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Sonic Frontiers Thread - PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by MykonosFan, May 27, 2021.

  1. Shaddy the guy

    Shaddy the guy

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    I don't think Sonic games being anniversary games have to be synonymous with being a celebration of Sonic, or with them being derivative. Pocket Adventure is derivative, Sonic 4 is derivative, neither of them are anniversary titles. Sonic 06 is an anniversary game (technically, so is Riders) but it's not particularly derivative. Generations is the only game to outwardly be a celebration of the series, barring maybe Mania.
     
  2. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    creating the biggest sonic collection
    Mania definitely. So was Sonic Jam. they've been doing anniversary titles since the beginning. But it does seem like there's more of an emphasis nowadays. Maybe that's the thing they took away from Generation's success.
     
  3. Starduster

    Starduster

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    I think that's largely just a result of the dev cycle being slowed down some more (though apparently not nearly enough), with the 5ish year cycle of mainline releases meaning that these things are generally going to fall on or around the anniversary years. Now, this in of itself isn't a problem, please don't crunch devs for the love of god, but not every game released on an anniversary needs to be an anniversary game and while, yes, asset reuse is good and economical and helps maintain healthy dev cycles, they could be doing it far more effectively to get the most out of these older assets rather than just revisiting old locales.
     
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  4. The Joebro64

    The Joebro64

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    I'm surprised people here aren't shitting their pants in excitement by the fact that IGN's Q&A video mentions Wisps aren't in the game.
     
  5. Because the only ones who really care about that are on Twitter or Reddit; I'd imagine most people on Retro are neutral at worst.
     
  6. charcoal

    charcoal

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    Has it been confirmed if Sonic's boost will be an unlimited resource in this game? From all the footage it seems like it but I'm still not quite sure.
     
  7. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    I mean personally I didn't hate the wisps, but i didn't like when they took away moves from Sonic's moveset to make them unique, like delegating light speed dash to hover or spin dashing to spike. That being said not upset nor seeing them here, they've been used enough they don't need to be in every game

    Well, no wisps that is until the Planet Wisp cyberspace level :V
     
  8. MH MD

    MH MD

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    i kiiiiinda recall that it is limited by a stamina bar similar to botw? not sure on that one
     
  9. Starduster

    Starduster

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    Yeah, that's what one of the written impression articles said. Honestly, I really hope the boost doesn't return to its normal function in the action stages because I really want to see them designed around the Sonic we're seeing in the overworld, in terms of having a finer degree of control and having to engage more with the environment.
     
  10. SuperSnoopy

    SuperSnoopy

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    Slice of life visual novel, coming soon...?
    I'll be absolutely ecstatic if Frontiers turns out to be completely wisp-less, but the guy only said he didn't encounter any "so far", so that's far from a hard confirmation.

    That being said, drinks are on me if those little bastards turn out to be absent from the game :V
     
  11. Xiao Hayes

    Xiao Hayes

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    No wisps and no chao, just those alive stones or whatever they are (I seriously can't discern what are they supposed to be).
     
  12. Mookey

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    They're Koroks.
     
  13. Yash

    Yash

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    This is all for naught if the open world stuff sucks of course, but I can kind of see why they did it this way. Had they led with "more boost levels, yay!" the open world element would have just been seen as yet another obnoxious filler gimmick used for padding your way from Point A to Point B (the "real" game). Look at Unleashed, the original leaked trailers only focused on the day levels and they looked incredible, which generated a ton of hype on its own, only to then totally crapped the bed once the Werehog was revealed. People didn't really take away a silver lining that Sonic's gameplay looked fun, just that Sega was onto something and once again screwed it up.

    The difference is "Sonic in an open world" isn't nearly as much an assault on the senses as the Werehog was, but I get it. Try and sell people on the less popular concept first - some people already like the idea - and then reel in the skeptics with the promise of more traditional Sonic gameplay.

    (I realize this is an old post I'm responding to, it was sitting here half-drafted)
     
  14. RikohZX

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    I think it's having the opposite effect for some people, though, given that as said in my post, Forces exists. Cyberspace is so barely glimpsed but we're already hearing its stages are incredibly short (at the very least, the Green Hill 1-1 tutorial stage is a minute long, Sonic has a habit of escaping virtual dimensions in no time flat, huh?), and we've got a track record of expectations.

    So some people are feeling that most of the game will be open world and then suddenly you're being told to run off to a completely different gameplay style for mandatory progression that could very well play like butt again.
     
  15. Xiao Hayes

    Xiao Hayes

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    Personally, I don't give a damn about the cyberspace levels if they're more of the same both in looks and playstyle, but I'm ok with returning levels if gameplay and level design offer something different and I'm ok with new visual designs even if their layouts aren't great. Of course, I prefer the best of both worlds, and avoiding 2.5D should be a priority but it seems like it isn't.

    But, really, the only thing I need are tight controls that also feel natural and have good mobility, and they seem to be closer to that; I can tolerate whatever they throw at me if it feels alright to go through.

    That's a name (similar to the name of similar things in BotW, right?), but I'm talking about their shape and look; either I can't get them right or they're plain dumb in design.
     
  16. Plorpus

    Plorpus

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    That IS the name of the ones from Zelda. :p
    They’re called Kocos in Frontiers I believe. Not that that answers your question.
     
  17. Kyro

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    I wholly don't agree with the sentiment that the cyberspace levels are intended to be the main core and appeal of the game that i've seen some folks assume they are. I think it's been pretty clear that the open world and islands are the focus, and the cyberspace levels will be serving to break up the pace and give some actual tangible goals and bring in some familiar gameplay.

    With that in mind, I dunno, I think that kinda dulls the impact of reussed locations or shorter, more linear levels for me. If they are meant to be replayed for different objectives several times over, I dont mind them being shorter or more focused, especially if there are seven per island. Would rather not be spending 3-4 minutes on a stage if im supposed to replay it 4 times or so over just to get the key and continue.
     
  18. Starduster

    Starduster

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    Not to sound like an enlightened centrist, but it's odd to see people trying to assert either the open world or the action stages as "the real meat of the game" when both of them are together. You have to do shit in the open world to get access to cyber space to get Chaos Emeralds to progress in the open world. Both elements are interdependent and need to be fulfilled in order to move forward. That's what a gameplay loop is. If you've got an inclination towards one or the other, that's fine, but I feel like these assertions may be getting thrown around in an effort for people to validate their feelings regarding the playstyle they're more interested in while belittling the one that they don't care for.
     
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  19. This isn't too surprising given we've been doing exactly that since Sonic Adventure. Remember how Big was "the worst part of Sonic Adventure" and how the Sonic/Shadow stages are "the only good parts of Sonic Adventure 2" etc etc etc. Sonic games tend to be so segregated in terms of content, so it was probably kind of inevitable people would pick and chose the parts they liked and disparage the parts they didn't, while completely ignoring the fact that they're all part of the game.

    I guess this all comes down to how people feel if the game is more or less than the sum of its parts. If you only enjoyed one part of a game, well naturally you'll be inclined more towards that part than the rest of it. And of course when people disagree with what are the good and bad parts of something...well...you get the idea.
     
  20. RikohZX

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    Things like this probably wouldn't have (as much) drama if they didn't keep segregating every Sonic game into different styles of play. Colors escaped it for core mechanics, but fell into it with every other stage being a dedicated gimmick of some kind, and Lost World fell into the same trap where it feels like there's more gimmick stages than there are normal ones.

    Meanwhile Unleashed swaps between Daytime Boost, Nighttime Werehog, and the occasional Tornado section, Generations is Modern/Classic swapping, Forces is Modern/Avatar/Classic, and that's just the main games since 2008. Sonic keeps swapping gameplay styles every other stage like Sonic Team doesn't want to put all of their eggs into one basket in case they rot for it, and while variety is the spice of life, if Cyberspace or Open Zone bring Frontiers down individually this game will never live that down and just get slotted in with past failings of that regard.

    We've said it about the characters, but a lot of people generally love the classics because they have such solid core gameplay and could build interesting levels and designs around it without changing its core, besides something like Doomsday Zone. Modern Sonic Team's understanding of that is making gimmicks that Sonic's playstyle has to contort around instead and duct-taping alternate playstyles on top so nothing feels too samey without being as polished as it could be.