3 2017 previews:
PCMag - Sonic Forces (for PlayStation 4) Preview
Sonic Generations was one of the best Sonic the Hedgehog games in recent memory, and even without the custom character aspect, Sonic Forces seems to be embracing the choices it made in its gameplay and level design. The Avatar levels are still a wild card, and just how much they stick close to Classic or Modern Sonic's styles (or how wildly they diverge from them) could make or break this game.
There's a strong foundation here, and a lot of potential for offbeat fun we haven't yet seen in an official Sonic game. We won't know how well those things will really mesh until Sonic Forces comes out this holiday season.
Twinfinite - "Sonic Forces Embraces Modern Characters Like Shadow and Will Be Fuel for Fanfics"
Gameplay wise, I wasnt blown away with what I played. I was very limited in terms of customization options for the Avatar character, so it wouldnt be fair to criticize that just yet, but putting that aside even, it felt a little clunky. When I jumped, it felt like the gravity was turned up a notch and I instantly came back down, which made finesse jumps difficult to land. It was almost as if the jump button was sticky and I couldnt get a full jump off (it wasnt sticky, for the record).
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On the other hand, the 3D modern Sonic style stage I played felt great. It plays like a smoother version of Sonic Generations which was already the finest version of modern Sonic gameplay to date. What I was most happy about is that the boost function doesnt appear to be as abusable and never ending as it was in Generations and Unleashed. Players will need to use their boost more tactically instead of spamming it to win.
AppTrigger - "E3 2017: Sonic Forces escapes the city, not its past"
It took me some time to put my finger on just what it was I didn't like about Sonic Forces. I played two stages. The first was the opening city level we've seen in trailers, a familiar playstyle from prior 3D Sonic titles. The second was a 2D platforming level controlling one of the customizable characters, though I didn't actually get to mess around with the customization features. But the conclusion I finally came to after playing Sonic Forces for a bit is this: neither really feels much like Sonic to me.
By necessity, Sonic must go fast, yet in the city level I constantly felt the need to slow myself down to deal with some obstacle. The path he moved on was mostly linear, as opposed to divergent and dynamic with many levels and options for passing difficult obstacles. Auto-targeting made dispatching enemies simple perhaps too simple. There was really little left for me to do but run forward and occasionally stop to hit an attack button. There was no puzzle to it, and little skills required or taught.
Post-E3 2017 previews:
Nintendolife - "Running Scared from Sonic Forces"
Sonic Team, for the longest time, seems to think that Sonic is all about speed. To be fair thats what all the marketing for the original games was pushing, but in reality speed in Sonic is a reward for playing well, not the standard staple of each game in the series (in terms of the old school classics, at least).
And so you can probably tell where were going with these first impressions. Yes, weve played Sonic Forces and yes, its just what youd expect if you're a pessimist. It's a modern Sonic game that disappoints at nearly every turn. We played three different levels with three different characters, namely Modern Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the infamous custom-created Avatar.
NintendoLife also put out this critical video preview. Fandom reaction to it hasn't exactly been the greatest.
Eurogamer - "Maybe it's time for us to leave Sonic Team's take on its own series behind"
To my surprise and delight, one of 2017's very best video games is made by none other than Sonic Team. Yup, that Sonic Team - the developer formerly known as Sega AM8, the one behind behind Sega's iconic mascot and the very same studio that's been by the hedgehog's side through the good times and the bad.
You will likely not be surprised to discover, however, that that game is not Sonic Forces. Not unless something special happens between now and launch, that is.
Metro - "Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces hands-on preview and interview The focus is on old school fans"
The production values are fairly high, with decent graphics, but the 3D sections still seem as imprecise as ever. To the point where you only seem to need to point Sonic in roughly the right direction to succeed. The demo level did get harder as it went along, but we never felt fully in control and a lot of the obstacles appeared to come and go without any real inconvenience.
The same is true of the 2D sections, which compare poorly to Sonic Mania. For a start, the view is zoomed out too far, so that you're often squinting to make out what's going on, but the controls also aren't as tight and it doesn't even seem to be as fast.
All of which sounds quite critical, but our complaints our only in comparison to the excellence of Sonic Mania. Sonic Forces seems fine really: family-friendly junk food compared to the fine dining of Mania.
VG247 - "Sonic Forces is rough to the point of being comical is there any way to save Sonic Teams soul?"
On paper it should've been a no-brainer. Sonic Generations was good, and so a simple sequel to that game seems like a strong idea. The idea to finally let Sonic fans create their own characters in-game is a stroke of genius considering how fans have been doing that for years already (google your name the hedgehog and check the results). But somehow, inexplicably, Sonic Forces so far feels worse than Generations.
In the classic Sonic level I play there's something floaty to his jumps and generally loose to his movements that doesn't feel right. The modern Sonic gameplay seems less finessed than Generations, back to some of the pitfalls the series was making back when it first tried this format of gameplay in Unleashed.
The level I play of the new avatar character is guilty of some of the worst enemy design I've seen in ages, presumably thus to facilitate the fact the avatar character might have one of a few different abilities depending on how players choose to kit it out.
Waypoint - "Mario vs Sonic in 2017 is looking mightily one-sided"
Sonic Generations proved that Classic and Modern Sonic can co-exist and even thrive if the levels work and the tone is right. But the main problem with Sonic Forces is that the levels don't seem to flow that well.
Talking about the flow of each level sounds like airy-fairy-I-haven't-got-a-real-criticism-to-make-so-this-wishy-washy-BS-will-do nonsense. In this case, it's fairly apt. There's a lot of having to check your speed in Classic Sonic levels to avoid the obstacles and pitfalls, along with a lot of stopping and starting in Modern Sonic levels because you missed a homing attack on an enemy. It's not really a case of git gud', even though playing and learning each level does solve those problems. It's that the whole git gud learning curve isn't that much fun.
The lack of flow through each level is true even when playing with your own created character. Along with the weapons, you can equip skills such as the ability to explode into the air or turn into an electric ball of death, slamming through enemies. The idea is that these skills allow you to tackle levels in different ways, using the explosion leaps to reach higher platforms, as one example. But it still doesn't really solve the stop/start nature of each level and it doesn't make level replays that much more enjoyable while learning the fastest routes.
WCCF Tech - "Sonic Forces Hands-On - Thoroughly Forced"
A character creator tool is honestly harmless but creating your character feels a bit pointless when there's no variety of what you can do in-game. From what we were able to see, all of the OC characters will play identically, using a grapple gun to swing around objects, and using it as a homing attack essentially making all of the OC stages play like Sonic, but my OC also happened to have a flamethrower. It killed enemies quicker but still didn't manage to make the game fun.
Unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to get excited for Sonic Forces at this stage. The game didn't look good (although resolution will definitely be higher on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game than Nintendo Switch), it didn't feel very good to play, stages didn't feel inspired or interesting It was just something I played. Or endured.
Sonic forces one more 3D game out, but maybe he shouldn't have bothered.
Trusted Reviews - Sonic Forces Preview (The Google search for the preview has the subtitle "one step forward, ten steps back")
Being punished for circumstances you cant predict, and the constant chore of stopping and starting, remains as tiresome as it did in 2003s Sonic Heroes. Control is often taken away from you, too, and set pieces are presented through a wildly choppy frame rate. Platformers are at their best when youre rewarded for tight precision and exploration. Sonic Forces clasps your hand like an overbearing parent and seldom lets go.
Last up are the Avatar stages, which harbour a surprising amount of potential.At first I was optimistic, hoping my new weaponry would alleviate previous frustrations. I was wrong. The Avatar stages play almost exactly like the aforementioned Modern playgrounds, with all the disappointment in tow. Its a shame, and I desperately hope the customisation tools are refined since they currently feel broken. By holding down the ZR button I sent out a constant stream of lightning that killed everything in my path, essentially making me invincible.
Movies Games and Tech - Preview: Sonic Forces
Whilst the control issues plaguing the Modern Sonic portion of the demonstration are not serious enough to make it unplayable, the same cannot be said of the ones found whilst playing as the Avatar character. Its difficult to move and make use of the abilities each custom character possesses in an efficient manner. In a way, playing as one of these characters is a similar experience to playing the dreaded Sonic Boom Nintendo Wii U title. Being associated with Sonic Boom is definitely not a positive trait to boast about.
Given the state of the title, its difficult to not have concerns when wondering what the retail version of Sonic Forces will be like. Hopefully Sonic Team will be able to address all of the issues plaguing this demonstration. As it stands, Sonic Forces may seem to make use of ideas found in the enjoyable Sonic Generations, but it has a long journey ahead of it before it can be as appealing and charismatic, if this demonstration is anything to go by.
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