Coming in as a Sonic Fan since the days of the 90's (the hedgehog, IRL, is nearly 10 months my junior) I figured I would at least give Sonic Forces (or as my friends and I have come to call it, Sanic Fursuits) a try.
the 4 hours that people give the game is a pretty good estimate, I was done faster, but I had been playing Sonic games since I was 2 years old, so I knew what to expect... and I was actually surprised as to how the Create a Character mechanic was handled (though, I do wish there was more diversity... wouldn't have minded making a Fox character, even if it only had a single tail compared to Tails, so as to make him more unique), but overall, very well handled, and there are tons of collectables to keep you working towards perfection, from the accessories, to the Red Star Rings, S Ranks, Numbered Rings, and Silver Moon Rings, each carefully planted throughout the stages, despite how short they are.
Which brings me to the big meat and potatoes problem that every review I've seen has... the stages are short... enormously short compared to the sprawling stages of games like Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors (Colours, for you people living across the pond)... however, each stage does feel like it fits a theme, and it wasn't until consulting one of my friends that it hit me...
these stages are to be taken as one of two ways... either a self contained episode of your favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon, or as parts of your favorite comic series (heck, the game's development title, after Project Sonic 2017, was Sonic Resistance... Subtle nod to the Archie Comic series?)
Sure, you could rapid fire through the stages in one go, beat them within 4 hours, and see the, albeit lackluster, ending, however, as you do so, keep in mind that each stage should be taken as a self contained instance, cohesive to a larger narrative; but wholly in, and of, itself: one singular Episode.
Looking back at the SatAM series for Sonic, it almost followed this formula, wherein Sonic and the Freedom Fighters would have a singular mission to help deal a blow to Robotnik (as a kid of the 90's, you will not take that from me, even if he WAS originally known as Eggman in Japan first) in a larger overarching Narrative that was simply: "Retake the world from this hammy evil dictator". Sonic Forces? each stage is a singular mission to deal a blow to Robotnik in a larger overarching narrative (a jumbled narrative, but overarching nonetheless) with the goal of that narrative being, yet again: "Save/Retake the world from the hammy evil dictator".
you could list all the gameplay disasters, such as the almost immediate acceleration of most of the characters causing you to miss jumps, to Classic Sonic's physics being based on Sonic 1's speed Cap system, but when it came to the narrative, thinking about it this way has at least made the game enjoyable enough for me to keep playing it.
While I do hope that a lot of things get fixed should this happen, I would NOT mind seeing a sequel to Sonic Forces specifically about the Avatar Character and what they are doing after this is done, perhaps as to give Sonic the break he deserves.
