Sonic Mania SPOILERS/Impressions Thread

[Dr. Mechano]

1 minute ago, LukA8 said:

Wasn't it confirmed they would go rogue on the Sonic Channel website or somewhere else? I swear I read this somewhere about two or three months ago, but hopefully I'm wrong. : P

There was some plot synopsis that claimed that Eggman "retired" from villainy and his robots all went on a rampage without their leader around to tell them what to do.

...but based on Eggman frequently showing up in this game, we can rule that out.

I'm not aware of any word from Sonic Channel about them going rogue. Someone confirm?

[ad516]

So the Infinite sound was just an easter egg?

[Dr. Mechano]

2 minutes ago, ad516 said:

So the Infinite sound was just an easter egg?

Assuming no shenanigans in the good ending, Infinite/Forces in general has zero to do with this game at all.

[ad516]

Just now, Dr. Mechano said:

Assuming no shenanigans in the good ending, Infinite has nothing to do with this game at all.

Great news.

[LukA8]

Just checked the Japanese Mania website and Eggman's profile Google-translates into the following. Look at the last sentence:

"Dr. Eggman who causes a big uproar every time. This time he will lead the newly developed robot army corps and try their skills. But the evil evolves into a situation that he can not predict ..."

 

[Dr. Mechano]

8 minutes ago, LukA8 said:

Just checked the Japanese Mania website and Eggman's profile Google-translates into the following. Look at the last sentence:

"Dr. Eggman who causes a big uproar every time. This time he will lead the newly developed robot army corps and try their skills. But the evil evolves into a situation that he can not predict ..."

 

Damn it.

Eggman being betrayed by the new villain is like, the epitome of modern Sonic storytelling. C'mon, don't do this in what's supposed to be a grand return to the classic series.

It doesn't even add anything. Making the robots betray Eggman doesn't raise the stakes or increase tension. A giant robot under Eggman's control is just as threatening as a giant robot not under Eggman's control, as far as Sonic is concerned.

Maaaan, this is lame. I'm just gonna hold out hope that that's not what they do, but... Man, talk about a blemish on an otherwise beautiful thing.

C'mon, Sega, have some faith in your villain. I'd figure the classic games would be safe from that tired cliche.

[ad516]

11 minutes ago, Dr. Mechano said:

Damn it.

Eggman being betrayed by the new villain is like, the epitome of modern Sonic storytelling. C'mon, don't do this in what's supposed to be a grand return to the classic series.

It doesn't even add anything. Making the robots betray Eggman doesn't raise the stakes or increase tension. A giant robot under Eggman's control is just as threatening as a giant robot not under Eggman's control, as far as Sonic is concerned.

Maaaan, this is lame. I'm just gonna hold out hope that that's not what they do, but... Man, talk about a blemish on an otherwise beautiful thing.

C'mon, Sega, have some faith in your villain. I'd figure the classic games would be safe from that tired cliche.

They already said that the HBH were independent.

[Dr. Mechano]

4 minutes ago, ad516 said:

They already said that the HBH were independent.

So far in-game they've been working for Eggman; In the regular final battle Eggman even teleports you to boss arenas to fight them. 

So if there's a betrayal in the game, it won't happen until the very final good-ending battle, which honestly feels kinda shoehorned in. I can't think of anything that a betrayal "twist" would add to the game, especially if implemented at the last minute out of absolutely nowhere.

[LukA8]

Actually, the mention of "evil" makes it sound like it might be more connected to the mysterious crystal and maybe even Infinite, yet there's still the last Heavy to fight. Either way, I'm excited to see how it will play out.

[Kuzu]

I do agree there's no point in adding a "betrayal" twist at this point, so they may as well just play the game straight with Eggman piloting the last Heavy. Unless Iizuka prompted them to do the betrayal twist lol.

[ChikaBoing]

2 hours ago, DiamondX said:

https://youtu.be/2Fvq_5xQu0E

WHY SKIP THE CREDITS. ITS WHAT I NEED TO KNOW FOR STUFF THE MOST. Yeah I'm special....

[Dr. Mechano]

2 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

I do agree there's no point in adding a "betrayal" twist at this point, so they may as well just play the game straight with Eggman piloting the last Heavy. Unless Iizuka prompted them to do the betrayal twist lol.

With Izuka's history of constantly knocking Eggman aside in favor of "newer, better" villains, that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

[Kuzu]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Mechano said:

With Izuka's history of constantly knocking Eggman aside in favor of "newer, better" villains, that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I mean, he's gone on record of saying that he doesn't believe Eggman could take over the world without some help. So you know how he feels lol.

[gato]

EDIT: Off topic rant: Why is editing spoilers on this forum so awful?

 

 

So I fell asleep lul

Anyway, here is a mini batch of screengrabs and oh boy it's cloudy in here but I can just FEEL the sun shining down on me today for some reason.

 

Amy Doll

 

Lava Reef 1(I think)

 

YO!

 

I have no idea what is going on here...

 

Entering the monarch

 

It seems like there might still be some surprises left for us, there is the expected Super Sonic zone but there might be a chance that getting the new plot device might also play a part on this. (EDIT: I don't think I slept too well last night, apologies for my silliness)

 

From what I've seen from the game I'm a bit sad to say it feels a tad rushed. It's not like it doesn't look great, and I'm confident it also plays great but there are this "things" that bother me like the fact some zone transitions are just non existent and how for no reason two heavies get left out without a stage of their own (well, maybe 1 assuming king heavy gets final zone but I don't expect a full two acts affair from it). I guess they couldn't afford to delay it again because otherwise it'd be competing with Forces and Odyssey(?).

Also, a lot of the time I second Mechano and his love for the Eggman but I really hope what he speculated isn't true (the Titanic Monarch being the last heavy) because that would mean we miss the chance of fighting him on his regular form.

[DiamondX]

Guys. Why?

Spoiler

(Source: 4chan)

[ad516]

Just now, DiamondX said:

Guys. Why?

  Hide contents

(Source: 4chan)

Is that Boom Sonic?

[gato]

1 minute ago, DiamondX said:

Guys. Why?

  Reveal hidden contents

(Source: 4chan)

 

Oh yeah, that's been rotating for a while. In the current thread the guy is literally laughing because people on Twitter actually fell for it.

[DiamondX]

It's clear it's fake though.

[Auroxen]

What... WHAT THE HELL
I went to bed yesterday convinced that leaks were over and then I wake up today and I find a stream that leads up to the final fucking boss
I... I... holy shit, I wonder if after actually playing it I'll prefer it to Sonic 3 & Knuckles (which is my third favorite game ever)
I really hope this game spawns a series of new classic games by Whitehead and co.

I wonder what the official stream today will reveal, what if they release the game early because of the leaks?
It's a digital game so I don't think it's impossible

[Dr. Mechano]

Whoa, I just had a thought.

What if the final Heavy is Knuckles' final boss, and Eggman is Sonic's?

In S3&K, Sonic and Knuckles had different final bosses, after all. That could be a way to allow both of them to be the final bosses of different campaigns, in the same vein as Mecha Sonic and the Doomsday Eggman robot.

Obviously just spitballing here, but I wouldn't mind if they did it that way...

[gato]

One thing I take from this is that I'm actually pretty happy with my decision to spoil myself about the game because those things that bother me right now would feel way worse if I found about them on a blind playthrough.

Dunno, it kinda lessens the impact to know about them beforehand.

EDIT: Boy am I happy to know things beforehand now that I've heard today's news.

[Kuzu]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Mechano said:

Whoa, I just had a thought.

What if the final Heavy is Knuckles' final boss, and Eggman is Sonic's?

In S3&K, Sonic and Knuckles had different final bosses, after all. That could be a way to allow both of them to be the final bosses of different campaigns, in the same vein as Mecha Sonic and the Doomsday Eggman robot.

Obviously just spitballing here, but I wouldn't mind if they did it that way...

Do we know if Knuckles has his own campaign like before?

[JosepHenry]

1 minute ago, gato said:

One thing I take from this is that I'm actually pretty happy with my decision to spoil myself about the game because those things that bother me right now would feel way worse if I found about them on a blind playthrough.

Dunno, it kinda lessens the impact to know about them beforehand.

I feel the same way.

I was expecting a lot of things that would make me surprised, but sadly the "wow" factor from Mania doesn't even compare to Sonic 3K. Burning Angel Isalnd, Fighting Big Arm, learning about Hidden Palace, Mecha Sonic, the Death Egg falling down while you run catch Eggman with the Master Emerald...

There is nothing like this in Mania...  Sure blame me for expecting much, but... I wasn't that hyped for the game in the first place.

[Dr. Mechano]

1 minute ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

Do we know if Knuckles has his own campaign like before?

We don't know how different it is from Sonic's, no.

It could be identical for all we know, but I'm wondering if there are variations.

[Alienrun]

2 minutes ago, Kuzu the Boloedge said:

Do we know if Knuckles has his own campaign like before?

Why on earth would he not? They already confirmed that some layouts/paths are slightly different. If anything it could be just like sonic's but with a 1 or 2 zone difference and maybe a boss change here or there. It would be more weird if they gave him no differences...