With the original trailer giving off a 'Generations 2' vibe, I was expected a game that may actually be...well, good. Not a 10/10 game, but maybe something along the lines of 8.5/10

After we saw more information and the $40 price tag, I lowered my expectations and thought maybe a 7.8/10 would be what we should expect. However, after checking gameplay recently released, I felt unpleased.

The game just seems so...boring. Sega is kidding themselves if they think it can stop Mario in any way whatsoever. They had an opportunity to do well with Forces, but instead it seems as though many of the levels have been ruined with linear and rather plain design.

Now, being linear isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, Crash and certain 2d Mario games are linear. However, they are still fun due to the fact that there's actually stuff going on in the game. You aren't simply dashing through and beating up robots/enemies. The enemies, wisps, and powerups seem to hide the fact that the levels in Forces simply seem uninteresting and undesirable. Why would anyone want to go through Forces if they can see the colorful world of Odyssey, or the whackey places in Crash? 

To make it worse, 2d seems to be 80% of the game, meaning it will be a large chunk of the entire gameplay. I wasn't expecting this game to be GotY, but I can't consider it to be worthy of a purchase, even with its $40 price tag. If I want a big-budget platformer, Odyssey is a no question (seriously, who the hell actually has issues with Odyssey[?]), and if I want an exciting and interactive Sonic game, I'm always able to purchase 'Sonic Mania' for only $20. Forces fails to appeal to any demographic or party it was intending to attract, and that will (in my opinion) result in very disappointing sales as we wonder why we ignored the 'Sonic Circle of Life'

Not sure why Sega would try to stop Mario, since the game is coming to the Switch as well...

The Sonic cycle is somewhat overused and frankly largely invalid. Games like Sonic Colors and Generations, for example, defied the Sonic cycle.

The other issue I have with your analysis is that you state that linear design is inherently a flaw and that is simply not the case. Some of the best received 3D platformers have been linear. Ranging from classic games like Crash Bandicoot to more contemporary examples like Super Mario Galaxy series and 3D Land/World. The linear modern Sonic formula works quite well for people that like to speed run through levels and beat their friends times.

I think the issue with many 3D Sonic games is that they lack focus. Sonic Team tries to shove lots of different gameplay styles into a single game without the time or resources to refine each one into reaching its maximum potential. Look at Forces, the Avatar controls seem to be broken and the stages suffer from many of the camera issues that have plagued past Sonic titles; the classic stages are once again using rehashed level design ideas and look incredibly empty; the modern Sonic stages do not offer shortcuts and alternative pathways that are a hallmark of Sonic games (i.e you have a linear destination, but there are multiple paths to get there, and choosing the right set of paths can help you get to the goal faster). Sonic Team would be wise to focus one gameplay style in a game and expand on that as opposed to trying push as many unrefined ideas as possible. Another issue they need to address is that they need to start at the fundamentals when they are designing a game like how the controls and camera are going to work; there have been countless Sonic games in recent memory where the controls simply do not work like they are supposed to (either Sonic feels slippery like in Unleashed, the camera does not work well which pretty much applies to every 3D Sonic game I have played albeit less so recently since they have started to work-in auto cameras, or the moves are simply not responsive like Lost World's parkour system).

It will not came close to super mario odyssey,for sure,because it's sega making it,but i think it'll be alright.I just hope that they let the mania guys handle sonic from now on,because that was the first game in years that  makes me remember why sonic was able to be comparable with mario(in terms of being charming.Gameplaywise,mario is a far far superior game).

'Now, being linear isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, Crash and certain 2d Mario games are linear. However, they are still fun due to the fact that there's actually stuff going on in the game. You aren't simply dashing through and beating up robots/enemies.'

DLC isn't automatically a bad thing, but it can damage a game if done incorrectly