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Sonic Lost World |OT| Too X-treme for the Galaxy

Sciz

Member
Please, just hire Ian to do the writing.

I refuse to believe they spent all that time marketing the Zeti as the villains only to write them off one at a time in the final level. This ain't over.

edit: didn't see that music coming.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
Are platformer boss fights all that important anyways? I know they're one of the things I care about the least in a Mario game (for example).
In terms of final battles, Sonic game final bosses have a tendency to be more about style over substance at times. Typically, the atmosphere, music, and general mood add to it despite the fact that they may not be incredibly involving in terms of mechanics like other platformer final bosses.

So what you'd normally expect from a final boss is isn't necessarily something that's taxing, but rather something that you'd remember. Think Sonic 3&K's final boss, Sonic Adventure 2's final boss, Sonic Unleashed's final boss, etc. This really didn't become a huge 'thing' until Sonic 3&K to me, but after that, the precedent was set to have something that's a bit of a spectacle.

Please, just hire Ian to do the writing.

I refuse to believe they spent all that time marketing the Zeti as the villains only to write them off one at a time in the final level. This ain't over.
Seriously.
 

TheOGB

Banned
Okay, Sega, I know I said Colors 2 for Wii U, but you didn't have to take it that literally
I haven't even seen any of this stream yet
 

Dr. Buni

Member
Are platformer boss fights all that important anyways? I know they're one of the things I care about the least in a Mario game (for example).
Bosses are basically one of my favorite things about games, specially in the side scroller ones, so yes, at least to me they are important. That being said, boss fights in Sonic games sucks since forever, with very few exceptions, so I didn't have any hopes for the bosses in Lost World to be different.
 

pa22word

Member
This is probably the only time I've ever preordered a game and been highly interested in a game...but at the same time quite happy you guys over in euroland (and you aussies too!) get to test drive it first >.>

Sonic's just lost that trust from me over the years, I guess, and if worst comes to worst I'll just move my preorder money over to 3D World.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
It's disappointing that there's grinding in the first place. But at least this is going faster. >.>

[music spoilers]
Aw, there isn't individual map themes for each world, huh?
 

daman824

Member
That has to be the most disappointing ending I've ever seen in a sonic game. A boss fight that's just a pallet swap from a previous game. Come on sega.
 
That has to be the most disappointing ending I've ever seen in a sonic game. A boss fight that's just a pallet swap from a previous game. Come on sega.
Yeah I agree, they could've doe something better. I was hoping for the badguys to merge and become a giant monster or something.
 

remz

Member
Surely there's something more than that hidden away in the game? endgame:
Even the hidden world being 4 or so really short gimmick stages still kind of sucks.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
lol, we'll see about the thread title when the game's out, but since people did vote on it, I'm probably not going to change it.

[Endgame Spoiler]
Pac-Man is the true final boss.
Better final boss

[final boss spoilers]
I'm really disappointed with that. I anticipated that they would've done something better given the mess that was Generations HD's final boss, but I guess I was wrong?

There's gotta be more to it than that.
 

Sciz

Member
[final boss spoilers]
I'm really disappointed with that. I anticipated that they would've done something better given the mess that was Generations HD's final boss, but I guess I was wrong?

Being comprehensible is a step up, at least.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Stream spoilers and end game spoilers.

I'm in the boat that there's gotta be more than that, that almost felt like the fake ending to Sonic and the Black Knight, the whole final boss and sort of rushed ending scenes, some plot strings completely left unexplained (what happens to Lost Hex? They just leave it there? What happened to the Zeti? Why just leave the machine capable of destroying the whole world right there... On the planet with the Zeti, who were using it to destroy the world!?). The worst part is that I actually was kind of enjoying the story for what it was, it was amusing and had a few actually better-than-expected scenes, but then the 'ending' felt so incomplete.

I've got a theory it may have to do something Black Knight related, Black Knight was composed of the same team who made this game so it wouldn't surprise me, but not quite sure what. I'm also suspicious since on the lava map there's a dome that's just kind of... there to the right of the final boss level. I think that's the Badnik Factory that several scenes take place in, but it's highly suspicious to me.

Game does look good though, happy to have pre-ordered. Also it looks like there's a lot of secrets to unlock still, and didn't see a lot of the hidden stages in each world.
 
Please, just hire Ian to do the writing.

I refuse to believe they spent all that time marketing the Zeti as the villains only to write them off one at a time in the final level. This ain't over.

edit: didn't see that music coming.

I don't think I can blame them for that, I would figure the fault would lie in what Sonic Team had in mind. Final (non-hidden) portion aside, the game looks solid, though I really wish they didn't reskin the final colors boss or at least throw in another boss after that one.
 

qq more

Member
Price aside, I don't see the actual issue of the game being 5 hours itself. Sonic games tends to suck when they're longer because they tend to either overstay their welcome or add a lot of senseless padding. The game should be maybe 40 dollars at most, I can sort of say the same to other games. Is there a lot of side content to make up for it?

[final boss spoilers]
I'm really disappointed with that. I anticipated that they would've done something better given the mess that was Generations HD's final boss, but I guess I was wrong?

Going from what you've been telling me about it:
It still sounds 10000x better than that god awful Generations final boss... but of course that isn't saying much because THAT LOOKS LIKE A HOMING SHOT the boss was among the worst I've ever played. of course this does not excuse this lazy rehash boss for this game... so I'm still disappointed, but at the same time I'm relieved it isn't anything like gen's
 
I'm actually okay with this game. Its rushed I think we all know it was. This is exactly what I expected out of it Colors 2.0 basically. And I'm fine with that.

I'm glad I'll be able to play some more stuff on my Wii U though.
 

Sciz

Member
I don't think I can blame them for that, I would figure the fault would lie in what Sonic Team had in mind. Final (non-hidden) portion aside, the game looks solid, though I really wish they didn't reskin the final colors boss or at least throw in another boss after that one.

Oh, I'm not directly blaming them for the ending (yet). I just think the dialogue's mostly terrible. Ken's got Eggman and the bots down fine, but he can't handle anyone else at all.
 
Oh, I'm not directly blaming them for the ending (yet). I just think the dialogue's mostly terrible. Ken's got Eggman and the bots down fine, but he can't handle anyone else at all.

I guess I can see your point, though I have to say, they've characterized Amy (and Tails to an extent) better. Also, I'm trying to figure the cast list from the stream but due to the low quality, aside from the obvious inclusion (RCS, Kate Higgins, Mike Pollock, Travis Willingham, Cindy Robinson, Wally Wingert, and Kirk Thorton) the only one I could make out is Liam O'Brien.

Edit: Actually I think I've figured out the other three: Stephanie Sheh, Patrick Seitz, and (I THINK) Sam Riegel
 
Post from Retro:

I....I don't understand this game.

I just don't. The game is scarce on actual Sonic content as 1 or 2 actual acts that have some semblance of level design. The new movement system is cool and someone will put that to good use in speedruns, but the game barely pushes or expects you to use them beyond the designated wallrunning section. You have the option and freedom to explore but are never given the chance to actually do anything with it. Instead have this floating minigame boss thing. It's barely a Sonic game yet it reeks of all its elements. It's a minigame collection for variety's sake blatantly trying to be Mario but not nearly as good and not nearly as clever. It's a polished mess. Going by the actual level design, many parts are built to be counterproductive, cheap, and frustrating. If you move the screen upwards by ascending and then fall down, everything below is now an instant killzone as if it were a pit despite you being there not two seconds ago. More instant deaths exist outside of crushing and pits and many go through invulnerability frames. Enemies are finally dangerous which is great, but the game never tells you what is effective and what isn't. It would have been as simple as a crosshair icon changing, but instead you have to try things until it works. It's unintuitive and doesn't communicate with the player well. Some areas you can die after beating a boss if you end in the wrong place and the game stops taking input. At one point a miniboss shows up and it's unclear what you are supposed to do since its shooting things at you, which you assume will hurt, and the timer is running down. The wisps are awful or one off gimmicks. Beat is total shit.

They had something and they dropped the ball for Mario and minigames.

God, this is depressing. I really hate the fact that they had what could be a sure thing, and then they went and turned it into mini games. It never fails, they just can't focus their gameplay.

I want to love Sonic, Sega, but you make it so very hard.
 

Dario ff

Banned
[End game stuff]
So... any speculation as to how the NiGHTS content will fit in? Maybe it provides some closure? That needs the Deadly Six after all.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
I completetly missed this stream but reading this page is pretty depressing. Not looking too hot?
 

daman824

Member
They should have just added more platforming and alternate paths to the generations style gameplay and then tightened up sonics handling. Maybe even reduce the amount of boost. It would have turned out much better. Not that this game is bad. But it does seem like its trying too hard to be a mario game and failing.

imo sega really needs to work on perfecting a certain style before they move on to a new style.

When generations and colors get the best review scores and most positive fan feedback in years, It's baffling that they would try this.
 

Eusis

Member
Post from Retro:



God, this is depressing. I really hate the fact that they had what could be a sure thing, and then they went and turned it into mini games. It never fails, they just can't focus their gameplay.

I want to love Sonic, Sega, but you make it so very hard.
Sounds like they just got lucky with Colors and Generations before slipping again. Disappointing, but not particularly surprising really.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
I'm in the boat I think it still looks fun, but then I also have played a 10th of the game, so I know how the game feels.

My consensus based on what I've played and seen is that it certainly has a lot of variety, and more 2D than I was expecting (I would say the game is about half 3D, half 2D), but it definitely looks and in many ways is designed like Sonic Colors 2. I feel that those who like Colors may like this, I actually feel the level design is much stronger than Colors, and there's more variety in stage gimmicks. Though some stages are defined by their gimmicks (some were in Colors too though, but the gimmicks from the couple I've played feel better and seem better executed, and the ones I've seen seem to be on-par with this).

Of course, I won't have my full opinions until I play the whole thing. It certainly seems to have a lot of unlockable stages and other goodies, but it also seems to suffer a few flaws. Firstly that the bosses, while they look better than Generations, still appear to be fairly weak. And there's more of them, so there's that (though most seem pretty short, and again, at least they're varied). And I think the 2D seems very Color-ish, which depending who you ask, is either a good or bad thing.

I think those wanting Sonic Generations 2 are going to be disappointed, but those wanting Colors 2 will really like it, is where my stance is. From what I played and what I've seen, it does seem like an evolvement in many areas of Colors. Though in some ways it seems like it might have taken too much from Colors, but mixed it in with Mario Galaxy elements and the older Sonic games in terms of variety of enemies and stage gimmicks.

Again, this is all based on me playing six stages of the game and seeing the later third of the game. I think it's going to be a good game, but I also think it won't be a perfect experience, and I expect to hear some people who'll love it and some who won't. I also can comment I love the surrealism of the game, and some of the stages shown looked amazing. In fact, while the game didn't look perfect, I didn't really spot any stages that looked terrible or anything, so that's good.

As clarification for those wondering on the negativity: People in the stream chat were all thinking it looked terrific until a disappointing final boss and ending, so I think the depression is coming from climax let-down.
 

Dark Schala

Eloquent Princess
I... almost want to agree with that Retro post. But then again, I haven't played the game myself yet.

Granted, I've had my misgivings about the game ever since it was announced, and it's because of that level design bit that that user had written about. Even in prerelease footage, we saw levels with design that are counterproductive to the combination of flow and exploration. Instead of hills and structures that we can build momentum up with at a decent pace, we have squares and blocks and obstructions to manoeuvre around. Now there's very little wrong with that... but the way Sonic games are designed--at least in the past--was that they gave you levels with faster pace and then alternated with slower level design.

Look at Sonic 1's level pacing, for instance. You've got fast -> ultra slow -> moderate to slow -> slow -> fast -> slow to moderate -> final.

Sonic 2's level pacing's like: fast -> slow -> moderate -> fast/moderate/slow -> moderate -> slow -> moderate -> slow -> Sky Chase/Wing Fortress -> final

It's not... entirely based on one single sort of pacing or formula. Things tend to be mixed up so the player doesn't feel like the game is rather monotonous in design, or that they have a reprieve after a stage that they aren't necessarily the best at. Sonic 4 managed to pull that sort of pacing off.

At this juncture, when I saw (boss spoilers)
a boss basically being jacked right out of Galaxy, and some Mario-esque sort of mechanics/level design being included, I really really couldn't help but to feel a little bit disappointed that the game didn't seem to have its own sense of identity in that respect, and that's something I find somewhat irksome about games development (ie: work with the stuff that you've come up with as a studio that works as opposed to mimicking something else that seems successful, but not necessarily putting your own spin on it and keeping it in there for appeasing an audience that you wouldn't otherwise have).

With that said, the game does look neat and polished. Presentation-wise and musically, it's great. Level design-wise, I think they could have gone a different route with the pacing (ie: rails aren't necessarily the thing that you want to alternate your levels with in terms of quick/slow/quick/slow). Either way, I won't know until I play it myself. I still do think the game looks promising in terms of cohesiveness, but there were some things that kind of baffled me in terms of design.
 

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
I am having a hard time believing these impressions. I told myself I wasn't going to play any more sonic games after secret rings, Unleashed, then generations, but bought into the hype for lost world. Pre-ordered both versions too.

I need a demo.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
I am having a hard time believing these impressions. I told myself I wasn't going to play any more sonic games after secret rings, Unleashed, then generations, but bought into the hype for lost world. Pre-ordered both versions too.

I need a demo.

Japan just got a WiiU and 3DS demo of the game, so likely America and Europe will too.
 

Eusis

Member
As clarification for those wondering on the negativity: People in the stream chat were all thinking it looked terrific until a disappointing final boss and ending, so I think the depression is coming from climax let-down.
On the other hand... 5 hours? It's not like I need to be paying $5 or something for those, but I'm certainly not eager to pay $60 or something. I'll see if I can Gamefly it though.
 
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