It makes me wonder what things would be like if SEGA started making consoles again and Sonic was their flagship system seller IP. I think in a lot of ways Sonic still gets held under that high level of scrutiny because of what he used to be, even though the franchise isn't really at that status anymore.
You only have to look at the amount of money the soundtrack alone must have cost, the music alone was a huge production and I love how every piece of music perfectly matched the visions on screen, the Lost valley & Mystic Ruins music was so good you could swear you were in with the Inca tribe . It was clear Sonic Team put their heart and Soul into Sonic ADV and the late great Isao Okawa bankrolled it all, Still my fav Sonic game and 3D platform game, even now Fab times
I know, I used to think that a lot, but now I choose not too. And just happy SEGA is still around and making great games. I do wish SEGA would go back and make a proper Sonic Adv game again mind, even its a AAA rekame of Sonic ADv with new parts .
Turns out it’s part of a cutscene that plays when Sonic has max rings and gets the electric aura for infinite boost. https://twitter.com/ruki185/status/1565441114684915715?s=21&t=G97B3G9PD_F_H7DX0MmQDg
It's nice how many little things seem to be going into it. There's a shot of him bouncing off of walls of a boss arena, and I LOVE that it actually looks like he's bouncing off of them, they wiggle when he hits them, it could have been very easy just to have them solid walls with no movement. Also his texture in-game looks much nicer than the continued texture they use on his CGI model. Always felt his 'fur' in CGI looked like paint strokes with the way it hit the light, in game it looks more velvety and SA like.
yeah like, I know I mentioned in what was probably the Unpopular Opinions Thread but most of the Bad Stuff that happens in Sonic Adventure is either vague (all of the Mystic Ruins Past cutscenes until the last story) or kind of slapstick (Eggman trying to nuke station square with a rocket that has his face on it and proceeds to not blow up anyway). But then you get to Super Sonic and the stakes get real. You see the echidnas attack the shrine, even the little critters living in it, and you see Perfect Chaos destroy Station Square in a way that is remotely realistic (especially in the Japanese context). And then, after spending the entire game trying and failing to get all 7 Chaos Emeralds, you finally do it and you get to fight a snake god in the ruins of the city you've been running around in the whole game and it is just, A+ catharsis. (it also helps that the gameplay is basically just Sonic's gameplay with the caveat that you need to run fast enough to deal damage) yeah I adored this touch too, it reminded me of the springy railings in Emerald Coast as well, and there's something super playful/mischievious about the idea that I think suits Sonic as a concept.
In that very same boss arena, Sonic just stays completely still in the arena when he's using his special attack with no animations at all. He even lacks a finishing animation so just stands in the air idle for a half second after finishing the move. And when the enemy is knocked around the arena, he doesn't move at all and just stays completely still. No knockback, just pinging across the arena like a statue. So you've taken one small detail from that fight, Sonic pinging off the walls and the walls bouncing, to claim that the game has a good sense of polish. I really hate to be raining on everyone's parade. I can see that a lot of people have liked your post and agree with you. But come on, this is not a polished game. It looks really shoddy in presentation. It might still be fun, but it irks me when people take a scene as incredibly flawed as this, and start saying how great it is.
Did I say the game was polished? Did I say that the little details they are adding balance out the issues the game has? Does every good thing I notice need to have a bad one to compensate?
Those are pretty spurious exhibits outside the context of the footage. For one...he most certainly does animate during the attack. It's not like the tornado kick where they just kind of spun the model around (which I hear supposedly has a different animation now though I can't really tell personally), he very clearly moves his arms, legs and head. Second, the air idle...is the finishing animation. That's what we have now instead of Sonic awkwardly reverting to his standing animation in midair. The robot is definitely stiff when it spins around, but the only way to animate that more effectively would be to fan the arms out to the sides, which could potentially create a conflict if it's able to hit Sonic in this state (which isn't a great excuse, but if it factors into the intent of the boss design, it's something). Now, you can say it doesn't look great. I wouldn't necessarily disagree. They could stand to animate both Sonic and the enemies more expressively, but to call THOSE examples of lacking polish is just unfair. If we really want to look at jank things in this game, it would make far more sense to talk about the special moves which awkwardly reposition both Sonic and the camera in disorienting ways, or that slope bug in the city cyber level.
I bought a 360 just so I could play Unleashed. Sure the game absolutely had its share of shortcomings but I had an amazing time with it. I wound up getting a few more games for the system after a while (most of them Sonic haha) but I can say with confidence that Unleashed alone made it worth it for me. The game looked ambitious and fun as frick and that made me want to play it. Similarly Frontiers also looks fun and ambitious. Probably the most ambitious since Unleashed, I'd say. It really doesn't look perfect and there are some valid observations on the quality of certain aspects from folks, but I think it looks like a blast to play and it feels like Sonic Team are trying something with it. I'm going to get it for Switch and see for myself. I'm anticipating it so much that I don't want to spoil it any further :3
Not that I don't disagree with you or anything. But coming in after seeing how excited people are about something just to tell them it looks like shit is obviously not going to make people more agreeable with your point. It just makes you look like a jackass. And I notice this a lot, not just with you, but a lot of jaded Sonic fans, and I've been guilty of doing it too. We tend to take our grievances with the series out on people who just wanna play a video game they think looks fun. "I think [new Sonic game] looks really fun" "Well actually it looks like complete shit, and I have no idea how you can see anything fun about it" This is the most common conversation I see whenever a new Sonic game comes out. Not that I think some skepticism and cynicism isn't warranted when it comes to Sonic, but there is a point when it becomes excessive and we all just sound extremely bitter and annoying is all.
THIS kind of behavior is what people are tired of. You literally saw someone praising part of the game and felt the need to disregard their excitement by saying "actually this is shit". You are perfectly allowed to not like how the game looks. Good for you. But don't be going and telling people they're wrong for doing the opposite. That just makes you a jackass. I kind of just repeated what other people already said, but jesus, don't do that.
It's all about tone. You can have a pretty wide array of opinions on Sonic, but what people will remember is how you express yourself. This is the problem that Sonic communities face, more than anything the series itself actually does. For the record, I don't think Laura's post was meant to condescend to Flare (I don't even necessarily agree with her conclusion, just her supporting arguments), but I can definitely understand why it could garner a negative reaction. Feels like a lot of my posts lately are me reflecting on being a dumb 15 year-old quote-flaming Blue Blood or Diogenes or whoever on SSMB, but I can't help but keep going back to how I had this idea in my head that all the people I was arguing with about Boom, Forces or what have you, were somehow bad or mean. That's mostly because I was motivated by my perspective and nobody else's, but it's also because if you spend long enough on a Sonic forum to become cynical, and have seen enough people get really upset, it's super-easy to develop a kind of smug or bitter tone, and it can put people off (frankly I still get a knee-jerk response to seeing dio post). And this also isn't to disparage anyone, it's a consequence of the internet and human nature when your connection with others is cut off by a pair of screens. But I think we can all work towards fostering healthier discourse, and sometimes that means letting a bad opinion lie (and this goes for either person here, since I think flare was ultimately praising a pretty cheap and simple detail). And I mean, to be clear, sometimes I'll also throw a rhetorical hand-grenade into the conversation for fun, but that's on purpose, because I am also an asshole in real life.
I think there’s a lesson to be learned here, and that’s to temper your expectations, whether they’re optimistic or pessimistic. Applying the whole doom and gloom lens to every aspect of something as trivial as a video game can’t be good for your mental health. I know some won’t like me calling your fandoms trivial, but in the greater scheme of things, let’s be honest with ourselves. At the same time, letting hype consume you is just as unhealthy. Years before it released I was already pumped and obsessed with Halo Infinite, and I’m severely paying for that now. It’s challenging obviously, but I think we all have to follow the thin gray line between always fixating on the worst and unchecked, uninhibited hype.
This reply is funnier in hindsight considering how quick you were to tear someone down for praising something in the new bossfight. Basically, just repeating what the other folks just said, kinda very unnecessary reaction
Not to cause any bad blood with you @Laura , my issue with your reply was it conflating my comment to an opinion I never made. Nor do I disagree with the point you outlined very well about Sonic's animations, I agree there is still a lot of jerky animations there. However I don't think it actually had much to do with me noticing their decision to make the walled enclosure act like a wrestling ring. I just liked the ring's little wiggling animation, that's all. As trivial as it may be or as irrelevant to the actual game in the end - I don't necessarily believe every comment on this thread has to be a detailed write up. I also like the screen shake the homing attack causes... but that may be a kettle of fish we aren't ready to talk about.
Unrelated note, speaking of that boss fight, i like how the boss sorta swells when sonic performs a cyloop on it, and then homing attacking it from there is what triggers the wall attack. It just looks neat, I also really like how serious roger sounds performing some of those special moves against it. Is it safe to say he's gonna be keeping that deeper cadence throughout the whole game? I hope so, I like it. I do agree though that the boss just kinda not animating while IT bounces off the walls looks a bit weird, but the only other thing I can think of that wouldnt also look weird would be to make it spin around while it does. I think that would hide it being static better. Otherwise, yeah, i think that boss fight looks fun, and Ares island in general excites me
Not that I sympathize with the attitude of bashing people for liking something they don't like, but what is the point of discussion in the first place? Aren't forums like this a place to share your viewpoint with others and attempt to get them to understand it? To challenge other viewpoints and persuade others to reflect on their own beliefs and opinions instead of trapping themselves in a bubble? I think we'd all be lying if we said that we didn't, even if in the smallest way, have a desire to persuade others to come to "our side" of the argument. Otherwise, all subjective discussion of Sonic would boil down to just: "I like Sonic thing" "I disagree, Sonic thing bad" "Okay"
The boss fights certainly look weird, I'm ngl. I don't really know how to feel about them. But then again, Sonic boss fights have never been particularly spectacular when you look at history. I recently got accused of giving too much thought to the cynical and vocal side of this fanbase on another forum and accused of arguing in bad faith about this series. So yea, I do think there is a point when we let ourselves get too deep in the negative bubble and it makes us look worse than we probably intend to. Its a very common occurrence when following a long running franchise when you feel like its no longer catering to your tastes and the direction it takes is one you don't resonate with. So there's a sense of resentment and betrayal for something that ultimately has no personal bearing on your life. Some realize it and try to curb a bit so as to not bring the mood down while others just don't care enough and are knee-deep in their bitterness. Its important to remember that despite how some of us may feel about the current direction of Sonic. There are more people who probably do like it and probably feel some type of way about a bunch of adults trashing it, justifiably or otherwise. Its the reason why talking about Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Colors is such a pain in the ass online. You can express your point but it's important to be mindful of the tone of your words...which the internet makes more difficult than necessary admittedly.
