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Kuzu

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The Embargo lifts in less than 24 hours, so I'll be slowly updating this OP when they start rolling in.

 

TSS Review - 3.5/5 (Good)

Spoiler

 

Overall, Sonic Frontiers is a bit of a mess. The gameplay is half-decent, yet half-disappointing; the script is one of the best seen in a Sonic game, but the general plot one of the worst; environments are fun to play, but the art design lacks any real identity…

You know what though? It’s a fun and interesting mess, that I largely enjoyed my time with – the good elements outweighing the bad by a large margin.

It’s surely a marked improvement over Sonic Forces, and the new open zone concept is executed well, laying a solid foundation for future games to improve upon. What kind of improvements? Well, it would be great to see more varied open zone biomes, with an art direction that better connects with Sonic’s brand identity (we want to be running around interesting, colourful zones like Sky Sanctuary, Seaside Hill, Grand Metropolis and Aquarium Park please).

Perhaps smaller, more focused open zones could also allow for a greater number of activities to be included and give Sonic Team the space to build more of these zones in the next game. I would love to see this new era of Sonic games include a reworked physics engine that allows for the kind of momentum-based pinball play that the classic games were best known for.

But one thing I think Sonic Frontiers has proved beyond a doubt? That there is value in a (semi-)open world Sonic the Hedgehog game. The concept works and has potential – and there’s a real opportunity here to break away from the clunky old Sonic Forces-style physics for good.

There has been a popular community phrase associated with this game – ‘The Wait Will Be Worth It’. Now that Sonic Frontiers is here, we can now finally answer the question, “Was the wait really worth it?”

On balance, I’d say: Yes. Sort of. Let’s see what happens in the next game.

 

GameInformer - 7.8/10

Spoiler

Though it's rough around the edges, Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic game in years.

IGN - 7/10 (Good)

Spoiler

Sonic Frontiers is a delightfully weird and experimental evolution of the Sonic games so many of us grew up with. Its series of open-world islands are filled with so much variety and pieces of Sonic history, from classic platforming stages to silly minigames, that they’re enjoyable to explore even when awful graphical pop-in is a constant hedgehog spine in your side. Some of the new stuff Frontiers tries out, like the smart toggling between 2D and 3D perspectives out in the open world or the Cyber Space levels, are fantastic ways to pack as much Sonic goodness as possible into one package, while others – especially combat – are uninteresting experiments gone wrong. Still, I largely enjoyed my time running around in Frontiers, making it feel like a very promising first attempt at what could be a bright new era for Sonic and friends.

Gamespot - 7/10

Spoiler

Running around at the speed of sound might be a mantra of the fleet-footed hedgehog, but Sonic Frontiers is at its best when you're given time to simply explore. The music is calming and also solemn at times--even if it knows when to burst into life with a punk rock energy--and there's even a fishing minigame that lets you earn rewards while slowing down the pace a step further. It's easy to fall into a zen-like flow as you traverse each island, rattling off objectives as you happen upon them. There are frustrations that arise and break the flow, whether it's a middling mini-boss or a struggle with Sonic's floaty movement, and it's a big departure from what Sonic fans are used to. I'm fully on board with this new direction, though. Sonic Adventure set the template for the last 24 years of 3D Sonic games, and I'm hopeful Frontiers will do the same for the next generation. It has its flaws, and there's definite room for improvement, but the spiky mascot is finally moving in the right direction.

 

 

 

Metacritic Average - 73 (PS5 version)

Open Critic - 74 (Fair)

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3 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

The Embargo lifts in less than 24 hours, so I'll be slowly updating this OP when they start rolling in.

This is great. Thanks!

Could I just make a request that no details other than links and scores (for reviews that give scores) are put into the OP? So not even any summary texts. It would be really helpful if you did that. I don't want to have trawl through potential spoilers, but I am very curious to know the general criticalconsensus on this game.

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I've been told that apparently the only review codes sent out for the game were of the PS5 version. So don't expect reviews of the Xbox/PC versions or last gen machines.

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7 minutes ago, ZinogreVolt said:

I've been told that apparently the only review codes sent out for the game were of the PS5 version. So don't expect reviews of the Xbox/PC versions or last gen machines.

Where did you hear this? It sounds strange that SEGA would only distribute codes for the PS5 version, especially when Sonic's biggest audience always favours Nintendo platforms. 

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PS5 version is, or should be, the best version of the game. If true, Sega wants reviewers playing the best version of the game, and preferably not talking about how the Switch version (which will likely be the best selling version) only runs at 30fps.

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29 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

This is great. Thanks!

Could I just make a request that no details other than links and scores (for reviews that give scores) are put into the OP? So not even any summary texts. It would be really helpful if you did that. I don't want to have trawl through potential spoilers, but I am very curious to know the general criticalconsensus on this game.

I don't mind doing this, but I don't want people to just focus on the scores either. Do you mind if I just use small snippets of the review that just summarize the reviewers thoughts or is that too much too?

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3 minutes ago, Cosmos Rogue said:

the Switch version (which will likely be the best selling version) only runs at 30fps

To be fair, that's apparently also the case with the PS4 version.

Just now, Kuzu said:

I don't mind doing this, but I don't want people to just focus on the scores either. Do you mind if I just use small snippets of the review that just summarize the reviewers thoughts or is that too much too?

If it can be done in non-spoilery bouts, that would work immensely.

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3 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

Where did you hear this? It sounds strange that SEGA would only distribute codes for the PS5 version, especially when Sonic's biggest audience always favours Nintendo platforms. 

The head of the review outlet I write for. Even if you have good standing with the company, Sega is notoriously stingy with Sonic review codes and some websites/publications like Edge have already mentioned that they haven't actually received any review code at all for Frontiers yet (neither have we). Presently, it's just a rumor, and the sheet we were given asking what version we'd like to review had all platforms available, so it doesn't make much sense... but at the same time, it stills lines up with Sega's weird behavior with Sonic games and review outlets in the past.

(For reference, we did receive codes for Origins and Colors: Ultimate, but only on the day of release. That's usually only how it works for much bigger companies like Nintendo or ActiBlizz.)

 

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21 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

I don't mind doing this, but I don't want people to just focus on the scores either. Do you mind if I just use small snippets of the review that just summarize the reviewers thoughts or is that too much too?

People are going to focus on the review scores whether you want them to or not. What if you just put the summaries in spoiler boxes? It'll stop the OP from getting too big anyway. 

At the end of the day there's always Metacritic, but this thread will likely be updated much more readily than it will. 

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18 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

 People are going to focus on the review scores whether you want them to or not. What if you just put the summaries in spoiler boxes? It'll stop the OP from getting too big anyway. 

I agree with this.  There can be brief summaries of the game reviews in spoiler boxes.  That would save on a lot of time.

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22 minutes ago, Blue Blood said:

People are going to focus on the review scores whether you want them to or not. What if you just put the summaries in spoiler boxes? It'll stop the OP from getting too big anyway. 

At the end of the day there's always Metacritic, but this thread will likely be updated much more readily than it will. 

Yea, that's what I'll do then. Thanks. 

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Do we have a separate board where we can talk about spoilers for this game when it comes out?

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I don't care for review scores myself, preferring to actually read the details of the review and whether I jive with the reviewer in question. But plenty of people do care about the scores and those big numbers, so I'm hoping it scores in the high 70s, which would be a big improvement over Forces in my book.

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3 minutes ago, VO.SUPER said:

I don't care for review scores myself, preferring to actually read the details of the review and whether I jive with the reviewer in question. But plenty of people do care about the scores and those big numbers, so I'm hoping it scores in the high 70s, which would be a big improvement over Forces in my book.

Bearing in mind that I haven't reallybeen paying too much attention to Frontiers for a fair few weeks now, I'm expecting 70s. Pre-release previews ended up being surprisingly positive, but the game still looks like its got some pretty big problems. Forces managed a metascores. From 56 to 62 depending on the platform, and that honestly feels to generous. 

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The pie in the sky is always going to be the 90s, but I think the most plausible generous outcome would be somewhere between 80-85. 

Let's not beat around the bush, this is a 3D Sonic game. Grab your afro wigs and bell bottoms because we're going to the 70s. 

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Anywhere between 78-83 is where I'm willing to bet it'll land. The overall gameplay loop being as strong as it is, plus the novelty of "open world" (but not really) Sonic will help to smooth over the game's issues to a certain degree. 

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9 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Think its telling that Mania is the only modern game that actually hit 90. 

Sonic should have struck to the 2nd dimension?

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14 minutes ago, Starnik said:

Sonic should have struck to the 2nd dimension?

Sonic should probably stop ripping off other successful IP's and just be Sonic. 

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2 hours ago, Cosmos Rogue said:

PS5 version is, or should be, the best version of the game. If true, Sega wants reviewers playing the best version of the game, and preferably not talking about how the Switch version (which will likely be the best selling version) only runs at 30fps.

Highly doubt that. If anything I am figuring the Series X would run it better outside a pc version

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14 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Sonic should probably stop ripping off other successful IP's and just be Sonic. 

Sonic is Sonic. If it has Sonic's name and face on it, it is Sonic.

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Just now, Razule said:

Sonic is Sonic. If it has Sonic's name and face on it, it is Sonic.

Then would you say Sonic Boom is Sonic then?

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7 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Then would you say Sonic Boom is Sonic then?

I mean.. being serious, yeah, Sonic Boom is an official Sonic product even if it isn't what I think Sonic should be. Sonic has been so many different things and had such varying levels of quality that it could be anything at this point. It shouldn't have gone that far, but that's where we're at. 

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38 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Then would you say Sonic Boom is Sonic then?

I would, legit, rather die than say Sonic Boom is Sonic.

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