darkSpyro

We have our first images of an all-new stage never saw before...



... It's Chemical Plant, by the way. Also, that Drill Wispon is a new thing.

Whyyyy

There are more levels in Classic Sonic than that, for ****'s sake. You're not losing nostalgia points if you use, idk, Ice Cap Zone or something. Chemical Plant has been in FOUR(five? Idk about both Sonic 4 episodes) games and counting, while Green Hill at least gets some remixing.

Quote: Bifrost

Whyyyy

There are more levels in Classic Sonic than that, for ****'s sake. You're not losing nostalgia points if you use, idk, Ice Cap Zone or something. Chemical Plant has been in FOUR(five? Idk about both Sonic 4 episodes) games and counting, while Green Hill at least gets some remixing.

I was going to complain but I like the redesign. It looks different, I mean.

Same zone to me, just in daylight.

At this point (and given how this game is going storywise) I view Chemical Plant less as a level and more a literal location in "the Sonic world." Kind of like how the Archie comics made zones out to be different cities (e.g. Casino Park).

I don't mind them re-using old zones for story reasons given the context of the game but Chemical Plant is a bad choice IMO.

If the idea is to get emotional payoff from seeing these places ruined by Eggman, then Chemical Plant isn't going to accomplish that. I always thought it was implied to already be Eggman's turf from the beginning.

They should honestly draw more from Modern Sonic for this game. Places like Space Colony ARK, Soleanna, and Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park could be cool to see in ruins or disrepair.

Mania confirms it's Eggman's turf because of a certain machine at the end. And it's another of the many factory levels that has very little going for it visually.

Aquatic Base is even duller though, but I agree on the others.

The producers already confirmed some areas from Modern games will appear, so maybe we'll see that. I bet it will be Planet Wisp or something from Lost World, or maybe both, to explain why the Wisps and Zavok are there.

Who else #hesseboys here?

A sneak peak of IDW's Sonic comic got leaked!

https://twitter.com/AbelMunizJ...016241470464000

Aww yeah, they got Tyson Hesse on board. Bless 'em!



EDIT: At New York Comic Con, IDW announced that Ian Flynn will indeed by the head writer for their Sonic comic series. I didn't see any other personnel reveals, but they also unveiled the first 4 issues will receive weekly releases starting with April 4th, 2018.

We have our Forces Trophy list. Read at your own risk.

Huh. That's... an odd list.

Quote: HIR

Huh. That's... an odd list.

Reveal Spoiler

No trophies for Metal Sonic, Chaos, or Shadow? Do we even get to fight the latter two or are they cutscene/cannon fodder?

The limited trophies we do have suggest Infinite will be the final boss... maybe.

Sorry I'm just over-analyzing stuff.

https://www.dualshockers.com/s...-interview/amp/

Heads up if you're thinking of getting the Switch version of Forces. You will be locked to 720p/30 FPS no matter what mode the Switch is in (though controller inputs are supposedly 60 FPS). Xbone, PS4, and Steam appear to be getting 1080p and 60 FPS.

That trophy list hints at so much content that hasn't been touched on. I hope the game is meaty.

Also, it says the game has multiplayer and co-op.

The soundtrack albums have been announced:

A Hero Will Rise: Sonic Forces Original Soundtrack

• Fist Bump
  
• Theme of Infinite
  
• Sunset Heights
  
• Park Avenue
  
• Ghost Towns
  
• and other 87 songs

On the Edge: Sonic Forces Vocal Traxx

• Fist Bump
  
• Theme of Infinite
  
• Park Avenue
  
• Guardian Rock
  
• And other 10 songs

Both will be released on December 13.

Wow, it's been a long time since we've had a vocals-only album from a Sonic game.

Ow the Edge is now canon

IDW are doing a 4-part, free digital comic to tie into Sonic Forces. First part just released today.

Pretty good stuff.

https://drive.google.com/drive...RnhIY0FhTFRxeWs

5char

Quote: Bifrost

Ow the Edge is now canon

Maybe I’ll be able to recreate Deathknife...

They hard confirmed Shadow and Blaze for the IDW comics in the Sonic stream today.

Soft confirmed Mighty, Ray, and Bean.

And they teased the Freedom Fighters.

Also, Silver will be the star of one of the upcoming Sonic Forces comics.

There will also be an upload of a brand new Sonic Forces music track in the coming week or so (as in, a song that hasn't been in any gameplay footahe or teasers or anything).

Well that was quick.

I didn't want to double post but we have some new gameplay, in spoilers because there's a boss battle:

The Drill Wispon looks really fun and the Rental Hero feature is a neat addition.

The level design looks a bit more complex here but the 3D sections are still way too much like a literal straight line hallway.

I wouldn't mind that if the Modern Sonic level design was more complex like Unleashed and Generations and the Avatar having more simplistic level design is just for the Avatar, but they seem adamant on not showing us Modern Sonic gameplay for some reason.

Well, the avatar is a big marketing standpoint for this game (whether for memetic reasons or people genuinely excited for a Xenoverse style character creator), so I'm not surprised it's gotten the bulk of the attention. Classic Sonic is there because, well, a big chunk of people like the guy. Sonic's friends have gotten focus with the story trailer because people keep complaining how they've been shoved by the wayside. But the most vocal parts I hear from the fandom just complain about Modern Sonic, so I'm not surprised we've seen little of him in promotional stuff.

Okay, so I haven’t been following this game for a while now... Is that literally just the final boss or am I stupid? Also, why is he T-Posing in the air like that?

I forgot how fun Sonic Heroes was. I was a dumb child when I first played. A mission which should have taken 6-8 minutes now took me... 28 minutes. Yep.

Quote: TheToyNerd

Okay, so I haven’t been following this game for a while now... Is that literally just the final boss or am I stupid? Also, why is he T-Posing in the air like that?

I think he's fought multiple times, that's probably just a 'oh you're a new face let's see how good you are' boss fight. He's probably supposed to be floating menacingly but iirc even Mephiles was all but T-posing on his fights. Sonic characters don't have enough clothing to actually swish up and down elegantly while floating.

Yeah the Trophy list states you fight him at least three times.

OH MY GOD

https://funko.com/blogs/news/coming-soon-sonic-pop-s

We got another Sonic Forces comic today.

https://twitter.com/sonic_hedg...045142466736128

https://twitter.com/sonic_hedg...045504607133696

Sorry for the double post but a Japanese overview trailer for Sonic Forces dropped.



There's a couple of new things sprinkled in here and there. First look at Omega for example.

EDIT: Also here's a piano version of Fist Bump that will be in the game, probably plays when Tails dies :V

Where is Crush 40 come on sega

Can’t wait to make Deathknife.

Uh... Hello?

^Already deconfirmed.

https://twitter.com/RubyEclips...950389120475136

https://twitter.com/sonic_hedg...880680744251392

Oh alright, I posted here to check that. Thanks.

EDIT: A Forces demo featuring 3 stages is out on the Japanese eShop. Just change the region of the console and you're free to download it. Here's some footage:

oh god the hint rings look so annoying

What's there is quite fun, but there was REALLY no need for the one minute timer. Past Sonic game demo builds did not have this, so there is no excuse.

The 3D level design is still far too basic (Space Port was decent though) but the 2D level design is really solid, actually.

Also, the controls feel great. The Avatar feels stiffer than Modern Sonic still but it's nowhere near as bad as early footage implied.

Modern Sonic controls like a dream, though.

Maybe the timer is to prevent someone from finding a way to clip through the level or some other exploit? Dunno.

Here's my in-depth Hot Take™ on the Sonic Forces Switch demo.

Modern Sonic controls like a dream. It's a notable improvement over Unleashed and Generations, both at slow and high speeds. The homing attack feels more responsive and satisfying, and Sonic actually kicks back off the enemy a little, so it's fun to do. Ground Boosts and Air Boosts now chain together smoothly. In past games, jumping while boosting made you lose momentum, and air boosting was just a short burst. In this game, Air Boost can be held for as long as you have energy, and landing while air boosting means you just continue boosting while you run. Jumping while boosting keeps your momentum. Also, if you Air Boost while carrying upward momentum, you keep that momentum (past games cancelled it), resulting in Sonic flying in an arc. It's really fun to do. Sonic also does have a definite sense of momentum to him, even more so than past 3D titles. Jumping off a slope at high speed will send him FLYING. Sonic is also tight and responsive at slower speeds. Platforming feels pretty comfortable.

However, I have two gripes with what I played - one, the level design. I'm sorry, but it has to be said. These 3D sections are as narrow as a stage from Crash Bandicoot 1, only without the clever platforming challenges that make use of 3D perspective. Literally, if all of the 3D sections are like this, then they may as well have made the game entirely 2D. It's also mostly a literal straight line. For what it's worth though, the 2D level design is very solid. It's got multiple layers and paths and flows quite nicely. So in summary, the 3D sections feel like Sonic Colours but even worse, while the 2D sections feel more like Unleashed and Generations.

The other issue is automation. And no, I don't mean loop set pieces and the like, that's never bothered me in moderation. I'm talking about how sometimes, while running on fairly level terrain, the game locks Sonic to the center of it. You can stop, but you can't wiggle left or right at all. There are also occasionally invisible scripts that propel you forward if you jump over a boost pad or something. It's like sometimes the game is afraid to let you do anything even slightly differently from what the developers have in mind. This is only in 3D from what I noticed, 2D sections don't seem to have this problem.

Now for the Avatar.

Most of what I said for Modern Sonic applies here. Just with a few differences, and just ignore the Boost stuff since the Avatar doesn't have it. The level, as far as I could play (it's impossible to get past the cinematic train scene because of the dumb demo timer) didn't have any 2D sections (I know from PR footage that there is one after the train scene though). The 3D level design was a little more involved and wide here too, for the most part. Nothing spectacular, but I can tell it's definitely a little later in the game.

The Avatar feels stiffer than Modern Sonic, but it's not nearly as bad as early footage implied. You can reliably stop and turn the Avatar mid-jump now (except when at high speeds but that's expected). They seem to accelerate in tiers though, rather than gradually getting faster, which feels a bit off IMO. The grappling hook works fine, it's really just a glorified homing attack though (literally and figuratively). Sometimes it also happens automatically. The Wispons help add some variety. My favourite was actually the Lighting Wispon. The whip attack sends you hurtling forward momentarily if you hold a direction while using it, meaning it works like a short dash maneuver. In mid-air, it's really useful for making it across gaps quicker or for just accelerating your jump. It has more speedrun potential than Burst and Cube, at least. I also liked the sample Avatar characters. Cat girl, Wolf girl, and Dog girl were pretty and cute.

Overall, I find the Avatar level the most fun of three, as far as the demo goes.

Can't say much for Classic Sonic though. I don't understand why they chose a boss as a demo level for him, it just doesn't demonstrate what his main game mechanics are. He feels fine from what I can tell, I guess, pretty similar to Generations. Also, Japanese Eggman calls him "Chibi Sonic", which I thought was funny.

As for the game's performance on Switch, it's fine. 720p, 30 FPS is not my preference so I'm sticking with the PS4 Pro version. But it runs without any frame drops from what I could tell, and looks quite nice in handheld mode. The graphics have also improved a bit, though are still noticeably below the other versions. A lot of models have less polygons on the Switch version (most notable in Space Port), but as a Switch game compared to other Switch games, it is pretty top of the class in the visuals department anyway. It looks better than Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2 and other titles like that despite being a downgraded port of a game made for stronger hardware.

That demo time limit needs to go though, if they release a localised demo. I reckon they will on tomorrow's Sonic Official stream.

https://twitter.com/sonic_hedg...586148571660289


------

"tfw the comic is longer than the demo"

Ok, that got a chuckle out of me.

Good to see Omega still has his usual characterization, though, hoping to see some of that in the game.

Just a few notes about the demo:

• It's available for the PS4 on all regions. Not sure about XOne and PC. The time limit still remains.
  
• Some crazy guys managed to finish the Modern and Classic stages within the time limit, so it's actually possible.
  
• Failing on the Custom Hero's quick time event throws you into another path instead of killing you.

Just confirmed on the Sonic stream, there won't be an international version of the Sonic Forces demo.

Also yeah I managed to finish the Modern Sonic stage too.

I guess the demo is in spirit Sonic's philosophy: Gotta go fast!

I guess we have some explanation about the demo?

Using the timer freeze glitch, I managed to get all 5 Red Star Rings in Space Port in one run. Surprisingly hard to do, since the second one is sort of out of the way and is before the time freeze. Also, the fourth one was hidden in a tricky spot that took me a while to figure out how to get.