History YMMV / SonicForces

** One Youtuber's Comment Summing Up Infinite's characteristics despite its supposedly Tragic Backstory.
->'''Dr.Loboto:''' "Infinite is kind of an amazing villain by complete accident. [[Villainball He seems intimidating at first, talking big shit and doing crazy stuff]], but at the end of the day [[TheLoad he's just a massive pushover and most of his powers are mere illusions]]. [[PsychopathicManchild He acts dark and brooding like he has a tragic backstory]], [[SoreLoser but it's actually just him throwing a temper tantrum over losing a single fight]]. In their efforts to make a badass villain, the writers of Sonic Forces accidentally made [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype a genius deconstruction of the kind people who try to act badass in real life]]."

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''Forces'' story is about [[TheBadGuyWins Eggman winning]], and conquering the world with his powerful lieutenant Infinite, who by all accounts is loyal to the doctor. Not only that, Infinite as a FinalBoss fight is [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter supposedly wasted]] in favor of having Eggman as the final boss. This already happened wayy back in ''Videogame/SonicCD'', where Metal Sonic conquers Little Planet for Eggman, and is the second last boss battle. ''CD'' however came during a time Sonic games barely had a formula, while ''Forces'' suffered from the previous [[Videogame/SonicColors two]] [[Videogame/SonicLostWorld main]] games having Eggman as the surprise final boss, in fact, [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks the same boss]].

--> "Cause when your time is up and everything is falling down."\\

-->Have not lost a thing
-->Whatever may come
-->[[TitleDrop The light of hope]] is always shiring there in your heart
-->You're not lost a thing
-->Whatever you do
-->Just know that your tomorrow will be waiting for you

* FanficFuel: Since Sonic was captured and tortured by Eggman [[TimeSkip for 6 months]], all while Infinite is out there fighting against the resistance, that leaves plenty of material for fans to write how Sonic is affected by all of this, with most adding in some {{Angst}} in order to avert his portrayal in the actual story, where [[AngstWhatAngst he's shown to have been no worse for wear despite his long captivity]] (though this detail doesn't exist in the Japanese script in the first place, which makes more sense).

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** When Super Sonic was first announced, he was intended to be released as a $1.99 piece of DownloadableContent, which was met with backlash, since the game was charging for content that was part of the base game in previous ''Sonic'' entries. Following this announcement, SEGA ultimately scrapped the price tag, and Super Sonic was released for free instead.
** In response to complaints about several entries like ''Colors'', ''Generations'', and ''Lost World'' focusing entirely on Sonic to the point of [[DemotedToExtra demoting his friends to NPCs]], ''Forces'' both features a customizable avatar character who goes through their own story arc separate from Sonic himself and brings back Shadow as a playable DLC character.

** While Infinite was already a small-scale target for the trope due to his "edgy" design, the jokes increased when the Episode Shadow DLC revealed that his motivation for being evil [[spoiler:is essentially because he was beaten up by Shadow after trying to avenge his squad's failure, and then threw a childish temper tantrum after being called weak]], making the character come off as much more [[{{Narm}} unintentionally comical]] than intended. It doesn't help that Infinite [[BondVillainStupidity sabotaged]] Eggman's plans by refusing to simply kill Sonic (a judgment call that even Eggman tells him was a bad idea), giving fans even more ammo to mock him. And then ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' made him a less powerful [[AssistCharacter Spirit]] than WarmUpBoss extraordinaire [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Whispy Woods]], making him ''[[UpToEleven even more]]'' of a Memetic Loser than he is in his own series.

** Infinite previously had comrades in the Jackal Squad, and seems angry at their [[NeverSayDie demise]] by the hands of Shadow in Episode Shadow. That being said, while he does comment in his final battle against Sonic that "friends are nothing but a fleeting illusion, and you can't trust anyone but yourself", his true relationship with the squad is unknown. While it's easy to imagine him being a FatherToHisMen, it's also possible he was angry at Shadow for messing with his squad [[TheSociopath as if they were ''his'' tools]], as Infinite [[LackOfEmpathy never shows empathy]] or interest for anyone unless they can provide a challenge to him (thus, why he's so interested in fighting Sonic after defeating Omega). Was their relationship built on trust, or following the strongest? Did the Phantom Ruby change Infinite? We have no answers.

* TheScrappy: Despite his [[EvilIsCool admittedly cool design,]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic metal theme song]], and Creator/LiamOBrien's intimidating vocal performance, many fans seem to see the character of Infinite as this, seeing him as something of a GenericDoomsdayVillain and a tryhard edgy OC, not unlike [[SturgeonsLaw those which most younger Sonic fans create themselves]]. It doesn't help that these very same elements are why Shadow is such a [[BaseBreakingCharacter big base breaker.]] This only got worse when his backstory was revealed in Episode Shadow and the prequel comics, where it was revealed [[spoiler: he was just a mercenary squad captain and aligned himself with Eggman, but went insane after he lost a fight to Shadow to become who he is.]] Instead of inspiring fright or sympathy from fans, many found the shift [[{{Wangst}} abrupt]] and [[{{Narm}} laughably pathetic.]] And to top it all off, some find him a PoorMansSubstitute for Mephiles, who was deemed one of the very few good things about the universally reviled ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. Although it isn't ruled out that he may appear in other games, only time will tell if he manages to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap attain more depth.]]

* TheScrappy: Despite his [[EvilIsCool admittedly cool design,]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic metal theme song]], and Creator/LiamOBrien's intimidating vocal performance, many fans seem to see the character of Infinite as this, seeing him as something of a GenericDoomsdayVillain and a tryhard edgy OC, not unlike [[SturgeonsLaw those which most younger Sonic fans create themselves]]. It doesn't help that these very same elements are why Shadow is such a [[BaseBreakingCharacter big base breaker.]] This only got worse when his backstory was revealed in Episode Shadow and the prequel comics, where it was revealed [[spoiler: he was just a mercenary squad captain and aligned himself with Eggman, but went insane after he lost a fight to Shadow to become who he is.]] Instead of inspiring fright or sympathy from fans, many found the shift [[{{Wangst}} abrupt]] and [[{{Narm}} laughably pathetic.]] Although it isn't ruled out that he may appear in other games, only time will tell if he manages to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap attain more depth.]]

* TheScrappy: Despite his [[EvilIsCool admittedly cool design,]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic his metal theme song]], and Creator/LiamOBrien's intimidating vocal performance, many fans seem to see the character of Infinite as this, seeing him as something of a GenericDoomsdayVillain and a tryhard edgy OC, not unlike [[SturgeonsLaw those which most younger Sonic fans create themselves]]. It doesn't help that these very same elements are why Shadow is such a [[BaseBreakingCharacter big base breaker.]] This only got worse when his backstory was revealed in Episode Shadow and the prequel comics, where it was revealed [[spoiler: he was just a mercenary squad captain and aligned himself with Eggman, but went insane after he lost a fight to Shadow to become who he is.]] Instead of inspiring fright or sympathy from fans, many found the shift [[{{Wangst}} abrupt]] and [[{{Narm}} laughably pathetic.]] Although it isn't ruled out that he may appear in other games, only time will tell if he manages to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap attain more depth.]]

* TheScrappy: Despite his [[EvilIsCool admittedly cool design,]] [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic his metal theme song]], and Creator/LiamOBrien's intimidating vocal performance, many fans seem to see the character of Infinite as this, seeing him as something of a GenericDoomsdayVillain and a tryhard edgy OC, not unlike [[SturgeonsLaw those which most younger Sonic fans create themselves]]. It doesn't help that these very same elements are why Shadow is such a [[BaseBreakingCharacter big base breaker.]] This only got worse when his backstory was revealed in Episode Shadow and the prequel comics, where it was revealed [[spoiler: he was just a mercenary squad captain and aligned himself with Eggman, but went insane after he lost a fight to Shadow to become who he is.]] Instead of inspiring fright or sympathy from fans, many found the shift [[{{Wangst}} abrupt]] and [[{{Narm}} laughably pathetic.]] Although it isn't ruled out that he may appear in other games, only time will tell if he manages to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap attain more depth.]]

** Infinite was already stirring fans up between two camps of acceptance for trying something new, and bile hatred for what looked like a severely edgy-looking foe. One side loves his DarkIsEvil design, [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic his metal theme song]], Creator/LiamOBrien's intimidating vocal performance, and just his overall "holier than thou" attitude throughout the entire game. The opposition, however, find those very same elements excessively trite and see him as a tryhard edgy OC, not unlike [[SturgeonsLaw those which most younger Sonic fans create themselves]], and those very same elements were why Shadow is disliked. This only got worse when his backstory was revealed in Episode Shadow and the prequel comics. [[spoiler:He was just a mercenary squad captain and aligned himself with Eggman, but went insane after he lost a fight to Shadow to become who he is.]] People are split on either finding him [[JerkassWoobie sympathetic despite his actions]] or finding the shift [[{{Wangst}} abrupt and laughably pathetic]], and even that last part is debatable as to whether it makes him [[{{Narm}} a complete joke]] or [[NightmareFuel a more unsettling baddie than the norm]]. A third group likes him precisely ''because'' of him coming off as a tryhard edgy OC and see him as a ParodySue of those kinds of characters.

** Due to Dr. Eggman's influence, Green Hill's rivers have all been turned into sand. Then came Hirokazu Yasuhara's presentation at Digital Dragons 2017, where he detailed the original time travel plot plans for ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'', and the infamous cut desert level turns out to originally have been a ruined BadPresent version of Green Hill. Coincidence?

** Due to Dr. Eggman's influence, Green Hill's rivers have all been turned into sand. Then came Hirokazu Yasuhara's presentation at Digital Dragons 2017, where he detailed the original time travel plot plans for ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'', and the infamous Dust Hill cut desert level turns out to originally have been a ruined BadPresent version of Green Hill. Coincidence?

* TooCoolToLive: Arguably, Infinite. Infinite [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter has the potential to be one of Sonic's deadliest foes]], as he managed to take control of the world in a matter of days thanks to the Phantom Ruby. His power is excentially rewriting reality and creating clones with the same powers as the originals. He could force his generals to become their strongest selves if he pleased but his potential is stopped by plot convenience (see the main entry on ForgotAboutHisPowers). Due to [[TooPowerfulToLive being too powerful]], is possible the character wil remain a OneShotCharacter.

** General consensus is that the controls and physics for both Sonics are inferior to VideoGame/SonicGenerations. A particular complaint is about Modern Sonic lacking the drift, resulting in more linear level design.

** Green Hill's noticeably simpler looking and cartoonier appearance compared to its ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' counterpart has received a good amount of bile from the fandom, who see it as a visual downgrade from how it appeared in ''Generations'', despite ''Forces'' running on more powerful hardware by comparison.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn6uqp_mr98 trailer]] for Infinite, which employs Music/LinkinPark-esque nu metal rap rock [[note]]Dangerkids, the band behind the song, viewed Linkin Park as one of their inspirations for making music; they referenced Linkin Park in their first album[[/note]] along with general edginess to the point of self-parody, was released the same day that Chester Bennington, Linkin Park's lead singer, committed suicide.

** Infinite previously had comrades in the Jackal Squad, and seems angry at their [[NeverSayDie demise]] by the hands of Shadow in Episode Shadow. That being said, while he does comment in his final battle against Sonic that "friends are nothing but a fleeting illusion, and you can't trust anyone but yourself", his true relationship with the squad is unknown. While it's easy to imagine him being a FatherToHisMen, it's also possible he was angry at Shadow for messing with his squad [[TheSociopath as if they were ''his'' tools]], as Infinite [[LackOfEmpathy never shows empathy]] or interest for anyone unless they can provide a challenge to him (thus, why he's so interested in fighting Sonic after defeating Omega). Was their relationship build on trust, or following the strongest? Did the Phantom Ruby changed Infinite? We have no answers.
** Infinite has in his command clones of Shadow, Chaos, Metal Sonic, and Zavok. Despite this, none of them go beyond their base form, with Chaos remaining Chaos 0, Metal never turning into [[Videogame/SonicHeroes Metal Overlord]] nor Zavok giant. The main story shows Infinite's [[FatalFlaw main flaw is his pride]], as he could [[BondVillainStupidity have killed Sonic and allies very early, yet decided it wasn't worth the effort.]] Could Infinite's lieutenants stay weak due to his own hubris?

** Is it possible Eggman is NotHimself in the game? [[spoiler: While Eggman is clearly in-character in the game as a bombastic mad scientist, and let's remember he was never above terrorizing the whole world, the final boss has him [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness quiet during the whole fight]]. Considering Eggman has always loved to ham himself up, this is extremely weird for him. Is it possible the Phantom Ruby, like with Infinite above, is influencing him to a lesser extent?]]
* AmericansHateTingle: While the game was relatively well-received in Japan, ''Forces'' is otherwise considered [[SoOkayItsAverage underwhelming in many parts of the world]], but not outright hate. American (and to a lesser extent, British) fans however dislike the game's story not living to its standards due to the influence left behind by ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics the Archie Comics series]]''.

** In response to complaints about several entries like ''Colors'', ''Generations'' and ''Lost World'' focusing entirely on Sonic to the point of [[DemotedToExtra demoting his friends to NPCs]], ''Forces'' both features a customizable avatar character who goes through their own story arc separate from Sonic himself and brings back Shadow as a playable DLC character.

** Silver. The guy who has telekinetic powers strong enough to the point where [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations he can compress tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of pounds of cars and debris into a massive ball]]. Realistically Silver's powers [[StoryBreakerPower should be enough to make him a force to be reckoned with]], yet he can't handle a few Death Egg Robots. He's still the only NPC to explicitly engage against Infinite, and even knocks loose one of the prototype rubies, which ends up helping later.
** Since ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', Tails has remained as just an ExpositionFairy who stays on the sidelines while Sonic does all the action. During many cutscenes, he's either hiding or in the background while the rest of the cast take action. He has to be saved by Sonic [and even Classic Sonic at one point] and is seen cowering in fear against Chaos 0, despite fighting him in [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure previous]] [[VideoGame/SonicBattle games]] (and in the case of ''Adventure'', he fought the much larger and more powerful Chaos 4). And during the climax where all of the resistance goes against Eggman's army? Everyone, even Charmy, is shown taking down said army. Tails? He just flies past, providing more exposition. This is in particular baffling as [[Videogame/SonicAdventure2 previous games]] have shown him to be a GadgeteerGenius, so even if he is not a fighter, he could still have been shown providing technology to the Resistance, yet "he went missing".

** Due to the series' change in tone since ''Sonic Colors'', people have been split down the middle with Sonic's ramped-up personality. Some people think he's an obnoxious joke machine who never takes anything seriously, the breaking point being when Sonic, after supposedly being "captured" and "tortured" for six months, just acts as if everything merely inconveniences him and jokes around with Infinite, compared to before when despite still cracking jokes and constantly showboating, still understood when things were serious. Others see Sonic as the original [[MascotWithAttitude Mascot With Attitude]], and prefer his self-confident, braggadocious personality and light-hearted quips, especially if the alternative is [[{{Narm}} failed attempts at seriousness]].

* AccidentalInnuendo: In the Spanish dub, Sonic says "Que bicho mas grande!" when passing by a Sandworm in the first level. This literally translates to "What a huge bug", but it sounds different to some Spanish speakers ears as "bicho" is a slang term for a penis in many parts of the globe.

* GuideDangIt: A number of people have reported trouble with the boss fight against Zavok, as they instinctually jump when Zavok slams his giant Buzz Bomber against the floor. What you're supposed to do is ''not'' jump, as it will bounce Sonic high enough to reach Zavok.

** Infinite's origins, being created in a lab [[note]] Described by Amy to be a lonely place to be brought into the world [[/note]] become even more sad when Eggman's former idol [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW Dr. Starline creates Surge and Kit]], programming memories into them for Operation Remaster, while [[Gaslighting]] them on the side.

** The plans to charge $1.99 for the Super Sonic DLC were scrapped.

* AwesomeEgo: Infinite is this trope made flesh. Everything he says and does throughout the game practically ''oozes'' with condescension and arrogance as he constantly belittles Sonic and his allies. [[BraggingThemeTune His theme song can basically be summed up as "I'm awesome and you suck."]] Of course, given that he's a OneManArmy capable of [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomping]] the likes of Sonic and Silver, his arrogance is hardly unjustified.

* TooCoolToLive: Arguably, Infinite. Infinite [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter has the potential to be one of Sonic deadliest foes]], as he managed to take control of the world in a matter of days thanks to the Phantom Ruby. His power is excentially rewriting reality and creating clones with the same powers as the originals. He could force his generals to become their strongest selves if he pleased but his potential is stopped by plot convenience (see the main entry on ForgotAboutHisPowers). Due to [[TooPowerfulToLive being too powerful]], is possible the character wil remain a OneShotCharacter.

** Infinite does an insane amount of evil acts often, but his big one is torturing Sonic for 6 months and then trying to throw Sonic out of the Death Egg so Sonic can see how much he failed before dying. Let's not even get started with how he [[spoiler:kills people on a daily basis and wants to destroy the planet out of spite because Shadow beat him and called him weak]].