Side-characters are present in Sonic Forces, but won’t be playable
The first gameplay video for Sonic Forces issued this week offered about 30 seconds of footage from one of the game’s levels. However, Game Informer was given an extended look.
The site says that characters from the Sonic series will be present, but they won’t be playable. In the first stage SEGA has shown, you’ll hear side-characters such as Knuckles, Amy, and members of the Chaotix communicate with Sonic via radio. They’ll basically be reporting on what they’re seeing during the assault.
The only other notable detail from Game Informer’s preview is that, at one point in the stage, “Sonic lands on a platform and the camera shifts to a side-perspective to deliver the modern gameplay with a side-scrolling twist that we’ve seen in prior games.” Keep in mind that this is separate from the Classic Sonic levels.