History VideoGame / SonicForces

JustForFun/TheOneWith CharacterCustomization.

* ContinuitySnarl: Classic Sonic is portrayed as an alternate universe counterpart to Modern Sonic, rather than being his time-displaced younger self like ''Generations'' portrayed him as. According to WordOfSaintPaul, this is because SEGA of Japan mandated that Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic be separated characters altogether rather than from different times.

* {{Retcon}}: In VideoGame/SonicGenerations, Classic Sonic was simply Sonic's past self. In this game, this was changed to him being from an alternate universe.

TheOneWith CharacterCustomization.

** Let's see, Dr. Eggman sending a version of Sonic to a dystopian city where it has been already destroyed prior to its disastrous event… gee, [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 wonder where they got that idea from]]?

* ContinuitySnarl: Classic Sonic is portrayed as an alternate universe counterpart to Modern Sonic, rather than being his time-displaced younger self like ''Generations'' portrayed him as. According to WordOfsaintpaul, this is because SEGA of Japan mandated that Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic be separated characters altogether rather than from different times.

* DidntThinkThisdThrough: Infinite is an AxCrazy {{Sadist}} and megalomaniac. This makes him ''dangerous'', but [[SanityHasAdvantages it also seriously inhibits his rational thinking.]] He makes serious tactical errors both due to being preoccupied sating his sadism and his ego blinding him to actual threats to him, even when Eggman is able to see them. [[spoiler:As a result, he effectively screws over his and Eggman's big plan and sets up his own defeat, at which point Eggman [[YouHaveFailedMe disposes of him on the spot.]]]]

* ContinuitySnarl: Classic Sonic is portrayed as an alternate universe counterpart to Modern Sonic, rather than being his time-displaced younger self like ''Generations'' portrayed him as. According to WordOfDante, this is because SEGA of Japan mandated that Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic be separated characters altogether rather than from different times.

* RealityEnsues:
** Eggman's army might be fodder for Sonic and company, but it's still a highly advanced army led by a group of supervillains [[spoiler:(or rather one with the ability to spawn them)]]. With their failure to stop him, the world falls in ''months''.
** Infinite is an AxCrazy {{Sadist}} and megalomaniac. This makes him ''dangerous'', but [[SanityHasAdvantages it also seriously inhibits his rational thinking.]] He makes serious tactical errors both due to being preoccupied sating his sadism and his ego blinding him to actual threats to him, even when Eggman is able to see them. [[spoiler:As a result, he effectively screws over his and Eggman's big plan and sets up his own defeat, at which point Eggman [[YouHaveFailedMe disposes of him on the spot.]]]]

* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:Both Classic Sonic and the Avatar leave the group at the end — Classic Sonic back to the ''Mania'' universe and the Avatar to help other people.]]

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: [[spoiler:Before the Resistance find out that Shadow and the other villains working for Eggman are just physical illusions, each one is treated as a major threat on par with the original. But once hundreds of copies of Shadow, Zavok, Chaos, and Metal Sonic show up in the final battle, the heroes start beating them down by the dozens. The real Shadow in particular bashes through numerous copies of himself, even though they're stated to be just as powerful as the original.]]
** [[spoiler:Possibly justified in Shadow's case, since [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog this isn't the first time he's fought copies of himself.]]]]
* CombinationAttack: The Double Boost, usable in Tag Team stages, has Sonic and the Avatar team up to blaze a trail through the stage.

* ContinuitySnarl: Classic Sonic is portrayed as an alternate universe counterpart to Modern Sonic, rather than being his time-displaced younger self like ''Generations'' portrayed him as.
** According to WordOfDante, this is because SEGA of Japan mandated that Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic be separated characters altogether rather than from different times.

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: There are no lives in the game; dying simply brings you back to the last checkpoint. However, dying is a detriment to your rank, and the game compensates for your infinite retries by, with the exception of Hedgehog-type Avatars or Normal difficulty turned on, making you unable to collect the rings you drop when hit, which is all of them.

*** In the Tag Team Stages, '''all''' Avatars can double jump, possibly due to Sonic's influence.

*** Similarly, Tails was said to have "lost it" when Sonic was [[spoiler:presumably killed]], but when the game cuts to him a little later, he seems perfectly fine, unless him calling out for [[spoiler:a presumably dead Sonic]] was supposed to be a sign of his insanity, but even still after Classic Sonic enters the scene, he seems perfectly fine for the rest of the game. In the Japanese version, there was no mention of Tails going insane, he just went missing.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: A heroic example. The Avatar[=/=]Custom Hero character is [[https://www.gamecrate.com/interview-takashi-iizuka-and-shun-nakamura-state-sonic-2017/16493 stated to be this]] below.

* HeroicMime: The Avatar never utters a word, only grunts and groans.

* NitroBoost: As with the current string of mainline ''Sonic'' games, boosting returns for Modern Sonic. However, ''Forces'' uses the ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' iteration of the Boost mechanic in which Sonic collects White Wisps to fill the Boost Gauge. Classic Sonic is also seen using the Boost in the teaser.

* NotQuiteFlight: The Burst Wispon's Color Power enables the Avatar to create explosions underneath their feet to propel them through the air by using a Red Wisp.

* TonightSomeoneDies: An interview has the developers saying such. All we know is that this "someone" is not going to be Tails. [[spoiler: The two closest instances we see are Classic Sonic, who disappears upon returning to the dimension he came from, and Infinite, who meets his UncertainDoom.]]

* TheWorfEffect: [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn6uqp_mr98 Infinite's trailer]] contains a scene of him wiping the floor with Sonic.

* DummiedOut: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw894L807XA There is an unused piece of dialogue]] in [[spoiler:Null Space]] that is inaccessible by normal means[[note]]The dialogue trigger is still in the stage, but since your starting position is beyond the trigger, it doesn't play[[/note]]. There is also an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Wuh-NM9II unused special Boost animation for Shadow]] that looks a lot like Chaos Control.

* ThemeTuneCameo:
** [[spoiler:Upon the arrival of Classic Sonic, bits of the ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' theme play in the background.]]
** [[spoiler:When the real Shadow arrives to save Sonic from his Phantom Ruby-generated copy, the opening bars of "All Hail Shadow" from ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' plays.]]

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: [[spoiler:For Infinite, Shadow's beatdown of him and BreakingSpeech shaped much of his life and turned him into what he is now. For Shadow, it was just another mission and another raid on an Eggman facility.]]

Conversely, this is the final mainline game to feature Creator/RogerCraigSmith as the voice of Sonic. Three years after the game release, [[https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1354805293369024520?s=20 he annouced his retirement from the character on January, 28 2021]].

* TheLeader: With Sonic presumed deceased and Tails traumatized over losing his best friend, Knuckles steps up as the commander of the Resistance. His headstrong personality and knack for daring plans kept the Resistance from falling apart before Sonic's return.

* AwardBaitSong: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJyntLWQQM The Light of Hope]]."

* CharacterShilling: ''Forces'' presents Sonic as an idol, he's the only hero the villains takes seriously and a symbol of hope for his [[NoNameGiven unnamed world]]. Appearantly, during the six months fighting against Eggman's army and Infinite, nobody could do anything against the empire [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything until Classic Sonic and the Rookie arrived and Sonic returned]]. Keep in mind that the Resistance has characters who were a threat to Eggman in the past (Shadow, who [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse disappeared for six months for no in-story reason]]; Silver, who suffers TheWorfEffect and can't fight Infinite), yet supposedly only Sonic could anything against Infinite.

Conversely, this is the final mainline game to feature Creator/RogerCraigSmith as the voice of Sonic. Three years after the game release, [[https://twitter.com/RogerCraigSmith/status/1354805293369024520?s=20 he annouced his retirement from the character on January, 28 2021]].

** During the cutscene leading to Eggman's boss fight, Eggman yells "I don't have time for this!"... before entering the boss fight. In the original Japanese, he says "How dare you? You'll pay!" and then the fight starts. After the fight is over, Tails remarks "reah, we did it!", even though he does nothing in the fight. In the original, he says "you did it, Sonic!"

* {{Retcon}}: This is the game that retconned Classic Sonic as being from another dimension rather than simply from a past timeline. Exactly why this was changed is anyone's guess.

* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: Averted. Early in the game, Sonic is captured and [[CutAndPasteTranslation (at least in the English version)]] tortured by Eggman for 6 months. Next time we see him, he's still every bit the hero he was before, and none the worse for wear.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: The dialogue differences between the Japanese text and English localization indicate the English being indecisive between DarkerAndEdgier or LighterAndSofter. Tails simply went missing and Sonic's fate was left unconfirmed in Japanese, whereas the English version has everyone assume Sonic was KilledOffForReal and Tails "[[HeroicBSOD lost it]]"; on the other hand, Infinite's [[AGodAmI god complex]] and lines were toned down in English, Sonic had a lot more casual jokes inserted into his dialogue, and two minor expletives (Sonic calling Infinite a masked prick and Infinite mentioning Hell when [[spoiler:attempting to drop a sun on the Resistance]]) were completely omitted. Even minor bits of extra exposition, like for [[spoiler:Null Space]] or Infinite briefly considering the Avatar to be [[spoiler:holding a Phantom Ruby prototype]], and several cases of {{Foreshadowing}}, were omitted in the English text. On the other hand, the English version has Eggman ''[[ColdBloodedTorture torturing Sonic for months]]'' whereas the Japanese mentions no such thing.

While it was initially said to not be a sequel to ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', it does take one concept from the earlier anniversary title -- the return of Classic Sonic, joining his modern counterpart to counter a threat larger than anything they've faced before.

* AdvertisedExtra: The four returning villains, Metal Sonic, Chaos, Shadow, and Zavok, despite being shown prominently in the trailers, don't have much of an impact on the plot, which is more focused on Eggman and Infinite. Only Zavok and Metal get proper boss fights but aren't acknowledged much outside of them. [[spoiler:This is because all of them aren't the real ones; they're illusory constructs of Infinite's Phantom Ruby. The ''real'' Shadow has a somewhat important role in the plot, but Chaos gets next to nothing.]]

** There were different plans for Infinite. Some of the dialogue he says in the game, and dialogue about him treat him as a robot created by Eggman rather than some mercenary that allied himself with the doctor. The end of his first boss fight has him saying that Sonic abilities exceed his previous data, and one level has him saying that's where "Infinite was created". These weren't changed for the final game.

* CharacterShilling: ''Forces'' presents Sonic as an idol, he's the only hero the villains takes seriously and a symbol of hope for his [[NoNameGiven unnamed world]]. Appearantly, during the six months fighting against Eggman's army and Infinite, nobody could do anything against the empire [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything until Classic Sonic and the Rookie arrived and Sonic returned]]. Keep in mind the Resistance has characters who were a threat to Eggman in the past (Shadow, who [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse dissapeared for six months for no in-story reason]]; Silver, who suffers TheWorfEffect and can't fight Infinite), yet supposedly only Sonic could anything against Infinite.

** During the cutscene leading to Eggman's boss fight, Eggman yells "I don't have time for this!"... before entering the boss fight. In the original Japanese, he says "How dare you? You'll pay!"and then the fight starts. After the fight is over, Tails remarks "reah, we did it! even though he does nothing in the fight. In the original, he says "you did it, Sonic!"

** [[spoiler:Infinite is last seen being teleported away. Tails tracks his Phantom Ruby underground, leading directly to Eggman's final mecha powered by it, with Infinite nowhere to be seen. Exactly what Eggman did to him isn't clear.]]
** [[spoiler:Eggman himself is never seen after the defeat of his Death Egg Robot, which serves as the final boss. While it's unlikely that they would actually kill off such a long-running antagonist with no fanfare, all we're saying is that we last see Eggman inside of a machine that [[MatryoshkaObject another machine later pops out of]], and that second machine later explodes. It's hard to tell if Eggman is piloting the robot inside the bigger robot, though.]]