Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric (Wii U)

[DarkLight]

I think what would also make this sadder if this game does indeed turn out a disappointment is that it'll be another excuse for the media to dislike other characters for being playable and declare that they'll always play like crap. Sort of like, "IF BOOM COULDN'T MAKE THE CHARACTERS FUN TO PLAY, THEN THAT PROVES THAT THEY'LL ALWAYS BE SHITTY FRIENDS!" or some shit like that.

[jords]

Still getting negative previews?

Its hard getting excited for this game now. I can see myself liking the game because I enjoyed the werehog gameplay and I'll probably enjoy this.

Is it because it doesn't feel like a sonic game? Or is it because it controls badly?

Or worst of all, its both?

[FriendBot]

It's probably the "doesn't feel like a Sonic game" part that most people are disappointed with the game.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

Does anyone know if Sonic Boom will be shown and have the demo available at any other conventions or showcases.  Because at the moment we have only seen journalists views on the game.  No person on this forums from the looks of things has played it yet to have a legit thought on it.

[The Deleter]

Oh good, I'm not the only one who absolutely abhorred those timepad levels. I trust I'm not the only one who went "fuck it" and looked up how to get past them, either?

But yeah. I think that because Sonic's in the title, no matter how much the series is labelled as a spinoff, people will expect speed.

I guess it's because it's still a platform title, rather than the usual spinoff, which completely changes the genre. Hence why Mario Kart's not panned for being unlike Mario despite the fact it's not a platformer.

We're ultimately headed for an All 4 One scenario, I think. Which, as I've mentioned, means the game might be meh with many fans and critics but families will love it.

Actually, you might still be. I play Professor Layton, so those puzzles were a piece of cake for me. Still, I could see how you wouldn't like them, hence me putting it as an example.

 

I wouldn't mind an All 4 One scenario, though, as me and my siblings had an absolute blast playing it. I do however hope the single player gameplay is deeper than A4O's, as that element of the game really stood out when not playing it together. As a whole, though, A4O was a great multiplayer experience for what it was, and I certainly wouldn't mind it's sense of adventure being replicated in this game.

Does anyone know if Sonic Boom will be shown and have the demo available at any other conventions or showcases.  Because at the moment we have only seen journalists views on the game.  No person on this forums from the looks of things has played it yet to have a legit thought on it.

Actually, Ogilvie got to play it at E3 and posted his thoughts on it a while back. Don't recall the specifics of the impression, but it was positive.

 

Of course, he's in the "I love Ratchet/Jak/Werehog gameplay, I'll love this" crowd, so I dunno, maybe that makes his impression null and void compared to all of these professionals looking for the usual Sonic game.

 

 

Edit: Here it is

 

It was a bit hard to get into at first but I was able to have a good amount of fun. I think we've only gotten a taste and when the game is actually altogether it could be quite enjoyable.

As mentioned though, if you're expecting what's normally associated with Sonic, it may not quite be for you. If you're a Sony platformer person, knock yourself out.

That said, I skipped the underground sewer stage because that just looked tedious. I did get a good idea of play in the others, though; I didn't mind the small puzzles in the Sonic/Knuckles stage, for example.

[Milo]

I think what's one of the worst things about Boom is that if/when the game gets negative reviews, Sega/Sonic Team is going to assume the game failed for all of the wrong reasons and is going to continue to let the series stagnate.

 

Boom in spite of what it has going against it has the likes of playable/focus on other characters and deeper (for lack of a better word) storylines are just a few things that what people have been asking for the main series games to do. If the Boom games fail, they're be used as a scapegoat for the game's actual problems and Sonic Team will strive more to keep those elements away from the new games.

A developer that isn't Sonic Team or Dimps would ideally be the fresh breath of air the franchise needs, but if Boom fails Sega/Sonic Team would probably (with Boom being the obvious exception) further reel in the leash to the series.

 

I think I'll just ignore any other negative articles posted. They're all beginning to sound the same.

 

Just going to note that if the negative articles are "sounding the same"-as in they all highlight the same issues they found with the game, then that is definitely a problem with the game that, if left unchecked, is really going to hurt the game on release day.

[SoundBunnie44]

I'm still looking forward to boom despite the negative reviews, but I'm not really much of a gamer, nor one who cares what critics say about things, so I'm just looking at this through the lens of a casual game player. I will say, despite any reviews positive or negative, I think the games, like the toon will do well with the kids the new spin-off is trying to get interested in Sonic. Even if older/more hardcore gamers/fans end up disliking it.

[Tracker_TD]

I actually enjoyed the Werehog levels in Unleashed too - but this, this looks dull. As in, it literally looks like "mash Y, do nothing else." Werehog had combos and cool stuff to mix things up with the level up system. Unless this game does have a level-up combat system that we just haven't seen yet, combat here looks like a bloody snorefest.

[Willsy]

I think the negativity this early is too much of a warning sign to ignore. And we can't really just accuse the critics of knowing nothing when actual Sonic fans who have played it like Cobanermani456 are claiming the same thing. Sometimes the critics are wrong and make very weightless complaints, but I actually think that they have a point with Rise Of Lyric. I've never seen so many negative impressions on a game at E3 before, and if think this is a very good reason to be worried.

Luckily Shattered Crystal still looks really good so I'm excited to pick that up come November.

[The Deleter]

I actually enjoyed the Werehog levels in Unleashed too - but this, this looks dull. As in, it literally looks like "mash Y, do nothing else." Werehog had combos and cool stuff to mix things up with the level up system. Unless this game does have a level-up combat system that we just haven't seen yet, combat here looks like a bloody snorefest.

I thought it's already been confirmed that the game will offer more combos and teamwork moves than what was shown in the demo?

[Willsy]

Komodin posted this in the status updates, thought I'd post it on his behalf:

http://www.n3rdabl3.co.uk/2014/07/sonic-boom-preview-sonic-remember/

It's neutral.

[Kittea]

BlueBlood, superwplf, nepenthe, Real Actual Princess Peach & Dr.Mechano I didn't mean to cause all this, I was just pointing out my gender because I was misgendered. I didn't think it would cause a fuss, sorry   

 

Anyway back to the game I mentioned this over in the general discussion thread but I think it's pretty relevant. Reviews, for the most part are made up of a person or persons personal opinion and while some aspects of reviews are factual the majority are not so I say wait until you get to play the full release before you form a complete judgement

[Tracker_TD]

I thought it's already been confirmed that the game will offer more combos and teamwork moves than what was shown in the demo?

 

Not that I recall. And if that's the case, there's little excuse why these extra combos weren't shown over the, like, 5 moves in the demo.

[The Deleter]

Not that I recall. And if that's the case, there's little excuse why these extra combos weren't shown over the, like, 5 moves in the demo.

Maybe they were, and people just didn't find them because they were too busy with the normal moves? It's not uncommon for a brawler.

 

Anyway, I like how in the impression, he talks about the classic/modern way of defeating robots as opposed to Boom's combat before stating that it's combat is mindless button mashing.

 

Meh, I don't get the complaint for button masher. W101 was a button masher, but it had awesome gameplay. Mashing a button doesn't make the game more boring, imo, and neither does adding huge, complex combos and ridiculously tedious enemies to defeat make the combat any more interesting or fun. I just want the gameplay to have satisfying impact effects, yasee?

[Tracker_TD]

Maybe they were, and people just didn't find them because they were too busy with the normal moves? It's not uncommon for a brawler.

 

Anyway, I like how in the impression, he talks about the classic/modern way of defeating robots as opposed to Boom's combat before stating that it's combat is mindless button mashing.

 

Meh, I don't get the complaint for button masher. W101 was a button masher, but it had awesome gameplay. Mashing a button doesn't make the game more boring, imo, and neither does adding huge, complex combos and ridiculously tedious enemies to defeat make the combat any more interesting or fun. I just want the gameplay to have satisfying impact effects, yasee?

 

The Wii U has a whopping nine buttons used for traditional gameplay purposes. Experimentation is not hard.

 

W101 had a hell of a lot more strategy to it than button mashing. If I just went ahead and button mashed in W101, I would get my arse kicked. You need to strategies with regards to which Wonder-Eyes to use and the like, and how to manage your team. 

 

This is hit Y over and over.

 

And adding combos does make it more interesting than "mash Y." That's common sense, c'mon. The gameplay has no impact if your control in combat is limited to hitting the same button, whereas it's more satisfying when you string together combos and the like a la Werehog to deal huge damage.

[sonfan1984]

I think what's one of the worst things about Boom is that if/when the game gets negative reviews, Sega/Sonic Team is going to assume the game failed for all of the wrong reasons and is going to continue to let the series stagnate.

 

Boom in spite of what it has going against it has the likes of playable/focus on other characters and deeper (for lack of a better word) storylines are just a few things that what people have been asking for the main series games to do. If the Boom games fail, they're be used as a scapegoat for the game's actual problems and Sonic Team will strive more to keep those elements away from the new games.

A developer that isn't Sonic Team or Dimps would ideally be the fresh breath of air the franchise needs, but if Boom fails Sega/Sonic Team would probably (with Boom being the obvious exception) further reel in the leash to the series.

 

I know, and that's one of the main reasons why I wanted Boom to do well cause if not then they're going to continue on in the same current direction (not that I hate it but I would love to play as other characters other then Sonic again and among other things). The people who hates Boom and want it to fail, I believe it will do a lot more harm then good for Sonic and even though it's a seperate series it will probably drag the main series down with it. I was once really excited for Boom but my expections is starting to get lower and lower. I accept that it's now just a mediocre tie-in game for the TV show (which looks fun and charming btw) and that's that.

 

Oh hey, Stephen Frost is her...no wait, he left just that quick, lol. I guess that he'll never address these complaints. *sigh* Shame cause you got my hopes up and made the game sound soooo promising before the E3 showing, too.

[Wittymations]

I think what would also make this sadder if this game does indeed turn out a disappointment is that it'll be another excuse for the media to dislike other characters for being playable and declare that they'll always play like crap. Sort of like, "IF BOOM COULDN'T MAKE THE CHARACTERS FUN TO PLAY, THEN THAT PROVES THAT THEY'LL ALWAYS BE SHITTY FRIENDS!" or some shit like that.

This is pretty much my entire worry. Well, that and the idea that plot may be a problem for them. And since Shattered is doing a bit better, it's going to reinforce "MOAR 2D."

It's going to be counter-productive for what I was wanting for. Finally got more plot and more characters than Sonic playable and yet it does everything else in the opposite direction.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

At the end of the day on my opinion.  This game is going to prove how stiff the sonic fan base is.  And by stiff I mean "we need to have things go this way or it is a terrible game".  For the longest time I have always seen the sonic community as not people who don't know what they want.  But people who all want different things and a team that have trouble executing them.  I feel that as a fan base we need to be a heck of a lot more flexible with what sonic games are.  Every sonic game for Generations until now has been completely different from one another.  And because of this we always see mixed reviews.  the more I write this the more I think "what actually makes a sonic game?"  Who knows at this point.  Is it speed, is it platforming, is it action/adventure or exploration?  Who knows at this point.  But you know what.  So what is Sonic Boom ends up being bad.  At least they tried to mix everything that is sonic related together in one game as best they could.

[Tracker_TD]

At the end of the day on my opinion.  This game is going to prove how stiff the sonic fan base is.  And by stiff I mean "we need to have things go this way or it is a terrible game".  For the longest time I have always seen the sonic community as not people who don't know what they want.  But people who all want different things and a team that have trouble executing them.  I feel that as a fan base we need to be a heck of a lot more flexible with what sonic games are.  Every sonic game for Generations until now has been completely different from one another.  And because of this we always see mixed reviews.  the more I write this the more I think "what actually makes a sonic game?"  Who knows at this point.  Is it speed, is it platforming, is it action/adventure or exploration?  Who knows at this point.  But you know what.  So what is Sonic Boom ends up being bad.  At least they tried to mix everything that is sonic related together in one game as best they could.

 

AGAIN, I'm fine with them mixing stuff up. As I said barely a couple of pages ago IIRC (might have been in the 3DS topic), I loved Lost World, despite the change from the Boost gameplay.

 

But Boom's problem is not that it's bloody different. It's that it looks shite. How many times do I have to say this, seriously?

 

The combat looks tedious, slow and repetitive, the speed sections look like cutscenes with HUDs, and the graphics look like a PS2 game at times. 

Change is NOT this game's issue. This game's issue, is it looks BAD. 

 

The fanbase is likely more flexible than you thing. They're also apparently better at identifying when there's an issue with game design as opposed to mere change than you think. 

[TheLaw34]

Meh, I don't get the complaint for button masher. W101 was a button masher, but it had awesome gameplay. Mashing a button doesn't make the game more boring, imo, and neither does adding huge, complex combos and ridiculously tedious enemies to defeat make the combat any more interesting or fun. I just want the gameplay to have satisfying impact effects, yasee?

 

 

I agree, I think if sonic boom could do the job of making the fights atleast look cool I might be more interested. But i must say there is a differences between a game allowing button mashing and a game being nothing but button mashing. W101 still made you know your enemies, pay attention to their position and who is about to attack, understand the mechanics and be able to execute them well. Another serious issue is how uninteresting the enemies are, they really take generic robot to the next level. When I see a new enemy I am suppose to think it cool, scary or strong but they all just look like robots with not a single interesting characteristic.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

AGAIN, I'm fine with them mixing stuff up. As I said barely a couple of pages ago IIRC (might have been in the 3DS topic), I loved Lost World, despite the change from the Boost gameplay.

 

But Boom's problem is not that it's bloody different. It's that it looks shite. How many times do I have to say this, seriously?

 

The combat looks tedious, slow and repetitive, the speed sections look like cutscenes with HUDs, and the graphics look like a PS2 game at times. 

Change is NOT this game's issue. This game's issue, is it looks BAD. 

 

The fanbase is likely more flexible than you thing. They're also apparently better at identifying when there's an issue with game design as opposed to mere change than you think. 

 

Ok well I was kinda generalizing a little bit, I wasn't directly talking to you.

[The Deleter]

The Wii U has a whopping nine buttons used for traditional gameplay purposes. Experimentation is not hard.

 

W101 had a hell of a lot more strategy to it than button mashing. If I just went ahead and button mashed in W101, I would get my arse kicked. You need to strategies with regards to which Wonder-Eyes to use and the like, and how to manage your team. 

 

This is hit Y over and over.

 

And adding combos does make it more interesting than "mash Y." That's common sense, c'mon. The gameplay has no impact if your control in combat is limited to hitting the same button, whereas it's more satisfying when you string together combos and the like a la Werehog to deal huge damage.

 

If you mean strategy as in "don't get hit and block specific attacks", then yes, W101 does have a lot more stratagy to it than button mashing. For the usual enemies, though, nope, it's just as much "Hit A and it's over" as any other brawler. The real strategy in the game comes from stringing attacks and different weapons together, as efficiently as possible. When new to the game, though, the basic stratagy is "hit A to win". It's how people played the E3 demo, it's how Sonic Boom is being played, and it's how half of my siblings played W101 all the way through.

 

You can't truly judge brawlers from Timed demos, as the people are completely new to them and don't know how to efficiently play it, or know all the mechanics the game has. For example, the Sonic Boom demo had a "D, C, B, A, S" ranking system, and yet hardly anyone managed to pull off a perfect S.

 

And for the record, Sonic Boom has three buttons designated for combat. That's plenty of room for unexplored combos to be hidden in.

[Tracker_TD]

Ok well I was kinda generalizing a little bit, I wasn't directly talking to you.

 

Then stop generalizing. Gets us nowhere. The reason you brought up for why people don't like the game was already shot down when another member pulled it, a couple of days later doesn't make said generalization right. 

 

People don't like it because it looks bad. That's what I've gathered from the responses on here. Hell, I've seen barely anyone holding the mere concept of change against the game itself. If anything, I've seen a lot of members who want the boost formula to piss off, not to keep it.

[Wraith]

 

Meh, I don't get the complaint for button masher. W101 was a button masher, but it had awesome gameplay. Mashing a button doesn't make the game more boring, imo, and neither does adding huge, complex combos and ridiculously tedious enemies to defeat make the combat any more interesting or fun. I just want the gameplay to have satisfying impact effects, yasee?

 

"Satisfying impact effects" aren't the only thing that make up a decent combat system. A good combat system makes the player think on their feet. It throws the player into a variety of situations, gives them the tools they need to deal with them, and lets them figure out how to use those tools themselves. People consider mashing a button boring because you're just hitting a button and watching your character beat up an enemy. There's no thought to it. No strategy. No surprises. Huge, complex comboes at least add to a situation because they give a player options. That's why people don't like the fact that Sonic Boom looks like a button masher. It's a supposedly "combat focused" game with boring looking combat.

 

Calling Wonderful 101 a button masher in the same league as Sonic Boom is really underselling The Wonderful 101's versatility when it came to combat, and this is coming from someone who wasn't that big on the game. 

[Tracker_TD]

If you mean strategy as in "don't get hit and block specific attacks", then yes, W101 does have a lot more stratagy to it than button mashing. For the usual enemies, though, nope, it's just as much "Hit A and it's over" as any other brawler. The real strategy in the game comes from stringing attacks and different weapons together, as efficiently as possible. When new to the game, though, the basic stratagy is "hit A to win". It's how people played the E3 demo, it's how Sonic Boom is being played, and it's how half of my siblings played W101 all the way through.

 

You can't truly judge brawlers from Timed demos, as the people are completely new to them and don't know how to efficiently play it, or know all the mechanics the game has. For example, the Sonic Boom demo had a "D, C, B, A, S" ranking system, and yet hardly anyone managed to pull off a perfect S.

 

And for the record, Sonic Boom has three buttons designated for combat. That's plenty of room for unexplored combos to be hidden in.

 

With 101 though, the gameplay style mixed it up with those flying sections and such. And even then, beyond the mash A thing, it still had that other layer of depth. This game lacks any depth besides "mash A, " from what I've seen.

 

You can judge brawlers from timed demos, if you have common sense.

 

I picked up Streets of Rage II for a couple of minutes the other day, just to test if the cartridge was working. My common instinct was to hit every button to see what it does. That makes sense, to me at least. I was just testing, so I was only on it for five minutes before switching to Sonic 3D. And yet, I learnt how to play the game from just those five minutes.

 

Streets of Rage II uses the same three button format as Boom - yet still has combos and such, like the backwards attack and grabs. Here, we've seen the same "Mash Y" combo, an air move, and little else. 

Basically, this has as much depth as one of the earliest beat-em ups in the genre, at least in the state that SEGA decided to show at the biggest gaming event of the year.

 

With Boom, can you honestly tell me that every single person that played the game at E3 was too damn stupid to at least try doing something different to button-mashing in a genre where there is always more to the game than button mashing? And if they did, where are the results? Even the Werehog's starting assets were more varied than what we've seen here.