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Do you think Sonic Frontiers will change how fanservice is regarded/written?


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Not long ago, I finished my first playthrough of River City Girls 2, having also played through its predecessor near to its time of release, and they're...games.  Ok, pretty good ones, but I'm not here to talk about their ludological merits, but rather their writing and how it approaches callbacks to the River City series' history.  It's often quite bad, and shortly after that I began Sonic Frontiers, and...wow, what a difference a writer like Ian Flynn makes.  Some might call his obsession with calling back to things a bit...masturbatory, but to be fair, you can say the "Meta Era" of Sonic was also full of masturbatory callbacks, and there is a clear difference between how Pontaff and Sonic Twitter did them, and how Flynn does.

This got me to thinking.  The "Meta Era" of Sonic was also the "Meta Era" of a bunch of other things, but I put that title in quotes because I don't think the most notable thing about the last ten or so years of entertainment was the heavy presence of metahumor; what I notice more about them is what they often lacked: Depth.  I think maybe a better title to sum up my and many other people's growing irritation with it all is "The Shallow Reference Era".

As near as I remember, this started with Ready Player One, or at least that book kicked it into overdrive.  Ready Player One popularized a sort of slapdash pop-culture reference, which in essence existed just for its own sake and to say "See, I'm cool because I love the same things you do", and this leads to a lot of treasured franchises from the 1980s treated as basically just collectables.  While the book became very popular for a time, audiences started to turn against it when RPO became a movie, which made things even more slapdash.  Thanks to the different format, the movie goes into very little depth about the plot or characters of any of the brands it touches, instead just cramming as much visual references as it could into every shot, and would as such attract a lot of allegations that it was essentially just a glorified excuse for a huge movie corporation to boast about how many IPs it owned.  It didn't help that afterwards, movies just...kept...doing this.  The Lego Movie.  The Lego Batman Movie.  Ralph Breaks the Internet.  Scoob.  Space Jam 2.  Chip & Dale.  Elsewhere, the rise of gacha games also exacerbated this.  The past decade has been a disheartening spectacle of corporations that already own way too much trying to suck even more money out of consumers by harnessing things they own to stroke surface-level nostalgia, and it seems obvious to me that this has influenced how Sonic has been marketed more than a little. 

There have been a lot of callbacks to Sonic history for years now, and while a lot of them weren't what many fans wanted, many of them were all in good fun. The breaking point, though, came for many fans in Sonic Forces.  This was the game that teased us in a trailer with a team-up of popular villains (and Zavok) from past Sonic games, only to reveal in the actual game that it was all a hoax (Except for Zavok, unfortunately).  This was the game that shoehorned in Classic Sonic and a crossover plot with Sonic Mania, in hopes of getting that game's fans to play it, which backfired pathetically when it became clear how much worse Sonic Team was at programming Classic Sonic than a bunch of third-party fangame developers and hackers.  This was the game that begged us to take Sonic seriously again, even while giving scarcely more of a crap than any other Pontaff game how its characters were handled or portrayed.  All in all, then, Sonic Forces was the game that established that fans are not content to just have stuff they like dangled in front of them; they want to see that stuff written and handled by people who actually understand and care about it.

So now, it looks like we're witnessing the rise of Ian Flynn on multiple fronts, Ian has a penchant for writing characters talking and thinking like real sentient beings would who actually remember the events of past games, and with most--though not all--Sonic fans hailing how he is writing the series, I ask again, is this going to spill over into other brands?  Will iconic characters across multiple franchises cease to be just vehicles for shallow jokes and memes and become treated more as characters, akin to the sorts of characters they used to be at the time they became iconic?  Has the Shallow Reference Era given way to the Deep Reference Era?  Will it?  Should it?  Weigh in here!

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Absolutely not, I think either they're gonna repeat what happened in Frontiers beat by beat or go back to basics next time.

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It really depends on who the writer is and how much control they have, along with who's in charge and the direction they want to set.

It's the latter that might have you more concerned, because you can have a writer like Ian Flynn who writes the characters as people living in their settings only handicap him because you wanted a sort of...slapdash direction that may or may not be where he shines.

Frontiers was a step in the right direction as far as the narrative department goes, and it was great that it wasn't like the previous games before it. But it could have been a lot better than what it had shown, and that's something that's far outside of Ian's control given that he isn't the one in control.

All that said, I'm not sure "references", deep or shallow, are the way to go. I prefer continuity, a sense of direction where events from the past build upon the present and future events, or at least continue the narrative after the previous entry. That might be closer to what you meant.

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I do hope next games will tone down references, maybe even strongly

When Eggman mentions Maria, it furthers the main plot (relation with Sage), adds layer to character (Eggman's past) and acknowledges previous games. That's great example.

Talking to Korok elder and mentioning "I know time traveler. Should I try to save your kind in the past?" is logical acknowledgment of existing elements, an unconnected to main story, but still natural thing to mention.

But then there is what I call "running around dialogue" like  "At this point I wouldn't mind Shadow lending me a hand" or "Parts of these islands are really lovely. I should bring Cream here sometime". Those are neither funny, insightful or clever, it's just reference for reference sake. Best I can say is that Flynn tries to make them feel somewhat natural (Sonic comparing Omega to robot in front of him).

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I usually like having some fanservice references in games, but Frontiers definitely crossed the line for me too. It was way too much, every single dialogue had one or more references in it, to the point where it felt a bit "cringe" at times.

Some of those references may also confuse people who are not fans of the series and are unfamiliar with all those names.

I have no problems with plot elements from old games being brought back in a relevant way... I'm fine with them exploring the lore behind Chaos for example... it's when the references are totally unnecessary that's a problem (such as when they do power scaling, that was stronger than the Eclipse Cannon or Dark Gaia, blah blah).

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17 minutes ago, Iko said:

I usually like having some fanservice references in games, but Frontiers definitely crossed the line for me too. It was way too much, every single dialogue had one or more references in it, to the point where it felt a bit "cringe" at times.

Pretty sure that's an exaggeration.

1 hour ago, CrownSlayer’s Shadow said:

All that said, I'm not sure "references", deep or shallow, are the way to go. I prefer continuity, a sense of direction where events from the past build upon the present and future events, or at least continue the narrative after the previous entry. That might be closer to what you meant.

I agree with that...at least ideally.  But it's hard for me to stomach the thought of Shadow the Hedgehog being canon, and I'm thinking I'd rather a brief passing reference to the Black Arms than something that goes any further.

As you said above, it matters a lot how much a writer like Ian Flynn is being manhandled into a bunch of boxes, but if Sonic Team is truly attempting to capture more attention in Japan by putting more stress on the Adventure era, I think we're at least in a better place than when they were trying to bury that era.  And the Adventure era most definitely had continuity.

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I saw the words "Meta Era" and I have to write the following in response to it regardless of the context.

The phrase "Meta Era" is the worst label to describe any era of Sonic... Because Sonic has always self referenced itself.

You want to know what the first game was that began the Meta references? It was Sonic 2.

The reuse of level motifs and naming terminology is a clear 4th wall breaking device to trigger the player to go "Oh I remember this"...

Nah just kidding... It was actually Sonic 1.

Sonic 1 is literally full of metal humor and references, biggest instances of this would be the good and bad endings. Get good ending. Sonic jumps towards the player and eggman stomps on the game over screen.

Get the bad ending. Eggman juggles all the emeralds you missed and laughs at you, you, the person playing the game.

You are being mocked by the game for not beating it to its total completion.

 

Now... let's talk the references in Frontiers. 

The problem with them is a complex one. Several of the metal elements don't work for different reasons. It isn't so much 'They lack depth' as much as they distract from the games own identity.

Here's an example.

At one point there's a scene where Sonic and Tails are taking about the ancients having energy weapons. 

OK fine, I can picture energy weapons.

But then they compare it to a previous game by saying "Like the one on the Egg Carrier!"

Well done game. I'm no longer thinking something original, I'm now thinking about that scene in Sonic Adventure where Eggman fires the Egg Carriers main cannon.

At this point anything you show will be compared to that scene from the previous game, instead of showing us something from this games world and identity, we have to rely on a previous games identity to build the world.

But then you have other Meta references which just make the characters sound... .... ... Well... Weird.

I have no problem with Sonic randomly commenting about how elements in the world remind him of precious moments of his life, but the problem is how so many of these elements lack their own sens eof self identity you can't help but imprint those memories on the world. "Ah yes, these ruins which look like all the other ruins remind me of that city from that other game... I'm now thinking of that game instead of this game... and Sonic this a really strange thing to keep saying".

But the fact he'll do this constantly in conversations, he doesnt sound like a naturalistic or even realistic character, he sounds like Ian Flynn trying to convince the player that he has played previous Sonic games.

Theres a really good example of how the meta reference make the characters sound less natural and more like Ian Flynn going "See! See! I know about those games!!"

The go to example is the games ending... Where Amy just randomly says "I'm gonna go hang out with sticks!"

Ah yes, sticks. The character whose never appeared in a mainline Sonic game who was last seen 10 years ago.

We could have had some sense of what direction Amy is going to take due to the consequences of her storyline in this game, like how in SA1 she promised to be more assertive and not rely on others... But Ian Flynn really wanted you to know he's familiar with Sonic Boom!

 

TlDr.

This is way to complex a problem to try and explain on SSMB mobile mode, but essentially, most of the references distract from Frontiers' having its own identity, instead it relies on the players knowledge of previous games in order to build Frontiers world, but by doing this it illustrates the lack of identity the game itself has.

 

 

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Eggman's log mentioning that Sonic gave him the nickname felt like a random inclusion. Why would he talk to himself about something he already knows?

Its like it was put there as a fun fact for those unaware, but has no in-game reason to exist.

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Meta refers to 4th wall breaking and Sonic did that in Colors, and in Boom all the time.

"Meta era" is associated to jokes and comedy direction for the story and dialogues in Sonic games, it's just a name, I don't see what the fuss is about. Yeah it is generally negative connotation to the era from Colors to Forces, but I don't like that story direction so it's acceptable for me.

26 minutes ago, Badnik Mechanic said:

I saw the words "Meta Era" and I have to write the following in response to it regardless of the context.

The phrase "Meta Era" is the worst label to describe any era of Sonic... Because Sonic has always self referenced itself.

You want to know what the first game was that began the Meta references? It was Sonic 2.

The reuse of level motifs and naming terminology is a clear 4th wall breaking device to trigger the player to go "Oh I remember this"...

Nah just kidding... It was actually Sonic 1.

Sonic 1 is literally full of metal humor and references, biggest instances of this would be the good and bad endings. Get good ending. Sonic jumps towards the player and eggman stomps on the game over screen.

Get the bad ending. Eggman juggles all the emeralds you missed and laughs at you, you, the person playing the game.

You are being mocked by the game for not beating it to its total completion.

Now... let's talk the references in Frontiers. 

The problem with them is a complex one. Several of the metal elements don't work for different reasons. It isn't so much 'They lack depth' as much as they distract from the games own identity.

Here's an example.

At one point there's a scene where Sonic and Tails are taking about the ancients having energy weapons. 

OK fine, I can picture energy weapons.

But then they compare it to a previous game by saying "Like the one on the Egg Carrier!"

Well done game. I'm no longer thinking something original, I'm now thinking about that scene in Sonic Adventure where Eggman fires the Egg Carriers main cannon.

At this point anything you show will be compared to that scene from the previous game, instead of showing us something from this games world and identity, we have to rely on a previous games identity to build the world.

But then you have other Meta references which just make the characters sound... .... ... Well... Weird.

I have no problem with Sonic randomly commenting about how elements in the world remind him of precious moments of his life, but the problem is how so many of these elements lack their own sens eof self identity you can't help but imprint those memories on the world. "Ah yes, these ruins which look like all the other ruins remind me of that city from that other game... I'm now thinking of that game instead of this game... and Sonic this a really strange thing to keep saying".

But the fact he'll do this constantly in conversations, he doesnt sound like a naturalistic or even realistic character, he sounds like Ian Flynn trying to convince the player that he has played previous Sonic games.

Theres a really good example of how the meta reference make the characters sound less natural and more like Ian Flynn going "See! See! I know about those games!!"

The go to example is the games ending... Where Amy just randomly says "I'm gonna go hang out with sticks!"

Ah yes, sticks. The character whose never appeared in a mainline Sonic game who was last seen 10 years ago.

We could have had some sense of what direction Amy is going to take due to the consequences of her storyline in this game, like how in SA1 she promised to be more assertive and not rely on others... But Ian Flynn really wanted you to know he's familiar with Sonic Boom!

TlDr.

This is way to complex a problem to try and explain on SSMB mobile mode, but essentially, most of the references distract from Frontiers' having its own identity, instead it relies on the players knowledge of previous games in order to build Frontiers world, but by doing this it illustrates the lack of identity the game itself has.

Just because it tries to give a sense of continuity to the franchise, it doesn't mean the game lacks it's own identity. In fact, I think it has A LOT of identity, it's definitely a lot more inspired in terms of story direction, ideas, plot, tone, and cohesive than whatever was in Forces. Not to say it's perfect, I would have done without the name drops that appear when you stand still for minutes.

The course correction in Tails story is maybe due to the fan backlash but still a better portayal to the character than his exaggerated weakness in Forces, or his arrogant self in Lost World. Tails in Frontiers is a sidekick who feels like he's a burden, it's maybe to deep but he wants to be a more active person with his own identity.

The Sticks reference: it's both fanservice because Ian knows the fans really want her back and ask for her a lot to be added in the comics, as seen in his podcast, and also Iizuka's desire to connect the franchise more. Boom is not canon, Sticks just exists in the modern world.

Also, it's worth noting I'm biased on this because Iizuka's wish is my wish too, I do like a more cohesive and connected world. If the comics are a loose canon, let them be, I'm sure they won't be required to be read to understand the story of future games, it's just gonna be connected through references and cohesive characterization.

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While I haven't actually played Frontiers (instantly disqualifying myself from having an opinion worth taking seriously here), the impression I got was that Frontiers was so heavily referential as part of a broader attempt to establish or re-establish a series canon; in other words that, having done so, subsequent games will tone it down again because we won't need reminding.  The references are not so much or not only a question, "Remember this?", but a statement, "This matters again."  And with the point having been made, it won't need to be re-made so emphatically in subsequent titles.  That aspect of the world-building has been done.

As to whether this will affect what other properties do - I doubt it, at least directly.  In its own way it's just as "meta", after all.  I think there are interesting points to be made about what other large franchises and franchise-holders are doing when they leverage corporate consolidation, commodify history, and become obsessed with endless what-ifs - and what this says about changes in our society - but I don't know if a thread on a Sonic forum is really the right venue for an analysis of such scope.

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1 hour ago, Red Hot Jack said:

 

Just because it tries to give a sense of continuity to the franchise, it doesn't mean the game lacks it's own identity. In fact, I think it has A LOT of identity,

Mate...

They didn't even name the zones.

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56 minutes ago, Salamander said:

While I haven't actually played Frontiers (instantly disqualifying myself from having an opinion worth taking seriously here), the impression I got was that Frontiers was so heavily referential as part of a broader attempt to establish or re-establish a series canon; in other words that, having done so, subsequent games will tone it down again because we won't need reminding.  The references are not so much or not only a question, "Remember this?", but a statement, "This matters again."  And with the point having been made, it won't need to be re-made so emphatically in subsequent titles.  That aspect of the world-building has been done.

I was thinking that too, but can't help but wonder, who's driving this bus and how long will that person be driving?  If this is just Flynn's choice of how to write the series then it could be for two reasons, one to show he's one of the cool kids, and two to jog SEGA into revisiting those things he's referencing.  I don't have much to suggest that second one actually works, but then, might SEGA have put him up to all of this continuity porn?  In a vacuum, I would not suspect that, but in light of them making a lot more statements about consolidating canon and hiring people to manage it, I think they might have.  I would be ready to believe now that they're planning something.  Maybe not something good, but something.

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The only time I care for references is when something old is being used to say something new. The call back has to enhance the new work and the old one in some way. It has to be additive. A good example of this is the way Sonic Adventure calls back to the Echidna lore from the classics.

If it's just there to be there or to give hardcore fans a dopamine rush I usually don't care too much for it. See how Sonic Frontiers chooses to shout out Sonic Adventure for an ironic counter example. 

Just about every modern Sonic game, including Sonic Frontiers, fails at this. Old stages are brought back as a clear cost cutting measure without any of the lovingly crafted mechanics that made them memorable, connections are made between games with paper thin reasoning and no substance, characters being 're-established' just means character arcs being repeated on fast forward which isn't exciting to anyone. 

 

I'm old enough to remember when work was put into each new game to make them feel like new adventures. That was actually the best thing about the Adventure era. Not a sense of "continuity" or consistency. Sonic was going new places and meeting new people all the time, which made the world feel large and the possibilities feel endless. Callbacks existed, but each game came with new people for Sonic to build relationships with and new problems to solve. Sonic Frontiers is kind of a step in the right direction what with introducing sage and the ancients, but both concepts remain underdeveloped so Tails can tell me he feels like a burden again. Why? The conversation they had was good, and it's nice I guess for someone to explain explicitly that it's fine for kids to get scared and doubt themselves sometimes for the pockets of sonic fans who don't get that, but what about those of us that do? It wasn't anything we haven't seen before. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Red Hot Jack said:

Just because it tries to give a sense of continuity to the franchise, it doesn't mean the game lacks it's own identity. In fact, I think it has A LOT of identity,

Is this a bit? Genuinely, I can't tell. Frontiers? Of all games you could say have an identity?

A game where the characters stick out of their environments in a bad way? A game that tries to be "open world" and have elements from other games while also trying so desperately hard to remind you of the other games' existence? Where there's random shit half hazardously thrown everywhere without any rhyme or reason?

It has a lot of identity?

Ok.

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13 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

Is this a bit? Genuinely, I can't tell. Frontiers? Of all games you could say have an identity?

A game where the characters stick out of their environments in a bad way? A game that tries to be "open world" and have elements from other games while also trying so desperately hard to remind you of the other games' existence? Where there's random shit half hazardously thrown everywhere without any rhyme or reason?

It has a lot of identity?

Ok.

Frontiers has a lot of callbacks and references but it also has plenty of characters, locations and setpieces to call it's own. It does as good a job having it's own identity as most of the other 3D games. That's not really the issue at hand.

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23 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

Is this a bit? Genuinely, I can't tell. Frontiers? Of all games you could say have an identity?

A game where the characters stick out of their environments in a bad way? A game that tries to be "open world" and have elements from other games while also trying so desperately hard to remind you of the other games' existence? Where there's random shit half hazardously thrown everywhere without any rhyme or reason?

It has a lot of identity?

Ok.

I mean, you yourself, clearly didn't like the game, yes. But there have been a long line of people who've already given well documented accounts as to why that wasn't the majority's reception of the game.

Yes, despite what some may think, Frontiers does have it's own identity,  in the long line if Sonic games. 

It works on the level of providing Sonic elements, putting a spin on them, and moving the series forward in a new direction that doesn't betray the identity of Sonic.

It also provides unique set pieces, and details that make it it's own, that suggesting it supposedly lacks an identity in that manner is a gross oversimplification of the product.

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Forces' use of fanservice/references is terrible. And yet, it's still better about it than Frontiers.

For all the (largely justified!) complaints about Forces reusing GHZ again and the illusion villains and not even fighting half of them, these things are at least actually part of the story. Yes seeing GHZ again is kind of boring and they clearly compromised hard on their original vision for it, but at least it's demonstrating how Eggman endangers the world by showing a familiar and beloved location decaying due to his actions. Yes the big villain teamup just being brainless copies is far less interesting than if they had found reasons for the actual characters to team up and killing off two of them in cutscenes is lame, but at least you get to see them kick the shit out of Sonic at the start which sets off the whole rest of the game, and even illusion Chaos manages to make Tails piss himself before being removed from the story.

Frontiers is just...it'll give us some scenes of something firing powerful lasers from the sky, cutting through the ancients' defenses and weaponry like it's nothing, and then Tails says "wow that thing's as powerful as Dark Gaia!" What is the point of that? We already know it's plenty powerful, you've shown us that, and it's not connected to Dark Gaia in any way. It's a completely extraneous reference that only exists to say "hey guys, remember Sonic Unleashed? CoNtInUiTy!" And almost every reference in the game is like this, just name dropping something that happened or existed so you get that little hit from recognizing it. I think maybe the only references that actually feel justified and meaningful are to Tails stopping Eggman's missile and helping against the D6, since cheering him up and reminding him that he's useful is part of his arc. And I don't even want to get into the "ancients are Chaoses" stuff, it doesn't tie the two together in any meaningful way and it just makes me mad. Plus the game still reuses GHZ, CPZ, and SSZ again, in an even less meaningful way than ever before.

Forces' references sting because they bring up some interesting ideas that got cut down and cut off before they could really be explored. Frontiers' references are garbage because they were never meant to go anywhere in the first place. If Frontiers is a sign of where things are going, it's a sign that they're going to get worse.

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1 hour ago, Wraith said:

It does as good a job having it's own identity as most of the other 3D games. 

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Frontiers does have it's own identity,  in the long line if Sonic games. 

... .... .... .... ...

The game could'nt even give the cyberspace stages their own unique names...

 

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2 minutes ago, Badnik Mechanic said:

... .... .... .... ...

The game could'nt even give the cyberspace stages their own unique names...

I mean

It couldn't even give most of them original level designs either so idk what you expected 😛

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1 minute ago, DaBigJ said:

I mean

It couldn't even give most of them original level designs either so idk what you expected 😛

Thank you for agreeing with my point.

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9 minutes ago, Badnik Mechanic said:

... .... .... .... ...

The game could'nt even give the cyberspace stages their own unique names...

Eh, they didn't really need those though. I mean, aside from the city stages, we already know those zones' names.

That detail doesn't affect the fact that the game very much still has stuff to call it's own, and why it's generally accepted as the next step in the Sonic game lineage.

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It's hard not to agree when I only just beaten it a few hours ago...

100%'d too. It's fresh in my mind.

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54 minutes ago, DaBigJ said:

Is this a bit? Genuinely, I can't tell. Frontiers? Of all games you could say have an identity?

A game where the characters stick out of their environments in a bad way? A game that tries to be "open world" and have elements from other games while also trying so desperately hard to remind you of the other games' existence? Where there's random shit half hazardously thrown everywhere without any rhyme or reason?

It has a lot of identity?

Ok.

Sonic Frontiers identity is literally about identity. It's about loss of, remembrance and forging anew. This theme is prevalent through the game.

For Character identity, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Sage (and to some extent Eggman) are proof that the core cast have been on so many adventures that they themselves are now lost and trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be. There's arguably a lot of insight here that we never usually get with the cast that are so often sidelined or used for comedy passes. Sage is brand new and figuring out her place in the world and Eggman is evolving into a father-like figure which is new territory for him. 

Cyberspace's identity is haphazardly made up of everything Sonic - the Starfall islands absorb his memories hence why these worlds are created as an unconventional means for him to escape (don't forgot - The End is also deliberately manipulating things here from behind the scenes to assist Sonic in this area). The genre of soundtrack for these stages are also deliberately crafted to immediately tell the player audibly where and what cyberspace is about. 

The Starfall Islands have an identity of desolation and destruction of an ancient civilisation. The purpose of whom we find out more through exploration of ancient ruins, homes to various Koco creatures, and impressive looking ancient structures and beings which are alien enough to purposely make very little sense of at first. We also discover that; the civilisation is an ancient race of beings escaping from another world, they are related down the chain somewhere to Chaos, they harboured the chaos emeralds once upon a time...and potentially much much more (if they continue down this narrative road).

This not only gives scope for the future of the story, but strikingly shows that Frontiers main narrative identity is that whilst we can look back at the past (Sonic's roots / game references / previous character choices / history of the ancients etc...)  it is also about forging a new path ahead. The gameplay matches this philosophy with Cyberspace being smaller chunk of the gameplay and the Open-Zone being what Sonic Team are striving for in the future. Even the combat plays a part in this as it is something relatively new and still acknowledging its roots (through the huge Titan Super Sonic fights).

Anyway, that's probably why it's so memorable (to me personally at least). With how successful this game is I hope Sonic Team continue forging ahead with a second chapter for this new generation of Sonic titles.
 

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14 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Eh, they didn't really need those though. I mean, aside from the city stages, we already know those zones' names.

... .... .... 

Stage 3-4.... such a good stage.. ... 

I bet virtually everybody who reads this doesn't even know what stage that's themed on without looking.

Let alone the layout and length of it.

But this game definitely has its own identity!

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4 minutes ago, Badnik Mechanic said:

... .... .... 

Stage 3-4.... such a good stage.. ... 

I bet virtually everybody who reads this doesn't even know what stage that's themed on without looking.

Let alone the layout and length of it.

But this game definitely has its own identity!

I mean, yeah, it does. Pretty much anyone you ask will know what stage 1-2 was. Funnily enough, the way most people recognize the stages is by their music, with the tracks actually having unique names there, and the stages have had very catchy music in that regard.

But, that's besides the point, because Frontiers isn't even really defined by its cyberspace stages.

What is the aspect that makes it unique is the gameplay loop, the story, the bosses, and the series' attachment to the series. How it addresses aspects of the series. In a manner of speaking, the whole game, and by Sonic Team's admission with stuff like One Way Dream, there is a theme of dealing with your past and moving on to a better future.

But, aside from waxing philosophical, the game has struck out on its identity in a plethora of ways, even down to the soundtrack more or less signaling something of a return to raw Adventure era energy. The Titan boss fights have been widely praised for giving us arguably some of the best Super Sonic fights to date, incorporating Sonic's moveset bolstered and powered up, while not being brainless at that as well.

And of course, you've got the exhilaration of the open zone system, with Sonic's speed, and a refined control scheme to boot.

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