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SAGE 2022 - Demo Sonic Encore

It crashed on press any button screen.
Strike
Strike
On the any button screen.
Strike
Strike
I will try again
This is what 3D sonic should be in every sense, I genuinely mean that, I've had more fun with this game and its mechanics, momentum, characters and levels than I ever had on most Sega official modern 3D sonic games. The speed is great and I was able to just start this game up and go! the game looks beautiful and all the levels are translated amazingly to 3D not to mention the music is fantastic! The controls felt top notch and were real easy to get down. Every character is fun and some are definitely OP which is actually kind of cool because it let me break the game in some interesting ways and gives me an excuse to play this game more! The weight of sonic feels perfect and he is so dang snappy, I'm able to blitz away and gain so much speed and the momentum that I'm able to carry is awesome! Though this is not meant to become a super in depth experience and will be more of a greatest hits type game, let it be known that Sonic Encore has so much potential and I would love a full blown experience with a story and more stages! but if that never comes to pass then that's alright, Sonic Encore as it is now is all I could ever ask for in a 3D sonic game, its fast, its beautiful, its fun, its 3D sonic done right and I stand by that whole heartily!
I've been following this game since 2020, and it's amazing to see this game improving so much every year. Sonic Encore already had vast, immersive level design back in 2020, but we have more, overhauled levels, more characters, and better optimization now. I'm honestly very impressed. Although I still like the Boost formula very much, I can comfortably say this game and Sonic GT are my two favorite Sonic games. I get my Steam Deck this week, and I can't wait to try this game out on it.


Some of my feedback:

Graphics:
- Sorry I'm starting with negative feedback, but Sonic looks very weird because of his texture. Whenever I play as Sonic, everything looks vibrant and nice except Sonic. Perhaps he should be bluer. Other characters like Tails and Knuckles look fine, though.
- Speaking of colors, Some levels might need more saturation. Emerald Hill and Ice Cap look good currently, but I can't help but wonder how better they'd look with more vibrant colors, especially after playing colorful stages like Mystic Ruin and Oil Ocean.
- As I mentioned, Mystic Ruin and Oil Ocean look absolutely fantastic. I love crystals in Mystic Ruin and Oil in Oil Ocean. Reflections in these stages look cool too.

Sounds:
- SFX volumes are all over the place. Some SFX has good volume (like Spin Dash), some SFX are too loud (like enemy popping sound), some SFX are very quiet (like collecting ring), and some SFX are impossible to hear (like footsteps). This is the biggest problem of this game imop.
- Character SFX are so quiet compared to enemy/environmental SFX. I thought footstep sounds are not in the game until I reached Mystic Ruins. Other SFX like jump, bounce, stomp are also too quiet. Adjusting their volume will improve the game feel a lot.
- My earbuds hurt so much whenever I enter water :(

Controls:
- Sonic having Drop Dash and Additive Homing Attack (AKA Homing Attack+) is a perfect decision. 10/10
- Shadow's new turn animation and Blaze's new sprint animation look very smooth. Nice work!
- Characters' ground acceleration needs to be much higher. This causes both control issues and animation issues.
- It's nice to have both bounce and stomp, but bounce should restore homing attack since some of the platforming sections could've been very smooth if we could homing attack, bounce, and then homing attack.
- What happened to Homing Attack? Homing Attack sometimes changes its trajectory multiple times in midair. It's not problematic or anything, but I'm curious since this didn't happen in previous builds.

Levels:
- Easily the best level design I've seen in any 3D platformer. Sonic, whether 2D or 3D, needs expansive-level design, and this game certainly delivers.
- All levels are great, but I think my favorite ones are Ice Cap. Some Frozen Plant placements are rage-inducing and penguin badniks often completely ignore Spin Attack, but I enjoyed the overall level design so much.
- I like how bosses are implemented in the game. Especially how some Act 2 bosses include Act 1 bosses as minions.
- Mystic Ruins Act 2 and Aqua Lake Act 1 bosses are currently broken :O

etc:
- UI is not quite bug-free, but it has improved a lot since 2020 and 2021 build. Awesome!

Again, Sonic Encore is already a very fantastic game. I thought so back in 2020 and 2021. I'm just very happy this game is still being updated, and I think the dev should be very proud of their work.
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I enjoyed the game, really did! It feels like a spiritual successor to Sonic GT, which is a good thing. The level design is good, the idea behind the selected stages in a 3D environment is very exciting, the characters feel great to control, music selection is also nice. However, as always, there will be some caveats such as:
1. Sonic needs to be buffed. His spindash is pointless because it has next to no speed and the general running feels too slow for huge stages like these. I can't even jump from A to B because of this. Make him faster, please.
2. Kind of a personal take, but Mystic Cave feels too narrow in comparison to other stages.
3. Mystic Cave 2 and Sonic 2's 2nd stage bosses are unfinished. They just stayed there and I attacked them.
4. Sometimes Ice Cap 2 required too much of a pin-point accurate jumping between platforms. Perhaps make it easier?
Anyway, looks promising, and can't wait to see for the finished product!