So I finally got my hands on Sonic Forces and I've been trying to reconcile my love for the boost formula with the eventual end quality of the product in my hands.
And the end quality isn't unplayable but there's a lot of the soul of Sonic missing here.
Classic Sonic was a mistake. There's no two ways about it, this team might be capable of a semi-passable recreation of the physics but there's a fundamental lack of understanding of the flow behind a Sonic level here and it shows. The approximation of the physics also stands out due in no small part to Sonic Team having already done this branch correctly in a 3D space in Sonic Generations.
Classic Sonic is not the only character where the physics and responsiveness feel off. I always felt like I was overshooting platforms or that a homing attack wasn't coming out when I needed it to. Also, guys, come on, d-pad controls. Yes, I know I can remap them in the options menu but the slog of remapping it every time I finish a Classic Sonic stage is just sloppy design.
There was however a lot of joy to be found in the character customization aspect of the game. While the options may seems scarce at the start, the customization ends up having a broad variety of options with a few free DLC packs to round off the collection. I do wish that the ability to change species was unlocked from the start so that there was more room for experimentation and freedom but I found myself still enjoying the acquisition of new little bits and bobs to dress my character in. If there's anything to sell the game on, it's the satisfaction of the childhood need to insert yourself alongside the hero and stand as their equal, and Sonic Forces definitely is more of a game about rising up alongside Sonic than being Sonic and having to rise above adversity.
Negatives come back in when I think about the difficulty. Sonic Forces ranges from insulting to cheap. Certain sections don't even have a failure state while having windows for input so generous you could make a sandwich before you miss your opportunity and others where you're put into unfair cycles that are impossible to predict or just showcase the imperfect physics in the most frustrating way. There's a particularly obnoxious area in Death Egg involving a moving platform and two guns with limited move to maneuver that nearly made me snap my controller in half. However, I'll give an appreciative nod to the fact that lives are no longer a factor to concern myself with, even if it takes away some of the functionality of the rings.
From a narrative perspective, I found a lot of the writing to be cheesy and some lines are just badly written end of story. But it's a Sonic game, I'm not coming here for the intricate structure of the plot and subtle but insightful allegory, although it's not hard to ask at least one person on staff to try, is it? The best thing I can say is that the voice cast does a lot with a little here, Liam O'Brien is carrying a lot with his performance. But there were a couple familiar faces I found myself enjoying seeing, even Charmy, as crazy as he drove me in Heroes.
The music direction in the game was for the most part enjoyable. While some tracks suffer from grating synths, mainly the Classic Sonic stage themes, there's a lot of Drum And Bass tracks which play well with Sonic's brand as well as give stages an appropriate sense of excitement.
The recurring theme of the game is that Sonic Team has already demonstrated that they're capable of producing a quality product of this nature but either the new engine or hardware showcased that they've regressed a generation. A lot of fans, including myself, wanted to like Sonic Forces. And I don't hate it but to say I was more often frustrated than immersed is an understatement.
A soft recommendation for the custom character gameplay and one or two stand-out Modern Sonic levels but you should rather be playing Sonic Generations.
