Just started this, and... it's weird. Really don't know what to make of it so far. The environments were always messy, but this just looks like a cluttered eyesore. I really wish the objects were more organically integrated into the environments, because this is just ugly. I really don't like how little Amy's hammer is used in her moveset. It's jarring compared to how she's been portrayed in gameplay ever since Sonic Adventure. The emphasis on tarot cards feels like a weird retcon. Knuckles' gameplay also just makes we wish I was playing Sonic Adventure. It's really unintuitive to not have the ability to climb rocky walls, and while I appreciate the environment and physics weren't built with his gameplay mechanics in mind, it causes a weird disconnect between the gameplay and the character. The red glowing panels he climbs just look sinister and don't blend in at all. Also: whoever thought of starting Knuckles' section with a wall directly in front of him - basically an invitation to use his trademark climbing skill, only to deny it - really didn't think that one through. Very frustrating. I have a big issue with giving the other characters the boost - or even the homing attack, really. It diminishes Sonic's identity as a character. Sonic Adventure handled this better by having slower characters but more unique movesets. The characters always blend together by sharing too many of Sonic's core abilities. Yet to try out Tails, but so far I'm really ambivalent. I don't mind a difficulty spike, but these controls are too imprecise for what they're going for. Maybe I just need to get used to it...
My point was the level design itself had improved and is very different from the base game. They'd only played up to Ares and haven't played the update. I think the update is worth trying it for thr level design because of how much it improved, regardless of thr jank and controls. Also, while they haven't changed Cyber Space controls, they did change how Cyber Space is designed, and I think the new level design accompanies the controls much better, especially with the Spin Dash. Okay, to gush about the new Cyberspace levels again, I tried 4-D and this time I decided to not Spin Dash all over the place and I still found the level really engaging where it is fairly easy to tell where the level wants you to go while making it clear you don't have to play by the rules. There are SOOOOO many ways to get to the goal and everytime I play I find SOMETHING new. However, holy shit, the pop-in needs to be fixed. In the base game, it never impacted my gameplay in the Open Zone, and it wasn't a concern in Cyber Space, but when even the latter has horrific pop-in that makes finding the hidden goal exponentially more difficult, yeah, that's the first thing Sonic Team needs to do with a sequel. Also, the floating block philosophy works against the level since it is difficult on the higher parts of the level to tell what is something you can walk on and what you can't walk on. I think for this, they should have added collision to all the background elements.
Apparently you can't play with the other characters in Cyberspace nor any of the Islands that aren't New Ouranos? What's even the point of having new characters then? I know they would break the game, but so does the Spin Dash
They basically made specific challenges and obstacles for the new characters in Ouranos, they didn't accommodate for the rest of the game so it's understandable. That's something that can be fixed easily in a sequel tho
I know the rest of the game wouldn't work nearly as well with them, but this is the same game that allows you to make Sonic controls like complete shit if you want (and this alone can make many platforming challenges go from ridiculously easy to nearly impossible. There were moments I had to change my settings just so I could clear a specific challenge), so I don't see the harm in simply letting you play with them in any island after you finished the entire main game AND its ridiculously brutal extra ending
Not to sound aggressive, but I didn't really wait 5 years (around 10 if we're going back to Lost World) for "the sequel to fix it". Not particularly interested in seeing what a sequel holds at this point tbh. Maybe I'll feel more positive after finishing the final update, but Frontiers honestly addressed -none- of the issues I've had a problem with regarding the series since colors. Superstars looks cool so far though.
Ah. Someone mentioned a mechanic necessary for the final boss that was used in Knight as well, and I wasn't sure what was meant. I assumed that's also what you were referring to but that doesn't seem to be the case. Anyway... I've 100%'d everything but the character dialogues so I'm going through those now. I genuinely liked this update a lot. I don't think it's what I expected, but I'm happy with it. As for Amy's traversal mechanic that was growing on me... it has gone back to fucking sucking in my eyes. Why doesn't she tilt as she turns? It looks idiotic. Also, why is there a delay for initiating it? You can no longer air boost if you have max rings. Stupid. Overall, I'm glad to see versions of these characters that kind of feel like 3D versions of "base gameplay like Sonic but with unique features." I think they could polish this into something cool... so I fully expect them not to lol. I also find it funny they're giving a lame diegetic explanation for the same-y visual design with Sage telling Sonic he's seeing shit like rails all over because Cyberspace is merging his memories and reality but there's actually nothing there. IF THAT'S TRUE HOW CAN I STILL GRIND, SAGE?
Was merely talking about other characters being playable for all game that can be "fixed" later But you know what, now that i think about it, only other 3D Sonic game that allows you to really do that is Sonic Heroes of all things, cause even Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 don't really allows you to play all the game content with any character Wait..... Don't tell me you could switch lock-on on Knight all along and that's a way that you can target a thing other the shield........
This update is fun but there are some really bad ideas lol. For example, why in the world is Knuckles fully powered but he cannot beat a boss. They either should’ve given Knuckles, Tails, Amy their own bosses or just left them out altogether. These bosses do not match with any their game styles. If you’re going to make it challenging, make it make sense. Sonic is the only character that can beat them because of the game’s mechanics. We know the difference because Tails, Knuckles and Amy are more than capable of destroying these types of bosses. They are not inferior to Sonic. Maybe they can fix this by giving all 3 of them auto com
That's what I assumed it meant, but I couldn't switch targets on the final boss on command except to target the back. I had to finesse my way to target the tube. I was curious because despite doing it on Knight previously, I couldn't figure out how to bypass the shield in the boss rush. When I was fighting the Supreme, I think it may be using the dodge buttons that allowed me to finally target the tube so I want to try Knight again to see if that's it.
Alright, I haven't finished the update yet and I am currently sick, so I'm probably not gonna play today. I have finished the first Tower and Trial. I'll give a more complete summary later, but damn this is some of the best platforming the series has done... and I wish the controls were better to facilitate it. But the focus on platforming over combat is a genuine plus.
Having finished the DLC this weekend, I'm overall fairly happy with the DLC. The final fight was a lot of fun and + - I'm very happy how SEGA leaned on the shonen tone. SSJ2 Sonic looks very cool as does his transformation. I love the new conclusion to the story where Eggman fires Sonic out of the cannon. While I haven't finished all the content, + - I also appreciate the new music; the new I'm Here arrangement sounds great after hearing the original as is the new song by Quinn Barnitt. I'm actually surprised SEGA produced this as a free DLC and I hope this trend continues. As I've mentioned previously, there is a lot of jank associated with the DLC such as + - the character movement and mechanics. I don't feel like the characters behave as well as they could but having them is a huge blessing. Overall, I'm not discontent with the + - difficulty curve although many things are difficult for no reason and this aggravates the already flawed control system. I just wish certain mechanics were given better explanations--even I had to lower the difficulty to Easy because I did not feel like spending 2 hours doing the towers or trials. New achievements/trophies would also have been appreciated for us collectors but it isn't a huge deal. So, overall, fairly positive. I'm excited to see what Sonic Team does next. Will we have a new sequel by 2025 or 2026? Or a new title based on the same gameplay? What sort of improvements can we expect? Who knows. But I'm happy with the direction Sonic Teams has gone recently.
I'll keep that in mind, though apparently the Spin Dash is difficult to unlock without mods. Hrm. Regardless, I went ahead and set jump deceleration to 0 and it has made me appreciate the controls more. You can do some pretty neat things with the blue boost or whatever it is. The game's growing on me, I just wish it wasn't so painfully BOTW-inspired.
Okay, okay, one last thing: I genuinely like how involved the challenges and puzzles for the extra characters are. I found a Tails challenge that requires the Cyclone Cannon, and for such a skill, I wouldn't expect there to be an actual puzzle associated with it, but it worked. You had to think a little and use Tails' flight. It helps that even with the Cyclone Boost, you can't cheese it since the Koco is behind laser bars. Knuckles also has some very interesting climbing and gliding challenges--too bad both of those abilities are poor. If this is hwo Sonic Team is aiming to make the next game, I might be incredibly excited, maybe a little.
The action challenges are only hard if you play on, well, hard. On easy mode it's just time-consuming because there's forty of them. Though I've heard that Final Horizon gives Sonic the spindash by default. Can anyone who hasn't unlocked it verify that?
I have been nowhere near as impressed with the cyclone boost as you all seem to be, which makes me wonder if you've all turned down the aerial deceleration to 0, in which case I'm not surprised as many of you are struggling with the precision platforming bits as you are. For rapidly triggering the parry, do you know if I can keep one of the triggers held down and just keep tapping the other, or do I need to repeatedly tap both? I vaguely recall the former, which would be much easier, doesn't actually work the way I'd hope.
You can, sometimes it stop working tho, or maybe its a controller issue i dunno, but generally it works
