SONIC FORCES

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SONIC FORCES

Post Post #0 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:18 am

Post by Radical Rat »

COMING SOON

REAL SOON

TONIGHT/TOMORROW SOON
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Post Post #1 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:42 am

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wait its that near what the fuck
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Post Post #2 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:42 am

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visuals look kinda bleh but if they manage to nail the old-school sonic formula in 3d it should be good
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Post Post #3 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 5:22 am

Post by McMenno »

Maybe I should play legend of the seven rings again
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Post Post #4 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 6:03 am

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In post 2, Randomnamechange wrote:visuals look kinda bleh but if they manage to nail the old-school sonic formula in 3d it should be good
They did not.

However, I still think it looks damn good, even if it's far from the classic formula. From what I've seen, Modern Sonic plays more or less like Colours/Generations, Classic Sonic plays like Mania, and the Avatar plays pretty much however you want depending on your wispon. Seems to primarily take influence from Unleashed though.

The graphics are kind of off-looking, but I suspect that'll get smoothed out soon. Part of the transition to a new console generation, and a new engine at that.

And hoo boy. The soundtrack is gonna be so great. Which is an excellent treat after Lost World's severely disappointing generic sound.
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Post Post #5 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:32 pm

Post by Alisae »

Sonic collectathon that isn't Sonic 06 plz
GTKAS
| here.
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Post Post #6 (ISO) » Mon Nov 06, 2017 5:07 pm

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LESS THAN ONE HOUR LEFT

I will likely be posting spoilers here, but they will be tagged.
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Post Post #7 (ISO) » Tue Nov 07, 2017 3:54 am

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Alright, so.

I've only been able to play ~90 minutes so far, but... The game's really nice!
The Modern Sonic levels do still suffer from "boost to win" design at times, but they've also made it much harder to maintain a full boost bar, so it's less viable to just hold the button and go.
Classic Sonic never felt especially great to me in Generations, and the same goes here for the most part. I kind of wish they'd stop trying to copy over classic gameplay into the modern engine and instead go for something new that retained the SPIRIT of the classics. That aside though, he does control well and the drop dash is just as satisfying here as it was in Mania.
The Avatar is where this game really starts to shine though. Each wispon type has different methods for traversing the map and fighting enemies. As such, the levels are much more complex than either Sonic's and there is incentive to run through again with different equipment to explore other sections. There are of course still alternate paths in the Sonic levels, but they tend to be somewhat more discrete while the Avatar's weave together more seamlessly.
And then the tag-team... I have only played one tag team level so far, but as of now it is far and away the best one I've played, and exemplifies how I think Sonic's game design should be in the modern era.

Only major complaint so far is the boss fights which... Are kinda lacking tbh. I was hoping for Adventure style bosses where they're dynamic and demand using the game's unique mechanics, but both of the modern bosses I've fought so far were pretty much just. Dodge until a quick time event pops up.
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Post Post #8 (ISO) » Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:51 am

Post by Randomnamechange »

thats good to hear
most importnat feature in the game tho: how edgy is shadow?
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Post Post #9 (ISO) » Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:02 am

Post by Radical Rat »

In post 8, Randomnamechange wrote:thats good to hear
most importnat feature in the game tho: how edgy is shadow?
Well he hasn't shown up in the main game yet, but based on the first mission of Episode Shadow, I'd say.... Somewhere between Heroes and Shadow the Gamehog levels of edge.
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Post Post #10 (ISO) » Tue Nov 07, 2017 6:40 am

Post by Randomnamechange »

acceptable.
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Post Post #11 (ISO) » Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:48 pm

Post by Radical Rat »

Finished!

The game was a blast to play, in spite of a few flaws throughout.
Gameplay-wise, I did mention the bosses earlier, but having seen all of them, there are precisely two bosses I really enjoyed, and one that's just really annoying and not much fun at all. The rest are just okay.

Then... there's the homing attack. I grew up on the early 3D games, so I have no animosity towards the mechanic itself, but in Forces it seems to have trouble locking onto things. Or rather, staying locked on. Like other recent 3D Sonics, you get a targeting reticule that pops up near enemies so you don't jump off a cliff as was common in the older ones, but putting aside my distaste for that "solution" as a whole (git gud and aim yourselves, punks) I often find that it unlocks at some point in between jumping up and pressing again to attack. Which is Very annoying, but hopefully that can be patched out.
Last big deal is that there's ONE level in particular that has a turn, which you are more or less required to boost before and after, but if you don't hard brake and walk carefully around the corner, you just fly off the edge. So fuck that one moment of that one stage in particular.

Enough negatives though! Time for THAT GOOD SHIT
Modern Sonic plays more or less like he has since Unleashed, but it's been pretty well refined and feels good when the homing attacks behave. Especially worth mentioning given the modern games' reputation is that I actually found myself using and not using the boost based on the situation instead of just BOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOSTBOOST mixed with jumping/guided turns. Complementing this is that rings no longer fill your boost bar, which means even if you do decide to constantly boost through the levels, you actually do have to put in effort to keep it full. Also every modern Sonic stage is playable as Shadow after the first time around, so y'know. Fun times.
Classic Sonic is Generations plus drop dash, which y'know. It's good, it's fun. Not to much to say there.
The Avatar stages, as stated earlier, are phenomenal. Using other Sonic games as a reference, I think these are closest to Heroes in terms of gameplay, but it really is a unique experience, and the Wispons are great for establishing your personal playstyle, with not only the six (maybe seven?) different flavors, but also several passive effects such as, speed boosts after landing, extending the time you can slide after a kick, making enemies drop rings, and a bunch more. Honestly I don't know that I've even seen them all yet.
Tag-team then steps even closer to Heroes territory, but instead of clumsily cycling through characters to use a specific move, you can use both movesets at will. Using boost will cause Sonic to take the lead, while using your Wispon or attaching to grapple points puts the Avatar in the lead. Sonic's got faster base speed (naturally) and deals with enemies easier, and the Avatar is generally better at platforming and gains benefits from your Wispon's passive effects, meaning the levels do not have to compromise between exploration/platforming skillz and having the super extra speedy bits with neat set pieces, resulting in brilliantly executed designs that there REALLY SHOULD BE MORE OF DAMN IT


Now then, it is late and this post is long, but STAY TUNED TOMORROW for me to talk about the Story, how fuckin' great the Soundtrack is, and EPISODE SHADOW
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Post Post #12 (ISO) » Thu Nov 09, 2017 6:45 am

Post by Radical Rat »

ALRIGHT LADS IT'S STORYTIME
Obviously, beneath this spoiler= tag will be spoilers.
I will try to avoid just spoiling the whole thing, but Radical Rat Enterprises is not responsible should you find your enjoyment of the story when/if you play yourself dampened.

Spoiler: Story Opinions
So, in addition to the character customization, the story is one of Forces' major draws. Mostly because it's the first Sonic game to even have a decent story at all since..... Unleashed? Was it really that long?

Regardless, for the most part, it succeeds! I greatly enjoyed the tale, despite having some aspects spoiled myself before going in. As the marketing has suggested, rather than stopping Eggman FROM taking over the world, you're taking the world BACK from him. Which I find an especially interesting premise considering that while this has never been the plot for a Sonic GAME before, Sonic & Friends fighting against an Eggman-ruled dystopia has been the setup for almost every piece of extraneous media. The only exceptions I can think of are Sonic X and the OVA, but I'm getting off topic and you get the point. Neat.

The game opens up with Sonic actually being "killed" by Infinite, which is what allows Eggman to take over in the first place. Knuckles in turn organizes the Resistance, comprised of (almost) all of Sonic's previous companions, with notable absences being Cream, Blaze, and Big. Now, as great as it is to see them all there and participating, this plays into the story's greatest flaw to me.

There's so much going on in so many places that I WANT to see in-depth, but we only get passing glimpses of. In the past, we'd have had separate stories/routes to cover all of this, but there's only one here, and as a result nothing is given the attention it deserves. On a related note, neither Chaos nor Shadow actually have a boss fight in the game. They are both disposed of in one hit in CUTSCENES. I don't know about you folks, but I was looking forward to a good Chaos fight, and was hoping for at least like. A race or something with Shadow. It's POSSIBLE that these were planned, but didn't make the game in order to meet deadline, but that's purely speculation.

Anyway, from here, your Avatar joins the resistance after barely surviving one of Infinite's rampages, it's revealed that Sonic ISN'T dead (who could have known?), a rescue is planned and.... The story's pretty cliche from there, power of friendship, hope against insurmountable odds, you know how it goes. But... It also manages to be dramatic and engaging, or maybe I'm just easy to please, but either way, it worked.
The OTHER biggest flaw though, is that for all the work put into building this plot and this situation, Sonic's dialogue just.... Kills the vibes. Everything and everyone else is taking this seriously, but Sonic just keeps cracking jokes and being super cocky. Which has always been a part of Sonic's character, but in past games he's been able to take situations seriously and still have fun with it. And I'm sorry, but after being nearly killed, imprisoned, and tortured for Six Months, smug arrogance and playful banter with your captors is absurd. And yet, that's what most of Sonic's lines are, even before he's rescued. All the other characters have pretty solid dialogue most of the time, with humor even sprinkled in when appropiate, but it seems like Sonic's scriptwriter didn't get the memo that they were going for a serious, determined mood.
I will say that Roger Craig Smith does a great Sonic though, and I do hope that one day he'll get a script to match.

In contrast, probably one of the coolest things in the story is that it actually directly links to Mania. From Classic Sonic's perspective, this all takes place mere moments after Mania's ending, which I think is pretty darn neat.


Lastly, some words on Episode Shadow
It's too short. Way too short.
But it's also super cool and good. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega seem to operate as a sort of Black Ops unit, and I'm diggin' it. It's also Shadow who first encounters Infinite, and is partially responsible for his origin/motivation. Infinite's just a regular jackal who gets his ass kicked by Shadow while working as a mercenary, reveals a Massive inferiority complex, and then lets Eggman turn him into Infinite in order to become stronger. So Episode Shadow is mostly Infinite just showing off and rubbing his power in Shadow's face before murdering Sonic, which is super neat, but again.... Too darn short.


And with that done, SOUNDTRACK TIME
Each character has a distinct musical style for their levels, which is brilliant.
Modern Sonic has some snazzy Electronic/Rock tracks, mostly instrumental, but they're pretty great
The Avatar has all Vocal tracks, in a genre I don't really know the name of. It's kind of like pop music but... Not as samey, faster paced, and generally just better. These are my personal favorites from the main game.
Classic Sonic predictably has chiptunes, but they too are really really good.

Then Episode Shadow is comprised entirely of remixes of Shadow's past themes, but they are TOP TIER remixes, and I love them very much.
There's only four, so I'll go ahead and summarize here.
Map Screen - Shadow the Gamehog menu music, minimally altered but with some chiptunes joining proper instrumentation for a nifty sound
Stage One - Rad as hell medley mix of a whole bunch of stuff. I could pick out Westopolis, Sky Rail, and Radical Highway but there were certainly more.
Stage Two - Rad as hell remix of White Jungle. Feels like a somewhat modernized version of the original track.
Stage Three - The most interesting song here, we have a mix of Supporting Me, with Infinite's theme occasionally coming in and taking over, symbolizing the struggle between Shadow and Infinite at this point. Good shit.

Aaand that's it for my ramblings, I guess.
For now.
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Post Post #13 (ISO) » Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:42 pm

Post by McMenno »

who tf is wolf guy
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Post Post #14 (ISO) » Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:48 pm

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In post 13, McMenno wrote:who tf is wolf guy
Original the Character
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Post Post #15 (ISO) » Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:15 pm

Post by McMenno »

coldsteel?
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