So I gave SONIC FORCES A Second Chance in 2022... 

Matty: “Give this man (shadow) his own game.” Sonic fans: Let me weave you a tail.

i pre-ordered forces after beating mania and being filled with joy after that game and my first playthrough of forces i was kinda ignorant to some of it's problems but the feeling of this game not being as good as previous entries like generations or colors was still there and it was some time after beating the game when realized how hugelly dissapointing this game sadly is, it could have been sooo good but it just wasn't, it's also why i'm scared for frontiers because it looks so promising but sega has screwed up things before so i can't be sure

13:07 I feel obliged to tell you, as a Shadow fan, that Shadow is not an anti-hero - rather, he is a full fledged hero with good intentions. I really think the Sonic Universe comics absolutely nailed him.

The reason why the game ended the way it did is because it was made in a year. When the game was announced at San Diego comic con 2016, there was NO game, like they had NO PLAYABLE GAME. So they essentially had 15 FREAKING MONTHS and a small ass budget with a inexperienced and understaffed team to make a full sonic game from scratch. That is insane. I feel so bad for the developers who worked on this game and crunched so hard to get this game out.

Forces isn't bad it's just painfully mediocre

Sometimes I feel Eggman is the only villain where it makes sense that he keeps his nemesis (the hero) alive. At least the way he is being written these days. He’s a narcissistic egomaniac, obsessed with displaying his intelligence, he is less interested in “defeating” his foes as he is showing them how smart he is. Killing Sonic would do nothing for him - world conquest isn’t as important as winning his approval.

The Sonic saga of this channel was certainly surprising but I'm all for it baby!

If you’re interested in a ‘follow up’ to forces story you should read the idw comics, they’re really good

Sonic Forces surely was interesting with some ideas in the story but yeah the gameplay is really something, I also thought episode Shadow was really cool, I highly recommend playing this on PC because the mods really fix this game up with longer levels and alternate paths, they even brought back the physics and feel from Generations.

Hey Matty! You should try out the Sonic Advance games for the Gamboy Advance, they are often forgotten but they are so good, especially the first one.

Commenting before content starts: Having the prerequisite experience of past Sonic games is likely NOT going to make you like Forces. If anything it'll probably make you hate it even more because its more apparent how they screwed up everything that SHOULD have been a relatively simple game to not screw up. Still it may also give you a new appreciation for the very few things it did right.

I found your channel a couple of hours ago (MUA video, one of my fav games) and I’ve just been binge watching your vids😂love your content man

6:44 Actually SEGA doesn't want to go in the same direction of Dragon Ball and stuff, which is why they made Hyper Sonic (a transformation more powerful than Super Sonic that appeared in Sonic 3) not canon. Phantom Ruby works more like Genjutsu in Naruto, it puts your mind and sometimes ur body in another reality controlled by the person possessing the Ruby, if u die there, u die in rl. So it's not like it's more powerful, it's just, a different setting of power. If u use the Chaos Emeralds well, maybe u could even be immune to it 🙃

I feel like if this was just a Shadow Sequel, the game would’ve been way better received and the plot could’ve also added in more dark themes but not stupidly edgy as the first game was. Like imagine if Sonic really was tortured/dead, Knuckle’s resistance was down to its last peg, and only Shadow and Silver can stop him. This could’ve really upped the stakes of the story in a interesting way. Silver has lived in an apocalyptic future for 14 years and Shadow could get some horrifying imagery from the phantom ruby. This material could fill an entire series of it had to. To sum this up, this should’ve been like a dark Sonic and Knuckles game. (I really wish in the future we get a Shadow 2 and Silver game).

I'm just gonna say it: Sonic Forces is my guilty pleasure game. Mostly for the character creator.

As much this game deserves every criticism it got for bringing the franchise to a new low. I could never find myself to hate Forces. I rooted so much for this game from the day one reveal trailer in 2016. I have a huge attachment to this game because of the memories (the lead up to it + 2017 was the year I graduated high school), the themes that it TRIED to present and the soundtrack is literally my favourite in the series. Not everyone will enjoy the soundtrack, but it's more of an EDM / J-Pop & J-Core vibe but still retains some rock elements from prior games. This game was filled to the brim with missed potential as with every Sonic game before, but ended up being dull and mundane. Not awful, but in comparison to everything before... however this game was refreshing after Lost World went in a direction I didn’t like + the impact of Sonic from Boom, kind of a back to form / basics. It's really tragic because back then I so hoped Forces would be my #1 Sonic Game, it's still in the Top 10 but not as high, purely because this is my Favourite Sonic Game in terms of CONCEPTS & IDEAS. It feels like to me Sonic Forces was a more cinematic approach to Sonic's gameplay, but it should've been expanded further upon. Regardless, I appreciated how they portrayed Team Dark this time around and while corny, they tried to give a development arc for your custom hero. The new environments as well were stunning. Thankfully, as always modders have been doing some sort of justice to the game on PC for the past five years. I'd recommend having a look at the overclocked mod AND the re-imagined mod, particularly the new re-imagined levels of Guardian Rock, Sunset Heights and Arsenal Pyramid. The new layouts are what I had hoped those levels would be, finally utilizing that vast level background geometry. The next update is around the corner during October in the Sonic Hacking Contest, so keen to see what levels will get the re-imagining treatment this time.

I gave up on the auto scrolling classic sonic stage. Never touched again after that.

Thumbnail cracked me up!! Good shit Matty!

Matty: make a game about Shadow. Me: Should I tell him there a Shadow game? Nah, will let him figure it out on his own. :3

The fact Chaos was teased to be a boss only to be in one cutscene instead - still irks me.

I really hope they don't give frontiers the same treatment they gave forces

Matty… I’m so sorry u had to go thru this.. lol 😂

I love this new direction for the channel! This has very quickly become my favorite channel to tune into on the regular. You remind me to take a step back and remember the old days of gaming but also celebrate where the series are now. Thank you, and keep it up!

“Give this man his own game” Shadow the Hedgehog (2005): “Am I a joke to you”

Matty: SEGA make a game about him (ie shadow) Sonic Fans: *PTSD Flashbacks*

The only thing I will give Forces credit for is not having the final boss be Super Sonic(s?) vs New Big Bad Guy, it was kinda cool that it was just regular sonic and co. teaming up against Infinite's "unstoppable power" throughout the game instead of "We need to gather the Chaos Emeralds to win!"

i mean i get the issues with chaos emeralds but they havent been story involved since generations and it gets more odd the less they use them especially here where they say eggman is the most deadly here but that simply isnt true when your just 7 chaos emeralds away

Sonic forces is garbage, dude, i agree with a lot you said about the game. I remember getting this game after it came out in 2017, and playing it for a while, i think i played the game for 2 days, because i kept losing interest in it, because the controls felt weird, the avatar thing was alright, still didn't like it, because it wasn't the other main sonic characters we could have played, like tails, knuckles and the others, i actually avoided any avartar or classic sonic stages when i did replay it, so i would stop and do something else, i also tried playing some of the stages as shadow, even that didn't really do it for me, the linear stages didn't help either, so i just stopped playing the game all together. Fast forward to 2021, i also decided to give the game a second chance, but forgot how bad it was, i just played it for the sake of completing the story, which i didn't have the patience to do the first time. I still couldn't stand the controls of the game and the avatar, but i beat the story and was done with it, didn't want to play it again, it kinda felt like i was torturing myself just to see what the ending was like. The very next week, i sold my copy of sonic forces to gamestop, along with super mario odyssey (don't hate me, but i didn't like Cappy, Flood in super mario sunshine was more fun than cappy) and ever since then, i would not recommend sonic forces to my friends who have never played it and think it looks cool, because of ads or commercials they've seen, i would always let them know that the game sucks and it's a waste of money and they should play early games like sonic adventure and SA2 or sonic Heroes if they want to play an actually good sonic game, but all power to them if they buy Sonic forces, play it and enjoy it. That's my experience with Sonic forces.

Sonic Forces is the epitome of a game franchise that is done by different dev teams even through the lies of them being developed by the same company

I'm glad you enjoyed Shadow's modern character as that is something a lot of the fanbase isn't so hot on right now. Anyway while this game may not have been for you I hope you try out the other games you missed like Mania & even give Frontiers a chance this year

The fact you said Unleashed is a "Modern Classic" hurt like hell I'm fucking old now :'D

For those who don’t know, infinites theme was made by my favorite band, dangerkids

I got Forces on sale for like $10-15 just to see what it was like and I still feel robbed 😂😂😂

I think Sonic Forces is an aggressively average game with a terrible story...that needed to happen to move the series forward. Because of Forces we've got the incredible Sonic IDW comics, which fixed several of my issues with this game's narrative, my favorite Sonic Story which is the Metal Virus arc from said comics, and Ian Flynn writing the script for Sonic Frontiers (no he is not just writing the dialogue, he is writing the actual script of the game, and collaborating with Sonic team to write the story).

Yeah, Forces overuses it's main theme (Fist Bump) to the point of you getting sick of it. Not as much as Secret Rings overusing "7 Rings in Hand" (like seriously, that's probably the ONLY song you'll remember by the time you're done with that game besides a couple others) but it's annoying to see how even with that kinda stuff nobody at Sega ever learns from their past work. lol

I am so glad to see you have now become a Sonic fan by playing old games, it's kind off sad because it shows how the series has fallen :( Also, I think it's canonical that Eggman tortur3d Sonic. (Knuckles mentions it once)

Shadow has his own game and it's...all over the place...

The fighting portions in the cutscenes just look so funny lol. The animations make it hard to take seriously.

Honestly I loved this game so much, despite its flaws.

I’m going back to play all the 3D sonics I never played (which is almost all of them)… but I don’t think I will be taking the plunge with this title. I feel like I’d be better off spending time with the handheld releases.

Everytime I try to play this game I’m always reminded of why it lives in the case

Matty: Give this man (Shadow) his own game. Me: You wanna make a video on Shadow the Hedgehog then…

Forces: the Sonic game with ambition with character customization and nothing else.

The rumors going around that I heard last as to why this game is the way it is are these: Sonic Team had ONLY 3 level designers working on it. And these 3 were ENTIRELY new to Sonic Team and Sonic games. And apparently sometime mid way through development Sonic team's computers got wiped and they lost all their progress to that point and had to start from scratch. Both of those combined are presumably what did the game in. So if true, I actually give the game props for being as bug free as it was. The gameplay is on rails most of the time, the levels are insanely short and there are missed opportunities abound. But Sonic games have been known for glitchy-ness, and this game doesn't really have many of those.

I'm so glad I found someone who loves Shadow as much as I do!

I came here purely because of the thumbnail and found quality. Granted I may not share the same opinion on shadow, but, you spoke my entire opinion I actually got so heated because of how terrible this game is that I wrote on Sega's public twitter giving them shit for it

Dude, you need to review Shadow The Hedgehog! Great review BTW!😀

Please play Sonic Mania it is a really good solid experience.

There is only one game that I've given a 2nd chance and that's Odin Sphere because the PS2 port was so slow after doing super attacks, but that got all fixed up on the PS4 port and it's fantastic

Still to this day one of the most mediocre Sonic stories. I've heard that people have figured out that the team responsible for development were "rookies" and which explains the poor story and lack of final touches to make the game good. It's kind of a shame because the advertising for this game got me hyped only to realize it let me down with the poor writing.

I got forces for Christmas when I was a kid and I loved it so much but now I played a ton of other sonic games and don’t like it as much

I’ve never played it and tbh it looked quite impressive visually - does it run smoothly on Switch do you know?

Amazing video. I just like some of the missions and the avatar. 20:56 Fist bump is the name of the song. That's the only song and infinite theme i like in the game. It's soundtrack is forgettable beyond that.

The funniest thing about this game is that you'll dislike it more once you're actually a Sonic fan.

"give this man (shadow) a game" Me sitting at home: "oh you poor soul, you dont know."

what a timely video -- i have just started watching your previous sonic videos this week! does anybody have a 3D sonic rec for someone who had a great experience with Adventures 1 and 2 on Dreamcast?

A great game to play when drunk you feel like you’re really good no matter what

I remember there being a patch that capped out how much rings you could hold which made getting higher scores so incredibly hard for a while

Lol 16 y/o me who thought this game was gonna be the next best Sonic game because of the Intro, only to be let down in such a way that caused me to leave the fandom for so long. Disappointment started after lost world, and I was done when Forces came. But IDW comics and Sonic Movies brought me back 😭👌

That thumbnail tho 😂😂😂

I was excited for Sonic Forces. It was around the time Sonic Mania came out and I was getting Sonic Generation vibes, so I already knew this was going to be a great game. And, it sucked... The character creator was god awful. The levels were unpolished. The game was too short. The visuals looked like they belonged on the PS3. The boss fights were unfair. It had freaking quicktime events, pretty much one of the worst things you can put into a game. It took a step backward in almost every way possible. Considering at the time Sonic seemed to finally be recovering from the dark ages and the series was looking hopeful again, this was very disappointing.

So…. is Matty going to tackle Lost World?

Bro had me at they fallout 3 part😂😂😂

When forces what part of now I kinda just played that until I beat the main story I haven’t 100% it yet but I hope it comes back or I’ll just buy it on sale

I think this game can be accurately explained with one Level. Null Space For anybody who doesn't feel like looking the level up, Sonic and the avatar are trapped in what is basically a pocket dimension created by the phantom ruby and need to get out before it's too late. The level starts off and you're running in an endless abyss with ambient sounds and a somber track that resembles Fist Bump until you double boost and blast your way into a cityscape level with a different portion of Fist Bump playing. Absolutely bonkers concept that oozes rule of cool, but here's the problem. The level isn't even 2 minutes long and you're in that pocket dimension for like 4 seconds before you double boost out of there. The concept was sick, but there was no attempt at execution on the space side of things. It's also one of, if not the only, well designed level with tons of different routes you can take advantage of with the avatar's abilities and the air boost. Imagine how much cooler that part could have been if you spent another minute or two in null space instead of escaping in the amount of time it takes you to recover from a sneeze. Something tells me they either had problems with Hedgehog Engine 2 or had too much faith in the THREE level designers to take advantage of the tools that apparently made creating new levels faster than ever before.

The only thing Forces did right : It made me respect Sonic 06 more

And just like that all the good memories this man had from sonic games thus far have become null and void

Your hair is amazing in this video.

I agree that Shadow has carried a big part of the franchise, he needs a rise and more comic apparitions

Forces was the first and only 3D Sonic game to come out during my high school years(I was in 9th grade then lol) and I was very excited for it. I didn’t pay too much attention to Mania back then because I was just so, so, SO excited to get this game. I really expected a game to be of the level of ambition, scale, scope and love of Unleashed, and easily the darkest and fritters Sonic game since Sonic 06. But…… when we finally got to see the game, all my expectations and hopes immediately went crashing right to the fucking ground. My excitement for this game kept dwindling even mere weeks before the game released. It was fucking awful. The levels were very short, looked uninspired, inconsistent themes, had barely any 3D, way too much automation, and just the minute they look to be getting good, they just end. The story is atrocious and the pinnacle of almost everything that is wrong with the 2010s games’s writing: poor dialogue, unfunny jokes, cringe voice direction and Eggman is just a literal fucking joke. But what they did to Tails was unforgivable. They had my man scared shitless of Chaos 0 when he defeated Chaos 4 ALL BY HIMSELF back in 1998. They only did that so they could have a reason to shove Classic Sonic into a game *HE HAS NO REASON TO BE IN*. One last thing, the soundtrack isn’t terrible, but I don’t really like it. Forces is supposed to be the type of game with dark and melancholy type of music, similar to 06 in a way, and the guitars could’ve been used to their full potential here. But no, they decide to use these damn synthesizers for 90% of the soundtrack, and it gets repetitive after a while. I will always dislike this game not only because Sonic Team was too afraid to follow up on it’s concept, but they made easily the worst boost game, the worst mainline game in this whole decade, and a game that feels like it should’ve been a lot more, but because they made it in only a year, it feels less like a new product made with love but a product made because of obligation. Still a 4/10 game imo

When I played sonic forces for the first (and only) time, I didn’t complete it because I was so bored out of my mind from it

"Make a game about him" So.. does he not know?

15:47 ah yes the famous Tokyo burn out

Not to mention, the completely lied in the trailer. Like in the trailer and advertisement, they promised Chaos, Zavok, Shadow and Metal Sonic to have a lot of involvement. But in the end Metal Sonic on appears once as a boss, Zavok only made a prominent appearance on one cutscene and the only one who had unique boss, Shadow and Chaos literally didn't do anything and barely appears in the cutscenes

Why did you skip Generations, lost world, & Mania?

Oh man, you should REALLY check out the Shadow the Hedgehog game from 2005. I really want to know what your opinion on it will be 😂

2:14 - Ignorance truly is bliss.....

As a sonic fan i can find some enjoyment in this game but you're right

Sonic Boom is entirely separate from all other sonic media, aside from the tv show having some meta sonic jokes none of it matters in relation to anything else in the series.

The character creation is the only aspect of this game that was worth anything, hope they don't toss the baby out with the bath water.

"Make a game about [Shadow]." ... Be careful what you wish for.

sonic forces is only good for one thing, to start reading the idw comics of sonic. and you don't even need to play to read, but just to have the feeling of perfectly understanding the references.

I feel like Shadow is hogging the spotlight! Give Knuckles and Amy a spotlight for Chaos sake

There is a shadow game which tells the story how shadow regain his memories post the events of sonic heroes

I bought this game on my switch but I wish they would’ve put more into it. I was NOT happy that I HAD to DOWNLOAD super sonic. So The thing is there is some fun to be had but the thing is is where are those chaos emeralds? I don’t mind the avatar but why can’t you name him or her? I beat this game many times and I think it’s a good game to take on a road trip and I’m probably going to be having some surgeries. I would’ve been much happier if you didn’t have to go to the wisp select screen to select which wisp you wish to use. I would’ve been happier to have the ability to use ANY wisp you collect just like you would in sonic colors. I want to get the original LEGO marvel superheroes 1 for switch. I would love to have more to work on while I’m in the hospital.

I played through this game for the first time just a couple weeks ago and it was...fine? Like it didn't blow me away at all but I didn't hate it lol.

Oh no Seriously tho, how this game includes most characters and manages to massacre every single one of them is still an amazing feat. The level design is painfully bland and unimaginative. The physics and control are horrible especially classic sonic’s psychics which is pretty weird since they perfected those things a couple of years ago with gens. The game is not trash, it’s just so mid because of how safe sonic team is nowadays

2:14 Be careful what you wish for.

Where was the super sonic battle with Infinite, those fights were some of my favorites. I hope Frontiers brings that back.

But... Shadow has his own game... that I preordered to get a hat that wasn't what was described... and I loved the game.

I love how everyone here defending the game are people who where tricked by the trailers pre release 😂

I’m pissed cuz my dog chewed up the case for this game. Not the cartridge just the case. Thinking of replacing the case itself since I have some leftover cases and I’ll just print a case cover myself.

God the IDW comics flesh this out soooo much better it’s sooo good I really wish they would just take tips from comic makers the comics follow the story all after and builds upon it and it’s so great and the new games and comics are both cannon pretty much idk why they can’t do it sega has a great template to follow I just wish they did it. This story has been basically told before in the old sonic comics and sonic freedom fighters show just now basically now modern and remade sega has done this before and did it well

I was hoping for generations but....I'll... take it

The unfortunate part about this Matty is that everyone made that character first. Just variants of the eyes.

2:15 Oh Boy he doesn’t know about Shadow The Hedgehog (2005)

I got the game a couple days ago and it plays so much worse than I expected

2:14 oh, they did, they did…

amzing

He didn't mention Classic Sonic's gameplay once, because it was that irrelevant lmao