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

For as cool as Shadow is, it would be nice to see him used less. He's a character that suffers from the fact he was never supposed to be around this long. Let the man have some time off.

Sonic Team tried to give him a reason for continuing to exist with Heroes, StH, and 06 but afterwards it's clear they don't really know what to do with him. Shadow is just a character who was supposed to have died in their debut game.

1 hour ago, DaBigJ said:

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.

Much as I hate Shadow fanboyism as much as the next person, those are not contributions—and they don’t make them deserving of being in, because they could have completely left these characters out entirely or simply kept them as useless ass cameos and cheerleaders like they did in previous games like Unleashed, Generations, Colors, and Lost World.
 

They’re only barely relevant in Frontiers because they hired a writer that actually gave enough of a damn to make them have a point rather than put them on the sidelines like they did in the Pontaff-era.

But I could literally say “Shadow is Sonic’s rival” and say that makes Shadow deserving to be in, and even you know full well that would make no damn sense.

It’s the same case you just made here, dude. Quit that.

@LegoFedoraDude, it’s 2022. Leave that “Shadow should’ve stayed dead” epithet back in 2006 where it belongs. They can and have still made something worthwhile of him if they want to. It’s not that hard, they’ve just been lazy about like they were with every other character.

sorry about that @CrownSlayer’s Shadow,I'll stop

For me there are 3 routes they can go

1) Tails/Knuckles/Amy - Tails mentioned talking evil self at one moment in a game, but it's never seen. So it's possible some story got scrapped and will be put in DLC. Since the trio is stuck in Cyber Space, it's possible to make mid-quel story about them wandering the Cyber-version of the Islands and flesh out their stories.
Story-wise this is a safe route and doesn't require many new assets. But at the same time, it's the least exciting option, since their story arcs are already finished in the main game. A bit too late to try to fix it now.
Gameplay wise it's obviously a bit of a risk, even if they only do one of them. But maybe that's the point, to experiment with new playstyles as free DLC, to check if Sonic friends can be playable in this "Open Zone" style

2) Shadow
Or Silver or Blaze or Rouge, but come on, it will be Shadow. Uno, he's got a movie coming soon, cross-promotion. Dos, since Frontiers is all about fixing bad characterization and re-focusing characters, Shadow is one who needs it. Tres, he's popular.
The story can be as easy as Shadow wanting to check this place or being called by Rouge who also got stuck in Cyber Space. Then he can learn even more about Kokiri and maybe have some flashbacks to the past or something. With similar gameplay and story, he would be the best choice for "Same thing as before with few twists".

3) Eggman
That would be the most ambitious route. If Sage isn't quite fixed and Eggman need to fly around the island to heal her and we do their bond properly this time. After all, considering the post-credit scene this feels like the only story that demands exploration.
The only problem with this is, how would gameplay work? Something radically different? Or do we play Metal Sonic or Sage herself?

Each option is exciting in its own way, but it all depends on budgets.
I'm biased toward the Shadow route and if those DLC are made on a small budget, he's the best choice. He's a logical safe route.
Tails/Knuckles/Amy quality would mostly depend on whenever they can crack the gameplay. I would prefer a "new story" rather than "same story, different perspective" but then again, it would bring nice memories of Adventure games. There is merit here.
Eggman route would be the biggest gamble so I doubt he'll be the case. Too many uncertain variables.

8 hours ago, dudebro1993 said:

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

 

No they shouldn't.

8 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

 

@LegoFedoraDude, it’s 2022. Leave that “Shadow should’ve stayed dead” epithet back in 2006 where it belongs. They can and have still made something worthwhile of him if they want to. It’s not that hard, they’ve just been lazy about like they were with every other character.

I'm not saying he should've stayed dead, I like Shadow just as much as the next guy. I just think Sonic Team should stop trying to force him into places he very obviously isn't supposed to belong in, unless they can find a good reason for him to actually be there. He was in forces for a whole what, 3 cutscenes? And even then he did nothing important except tell Sonic information that he probably already knew.

Shadow has no real reason to be on the Starfall islands like Knux/Tails/Amy do. Knux wants to know it's connections to sky santuary/angel island, tails could find interest in the tech, and Amy...ok Amy doesn't really have a reason to return.

I'd think it'd be cool to see shadow dlc, sure. But I won't pretend that it isn't going to feel shoehorned in either.

14 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

I'm not saying he should've stayed dead, I like Shadow just as much as the next guy. I just think Sonic Team should stop trying to force him into places he very obviously isn't supposed to belong in, unless they can find a good reason for him to actually be there. He was in forces for a whole what, 3 cutscenes? And even then he did nothing important except tell Sonic information that he probably already knew.

They’ve barely even used the character since 2006–it’s now 2022-until Forces came along, and hardly any other character there did anything important either  barring the the player Avatar.

He isn’t being forced in anything, and you’re just making excuses here.

14 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

Shadow has no real reason to be on the Starfall islands like Knux/Tails/Amy do. Knux wants to know it's connections to sky santuary/angel island, tails could find interest in the tech, and Amy...ok Amy doesn't really have a reason to return.

And Shadow could have felt a disturbance and decided to arrive and explore the island.

Dude, they could give anyone a reason to be on the Starfall Island if it’s that easy.

Miss me with that “shoehorned” nonsense—you weren’t even able to give Amy a reason here, and she was only caught in the crossfire.

4 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

They’ve barely even used the character since 2006 until Forces came along, and hardly any other character there did anything important either  barring the the player Avatar.

Him being a cheerleader in generations instead of actually fighting alongside Sonic?

If you want to count spinoffs (which according to Frontiers, are also entirely canon which I see as fair game), why he's racing in a car instead of actually investigating?

6 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

And Shadow could have felt a disturbance and decided to arrive and explore the island.

Has shadow ever "felt a disturbance"? He isn't a jedi he doesn't just know when something is amiss.

6 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Miss me with that “shoehorned” nonsense—you weren’t even able to give Amy a reason here.

And Shadow would have even less of a reason, considering he wasn't even part of the original adventure and probably doesn't even know the islands even exist in the first place. The main threat of the island is gone, why would Shadow ever waste his time returning to somewhere Sonic's already been and fixed?

12 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

Him being a cheerleader in generations instead of actually fighting alongside Sonic?

You mean just like

• Tails
• Cream
• Knuckles
• Espio
• Blaze
• Rouge
• Amy

and everyone else in the game?

12 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

If you want to count spinoffs (which according to Frontiers, are also entirely canon which I see as fair game), why he's racing in a car instead of actually investigating?

Ask every other character the same question. Why are they racing in a car instead of doing something important? Shadow shouldn’t be singled out for this.

12 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

Has shadow ever "felt a disturbance"? He isn't a jedi he doesn't just know when something is amiss.

Don’t know, don’t care. The point is, you can give Shadow a reason for being there like others—something you’ve not even remotely  tried to do for characters like Amy.

12 minutes ago, LegoFedora said:

And Shadow would have even less of a reason, considering he wasn't even part of the original adventure and probably doesn't even know the islands even exist in the first place. The main threat of the island is gone, why would Shadow ever waste his time returning to somewhere Sonic's already been and fixed?
 

He couldn’t just arrive to explore the aftermath? Or maybe secure the dangerous ancient tech there? Or maybe saw the danger in space and track it’s origins and make sure the threat is still gone? Or maybe track Eggman and Sage and see why they were on the island?

That’s FOUR reasons off the top of my head, more than you barely attempted to do for Amy who was caught in mix.

This “I don’t hate Shadow, he’s cool, but he shouldn’t appear” excuse has always been hypocritical, and you just made it even more obvious, dude.

1 minute ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

You mean just like

• Tails
• Cream
• Knuckles
• Espio
• Blaze
• Rouge
• Amy

and everyone else in the game?

Oh don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying Shadow was the only one that got the short end of the stick. Every other character present in gens got done dirty. Shadow was just the only one relevant for this example.

 

2 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Ask every other the same question. Why are they racing in a car instead of doing something important?

Same as above, though for Sonic it's probably the same reason as why he uses a board in Riders. Simply enjoys the thrill of fair competition.

 

2 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Don’t know, don’t care. The point is, you can give Shadow a reason for being there like others—something you’ve not even remotely  tried to do for characters like Amy.

You keep bringing up Amy as a "gotcha" despite the fact that she's 1 out of 3 characters I couldn't find a reason for making her return.

4 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

He couldn’t just arrive to explore the aftermath? Or maybe secure the dangerous ancient tech there? Or maybe saw the danger in space and track it’s origins and make sure the threat is still gone? Or maybe track Eggman and Sage and see why they were on the island?

Ah yes, the age old story of Shadow going to see what mess Sonic left behind him when he was done with his adventure. If Shadow saw the threat in space, then why wasn't he there? It's not like GUN lacks transportation for him to use, you literally fight GUN helicopters in the cyberspace stages (even if they're just digital versions)

 

Regardless, I'm going to stop arguing here. We're just going to go in circles over a character that hasn't been important in decades. So sure, you win I guess. Good luck and have fun with your Shadow dlc.

Shadow really hasn't been shoehorned as much as people think he has; whenever he does show up, the story is usually about him in some way shape or form, which justifies his presence. If anything, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles are usually the ones who are shoehorned because even when they do show up, they don't really do much. 

I feel like people just single out Shadow because he didn't debut in the Classic era, but has had much more prominent roles than characters from that era. 

 

2 hours ago, LegoFedora said:

Oh don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying Shadow was the only one that got the short end of the stick. Every other character present in gens got done dirty. Shadow was just the only one relevant for this example.

Uh-huh…

2 hours ago, LegoFedora said:

Same as above, though for Sonic it's probably the same reason as why he uses a board in Riders. Simply enjoys the thrill of fair competition.

Gee, if it’s for something that simple, why bother bring it up? I hardly even use spin-offs like that against Knuckles for why he’s not guarding the Master Emerald.

2 hours ago, LegoFedora said:

You keep bringing up Amy as a "gotcha" despite the fact that she's 1 out of 3 characters I couldn't find a reason for making her return.

Because it shouldn’t even be that difficult for you to come up with one for Amy in the first place. Nor should it be difficult to come up with one for Shadow either.
 

Meanwhile, you’re putting more effort into coming up with every excuse under the sun to claim that Shadow has been shoehorned into everything and shouldn’t be forced where he doesn’t belong when, again, he has hardly been used since 2006, with Forces—a game that came out five years ago—being his only recent appearance.

Of which, shit like this…

2 hours ago, LegoFedora said:

Ah yes, the age old story of Shadow going to see what mess Sonic left behind him when he was done with his adventure. If Shadow saw the threat in space, then why wasn't he there? It's not like GUN lacks transportation for him to use, you literally fight GUN helicopters in the cyberspace stages (even if they're just digital versions)

…doesn’t help your case when someone else tries to make a case for him.

So miss me with that “shoehorning” nonsense.

2 hours ago, LegoFedora said:

Regardless, I'm going to stop arguing here. We're just going to go in circles over a character that hasn't been important in decades. So sure, you win I guess. Good luck and have fun with your Shadow dlc.

Glad you’ve come to that admission. Have a nice day.

50 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Shadow really hasn't been shoehorned as much as people think he has; whenever he does show up, the story is usually about him in some way shape or form, which justifies his presence. If anything, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles are usually the ones who are shoehorned because even when they do show up, they don't really do much. 

I feel like people just single out Shadow because he didn't debut in the Classic era, but has had much more prominent roles than characters from that era. 

Boom? For fanservice. Outside of that, not really too much.

God... we are really getting more "Shadow should've stayed dead in 2001" talk, fine... but it's 2022, he has been alive and present for a long time now, I would rather move on personally.

But yeah, as much as it would be cool to have Shadow in the game as DLC, I would actually prefer if they let us play as the characters who are already in the story, in the game, not for model purposes (they have a recent model for a lot of characters), because... it would be more fun to play as 3 different characters with vastly different moveset than just one who has the same basic stats and gameplay as Sonic, excluding Chaos Powers and shrug... guns and vehicles. Sorry, it's more interesting and useful to have Tails, Knuckles, Amy, as playable IMO, it's not confirmed this is the case but I sure hope so!

Although these are free updates we are talking about, it would be really hard to give us those 3 for free... but man, Tails and Knuckles feel at least as important as Shadow if not more, Amy got left out in Mania, I would love to play as her again too. Excluding Mania, the last time we played as them in a major game was '06 

It honestly depends on how ambitious this DLC is; ideally Tails, Knuckles, and Amy would be fully playable and all have unique qualities up to the same standards as Sonic.....but this is Sonic Team so I doubt we're getting that. 

that is fun to think about!!  For Knuckles to become a playable character in open zones but can't climb or glide almost seems impossible, he will definitely have those abilities!!  In the intro mini comic, Tails used his tails in a new way to defeat a badnik which, it would make sense in-game for him to have some new techniques; and Amy is able to use the Piko Piko as well.  i feel like it's going to be substantial and complete where Frontiers is the main Sonic game for the next few years!!   i'm not going to place a bet, but, a Chao Garden feels very likely too.  i don't think that is smth that would be announced ahead of time so it can be more exciting!! 

So do you guys think that Frontiers will get support post-2023? I personally wouldn't mind it, but it depends on what they'd add.

Nah, nor do I want them to. If they have any further ideas, I'd prefer they use them for the next game.

31 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

So do you guys think that Frontiers will get support post-2023? I personally wouldn't mind it, but it depends on what they'd add.

I didn't expect Frontiers to get as much free support as its getting, so no I definitely don't expect it to continue beyond 2023. It doesn't seem likely anyway. Frontiers isn't a live service, F2P or even a game-as-a-platform. 

With this amount of support post-release though, it's probably safe to say that SEGA recognise Frontiers as a roaring success in terms of sales. This new content may well have planned and in early development before release, but I'd guess that its continued development was subject to commercial performance. With it getting green light, you can be sure that SEGA will wants a new game like Frontiers in a couple of years time. They can afford to work with a smaller team on the next game in early development whilst others continue to work on Frontiers, but eventually development of the new game will need all hands on deck. 

I say this all with no evidence or industry experience to back me up, of course. It's just guess work. 

14 hours ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

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.

Um...Shadow is also on break in the comics. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Zoomzeta

50 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

So do you guys think that Frontiers will get support post-2023? I personally wouldn't mind it, but it depends on what they'd add.

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn’t expect it, but then again, I didn’t expect the DLC they just announced here.

I think it would be a smarter move if they did, saving up on resources while they plan for the next big game. I could see them adding additional characters to test the waters for an expansion of combat, and that might bring a bigger surprise come the next game. They could add more islands with a different biome theme. Maybe even a new Titan that was destroyed before the four we fought we created.

It would be what I would do if I was in charge. Frontiers is right at the razor edge of the heights they could take Sonic.

53 minutes ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn’t expect it, but then again, I didn’t expect the DLC they just announced here.

I think it would be a smarter move if they did, saving up on resources while they plan for the next big game. I could see them adding additional characters to test the waters for an expansion of combat, and that might bring a bigger surprise come the next game. They could add more islands with a different biome theme. Maybe even a new Titan that was destroyed before the four we fought we created.

It would be what I would do if I was in charge. Frontiers is right at the razor edge of the heights they could take Sonic.

Just to be clear, it probably would not be a set of islands the next time. 

15 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

Just to be clear, it probably would not be a set of islands the next time. 

Just ONE Island is more than enough. Although I wouldn't really count on that happening.

That said, I'm not really going to leave anything out of the realm of possibility.

Frontiers was a surprise that folks were cynical about before realizing that, while not perfect, turned out to be better than expected. Then we're hearing DLC of playable character that even the most optimistic of us didn't see coming and figured they'd save those for the next game.

If, and I mean if, Shadow was to be playable in Frontiers, I'd definitely relegate him to a Cyberspace-only, non-canon Sonic skin with maybe one or two control variables changed to promote Movie 3; and even then I'd personally rather that role go to Metal Sonic than him. This game was never intended to feature Shadow in the story or otherwise, and I don't think Shadow fans were owed anything just because he's a popular character. He got his own mini campaign in Forces and he'll be the main focus in the third movie. I think keeping things tight with Tails, Knuckles and Amy (and Eggman with Sage) was more than enough, even that was pushing it. 

10 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

If, and I mean if, Shadow was to be playable in Frontiers, I'd definitely relegate him to a Cyberspace-only, non-canon Sonic skin with maybe one or two control variables changed to promote Movie 3; and even then I'd personally rather that role go to Metal Sonic than him. This game was never intended to feature Shadow in the story or otherwise, and I don't think Shadow fans were owed anything just because he's a popular character. He got his own mini campaign in Forces and he'll be the main focus in the third movie. I think keeping things tight with Tails, Knuckles and Amy (and Eggman with Sage) was more than enough, even that was pushing it. 

Looking strictly at Frontiers's gameplay, not giving Shadow flashy combat moves in the flashy combat focused Sonic game would be a huge waste. This is like, the one time where his chaos powers could be used without being redundant or killing the pacing. Why not play with that? Give him a completely unique skill tree with a mix of his powers from prior games and new ones.

2 hours ago, Zoomzeta said:

Um...Shadow is also on break in the comics. 

That's exactly my point. The comics don't overstay Shadow's welcome, as they only bring him in when it's necessary. Instead of every single issue.