@Nintender
Not to be rude sir and not to be hating, but I'm afraid you have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. Like I said, not hating or trying to be mean here but duuuuuude that's so not cool. You're bitching about things in a completely out of context and very ignorant manner. First of all, who do you think pushed to get Sonic Mania made? Iizuka. Whose got the backs of us fan gamers so that SEGA legal doesn't drive a broom stick up our ass? Iizuka. We are allowed to continue to exist, as a community, as a group of fan gamers, because he makes sure we don't get stabbed in the back. That's our homie4lyfe right there.
Who looked at Sonic's fucked up 3D game play, went "yeah we need to try SOMETHING to make this interesting again", enter Sonic Colors which AT TIME OF RELEASE THANK YOU, was one of the best Sonic games in years. Kinda hard to do what you want with a series when it's a mascot and you happen to be a front man of a mascot team. You think Iizuka was okay with the way Rivals or Riders turned out? You think he enjoys working the projects he's worked on suddenly wrested away by a corporate suit and pushed onto market before it's ready? You think he has control over that side of shit? He doesn't. He gets told "Make Sonic ride a skate board or something", we get riders cause it's the best the man or anyone really, could of done with that, given the ridiculously short time frame.
Like I get that Sonic games haven't been great out them lately, but it's certainly not Iizuka pushing shit out a year before it's ready and I can't just sit there and let you rag on our homie like that, ya' know?
First of all, I'm going to point to this.
https://www.polygon.com/2015/7/7/8906275/sega-ceo-sonic-boom-console-betrayed-trust - note the 2015. Forces was already in development. by this point for a year or so.
Enter Atlus.
Soon after, in the wake of Atlus' influence shaking shit up quite a bit, Iizuka , armed with Tax's proposal, pushed for Mania to be a thing. The Sonic game he always wanted to see made, but the execs insisted that classic sonic was dead, no one liked that sorta game play and so on, so he never got to make another Sonic and Knuckles like he said he always wanted. Then you got Atlus metaphorically poking their heads in the door, talking some mad shit while waving all Persona money around. As explained above, SEGA's been redoing quite a bit of their shit based on Atlus' advice, as even their CEO directly stated. Soooooo we got Sonic Mania! Thanks Iizuka! You'll notice Atlus is in Mania's credits too.
On saving Modern Sonic:
Forces is going to be like the before times. The dark days. It started before Atlus came in.
Mania by the way, is an example of the kind of shit we're going to get thanks to Atlus giving artillery support for people like Taxman. It started development AFTER the Atlus acquisition.
Before Atlus:
View attachment 187
After Atlus:
View attachment 188
See a bit of... difference?
As for 3D modern Sonic doomed? Does he stand a chance? Well, Forces isn't going to work out, at least I don't personally think so. That's okay though. Because next game, we'll have a Sonic Team, with people like Tax, Stealth, Brad, Hunter, Jameson, Aaron, etc. at his side, actually able to take part in things because of the culture Mania and Atlus are starting to create in the company. A culture of quality. Can Sonic Team as it was for Forces dev to save modern Sonic?
View attachment 189
As they were, Sonic Team was too tied down by corporate bullshit and having to follow the guidelines of what the suits felt a "Sonic game must be". They hand Iizuka a list of bullshit he has to comply with and he's gotta do it cause it's his job. It also results in well, bad Sonic games, but not because of his lack of effort or skill. You try shitting out Sonic Riders in that 1 year dev window. You gotta be kidding me blaming the guy that's had OUR backs and was the dude all stoked for Mania, did all the stuff to help make it happen, you trippin' son.
But the NEXT 3D Sonic game? A Sonic Team and Iizuka whose chains have been broken by Atlus and Mania's huge success? With people like the Mania team and Atlus helping out? Imagine if you will, a refreshed modern Sonic, with graphics and stylization ala Persona 5
Imagine a modern Sonic, with the animation and art stylings of Morgana from Persona 5
Now pair that with Atlus' understanding of 3D space that we've seen in games like Catherine.
Mix in some Taxman n Stealth for game play consultation, Brad Flick and Hunter for production styling and design?
Do you see this shit?
View attachment 190
Look at that smug expression on that mother fucker. Priceless, 10/10.
Atlus baby. They are our best shot to save modern Sonic. Together with a now free to make awesome shit Iizuka, his chains broken because no one wants to fuck with anything Atlus touches for fear of the massive back lash from Persona/Atlus fans? They could make the best 3D Sonic game ever made, by far.
All we need, is for Forces to fail. Miserably. As badly as possible. That will force the execs to listen. They won't be able to ignore the results of Mania and it's sales numbers.
So the real answer? Can modern Sonic be saved? Absolutely.
Sonic Forces just needs to fail. Miserably. That will start the chain reaction.
I'm not trying to hate on Forces mind you, I don't "want it to fail" out of some weird vindictive fanboyisims or anything. I just truly believe that it'll steer the series in a vastly superior direction, the worse it does. So as much as I usually want Sonic projects to be successful, in Forces case, not so much. The more the scales are tipped in the favor Tax n team, Atlus and Iizuka's aspirations VS the incredibly bad decisions often made out of pride or attempts at social posturing that 'the suits' keep pulling on us, the brighter Sonic's future. It wasn't because of Iizuka for example, that we didn't get a proper Saturn era Sonic game. It's the suits you guys. If Forces fails, they'll have no choice but to let the artists that are clearly bringing in the money finally do their fucking jobs again.