The most jarring example of a series that attempted to shake up its gameplay apart from other games with an open world is Dynasty Warriors 9, and it failed miserably,
There's so many ways you can screw up an open world game and a ton of open world games tried to advertise big worlds, but fall into shallowness and also way to reliant on tropes such as signal towers, tons of crafting shit, tedious traveling for doing simple quests, crappy repetitive fetchquests, and bandit camps.
That's the entire thing though, the fact Sega's even trying a style for Sonic that could easily go wrong. When for more then a decade they generally stuck with what was safe with the Unleashed day stages. (Aside from Lost World, which was more of an experiment more then anything. I didn't personally hate it but I understand it got mixed reception).
And being late to the party isn't necessarily a bad thing... as long as they took notes on what worked and what didn't in the genre. I know having confidence in anything Sonic team is often a fool's errand, and I completely understand the skepticism behind it.
But I still want to say I'm happy enough they're taking this kind of direction that potentially breathes new life into the franchise instead of just trying to have another Sonic Generations or another Sonic Colors. By the time Forces rolled around I was already kind of getting bored of the boost gameplay. I'm not saying I want specifically an Adventure 3, but I wanted a new Sonic game to have a little more freedom in 3D levels then the boost games allow you. Since for the most part you speed through the 3D sections in Colors, Generations, and Forces fast. And you have a good chunk of the game that's actually in 2D.
Meanwhile this looks to be an actual truly full 3D Sonic at a level not even the Adventure games had.
I don't expect to convince either of you or anyone that this is a guaranteed good game. I have my fears as well, but I also think there should be some understanding on why some fans will be hype regardless. Yes there's a chance it results in Sonic fans getting burned yet again. But it actually feels like the biggest gamble Sega's taken the franchise in a long while. Where as much as Forces also didn't get that good of a reception it was more of a slow burn since it was just another average game and if you wanted a better game in the boost style. Those who already owned Colors and Generations could just keep playing those games.
I've never been a Sonic fan too into classic titles, and I understand those who are probably really want a Sonic Mania 2 to happen soon. But for those of us that grew up in the Adventure era where while the Adventure games do have their flaws . Those 2 games are still the closest to a real speedy 3D action platformer. Ever since Sonic 06 failed, Sega's been too scared to death to ever try at something even remotely close to the Adventure style.
For fans like me that have been waiting for Sonic to feel like he's actually running through a world, rather then really long hallways. There's potential we can have some form of hope for. Whether that hope is misguided, only time will tell. And I understand experience and history doesn't currently look too kindly. on the current state of affairs. But Sega could have easily just made this yet another boost game that will at least get generally 5/6 out of 10s like Forces did. But they actually went for something where the general consensus is it's being compared to f'in Breath of the Wild. Even if the open world trend is much older then Breath of the Wild, Just mentioning a Sonic BOTW is going to raise expectations. And I know there's a good chance they don't meet said expectations. But if this can be a solid 7/8 out of 10 kind of game. They can take notes and have this brand new 3D Sonic style that could certainly get improved upon in sequels. I would not be surprised if some things are rough at first with this game just like how Unleashed had the day stages but certain things bogging it down. But this could at least be the start of a new direction that those who have wanted a fully 3D Sonic game have been waiting for.
Again I understand the skepticism entirely, but I also feel like there should generally be some sort of balance in giving reasons why there will be at least some optimistic takes and excitement for what's coming next. I'll be on the cautious optimistic side on this. But for those who aren't impressed yet, I hope they can at least understand how people can be excited nonetheless for what this game could be. I know sharing a skeptical opinion can help a friend temper their expectations. But understand that the game going pretty obviously fully 3D plus hiring a fan favorite writer is enough of a start to make people happy.
If the game turns out as bad as you fear, the time will come for those to vent their disappointment and hopefully comfort after yet another dud. But it'll be ultimately Sega's fault should things go downhill with this. Regardless if you can point out red flags such as not much gameplay yet, the comparisons to BOTW will have an expectation that Sega will have put on themselves. And if it fails spectacularly, This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back when it comes to the future of 3D Sonic on whether Sonic going 3D has something of a future at all. There's reasons to be both excited and scared. Like going through an adventure through a dense forest. There could be beautiful sights of nature and experiences you'll remember for the rest of your life. But understandably being wary of the dangers and downsides of trekking an unknown forest. Where the future of 3D Sonic could find itself lost forever if nothing goes right.
