#I love you Infinite from the hit game Sonic Forces you are everything to me

[cosmoknightchaos]

Hang on wait. Probably been said already but I'm watching the stream so it's on my mind.

I think it's something to say how Gabriel's two phases work in both of his boss battle. Judge of Hell (3-2) starts out with his very uptight, arrogant monologue- he has a role and purpose to fulfill. He truly believes that he's going to win this fight. And then, when V1 proves it can put up a fight, he gets pissed. +Enraged, phase two, he's going to destroy this pile of scrap. And then he loses.

He loses everything. His divine light has been severed. All that remains is perfect hatred. Apostate of Hate (6-2) starts with one of the best pre-boss monologues I've ever heard and then it's right into Enraged. Because Gabriel is already fucking furious. This worthless machine has taking everything from him and he's going to make it pay. There is no reason to be calm and ordeal, this machine just needs to die.

Then the fight goes on, same as last time, and Gabriel starts to learn. This fight against the machine shakes his entire faith and he enjoys it. He loves the fight. He's laughing, he's enjoying it, he's having a grand old time because for the first time ever he's fighting for his own will. Not God's, not the Council's, but his own will. The anger gives way to glee and he returns to his normal form in Phase 2, no longer enraged, but enjoying it.

And then he's defeated for the second time and all he feels is relief. Everything he has ever known, his faith, his loyalty, has been shattered. His will is now, and will forever- or, at least, for the next few hours he has left to live- be his own. All he feels is relief.

[emeraldthelynx]

Infinite

I think Infinite is a really cool character. When I played Sonic Forces, I think my only real complaint with the game was how short and easy it was. Everything else was really amazing! And Infinite was such a cool character with so many nuances, heightened by the lyrics in his self-titled theme. A lot of people seem to think he's just an angry guy who hates Shadow and started a war for no reason. And then the fandom puts him through therapy.

. . .

Let me explain why I think Infinite is a cool villain!

First of all, he's got a backstory the player becomes a part of in Episode Shadow. Shadow has been ordered to hunt down Infinite's mercenary squad (probably by G.U.N., although the scriptwriters probably didn't realize that.) He takes down the rest, then takes on Infinite. Up until this point, Infinite has been invincible, he was feared, he had power. Then Shadow breaks him instantly. Instead of having a moment of self-reflection or brooding, Infinite denies that he has a breakdown. He hides his face and it's almost like that the mask he wears is a sign of his 'rebirth.' So he's a tragic villain! He's still a bad guy, he was a bad guy before everything Shadow did, but Infinite becoming scared and vulnerable actually makes him sympathize with the audience.

Secondly, this guy is a real threat! If Eggman hadn't reeled him in when he did, chances are Infinite would of taken him down as well with his illusions. He literately tricks the brain into hurting the body while manipulating reality to his every whim. He doesn't need to have contact with his opponents to hurt them, which is more than can be said for a lot of Eggman's plans. He materializes Sonic's hardest opponents, Shadow, the perfect rival to Sonic, Metal Sonic, a machine who believes he's the real Sonic and will do anything to prove it, Chaos, the literal embodiment of Sonic's worst fear, and… Za…vok? (Sorry, Zavok works more as a Mario villain than a Sonic one. He's ruthless, we'll say that, yeah.) Excluding Zavok, these guys have been real threats to Sonic when they were separate, and Infinite puts them together. He breaks Tails. He makes the world believe that Sonic is dead for six months. Again, more than most of Eggman's plans have done.

Third, the dynamic Infinite has with the Avatar character. Both of them were reduced to trembling, fearful people. But Infinite hid away, and the Avatar chose to fight despite his/her fear and eventually overcame it. Infinite's theme literately sounds like he's taunting the avatar, hitting it especially hard with the line "it's only me and you, who is gonna save you now?" Infinite sees the avatar as the person that he was before putting on the mask, and likes taunting them. Do you realize that he's trying to hide his own fear by attacking the Avatar? And it makes him even more scared as the avatar stands up again and again which he could not do.

Fourth and final, his design and theme song?! That mask, the Phantom Ruby, the Persona-esque logo on the bottom of his shoes, that is a lot of effort put into this design to really sell the character! (As a side note, I know barely anything about Persona. Could somebody who's more familiar with the series tell me if Infinite embodies any of the Persona traits?) His theme song is really amazing. It embodies everything in his character. Do you realize that this was the first time there was a character theme in this style since Silver's theme in Sonic 06? Sure, we got cool things like Knight of the Wind or lovely tracks like Speak With Your Heart, but we did not get a full-blown character theme. Infinite is telling the audience (Avatar) who he is, everything about his power, how he's the one in control, but at the same time, you can hear him trying to convince himself of everything he's saying. (Especially with the line "this is an illusion, open up your eyes.")

I'm going to say it now that I got more happiness from playing Sonic Forces than I did playing Frontiers. The music was great, I actually felt like I had a world to save, and the avatar was really fun to design and use. I think if SEGA used a style similar to the Adventure games where each character (Sonic, Classic Sonic, and the Avatar) each had their own story segments, made the game a little longer, and fleshed out the story a bit more, Sonic Forces would of been one of the best Sonic games that came out in a while. I might make another post later that specifies those ideas a bit more, but for now, enjoy my rant about Infinite.

[benis-chillin]

Backlog Reviews 2024: Bionicle the Game

Platform: GameCube

January 12th, 2024-February 28th, 2024(incomplete)

So…This is a fucking disappointment.

Now, Bionicle is literally a franchise that has defined my life. I love the lore, my iconography when it isn't an ass is a Kanohi Hau, and I have many of the toys. Heck, I even have a storyboard from the second movie!

However, I never had a console that could run this back when it was new, I never gave the PC version a go, and even after we got our Wii with backwards compatability, it was YEARS before I got it Gamecube ready.

But I always had a curiousity with it, since it was advertised in the Bionicle: Mask of Light VHS I grew up with. It looked, frankly, amazing to kid me, and I REALLY wanted to play that level with Tahu Nuva surfing on lava. Always loved that scene in the movie, and Tahu Nuva was my first Bionicle, so makes sense.

So this year, 21 years since it was released, I finally sat down and played it, and…

Most of it is just OKAY…With a cheat.

Basically, this game's only form of attack is a sort of weird energy blast that takes forever to charge. In fact, when testing the rom, I played Tahu's stage legit, and I just felt silly jumping all over the place and shooting off a blast when the thing finally filled enough to shoot. So, for my own sanity, I grabbed a cheat that gives me infinite energy, which made everything WAY more managable.

Though this does expose the game's weak shield gimmick as not all that helpful, since most enemies barely hit you, and your health points regenerate fairly quickly after you defeat them, so why not cut the shield and just give us infinite blasts? It's way more fun that way.

Moreover, the game also has a "Nuva blast" technique that is so finicky that you'll probably not find yourself able to do it consistently even once you figure it out. It's like, hold down the shield button to charge up energy, then press another button(Y, in my case)right as you let go for a small shockwave effect. Yeah, only really useful when they force it on you.

Though another big hinderance may be that this game was not at ALL optimized for the Gamecube controller. I'm of the opinion that the Gamecube controller isn't right for ALL games, but it's the best option for all the games it works in. And the fairly simple controls of this game SHOULD work out, but literally the only good button is A as the jump button. B is shield, X is the shoot button, and Y is for special attacks and actions. L and R are used as secondary camera rotation buttons(that barely even worked for me, and I don't think that was a controller problem), and Z seems to be unused.

And this layout is a nightmare!

X in particular should be reserved only for actions that you don't need to do as much, it should not be the MAIN firing button, especially if you need to use Shield and Shoot TOGETHER, as it seems it wants you to do.

My layout would keep jump as A, but make B the Shoot Button, put Shield on the shoulder buttons(you only need the stick for the limited camera in this game), and keep Y as special. Just my opinion.

Though Idk how much it would help the sluggish movement and turning speeds of this game. It was DREADFUL getting anywhere in this game! I actually started playing my next game, Batman Arkham Asylum, in the middle of this, and the difference in control fluidity was staggering. Felt like an N64 game.

This could've been a frame rate problem, though. I noticed that the PS2 footage I occasionally checked out was a lot smoother than mine, so I think they just didn't want to optimize anything for GC. Also had a recurring glitch where the music would just cut out at random points in the level. Not sure what was up with that.

As for the story…

What story?

Things just HAPPEN in this game with no rhyme or reason! First the Bohrok attack for two levels, then we're fighting the Kal, then we're fighting Rahkshi! Sonic Mania had more of a cohesive narrative than this, and Sonic Mania doesn't have a damn narrative!

And honestly, I could put up with all of this for most of the game! I was just happy to be experiencing a new-to-me piece of Bionicle media! I love Bionicle so much that I was willing to put up with a bit of bullshit!

But then came the Tahu Nuva level. The one I had been looking forward to for a good chunk of my life. Finally, I could experience lava surfing with Tahu like I always wanted to! I had this experience with the Toy Story 3 video game back in the day where I would just sit down in the Woody's Round-up mini-game and just ride Bullseye around town until I got tired, or the game crashed(it was on Wii). But still, the experience of getting to embody that part of one of my heroes was unforgettable.

And this level is completely broken.

Half of the things you're meant to shoot don't let you target them, shit keeps on getting in your way with no way to avoid them, and the Rahkshi will just randomly decide to be completely out of your firing range at certain points. The shot will fire, they will seem in range, but it never hits. And naturally, the defeat cutscene is unskippable.

Yeah.

So, I finally had to just give up. My heart was broken. I'm sad about this. So long, I'd wanted to do this…Guess I'll be waiting a while longer.

3/10

Next up is the one I've already started: Batman Arkham Asylum on PC. See ya then!

Previous review

Main list

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (7.22-7.28.20):

NEW MUSIC:

Mayday Parade premiered their latest cover of the Beatles‘ hit song “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Members of the Maine, We the Kings, Grayscale and Knuckle Puck were also featured, as well as former Real Friends vocalist Dan Lambton.

Machine Gun Kelly and Mod Sun debuted an acoustic version of their collaboration “Stay Away.” Since the original’s release, the song has been viewed on YouTube over 384,000 times and earned over 5.7 million streams on Spotify.

Grayscale debuted a reimagined version of their song “Painkiller Weather” from their upcoming EP Live From the Barber Shop Studios. The EP will also feature reimagined versions of the songs “Baby Blue” and “What’s on Your Mind.”

After weeks of anticipation, Sleeping With Sirens finally released their newest song “Talking to Myself.” The band also revealed that the deluxe edition of How It Feels to Be Lost will drop on August 21 via Sumerian Records.

Go Radio triumphantly returned with a new song titled “So Love,” following the release of “Say It Again.” The new song marks their first release as an independent band since leaving Fearless Records.

Oliver Tree recruited Blink-182 on a reworked version of his song “Let Me Down.” The original song comes from his recently released debut album Ugly is Beautiful via Atlantic Records.

Issues frontman Tyler Carter joined forces with Japanese DJ KSUKE for the song “Contradiction.” The track serves as the theme song for the anime series God of High School, adapted from the original manga.

Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong released a cover of the song “Police on My Back,” first written by the Equals in the 1960s. The original song was later covered by the Clash the following decade. 

Gaming network VENN dropped a launch trailer for its new show Guest House featuring the song “Wildfire,” featuring host and Against the Current singer Chrissy Costanza. The track also features drums from ex-The Word Alive’s Luke Holland.

State Champs released another new song off their upcoming acoustic EP titled “10AM.” The new EP, called Unplugged, will be released on August 14 via Pure Noise Records.

After teasing its release earlier in the week, nothing,nowhere. released a new song titled “Lights (4444).” The song marks the rapper’s first release since “Death” earlier this spring.

Yours Truly released an animated video for their new song “Together,” the second track from their upcoming album Self Care, to be released on September 18. The video features them taking on monsters in a video game-like fight sequence.

Rarity released a new song titled “Worn Down,” their second most recent single after debuting the song “Leave It Alone” earlier this month. The band stated the song is about “humanity and relationships between humans.”

After dropping the new song weeks ago, Hot Milk released a video for their latest track “California's Burning.” The track is available on a special 7” record with a portion of proceeds going to the Black Lives Matter movement and Stop Hate UK.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Due to coronavirus, Aftershock postponed its 2020 festival to next year. Despite this, the festival stated that headliners My Chemical Romance and Metallica would still return for the rescheduled dates.

Enter Shikari and Set It Off both announced they will be rescheduling their respective upcoming UK/EU tours to next year due to coronavirus. The former band recently released their album Nothing is True and Everything is Possible in April.

Creeper announced three hometown shows in Southampton, England, in which they will be playing one of their EPs in full every night. They will also play tracks off their upcoming album Sex, Death and the Infinite Void, out this Friday. 

Summer Sonic Festival made up for not taking place this year by streaming iconic footage from years gone by. Last Thursday, it streamed Green Day's 2012 set, Nine Inch Nails' 2009 set and the Prodigy's 2008 set, respectively. 

Issues’ drummer Josh Manuel performed full playthroughs of three of the band’s albums this past weekend. He performed their self-titled album, Headspace and the band’s most recent album Beautiful Oblivion on separate days.

OTHER NEWS:

My Chemical Romance announced they will star in a six-book comic series, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem. The first issue is scheduled for release on October 14 via Dark Horse Comics. 

YUNGBLUD was nominated for PUSH Best New Artist at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, to be held on August 30 in Brooklyn, New York. The singer’s sophomore album is speculated to be released sometime next month.

All Time Low's track “Monsters” featuring Blackbear placed at No. 10 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay Chart, the first track from the band to do so. The song is off Wake Up, Sunshine, which peaked at No. 1 on the Top Rock Albums chart.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[eternityengine]

okay so I wrote a “review” (really just my thoughts in a disorganized way) of Sonic Forces about a year and a half ago and never got around to posting it, but I still have it so I’m posting it now because I have opinions

Main Game

Green Hill. Again. Argh. I mean at least they tried to change it up a little by throwing sand over it but that didn't really make any sense. (sega plz)

Look, I like Chemical Plant alright (for some godforsaken reason), but it's already been in Gens and Mania. Just give us Mystic Cave Zone or Mushroom Zone or something! Hell, use both! We could have Mushroom Zone instead of Green Hill Zone!

I gotta say the goop waterfalls in Network Terminal are really flow-breaking, you just come to a dead stop if you touch them and have to stop half the time to avoid hitting them, and you can't reliably avoid them very well. You can't even boost through them!

Luminous Forest is pretty and all but uuuuuggghhhhh casino levels suck

Infinite is delightfully edgy and I thoroughly enjoyed him, but they didn't utilize him very well.

Infinite's battle themes reflect his boss battle quality!

First battle: total banger of a song, pretty good boss fight (runnin’ on a SNAKE)

Second battle: excellent song, decent boss fight (best use of his nightmare zone powers, at least in the first half)

Third battle: okay song, boring reskin of the Metal Sonic boss fight

Why did they not give us a Chaos boss fight :( lame

Also why did Infinite use Chaos 0 instead of literally any other version, all of which are stronger? Like, would Perfect Chaos use too much energy or something?? He made giant snake versions of himself just fine...

Actually, why couldn't those have been Chaos??

Metal Sonic fight was okay but way too similar to Silver's in Gens

Also why is Metal Sonic a copy?? Just use actual Metal, come on, Eggman

There was no resolution to Infinite's plot and I am disappoint

Why does Infinite just flip the Avatar around with the Phantom Ruby in Metropolis? I feel like he should be at least shooting cubes at you or something instead of just occasionally passing by to frick with your gravity in suspiciously convenient ways

If Sonic was tortured for six months why is there no indication of this? He doesn't look or act any different than usual. Even without being tortured (as in the JP script), he should at least have some ill effects from being imprisoned for half a year.

I'm okay with Knuckles being the commander of the Resistance but who thought it was a good idea to let him come up with strategies? He's mostly a traps and punching guy on that front. I realize Tails was gone and all but I feel like most of the other characters could have strategized better.

Classic Sonic does basically nothing of note and has the worst levels and gameplay. Why is he even here if they weren't going to use him properly?

Caveat: I'm mostly going off of other people's statements re: his gameplay, I suck at Classic games overall and would probably dislike his levels regardless

Why does destroying the Phantom Ruby send Classic back to his dimension? I wouldn't think the Ruby would need to actively hold him there...

First of all, I feel like Tails should have been able to fix Omega. Secondly, why did they leave him there for six months?? Thirdly, HOW DID HE GET FIXED????? (Loved that he was here, though.)

I want to see the fight between Silver and Infinite, it was probably super awesome

Okay, so I can kind of excuse the giant snake given the giant worms of Lost Hex, but why would it try to eat Sonic. He'd be a tiny snack. What does it even normally eat? Other giant snakes?? (Is it an illusion??)

Why are both of Classic Sonic's boss fights just bomb tennis

Why is the final boss called a Death Egg Robot? The only similarities are in the first form's head (when protracted) and its primary (shoulder) arms. The rest is tentacle snake nonsense. And the second form is a straight-up tentacle robot, and somewhat similar to the Nega-Wisp Armour. And it's not even on the Death Egg!

Final boss was really ominous though, I liked it. First, dramatic orchestral music. Then, it murders you repeatedly by barely telegraphing its attacks to a first-timer. (Stop killing the floor!!) Then you "beat" it and a chestburster tentacle robot explodes out and dumps you in null space. The actual tentacle bot fight was kind of a letdown though, it was basically just the Nega Wisp Armour from Colours instead of something new... (also I was bad at timing my laser dodges so some salt there)

How is Classic Sonic doing Homing Attacks in the Death Egg Robot's third phase? He literally can't do them yet, wtf. (I choose to believe Modern Sonic and/or the Avatar is throwing him at it :P)

The water slides in Aqua Road are neat and fun the first few times, but when you're trying to S-rank the level they are such a pain. The RNG with the Motobug bouncing is the woooooorst. (Getting unavoidably knocked into spike balls sucks.)

Also why were a) spike balls there to begin with, it's enough of a challenge not falling out, and b) the spike balls moving slower than everything else in the slides? And then slow you down to their speed if you hit them, so when your invincibility runs out you're still glued to them and die?

Avatar gameplay is really fun, but I'm not a fan of how many automatic grapple points there are. Just let me do it!! It's not hard!!!! (Plus some of them are really unnecessary)

No boss fight with fake Shadow either, but that's less disappointing than Chaos for whatever reason (maybe because he's around more?)

Gotta say though I liked a much larger portion of the music in this game than usual, it's really good

However, the music for Classic's Green Hill stage is screechy garbage.

A good chunk of the stuff conveyed with the overworld dialogue would have been better presented as actual cutscenes (esp. the ones that use sound effects :/)

There is literally an area called "City" are you freaking kidding me

Okay, so Eggman decides to drop the sun on the Resistance...but he's also there?? I assume he's like, just not included in the illusion and is just laughing at their stupid faces, but it would have been nice to have some indication of that.

Why even make Zavok copies?? He sucks and no one likes him. Also he's kind of part of a set, where are the other Zeti copies?

I realize this is a video game, but why does Infinite make such easily dodgeable cube obstacles/attacks? "Ah yes let me make some long rectangles with big gaps to go through at each end, this will never fail"

I would like to thank Sonic Team for not making Imperial Tower a timed mission, that shit was hard enough as it is

I would also like to thank Sonic Team for making Imperial Tower so easy to cheese with Hover Wispons

I really wish the Null Space level had more...Null Space. You're in it for like 30 seconds, and it's a waste of a really pretty level design. AND it's just a straight shot that's 80% Double Boost.

Why is Double Boost a thing? The Avatar is just some random civilian, they shouldn't have weird team-up super speed powers.

I love that basically all of Sonic's friends are here doing stuff again, it is glorious. (Even though they were kind of epic fails until the Avatar joined/they got Sonic back...)

However, it would have been nice to see them occasionally doing stuff in the levels (like beating up robots in the background or something), rather than just in cutscenes.

Classic Sonic doesn't get an Infinite fight. :(

Which is weird, since he's the only playable character with Phantom Ruby experience/story.

In Final Judgement, the radio chatter includes them going "so this is where Eggman built Infinite" and...there are several things wrong with that. First of all, "built"? He's organic, it would be better to say something like "created" - even putting aside that that would be more metaphorical, as Eggman didn't straight-up create Infinite the person, just his current identity (not that they have any reason to know that - but they have no reason to think he made him either). Secondly, how are they coming to this conclusion? There's no tubes or assembly machines around until the end tubes with Phantom Ruby prototypes(?) in them, and those are part of the reactor. Plus an early cutscene has Infinite in a tube in a completely different area, though it could have been contained in the same superstructure. I mean I guess you could argue that the level looks like a factory?? Thirdly, how can they even see inside? They're not there.

Episode Shadow

Why is this so goddamn short. Only three levels? Really??

Why is the last cutscene just the first one from the main game?? They should be explaining where tf Shadow's been during the main game! So lazy.

Aqua Road is like 80% waterslides whyyyyyy

Infinite is really bad at getting revenge, holy shit. He just...illusions him for a bit until he gets away?? With some cube attacks tbf but STILL...

Also this shit never comes up in the main game why exactly? (I know the answer is probably they came up with this later like FOOLS, but argh)

ALSO also why do Infinite's attacks not send Shadow into the nightmare realm like they do in the main game?

Why do they go to such lengths to hide Infinite's face if they just straight up show it in his comic??

Honestly the way Shadow treats Infinite in this feels kinda out of character. I feel like he wouldn't be quite that harsh. (Definitely in character if it was Boom!Shadow, though...)

I am disappointed that Shadow is just a Sonic reskin. Let me use Chaos Spear! >:(

Also disappointed that Shadow can only be played on Modern Sonic stages; why not also Tag stages??

Misc

Infinite's theme is hilariously edgy and I love it (could do without the rap tho)

Kinda disappointed that this game has no fancy CGI cutscenes. I always look forward to those...

I think they had way too much nostalgia-baiting in this game. Classic Sonic, four previous Sonic villains (mostly Chaos and Metal Sonic though), Death Egg Robots, Green Hill and Chemical Plant and Death Egg...it just smacks of desperation. Not sure if it's "Generations was popular let's do that again" or just general trying to get fans back, but it's silly. You expect this sort of thing for Generations bc it was an anniversary game, but this one decidedly isn't and it feels like they're grasping at straws trying to get/keep players.

Also this is a Modern Sonic game, why is 50% of the content not playing him. Why is Classic even heeeeeeere

[camprell]

Prepare for the discourse.

Guys seriously, why the fuck does Sega create characters if they all end up being totally useless in newer games? Like, sometimes I even think that they should kill off the other characters apart from Sonic and the game would change nothing!

And I was thinking about it when I was watching the Sonic forces walkthrough, almost every character is just useful for speaking to the screen, but when it comes to them doing something for the story... Nooooooo, they can't!

"Ah, I have gravity powers or something, but this thing finishes me with one hit"!

Wtf is this bullshit?? We know what Silver can do with his powers, he's one of the most powerful characters in the damn franchise, but even with all this power he can't deal with an enemy with (almost) equal power! (Silver was broken in 06 but I'm still counting it).

But, this isn't the end of the discourse.

Where is all the exploration of the two Sonic adventure? I know almost everybody hated it, but it could put Knuckles and Rouge or even Espio to work, like in the Death Egg course, it's like:

"Let's save Sonic, just be careful and make sure you don't get any alarm to warn them about you when you're breaking everything like an idiot"!

It could have stealth! In a war, a real war, does all the soldiers go forward with guns and just kill like imbeciles? NO!

Knuckles fucking said that they had spies, but they could BE the spies! With rooms with lasers, dark places and etc! Espio is a NINJA!! Rouge is a BAT!!

Ah, and there's another thing. If Infinite's power is breaking through dimensions, WHY BLAZE ISN'T IN THE GAME INSTEAD OF CLASSIC SONIC??? She's equivalent to Sonic, her dimension is equivalent to Sonic's, but they can't put her in the game! This is fucking BULLSHIT!!

And then there's the conclusion. Who's the culprit for all this emptiness?

And I say: It's the fanbase.

I'll not generalize the fanbase, but, let the guys try to make the difference, let's just forget our childhood speech for a moment and realize that Sonic is not just about speed anymore... There's plenty of different characters that once had different gameplays. Some of the people who claimed to love the franchise, now are turning to make a company fear its fans, and that's not correct.

Also, I can't just let it pass that Sega had disappointed people those years, rushing games and etc, but, with the low acceptance of Sonic Boom, they're kind of trying to make the usual, with some marketing magic to get Sonic up to better acceptance again. Why do you think Shadow got a free dlc for the game? And why do you think there's Classic Sonic again?

For the fan's demanding.

Well, guess I roasted the entire thing now. I hope you get my point of view, and understand that I'm being realistic.

I'm not a hater tho, but today, things are disappointing me more than before. When I was a kid I aways said that Sonic wasn't a good game, but now I know that there are good games, even if the majority of them are not famous or are completely roasted every time it is cited, but, being on the fanbase this months I just realized that most of the newer things are just "Sonic Forced" to be badly designed, badly written and badly done. Just because of some closed minded "fans", that forget it's just a game.

[thomcoldman-blog]

My 10 Favourite Games Of 2017

This list was originally posted on the forum Resetera, but I felt like putting it up here too, with a little more insight into why I liked these games so much, and so they don’t get lost in the muddle of forum posts. Enjoy!

10. Snake Pass (Sumo Digital; Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Sumo Digital has been a developer I've admired for years, particularly for their work on the Nintendo-tier kart racer Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Snake Pass is their first independently-produced title, and it has a great hook - the player controls a snake in much the same manner as a real snake might move. There's no jump button, no Earthworm Jim spacesuit, just the power to raise one's head and the strength to grip tightly to any object you've coiled around. There's no timer or enemies; Snake Pass is content to let you explore its levels at your own pace, letting you getting used to its unique feeling and take in the calming David Wise soundtrack. It's a game that feels like learning to ride a bike again, and the progression in ability over time is such a pleasing sensation that it earns it its place on this list by itself. The good use of collectables and generous helping of levels is icing on the cake.

9. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (MachineGames; PS4, Xbox One, PC)

B.J. Blazkowicz returns and he's lost all meaning of subtlety whilst he's been out of action. Wolfenstein 2 shoots all of its shots - the action is bloody, explosive carnage, and the subject matter isn't satisfied with just skewering Nazi idiocy and narcissism, taking time to shine a light on White America's love affair with sitting back and reaping the rewards of compliance under fascist rule. Whether it's exploring B.J.'s broken psyche, giving Wyatt a crash course on hallucinogenics or putting you under the spotlight in a terrifying audition, MachineGames refuse to pull their punches, each great moment coming swinging like B.J.'s Nazi-reprimanding fireaxe. The combat encounters are far from polished, with stealth being heavily nerfed from The New Order and the half-way shift in tone from borderline-satirical diatribe on mortality and American race relations to comic-book capers is incredibly stodgy, but Wolfenstein 2 leaves a hell of an impression all the same. Shame about that credits music.

8. Gorogoa (Jason Roberts; PC, iOS, Nintendo Switch)

A good puzzle game can make a really strong impression, guiding you subtly by the hand to make you feel like a member of MENSA just for pressing a few buttons or prodding at a screen. With Gorogoa, I can't even begin to describe how the puzzles actually work. Imagine a window segmented with 4 panes of glass, and now imagine you can drag elements out of those panes and into other panes, or over where there isn't a pane to create a new pane... See, it’s hard! In as simple terms as I can muster, it’s a game about taking the world apart and putting it back together again to create paths and progress for your anonymous young hero. It’s intensely abstract, yet the South Asian aesthetic feels like a living locale, an exploration of a boy's days-to-come. It's a short experience, but with each puzzle solved making me feeling smarter than Albert god damn Einstein, it's one that will stick with me for a long time.

7. Splatoon 2 (Nintendo EPD; Nintendo Switch)

Like pretty much everyone, I didn't own a Wii U, but the sting of that decision never really happened until the arrival of Splatoon - Nintendo's first proper new "core" universe since what felt like Pikmin. It instantly looked like sheer fun - and as a big fan of both Jet Set Radio and The World Ends With You, it was clear as day Nintendo's younger designers were picking up the Shibuya fashion torch those games dropped behind them. Put simply, it's totally my shit. Splatoon 2 confirms my suspicions and then some, being the first multiplayer title I've enjoyed online in forever. I can't get enough of the soundtrack, the sound effects, the amazingly catty banter between Pearl and Marina, and just the feeling of dropping into ink, strafing around a sucker and blasting them straight between the eyeballs with my N-ZAP '85. 20% of Switch owners in the US can't be wrong.

6. Yakuza 0 (SEGA; PS4)

The only games I've played previously by SEGA's Toshihiro Nagoshi are the brilliant arcade/Gamecube bangers F-Zero GX and Super Monkey Ball 2, plus his one-off PS3 sci-fi shooter Binary Domain. Loving those 3 wacky games, I always felt a little put-off by his regular gig nowadays being a series about Japan's most decorated crime organisation, and a bare-knuckle brawler at that. Yakuza 0, the 80s-set series prequel that serves as a perfect entry point for series newcomers, proved my suspicions ill-founded. It's a game which instantly casts the majority of the yakuza as control freaks and bullies, pits its protagonists Kiryu and Majima as their unfounded targets and pawns... and then lets you fight your way out of hell via brutal finishing moves, bizarrely complex business management sidequests and, if you're so inclined, a gun shaped like a giant fish. It's that kind of game that always keeps you guessing whether or not you should take it seriously, and so it wins you over with its best-in-class action choreography, astonishingly good direction and a never-ending deluge of sidequests, minigames and challenges. Don't sleep on Kamurocho.

5. Sonic Mania (SEGA/Christian Whitehead/Headcannon/PagodaWest Games; Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)

If you’re reading this, you probably know I'm a Sonic apologist. I don't really stand by the 3D entries - bar Sonic Generations, which I genuinely love - but the narrative that "Sonic was never good" is some ridiculous meme that I can't stand. They were genuinely fun games, albeit far from perfect; every game can use some improvement. Sonic Mania is that improvement, spinning the level themes and gimmicks from the original Mega Drive (and Mega CD) games into vast new forms, with myraid routes, tons of secrets, an astonishing sense of speed from beginning to end and fairer, more agreeable, more exciting level design. Old locales, new levels - oh, and some new locales as well, one of which (Studiopolis Zone) is an instant classic. 16:9 presentation, all new animations and crazy levels of animation detail, and a mind-blowing soundtrack by Tee Lopes - Sonic Mania is the perfect Sonic game.

4. NieR: Automata (Square Enix/PlatinumGames; PS4, PC)

For my first foray into the sunken mind of Yoko Taro, he couldn't have left a better impression. NieR: Automata uses Platinum's engaging-at-worst, thrilling-at-best melee combat as the language to tell his new story of how pointless it is for anyone to even bother throwing themselves after ideals of society or humanity, and why it's worth trying all the same. Every inch of this game feels crusted in Taro’s sensibilities, with the no-bullshit 2B and her curious whiny partner 9S running into robots waving white flags, avenging fallen comrades, establishing monarchies, throwing themselves to their deaths, and coming to terms with their crumbling existence in apocalypse.  It's crushing, it's raw, it's often dull, but its uniquely bleak vision of AIs breaking free of their programming has a grip as powerful as a Terminator's. And when it’s ready to let you go, it has you send it off with the most memorable credits sequence in history. Glory to Yoko Taro, glory to PlatinumGames - glory to mankind.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo EPD; Nintendo Switch, Wii U)

Standing in the centre of a bridge connecting Hyrule’s broad, emerald green fields to the desert mountain approach, a bridge overlooking the still Lake Hylia, I fire an arrow into a lizard bastard’s head, or at least I try to. He dodges it and rushes me, forcing me to jump away and retaliate with my claymore. Out for the count, I resume looking for the lost Zora wife I’ve been asked to seek out, who apparently washed all the way downstream in a recent downpour. I can’t see any wife - my entire view is dominated by the giant green dragon snaking across the night sky above me. The wind picks up, but I am too awestruck by its presence to take note that I could glide up to it and shoot off a valuable scale. Instead, I just stand and stare, this utterly unexpected moment happening before my eyes. Friend or foe? A boss monster, perhaps? A vital story element later on? The answer ended up being none of the above: in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there be dragons, and that fact in and of itself speaks volumes about what this game is about. After 30 years, Hyrule finally feels alive.

2. Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall; PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS)

Very few games instil a genuine emotional response within me, but the story of Mae Borowski's no-fanfare return from college to suburban gloom resonates hard with me. It's an expert at the little touches - the needless-yet-fun triple jump, the not-so-starcrossed rooftop musicians, the impulsive reaction to poke a severed arm with a stick - and woefully precise with its big swings, like an upsetting cross-town party, a wave of violent frustration amongst the townspeople, and the inability to just lay it all on the table with friends and family when you need to most. In the cosmic dreams of shitty teens, Night in the Woods finds an ugly beauty in depression. 

1. Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo EPD; Nintendo Switch)

It’s impossible to deny 2017 has been the year of Nintendo. There’s plenty of celebrate elsewhere, but the Switch’s rise to prominence as the machine to be playing ideally everything on, and the amount of absolute smash hits Nintendo has producing this year makes it hard for the narrative to focus elsewhere. The epitome of all this is their final killer game of 2017: Super Mario Odyssey, the grand return of a more open-ended style of Mario platformer. A true blue achievement in joyous freedom, it brings together everything from Mario's history of 3D platforming - 64's freedom, Sunshine's other-worldliness and sky-high skill ceiling, Galaxy's spectacle, 3D World's razor-sharp platforming challenge - and throws into one big pot, creating a Mario where both the journey and the destination are one and the same, and exciting to the very end. In a year of amazing games that hit upon horrid, upsetting themes with delicate, pinpoint accuracy for tremendous success, I’m not sure whether it’s a shame or an inevitability that such an unapologetically surprising, happy game made the biggest mark on me this year, but either way, I’m welcome to have Mario be truly Super once more.

[dmbakura]

i need to talk about sonic forces. sort of review i guess. i beat the game a while ago but im still tryna S rank everything

sonic forces is definitely not a bad game. it’s just a terribly underutilized game that never quite hits its full potential, and that’s the most frustrating thing about it. i still enjoyed the game, but i think it could have been so much more than what it was

the good

smooth gameplay and graphics. sonic has a bad rep for being glitchy and terrible but none of that is found here. unlike shit like sonic boom and 06, this game is definitely finished and it looks really nice.

the story is silly as hell, its tone matching something closer to sonic adventure. dark, but not in the cringy way like shadow the hedgehog, or the dull way like sonic 06

the avatar style of gameplay is my favourite. im a slut for character customization and i love the flexibility the wispins give. seeing your OC actually in the game and in the cutscenes and working with sanic just made.. a part of me so happy. it’s clear they put the most effort into the avatar style, as that’s where the heart of the game lies

the OST slaps so hard. it’s probably my fave sonic soundtrack next to SA2′s i cant stop listening to it

the bad

why is classic sonic here.

seriously why is he here. if i wanted classic sonic i’d go and play mania. he feels like the most tacked on part of the gameplay and story. i really wish they had scrapped him and focused only on sonic and the avatar.

the story, as much as i think it was a good foundation, is seriously underdeveloped and not well fleshed out at all. it tells everything. it doesnt show it. cutscenes are sparse and a lot of shit is just told through this weird overworld dialogue

infinite is so underutilized it’s pretty insulting. his backstory is weak. his powers are... vague. and if he’s going to bring back enemies from the past, at least let us fight all of them like goddamn. his ending is rushed and lame, he just disappears and that’s it. huge waste of a character they spent a lot of time hyping up.

the boss fights, or rather, lack of them. the fact that all the returning bosses are just “illusions” was... dumb. and you dont even get to fight chaos. shame, i was looking forward to that remaster of “open your heart”

the level design is quite bland, with only a few sticking out. i’ve only played a small bit of generations, but i could tell it was so much more inspired than the stages in forces. capitol city was my favourite level from the game because it actually utilized infinite really well and created an interesting gimmick. if ALL the levels were this inspired, the game could have easily been so much better

the game is so short. the stages can mostly be beaten in under 2 minutes each

the ending was very obviously rushed.

overall the game isn’t flawed, it just has a lot of shortcomings. a good foundation, but never strives past that. i really wish sega would treat their IP with like, an ounce of the love and polish mario and zelda get

[semi-sketchy]

Alright, so I beat Sonic Forces and I’m going to go into opinions on the plot and characters like Infinite, so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t read below.

Not gonna lie, I’m a little burned out after playing through the entire game in a few hours, so I’m going to give my opinion on the gameplay later when I get the chance to slow down and walk through it at my own pace. My opinions on the story could also change when I play through again without recording so I can hear all the details.

The story I liked, then it really slowed down to dialog before a stage. I like how each stage is very plot-driven and plays a purpose, but the ending. After 20 or so stages, “it’s the final fight!” 10 stages later “We won!” I felt that many stages with so little narrative slowed the plot to a halt. It lost the tension considering a third of the game was the ending.

While on topic of the ending, the ending was sweet, but...what about Infinite? He “flies” off after his boss battle, he loses his Ruby to Eggman, so what happened to him? Did the Ruby consume him? Did he vanish? I honestly thought it was going to be a cop-out like “SUCK IT I’M THE REAL FINAL BOSS” but no, he’s just...gone. I expected a lot more from Infinite. He had a really nice song that told so much about him.

“I was born in this pain, it only hurts if you let it.”

“I’ve been up against better, just take a look at my face”

“So look around you and tell me what you really see. You live a lie and that’s the difference in you and me”

Then...nothing. I felt he could have been an amazing character and I liked what I saw of him, but it’s almost like he wasn’t finished. I thought he was going to have a redemption arc or we’d at least know what happened to him, but we get nothing. Even the comic we got today doesn’t explain anything. We don’t ever see him unmasked in the game, even when Shadow beats him and he wants to hide his face. I get he’s scarred, but why? What turned him so bad? What made him want vengeance like this? What happened to him? I liked what I saw, but that’s only what I saw. His backstory is never told and I was under the impression that we’d get a lot more from him. I’m not sure but it almost felt like it was done so there would be room for a sequel later on. I feel he is completely capable of returning and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Heck, make it a 3DS game or something where we hear about him, I don’t care, I’ll buy it.

It also took me until just now to realize we never had a Shadow or Chaos boss fight. I know Shadow beat us to the punch of fighting...himself. But Chaos? I would have liked to see that. Chaos was very tacked on, a lot like Classic Sonic.

Eggman was great as a villain though. Very prepared, you could tell he had a backup plan and had learned from his mistakes, which honestly made it a little annoying because it was “we got him down!” “no” “oh shit he had a backup plan for that backup backup plan” and I felt it dragged on. But he wasn’t stupid in setting all his eggs in one basket. (Heh, eggs.)

And can we talk about Sonic’s snarkiness? I literally screamed “I can’t believe the Encaged AU is canon” when I heard what was going on, although I’m sad we never got to see anything from Sonic’s side until he busted out. We just hear that everyone thinks he’s dead until “oh, he’s been held in solitary confinement on the Death Egg for 6 months and is being tortured” but we never see him struggle with any of it. It’s just “come, time for you to be shot out into space like Eggman’s SA2 plan” and “lol nope”. People go mad when being left alone for a long time and I get it’s part of Sonic’s character to be happy-go-lucky, but...we get nothing from him. We just hear “oh yeah he’s not doing good” yet he seems just fine. Most of the game follows a “tell, don’t show” route and I’m not too sure how I feel about it, but for Sonic’s case, I felt it was really lacking. This might have also been a design decision to keep the game rated E10+.

Another thing that’s a lot like Infinite was Silver. He is never explained at all. If you didn’t read the comics, you wouldn’t understand a thing. If you haven’t gotten into Sonic and knew about him in ‘06, you would think “huh I guess he’s always been around and I never noticed” because they don’t bring any attention to him. It’s not like “this is a time traveler that has mind powers” it’s more so they treat him as if they’ve known him for years and he’s nothing special.

I’m not too sure what happened with Omega. He was shut down, but...why? It was explained in the comics, but again, very little detail. Was it an illusion like everything else? Why did he only show up in the end like “yo I’m here”? More importantly, who fixed him? Also Shadow. I get the Shadow fighting was a fake and wow, everyone was REALLY wrong about the mind control (just had to rub that in for everyone who was like “MIND CONTROL IT HAS TO BE” when I said “no”). But, if Sonic was held captive for 6 months, what was Shadow doing? Was he just chilling in his Hawaiian shirt like “meh, someone else is doing my job”? It’s clear he’s fighting for the resistance, so why didn’t he join them earlier?

Tails for me is both a great aspect and a bad one. He thinks his best friend is dead and basically has a meltdown. I liked how we saw “he’s great, but still just a kid caught in the middle of a war” (I’m a sucker for that trope) and it was a very interesting aspect. A nice perspective and how when he met Classic, he was so desperate to have his friend back, he just latched on even though that wasn’t the Sonic he knew. I thought it was so cute when he got to reunite with Sonic, despite it being short-lived. However, I feel they totally tossed aside any development he had beforehand. Sonic had to save him in the city and when Chaos came, he cowered in fear screaming for Sonic even though he wasn’t there. I understand he’s in denial about his friend and it’s a habit, but didn’t he learn independence back in SA1? He fought for Sonic in SA2 when he believed he was dead, so why not here? I understand Sonic’s “death” hitting him hard, but Tails was never one to stray from helping in the fight.

The avatar I actually thought was handled decently rather than being a statue like Xenoblade X (seriously, how do you screw something up THAT badly?) which was one of my biggest fears. They weren’t given a backstory, which is understandable, but the way they made it was so your character felt important, but wasn’t the whole show (something I wish fan fiction would catch onto). It never felt unnatural and I wasn’t ever faced with the “ugh this would be so much better without it.” The story was built around the avatar and made to work with it and I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do. While the avatar returning wouldn’t be something I’d jump for joy over, I also can say I wouldn’t mind it.

One more minor complaint: despite this world being so clearly full of life, it felt empty. I understand the cities were destroyed, but aside from the ending with the army of resistance members, we never saw any refugees. Not a big issue, but something that stuck out to me.

The tone was really set and let me say....the soundtrack was amazing. I loved every second of it. I look forward to playing through the story again without talking over it so I can hear more of the dialog and music because that voice acting was the best it has ever been. The voice actors were amazing and I applaud every one of them.

I did enjoy the plot and I’m very welcoming to seeing the old characters again along with this darker story line. I feel it’s a step in the right direction, although it could have been done better here. It almost feels like they didn’t have the time to put in all the details they wanted in or couldn’t find a place, so they stuck them in side comics or tossed them aside all together.