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

[ZinogreVolt]

32 minutes ago, Slashy said:

I have a hard time getting super excited about the Starfall Islands when they look like what I have seen in several open world games before it seems that SEGA really thinks this is amazing world design.

Xenoblade 2 isn't quite open world, it's areas are big but areas are sectioned off by fast travel and loading screens that you progress through in a linear order. Additionally, Xenoblade games take MANY technical shortcuts to get their desired results that affects gameplay. It works for Xenoblade (especially 1 and 2), which has rudimentary environmental interaction, but it wouldn't be a good fit for Sonic or open world games that rely on a degree of physics and regular interaction. 

Xenoblade 2's art direction does far outstrip Sonic Frontiers (from what we've seen, anyhow) but considering that game's numerous technical misgivings like immersion breaking pop-in, poor framerate, and low resolution, I'm not sure the comparison here is necessarily apt.

[Razule]

3 minutes ago, D.H said:

On top of that, since when was level elements merely floating in the sky that doesn't make sense physics-wise been new to Sonic? It's such an odd problem to have, tbh.

The potential issue isn't whether or not it "makes sense," it's whether or not the rails actually leads to anything & if you have to go all the way back to the beginning if you get knocked off. Which we honestly don't know yet.

It also might be that we usually don't see the rails from that angle, floating in the distance. We see them when we're about to use them, or while using them, and then we don't think about them again. But this is an open world, so they're just there.

[Slashy]

3 minutes ago, ZinogreVolt said:

Xenoblade 2 isn't quite open world, it's areas are big but areas are sectioned off by fast travel and loading screens that you progress through in a linear order. Additionally, Xenoblade games take MANY technical shortcuts to get their desired results that affects gameplay. It works for Xenoblade (especially 1 and 2), which has rudimentary environmental interaction, but it wouldn't be a good fit for Sonic or open world games that rely on a degree of physics and regular interaction. 

Xenoblade 2's art direction does far outstrip Sonic Frontiers (from what we've seen, anyhow) but considering that game's numerous technical misgivings like immersion breaking pop-in, poor framerate, and low resolution, I'm not sure the comparison here is necessarily apt.

I do not like how it is easy to poke fun at Sonic Frontiers' world design when this has been something that has been a constant strong suit for Sonic even in bad games.

[ZinogreVolt]

...Now that I'm looking at the grind rails again, I think those might actually be the strange alien letterings we've seen a few times in the trailers. Kind of like crop circles, but in the sky for some reason. Probably not the case, but that'd be pretty cool if it was. Wouldn't mind how much they stuck out if that was really the case.

[Kuzu]

Its gonna be real interesting if this game performs well and this is the direction Sonic follows through on in later years. 

[Slashy]

I just want to see what makes traversal fun. I feel like that should have been the top priority to show off.

[Razule]

3 minutes ago, Kuzu said:

Its gonna be real interesting if this game performs well and this is the direction Sonic follows through on in later years. 

That's what they're aiming for, so it's either that or bust.

[KHCast]

You know I know people are saying “wait until tomorrow before judging” but let’s be real here, are we really gonna be okay after tomorrow with that, or are people just gonna move on to saying “wait until it’s out, that was only one presentation ”, when criticism arises after the presentation, like we’ve done so many times in the past?

 

Anyway, it looks…meh. Just kinda looks like a more interesting sonic game than forces, but nothing having me jumping out of my chair in surprise over. Atm, while I can certainly see the new stuff their attempting here, can’t say most of these additions/changes are crazy interesting. Combat, rail grinding, boosting, we’ve all seen this in the past, so what we’re left with seeing is…a bit of running in a open world, spinning around a enemy, and sonic running on a hamster wheel. Which ngl, doesn’t seem to be grabbing me all that much. Maybe tomorrow will change my mind, but so far, it just looks kinda…average 

[Zoomzeta]

13 minutes ago, Razule said:

I get that the gameplay teaser just came out and we're all hyped, but it is so weird that after all this time, there are still fans complaining about other people complaining about nitpicks. The same "no one can ever be pleased" stuff as if this isn't Sonic the Hedgehog, and we haven't had ten years of mid games. Everyone's so hypersensitive that even the tiniest criticism about something they claim to not care about upsets them. If the game's not good, then inexplicably placed grind-rails, Sonic moving kinda stiffly and that one dumb finisher animation will be the least of our concerns.

 

 

 

It IS I had when I saw that move. And that's as far as it goes for now. 

[Jango]

I wanna see how long it will take untill we enter the "this is gonna be shit" vs. "you can't judge the game yet / they're probably gonna fix it before release" loop. Fun times.

And a piece of advice: when it comes to recent Sonic Team, if it looks bad now, you can be damn sure it will still be bad on release.

 

[Zoomzeta]

4 minutes ago, Slashy said:

I just want to see what makes traversal fun. I feel like that should have been the top priority to show off.

In a 30 second teaser trailer? 

[Slashy]

2 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

In a 30 second teaser trailer? 

Yeah actually, it only takes 8 seconds to really show that off.

[Zoomzeta]

3 minutes ago, KHCast said:

You know I know people are saying “wait until tomorrow before judging” but let’s be real here, are we really gonna be okay after tomorrow with that, or are people just gonna move on to saying “wait until it’s out, that was only one presentation ”, when criticism arises after the presentation, like we’ve done so many times in the past?

 

Anyway, it looks…meh. Just kinda looks like a more interesting sonic game than forces, but nothing having me jumping out of my chair in surprise over. Atm, while I can certainly see the new stuff their attempting here, can’t say most of these additions/changes are crazy interesting. Combat, rail grinding, boosting, we’ve all seen this in the past, so what we’re left with seeing is…a bit of running in a open world, spinning around a enemy, and sonic running on a hamster wheel. Which ngl, doesn’t seem to be grabbing me all that much. Maybe tomorrow will change my mind, but so far, it just looks kinda…average 

...Yes? If they're going to reveal more the next day, I think it's still fair to keep an open mind until tomorrow. It's not like we are waiting for the trailer to come out near the release date. 

[Jango]

Just now, Zoomzeta said:

...Yes? If they're going to reveal more the next day, I think it's still fair to keep an open mind until tomorrow. It's not like we are waiting for the trailer to come out near the release date. 

That never works. We got 30 seconds of average stuff today, the only difference is that we're getting 5 minutes of average stuff tomorrow. It will be the same game.

[Zoomzeta]

15 minutes ago, ZinogreVolt said:

Xenoblade 2 isn't quite open world, it's areas are big but areas are sectioned off by fast travel and loading screens that you progress through in a linear order. Additionally, Xenoblade games take MANY technical shortcuts to get their desired results that affects gameplay. It works for Xenoblade (especially 1 and 2), which has rudimentary environmental interaction, but it wouldn't be a good fit for Sonic or open world games that rely on a degree of physics and regular interaction. 

Xenoblade 2's art direction does far outstrip Sonic Frontiers (from what we've seen, anyhow) but considering that game's numerous technical misgivings like immersion breaking pop-in, poor framerate, and low resolution, I'm not sure the comparison here is necessarily apt.

You know I just wanted to bring this up after going back to the teaser. Sonic Frontiers seems to share more similarities with PSO2: New Genesis than it does with BTOW, and I don't think it's a coincidence, but an actual correlation. 

1 minute ago, Jango said:

That never works. We got 30 seconds of average stuff today, the only difference is that we're getting 5 minutes of average stuff tomorrow. It will be the same game.

Who said anything about 5 minutes? And sorry, but that's how I'm approaching this. You can disagree with me if you want. 

[KHCast]

5 minutes ago, Zoomzeta said:

...Yes? If they're going to reveal more the next day, I think it's still fair to keep an open mind until tomorrow. It's not like we are waiting for the trailer to come out near the release date. 

Never said I wasn’t keeping an open mind for tomorrow. I’m saying even after that, we’ll probably still be seeing a lot of “wait until the games out geez” comments, because that happens every time with these games. The goal post gets moved 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

7 minutes ago, Jango said:

And a piece of advice: when it comes to recent Sonic Team, if it looks bad now, you can be damn sure it will still be bad on release.

So, given this one doesn't look bad, then things should be interesting, I guess.

[Zoomzeta]

5 minutes ago, Slashy said:

Yeah actually, it only takes 8 seconds to really show that off.

...OK?

[azoo]

11 minutes ago, Jango said:

I wanna see how long it will take untill we enter the "this is gonna be shit" vs. "you can't judge the game yet / they're probably gonna fix it before release" loop.

Immediately. Including this post.

[Shiny Gems]

1 minute ago, KHCast said:

Never said I wasn’t keeping an open mind for tomorrow. I’m saying even after that, we’ll probably still be seeing a lot of “wait until the games out geez” comments, because that happens every time with these games. The goal post gets moved 

But how often are the times when saying "wait until the game comes out" turns out valid? We are getting more information, and previews along the way, and while it is not always the case, games can play better than they appear.

Don't get me wrong, I understand your point of view, and do agree it will happen. I, myself, will try to refrain from saying that. Still, just had to point something out, ya know?

[Jango]

3 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

So, given this one doesn't look bad, then things should be interesting, I guess.

I think it looks sad, actually.

[Muscles Maximum]

To me a worst case scenario is this game has no momentum whatsoever, and you're stuck traversing this massive land in the typical stiff and inorganic boost fashion. I sure as fuck hope that's not what this game comes down to. 

Rolling, running, and jumping around with actual physics in an environment like this would be actually perfect. Potentially limitless fun right there. So imagine Sonic Team not taking full advantage... ha...

[Slashy]

My fear is that this game will be heavily combat focused and most of the engaging gameplay is going to be from combat sequences with Sonic's speed basically there to make it easy to get around the map.

Rather than combat being an obstacle and tool for traversal, traversal will be an obstacle and tool for combat.

 

[DaBigJ]

4 minutes ago, azoo said:

Immediately. Including this post.

How are you feeling on the game tho? 

[Shiny Gems]

2 minutes ago, Guy Strong said:

To me a worst case scenario is this game has no momentum whatsoever, and you're stuck traversing this massive land in the typical stiff and inorganic boost fashion. I sure as fuck hope that's not what this game comes down to. 

Rolling, running, and jumping around with actual physics in an environment like this would be actually perfect. Potentially limitless fun right there. So imagine Sonic Team not taking full advantage... ha...

Maybe it would be a miss opportunity if that did not happen, but surely, momentum physics is not the only way to make a Sonic game, right?

Not that I am saying momentum physics should not be in this game, for I wouldn't mind them being in, but to me, there are many ways to make any game, if you know what I mean.