New Characters, Story and DLC Revealed for Sonic Frontiers in 2023 Content Roadmap

I doubt the characters will be super massive, but I'm hoping for maybe 3 episode shadow-like adventures. Maybe taking place after the main game, on each of their own teased solo adventures.

Give each character maybe 1 island worth of stuff to do, and their own reasons for returning (Amy's interest in koco/love, knux interest in civilizations older than the echidnas, tails interest in ancients tech). 

1 island, 1 boss, 1 mini-sequel story for each character would be nice to see. Maybe even some cyberspace levels designed around abilities (knux glide, tails flight, amys...existing, I guess?)

Have a "final" story after all are completed a la heroes thats purely a boss fight with The End returning with a proper boss fight this time, switching between the 4 characters for each phase a la heroes again.

And if all we get are sonic skins for cyberspace, that'd still be cool. I'd love running around the sky sanctuary stages as knux.

I guess the condition where these characters will be playable is during the main story. The way the game ended, it feels unlikely that the gang will come back to the Starfall Islands. Which means... Their levels will be in cyberspace, I assume? We really will ever know much later, they can literally go anywhere tbh. 

Anyone want to do an avatar bet that Shadow will be paid DLC? 

I'm not really sure why Shadow isn't one of the first DLC characters we get, considering he requires the least amount of thought to be put in a game that was built only around playing as Sonic.  Indeed, Sonic in this game plays in some regards like 06 Shadow, so implementing playable Shadow would be as simple as giving him the same basic moveset as Sonic but a few tweaked stats and different fighting moves.

Of the characters actually in this game, Amy would likely be the easiest, for the same reason.  The average of her playable roles so far would give us something like Sonic, but a bit slower, with a jump that isn't balled but can go higher, and ability to hit harder in close combat.

Tails and Knuckles, I do expect their movement abilities to be limited or countered in some way but it's anyone's guess exactly how.  I don't fancy what sort of arbitrary crap they'd bump into in a game that already nerfs Sonic's own air movement to keep him from cheesing terrain too hard with his speed...despite that this used to be a lot of the point of Sonic games.  However, since there's going to be a "New Story" bundled with the characters in Update 3, there's certainly a good chance that the way they'll get around this is confining them into "Post-Game" content, at a time in the game when Sonic has already conquered much of its current challenges.

That's the thing, though. They might have a more ambitious idea for these characters than Shadow can provide.

They also might have plans to tie it into the story, and, well, Shadow wasn't a part of this story at all.

1 hour ago, dudebro1993 said:

Anyone want to do an avatar bet that Shadow will be paid DLC? 

Did you miss the fact that all of this is free

7 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

Did you miss the fact that all of this is free

Shadow hasn't been mentioned, so he might not be free. It's like in the Forces mobile game where he's unlikely to appear in battle chests, but you'll have to pay money to guarantee you'll rank up.

Have they confirmed they won't do paid DLC? They could have paid and free DLC.

43 minutes ago, Wraith said:

That's the thing, though. They might have a more ambitious idea for these characters than Shadow can provide.

They also might have plans to tie it into the story, and, well, Shadow wasn't a part of this story at all.

They could easily do a Post game DLC or What if scenario?

3 minutes ago, dudebro1993 said:

They could easily do a Post game DLC or What if scenario?

Maybe. I'd bet against them working on this game for that long though.

Shadow was playable in the last game, so I think people would get rightfully upset if Tails, Knuckles and Amy got passed over for him despite not being in the game.

I'm sure he'll be playable in the next game though, but this is a good starting point for other characters who don't already play similarly to Sonic.

Nah, let Shadow get it first. I wanna watch the internet burn again after all the bullshit they put him through over the games.

Aside from that, they could legit just keep Frontiers going for the next few years and keep adding DLC with other characters outside of the one's in the story. There's a lot to explore given the island, and barring that, there's a lot of room for interaction for characters just arriving on the island after Sonic and Crew.

Would be a great way to test potential waters for a sequel by learning what they can implement ahead of time and what to streamline.

2 hours ago, Kuzu said:

Shadow was playable in the last game, so I think people would get rightfully upset if Tails, Knuckles and Amy got passed over for him despite not being in the game.

I'm sure he'll be playable in the next game though, but this is a good starting point for other characters who don't already play similarly to Sonic.

But Shadow is more popular than the others, so I think he will be in it hopefully.

If Shadow was gonna be in he would've been teased in the roadmap.

They're not making him playable.

4 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

If Shadow was gonna be in he would've been teased in the roadmap.

They're not making him playable.

If true, I don't have to waste money on the game

2 hours ago, dudebro1993 said:

 

Have they confirmed they won't do paid DLC? They could have paid and free DLC

They mapped out a year of free DLC for a game that currently has zero post game content. 

A year from now, when all this finally gets shipped out the door, it's likely Frontiers will no longer be relevant enough to even consider paid DLC. 

 

 

A year's worth of content for a (relatively) short single-player game is already more than enough extra time. I wouldn't expect anything beyond that.

1 hour ago, dudebro1993 said:

But Shadow is more popular than the others, so I think he will be in it hopefully.

So what?

1 hour ago, dudebro1993 said:

But Shadow is more popular than the others, so I think he will be in it hopefully.

Just cause a character is popular does not mean you shove them in the game for the sake of it. Sega is trying to streamline things more and give us a connected story going forward. Were are trying to get away from EXACTLY things like "Oh he is nowhere near the story or involved BUT lets toss him in for the sake of it cause some fans like him"

2 hours ago, dudebro1993 said:

If true, I don't have to waste money on the game

Are you really so petty you'll refuse to buy Frontiers because a character that hasn't been good since 2006 isn't in the game?

Your message to call someone else out for being petty falls on deaf ears if you take a petty pot-shot while your doing it. 

 

 

If Shadow is a make it break deal for you, mods are your best friend. You don't even have to wait for Sega. 

So not exactly a crazy prediction but: the DLC story is going to focus on Eggman's plan he never really got the chance to attempt, right? Given the post-credits scene shows he's still in the islands it would make sense if him making a fuss is what gets Sonic (and the others, probably, unless their playability is unrelated to the other half of update 3) to come back.

2 hours ago, Kuzu said:

So what?

The more popular the character is, the more they should appear. That's what happens in other franchises.w

1 hour ago, Sega DogTagz said:

Your message to call someone else out for being petty falls on deaf ears if you take a petty pot-shot while your doing it. 

If Shadow is a make it break deal for you, mods are your best friend. You don't even have to wait for Sega. 

Why should unpaid fans do what those incompetents at SEGA should have done in the first place?

1 hour ago, DaBigJ said:

Are you really so petty you'll refuse to buy Frontiers because a character that hasn't been good since 2006 isn't in the game?

I'm a Shadow fan, why would I buy a game without him?

1 hour ago, DaBigJ said:

Are you really so petty you'll refuse to buy Frontiers because a character that hasn't been good since 2006 isn't in the game?

He's still more popular than characters like Tails, Amy and Knuckles and they are in the game...

Bro, can you quit being a Shadow fanboy?

And this is also coming from a Shadow fan. That shit got old in 2006.

1 hour ago, dudebro1993 said:

The more popular the character is, the more they should appear. That's what happens in other franchises.

Why should unpaid fans do what those incompetents at SEGA should have done in the first place?

I'm a Shadow fan, why would I buy a game without him?

He's still more popular than characters like Tails, Amy and Knuckles and they are in the game...

1. Not every popular character needs to appear in everything ever. Shadow is unnecessary to Frontiers and you need to accept that.

2. Just because one (1) singular character doesn't make an appearance SEGA is incompetent? 'Kay.

3. Because you shouldn't let a character dictate how you buy video names? That makes you a borderline fanboy instead of just a "fan", bud.

4. I call bullshit on that, and even if he was, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy actually contribute to the franchise, and have been around longer than Shadow has been. Tails is Sonic's best friend. Knuckles is Sonic's first frienemy. I dunno about you, but that sounds like they deserve to be in more than Shadow.

Are we done yet?

As much as I like Shadow, and his story in Sonic '06 & X. I'm kinda glad that he wasn't in the core story, and won't be in Frontiers' DLC. Mainly because I see him as being overused in the games sometimes & he could stand to go on a break from that format for a bit. IDW & Prime I'll make exceptions for, 'cause ones a cartoon. And the other is a comic series where Shadow's appearances feel more balanced & spread out.

But it doesn't mean I don't like Shadow, or appreciate when he does pop-up. It's just if we can get some more character development for the characters that already appear in the title, or don't get that much attention to begin with. Like Blaze, Silver, or in the case of Frontiers, a new character with Sage. I'll take that over more Shadow to be honest.

2 hours ago, dudebro1993 said:

The more popular the character is, the more they should appear. That's what happens in other franchises.w

Why should unpaid fans do what those incompetents at SEGA should have done in the first place?

I'm a Shadow fan, why would I buy a game without him?

He's still more popular than characters like Tails, Amy and Knuckles and they are in the game...

Shadow had an entire console generation and change almost entirely to themselves. Calm your tits and let some of the others have a turn for a change.

In fact, preferably just don't start with this fanboy bullshit in the first place. You can expect a strike or worse if you don't start arguing in good faith.