Sonic Forces | PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC "The Next Generations"

[Zers Editor]

1 hour ago, Chris Knopps said:

Feel like this should be asked...

BOOM Sonic being in Sonic Forces, would that attract consumers or push them away from the title?

People are speculating the third character being the BOOM incarnation but, despite the cartoon's success, would it be an attractive addition or a repulsive one for people?

That depends on a first impression that he will give.

People are seeing him as laidback, grandpa, a**hole, etc. He shouldn't bring associations with THOSE char. traits. There was an episode in season 2 of the show, Friendbot. There he was more lifefull and caring, and when he was bored or annoyed, it had some sort of excuse on why he's bored or annoyed. The way BOOM Sonic acts in that episode + more "badassery" would probably work. I can explain this fully in PM, if you want.

His design needs right proportions for believability of his movement and a good range of expression. In this case, "Tommy Thunder" episode is the best I've seen.

There.

[Waveshocker Sigma]

15 minutes ago, KHCast said:

They can't even get they're regular characters down, I'd rather they not add in more (sticks) until they make use of what they have already 

Well, we're getting a new character in this game, so too late for that. lol

[FriendBot]

The way Boom Sonic behaves in the show is fitting for casual toned sitcom but with Season 2 having more action/adventure episodes than comical ones, it's a lot more believable to see Boom Sonic in a action setting Forces seems to be going for.

Granted, it could be very likely that Boom Sonic won't be in Forces at all for many reasons. 

For all I could know, the new character could be the third playable character for all I know.

It's going to be a waiting game with this one, people.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Sticks couldn't do anything bad to this game, honestly. I'm not a fan of her, but I couldn't see any harm if she was included as a major NPC.

[Sega DogTagz]

If Shun Nakamura is taking the helm on this one, then I do take a bit of comfort in the additional likelihood that the story will be a larger part of the overall narrative in Sonic Forces, much unlike Gens A to B romp. One of the things that was clear about 06, is that the director wanted it to be a very story driven game, never-mind the quality of the story we actually got. Just having him run the show allows me to throw much of my fear of another bare bones adventure aside. Whether that's a good thing or not... haha, I think he would have learned his lesson by now... right?

Its also worth noting that Shun might be just the person we need to rise above the phobia of utilizing the the other characters in the story. 06 was an interwoven story that wasn't afraid to remove Sonic from the focus of attention. As such you actually need to use a small handful of focus characters to make that work. If Forces is a bit more complex then the stories we've been getting, then that too ups the chances of a Shadow, Knuckles, ect having a significant role to play. That makes me a happy puppy.

 

That being said, the whole new character thing could greatly affect this. If he turns out to be a Yakker or Chip, then he's a plot device that we come to expect out of every game. If he's the "third playstyle" we've heard so much about, then he'll undoubtedly take up screentime, and if this game fails to properly utilize some of the other members of the cast, that does little more than adding another critter to the pile for the next game to magically ignore.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

Just now, Waveshocker Sigma said:

Well, we're getting a new character in this game, so too late for that. lol

Indeed. Besides by this point we all know SEGA's teams will never make great use of all their current characters. Waiting for something that'll unlikely ever happen is pointless. So even if as small role side characters I'd prefer to see old & new ones sometimes... It's better then nothing I say.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

1 minute ago, Sega DogTagz said:

If Shun Nakamura is taking the helm on this one, then I do take a bit of comfort in the additional likelihood that the story will be a larger part of the overall narrative in Sonic Forces, much unlike Gens A to B romp. One of the things that was clear about 06, is that the director wanted it to be a very story driven game, never-mind the quality of the story we actually got. Just having him run the show allows me to throw much of my fear of another bare bones adventure aside. Whether that's a good thing or not... haha, I think he would have learned his lesson by now... right?

That's...ironically the concern.

Here's hoping he did learn his lesson, but from the looks of things, it's hard to tell. A larger story means little if it isn't any good, which I'm hoping isn't the case this time around.

[Sega DogTagz]

1 minute ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

That's...ironically the concern.

Here's hoping he did learn his lesson, but from the looks of things, it's hard to tell. A larger story means little if it isn't any good, which I'm hoping isn't the case this time around.

Thats the million dollar question.

What I gain in the possibility of having more characters along for the ride I loose with the chance of a guy trying to hard to outdo the overly complex 06.

 

Do I like them odds?   I'm not sure yet...

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

3 minutes ago, Sega DogTagz said:

Thats the million dollar question.

What I gain in the possibility of having more characters along for the ride I loose with the chance of a guy trying to hard to outdo the overly complex 06.

 

Do I like them odds?   I'm not sure yet...

I mean, it's been more than a decade since, so perhaps there's hope in learning from the mistakes.

We did get Unleashed, Colors, and Generations which were far better received commercially and/or critically and the odds here look like its following back in those footsteps for better or worse. I guess we'll just have to see.

[RictalRose0]

lizuka answered a question recently about "Will Shadow be in the next game?" to which he replied "Wait and see :)" also he was holding a Shadow plushie during the Q&A So.....

[Celestia]

18 minutes ago, RictalRose0 said:

also he was holding a Shadow plushie during the Q&A So.....

Well, Shadow is apparently his fave character.

I'm curious to see if Iizuka's directing this game. He's acted as producer since 2010 and before that he last acted as director for ShTH, maybe he missed that role...but I guess it's more likely co-producing alongside Nakamura. In that case, I wonder if the game's director is Morio Kishimoto (Colours / Lost World), Hiroshi Miyamoto (Generations), or someone else entirely...

[Nepenthe]

The potential for Shadow coming back has made me about 1% turnt.

And honestly, Nakamura coming back is such a wild card that I'm now genuinely curious about this game. If he does some weird-ass fuck-shit with the story, at least I'll be engaged to see how it goes.

[Autosaver]

Well, looks like Sonic Colors 2 from that short gameplay clip. I can't say I'm surprised but hey, they could spice it up a bit with Classic/Boom Sonic gameplay.

It just feels really weird that it's almost been a decade and they still haven't figured out what to do with Sonic. I personally feel that wisps have greatly overstayed their welcome, and that Sonic Team should just focus on splitting 3D and 2D Sonic instead of blending them in together. We're getting some of that with Sonic Mania (2D only) which is a good thing.

I'd imagine Sonic Lost World doing meh with critics and sales caused Sonic Team to scrap whatever they were doing and play it safe instead. If you go back to the interviews around Lost World, there were tons of statements talking about how they want to move on from the Unleashed formula and evolve Sonic. I'm sure Sonic Forces game will be pretty good once it comes out either way.

Oh, I'm going to sound like a massive fanboy but I'm really dying for something closer to Sonic Adventure, or even what Boom originally attempted to do before the whole Wii U port/budget cut/holiday rush fiasco. If you go back to those beautiful teasers of Sonic Boom, it makes me realize how much potential the Sonic series has. I really don't want to see wisps anymore especially when the rest of the cast could easily substitute them. I also want to see some local/online competitive action like SA2, Sonic Heroes, and Lost World.

 

[Sega DogTagz]

26 minutes ago, RictalRose0 said:

lizuka answered a question recently about "Will Shadow be in the next game?" to which he replied "Wait and see :)" also he was holding a Shadow plushie during the Q&A So.....

 

If I'm not mistaken, that same guy once confirmed Shadow's to appear in Unleashed... which later amounted to little more than one of the incorrect answers in a short trivia sidequest.

#Donttakethebait

Trolololololololololo

_{(I hope we get some of the other characters back)}

 

[RictalRose0]

Aren't there screenshots that show Shadow and Knuckles both were supposed to be in Unleashed but ultimately were cut?

[Celestia]

3 minutes ago, Sega DogTagz said:

If I'm not mistaken, that same guy once confirmed Shadow's to appear in Unleashed... which later amounted to little more than one of the incorrect answers in a short trivia sidequest.

I thought that was one of the random SEGA PR people? Then again I think I've heard like 5 different stories of what exactly was said about Knuckles & Shadow being in Unleashed, so lol

[Wraith]

Despite how it's pretty clearly made by the newer Sonic devs I get a "dreamcast" era vibe with it though. Legit makes me wonder if they're trying to catch those lapsed fans.

Who knows if they're going all the way with it though, right?

[Zaysho]

(Back in a slightly better mood)

 

1 hour ago, Conquering Storm's Servant said:

EDIT-- Actually, my worry came back up with Shun Nakamura. I'm a bit concerned if they do something as dumb as they did with Mephiles again given the whole "new character" and Classic Sonic returning...

He's not in any kind of directorial or story role, roles he held and could be blamed for with '06 (never mind he shared those story duties with Shiro Maekawa and Kiyoko Yoshimura) so it's doubtful.

Really, could go either way. Makes me wonder if any older Sonic Team staffers will be returning and joining the team and what it could mean. Like, I'd really want this to mean there is a tonal shift of sorts going on (maybe Pontaff can finally work on an action-adventure story if they're still on, but I wouldn't upset if they were replaced with, I dunno, Ian Flynn) without necessarily leaning too hard in the opposite direction we've had for the last six years.
 

22 minutes ago, RictalRose0 said:

Aren't there screenshots that show Shadow and Knuckles both were supposed to be in Unleashed but ultimately were cut?

Not that I've ever seen. Ken Balough made mention of them, but it can go either way if they were cut and nobody gave him the memo or he was simply mistaken.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Honestly, I would seriously have just been content with a story of Eggman not playing around and ripping the world a new one until the Sonic and the other heroes stage a worldwide resistance to stop him. Basically Heroes, but with a less dumb and more coherent narrative, and real intense shit going on.

That would have had me more hooked than these unknowns that are making me curious yet irritated at them continuing this age old trend of "make a new character every game."

...and that sounded a lot more bitter than I really am given that I'm confident in this game playing things safe except in the storytelling. I don't expect this to be bad, but...well, you get what I irked about.

[Mark1]

Was there an embargo on footage for this? Are we expecting a trailer at some point today? 

[Sega DogTagz]

Just now, Mark1 said:

Was there an embargo on footage for this? Are we expecting a trailer at some point today? 

A couple sources stated that the social media arms would be releasing the footage today. Probably just clean cuts of what we saw off-cam footage yesterday.

[TCB]

11AM Eastern Standard time today I believe. For Modern Sonic game play already shown at the panel yesterday and maybe bit more.  So 8AMPST, 4PM UK?

[RictalRose0]

It all depends on who this new character is and if they are the new playable character. They could be a Chip, and just follow Sonic around. Or a Sticks/Marine, as in, they're new but they don't really do anything significant and we're just blowing it out of proportion. Or three; It's Boom!Sonic. Four and better alternative, it's Future Sonic.

[Celestia]

We're also probably going to get impressions from journalists and stuff, since they've apparently been shown 30 minutes of footage. Highly doubt we're gonna see any of the footage ourselves, but yeah.

[Mark1]

Noted. Will wait til that embargo is over and give my impression of this when there's cleaner footage (and maybe more, part of me suspects Sega will open up its official page, it's in line with previous Modern Sonic game reveals no?)