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Sonic Frontiers Trailer


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3 minutes ago, StaticMania said:

I did mean that literally by the way...

Sonic Colors outside of its 2D sections, has about 80% of nothing going on in its 3D corridors...

And Sonic Forces kinda does the same thing though it does have a bit more going on than Colours, but...it has QTEs, so there's that.

At the time at least it seemed to have enough 3D to placate the larger fanbase. At least until Gens arrived.

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Just as you all have mentioned, there is not much to talk about in regards to gameplay. Yet, there are so many things to talk about.

Graphics look good, it gives me the assurance of Sonic Team finally giving a f*** about the game they are making for once over a decade. It seems ambitious. 

One negative though that instantly comes into the mind is derived from Sonic's model. It looks as if the forces model like everyone else is speculating about. Not a big fan of that model. I do not think it is a placeholder, but who knows.

It looks promising from a narrative standpoint too. That is all for the trailer.

But the actual meat of the talk comes from the outside sources, not from the trailer. All which should give you hope, because it points out to a certain direction and understanding that SEGA/Sonic Team has started to take.

First of all, they got Ian Flynn as the writer, a big W for sure. Ohtani still composing for the game, and it seems Tee is involved to a lesser extend. Kishimoto is a bit of an exclamation mark, but as i have noted in my tweet Kawamura returns, and her contributions are pretty much acclaimed in the series. Now this does not means there will be chao gardens in the game, but it makes you think this being an open-zone game and all.

Speaking of open-zone, the use of this term does makes me think that Frontiers will be much more like the Oddysey and Bowser's Furry rather than a big open area. It is also named Starfall Island'"s", the plural, so i suspect there will be more locals to explore, in addititon to the more traditional-esque faster paced special stages/zones for that authentic Sonic feel. Also, the comparision to Defucnt also crossed my mind too, which is a good thing.

So yeah, while there is no gameplay, all these point out to several things. 

1- They are ambitious about this game. They try something new, show it at Game Awards, they have the movie, It is the 30th anniversary, they just know that they can't mess this one up.

2- SEGA actually cares about putting the right people to the right jobs. With the likes of Flynn, Ohtani, Sachiko, Tee etc, i think they got some quite talent gathered up here. This is also true for the movie with Tyson getting job done there as well. Overall i love this direction SEGA is taking, albeit we are sort of knowledge in the team who is actually coding/making the game, so hold your horses.

3-They seem to be taking notes of the current trends again, Sonic is always about taking advantage of the current trends with his own spin, the trend being ripping of BOTW here, with the game being reminisicent of Defunct, also i remember someone at SEGA looking at Sonic Utopia and recognizing it etc. The direction they are taking with the story also seems to be in a more serious tone which was much needed.

All things considered, it is safe to assume we will be able to witnes... something really interesting, good or bad. Which is just what i crave for after a decade of uninspired corridors and barebone story telling honestly. I can enjoy black knight or 06, but Forces, much less.

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Yeah, I can't really say I'm outright excited yet, but I was hoping for the leaks to be real (as opposed to getting another boost game) just so we'd know Sonic Team was doing something new and ambitious and they are, so I can't be mad about that. My biggest disappointment (besides no ghost girl, lol) is just that this is yet another Sonic game that divides the fanbase, right from its reveal. I'd have loved for this to finally be the game for us all to coalesce around as being "the one," the Sonic game we could all (or at least most of us) be excited about, but I suppose that was never going to happen, especially with no gameplay to sell us on it.

At the very least, I can say I'm happy that the game has finally been revealed. It's out there, we know what it's going to be, and we could get an update, minor or major, at any time, so I'm feeling... oddly relaxed. At least we can look forward to seeing more info on this game in the not-so-distant future, and hopefully, it will only look more promising with each showing.

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8 minutes ago, NoKaine said:

I wonder how people thought the game was going to be "like Breath of the Wild" but also not have distinctly Breath of the Wild things like towers.

Art style, sure, it's nearly one-to-one, but that wouldn't change it being designed like an open world game, which is exactly to be expected.

Thought "like BOTW" might be the "like Dark Souls" of open world games, and not as entirely on-point as it ended up being.

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I have to imagine they actually put stuff in their game, yes.

Even still, if the first leak is to be believed, this is the overworld with some more traditional stages at key points.

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Just wanna start off and say, I see no reason to jump on people expressing disappointment, or skepticism, and whining about how “they’re not letting people just enjoy a thing for once”. It’s a brand new style the series is trying, and it’s only natural there will be things that may raise some eyebrows, so if people wanna express those worries, as long as they back them with reasons, don’t see the issue. Been seeing online a lot of people dogpile on “negative Nancy’s” and I swear the fanbase does this every game. 
 

Anyway, as for how I feel about the game? I’m…split. I think it’s an interesting idea, and it certainly visually is impressive, and the story sounds promising given the people on board to write it…however, it definitely looks very on the nose with its BOTW inspiration, and the lack of any actual gameplay has me a bit worried, with the game being a year out. Even Botw 2 has showed bits of gameplay and that shit is still a ways out. The lack of any distinct Sonic-y things is definitely a point of concern, the open-ness of the world, etc, it’s all very new and not knowing how Sonic will interact with the world has me fearing for the worst, however…I can’t say I’m feeling overly cynical like I was with Lost World and Forces. It’s a big risk what Sega is doing, and I commend them for having the balls to try something like this in the first place. Im actually I wanting to keep my eyes on a Sonic game again, and fuck it’s been a long time since I did that. Like I think Generations was the last time I seriously did that. 
 

The leaks did seem to suggest the game was bad, but that was awhile back iirc, so fingers crossed things have gotten ironed out since that. I’m not hating what I’m seeing, but I’m cautiously optimistic

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Gonna be honest, the confirmation that Morio Kishimoto is returning to direct Frontiers virtually overrides anything good or bad I have to say about this unveiling. His entire gameography is subpar at best; and his latest effort in Forces was a breathtaking new low with how straight-up terrible its gameplay and level design turned out to be. As far as I'm concerned, any future Sonic game directed/designed by him is going to be a flaming turd. But I'm willing to ignore that for a moment and talk a little bit. Will try to keep this brief.

First off, before I get into the trailer itself--hats off to Ian Flynn finally being able to write (or translate) the story for a Sonic game for the first time. Hopefully that turns out to be good, if nothing else about the game does. Sachiko Kawamura being listed as the producer is a tossup. Could be good, could be bad; who knows.

Forces' marketing and presentation set my expectations to subterranean levels, so I'm surprised this unveiling actually managed to rise above them. This was much more footage than I ever expected, and the CG trailer animation looks really well done. I'm also glad this actually looks like an original production and firmly sticks to one aesthetic, I'm not even all that mad this seems to be Unleashed 2.0 in pushing photorealism over any trace of fantasy/surreal/stylistic. I'm just glad we don't have to deal with the "recycled assets" "budget game" horseshit that Forces and TSR had.

All that said. Whatever was there that wasn't CG, was paltry. A few snippets of mostly in-game engine footage of the environments; which while beautiful were also entirely empty. Not only no gameplay, but not even any game objects in those environments. Sonic himself only shows up in one environment for one clip. Even Forces' teaser at least demonstrated the usual mechanics of Boost Sonic gameplay (boost mechanic/Wisp gauge, rings, enemies, dash panels) were intact; this had borderline nothing.

Either this is yet another stunt by the marketing team, trying to hide as much of the game as possible; or this really is all Sonic Team has to show after four years of production (...gee, this sounds familiar). Mario Odyssey looked close to complete with its official reveal in January. Breath of the Wild itself (since that's the clear inspiration here) had much more going on with its overworld in its E3 2016 showcase.

On a last note, I think think this vindicates a suspicion I've had from the leaks--this isn't going to be a platforming game, not even in the collect-a-thon/sandbox sense like the aforementioned Mario, Spyro, or Banjo-Kazooie. The leaks on exploration and combat, and the naturalistic landscapes shown in the trailer, prompts me to believe this is a genre shift to action-adventure; like Zelda and other open-world titles. Whatever platforming that will be there is probably going to be secondary to the core gameplay, if not a total afterthought.

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29 minutes ago, A Cup of Hot Milo said:

On a last note, I think think this vindicates a suspicion I've had from the leaks--this isn't going to be a platforming game, not even in the collect-a-thon/sandbox sense like the aforementioned Mario, Spyro, or Banjo-Kazooie. The leaks on exploration and combat, and the naturalistic landscapes shown in the trailer, prompts me to believe this is a genre shift to action-adventure; like Zelda and other open-world titles. Whatever platforming that will be there is probably going to be secondary to the core gameplay, if not a total afterthought.

...Fuck, I think you might be right. Watching the trailer again, there doesn't seem to be anything indicating jumping as a core mechanic. The red platforming bits in the red flower area and the ramp (it is a ramp, other pictures confirmed it) are the closest things to we get to platforming challenges.  The rest of the terrain seems to be built around running. Maybe, like Botw, the walls are all climbable, but being Sonic, he runs up them instead.  Damn it.

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49 minutes ago, A Cup of Hot Milo said:

Either this is yet another stunt by the marketing team, trying to hide as much of the game as possible; or this really is all Sonic Team has to show after four years of production (...gee, this sounds familiar).

This, one hundred percent. This is the thing that really has me worried.

What we were shown was awfully bare for a game that was supposedly in development since Forces (or at least since that leak originally came out). It's been seven months since the first teaser, and nothing much looks new. I'm wondering if the world maps we saw were only just created in that time span. And good lord that frame rate. 

Sonic games don't tend to change much from the moment they're shown, and that's why I'm really worried that this game is going to be small and sparse and technically sloppy. This was a big time reveal trailer for what is essentially winter E3 and they couldn't even get a smooth frame rate on their in-game world flyover shots. Where are they in development at this point? Hasn't this been in the works for at least a year or two, if not longer?

I'd love to be proven wrong when the gameplay reveal comes, but this doesn't pass my smell test. 

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Ya know, I was smiling a bit through that trailer, but after Sonic Forces and Colors Ultimate, I'm not sure if I can handle getting massivly dissapointed again.

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37 minutes ago, Gloved Animal said:

What we were shown was awfully bare for a game that was supposedly in development since Forces (or at least since that leak originally came out). It's been seven months since the first teaser, and nothing much looks new. I'm wondering if the world maps we saw were only just created in that time span. And good lord that frame rate. 

Unless the game tester who leaked "Rangers" was playing Sonic Team's dreams last year, there must have been something available gameplay-wise by the time this trailer was made. Either they're not ready to show more yet, or they're waiting until closer to the middle of next year to seriously start promoting because the game comes out in a year and they have to space things out.

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Why is it other games can show gameplay well over a year out, but Sonic can’t because that wouldn’t be spacing things out well apparently?

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Well, before that, Sonic didn't even really reveal its game more than few month/half a year before the release. So honestly it's not that surprising that they're going slow for the reveal. (But it would be better if they reveal it soon, as it's a point of worrying among the fanbase)

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3 minutes ago, Razule said:

 

Unless the game tester who leaked "Rangers" was playing Sonic Team's dreams last year, there must have been something available gameplay-wise by the time this trailer was made. Either they're ready to show more yet, or they're waiting until closer to the middle of next year to seriously start promoting because the game comes out in a year and they have to space things out.

If they have things to fill into the world, like enemies and level hazards and set pieces and stuff, where are they? Why wouldn't they want to have them in the reveal? Have some lower down shots showing the weird new enemies, and things Sonic can climb or jump on. Give the audience an idea of the kind of kinetic playground you intend to plop him into. Millions of eyeballs were on this trailer tonight. Why wait another time to show those things?

Either:

-The finalized objects haven't been started on yet (the tester might have been messing around on test maps with basic proof-of-concept items and enemies).

-The objects exist, but are unstable at the present time, or they messed with the frame rate too much (they obviously already struggled with that). Or

-The objects exist, but Sega don't want to show them for some reason. Out of embarassment, out of not wanting to spoil something yet? I don't know.

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11 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Why is it other games can show gameplay well over a year out, but Sonic can’t because that wouldn’t be spacing things out well apparently?

It's most likely because there's not much to show, so if they reveal too much at once they'd be left with little to reveal, if at all. Looking back at Forces' marketing, it made a lot of sense that they kept us in the dark for so long; the game was too small to show anything substantial, so we got drip-fed info leading to its release.

Either that or the game is too laggy to properly showcase gameplay.

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5 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Why is it other games can show gameplay well over a year out, but Sonic can’t because that wouldn’t be spacing things out well apparently?

Heck if I know, that's just their pattern. Either the game is revealed six months before and we get gameplay shortly, or it's a year in advance and we get slow drips until promotion goes full steam ahead about the time it would've if they did the former.

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Sega clearly doesn't want to show the direction of gameplay yet and including things like shots of platforming challenges or enemy types would more or less indirectly be doing just that. Simply showing us a trail of rings along a wall or a specific formation of badniks could in of itself tell us more than they want us to know about Sonic's control scheme.

 

This was never supposed to be anything more than a teaser. Teasers rarely provide the kind of in depth knowledge some of you seem to be fishing for. TSR had two teasers, and neither one of them even hinted at the core mechanic of the game.

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9 minutes ago, Gloved Animal said:

If they have things to fill into the world, like enemies and level hazards and set pieces and stuff, where are they? Why wouldn't they want to have them in the reveal? Have some lower down shots showing the weird new enemies, and things Sonic can climb or jump on. Give the audience an idea of the kind of kinetic playground you intend to plop him into. Millions of eyeballs were on this trailer tonight. Why wait another time to show those things?

Either:

-The finalized objects haven't been started on yet (the tester might have been messing around on test maps with basic proof-of-concept items and enemies).

-The objects exist, but are unstable at the present time, or they messed with the frame rate too much (they obviously already struggled with that). Or

-The objects exist, but Sega don't want to show them for some reason. Out of embarassment, out of not wanting to spoil something yet? I don't know.

It isn't necessarily because they're embarrassed. It just might not align with their marketing strategy. 

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11 minutes ago, Gloved Animal said:

-The objects exist, but Sega don't want to show them for some reason. Out of embarassment, out of not wanting to spoil something yet? I don't know.

It's this one.

Games hide objects when showing off their environments all the time, and showing off the environment was the entire point of this teaser.

I know we like to stab Sonic Team in the balls here, but you reach a point of genuinely insulting the intelligence of the team when you suggest that a game that will have been in development for almost six years when it releases somehow doesn't have the extremely basic and expected generic Sonic objects completed in any form now.

You don't have to like SEGA's approach to disseminating information to be more sensible about this. Just because we don't like a lot of Sonic games does not mean they're developed by a bunch of chimps.

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It’s null and void since the leak exists and this only reinforces it, and considering said leak paints the project as a disaster waiting to happen, imo probably isn’t a good look to let that simmer in the public long, especially when it’s likely to spread now that it’s been legitimized. So if it’s a marketing strategy this decision, it’s a eyebrow raising one imo 
 

There are certainly mysterious things still we’re  curious to see in action, but the fundamentals have been laid out, so not wanting to show anything “to keep the surprise” just seems like Sega being stubborn and purposely tone deaf at this point 

 

idk, it just seems like a wasted opportunity to waste the game awards hype on just a second teaser trailer

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Well, looks kinda interesting. I'm all for having an open "zone" Sonic game, heh. 

Okay they didn't show much, I was never expecting a gameplay reveal. I do like the idea of exploring an open-world setting, so fingers crossed there's lots of exciting areas to explore with fun and challenging gameplay.

In terms of the story it feels erm...mysterious. Even with Flynn's involvement I'm not expecting anything amazing.

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Let me make a vague prediction on the story based on what we have:

Sonic and friends visit Starfall Islands as part of a trip, just going out on an adventure. Eggman also happens to be there, wanting to test this mysterious SAGE on the island's mystical technology in it's ruins. This SAGE ends up taking over the island, capturing Sonic and his friends, maybe even Eggman himself, and entrapping them in the technology's cyberspace. Sonic manages to escape using his speed, but acquires mysterious new powers in the process surrounding the strange technology, including being able to hear the captured Amy as a ghostly guide. It's Sonic's job to free his friends from cyberspace and break the SAGE's hold over the island, and the mysterious ruins around the island may be hold the keys to stopping Eggman's plans.

It's simplistic and open-ended enough for a Sonic story involving an open world.

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In 2022, Sonic will face his biggest challenge yet. Dust clouds.
Dustss.png.f73fe6d886648c7d948233133cd51471.png

Tails, get the Vacuum cleaner.
Dun dun duuun.

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