Sonic Forces Not As Dark As It Seems, Tails An NPC, More…
While we haven’t gotten a lot of gameplay revealed from Sonic Forces, some gaming media sites have gotten loads more behind the scenes. One of those is IGN, and they have offered their impressions on the game. There, we learn that we can “achieve higher letter rankings on each level”, informing us that the letter rankings will return in Sonic Forces. Tails was also confirmed as another NPC that will be on the radio providing updates on the situation to Sonic.
However, one question that has come from Sonic Forces has been the overall tone of the game. What we’ve seen of the game has been a very dark, grim vibe, a stark contrast to the last few main series Sonic games. But thanks to IGN, we can confirm to you that all is not what it seems. According to IGN, what we see from the trailer and from this level is that it’s one of “more aesthetically grim parts of the game”, suggesting this is not the only point of the game where things reach this point, but all of the game won’t be like this. IGN says that if you’re worried about this Sonic game being a dark, apocolyptic Sonic game, you “likely won’t have to”. In fact, IGN says this “became clear to them” with Tails “and Amy” being NPCs on the radio, suggesting that what they’re saying isn’t that serious.
That’s not all that IGN talks about, so feel free to check out their preview of the game to learn more. Either way, if you’ve been wondering about the game’s tone, there you go.
This post was originally written by the author for TSSZ News.
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Who really believed that the game whould be “everything but with a dark tone”? I don’t think Sonic Team could make the game look always dark on the way. Like every sonic game: things change conform player progress.
This is a dark game as it progresses. It looks like they are trying to appeal to the Adventure and SatAM fans by having a more gripping, all-stakes-on-the-table story. If Pontac or Graff wrote this, though, I do not have much hope of the story having the necessary natural development it would require to pan out okay. So if Sonic cracks a zillion hammy jokes in the midst of this dystopian “bad future”, this story will be totally out of place and stylistically bizarre. There is a key difference between doing jokes tastefully in a Star Warsy original trilogy sort of way and making the jokes the driving element of the plot.
I like how everyone likes to accuse Graff and Pontac for writing bad Sonic stories, when honestly, pretty much all of the plot-heavy Sonic games, from SA1 to Sonic ’06, had extremely cringe-worthy and terrible dialogue and narratives.
I’ll take Sonic and Eggman constantly quipping and cracking jokes, over the embarrassing, try-hard, anime bullcrap that was Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic ’06.
Honestly, in my opinion, the Storybook series and Sonic Unleashed were the only games that seemed to perfectly balance lightheartedness and high-stakes adventure. I wish the series would go back to plots more similar to those games.
I’ll give you the Storybook games and do agree on that being the style they should go back to storywise, but I’d be hard pressed to call Adventure 1 and 2 horrible. If we’re talking the English based script tho, I can agree slightly there. Tho the WORST has to be Chronicles, second with Lost World with how it characterized Sonic and everyone else. And that’s really what everyone hates about Pontac and Graff’s stuff, especially in Lost World. Ever wanted to see Sonic be whining over Tails being captured instead of actually seeing him save his best friend? Ever wanted Tails acting like a snob to the point he gets pissy over Sonic trusting Eggman in this time of need when there’s been not much of a problem with that kinda thing before? Forced drama is so good! Or what about the great and hilarious traits of the Deadly Six like…”Girl” oooorr “Emo” or “Fat Guy”
Chaos Controller, you seem to be the only one saying this sort of thing. I realize your excitement for the game and all, but some critique is always welcome. We don’t have to stretch reality to fit this game into a perfect light. Healthy, polite critique is critical for games to improve and not be stuck in the rut of the same old, same old song and dance. For example, most people would disagree and the general consensus for the longest time has been that the Adventure games had wonderful stories. We don’t have to drag other games down to make this artificially seem better than it really is. Right now, we are critiquing in the hope SEGA picks up on what we want and incorporates it in a future game. Besides, when this game comes out, let its own intrinsic value speak for itself.
@Chaos Controller
Allow me to respectfully disagree in regards of Sonic Adventure 2 story, I think it was a great action oriented plot with a fitting tone and excellent character development, not to mention every character was given a purpose in the game instead of just cameos or filling spots, SA2 is my favorite Sonic story in games to date.
I would agree with Unleashed and the story book stories though, also I may add Sonic Battle and the Rush games to that list, those games really nail the charactets.
Guys, don’t waste time with a big-body kid who likes watching Uncle Grandpa and stuff.
@ Tuanpingas — Sorry the games about a blue hedgehog, who loves chili dogs and is based off of Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, don’t have edgy enough plots for you…. Maybe try reading some fan fiction?
@ Raw — To each their own. I loved SA2, when I was a kid. Almost every facet of that game has aged horribly, in my opinion, though.
Sonic Forces might be a little dark. Shadow the hedgehog was too dark if you asked me. My question is, will classic tails ever return in the game?. That’s my answer.
I just hope that the more jokey lite harted momets aren’t just foced in to the story. I kinda want like a 50/50 kinda thing with the tone not too dark but not too silly ether.
I’m actually kinda disappointed. I was hoping for a game that would actually take itself a little seriously, not 06 levels but something that Isn’t such a joke a million memes can be made out of it. “Baldy McNoseHair” puns and Sonic teasing Zeti’s is endearing and funny and all, but while I was getting sick of the darker tone in the mid 2000’s, now I’m getting sick of the lighter tone of the 2010’s Sonic games. Ironic.
there is a difference between “not serious” and “not serious as” since all the did confirm is that it’s not going to be as dark as 06 and shadow,and there might be a chance it’s going to be as serious as games like unleashed
If Shadow is confirmed as an NPC I can just imagine what he would say when the city is being destroyed….
“They just wrecked my motorcycle…. errr I am the ultimate!”
I switched my email which explains the different icon…. just saying
Aaaaaaaaaand there goes half my hype. Here comes my new expectation of this being another multi-Sonic, Pontac and Graff rompfest once again. Still hoping that’s not the case but a lot of signs are pointing to it already.
This is obviously a assumption from IGN report,
so it does’int conform it either way.
Confirm what? They were being told things from a SEGA representative.
Honestly, I think IGN changed a few words if you know what I mean
Definitely skipping Forces. From the looks of it this may turn out to be another Pontac and Graff crapfest with Sonic only being playable.
You know IGN is an asshole when talking about Sonic right? You should wait for official information from Sega and Sonic Team. After then, you can skip Forces.
Classic fans get a great new game.
Boost fans get a great new game.
Anime and Adventure fans will continue to complain until the end of time.
Thank you, Sega. You’ve made the right decision.
Me and others have been praising this quite a bit, yet we give some little critique and suddenly we’re all Adventure/Anime butthurt whiners.
Ya know, my favorite game in the series is Rush/Rush Adventure yet I brought up some minor complaints, does that make me one of them or not?
Pretty ironic considering an anime movie (Sonic OVA) is universally seen as the best animated thing in Sonic.
Funny, the “Fan” of the gameplay and style that’s slowly been cannibalizing the entire series has the nerve to call the fans of the style and gameplay that have been ignored for over a decade the “Cancerous” ones.
If you honestly think enjoying the Adventure series or the Sonic X anime or any other sub-series and side-series outside of the standard “Modern and Classic” Sonic is considered cancerous activity, then I think you may be backwards on who the malignant force in the fandom is here. You may not like this or that, but show some respect for those who do. That’s a large reason why this fandom is as toxic as it is, everybody likes what they like but NOBODY respects anyone else.
Excuse me? I’m an Adventure fan, I don’t really dig anime and so far I have been liking what has been showed from Sonic Forces and Mania.
I think the real cancer in the fanbase is the unecessary hostility towards other fans and other aspects of the franchise that aren’t your favorite; respect, tolerance, open mind, such things are possible for Sonic fans, don’t go along with the downhill snowball of negativity.
IGN has lost all credibility with me, so I’m not gonna believe a word they say until I hear it from Sega or sonic team themselves
The only thing that really bugs me about all this is how much gameplay is being shown to gaming journalist and sites while the rest of the public only gets to see 42 seconds of gameplay… like seriously? Hopefully more is shown sooner rather than later.. I really don’t want to wait until E3 or something just to be shown what others have already seen. Is that too much to ask?
Hey Donnie, I don’t know if this is possible, but if there were some way to send this video to Sega… through Matt… through Aaron and so on?
Sega has heard of TSSZ, but have they heard of BrainScratch Commentaries?
Well… Can’t say I’m surprised.
The theme instrumental sounded like it was from Sonic Lost Worlsd. Reminded me of the final boss theme in Lost World. It sounded good and I liked it better, but had that same worldly feel.
I think that’s how the game will be. Pontac and Graff or not (who I don’t really have an issue with btw cuz it’s not like they’re the REASON those games are like that, nor do I mind THAT much despite preferring something more like a modern SA and SA2) I think it’s obvious the tone will be like in Unleashed/Colors/Generations/Lost Word. It’s Modern Sonic. Imagine what a dire situation is like in all those games. That’s what it’s like.
Bad stuff will happen, Sonic will be mad. But nothing graphic is going to occur. Sonic will save the day. But maybe it’ll at least “cool” while doing it.
It’s not like I was expecting an all-the-time edge-fest like Shadow the Hedgehog gave us with destroyed cities and landscapes every level (gotta have some variety, like destroyed Green Hill Zones and beaches, lol. Kidding). It makes sense that it would be a story that still has some lighthearted moments, especially with Iizuka still clearly trying to bring Sonic in a very Mario-influenced direction these days (still kind of a reason I am skeptical of him as the head of the franchise to be honest…).
But still, that doesn’t mean that this game shouldn’t have any sort of dark or grim moments whatsoever. I mean, if the premise really is “Eggman has finally taken over the world, or at least has begun to”, then there should still be some moments that really show the gravity of that situation. We should want to see Sonic have a reason to be more determined to stop Eggman other than the typical “It’s what I do and he’s evil” thing the last few stories have been. Show that the guy is dangerous and that there’s an actual need for this resistance and all that. Heck, give us a good reason to believe that Eggman’s threat is so terrible that it actually justifies the assistance of Classic Sonic and this new character they’ll tell us about.
I mean if he’s no more threatening than he was in Colors or Lost World, then what’s the point of all this build up? I’m not saying it should be super dark, grim, and edgy at every turn with this premise, but there should still be a reasonable amount of scenes that really reflect on the gravity of the situation, even if it is just briefly. And with competent writers, you can do that. So please don’t let Graff and Pontac be involved in this!
Hopefully it will at least be as dark as Sonic Adventure 2;
This is fucking pissing me off!
Oh, and let me tell you about wisps. Since Sonic already has his own signature abilities, SEGA decided to add wisps, so Sonic has “more” abilities (and because it works for Mario). Because Sonic has all these wisps at his disposal, why would anyone ever want to play as Tails, Knuckles, or Amy!? Or is their new scapegoat now Rise of Lyric instead of Sonic 2006.
SEGA’s mentality along with half the fanbase and the video game mainstream is making this whole thing feel really cheap. Wisps in place of playable charcters is just insulting. And telling us that Tails is an NPC, days after Knuckles, Amy, and the Chaotix were confirmed as NPCs, is just proof that SEGA cares more about hype than upfront honesty.
And no, that STILL doesn’t justify Sonic characters not being playable in 3D Sonic titles. Apart from Big, it worked in Sonic Adventure. Apart from actually having to FIND the three treasures per stage, it worked for Sonic Adventure 2.
Keep it up with the bad news, and I may not even get this game, or even the Nintendo Switch (unless Super Mario Odyssey and Yooka-Laylee).