I don't understand why this game gets all the hate it does. Many criticisms I've heard thrown towards this game is just flat out not true. "the writing is inconsistent and cant decide whether it wants to go for a comedic tone or a serious tone". Not true, almost every line said by any character in this game is meant to further the plot and the few jokes that are present here aren't even that offensive except for a few standout lines that made me cringe (don't count your chickens before you smash your eggs).
I will mostly be defending the story in this review because i feel that's what gets the most unwarranted hate, but the gameplay is still really fun, fast fluid, and even classic sonic controls really well I never had an issue with him while many other people say hes clunky and hard to platform with.
The story is great I have no idea why people are bothered by it aside from tails being more of a coward than he should've been. I feel like the story could've benefitted from a longer run time because some things come and go too fast, for example sonic "dies" after the first level and one cutscene later the resistance is already discovering he's alive. But besides pacing issues the story is written really well with everything it sets up being paid off later. Many people look at this story at an insanely surface level perspective and hate on it for that but when you actually take a minute to think deeper than just what the game shows you you will see so many good things about this games story
example 1: Everyone criticises infinites backstory by saying "oh shadow called him weak and thats why hes evil that's so stupid" but as I said before that's a very surface level look at it. When you think with more than half a brain cell you'll realize that when you've gained a reputation as "The Ultimate Mercenary" and you're defeated almost immediately in a confrontation with Shadow its totally understandable and even expected to have a massive mental breakdown over that. His huge ego was shattered in an instant making him want to become more powerful, offering himself to eggman to be the test subject for the phantom ruby, rebirthing himself as Infinite, and giving up his old self
example 2: another criticism with infinite is he was a big part of the story but after your final fight with him in stage 27 he disappears and is never seen again. Now when you look at that surface level it seems stupid but if you actually think, and pay attention to the cutscene, you would notice that infinite is flickering, with a red aura surrounding him, almost as if he was a phantom ruby creation rather than infinite himself. And when he beacons back to the fortress the real infinite was probably up there, and after his defeat eggman took the phantom ruby from him used it to create his new Death Egg Robot, kicking off the endgame.
My main point with this review is to explain that many people are biased against sonic forces because the trailers got them overhyped and when they got the game and saw what it is they were disappointed, so instead of appreciating the games story and all its complexities, they just hate on it and give baseless criticisms that lead to unfair judgement of a perfectly fine game
does this game have issues? Yes. Its too short, the levels should've been longer, the pacing should've been better, there's no chaos or shadow boss fights even though they both have their own antagonistic roles in the story, infinite no matter how much I love him is an underdeveloped character, there's pretty much nothing you earn from collecting all the star rings, bingo numbers, and moon tokens other than clothing for the rookie, and if you're not interested in stylizing your character then 100%ing the game would be of no interest to you, but despite all this the game delivers on fun gameplay, good writing, a great story, fun locations, alot of fan favorite characters (even if many of their actions are done off screen while you blast through levels), and an amazing soundtrack which is the one thing I'm glad everyone can agree is amazing.
If you read this whole review and haven't tried the game yet, I'd definitely recommend it, and if you don't like it, that's perfectly fine. We're all entitled to our own opinions, just dont say stuff about the game that's objectively wrong, because so many people love to do that nowadays, and not just with sonic, with all games.
I will mostly be defending the story in this review because i feel that's what gets the most unwarranted hate, but the gameplay is still really fun, fast fluid, and even classic sonic controls really well I never had an issue with him while many other people say hes clunky and hard to platform with.
The story is great I have no idea why people are bothered by it aside from tails being more of a coward than he should've been. I feel like the story could've benefitted from a longer run time because some things come and go too fast, for example sonic "dies" after the first level and one cutscene later the resistance is already discovering he's alive. But besides pacing issues the story is written really well with everything it sets up being paid off later. Many people look at this story at an insanely surface level perspective and hate on it for that but when you actually take a minute to think deeper than just what the game shows you you will see so many good things about this games story
example 1: Everyone criticises infinites backstory by saying "oh shadow called him weak and thats why hes evil that's so stupid" but as I said before that's a very surface level look at it. When you think with more than half a brain cell you'll realize that when you've gained a reputation as "The Ultimate Mercenary" and you're defeated almost immediately in a confrontation with Shadow its totally understandable and even expected to have a massive mental breakdown over that. His huge ego was shattered in an instant making him want to become more powerful, offering himself to eggman to be the test subject for the phantom ruby, rebirthing himself as Infinite, and giving up his old self
example 2: another criticism with infinite is he was a big part of the story but after your final fight with him in stage 27 he disappears and is never seen again. Now when you look at that surface level it seems stupid but if you actually think, and pay attention to the cutscene, you would notice that infinite is flickering, with a red aura surrounding him, almost as if he was a phantom ruby creation rather than infinite himself. And when he beacons back to the fortress the real infinite was probably up there, and after his defeat eggman took the phantom ruby from him used it to create his new Death Egg Robot, kicking off the endgame.
My main point with this review is to explain that many people are biased against sonic forces because the trailers got them overhyped and when they got the game and saw what it is they were disappointed, so instead of appreciating the games story and all its complexities, they just hate on it and give baseless criticisms that lead to unfair judgement of a perfectly fine game
does this game have issues? Yes. Its too short, the levels should've been longer, the pacing should've been better, there's no chaos or shadow boss fights even though they both have their own antagonistic roles in the story, infinite no matter how much I love him is an underdeveloped character, there's pretty much nothing you earn from collecting all the star rings, bingo numbers, and moon tokens other than clothing for the rookie, and if you're not interested in stylizing your character then 100%ing the game would be of no interest to you, but despite all this the game delivers on fun gameplay, good writing, a great story, fun locations, alot of fan favorite characters (even if many of their actions are done off screen while you blast through levels), and an amazing soundtrack which is the one thing I'm glad everyone can agree is amazing.
If you read this whole review and haven't tried the game yet, I'd definitely recommend it, and if you don't like it, that's perfectly fine. We're all entitled to our own opinions, just dont say stuff about the game that's objectively wrong, because so many people love to do that nowadays, and not just with sonic, with all games.