So far we've seen 2 bosses right? But only the first island, since there's 7 emeralds and 4 islands I'd assume 2 bosses per island with the 8th one being eggman or some eldritch abomination of the week.
It's understandable to be honest. There wasn't much new content in the preview and most everything that was discussed has already been speculated here thanks to the initial leak. Also, divisive news naturally just generates more discussion. At any rate, while keeping in mind that, yes, IGN and SEGA are in partnership right now to deliver Frontiers to us, I don't get any sense that the preview was egregious neutered as a result of that. I think everything raised was a valid point, both good and bad, and we need to step back and remember that we are hyperfocused on Sonic games. This guy probably isn't any likely came into Frontiers with few preconceived notions of what he wants out of it. Things like momentum probably aren't too much of a concern to him. Depends what the format of game progression is. Perhaps there are 7 roaming bosses and one story boss per island which only appears once all the Chaos Emeralds have been collected. After beating that boss you head to the next island as the emeralds scatter and you start over.
I stand by my assessment that this engine will be a huge improvement over Forces when all is said and done and the gameplay will be make it an all around solid title, likely the best since Generations at least. The artstyle isn't my favorite, but I can live with that as long as the game's latter half gives us a lot of stage/environment/map variety. My only concern with the game is that it'll somehow end up deceptively short with something like an 8 hour or under campaign (for average players, not just speedrunners), with the open map mostly being optional set-dressings with unrewarding missions. We shall see.
^ ironically an 8 hour casual run is probably longer than... Basically any 3D Sonic game save for Unleashed. The impression sounded overall positive. If the worst of our problems are a little jank and pop in then we're already looking at a game that's probably better than anything 3d since Generations. And it's actually 3D for the most part which is lovely. I get what they mean by open zone now. Still sounds a little cutsey like "lol get it because Sonic levels are zones." But I guess the philosophy was design the area like a playground which it kinda looks like, even if as the guy suggested and we can clearly see there's a bit of... well Sonic Team had an artistic vision . I think it looks fun though so I'm willing to look past the somewhat bizarre aesthetic. Also sounds like Sonic might be quieter in general? The guy mentioned a lack of wise cracking nonsense which good. And I think someone guessed it. Completing puzzles adds platforms and other things to help you reach places.
I mean, is it really fair to judge it without the optional content when the optional stuff is kind of the point of open-world games? I don't think Elden Ring would have taken me 120 hours if I didn't do all the optional bosses and a good deal of the dungeons (which were not all stellar, I might add), and by the time I got to Radagon, he snapped like a twig. That's not to say Sonic shouldn't have a healthy length (not 120 hours, even Elden Ring did not need that) but I dunno, it's not really a "speedrun" to just ignore a bunch of the game.
That IGN article seems very promising in its description, like how Sonic has a skill tree for combat. Still jank, but still intriguing, but on the more positive side of intriguing for me now.
*laughs in Fire Emblem: Three Houses* Totally agree, though. Sonic has never been about breadth, but depth. Getting the most bang for your buck out of what's given to you, be that time attack chasing or a variety of missions that economically utilise the given stages. And to be honest, as a 20 something with a full time job and not as much time to play video games as I did as a kid, I won't complain about a main campaign that's less than 20 hours nestled in side content that keeps me coming back.
These days I’ll play something for about 25 hours at most and lose interest fast after that. So if that’s the amount it takes to 100% this sucker (and thus less to just beat it) that’s more than enough for me.
Just considered something - do you guys think the fact that you don't lose rings until hitting the ground implies that some sort of quick recovery may be an unlockable skill? I don't think Sonic Team would make such a jarring change without a reason, and considering we now have dodges, parries, etc., some sort of recovery option where you can catch yourself without losing rings may be the reason. Though it could also be so the rings are still recoverable when you get hit on a tall platform/boss and end up falling 100 meters.
Yeah, that was nice to see! I also like the sound of "get from point A to point B as fast as possible, find your own path to do it".
For the first time I am actually kind of excited about Frontiers. And because of stuff from IGN, of all people. Don’t misinterpret that. I just find it ironic. I am well aware that a select few individuals do not represent the opinions of an entire company, and that ign’s reviews of past Sonic games have, in more cases that not, not been anywhere near as unreasonably critical and negative as some Sonic fans would have you to believe. Also This, 100% unironically.
I mean there was very little new footage shown. We got told a lot of new information (lightspeed dash, cyberspace levels, skill tree) but we didn’t actually see it. For this reason talking about the IGN hands on preview is kinda like playing a game of telephone. Tbh I’m still left with mixed feelings, the IGN guy said the cyberspace levels were a major contributor to the game’s flow and his enjoyment (https://twitter.com/jurassicrabbit/status/1534207022886883328?s=21) but Sega hasn’t shown them off... why? I watched the Sonic Central first and when I saw the dragon thing I thought that the theory of building the cyberspace levels might be true. Then IGN’s hands on preview immediately debunked that. I suspect the dragon road thing will just be automated. It seems like a good usage of automation as long as it doesn’t last too long. I have a slightly better impression of the game now (it’s almost like context is useful) but I’m pretty alarmed by the jankiness of running up the titans: https://twitter.com/goalringmod27/status/1534214248825597957?s=21 Now maybe this is just bad animations making this look bad but the fact that the IGN guy also pointed it out is not ideal. I think a delay is necessary here. It’s highly unlikely that Sega are showing off a significantly older build or that they’ll be able to make things significantly smoother in 5 months. Now let me be clear: I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT ADDING CLASSIC PHYSICS. That is not what this game is and I accept that. But there need to be improvements to the wall/titan running and the animations. I’m assuming Tyson Hesse and Ian Flynn are involved in the Frontiers Prologue so I’m sure that’ll be great. It’s great that Knuckles guarding the master emerald is prominent.
At the point I'm convinced that Sega is marketing this game without context as an attempt to muddy any deeper discourse that anyone may have, and any context that is relayed is done so only through highly controlled means (like IGN's hands-on preview article). Hopefully they'll release a proper overview video with live gameplay and some sort of commentary that people will actually be able to analyze and discuss this month, but until then I refuse to make my mind up about this game either way.
Still don't like open-world. Still don't like the concept of having to level-up in a Sonic game. Still think the main area is a barren and empty aimless wasteland. Maybe the more structured missions will save it, I dunno. And of course IGN is going to be generous about an exclusive they have.
Didn't IGN have top coverage of Lost World and acted super enthusiastic about it, and then when review time came they had someone else run it who didn't even know how the run button worked, practically leapt into pits on his own volition and gave the game utter hell? I don't expect a kind turnover from them by the time the game actually comes out.
I want everyone to get up, have a nice stretch, maybe get a glass of water, come back, and look at where we are on the Sonic Cycle to ground themselves.
They should have gone with the guys thoughts and edited video first because it gave a lot more context to what wss going on screen. Like I didn't realize until he had his commentary that they were showing off different ways of attacking that one enemy with the metal head and how you could find multiple ways to defeat them depending on your play style. If I had known that, as well as why the open world had so many rails and bounce pads which aren't to make it more linear but are meant to be exciting and unexpected moments of soeed, maybe I'd have nicer things to say at the time. I still have my complaints because even with his words the game still lacks a lot of things I feel an open world should have but I'm more confident in this not being a 6/10 than I was a week ago and right now I can't ask for more.
