Currently averaging 73 on Metacritic for the PS5 version, which I think is safe to say is likely to be the best version of the game (the Switch version reviewers have noted is suffering for the lack of power, and why would you use the PS4 version as a comparison when it's on PS5? PC version is likely to be on par). Low to mid 70s sounds about right from what has been shown - not terrible, not outstanding either. As noted upthread, I'll probably look into this when it reaches £20 - moreso because of the fact one reviewer specifically says "this thankfully isn't an openworld game", which removes one of the big three problems I had with it. The other two, the overly-serious writing and the combat, may be worth dealing with at that price for the Cyberspace stages, it depends how Werehog-esque the fighting is and how much it can be avoided. I still don't understand those who are comparing the overworld controls in this to SA2's, saying Sonic controlled well in SA2, by the way - he was overly twitchy, would easily fly off platforms, and was a pain in the arse to do precision jumping with (much like any 3D Sonic title, in fairness for that last part). I genuinely don't see how that game can be used as a benchmark of good controls. Frontiers the jury is still out on until I get the opportunity to do it myself. Spoiler Am I petty for hoping that the PS5 Frontiers Metacritic score of 73 stays under Sonic Colours Wii's Metacritic score of 78? Yeah, probably, so you don't even need to call this out
The IGN review of Flynn's writing seemed to be fair. Too indulgent in fan references and reliant on cliches but strong at characterisation.
Played a few cyberspace stages and they're definitely a lot of fun, but my god the Red Rings are completely piss worthless in those lol They're all just standing in plain sight, I've gotten all 5 of them on my first go in the 4 stages I've done so far. I think dropping their number to 3 or 2 per stage would've been a better idea, since the stages are so short. It would've allowed for them to be much better hidden because god damn
News regarding the Steam release date: https://twitter.com/KatieChrz/status/1589698300718219264?s=20&t=pYohz5H2Qz8asp71OfIiSg
Yeah, SA2's controls are ass but Frontiers feels sublime. I felt like Sonic was doing exactly what I wanted him to at all times, though I am intrigued to see if any "definitive" settings pop up within the community after the launch proper.
I wonder if the subpar reviews will discourage Sonic Team from pursuing another project of this magnitude again.
I saw someone on ResetEra say "The game feels like playing a late-00s Sonic AMV. It's probably gonna score in the low to mid 70s." Looks like he called it It does seem like a fair review going off from what I've seen of the game. I think people are on edge since 3D Sonic hasn't had a (widely agreed upon, anyway) good game since Generations, and Mania giving 2D Sonic games a bone to play with probably made it worse
Honestly kinda surprised there seems to be very little chaos regarding the reviews, and most of the reviews that I skimmed through (didnt fully read/watch because potential for spoilers) seem to come to the general consensus that the core gameplay is great and has potential and the character writing is good, but everything else is really rough. Was really worried this was gonna be a Lost World situation where the pre-release was positive but the full game dropped the ball but no, what we saw in all the previews is what we're gonna be playing tomorrow.
I guess it does what it needs too, aside from telling it's own naritive, the story had two clear goals: 1) Cement the recent cannon reshuffle 2) Get the new potential sonic fans interested in the other sonic games. Yes these are cool throwbacks for us, that doesn't mean they're intended specifically for us though, people are going to want to play all these cool adventures sonic has had... oh look, a collection that has all the classic games and they're packaged in a way that is very convinient to a casual audience!
I fucking hope not. If this game meets my expectations, I will want nothing more than to grab Iizuka by the shoulders and scream and him "YOU SEE THIS?! DON'T ABANDON IT. ITERATE ON IT. TAKE ANOTHER FIVE YEARS, LISTEN TO THE FEEDBACK AND MAKE FRONTIERS 2 THE UNDISPUTED BEST GAME IN THE SERIES." I should hope that the adage of SEGA throwing the baby out with the bath water is well know enough at this point that they'll be less hasty in the future.
Nah, if this Sonic Team is anything like the one from the early Boost games they'll actually see that reviewers like the core gameplay and want that but polished, they were going hard on hyping up Frontiers as the future of Sonic so itd be very strange to turn back and push out a subpar unimaginative Boost game again
I think the problem is the cyber stages are so basic there's almost no place to hide them. I think you also literally have to collect all 5 at once for it to count for anything, so they couldn't make them too hard.
Game reminds me a lot of Unleashed in some ways, and while it wasn't perfect we ended up with Colours and Gens later down the road that most people would agree are an improvement (not me tho but that's neither here nor there) Then they made Lost World, a game I love showing tons of potential...and just completely abandoned the gameplay formula and will probably never touch it again. So what's it gonna be? I certainly hope it's the former, and I think we all do really lol. Izuka saying he wants this to be the next decade of Sonic games is certainly reassuring, even if it realistically means 2 games at most with the snail pace they're releasing those at nowadays lol Oh damn, really? I had no idea, makes a lot more sense then. It's more about collecting them all in one run instead of finding them in obscure places, I can dig that EDIT: just checked and nope, they between runs even if you haven't gotten them all
Even with us only seeing a very small portion of the game, the general consensus seemed to be "yeah this game isn't gonna blow the doors off their hinges, but it should be alright if not the usual Sonic jank", and everyone who's broken the street date generally confirms that. So anyone with bigger expectations really set themselves up for that problem. Biggest thing I see really is Iizuka saying Sonic Team really wanted high review scores this time around so some folks wanted to have mediocre reviews to dunk on them, but that's just the usual toxicity discourse of Sonic nowadays.
The scores are def better than many of their recent memory games, if it sells well or not I think will determine their future course. A quasi open world Sonic that is mostly fun but with a bit of jank? Sounds like I’ll have fun with this. I’ve enjoyed much worse, maybe this one can still be my favorite 3D Sonic… after Generations.
I would hope that they re-evaluate the direction and try again. A lot of the criticism so far seems to be that they're still holding on to the remnants of the boost formula, like they're still afraid to 100% commit to something new. Also seen people say that the map doesn't exactly feel like it was made for Sonic, with the abscence of slopes, natural loops, halfpipes and stuff like that. What we need to do is be concise with criticism so that they know which parts people liked and what needs to be done differently.
Yeah at this point I still see Cyberspace as basically being the Classic Sonic of Frontiers. It looks so janky and slapped on just because they wanted to make sure there was some familiarity for series fans but didn't actually dedicate much to it besides old level gimmicks recreated and a ton of unique music.
I want to highlight this review from Skill Up, the reviewer brings up really good points about the world design and how Frontiers is a good template for future Sonic games. Specifically, he mentions that there is no difference between the biomes besides how they look, and how they didn't dress up their traversal challenges (like the rails and platforms suspended in midair) in a way that matches their environment
Because its a Sonic game in 2022. People's expectations have been lowered since forever. So a 74 feels like a 94.
Did anyone actually expect this game to get a metacritic score above the 70's? I remember 73 - 78 being where most people thought the game would be.
