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Pre-Release Sonic Frontiers - Pre-release Discussion Thread (UPDATE: new overview trailer, releasing November 8th)

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Beanstar40 said:
Given how big sonic is, its strange that this game seems like its the first one in a while to be given a signficant budget. I just bear forces this year and it seemed extremely low budget for a mainline sonic game. I think sonic unleashed may have actually looked better than forces does
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This might have something to do with time given, too. When the social media manager (who was an excellent and beloved community liason) moved onto a corporate Director position at Sega Japan, one of the first things it was said he did was to convince them to start giving Sonic games more time in the oven, as the way they were rushing them out (one new mainline game every 2 years on average) was contributing to the final products having a lower quality as perceived by fans.

This was the dude who would, as an official rep of Sega, often make jokes about Sonic 06 at actual Sonic events. He knew how fans were beginning to see the series, so when he was in a position to push Sega for change, he did.

So I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason Frontiers looking like this bigass shift in quality is related to it being the first Sonic game that wasn't rushed out to make that rigorous schedule.
 
I'm curious about something. Will Frontiers be the last Sonic game to use the Studiopolis voice cast? When Sonic X came out in the U.S., Sega opted to use the 4Kids dub cast for future games post-Heroes all the way up until Colors. Sonic Prime is coming to Netflix soon, and it being a Canadian production means yet another recasting of the characters. Will Sega decide to go with the Vancouver VAs in Prime for future games after Frontiers?
 
MagiCarbo said:
I'm curious about something. Will Frontiers be the last Sonic game to use the Studiopolis voice cast? When Sonic X came out in the U.S., Sega opted to use the 4Kids dub cast for future games post-Heroes all the way up until Colors. Sonic Prime is coming to Netflix soon, and it being a Canadian production means yet another recasting of the characters. Will Sega decide to go with the Vancouver VAs in Prime for future games after Frontiers?
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That might have been on the table, as there was a big thing a few months back where a bunch of the cast was announced to be ending their work with Sonic all at once. But one large fan outcry later and Roger was back (at least, I forget if anyone else reversed). Plus with Colleen making a splash in the movie, I'd bet they'll keep her around as well.
 
chocolate_supra said:
That might have been on the table, as there was a big thing a few months back where a bunch of the cast was announced to be ending their work with Sonic all at once. But one large fan outcry later and Roger was back (at least, I forget if anyone else reversed). Plus with Colleen making a splash in the movie, I'd bet they'll keep her around as well.
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I'm suprised they actually kept Colleen for the movies considering they went with big name Hollywood actors for Sonic and Knuckles. I was expecting them to cast a major child star for Tails.
 
MagiCarbo said:
I'm curious about something. Will Frontiers be the last Sonic game to use the Studiopolis voice cast? When Sonic X came out in the U.S., Sega opted to use the 4Kids dub cast for future games post-Heroes all the way up until Colors. Sonic Prime is coming to Netflix soon, and it being a Canadian production means yet another recasting of the characters. Will Sega decide to go with the Vancouver VAs in Prime for future games after Frontiers?
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“the Studiopolis voice cast”? Is that like a fan name for them?
 
MagiCarbo said:
I'm suprised they actually kept Colleen for the movies considering they went with big name Hollywood actors for Sonic and Knuckles. I was expecting them to cast a major child star for Tails.
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Yeah it's an interesting mix, huh? A comedian who isn't A-list huge but who's definitely known in comedy and animation circles, the actual VA from the games, and then a major Hollywood blockbuster star.

And then Jim Carrey, of all people, being the best Robotnik we probably could have ever gotten. 🤣
 
boooooooo



I know it's been almost all Ohtani for like a decade but still, I miss Senoue
 
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What’s the release date again? 11/8? Sonic and Kratos in the same week, it’s gonna be awesome!
 
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Overall these impressions are looking pretty dang solid!

Two main worries remain for me. If this is the final build (unclear)

1. Pop-in is still quite bad, and this is on the PC release. It looks to go beyond just annoyance (eg grass, trees) and actually impacts platforming elements, surprised they couldn't work that out more.

2. Johnny is pretty blunt about growing fatigued on the gameplay loop after just 2 hours and worried it repeats too heavily between islands. Hope this is just due to the nature of the event jumping them between save files.

Also Sounds like cyberspace levels were very limited in theme per the IGN review in the first 3 worlds (to just the 4 themes we know). TBH seeing how wild the open world platforming gets I'm not too sad about this, but it's a far cry from what some were anticipating.
 
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Hmm the Shacknews final preview also mentions it's best to play in shorter bursts due to the repetition. That's not really surprising since they're going for some of the typical open world stuff with this game.

Three islands in and there being limited level themes for cyberspace does actually suck. Why couldn't they do unique assets for the Green Hill level with Green Forest and Sky Rail level designs and Chemical Plant with Radical Highway level design?
 
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as they said, the classic 3D sonic levels are very deemphasized. between the three islands, it'll be the same set of level themes for cyberspace levels (Green Hill, Chem Plant, City, Sky Sanctuary)
 
ILikeFeet said:
as they said, the classic 3D sonic levels are very deemphasized. between the three islands, it'll be the same set of level themes for cyberspace levels (Green Hill, Chem Plant, City, Sky Sanctuary)
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that's a bit of a letdown. I bet those are gonna feel pretty repetitive over the course of the game.
 
totofogo said:
Oh wow, Johnny got invited! Cool to hear about his trip too.


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good impressions from Johnny that reinforce my hesitations about Frontiers, the depth of the combat and the repetition in gameplay structure

regardless I am still in though
 
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Jahranimo said:
I feel since they're gonna be pretty short overall, maybe not?
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probably not, but if someone comes in, thinking "I'll just play the cyberspace levels while minimizing the open world levels", they'll be in for a rude awakening. I think Sega should clarify the balance more. like Bamco did for Digimon Survive being 80-20, VN/strategy game
 
ILikeFeet said:
probably not, but if someone comes in, thinking "I'll just play the cyberspace levels while minimizing the open world levels", they'll be in for a rude awakening. I think Sega should clarify the balance more. like Bamco did for Digimon Survive being 80-20, VN/strategy game
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I'm pretty sure they've already said the main content is going to be the actual Starfall Islands. So far it's seemingly like 6-7 levels per island though.
 
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ILikeFeet said:
probably not, but if someone comes in, thinking "I'll just play the cyberspace levels while minimizing the open world levels", they'll be in for a rude awakening. I think Sega should clarify the balance more. like Bamco did for Digimon Survive being 80-20, VN/strategy game
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Given that they were entirely absent from the games reveal, since then have been communicated as bite sized, and finally now clarified further to their actual quantity, I feel they’ve done a good job of just that.
 
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Like that they are at least bringing back Adventure era level designs as well if they don't have enough level designers to make the cyber space levels original (lol, lmao, but it is what it is)
 
My hope is that if this works, then on the next one they'll be able to go for broke on level design and tightening up the combat and such. Like, if the groundwork has been laid with this one then for the next one they can dedicate more time to original level design, right?

Plus I think Iizuka-san said at one point that this is considered internally to be the start of a third "era" of Sonic, after Classic and Modern (even though around the time of Generations they were considering the pre-boost 3D games their own era before lumping it in with Modern). If that's the case and future Sonic games follow this format I can see the team making them better and better as they go.

Fingers crossed.
 
frog said:
Like that they are at least bringing back Adventure era level designs as well if they don't have enough level designers to make the cyber space levels original (lol, lmao, but it is what it is)
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I'd rather they just remake Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 at this point

Jahranimo said:
I think the one thing that gets me with all this gameplay

why isn't there a single drop dash?!?!
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previewers aren't the people you go to for advanced moves
 
I'd rather have something way smaller in scope for the next game. Really don't want Sonic to become an Open World franchise only.

Just make open enough levels to encourage exploration, but have an definitive goal.
 
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not gonna lie, this looks ok at best. it feels so aimless, like there aren't any real goals. I know there are some but how you get them (the wrenches and gears) looks more like you're meandering about, hitting random boost pads and rails until one pops up.

it reminds me that Bowser's Fury looks to have done the transition to open world better. and that should be the point of comparison rather than Breath of the Wild
 
ILikeFeet said:


not gonna lie, this looks ok at best. it feels so aimless, like there aren't any real goals. I know there are some but how you get them (the wrenches and gears) looks more like you're meandering about, hitting random boost pads and rails until one pops up.

it reminds me that Bowser's Fury looks to have done the transition to open world better. and that should be the point of comparison rather than Breath of the Wild
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didn't realize there are also 2.5D sections in the open zones, at least they don't seem to be precise platforming that has befallen some boost Sonics (Colors and Forces) but that camera shift is a bit jarring
 
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Johnny's previous was good and I trust him more than most to speak on the positives and negatives of Sonic games. The fact that he think it might be best to play in bursts instead of long sessions is something you don't want to hear with regards to open world games. I knew since the gameplay demos that the ultimate reception to the game will depend on how well it plays at home as opposed to time limited sessions at conventions. A lot of things can be fun if you're just messing around for 10 minutes. It's a different story when you need to stretch out that gameplay across dozens of hours.
 
ILikeFeet said:
I'd rather they just remake Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 at this point


previewers aren't the people you go to for advanced moves
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Yeah you're right lol, I at least figured it was a move that would be explained in the game.

Now here's some good shit:

 
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I feel like the game needs a combat theme for fighting regular enemies. It's pretty jarring when you are just hearing the game's sound effects.
 
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