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

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

  1. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    This is the exact reason I bought a PS5 (Well, I didn't own a PS4 either). I buy PS4 versions because they come with free PS5 upgrades and then those PS5 versions usually have a separate trophy list for them. Two games for the price of one.
     
  2. Starduster

    Starduster

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    Regarding the idea of Super Sonic showing up for all the big boss fights, honestly I don't see the issue. Given we have several games where Sonic can go Super at will and even some where he can do it in the levels but not for the bosses, I don't really see how this cheapens the effect. In fact, I think it's a novel setup that hasn't been done before within the context of the story. I don't think there'll be any particular story revelations that come out of it, mind, but I do think the dynamic will at least be fresh. Not to mention Super Sonic, due to the nature of being a limited time transformation usually reserved for the end of the game, doesn't get much screen time in cutscenes, so it'll be nice if we get a lot of glorious new CG with him.
     
  3. Taylor

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    Pokemon fans are like that, too, right down to the "A Team vs B Team" stuff.

    Anyhow, the new trainer does do the game more favors. Still not really hyped, not too fond of the art direction and the grinding, and I'm wary of how well boost controls will mesh with open world elements.
     
  4. RDNexus

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    Oh, I saw that vid. I thought there'd be more, especially from Gamecom goers eager to expose more stuff online ^^"
     
  5. VectorCNC

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    I feel like people aren't appreciating the aspect of selling the console when I'm done... I like the suggestion of getting the used PS5. If I pick up a used PS5 for $800 CAD, use it for a month, and sell it for $900-700, then I really haven't spent anything. Further, the concept of "worth" is subjective to the individual and their circumstances. But thank you everyone, picking up a used console and reselling it seems like a formula for success to me!
     
  6. Starduster

    Starduster

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    If you're set on doing that, I'd go for an Xbox SeX since the price of PS5s is about to go up in all regions except the US, but of course there's no guarantee your trade-in price will go up in proportion with that, so you'd either have to import from the US or go through the rigmarole of a private sale.

    As with the IGN First materials, the gameplay seems to have been supplied by SEGA themselves rather than captured at Gamescom by news outlets.
     
  7. foXcollr

    foXcollr

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    Honestly I think just buying and selling used is the way to go for your specific case, assuming PS5s are still selling like hot cakes when the game releases. But maybe that's just me since I have sadly had to sell a lot of consoles secondhand

    Re: Super Sonic, I honestly think this franchise has a long-running issue with Super Sonic being terribly anticlimactic and sort of un-fun to play. The YouTuber Chaomix did a whole video essay on it that I strongly agreed with. Going Super rarely builds upon any mechanics that are established in the main game, other than the air dashing. It usually sets up for some kind of mini-game / QTE / titan simulator that doesn't really feel like a satisfying extension of the character you're playing. It's all about spectacle and making the most "cinematic" fight they possible can, often with multiple characters, multiple playstyles, and sometimes it literally switches between multiple genres of game. Personally, I think it might be better if they space out a few super fights the way the leaks suggested, then you have a few opportunities to play the character and there's an actual progression to the mechanics, rather than playing the entire game as Sonic and then suddenly - instead of a super challenging final level - you just swap to a different game.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2022
  8. charcoal

    charcoal

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    Honestly, you're completely right. I've always been more in love with the concept and awesomeness of just going ham on the big bad as one or more super hedgehogs with epic music playing in the background, but as for the gameplay? It's ass. I love the final showdown in SA2 with the biolizard and Live & Learn blasting in the background but when it comes to the actual gameplay it's just a piss easy experience that feels rather underwhelming from a mechanical perspective. You just hit the biolizard a couple times and it's over.

    Hopefully Frontiers' super showdown will have the gameplay match the presentation in terms of coolness, because zipping through the air/space as Super Sonic really does have a lot of potential for fun.
     
  9. Laura

    Laura

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    Super Sonic has never been great gameplay entertainment. Super Sonic has been sterile over the last ten years because it is played straight and by the numbers. No one really cares about Super Sonic for its gameplay advantages.

    You need two things to make Super Sonic engaging.

    Firstly, you need spectacle. Sonic 2 started well with a great theme song and spritesheet. Even having a main character transform back then was cool. The spectacle steadily improved between Sonic 3 to Adventure 2 with impressive climactic boss fights. Usually in cool settings too.

    I'd say standards dropped with Heroes. The idea was good but it was arguably a less impressive version of what Sonic 3 and Adventure 2 did. I think all future games followed suit in making dull space battles. While the Super Sonic final boss would probably have gotten old anyway, I think a key reason for it's waning in popularity was how dull and uninteresting the final bosses had become.

    But I also think the second key ingrediant is originality. Super Sonic was effective in Sonic 2 because it was brand new. Doomsday in Sonic 3 introduced flying. Perfect Chaos introduced Super Sonic in 3D. I think it's no surprise that DarkSpines Sonic had something of a cult following.a dark Super Sonic with imperfect power, a strikingly different design, and aggressive outlook made him original and striking.

    I'd say Super Sonic was best in Sonic Adventure 2 because they got the best of both worlds. I think it's easily the best spectacle in the series with great story impetus reinforcing it. It was original too, not just because it introduced flying in 3D but also the concept of two Super forms fighting together and changing characters mid battle. The boss fight itself is rather simplistic in design but no one cares about that. It's why I don't care that Super Sonic's gameplay isn't a challenge of what the player has learned. A Super Sonic boss shouldn't be the final challenge, it should be a cool way to bookend what the player has accomplished upon the game's climax.

    i think a key reason Super Sonic has been boring lately is because Sonic Team haven't done anything new with it. Generations allowed flying mid level which was cool, but it was handicapped by extreme ring absorption so you couldn't experience it much. Flying in Mania is fun but requires a cheat code. But other than that they just haven't done anything new with it.

    Frontiers could be a great new version of Super Sonic if implemented well. I imagine the spectacle could be great when fighting titans. They are taking the story seriously too which could bump the climactic moments up.

    Frontiers is also doing something new by having multiple boss fights which need to be tackled by Super Sonic in different ways. If Super Sonic has eloborate combos, which is likely with the combat focus, then even better too.
     
  10. SuperSnoopy

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    Slice of life visual novel, coming soon...?
    While Super Sonic has always been somewhat lame gameplay wise, I think Frontiers is in a perfect position to break the mould.

    Since the gameplay is heavily geared toward combat they simply have to make Super Sonic a Devil Trigger-like ability that gives Sonic insanely fast/powerful combos, on top of the usual invincibility that would actually be worth a damn this time around, unlike the boost games where Sonic is already invincible in most circumstances anyway.
    Et voilĂ ! An awesome implementation of Super Sonic in gameplay...in my opinion anyway.

    Having a cinematic scripted fight where you fly around attacking the titans would be cool too, I guess...but I feel this is the first time they don't really have to do this to make the Super form feel special, since they built an entire combat system they can tweak/modify to make the player feel powerful.
     
  11. Blue Spikeball

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    Actually I do. Unlocking Super Sonic and blazing through the levels as him is one of my favorite parts about the 2d games. And I know I'm not alone, seeing how "make Super Sonic playable in regular levels again" was one of the most common fan requests in the noughties.

    And yeah, the Super Sonic boss fights have gone downhill after SA2. So has pretty much everything gameplay-wise. Heroes, Shadow and 06 had crappy bosses, so of course the final bosses were no exception.

    As for the boost games, the common complaint I see about Super Sonic is just that he's so nerfed. In Colors he takes away Sonic's ability to use Wisps. In Generations his boost drains rings super fast. In Forces the levels are really dumbed down and automated, so Super Sonic doesn't offer much of an advantage. So to me it sounds like the problem is modern implementations failing to live up to previous standards, rather than the concept becoming stagnant.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2022
  12. qwertysonic

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    creating the biggest sonic collection
    Sonic mania says hi
     
  13. Mana

    Mana

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    Until we hear about what happened with Mania and unless someone explicitly says they decided not to do a sequel "just because" I'm going to assume there was way more going on with that story than we think.

    And even if there wasn't maybe Whitehead and his team didn't want to do a sequel. They have evening star now and their own original IP they're working on. Maybe SEGA didn't want to do a sonic mania sequel without them.

    Totally different situation that an in house Sonic game that has a staff that will still be on payroll after Frontiers comes out.
     
  14. synchronizer

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    The movement still looks iffy like in Lost World and Forces, or does it look any better to anyone?
     
  15. Super Sonic was the best in Sonic Adv for me, because it was just used in a limited way and just to finish the game probably in the ultimate Sonic form; I loved the touch of how the Sonic Team recorded the visitors at the New Challenge Sonic event, chanting Sonic 3 times, to be recorded and played in the final game. That was such a nice touch and so 'SEGA' at the time in having real Sonic fans chant SONIC to be used in a Sonic game.

    Sonic Frontiers just looks better and better now, and not long to go...
     
  16. Josh

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    Generations did that, too! I'm not sure where Japan's was recorded, but I know they had the crowd say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC!" at Summer of Sonic 2011 for the European version, and at Sonic Boom 2011 in the US. (The PC version was built off of the former, so you get British accents in it regardless!)
     
  17. I knew about Generation, but never knew it was in Sonic Boom. I loved the touch of getting the fans to cheer Sonic in Adv, the team were really trying so hard to make the best Sonic game. The amount of work and money that when into Sonic Adv was incredible
     
  18. Starduster

    Starduster

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    Big tinfoil hat post, but this final shot from the overview trailer feels like a "I'm about to transform into Super Sonic shot" if I've ever seen one. Even if it's not, the shot itself is very intriguing so I'm certainly going to be wondering about the context for a while.
    upload_2022-9-2_10-40-2.png
     
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  19. Anyone who's played Persona should understand that shot composition.
     
  20. Josh

    Josh

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    Agreed, it seems like I find more and more adoration for that game as time goes on. It was the last time Sonic was treated as... well, these days we'd call it a "Triple A" franchise, but back then, it was a killer app. With all the resources that went along with it. A buddy of mine pointed out a few years ago that if any game deserved to be regarded as "the real Sonic 4," it's Sonic Adventure.
     
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