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Sonic Frontiers | Review Thread

shiru

Banned
Sorry, but no. Pokemon Sword and Shield was unpolished mediocre mess and that was sold at full price, many modern Nintendo games launch incomplete with minimal features on the excuse they'll add them in later updates only for it's userbase and support to die in less than a year at best and yet games like SMM2 which should've been 20$ realease full price and they refuse to drop prices, so you still get a dead 5 year old game full price.
Nintendo didn't make Sword and Shield though. That's Game Freak's mess.
 
What? The game was at a 73 on Metacritic (and 74 on OpenCritic) like 5 minutes after reviews dropped. Stop making shit up.

It started out at 80. You saw the score later dropped score, and then people were f5ing on social media and were posting the drops.

Early in this thread it was at 74, then 73, and now 72.
 
It will sell well. Thats why it couldn't be delayed. It has to be out for the holidays.

It wasn't delayed any longer because Sega needed cash and they wanted to capitalize on post-forces good mindshare from the movies. It's not going to sell anymore than a typical Sonic game the last 15 years has: Less than Shadow the Hedgehog.
 
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Got to be honest, every single piece of pre-release footage made me think this game was going to suck total ass and get like sub-50 on Metacritic (for whatever that is worth) and upon playing the game it seems I was half right.

The Cyberspace levels are sub-Forces(?!) quality. Sonic has no momentum— he stops immediately when you let go of boost, you don't have to manneuver him at all except in the sense that you have to override your memory of playing good Sonic games where part of the fun was having to work with the physics. The homing attack is the hardest momentum-kill it's ever been and is slow as fuck... remember in Generations when you would retain momentum at least a little bit and Sonic would do a cool move in the air? Now it takes five years for the impact animation to stop playing and Sonic returns to zero momentum for it. Good work Sonic Team. While I'm at it all the animations are peak jank. Everything in this game is mad jank. It's not quite on the level of Sonic Boom but this game feels a million times worse to play than Sonic 06. Modern Sonic Team games have tended to at least have some flair to them, even Forces, but this game has that Unity asset store feel to it like it's a fan game or something, especially in the open world.

The combat is as it seemed in the pre-release footage... there are enemies that are sort of designed to have weak points, but they're completely braindead and barely amount to more than button-mashing, at least so far. The move where you draw a circle around a group of enemies seems like the sort of concept a game designer would come up with in desperation, like when they really need to add more to the game but they don't have any good ideas. Never mind whether it adds anything to the game or is fun to execute or anything. Also the big bosses so far are awful.

The concept art meme posted a couple posts up is how the game looks. We knew that already but it needs to be repeated because it really beggars belief that this is what they went with.

But y'know, this is an open world game and you get to collect generic collectibles (and they really couldn't be any more generic, half the art in this game feels like placeholder shit) so naturally game reviewers will rate it more than it deserves and desperate Sonic fans will claim to have broken the cycle with what is probably the worst mainline Sonic game since Shadow the Hedgehog
Ouch... i was really hoping this would be good
 

Belthazar

Member
Yeah idk how Generations only got a 77. It's up there with in the top 5 IMO.

This is why I can't take review scores seriously for Sonic games. The critics seem to have a hate boner for Sonic... Like, just in look at the neck beard from Digital Trend who gave Frontiers a 20.
 

Toons

Member
Sonic fanbaae just doesn't know what they want anymore. The only thing they know is they wanna feel like they are playing adventure 2 again which isng going to happen.

Sega switches things up(adding other playable characters, adding moves, adding a combat system like in unleashed) and the fans say "but I wanna go FAAAAST" so the sega does a basic running simulator sonic has always been like generations and fans say "its Blaaaaaaand"

They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Funny thing is adventure added a ton of other play styles most of which are worse than the werehog. No one wants to remember the Big the Cat fishing levels. Only the sonic shadow and knuckles levels were good.
 
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MagnesD3

Member
Sonic fanbaae just doesn't know what they want anymore. The only thing they know is they wanna feel like they are playing adventure 2 again which isng going to happen.

Sega switches things up(adding other playable characters, adding moves, adding a combat system like in unleashed) and the fans say "but I wanna go FAAAAST" so the sega does a basic running simulator sonic has always been like generations and fans say "its Blaaaaaaand"

They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Funny thing is adventure added a ton of other play styles most of which are worse than the werehog. No one wants to remember the Big the Cat fishing levels. Only the sonic shadow and knuckles levels were good.
No people remember big the cat, Ive never heard a person in my life that loved that game say that big the cats gameplay worked properly.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
So I’m on the 4th island now and the island areas are getting repetitive. There just isn’t enough new creative puzzles like you would find in new levels of a Mario game.

But the traditional sonic levels get better and better as you go. I’m actually surprised at how much I like them.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
Ouch... i was really hoping this would be good
As I see it... enjoying this game have a lot more to do with what kind of things you can enjoy on a personal level, than the game itself.
This game is basically an uncompleted sandbox with a story in the background. And even a bad sandbox can be better that any recent Sonic game. So a lot of people are liking it.

I think the best thing you can do is try for yourself... you never know...
 

keefged4

Member
So I’m on the 4th island now and the island areas are getting repetitive. There just isn’t enough new creative puzzles like you would find in new levels of a Mario game.

But the traditional sonic levels get better and better as you go. I’m actually surprised at how much I like them.
The Cyberspace levels are actually remixes of past 3D sonic levels. 3-1 is blatenly Green Forest from Sonic Adventure 2 but with a few extra paths added and has the Green Hill aesthetic. I'm not 100% if all levels are like this but the vast majority of them are.
 
You are putting the Kart before the horse. Nintendo is able to sell products at full price because they are quality products, and people are willing to pay for them. This conspiracy that is going around that Nintendo is only successful because they have spent the past 4 decades fooling people into buying bad games is insane.
Nobody said anything about Nintendo fooling anyone.

SEGA lost the console war and Nintendo survived. That undoubtedly has an impact on the financials of the business.
The CEO of SEGA literally had to loan his own personal wealth and forgive the loans for SEGA to continue operating as a business. Either the games come out on time or SEGA continues to slip into bankruptcy. Nintendo's finances have never ever been that bad. Their games are undoubtedly high quality, but they've had the stability as a corporation to ensure that the needs of their premier franchises were attended to to maintain a high level of quality.

I do not doubt that a lot of this is down to game design and management competence. You don't need to remind me or anyone else that SEGA have been incompetent. But then you can't exactly attract the best of the best if you're constantly in the financial and reputational shitter. SEGA has only really looked up as a business in the last decade as they diversified their stream of games beyond Sonic and previously merged with Sammy. But clearly, that management incompetence has remained.

What I've said is no slight to Nintendo. You really don't need to be so defensive.

No, that is pretty pretty sane.

Oooh, nice hot take.
 

chigstoke

Member
This is the first sonic game I’ve bought new since God knows when. But so far, really enjoying the game. It’s such an improvement over Forces, but I suppose that’s not a hard task.

I love the open world, and any worry about an open world translating poorly in a modern Sonic games has quickly gone. Plenty of small tasks to do in addition to the main game content. And those Koko’s are incredibly cute, maybe more so than Chao (blasphemy I know). The game controls well, not perfect by any means.

The pop in is pretty bad at times however. But overall, a surprisingly good effort from the sonic team of today. It doesn’t (and no new sonic game more than likely) will scratch that Adventure itch I have, but the open world does help to mitigate that somewhat.

Solid 7/7.5 out of 10 for me. Definitely don’t regret the purchase at all.
 

HUELEN10

Member
I’m not denying the game at all, I agree with most reviews, but this just isn’t for me. I hope there’s room in the future for games like this but also more linear titles, but we’ll have to see.

Good job Sonic Team, music is killer.
 

Unknown?

Member
This is the first sonic game I’ve bought new since God knows when. But so far, really enjoying the game. It’s such an improvement over Forces, but I suppose that’s not a hard task.

I love the open world, and any worry about an open world translating poorly in a modern Sonic games has quickly gone. Plenty of small tasks to do in addition to the main game content. And those Koko’s are incredibly cute, maybe more so than Chao (blasphemy I know). The game controls well, not perfect by any means.

The pop in is pretty bad at times however. But overall, a surprisingly good effort from the sonic team of today. It doesn’t (and no new sonic game more than likely) will scratch that Adventure itch I have, but the open world does help to mitigate that somewhat.

Solid 7/7.5 out of 10 for me. Definitely don’t regret the purchase at all.
Did you get the Soap shoes? So glad they brought that back!
 

Kazza

Member
Steam user reviews looking very impressive (I find these much more reliable than Metacritic reviews from gaming journalists):

UZ17o9y.png


I wasn't impressed with the initial previews and footage, but this looks like it's going to be a hit. Looking forward to the Digital Foundry video:

law7OpD.png
 

anthony2690

Member
Steam user reviews looking very impressive (I find these much more reliable than Metacritic reviews from gaming journalists):

UZ17o9y.png


I wasn't impressed with the initial previews and footage, but this looks like it's going to be a hit. Looking forward to the Digital Foundry video:

law7OpD.png
John also said he enjoyed Sonic Frontiers more than another recent triple a game too 👀

Genuinely the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, I'm 12 hours in and on the third island.

The boss fights are crazy too.

I'm playing through on hard, as apparently you miss the true ending or whatever if you don't.
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
John also said he enjoyed Sonic Frontiers more than another recent triple a game too 👀

Genuinely the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, I'm 12 hours in and on the third island.

The boss fights are crazy too.

I'm playing through on hard, as apparently you miss the true ending or whatever if you don't.
I just got to play for a couple hours and S rank on 1-2 broke me lol. Apparently it's the hardest S rank in the game and it's right near the beginning. Tons of fun though.
 

Kazza

Member
John also said he enjoyed Sonic Frontiers more than another recent triple a game too 👀

Genuinely the most fun I've had with a game so far this year, I'm 12 hours in and on the third island.

The boss fights are crazy too.

I'm playing through on hard, as apparently you miss the true ending or whatever if you don't.

Good to hear! I haven't played much 3D Sonic tbh (planning to play generations for the first time soon), but I think this would be a nice game to pick up and play around Christmas time.

I'm looking forward to the tears and rage on here if DF's John makes Sonic his game of the year over GoW! :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
Game has a 94% positive on steam and half this thread is filled with the 6% who didn’t like it.

I’ve only played an hour on steam deck but so far it’s pretty great compared to actual trash like forces. Goes straight to gameplay, minimal furry friends shit, Sonic controls well, the open world area is great fun to explore with an interesting and relaxing vibe, combat is already more interesting than previous 3D Sonics. As someone who grew up on 2D Sonic, this feels likely it’s likely the best 3D Sonic to date. But yes it’s early impressions.

For others with steam deck here’s how to make it enjoyably playable: https://steamah.com/sonic-frontiers-better-performance-on-steam-deck/
 
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anthony2690

Member
I just got to play for a couple hours and S rank on 1-2 broke me lol. Apparently it's the hardest S rank in the game and it's right near the beginning. Tons of fun though.
S1-2 is fairly easy imo :)



I think it just comes down to realising to ignore enemies/other routes and using your boost, I am sure I could do this loads faster now I've realised how air boosting etc works now.

I think I had a harder time with a later stage on world 3, but even that only took a few tries :)
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
S1-2 is fairly easy imo :)



I think it just comes down to realising to ignore enemies/other routes and using your boost, I am sure I could do this loads faster now I've realised how air boosting etc works now.

I think I had a harder time with a later stage on world 3, but even that only took a few tries :)

I'm trying this tonight. I felt like hitting the slam might be the secret so you can land quickly, since sometimes you're doing a slow air float. I air boost obviously, but sometimes I feel like I'm losing seconds here or there not doing it at max efficiency. Just need more practice.
 

anthony2690

Member
Good to hear! I haven't played much 3D Sonic tbh (planning to play generations for the first time soon), but I think this would be a nice game to pick up and play around Christmas time.

I'm looking forward to the tears and rage on here if DF's John makes Sonic his game of the year over GoW! :messenger_tears_of_joy:
It's John's opinion, if it makes users here have tears of rage then they need to re-evaluate their life imo.

Anyway game is great fun, hope you enjoy it :)

I also really enjoyed Generations when that landed back in the day, it got a free remaster on series X pretty much too, what is nice!
 

Kazza

Member
Game has a 94% positive on steam and half this thread is filled with the 6% who didn’t like it.

For whatever reason Sonic always seems to attract the haters. Even the "sonic was never good" crowd made an early appearance in the thread. Everyone else (a few pro reviewers aside) seem to be really enjoying it.
 

anthony2690

Member
I'm trying this tonight. I felt like hitting the slam might be the secret so you can land quickly, since sometimes you're doing a slow air float. I air boost obviously, but sometimes I feel like I'm losing seconds here or there not doing it at max efficiency. Just need more practice.
On this stage ignore the air route at the start of the level. :p
But later stages air boost sends you flying and gets you past obstacles with ease :)

You can also skip the rail loop if you time your rail switch correctly too, what I found out when replaying later :)
 
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Kazza

Member
It's John's opinion, if it makes users here have tears of rage then they need to re-evaluate their life imo.

Have you never read a GAF Digital Foundry thread, haha! It would be even worse if Alex does it (he seems to attract particular hate for some reason).

Anyway, I hope you continue to have fun with the game yourself. I will get to it once I finally begin/finish Generations (PC version, so I think it should pretty much be like the XSX remaster)
 

AetherZX

Member
For whatever reason Sonic always seems to attract the haters. Even the "sonic was never good" crowd made an early appearance in the thread. Everyone else (a few pro reviewers aside) seem to be really enjoying it.
Some franchises in general on here I've noticed attract loads of contrarians who just shit up the entire threads. Genuinely fucking weird behavior and I get the impression these people just hate video games.
 

anthony2690

Member
Have you never read a GAF Digital Foundry thread, haha! It would be even worse if Alex does it (he seems to attract particular hate for some reason).

Anyway, I hope you continue to have fun with the game yourself. I will get to it once I finally begin/finish Generations (PC version, so I think it should pretty much be like the XSX remaster)
I have and it makes me sad when I know these are probably grown men that are this upset over someone else's game preference.

But it is the same with twitter when I see grown men arguing over consoles or games etc.

I just don't understand it. :)

I hope you enjoy generations 💪🤞
 

Ristifer

Member
So, does this game have a decent story at least? Are there any indicators that Ian Flynn had some substantial influence on it? Or did Sonic Team try way too hard again?
 

Ristifer

Member
Has nothing to do with sonic games being crap since time immemorial or sonic fans wanting a good game. It's just "haters" right?
Yeah, people claiming that "haters" are ripping up Sonic threads have odd takes. People generally want Sonic to be good. It's not the fans' fault that Sonic Team has botched numerous attempts. If the new one is good, then great. But that doesn't necessarily negate everything that came before it. Especially considering this game still isn't garnering acclaim. Maybe it is from Sonic youtubers, who flip flop on Sonic games like it's a bodily function. I don't quite take their words as gospel at this point.
 

Fake

Member
I’m not denying the game at all, I agree with most reviews, but this just isn’t for me. I hope there’s room in the future for games like this but also more linear titles, but we’ll have to see.

Good job Sonic Team, music is killer.

Music never was a problem for Sonic games so far. OST from previous Sonics was everything but superb.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Watching the Digital Foundry video and it looks fun. Switch looks and performa like hot garbage.

How does it run on deck (for those who have had hands on time with that version)?
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Yeah, people claiming that "haters" are ripping up Sonic threads have odd takes. People generally want Sonic to be good. It's not the fans' fault that Sonic Team has botched numerous attempts. If the new one is good, then great. But that doesn't necessarily negate everything that came before it. Especially considering this game still isn't garnering acclaim. Maybe it is from Sonic youtubers, who flip flop on Sonic games like it's a bodily function. I don't quite take their words as gospel at this point.
I think it's the fans to a very large extent. The praise Sonic Mania got was proof enough for me. Just literally a carbon copy of old nostalgia and people act like it's the best thing ever made. You see a very similar mindset with Metroid fans trashing great games because they're just not identical to Super Metroid in every single way.

I don't think anyone thinks that Sonic Team is phenomenal, but Colors, Generations and Frontiers are all good games. And I respect how bizarre Lost World is.
 

Ristifer

Member
I think it's the fans to a very large extent. The praise Sonic Mania got was proof enough for me. Just literally a carbon copy of old nostalgia and people act like it's the best thing ever made. You see a very similar mindset with Metroid fans trashing great games because they're just not identical to Super Metroid in every single way.

I don't think anyone thinks that Sonic Team is phenomenal, but Colors, Generations and Frontiers are all good games. And I respect how bizarre Lost World is.
Thing is that Frontiers rehashes just as much as Mania did, and on a much grander scale. So, I don't buy that argument. Almost all of the Cyberspace levels are lifted, with almost identical level layouts to past games, showcasing only four main themes. Mania didn't even offend that badly. Not to mention the fact that Mania was meant as an anniversary game anyway, just like Generations before it. So, having callbacks at least made sense. Even the callbacks in Forces made sense for the same reason. So, I don't know why we have callbacks to Green Hill and Chemical Plant again in this game. Even if it's not the main focus, it's a much bigger offender than any previous entries.

I will agree that Colors, Generations, and Lost World have some things going for them. I would also include Unleashed. I just think they could do better.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Thing is that Frontiers rehashes just as much as Mania did, and on a much grander scale. So, I don't buy that argument. Almost all of the Cyberspace levels are lifted, with almost identical level layouts to past games, showcasing only four main themes. Mania didn't even offend that badly. Not to mention the fact that Mania was meant as an anniversary game anyway, just like Generations before it. So, having callbacks at least made sense. Even the callbacks in Forces made sense for the same reason. So, I don't know why we have callbacks to Green Hill and Chemical Plant again in this game. Even if it's not the main focus, it's a much bigger offender than any previous entries.

I will agree that Colors, Generations, and Lost World have some things going for them. I would also include Unleashed. I just think they could do better.
Copied levels is definitely a valid criticism. I haven't played the games recently enough to be able to tell, but that is a bummer if true. I'm enjoying the levels a lot though, but yeah.
 
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