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

I don't know if this is worth posting about but I randomly came across this image posted by the official Japanese SEGA account on twitter way back in November and it has what I think is unseen concept art for either Frontiers or a new game entirely? Or maybe just custom art for the office lol

 

There was a hunt to see if people could find a section of Frontiers or concept art that matched what's on the wall.

But no one found anything that I know of. It could be something that was unreleased unless they were bold and decided to plaster something for their new game on the wall.

 

yeah I saw someone posted this screenshot from Forces and suggested that it was repurposed into concept art for a new game

but even so, why would they have concept art for a new game up for everyone to see? Unless they're intentionally teasing something lol

 

If anyone cares they finally showed the full image, I don't think it's related to a new game at all. They definitely used that screenshot from Forces as a reference lol

https://x.com/sega_official/status/1902556500725526713?s=46

 

It's likely Frontiers 1 concept art but AFAIK there's no open zone that looks close to that so it's still a fresh concept anyway. I'm all for putting marble pillars everywhere if they use them to emphasize interacting with slopes.

 

they say it was a comissioned oil painting by the fine artist Naoya Inose, I guess flat marble structures are a common motif in his paintings lol

 

Wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve been thinking about how they can avoid having to overly rely on a set of generic platform tiles that are very disconnected from the game world and instead bake them into it while visually being clear what their function is.

 

As someone who does consistent perspective studies every single day, I can't blame him lmao. Squares are fun to draw!! I sort of wish we got something more like this in Frontiers, huge metal plating infused with the organic landmass, like the architecture seen on Halo rings. I don't know what Sonic Team has been using, but they can't seem to throw metal textures
& geometry around willy-nilly and make it work, it's almost impressive.

 

I kind of like this aesthetic more than what we ended up getting. The literal paint-over of Green Hill terrain (architecture?) gives it familiar shapes but made up of incredibly old yet strangely sleek stone structures. It's a fitting look for ancient, potentially alien ruins in the world of Sonic.

 

They already did floating platforms that fit with the level aesthetic in Unleashed and in Shadow. Next they need to do more than floating geometry.

 

The flat, starkly artificial structures would've given some seriously needed contrast to Frontiers' weirdly naturalistic landscapes. On top of already being an elegant fit for Sonic thematically.

They would be nuts not to lean into this style for Frontiers 2. I'd love to just play around in this painting as Sonic. See if those 'ramps' could get me over that dam.

 

To be honest, I'm not trying to hate on the artist because they are obviously very talented, but I really don't like these pieces and would hate a sonic game to look like this. The brutalist grey featureless concrete just feels too bleak and overwhelming to me. It's a little depressing. If an entire game looked like that I'd feel like we would have missed the opportunity for a more impressive art direction.

 

I think it would be a really interesting look for a single level. Or say, if Kronos Island had leaned into that approach in Frontiers. It would be a bit much for an entire game to take that entire approach though.

 

yeah I think one of the big problems with Frontiers aesthetically was that a lot of the grind rails and platforms didn't really gel with the environments they were in. For a single level this would be fine, but I'd hope the next game has more traditional Sonic-y design with loops, ramps and half-pipes being a natural part of the terrain. Or they could have it take place in a city where that type of design would look less unnatural.

 

The classic games had plenty of artificial loops ramps and half pipes. 'Traditional Sonic-y design' already infuses garish metallic structures into naturalistic environments. I think it could work really well especially within the context of being Eggman or Ancient structures. Maybe for just one island though, sure.

 

They already had those glowing generic walls, just not attached seamlessly into the environment, and rather floating in space.