Sonic Frontiers - the game

[Strafe]

Some valid counters there for sure, though that the game doesn’t tell you a lot of this is to it’s detriment.

 

I encountered a couple of those forced 2D sections on the volcano island and I wasn’t able to back track. Even more annoyingly progressing forwards just moved me further from my waypoint.

 

Ok, you can jump into a cyberspace level or fishing level to get rid of the casino thing. Why should you have to? It doesn’t ally the INSANE decision to stick a pop up right over your centre of view and to escape it you’d still have to navigate to a fishing spot (if you’ve found one and there’s only one per map afaik) or a cyberspace point which given map size, isn’t always close by. It also means you’d have to run away from wherever it is you are at that time and whatever it is you wanted to do at that location just to get rid of a 90’s esque web browser pop up window that you never wanted in the first place.

 

I can appreciate the challenges of mixing open world with all these rails and springs and the struggle creating a clear line of direction (as annoying as it can be) but the casino thing is absurd and I do not understand how it got through. Or that they didn’t put it in a less irritating part of the screen.

[DarhkFox]

Beat this tonight.

 

The whole thing feels more like an experiment - there are things that to work and some that don't. I won't repeat too much because a lot of points have been pretty much spoken about in previous posts which echo my thoughts.

 

My main issues were the casino thing - the fact it blocks your view ( which doesn't help when you have triggered certain boss battles) is ridiculous.  Also sometimes it's annoying to accidentally hit a speed pad and then end up way out of your way.

 

The game has a addictive nature to it , especially early on. Grind some rails - get a token or whatever. Ares kept me exploring everything for this reason. 

 

Lots of other things didn't seem very thought out too but like I said it seemed very much an experiment for the next game.

 

Overall, I very much enjoyed it. Its the first 3d sonic I've properly got into since SA2 and i loved the moves and speed you could travel across each area.

 

Look forward to the dlc but I think by that point I'm not sure if is be particularly bothered on returning.

 

 

[JessieJim]

I stuck to the game Sonic as a child, it will be interesting to play.

[DeciderVT]

I've put about five hours into this so far and I've been really enjoying it. Exploring Kronos Island is fun and the structure of tying vault keys to goals in the levels is pleasantly flexible, because there's no way I'm getting some of the S-rank times. The only criticisms I have so far are Amy needing so many memory tokens and the right trigger on my Xbox pad going a bit sticky after trying to get the 55 second run on 1-2.

 

The first trailer really undersold the game.

[DarhkFox]

S rank really isn't that hard. I didn't s rank every level but usually only took 3 tries to do it.

 

The tokens thing is the same thing for each character in the game ( Amy, knuckles and tails) but I'd advise earning some tokens on the fishing mini game as well.

[shirubagan]

I wish the speed/ring power up and transferring didn't take over a minute each time. Getting them to level 99 is a right old faff.

[Haribokart]

1 hour ago, DarhkFox said:

S rank really isn't that hard. I didn't s rank every level

 

[Down by Law]

1-2 is a notoriously tight S-Rank, one of the hardest. I got 52:16 here by sticking to the low path, avoiding springs that tend to slow you down (unless your comfortable with the timing of cancelling homing attack into air boost which is faster but trickier) and air dashing over the top final section to save time on the spring ascent. 

 

 

 

[Paulando]

Anyone who enjoyed S-ranking the cyber space levels in this really owes it to themself to play Neon White. You’ll love it. Sonic Team really should just copy it for the next one.

[DeciderVT]

2 hours ago, Down by Law said:

1-2 is a notoriously tight S-Rank, one of the hardest. I got 52:16 here by sticking to the low path, avoiding springs that tend to slow you down (unless your comfortable with the timing of cancelling homing attack into air boost which is faster but trickier) and air dashing over the top final section to save time on the spring ascent. 

 

 

 

 

The way you cut out that entire section after the first spring jump is going to be very helpful. Didn't know that running across the top near the end was possible either!

[DarhkFox]

7 hours ago, Haribokart said:

 

 

I S ranked everything upto the final 2 on the final world. At that point I just couldn't be bothered since I didn't need the extra keys.

 

Generally Rule of thumb I found was just don't attack enemies you don't need to - collect the red coins only on your first run and then concentrate on a better time next.

[DeciderVT]

Not a bad start to the year! Sure I could do better as I screwed this run up a bit toward the goal but I'll take this time for now. Thanks for the tips @Down by Law, only took a few runs in the end. 

[MW_Jimmy]

Just finished this and yep @Down by Lawthat final boss is something wild alright!

 

The whole game feels like a bit of a fever dream with so many touchpoints to so many different games.

 

Positives

- The movement and freedom

- The puzzles everywhere and the one-step-ahead thinking that goes on in your head at super fast pace

- The short cyberspace stages and multiple goals

- The ambience and day/night cycle of the worlds

- All the toggle options on movement. I switched off motion blur straight away but giving you options to tweak starting speed, boost speed, turning speed, top speed, steering, acceleration and bounce height was really cool to see!

- Cyloop is a great addition and, although a bit too simple in implementation, parry/block was good mechanic too 

 

Negatives

- Some puzzles were very filler

- Too large of a moveset with many feeling redundant

- Skill tree also felt completely redundant

- Although I kinda liked them in a Asura Wrath kinda way - the Supersonic DBZ sections are hilariously bad

- Yep, the music is generally terrible

 

Definitely going back to 100%.

 

Also - noticed some names in the credits - Jaz Rignall on the playtesting and @Nate Dogg IIIdid some consultancy on it.

[Nate Dogg III]

Didn't know that, ta. Quite a cursed credit.

[Down by Law]

11 hours ago, MW_Jimmy said:

Just finished this and yep @Down by Lawthat final boss is something wild alright!

 

Yeah man, I can understand why it's a hard-difficulty only boss (as it actually is quite difficult if you aren't familiar with the concept) but it's a shame some people will miss it. A very inspired and Sega way to cap off the game and had me smiling throughout. Parts of this game reminded me of Sonic Team in the late 90's, just taking risks and going for it. 

[JamesC]

I'm about 10 hours into this game and I'm absolutely loving it. I don't think I've ever played anything else quite like it.

I won't repeat all the positives and negatives that have been listed elsewhere but, suffice to say, so far none of the negatives have really dented my enjoyment.

I'm getting the same pleasure from this as I get from Spider-Man games - it's the traversal and just chucking your character around the environment that's most satisfying. 

[scoobysi]

I’ve just started this and I’m loving it too. It reminds me a lot of Nights with the world to run around in and then the (cyberspace) levels to perfect and achieve an S Rank on.

[DeciderVT]

Enjoyed this bit!

 

Spoiler

 

[MW_Jimmy]

Sonic still got brand power over here in the UK - Sonic Frontiers was 20th best seller of the year:

 

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/uk-games-sales-dropped-6-in-2022-and-console-sales-plunged-29

[DeciderVT]

Finished this yesterday, although I might go back and try the true final boss on Hard.

 

Really enjoyed it overall. I agree with some of the criticisms here and there were a few others I didn't see mentioned- the Elder Koco dialogue loop I mentioned in the other thread, plus I had some issues with depth perception on some of the cyberspace levels where the camera was in a fixed position behind Sonic. This turned some of the jumps into blind leaps on the first encounter.

 

I really liked the open world levels, the guardian fights and the overall atmosphere though. I finished it in just over 30 hours, so it didn't turn into a slog. It's rare for a game to have the sort of hold on me where I'll stay up playing it until 4AM.

 

Really intrigued to see where Sonic Team take this next. I certainly never expected Pilotwings and Ikaruga to have influences on a Sonic game!

[Keyboard Koala]

There's a 15-minute demo for this now if people want to try before they buy

[Keyboard Koala]

Demo left a pretty good impression if I'm honest. Not the second coming people were hoping for (that's the Sonic cycle for ya), but a competent departure and bold new direction for the series. The Edge^tm 3 seems particularly mean so far. 

[shirubagan]

I tried the Switch version out of curiosity and was really impressed with the port. 

[JamesC]

I had a really good session on this last night and managed to finish off island 3 and complete island 4.

Mild spoilers:

Spoiler

The pinball challenge at the end of island 3 was a great surprise. I love how this game is always throwing new and surprising things at you. I can see how this may turn some players off - if you don't like pinball and are then forced to complete this challenge it may be a bit annoying. Personally, I thought it was brilliant.

 

Island 4 was an absolute blast and again a total surprise. I was expecting another map to have to slowly unlock but this was a complete swerve. The open world structure was largely left behind, in favour af a pretty linear series of challenges. The platforming, rail sliding etc. is so much fun though, so to have an opportunity to complete extended challenges was a welcome change of pace.

 

The way this is so fun and accessible to play in short burts but also totally addictive and satisfying for a long session hits a real sweet spot for me.
I love this game! 

[dave7g]

I'm in the "this is a good game" camp. Fun to just fuck around for an hour at a time. I wish the tips screen wasn't blinding white, I can't read the black text at all. It hurts.

[JamesC]

Well I've finally finished Sonic Frontiers. I ended up putting about 30 hours in and loved every minute of it.

Probably the most purely fun game I've played in ages.

 

There are still bits which I may go back and mop up later - which is quite nice as they're just short challenges which I can play when I have half an hour to spare.

 I think this was the game of 2022 for me (though I played most of it in 2023).

[fat flatulent git]

Who was the OP of this thread?

[Down by Law]

39 minutes ago, JamesC said:

 

Probably the most purely fun game I've played in ages.

 

 

 

Ha - that's exactly what I wrote in the game of the year voting thread.

 

Looking forward to the free dlc 💪

[MW_Jimmy]

On 08/02/2023 at 13:32, Down by Law said:

Looking forward to the free dlc 💪

 

Arriving this week!

 

https://www.destructoid.com/sonic-frontiers-dlc-sights-sounds-and-speed-march-22/

 

Sights - Photo Mode

Sounds - 53 tracks packed with "your favorite Sonic songs"

Speed - Battle Rush (waves of enemies) and Cyber Space Challenge (Cyberspace levels back to back)

[Down by Law]

Some QoL features dropping with the update too :

 

The update also includes additional changes to improve your experience while exploring the Starfall Islands.

The Power Boost animation can be toggled in the Options menu.

The Starfall Slot Machine can be toggled in the Options menu.

Cyber Space levels can be restarted mid-level.

When upgrading Sonic, multiple Koco can now be exchanged at once with the Elder and Hermit Koco

 

I'm liking that the 53 music tracks are hidden around the islands to give a reason to go exploring again. Gonna be some sweet DC vibes listening to SA's Mystic Ruins on Kronos island.