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

I'm guessing it means Sonic's world and the "digital" world. At least going with that leak that was posted a few pages ago.

 

Omg the two-worlds will reverse to one-world in this very game!

 

Sonic The Hedgehog newest ADVENTURE?
Oh. My. God. It's SONIC ADVENTURE 3!

But seriously, the Ghost Girl could be gone, a lot of things can be changed during development. Maybe Amy plays her role now, or we'll see Tikal? I mean, Ian is writing this stuff - so it makes sense to place Amy in some kind of important role - not some random Ghost Girl.

The digital world is somewhat interesting. Still reminds me of that scrapped Sonic Mars plot.

 

You kid, but I'm betting they worded it that way to elicit that exact response.

 

As a meager development, the following synopsis has been removed by a handful of websites:

Updates on Nintendo Everything and Sonic Stadium's articles state that Sega has reached out and told them that the above passage is incorrect. Polygon, the initial source of the text, has seemingly removed the quoted content without note or acknowledgment. The original text can be seen in this archive for reference.

 

Amy is sometimes mentioned to have an interest in mysticism and divining as a minor character detail. There was a thread about it not too long ago but I'm too lazy to dig it up on mobile. If the disembodied voice is her, it would be a cool way to have that finally come into play, even if she is just an assist character.

 

The plot thickens... or uh, thins substantially. Wonder if the edited-out "Amy" subtitles are also from an earlier, now "incorrect" draft. That wouldn't really explain the posts from the JP voice actors, though... hm.

 

Man. The more details I hear the more the game sounds like a blatant Breath of the Wild rip-off.

Oh well. Should still be good as long as they don't botch the gameplay.

 

Polygon was the only place to post that synopsis originally, with everyone else citing Polygon if they posted it too. We don't know what Polygon's original source was, but their article on Frontiers went live only a minute or two after the trailer dropped at the Game Awards. They were clearly ready for it with a press release at hand. The question is whether that plot details came from a press release with more information than intended (ala the working title of "Sonic Rangers" back in May) or was it an independent source? I'm not entirely convinced just yet that it was entirely false, but more like it was something SEGA didn't want to be out just yet. I hope it was false though, so that the story can be introduced to us more effectively later.

 

The 2019 leak contains a virtually identical synopsis, fwiw. I think it's possible that the synopsis is somewhat outdated and Sega didn't want it to spread around as a result.

 

Of course. I completely forgot about that somehow.

 

So what could have changed I wonder in the first draft

 

It's worth noting that IF there were a Press Release containing this information, Polygon would almost certainly not be the exclusive party to receive it and publications would not be citing and quoting just them in their own articles. The reasonable assumption is that there'd be a press/outlet list that would collectively receive a non-public access Press Release. When looking at precedent, such a thing wouldn't have content variations when finalized either. As such, outlets would be getting a reviewed, universal, and standardized message in this kind of context.

I'd be more onboard with the possibility of the unintended Press Release variation if it were datamined/leaked from the page source of a public Press Release on one of Sega's own front-facing channels. As of now, I'm skeptical that the quote came from Sega, especially considering the odd wording of the copy. However, with Polygon being the only outlet I've yet seen with an updated article that hasn't acknowledged communication with Sega or even the change in their piece despite others doing so, I'm made even more curious about the reality of the situation and what potential talks with a Sega rep look like on their end.

 

I actually think it would be smart for Sega to copy BOTW in terms of the plot progression mechanic, it has 2 benefits: First, if Sega had tried to create something entirely new, it almost certainly would have been poorly executed, and then, history has taught us that rather than learn and refine the approach for the next installment, Sega would just throw it away and begin making all new mistakes. This gives Sega the ability to look at the pros and cons from BOTW and capitalize on them. Second, Sonic deserves a lot of criticism, but to an extent there exists a lot of animosity towards the franchise which is undeserved. At least by copying BOTW, the worst anyone can say about this aspect is that it’s the same as one of the most critically acclaimed games, albeit from 2017. People are still playing BOTW and loving it, so Sonic could emulate worse…


Also, regarding the reported aspects of the plot which may be true, that Robotnik has created an AI run amuck, I’m actually very relieved to hear this. There was talk about Robotnik not being present, monsters without robots, and this game representing a new chapter (decade) for the series, so I was very worried of a further tonal shift which was likely to alienate me entirely. Many of you have probably heard me lament Sonic’s continuous drift away from sci-fi, toward fantasy/supernatural, and that I think it’s lazy because it’s essentially magic, which by definition defies explanation, and is superficial. Whereas AI going rouge is a traditional sci-fi trope, and provided some reassurance to me.


I thought… if Sonic ditches Robotnik, and goes full supernatural, this represents a dramatic shift for the series. I saw a couple Youtubers react to these rumored changes with a bat of the eye, “sounds good”, without further contemplation. It shocks me that to some people perceive these sorts of changes to be so immaterial… I envisioned 10 years from now everyone looking back at this decision and realizing it to be another one of those changes that seemed innocuous, but upon reflection represented another fracturing and neutering.


It’s death by a thousand cuts which continually dilutes the Sonic series. I know a lot of us are such fan boys; we are so invested ourselves that we fail to see the bigger picture. We have so much love for the series, so much emotional attachment, that we fail to extract ourselves and ask what the series is doing today to create the sort of depth that creates lifelong fans, perhaps the sort of depth that we experiences as children ourselves when we were indoctrinated. Other examples of this shallowness and lack of continuity present today would include Robotnik utilizing renewable energy, and ultramodern technology as compared to the more dieselpunk variety of the classics.


I basically saw this timeline: gritty polluting technology --> ultramodern clean renewable technology --> technology replaced by monsters --> Sonic the Vampire Slayer

 

Maybe. Or they can just not adapt the story until years out like Archie did after the forced SA2 thing.

 

If anything, I'd be all for going back to fantasy elements. I never had this issue that many did with the "monster of the week" format of the 2000s. In fact I rather enjoyed it, as it allowed the games to explore and expand on Sonic's world and lore and have a different final boss for every game, instead of being always just Eggman and his world-conquering attempts.

You call the fantasy elements "lazy", when the way I see it Sonic has had lazier and blander stories since they did away with them in Colors. While I didn't find the stories of games like '06 or Unleashed's particularly great, as I thought the quality of the writing wasn't on par with their ambition, I appreciated that they had more to offer than "Eggman is trying to take over the world again. Kick his ass!"

Obviously I wouldn't be in favor of doing away with Eggman or his robots either. Literally one of my favorite parts about the series is the blend of scifi and fantasy. It has been like that since the beginning. In Sonic 1 Eggman wanted to take over the world and had his army of robots, but to attain that goal he sought to collect six mystical gems said to possess great power. The game had scifi environments like Scrap Brain, as well as more fantasy-esque areas like Marble Zone. S2 and especially S3K further expanded on the scifi and fantasy elements.

 

There have been a lot of rumors and false leaks going around about this game but there’s something I was hoping that some of the knowledgeable folks in these parts could confirm or deny: I heard that some of the folks who worked on Sonic Adventures (and left sega) have returned for Frontiers. I also heard that Sonic Team went on a trip like they did with SA1 to get inspiration for locals. There any truth to this or is this all malarkey?

 

There are no reports or statements indicating/claiming either of these things from any reputable journalistic or official source.

 

This is what I was thinking of! Thanks