Finished Sonic Frontiers
Jul. 22nd, 2023 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acetiff12I've completed Sonic Frontiers! \o/ I'm so glad I took my time with it, even though it meant avoiding most Sonic stuff online because I didn't want to risk getting spoiled.
Overall, this was satisfying to play. My biggest gripe with it was the quality of the graphics... I didn't think the pop-ins would bother me at all, but they kind of did. Then there's everything else visually. Very... low res? But I think the reason it looked terrible for me was because I played it on the Nintendo Switch. I've seen other players' graphic footage that didn't look anywhere near as bad as what I experienced. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When I first started it up, I was greeted by a cool Sonic Team logo and then the main menu. I really miss cinematic openings before the start screen and it seems not many videogames do this anymore. =(
I still dislike Sonic's current voice. 😂 And Knuckles. But only in the games for some reason?? I don't mind as much for the TV shows... Maybe because of the different tones...?
I liked Sage, though! She ended up being super cute. I was a little disappointed that she wasn't a proper villain, though, because I'm interested in having a female antagonist in Sonic who stays bad.
The story was okay, but some of the writing bothered me. I was put off by all the random nods to obscure references such as Amy's supposed fortune-telling hobby and characters who aren't part of the mainline series (Sticks and Tangle). It felt shoehorned in for no significant reason, but I guess some people felt catered to, so good for them. After all, my favorite character Maria was mentioned. XD Wasn't expecting that, or for Eggman to refer to her as his cousin, a concept I've always liked.
But it was a little jarring how the game seemingly wanted to uphold continuity of the franchise now... I felt bad thinking about how confusing it must be for new players, because it reminded me of how I played Shadow the Hedgehog without knowing much about the major plot points of Sonic Adventure 2. I also felt bad for Tails expressing disappointment over his own mischaracterization from Sonic Forces, which wasn't his fault. ;_; I don't know, it just seemed like there's too much to be addressed and attempts at doing so weren't well organized.
Gameplay was fun, especially the combat system! Though the skill tree is a lot smaller and simpler than I expected. My favorite moves are Cyloop and Sonic Boom. And the enemy designs are lovely! I was so impressed. Playing as Super Sonic made me determined to beat the bosses. And once I got the hang of it, I was able to beat the last two bosses on my first try.
I liked how the game offered all sorts of settings for players to adjust to their liking. It was super helpful. I liked the way boost was handled in general. More rings meant more speed. I enjoyed the puzzles and filling out the island map. But I wished the platforms/obstacle courses were more entwined with the environment. Like, instead of the staple fans that lift Sonic into the air, they could've used geysers or little sand tornadoes. Also, I dislike having 2D sections in 3D Sonic games. My opinion of the cyberspace levels would greatly improve if they were all 3D only. At least they're quick to play through, making them a nice side thing.
Fishing was also a nice side thing in theory, but I also found it a little out of place... On the other hand, it made me want there to be a chill, cozy Sonic game in the future similar to Animal Crossing. XD
The Koco were just as, if not more, cute as the Chao babies. I liked how they all fell over whenever I cylooped around them to get rings. 🥰❤️
I'd say the good features outweighed the bad ones, so Sonic Frontiers gets a thumbs-up from me. 👍
Overall, this was satisfying to play. My biggest gripe with it was the quality of the graphics... I didn't think the pop-ins would bother me at all, but they kind of did. Then there's everything else visually. Very... low res? But I think the reason it looked terrible for me was because I played it on the Nintendo Switch. I've seen other players' graphic footage that didn't look anywhere near as bad as what I experienced. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When I first started it up, I was greeted by a cool Sonic Team logo and then the main menu. I really miss cinematic openings before the start screen and it seems not many videogames do this anymore. =(
I still dislike Sonic's current voice. 😂 And Knuckles. But only in the games for some reason?? I don't mind as much for the TV shows... Maybe because of the different tones...?
I liked Sage, though! She ended up being super cute. I was a little disappointed that she wasn't a proper villain, though, because I'm interested in having a female antagonist in Sonic who stays bad.
The story was okay, but some of the writing bothered me. I was put off by all the random nods to obscure references such as Amy's supposed fortune-telling hobby and characters who aren't part of the mainline series (Sticks and Tangle). It felt shoehorned in for no significant reason, but I guess some people felt catered to, so good for them. After all, my favorite character Maria was mentioned. XD Wasn't expecting that, or for Eggman to refer to her as his cousin, a concept I've always liked.
But it was a little jarring how the game seemingly wanted to uphold continuity of the franchise now... I felt bad thinking about how confusing it must be for new players, because it reminded me of how I played Shadow the Hedgehog without knowing much about the major plot points of Sonic Adventure 2. I also felt bad for Tails expressing disappointment over his own mischaracterization from Sonic Forces, which wasn't his fault. ;_; I don't know, it just seemed like there's too much to be addressed and attempts at doing so weren't well organized.
Gameplay was fun, especially the combat system! Though the skill tree is a lot smaller and simpler than I expected. My favorite moves are Cyloop and Sonic Boom. And the enemy designs are lovely! I was so impressed. Playing as Super Sonic made me determined to beat the bosses. And once I got the hang of it, I was able to beat the last two bosses on my first try.
I liked how the game offered all sorts of settings for players to adjust to their liking. It was super helpful. I liked the way boost was handled in general. More rings meant more speed. I enjoyed the puzzles and filling out the island map. But I wished the platforms/obstacle courses were more entwined with the environment. Like, instead of the staple fans that lift Sonic into the air, they could've used geysers or little sand tornadoes. Also, I dislike having 2D sections in 3D Sonic games. My opinion of the cyberspace levels would greatly improve if they were all 3D only. At least they're quick to play through, making them a nice side thing.
Fishing was also a nice side thing in theory, but I also found it a little out of place... On the other hand, it made me want there to be a chill, cozy Sonic game in the future similar to Animal Crossing. XD
The Koco were just as, if not more, cute as the Chao babies. I liked how they all fell over whenever I cylooped around them to get rings. 🥰❤️
I'd say the good features outweighed the bad ones, so Sonic Frontiers gets a thumbs-up from me. 👍
