In general I agree, but for the sake of discussion I'll entertain Vector's words because I do find them interesting at least. Sonic's always had a leaning more towards the Sci-Fi due to the original dichotomy of the series being Nature vs. Technology, with Sonic and Robotnik representing each sides obviously. But after Sonic Adventure began expanding on the lore of the Chaos Emeralds and introducing ancient creatures like Chaos into the mix, it definitely was starting to lean more towards fantastical elements. Suddenly the shift went from the Nature vs. technology dichotomy to expanding on the Sonic world as a whole through its fantastical elements. It went from things that were somewhat plausible in reality (How technology effects our environment) to straight up impossible (Fighting ancient demons as a Super Saiyan) Soooo, I'd say the fact that rather than Eggman unleashing yet another ancient demon that goes out of control, him actually using lost technology is an extremely novel concept since yea, that's something that hasn't been done before. Whenever Eggman uses outside forces, its' always been some fantastical element, with the exception of Emerl hilariously
Idk, you still "went Super Saiyan to fight...." a genetically enhanced lizard (SA2), a robot (Heroes), and an alien (Shadow) in that era. A pretty even split with the gods: Chaos (SA1), Solaris (06), and Dark Gaia (Unleashed).
It makes a bit more sense when you realize most of Sonic's content is from Japan, and they don't care anywhere near as much about that split as Western territories do. You'll have shit like Robots and Aliens exist in the same setting as magic and Dragons and nobody bats an eye.
I don’t see that being the case. SEGA is absolutely going to use the comic to advertise it in a timely manner and given the much tighter cohesion with the main brand the IDW book has, I can see them just giving us a timeskip and a panel indicating that Froniters took place in the interim.
Nah, we'll definitely get a tie-in of some sort even if it doesn't exist within the IDW canon. It might be something like the Forces promo comics or the old "another time another place" stories, but it'll be more elaborate than just an offhand mention. I don't know how prepared they are to do an Archie SA1-style adaptation (Archie's SA1 certainly wasn't) but a "here's this thing that happened" is way too sparse.
I wonder if the 2022 Style Guide might have some morsels of info regarding guidelines for things to be revealed in Frontiers. Though considering the game is launching late next year, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't.
And yet in the last 100 years we have come to see the creation of synthetic life, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, handheld supercomputers (all once science fiction), and yet still no witches, dragons or magic beanstalks... I don't deny that there have always been elements of fantasy within Sonic, I mean, the chaos emeralds and warp zones were always there, and Sonic being a blue hedgehog is obviously some sort of fantastical creature (although even some of that has been explained in a sci-fi manner)... Also by definition, the whole "fiction" element of "science fiction"... is fantasy. But let's not pretend this is merely a distinction without a difference. I mean, I think Star Wars and Star Trek would be entirely different beasts without the sci-fi premise. I'm saying the same thing about Sonic. Yes, there will always be a fantastical side to Sonic, I just personally think removing sci-fi would entirely alter (and slowly has been) the entire character and narrative of the series, just as it would for Star Wars, or the reverse for Lord of the Rings. It never ceases to amaze me the sheer number of people who consider this fundamental aspect to be insignificant. When you look at any prolific and regarded piece of media, they have sociological roots, and cultural metaphor. Yet the opposite seems to be Sega's approach much of the time; anything goes without consideration for the greater narrative or identity of the series long term. Example: The tornado is underpowered, let's just make it a jet and I guess Tails is a tech genius too. Now both sides have jets! Robotnik wants to degrade the planet in his pursuit of domination, let's just make Robotnik a simple authoritarian because no one wants to consider our parallels to modernity! The planets inhabitants are being commodified and transformed into zombie-like autonomous beings, let's just reduce our workload by a factor and design 4 robots instead of 20, no one will notice, we'll just remove the robotisation element... No one found that interesting anyway! We've neutered Robotnik and he isn't very interesting as a villain anymore, let's just summon a demon for the 12th time, no one is interested in "complicated" stories anyway, dial M for Magic! It's a bit odd to me, that we are all fans, some of us are HUGE fans, with Youtube Channels, and entire identities and reputations constructed around Sonic, and yet no one ever seems to want to dig into the deeper elements of the series. We talk about which model of Sonic is being used, and were the physics of this or that game quite right, but almost never does anyone want to really dig into the fundamental precepts. Instead you get sentiments like this above (and I don't mean to speak for you, just using this as a device), that essentially, it's all the same, none of it matters, when in reality it's the other half of the coin no one is paying adequate attention to. Sega certainly isn't, but then us fans aren't requiring them to. Then ironically, when you get a game that releases, like Mania, everyone gushes over it precisely because it is authentic, it captures the essence, this was more than just replicating physics or 16-bit. If it had been a nebulous clone it would have fizzled out quickly, or worse. And yet still, so many of us want to pretend this minutia is insignificant or meaningless. You often see these stereotypes of the ultra nerd-fans who are obsessed with every aspect and consequence of some media, and yet I don't see that in our Sonic fandom, no one really wants to go beyond the Gameplay itself or eye colour. (Of course some of you do, but it's almost imperceivable IMO). Ask yourself, when is the last time you watched a Youtube video about the core elements of Sonic's world and their significance? If anyone has a link, please share it, because I don't think I've ever seen anyone analyze this series on a deeper or more academic level. I'll finally just say, just because a person may not care about the "academic" side of some media, doesn't mean they aren't benefiting from a complex and thoughtful product. Whatever direction Sonic is headed in, I want to see more competency constructing and maintaining a deeper narrative, preferably, one that fits the narrative originally created with the initial inception of the series. If Sonic goes full fantasy, that's simply the last straw for me.
I actually agree with this fully, but I think gameplay is arguably more important. There's a reason blockbuster movies almost never make a tie-in game that's even remotely good. The story and perception of an IP don't necessarily correlate into a good gameplay experience. I think the thing that made Sonic so good is that the gameplay was priorities and the "story" was developed as part of it. I don't want to say that physics should be priorities over story because, like I said I completely agree with you, but the idea of looking 10 years into the future when designing media works much better for movies than games. the technology and ability to tell a story through video games will change so much in 10 years that I think I'd rather have Sega focus on making a Sonic game that's fun to play. Again I do agree with you. I think that's why when it comes to Star Trek, the Next Generation is better than the Original Series. They had a vision that they wanted to preserve going into the future.
In complete agreement with this. The blend of scifi and fantasy has always given the series a neat and unique flavor alongside the nature vs technology stuff. I also never really understood the idea that "Eggman is undermined as a villain if he isn't the final boss". While I agree this applies to games like 06 or Unleashed, I attribute that more to his lack of presence over the course of the game as a whole moreso than him simply not being the final boss. Games like SA2 for example are consistently credited as some of if not his best appearances and he surely wasn't the final boss in that game. Shadow and The ARK I would argue is squarely in the technology sector. Same with Black Doom, though he was kind of a warlock? So he was kinda both. Same with Metal Sonic in Heroes. Sonic Riders, he was after the Babylonians ancient technology as well. Thinking about it more though, in most cases, even the ancient mystical forces he was getting were mostly being obtained as effectively a battery for his own tech like Solaris or Dark Gaia. The more I think of it, the more Chaos seems like the outlier as Eggman simply unleashed him to use him as is to destroy Station Square. Even Time Eater first required the Eggmen to use their tech to control it. The Wisps energy was being harvested for a mind control weapon. The Deadly Six were enslaved because they could enhance and manipulate his machines with their EM powers, etc. I always just saw Sonic being a hedgehog as more just "animated cartoon character' more so than "fantasy creature". He is more "Mickey Mouse" than "The Hobbit".
I mean if it counts for anything, my older sister is into witchcraft lol. Afaik, witches do exist. Also, why do people automatically lump dragons and magic together? I mean, I get it, but the two concepts aren't mutually inclusive, yeah?
Witches don't exist. But anyways it would be really amazing if Frontiers is one of those 9th Gen games that can play at 120fps.
Cool, I'll tell my sister. You think she'll dissolve into dust now that the timeline doesn't account for her?
I literally finished FFXIV Endwalker last night and the seamless insane blend of fantasy and sci-fi is easily one of my favorite things about it. Hell, as of post-Stormblood it was made clear that the dragons are aliens.
When the framerate in the trailer the doesn't actually even show gameplay it's choppy, I think you might want to start looking for something else to amaze you.
Sorry, 1841 was when the term dinosaur was coined. I believe all previous references to dragons were actually stories/legends about dinosaurs.
