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Sonic Lost World Review Thread [Embargo Ends: Oct. 18th, 4:00 AM EDT]

I pre-ordered and look forward to receiving it, hopefully next week. Not sure what to think of the mixed reviews though, although I do feel that some reviewers have in the past been overly harsh against Sonic games and therefore might have a bit of a stigma against them, I haven't played the game myself so I can't be sure.

However, given how many hours of gameplay footage I've seen of the game, I'm more inclined to believe it's an above average game, rather than a mediocre one, but of course that's just my personal opinion and I still haven't actually played the game to further cement it or not.
 

Chuck

Still without luck
I like the reputable Famitsu is listed second in the OP. They're a trustworthy outlet for certain.
 

Zalman

Member
I pre-ordered and look forward to receiving it, hopefully next week. Not sure what to think of the mixed reviews though, although I do feel that some reviewers have in the past been overly harsh against Sonic games and therefore might have a bit of a stigma against them, I haven't played the game myself so I can't be sure.

However, given how many hours of gameplay footage I've seen of the game, I'm more inclined to believe it's an above average game, rather than a mediocre one, but of course that's just my personal opinion and I still haven't actually played the game to further cement it or not.
I'm in the same boat. I personally haven't seen anything that screams 6/10 yet, but I obviously haven't played it yet so I don't know. Pretty excited to see what I think of it myself. I do agree though, reviewers have been to harsh on his latest games since they were actually really good.
 

VinLAURiA

Banned
I'm surprised to see it scoring so low, and the fact that many of the higher scores are from Nintendo-centric sites has me a little worried about a conflict of interest somewhere. Not to mention the complaints of difficulty and unorthodox controls in many reviews, which could mean either a polarizing situation like Kid Icarus: Uprising, or even flat-out reviewer incompetence like that GameSpot review of Skyward Sword (though on this scale is doubtful)...

These fours and fives out of ten don't seem at all congruous to the game we've been seeing in previews up until now (previews that the very same press tended to frame in a positive light) and I wonder if this'll end up being a case of Critical Dissonance, considering that the few fan reactions I've seen tended to be more positive...
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
I'm surprised to see it scoring so low, and the fact that many of the higher scores are from Nintendo-centric sites has me a little worried about a conflict of interest somewhere.

These fours and fives out of ten don't seem at all congruous to the game we've been seeing in previews up until now (previews that the very same press tended to frame in a positive light) and I wonder if this'll end up being a case of Critical Dissonance...

Honestly I'm not. The game still looks fun and when I get a WiiU I'm planning on picking it up but from even the first E3 videos beneath the visuals there were things that were "off" about a lot of the level design. The videos I've seen since then only confirm that its still weirdly unpolished in places.

But the parts that look fun look really fun
 

Zalman

Member
Still plan on getting this when it comes out in North America but this is a game where I'm really curious to see what customer reviews are like.
I could see this end up being like Wonderful 101 and ZombiU. Both had pretty mixed reviews, but a lot of people here on GAF seem to love them. At least I hope that will be the case.
 

Eidan

Member
I honestly think it looks good

Same here. Looks fine to me. Slower than what recent Sonic games have been, but considering how speed seems and lack of control therein has been a frequent criticism of the series, I'm not surprised the Sega tried to slow things down.
 

chadboban

Member
Ouch. Was really looking forward to this game as I loved both Colors and Generations.
This quote from gamerevolution was especially harsh

If you love him as I once did, you’ll agree that it’s time to take Sonic out back and put him out of everyone’s misery.

When I get my Wii U I probably try out the demo and see if it's to my liking. I always try not to let review scores get to me when it comes to selecting my games but I do try to take what I can from them to help me decide whether something is worth purchasing right away or not.
 

MarkusRJR

Member
Wait, people don't like this video? I think it looks great. The level design looks nice and I think the music is absolutely fantastic.

Then again, I've never played a Sonic game before and have always been a Mario fan, so maybe that has something to do with it.
I think it has to do with the pop-in, direct Mario rip-offs (find five seagulls/grey stars then go to flower/star), and weird movement speed (not particularly in that video but wall runs look really shitty to control).
 
I'm all for them not nailing it with their first Wii U game, now they can make a far better one with their second Wii U game (likely the 3rd exclusive).

I mean look how long it took to make a good Sonic game last gen, took until 2010 (3rd Wii game, 5th overall last gen) to nail it.

In retrospect maybe they should've made a 4th boost game but with the attention to 60fps.
 

Hiltz

Member
I never really saw what made this game seem all that compelling in the first place. Yes, the concept seemed refreshing, but the execution always looked fairly clumsy with some odd camera work, unwieldy power-ups, and Sonic's inelegant and sudden stop -and go- movement due to some of the diverse level design that didn't always suit the gameplay.
 
Also I think Yuji Naka's departure really did a number on Sonic, I mean the only bad game really under him was Shadow (Heroes was good, but not for everyone).

'06 crumbled likely mainly due to his departure, and due to the team split where half the team went to do Secret Rings.

He was the one who pioneered Mario & Sonic as well.

I do wonder how an Iizuka DIRECTED Sonic game would do, he directed NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams IIRC and aside from some issues I thought it was lovely; beautiful music, graphics, and pretty good gameplay, it needed more time in the oven, plus the surely true leak about the early development of the game where it was a 360 game that was rushed to the Wii instead to still meet the end of 2007 date.

OR, get everyone (sans Naka because he likely can't) back who did Billy Hatcher to make a Sonic game, Billy was an ABSOLUTE gem.

Shun Nakamura directed it, and YES I know he also directed '06, but I don't blame him, especially since Billy was so wonderful, and he also directed Samba and Rhythm Thief as well.

Ohtani also headed the music team IIRC on Billy.

That's what they need to do next unless it's SA3 on Wii U.

Naka was the producer, but wasn't it considered to be "his baby"?

Edit: Mariko Nanba was the sound director, but Ohtani helped with the theme song.
 
I honestly think it looks good

Same here...I like the fact that it's slower than recent Sonic games. The older and best Sonic games had bursts of speed, but were platforming games first and foremost. I still want this game. And there are good reviews as well, so no need to worry for those who are interested.
 

CrisKre

Member
I will still give the game a shot, but it saddens me that Sonic team cannot seem to get the notion that focusing your gameplay design is much better than adding variety that is all over the place.

They had the right idea with the layered speed and added freedom to the levels. They couldn't help themselves and had to throw all kinds of shit in here.

It's frustrating.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Wow, some pretty brutal scores there. Guess I'll wait for some feedback from players before deciding what to do here... I skimmed a few reviews and can't tell if it's a bad game, or if reviewers just didn't "get" it. AKA: Godhand syndrome.
 

Sciz

Member
I do wonder how an Iizuka DIRECTED Sonic game would do, he directed NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams IIRC and aside from some issues I thought it was lovely; beautiful music, graphics, and pretty good gameplay, it needed more time in the oven, plus the surely true leak about the early development of the game where it was a 360 game that was rushed to the Wii instead to still meet the end of 2007 date.
what

Every major release from SA1 to Shadow was directed by Iizuka. He's the principle reason the series ever started down a dark path to begin with.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Why were several reviews taken away from the OP since last night? I was telling a friend how all over the scoreboard split opinions were of Lost Worlds and telling how many reviews were under every number on the scoreboard between 9-4 out of 10, and I know I used the OP and stated a lot more 8-8.5 out of 10 reviews, some were added but it looks like a lot of them were missing since last night.
 

PAULINK

I microwave steaks.
Nope, not going to be burned from a sonic game again. Looks like it will be a prime time to set up a gamefly account.
 
I'm too lazy to look it up but I don't remember those reviews being this mixed.

The range is nuts. 4/10-9/10 and plenty from each camp.

For reference Joystiq consider Sonic 4 better for the series than Sonic Colors (wii), they called Colors the same crap the series is used to. (if somehow this is a multiple post I apologize as Gaf is acting weird on this snowy October day.)
 

Kouriozan

Member
Finished world 2, the game is far from being bad, in fact is pretty good.
Fun fact, this is the very first Sonic game I'm getting all red coins, the others ones was boring or tedious to get.
And again, the downside are the awful Whisp powers gameplay, it's almost unplayable.
 

Zalman

Member
Finished world 2, the game is far from being bad, in fact is pretty good.
Fun fact, this is the very first Sonic game I'm getting all red coins, the others ones was boring or tedious to get.
And again, the downside are the awful Whisp powers gameplay, it's almost unplayable.
I hope we'll never see the Wisps again. They were cool in Colors, but they shouldn't become a staple. Nice to hear you're liking it, though.
 
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