Megathread Sonic Frontiers (2022) | MT | General Discussion (DO NOT discuss leaks here please)

[Natie]

19 hours ago, Razule said:

Except instead of an era, it's one single medicre game. I think it's also people thinking that if they're reusing assets, they're cutting corners. 

No I'm talking about the people angry cuz the short quills look like classic sonic

Makes the analogy work better lel

[Graystripe2000]

This was found on the Sonic Channel website. 

 

[phobs]

4 hours ago, Graystripe2000 said:

This was found on the Sonic Channel website. 

It doesn't seem to be anything important. It will probably be info about merch and events in Japan

 

[Coz483]

https://youtu.be/NhSe0kYQkAw

Interesting video

 

[Scar]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:45 PM, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

People reaching new levels to find stuff to complain about isn’t exactly new these days.

Dude, do you remember this forum in its prime? Back around Generations? Holy fucking shit, the amount of discussion over tiny minutia was comical. Myself included.

 

Also Unleashed's model was and remains to this day, the best 3D Sonic model ever used in any game.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

On 1/19/2022 at 6:38 PM, Scar said:

Dude, do you remember this forum in its prime? Back around Generations? Holy fucking shit, the amount of discussion over tiny minutia was comical. Myself included.

Dude, I’ve been here before ShTH was announced around 2004-05. I remember the exact name of a member on here (don’t ask or PM me who, I do not stir shit like that) who once called the grey mountains in Chun-nan’s levels a “depressing hue” in Unleashed due to how they clashed next to the colorful platforms it had—and it stood out for me to remember because it was one of the worst cases of nitpicking.

Trust me when I say I’ve seen far worse when these forums and the fandom keep repeating their history like they never done a thousand times before.

VV-Edit: Chun-Nan is also my favorite next to Empire City in Unleashed as well, so it was probably also a case of me defending my favorite setting. Sorry, but I’m an absolute sucker for Asian-styled aesthetics.  

[Scar]

22 hours ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

Dude, I’ve been here before ShTH was announced around 2004-05. I remember the exact name of a member on here (don’t ask or PM me who, I do not stir shit like that) who once called the grey mountains in Chun-nan’s levels a “depressing hue” in Unleashed due to how they clashed next to the colorful platforms it had—and it stood out for me to remember because it was one of the worst cases of nitpicking.

Trust me when I say I’ve seen far worse when these forums and the fandom keep repeating their history like they never done a thousand times before.

That's hilarious man. Chun-nan is one of my favourite levels from an aesthetics point of view

 

[phobs]

GamesRadar posted an article on Frontiers with the information from Izuka himself. I tried to get interesting details

Quote

For starters, Sonic Team is being built with new-gen consoles in mind – leveraging the power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X to support the ambitions to deliver a true "open zone" experience. 

"We're excited to bring the game onto next-gen consoles, as both the visual and technical gameplay elements will be elevated on the newest platforms. As games are beginning to be released natively onto next-gen, it's exciting to be a part of the wave that will really deliver on the full potential of these consoles – high-fidelity, high-speed, and high energy games," says Sonic Team's creative officer Takashi Iizuka. 

Quote

Sonic Team is essentially working from scratch here, reworking all of Sonic's core movements and actions to better fit the expanded playable space. From Iizuka's perspective, there were lessons learned from 2017's Sonic Forces, but the ambition behind Sonic Frontiers has pushed the team to reconsider everything. 

Quote

With Sonic Frontiers, we are challenging ourselves to deliver an all-new style of Sonic action adventure. We're once again expanding the Sonic Universe, bringing in new environments and additional features, to create a totally new type of open-zone experience."

Quote

Iizuka tells me that bringing Sonic's signature speed and combat abilities to life into larger areas is among Sonic Team's greatest challenges. "We focused on bringing Sonic to the next level and ensuring that he's fully represented as the character that fans know and love while still making his new form exciting."

Quote

"We pay extremely close attention to getting all the little Sonic details right to make sure that Sonic's signature speed and characteristics remain consistent across every gaming iteration," says Iizuka. "With Sonic Frontiers, we'll introduce new combat styles to bring Sonic's signature dexterity onto the battlefield, and the new exploration options obviously play into his iconic speedy nature."

 

It looks like Gamesradar staff also saw more environments from the game and that's what they had to say

Quote

This information will be key for Sonic Frontiers. The landscapes we've glimpsed so far are beautiful; dense forests, sparkling waterfalls, and sizzling desert expanses, and I hope we'll be able to race though these areas, and others, without breaking a sweat or hitting a loading screen. I'm particularly keen to see whether the power of new-gen tech (and a proficiency with last-gen consoles) can finally provide Sonic with a playground large enough to properly bring his relentless pursuit of speed to life. 

 

 

[KHCast]

 

idk why hearing combat style has people all that “hyped” given the last couple attempts at merging combat with Sonic has typically not gone all that well…

[Zoomzeta]

54 minutes ago, KHCast said:

 

idk why hearing combat style has people all that “hyped” given the last couple attempts at merging combat with Sonic has typically not gone all that well…

Beats me. I do have to imagine incorporating more beat-em-up mechanics was a necessity when designing this open-world game. Wouldn't want to beat enemies with just a homing attack (That would get possibly repetitive). 

[light-gaia]

In my opinion, the combat is the aspect of Sonic modern gameplay that needs to be changed the most. Sonic's combat is very shallow, the enemies only exist to get run over by Sonic or to be hit with automated homming attacks. They need to change that if they want to bring Sonic to the next level, in terms of gameplay

[Diogenes]

Sonic combat is shallow because Sonic is a platforming series, combat has (almost) always been minimal and perfunctory in it. That doesn't mean there isn't plenty of room to improve on how Sonic interacts with enemies, but a more complicated combat system isn't the only way to do that. Rather than framing it as "combat", I'd rather see the focus on how enemies, Sonic's abilities, and the interactions of the two affect how he moves. Instead of every enemy just existing to do damage, have some that slow him down in other ways. Enemies that latch on and weigh him down until he shakes them off, enemies that spray sticky goop that's slow to trudge through. Have enemies that can't be homing attacked because their tops are armored, or covered in spikes, or bumpers, or whatever, but a low attack like the slide (I'd say roll but we all know that's not coming back) works just fine (and, naturally, enemies with low attacks/defenses that need to be jumped/homing attacked). Have an enemy that peaks out from behind a shield occasionally; attack while the shield's up and you get bumped back (maybe destroying the shield), attack when it's vulnerable and continue unimpeded. Have an enemy that explodes when attacked and sends Sonic on a different trajectory than normal, I don't know. There's a million things you could do that are maybe combat-adjacent but aren't trying to ram an entire complicated combat system into a series that isn't really about fighting things.

[Razule]

More people must have liked the Werehog's combat than I thought. Getting a pulse on what most people in the Sonic fanbase wants is hard sometimes. No wonder Sega just does whatever.  ..maybe that's too pessimistic.

No matter what the gameplay is, what's most important is that it feels good. Now if we could just see something more material than fancy words.

[SonicBlastAwesome]

I wonder Sega/Sonic Team will doing do with other playable characters besides Sonic like Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, etc..., maybe Sonic/Amy relationship for the story, Chao Garden as others too.

[Detective Kaito]

The 4chan leaks did talk about a combat system, and I guess there's our confirmation. Every single time Sonic has tried going more into a more combat focused direction (Sonic Heroes, 06, Unleashed, Boom), it turned out not great. Frontiers will likely not change that, so I expect a very clunky and repetitive combat system that gets boring quick.

All the signs are still pointing towards Frontiers being another mediocre game, but at least it can't be worse than Forces.

[expansivelovestories]

 i feel like this truly iconic animation of Sonic interacting with the badniks like a playful ninja could at least be a partial inspiration!!  as also with the opening animation giving them ideas for what Sonic can be with an open zone!! 

 

[BubbleButt TV]

I hope combat feels fast and agile and plays to Sonic's dexterity and acrobatic skills, instead of being slow and boring like the Werehog.

2 hours ago, expansivelovestories said:

 i feel like this truly iconic animation of Sonic interacting with the badniks like a playful ninja could at least be a partial inspiration!!  as also with the opening animation giving them ideas for what Sonic can be with an open zone!! 

 

I hope this is the case! the Frontiers 4chan leaks mentioned the SpinCycle move that was shown in the teaser trailer and the description actually reminds me of this

you run a circle around the enemies and that works to stun/defeat them

it would be so cool if we basically got a game that feels like a playable version of CD's cutscenes

I'm also looking forward to seeing what new animation they make for Sonic for this game

[Zoomzeta]

Again. The alternative, Sonic beating enemies with just one attack, wouldn't quite work in this setting in my mind. 

[Razule]

It should really make you feel like Sonic. He needs to move and fight with the exaggerated swagger of a teen 'hog.

[Soniman]

I hear a emphasis on "combat styls" in a series like Sonic and my blood runs cold, it's just the last thing I want from a series like this and if the sudden praise for the Werehog had any influence in Sega making that choice, well I guess it's just another instance of them listening to the wrong people (though being realistic I seriously doubt that's the case)

[Zoomzeta]

1 minute ago, Soniman said:

I hear a emphasis on combat styles in a series like Sonic and my blood runs cold, it's just the last thing I want from a series like this and if the sudden praise for the Werehog had any influence in Sega making that choice, well it's just another instance of them listening to the wrong people (though being realistic I seriously doubt that's the case)

So how do you think he should fight in such a game? 

[BubbleButt TV]

17 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

So how do you think he should fight in such a game? 

idk ideally it would be something similar to Smash and less like the werehog

[Wraith]

"Combat focused" basically confirms it's not going to be a good game. They've literally never gotten even close to getting that right. I don't know why they keep trying it.

[Graystripe2000]

They didn’t quite say it was combat focused, just that they were implementing new combat styles. If anything, the big focus in this game is going to be exploration given the open world format.

[Shiny Gems]

I don't know, maybe a new combat style may work well if done right. It is supposedly going to be new, I mean...

The Dark Brotherhood, that Sonic DS RPG game, was much like a traditional turn-based RPG.

The Werehog was pretty much based on and like God of War, only duller to plenty, if I recall right on the latter part.

Sonic and the Black Knight had just sword fighting, which was made worse probably by the controls.

And any other 3D Sonic game with combat sections (and the fighting sections in the Rush games, especially the first) used fewer or one button, making it rather simple, too simple, even. Heck! Silver's gameplay in Sonic 06, even if it wasn't bad or slow, I believe the idea of using psychokinesis for combat is not so new.

I might have missed something, but my point is, these games did not even try anything new, nor did they do much to make it fun or make it Sonic-y. At least with what it appears they are possibly saying, they are trying something new and are trying to make it fun and Sonic-y. That said, this new combat system probably won't be for everyone, but I think it does have a chance. I need to see some gameplay still, but it could work.