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

Someone ELI5 the beef between Sonic and IGN

 

Not sure about the exact numbers but I think the game will do well. I see people getting nervous about the new God of War taking the spotlight, but Sonic has a completely different demographic. Ragnarok will clearly do better, but overall Sonic's sales won't be affected. Helps that it's multiplatform, too.

 

Honestly I think Mitchell Saltzman should be the one reviewing this for IGN. He’s consistently been the anchor through all the preview coverage and I can’t fault his commitment to being fair and impartial towards the game, downplaying neither the good nor bad to focus on the other and generally just presenting measured and sensible commentary about the game, not to mention he’s probably more familiar with Frontiers than anyone else at IGN.

Whether IGN gives Frontiers a good score or not means little to me, but it seems like a no-brainer to let Saltzman cover it. He seems to me like he’d do a brilliant job at telling casuals what they need to know before they buy.

 

IGN had a podcast around the time Mania and Forces (Project Sonic 2017) were announced and the staff there were like 'Sonic was never good!" That coupled with a few very negative reviews (and one of questionable scrutiny in their Unleashed) review means that they've been Sonic Fan Public Enemy #1.

Even if having a different person than the previewer review the game wasn't common at IGN, Staltzman is taking time of to be there for his wife's labor, I believe.

 

IGN has released some... Misleading, to say the least, reviews of Sonic games in the past such as their scathing SA1 review, which is obviously written by someone who never played it because it references the boost and 2D sections like they're mechanics in SA1, or their Unleashed review that just straight up lies about things like the game having input registration issues, and of course their infamous 'Sonic was never good' quote, have all caused Sonic fans to have a general distaste for IGN, and for good reason.

They've mostly cleaned up their act now when it comes to Sonic, giving the recent games pretty fair review scores, but I can't blame anyone for not trusting them at all. (Especially considering this is the same company that consistently gives the yearly Call of Dutys and other triple A trash like that scores of 80 and above because they're obviously paid off by the game devs.)

 

Yea I made an account here way back when episode 2 was still new and only used it to lurk until finally getting approved this year, really has been fun to engage here.

 

Frontiers also has the added benefit of being on every major videogame platform including PC and last-gen consoles, whereas Ragnarok will be exclusive to PS4/PS5.

 

the game right now is doing well on Amazon FWIW, actually being #4 at the moment for best selling PS5 games, take that as you well

 

https://xcancel.com/KazuyukiHoshino/status/1587207734289891328

I guess we are getting a countdown in form of art until the game releases. I assume the drawn arts will be Frontiers-related.

 

"My body is ready."

I bet there's going to be an illustration for Sage and the Titans.

 

Not gonna look through previous pages, but the game can be pre-loaded on PlayStation as of right now.

 

Don't worry, there haven't been any real leaks. All of the broken street date copies appear to have been hoaxes. I'm sure it'll happen, but not for a few days yet.

Also, Prologue coming tomorrow.

E: This unassuming Halloween celebration tweet has Frontiers music in it, according to Ohtani.

 

Eh, I just platinumed Unleashed and I did pretty frequently get dropped inputs. I don’t think that’s a lie. It was on PS3 so it MAY just be related to the crappy performance there but I don’t recall the 360 one well enough to comment on it.

 

I remember writing about IGN's Unleashed review and controversy on my fan-site at the time of launch. If I recall correctly, users were able to check the reviewer's Xbox Live profile and confirm that he had only beaten around half of the game. Understandably, the community was upset because not only were the complaints invalid but the reviewer hadn't even properly played the game at a time everyone was anticipating a new release after '06.

 

Ah, I wasn’t aware, sorry. I’ve only played the 360 version where (in my experience) it has pretty much no issues of that manner. I figured both versions would be the same in that department. Sorry for spreading misinformation.

 

ive also only played the 360 version, and i cant recall any missed inputs either. I know the 360 version is more stable, so maybe that'd be the difference?

 

I'd rather people be annoying because something is good than because they can't accept that it's bad.

That said, this still isn't exactly GOTY material. I think consistent 7s-8s is what we're looking at as long as it holds together. But hey, that's okay. Some of the greatest works of art ever made are 7/10s. Like SA2. Or The Last Jedi. Or Homestuck.

IGN rated Fire and Ice a 7/10, if their credibility for Sonic reviews were on the line, it would have gone up with them being nice to a Sonic Boom game. The issue with most critics, in my experience, is that they don't share Sonic fans' values. And I don't mean that in a "liking vs. not liking a game" sense, but that they don't think a lot of Sonic games are good or bad for the reasons fans do. I mean, the SA1360 lies and the Unleashed video are just fuckin' embarrassing, but I can't help but remember Yahtzee Croshaw talking about how classic Sonic was the most tolerable, even relaxing part of Forces, when fans generally consider him the stupidest thing about that game. Sure, a Sonic game with rolling physics and no scripting on springs or dash panels would probably review well, but that's because the design ethos taken to make a game that way would also pay close enough attention to good Sonic design to make other good decisions, not because those things fundamentally make or break a game. I don't think fans or critics necessarily understand this. Fans tend to not see the forest for the trees, and critics tend to not care enough to pay close attention. Reviewing games for IGN isn't a passion, it's a job.

 

IGN also gave Sonic 4 episode I an 8/10 which is waaay more than that game deserves (funnily enough it was reviewed by the same guy who gave the infamous Unleashed review)

anyways that's all I'll say because I think we're getting a bit carried away with the IGN stuff lol

I definitely think this is true. As much as Sonic fans want a game that focuses on these somewhat niche things that we believe to be core parts of Sonic's game design, it's not really the sort of thing that would generate much buzz to a mainstream audience, but I guess that sort of depends on how it's marketed.

Right now "open-world Sonic" is a concept that generates buzz and grabs people's attention. Most people probably would not care if the game had rolling physics or proper momentum because they don't really pay attention to that kind of thing. It would be cool if that became a mainstream opinion outside the core fanbase of Sonic nerds.

 

Its like that with a lot of video game franchises, not just Sonic. The niche stuff that the fanbase obsesses over isn't what mainstream outlets care about. Its why there's usually this divide between casual fans and hard-core ones depending on which side is being catered to.

Sonic Mania is certainly a great game in its own right, but I highly doubt many people outside this website just how much effort went into it. Especially since most people still just label it as "a fangame". It probably gets more attention for being "a nostalgic throwback" than the fact its a completely reimagined engine.

Honestly I kind of wish Sonic games were more niche; not out of some misplaced hatred of casuals, but I do feel like Sega are all too willing to bend to the will of the masses even if they have to sacrifice Sonic's core identity to do it.

Its never a good feeling when it feels like you're a longtime fan and it feels like the products are no longer being made with you in mind when better franchises can expand their reach while retaining their core so to speak. You can see that with other franchises with current releases like Resident Evil VIIIage, or Devil May Cry 5.

Sonic sacrificed his core a long time ago imo.