Sonic Forces: Subconscious Self-Sabotage Brought On By The Stifling Of Creative Freedom
I have not played Sonic Forces, but I desire to one day. The general consensus, however, is that it is not a great game, which is a disappointment considering the hype surrounding the game. It was first revealed at the 25th Sonic Anniversary event in San Diego Comic Con on July 22nd, 2016 to much fanfare. People went crazy for the game. I thought it was more exciting than the other game they revealed: Sonic Mania. Fast-forward a year later, and the fortunes were reversed - Sonic Mania was very well-received and Sonic Forces was not.
I feel like Sonic Team, the developers of Sonic Forces, are subconsciously fed-up with developing Sonic-games. Creative people don't want to make the same game over and over again, but since Sonic-games sell so well, the higher-ups feel like there's no choice but to keep churning them out.
There was not a single exclusive Sonic-game on Sega Saturn. Instead, Sonic Team created other games like Nights and Burning Rangers. Many people felt like if they had created one exclusive Sonic-game on the system, it would have helped sales tremendously. It wouldn't even have had to be a 3D game. Imagine a new 2D Sonic running on Sega Saturn, considering how good the Saturn was at 2D graphics. Yummy.
The Sega Saturn had very weird and creative games that did not really upon the IPs built up from Sega's earlier systems like the Master System and Genesis. There were brand-new IPs like Astal, and blossoming IPs like Virtua Fighter. Although developers were probably pulling their hair out because of the architecture of the Saturn, I'm sure they were happy with the creative freedom they were given.
It was a similar situation with Dreamcast. Weird and creative games dotted its library. Space Channel 5 was a rhythm-game starring a woman in a spacesuit shooting aliens. Seaman was an innovative and original game about raising a virtual pet with a microphone.
After Sega bowed out of the hardware-business, I feel like they've conscientiously been playing it very safe and churning out sequels rather than being creative. I'm sure it has kept them profitable and afloat, but it also has brought us to the situation we are at today: Sonic Forces.
The design-decisions seen in Sonic Forces seem like subconscious self-sabotage brought on by the stifling of creative freedom. That's why we see elements that have no place in a Sonic-game, like created characters and ranged weapons - the developers subconsciously want to make a new game on a different or brand-new IP and so they justifying including unSoniclike elements in a Sonic-game.
I have thought that maybe Sonic Team does not know what encapsulates the essence of Sonic, but I think they do. They just do not want to make Sonic Generations or the non-Werehog portions of Sonic Unleashed over and over again. Thus, we have Avatars and ranged weapons, and probably other things I'm not aware of because I haven't played the game. Perhaps it's not entirely their fault. Maybe upper management forced them to have a character-creator in the game because they said that kids loved creating their own characters.
Developers and publishers - don't be afraid to lower your budgets and expand your creativity. People are not as dumb as you think. We will embrace new things. Give us more credit.
I feel like Sonic Team, the developers of Sonic Forces, are subconsciously fed-up with developing Sonic-games. Creative people don't want to make the same game over and over again, but since Sonic-games sell so well, the higher-ups feel like there's no choice but to keep churning them out.
There was not a single exclusive Sonic-game on Sega Saturn. Instead, Sonic Team created other games like Nights and Burning Rangers. Many people felt like if they had created one exclusive Sonic-game on the system, it would have helped sales tremendously. It wouldn't even have had to be a 3D game. Imagine a new 2D Sonic running on Sega Saturn, considering how good the Saturn was at 2D graphics. Yummy.
The Sega Saturn had very weird and creative games that did not really upon the IPs built up from Sega's earlier systems like the Master System and Genesis. There were brand-new IPs like Astal, and blossoming IPs like Virtua Fighter. Although developers were probably pulling their hair out because of the architecture of the Saturn, I'm sure they were happy with the creative freedom they were given.
It was a similar situation with Dreamcast. Weird and creative games dotted its library. Space Channel 5 was a rhythm-game starring a woman in a spacesuit shooting aliens. Seaman was an innovative and original game about raising a virtual pet with a microphone.
After Sega bowed out of the hardware-business, I feel like they've conscientiously been playing it very safe and churning out sequels rather than being creative. I'm sure it has kept them profitable and afloat, but it also has brought us to the situation we are at today: Sonic Forces.
The design-decisions seen in Sonic Forces seem like subconscious self-sabotage brought on by the stifling of creative freedom. That's why we see elements that have no place in a Sonic-game, like created characters and ranged weapons - the developers subconsciously want to make a new game on a different or brand-new IP and so they justifying including unSoniclike elements in a Sonic-game.
I have thought that maybe Sonic Team does not know what encapsulates the essence of Sonic, but I think they do. They just do not want to make Sonic Generations or the non-Werehog portions of Sonic Unleashed over and over again. Thus, we have Avatars and ranged weapons, and probably other things I'm not aware of because I haven't played the game. Perhaps it's not entirely their fault. Maybe upper management forced them to have a character-creator in the game because they said that kids loved creating their own characters.
Developers and publishers - don't be afraid to lower your budgets and expand your creativity. People are not as dumb as you think. We will embrace new things. Give us more credit.
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