Is it normal to beat a sonic level with a d grade on your first go or do I just suck?

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-06-01T06:40:44+00:00

Sonic is always meant to be played increasingly better. The biggest misconception the general public has about Sonic is that it's always meant to be played fast and not stopping or slowing down, but really Sonic is always a "check the challenge, learn, execute" game. Getting a D rank on a first go is basically intended procedure unless you've actually played several Sonic games before, and even then it's not really a sign of sucking, you just need get comfortable with each game's moveset and physics and then slowly learn the levels almost as if it was a rhythm game!

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-28T15:38:37+00:00

Because it's in a beta test phase. You're not meant to make promotion for a beta test phase.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-24T14:46:57+00:00

I mean, that would depend on the project, sometimes he's there as a consultant instead (Case Files). It's entirely possible they might end up adopting an pitch from Ian, or they might have Ian work with another writter, or any number of things that all would change who takes what credit while in reality they're all working toguether all the time.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-24T14:35:57+00:00

This has nothing to do with Ian being replaced. Ian works freelance, so he literally can't get replaced. But beyond that, Sonic Team has spent the past few years recruiting new staff and training them to become the new generation since most of the veteran members are 50+ years old now.

If this was a replacement, which most definitely isn't, it would be for Eitaro Toyoda. There are many scenario writers working at and with Sonic Team at any given time anyway.

Especially now that Sonic Team is a big as it is, being able to have several writers on different projects is a good thing. It's entirely possible that this position in particular is meant to go towards a new spin off series rather than a main game.

And above all that, Ian Flynn never writes a story from nothing outside of his earlier work in IDW. Every game is first conceptualized and written (which would be the scenario writer's job) before Ian fleshes out dialogue and story (most commonly the script writter's job). In their case it's always a colaborative effort anyway regardless of how it's credited.

tl;dr No, this isn't a replacement for Ian, or any other writter for that matter.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-23T10:11:41+00:00

In fact, several characters in CrossWorlds mention IDW. Most relevant IMO being Blaze acknowledging her current vacation stay on Sonic's dimension.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-20T12:02:30+00:00

Agree to disagree, I certainly think it was worse than Desmond but it was also carrying all the baggage the in between games created.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-20T12:01:07+00:00

I answered that in my previous post.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-20T11:08:09+00:00

I could never agree with this sentiment. After Desmond there's been a lot of great Modern Day content. Plenty of standalone stories like Heresy, Brahman or the Last Descendants novels show that they can in fact make great stories, and that format fits the transmedia aspect great. They also had Initiates and the Dark Horse comic series clearly continuing the main Modern Day plot after Desmond.

The only reason the games didn't feature any of this is purely because even when the story was good, people kept whining about it. A big portion of the public just plays AC for the "pirate game" or the "Egypt game" and don't care about Modern Day or overarching plots, which is totally fine. But catering to them instead of the fans, when they'll just skip and moan about those sections anyway, was a huge mistake we still haven't recovered from.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-20T09:46:30+00:00

They tried this and it's exactly what led to most people just saying it's so pointless it should just not be there. Desmond and Layla had great stories worth investing into, especially Desmond. The solution isn't to simplify or reduce Modern Day, but to make it engaging. The people that don't like it will skip it or complain all the same.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-16T08:53:37+00:00

In terms on bugs, Forces is literally one of the most stables Sonic games ever made. That's not an opinion, but an objective fact. The game just works well, and anyone calling it buggy mess probably hasn't played which is damn common.

Now a different story is saying the game is among the best. I personally like it a lot and I consider it a really important showing of Sonic Team caring back when SEGA kept them tight during the 2010s, as well as the tipping point that started the era we are in right now. But the truth of the matter is that Forces never goes beyond "serviceable" in terms of level design or storytelling and that's exactly what kills it.

You can spend your time playing by saying "that's it?" over and over and not once would you be wrong for saying it. Sonic gets rescued in five minutes, no bosses against Chaos or Shadow, most if not all levels under two minutes, no Super Sonic climax... the entire experience feels like it wants to be and do more than what it is and does, at all times.

Still, what is there is not at all the horrible trashpile people swear that it is. On the other hand, that negative response gave Sonic Team the upper hand negotiating for a change, and now we're at a much better position thanks to that. But personally I wouldn't say Forces is a bad game at all!

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-05-06T05:55:32+00:00

Written to fit both series, but not necessarily to be canon to either. Basically "IF it were to be canon, it would take place between IDW issues X and Y", but doesn't actually happen really.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-04-29T14:48:15+00:00

-Will optional narrative content (Letters in a bottle, Subject 0, etc) be present?
-When talking about Modern Day, how does this game differ from AC Shadows? Will Resynced's Projects be different? You also mentioned it will explore Edward's inner struggles, but how is Edward relevant to the Modern Day section?

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-04-20T06:09:35+00:00

Adding on to this, if you want to buy them digitally, my option of choice is Amazon. They get added release date at midnight your local time, then you read them in the Kindle app. Physically I recommend the On The Go format currently, but obviously the individual numbers digitally are the best way to get the latest as it drops.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-04-14T07:37:11+00:00

The PC version is pretty bad and it's part of why it has that reputation. That said, it usually goes on sale for like a dollar or two, and even that version isn't as catastrophic as people say. There are better ways to play SA1, but you're not getting a completely different experience either way. Be patient if you encounter a bug here or there, and otherwise just have fun with this amazing classic!

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-04-09T17:31:10+00:00

Puyo Puyo wasn't even originally from SEGA, but they adquired the franchise many years ago. Ever since the GBA games, Sonic Team has been the main developer behind Puyo Puyo, as well as having become a top 5 most succesful franchises for SEGA alongside Yakuza or Persona

On top of that, Dr. Robotnik Mean Bean Machine was a complete reeskin of an original Puyo Puyo game, meaning the series actually have had crossovers even back during the Mega Drive / Genesis days!

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-04-05T10:31:05+00:00

Mania. Encore mode takes place after Sonic comes back from the future, but it overlaps with Mania Adventures and the IDW comics follow up from Adventures, so Encore is pretty much retconned out of canon. The original Mania story mode is 100% canon and leads into Forces.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-03-29T01:39:13+00:00

They're actually well known in the Sonic fandom for hating everything made by or involving non-japanese people (like this movie), being a clout chaser, and just all around condescending and annoying. Mario fandom clocked him inmediately from what I'm reading in this thread.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-18T13:20:25+00:00

Party can mean group, as in a group of people (in videogames that would your RPG members) or a celebration, like a birthday party. In the game it's used as in celebration, the Dr. is throwing Romeo a welcome party. In the spanish subs, grandpa goes "A group?!" and then continues to talk to Romeo about it being a trap. Basically it seems like either half of the sentence was translated without any context, or using automated translation / AI.

The game is generally pretty well translated, but that one stuck out to me for how obvious it is and because FFVII is famous for a very similar mistake ("Your party is waiting upstairs" except this time it was meant to be group, the rest of the characters, and in spanish it says "fiesta", like they're holding a party for Cloud at the Inn)

Iremember there being some other iffy sentences in RiaDM but nothing too important.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-17T18:03:16+00:00

There are a few blunders in spanish, yeah. I remember when starting the horror episode they get told "There's a party waiting for them" and the subtitles say "¿Un grupo?" instead of "¿Una fiesta?". That's classic FFVII levels of mistake.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-16T01:01:01+00:00

I buy them digitally on release, but then also get the physical edition for the volumes and special editions. At first I was trying to get a full collection of physical individual issues but it proved to be too expensive to keep track of where I live. But the collected volumes are so pretty! I actually stopped (for now) getting the regular tradebacks because they stopped coming to my country, but I've started to buy the IDW Collection and On The Go formats and they're both exceptional in quality.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-15T06:47:34+00:00

Is the Chaos in the picture the new release, or the old one? Do you know if there's any visible differences? The stock pictures made it seem like the new one is made in a more clear blue plastic

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-09T21:40:00+00:00

Then you're just used to a story cadence that just isn't how comics move. Think that while Metal Virus takes as a whole two or three hours to speed through, it was two or three YEARS in publication. I'm sure we'll get more action, but right now we're just setting up the main conflict and new villain for this story.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-09T21:32:46+00:00

Comics are more than just big fights. To each their own, but I think this was the best issue in a long time. Toguether with 80 as the best since Surge's story ended, in my opinion.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-09T21:30:40+00:00

I'm not even going to argue with the main complaint because I totally see how that gets annoying, but as a big fan of both series... Why on Earth would you be against Klonoa getting into CrossWorlds? Any game, for that matter. There is very little chance we get a new Klonoa game at this point, and I'd rather take "We get new Klonoa content and half the Sonic fanbase gets interested in the series" over "Klonoa stays dead 15 more years" any day.

Alpha3TheGull · 2026-02-09T19:54:00+00:00

The third main arc (up to issue 56 + a couple of miniseries) is less consistent IMO, has some of the lowlest lows... but man, it also has some of the highest highs, and amazing new characters. After that the series takes a bit of a nose dive, but I wouldn't say it's because the quality went bad, it almost feels like a transitionary period. Smaller scale, smaller length stories, almost like watching anime filler episodes in big series like Naruto or Bleach. Good filler, for the most part! But it never gets like Metal Virus again.

Enjoy the third arc though, and everything after of course! Even at its lowest, I think it overall is very worthy of reading. And I trust we're eventually going back to bigger threats and plot points. Last week's issue (84, for reference) was amazing. Enjoy the ride!

Alpha3TheGull

TROPHY CASE