Sonic Frontiers - The Highs & Lows
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ย. 2022
- Is it actually better than Sonic Pinball Party like everyone keeps saying? Time to finally find out
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The lowest point was having to individually level up your speed and ring level by slowlyyy talking to the kuko guy over and over and over, 99 levels, twice.
Some guy recorded how long it takes and it’s 2 FREAKING HOURS
Lowest point after that was the pinball game
Other than that the game was pretty fun to me
@@peco595 oh yeah, I honestly forgot about that; thank you for reminding me of my trauma
Yeah that was absolutely ridiculous. No excuse for that being in the game. Especially when attack and defense don’t work like that
I thought people were exaggerating until I did that. Also I exited the game by mistake and had to do it 50 more times.
Cybershell really nailed it with "There are a million reasons I should hate it, but I still had a good time with it".
Something about the boosting around freely was weirdly mesmerizing
@GoodVgaming nice try
Rhea Island doesn't just resemble Kronos, it *is* Kronos. When I went back to complete everything the game had to offer, I noticed there was a large area on the northern part of the Kronos map that didn't have any icons. I went to investigate and got invisible walled. Disappointed with being unable to explore, I carried on. When I revisited Rhea to see if there was anything hiding in the environment, I noticed the map looked exactly like the northern part of Kronos that I couldn't get to before. Same invisible wall, only from the other side.
It's not even just that; Ouranos is ALSO part of Kronos. Not in the final build like Rhea is, but there's a beta version of the map left over in the Switch's files where Ouranos is added to it as well.
Also, people have used cheats to shoot WAY off in the distance from the islands. For Ouranos, Rhea, and Kronos, if you go off to a distance where you can see it, the way the water is, you can actually SEE the outline of the once-complete island. You can also jump over the invisible wall in Rhea/Kronos and if you do, explore a version of the other map with no objects or enemies loaded in.
I'd like to see Sonic team embrace the Homing Attack > Air Boost exploit for the next title. Make it a proper combo move where Sonic can vault off the Badnik for some horizontal momentum like he does in Sonic CD's ending.
The 4th area doesn't just look like Kronos. it IS Kronos. It's just the north side of Kronos island. You can see the Kronos landmarks from the edge of the map. It's really weird they treat it like separate islands
I would love to hear Jon rant about skill trees.
I just 100% completed Frontiers and I really enjoyed it. I can tell because when I finished the 100% I wanted to continue playing. Usually when I 100% a game I'm burned out and can't wait to finish it.
Something interesting I haven't heard anyone mention in their reviews of Sonic Frontiers is that the 4th island is in fact Kronos Island. You are on the north side where you fought Gigantos. You can see the satellite dish area and the floating structure where the sixth emerald was found to the south of the island. You can't go over there, but you can see them.
From what I’ve seen on the internet islands 1, 4 and 5 were all one giant islands up till the announcement of the game at the game awards. And then for some reason they were separated into 3 smaller islands
@@ark5074I guess both to make the game feel longer and the other two islands not to feel smaller in scale by comparison.
09:40 - Forces didn't make you lose any momentum when you jumped, in fact out of all the Boost games its the only one where you don't do that. Thats why the Shorthop existed in the first three games to begin with and why it isnt in Forces.
The Improved Physics mod does come with a timed parry that only lasts a moment, and then it made me realize why they made it neverending: that darn recovery endtime makes it almost useless in a game that really prefers to use enemies as mini-challenges for your mechanics rather than advanced combat skill. Especially with the Titans having weird attack timing.
Yeah, paying attention you start to see this story of them wanting a skill based party system only to realize all too late that the game they made makes actually using the system frustrating, especially how important parrying is in this game sometimes, so the quick fix was to just let you abuse it. Hopefully they learn from this
The Hard Mode True Final Boss is a Ikaruga Reference
Where you have 2 Modes being Light and Dark, which modes you are in makes you immune to the same bullets shoot towards you
And its also meant to be a story focused Final Boss fight compared to past game true final boss fight
Correction. Ian Flynn did not write the story. Sonic Team did. Flynn only provided the dialogue that was then used as the basis for localization back into Japanese.
When I first got Sonic Frontiers, one of the first things I tried doing with the Cyloop ability was form the Dreamcast logo. I wasn’t good at it, but I’ll work on it, and share it with friends.
the first thing I did was draw an among us
Sonic Frontiers' final battle (and the hacking minigame it's based on that's seen on Chaos Island) is actually a reference to a bullet hell shmup called _Ikaruga._ In that game (and indeed, in the Frontiers bits), you have a 'polarity' mechanic. You can swap between two states, allowing you to destroy bullets that match your colour, and these bullets don't hurt you even if you touch them, but bullets of the opposite colour do.
That's great but why the fuck was this a final boss? A regular big boss fine but the finalie?
42:27 Rhea and Ouranos actually were part of Chronos Island originally, the Switch version has map files leftover from when they were connected.
What a coincidence, I’m playing Frontiers right now. With that said, I hope they focus almost entirely on 3D next time. The 2D Cyber Space levels are definitely the biggest weak point. And with enough changes to the momentum, the next Sonic game could have Open Zones that tap into the same experimental fun that Tony Hawk games have.
As a shmup enthusiast, reaching the second part of the final boss was MY "You haven't even seen my final form" moment.
"we're finally here..."
Me thinking "performing for you."
"Performing for you."
Well, shit. Now I have to subscribe.
While this game may be flawed, the boss music is an absolute jam. While I haven’t played the game Undefeatable has been all over my TH-cam page and it goes way harder than it has any right to. Reminds me of the first boss from Tropical Freeze
Oh yeah, Big Top Bop from Tropical Freeze is incredible. But I think the latter two Titan themes are even better than Undefeatable
My problem with the later titan fights is that, if you've been leveling up your attack strength, they die way too quickly. I wanna savor the hype.
Yeah maybe their attack and defense should scale? Don't want them to be bullet spunge though
@@Matanumi I feel like having their attack/defense scale would make leveling Sonic up less rewarding. Maybe there could be a flat increase to their stats once you reach level 99, sort of like Sephiroth in FF7.
I figured out why you could S rank 1-2 easy in the show demo but not in the final. They DID change the timing for the S rank, by literal minutes. 99 of them to be exact.
This footage shows the results screen of the demo where S rank times are just the timer maxed out, which is a weird thing to have in a show floor demo th-cam.com/video/yCv5awZypu8/w-d-xo.html
1-2 was such a challenge that it was my favorite cyberspace level. I had a huge smile on my face while I was picking this level apart to shave time off of my run. I did love all the Adventure 2 callbacks though.
they should add dungeons or ruins stages to explore within the open zones
That would be pretty cool. I am not familiar with Sonic's moveset for this game, but having parkour moves similar to Lost World would make exploring areas like that really fun.
43:34-43:37 I know this is common knowledge by now for Sonic fans, but let me reiterate for those unaware. Rhea and Ouranos look similar to Kronos because they were originally part of it (which explains why Eggman only mentions three islands in the memos, and not five). It's not impossible that during development, Sonic Team realized they couldn't make the two other islands in the scale of Kronos, so they decided to split Kronos in three, so that it could be easier to work on two, smaller scale islands.
Also, through datamining the game, people have found an old layout of Kronos Island before it was split in three in the Switch version of the game, which has some interesting differences. Unfinished 2D layouts, different object placements, you name it.
Here are some topics I have comments for now that all three title updates are available:
1. 9:37 In either the first or second update, they gave us the option to have Sonic maintain his speed when he jumps.
2. 25:52 If you talk to Sage as Sonic in the Final Horizon story, she’ll state how the Big we meet in cyberspace is actually an illusion created by Sonic’s memories.
3. 27:19 The first update added the option to use everything to increase speed or rings. Now we don’t have to continuously talk to the Elder Koco.
4. 32:39 The DLC updates gave us the option to turn off the slot machine when starfall events happen.
Pro tip: if you draw the infinity symbol with cyloop you get infinite boost
Only temporarily, but it is still pretty dope.
@@amirgarcia547 yeah, I didn’t even realize that was doing it until I heard it in a video
- so yeah it was found out that Rhea & Ouranos are, in fact, Northern sections of Kronos Island that were split for time reasons & Marketing promising 5 islands, there was data of an actual 4th Island but was scrapped very early so is just the code for "insert island here, oh wait nevermind"
- I mean is not really a "redemption of Forces" Frontiers just continues a character arc that has always been on going & the idea of "oh Tails got over one obstacle that one it, just get over it forever" is absolutely stupid, especially because said story arc is Tails having to deal with insecurity his entire life which is one of those things that doesn't really go away
(And yes, i do take it personal to hear "just get over it, you had good day once!", thank you very much sir)... that being said, if we don't get a Frontiers 2 i would love to get a Tails solo game because his arc was the best in the game. Sage's clearly needs an Episode Eggman DLC to give us more of it
21:45 was funnier to me than it should be
Always glad to listen to another commentary video like this. Enjoyable as usual, thank you!
Great video Jon! You managed to be one of the few people who was able to talk about Frontiers in a genuine and sincere manner.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 💀💀💀💀 😭😭😭😭😭
☠️☠️☠️
😂
@@Need_RnR What’s this about?
@@Need_RnR What are you saying?
@@benmalsky9834 People who talk bad of this game .... Neverrrrrr ... *hear* the end of it, from 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡 ... 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
😂😂😂😂😂😂 💀💀💀💀💀💀
☠️☠️☠️
41:57 yeah that was what I really didn't like. If you upgrade attack and defence then the titans get defeated so quickly, I had to limit myself just so I could see all the ways I could attack Knight. I really hope they will make hard mode actually hard in the next game.
Pokémon has done Sonic a huge favor by ripping away any and all attention towards this game's performance. The long term discussion will be centered more around the game itself.
Lmao!
Sonic fans don’t bring down other game’s challenge
Max rings at 999 lets you have the power boost forever regardless if you get hit or not
Shakespeare was the original Baldy McNosehair!
For the love of god GIVE THE DEVS TIME TO POLISH THE SEQUEL
This was a very good review, I agree that rating a game by a number is not always a good indicator of how good a game is. Personally, I enjoyed sonic frontiers, it's a fun game, I haven't said that about a sonic game since Unleashed.
My sonic fandom started with the Adventure games, and Frontiers, at least conceptually, feels like an evolution of the sonic Adventure formula, I enjoyed running around the open zones and immersing myself into the biomes, before jumping into a typical sonic level.
I should note that, while I enjoyed Unleashed, I've never been a fan of the boosting mechanic it introduced, it's fun at first but tends to wear out after a while. I would like future sonic games to return to more momentum based gameplay , especially if the open zone concept is here to stay ( fingers crossed).
Also the characters are finally treated with respect, the sonic movies have done wonders for knuckles and Tails, im glad they're is depth to them again, and my, Amy sure has grown up alot since her fangirl days.
In closing, this is a solid foundation for Sega to build on, and I hope they do, you can't please everyone, so just stick to a formula and continue improving upon it, the fans will come as long as you make a sincere project. It works for Mario, Zelda, and other gaming icons, it can work for Sonic
Do better William killed me. I’m dead on the floor.
Personally, I would say the lowest points of Sonic frontiers were most of cyberspace (I did enjoy the EDM) and the monotony of leveling up your speed and ring count (please patch, Sega).
As for the highs: the open world controls are a dream: the sheer thrill of racing from point to point was a (Sonic) BLAST, and the Super Sonic boss battles have set a standard for future games in my opinion.
But what truly made Sonic frontiers my personal game of the year was the character development: after years of getting some of the worst character writing I have seen in any video game series, Sonic team brought on genius Ian Flynn to fix our heroes. Amy matures past her obsessive crush, Knuckles opens up to the idea of becoming a treasure hunter, and Tails gets his Man Card back; but the star of this show was definitely Sage and her father daughter relationship with Eggman.
I sincerely hope that Sonic team learns lessons from frontiers, improves on the formula they've established, and keep in Flint on as writer; if they do all that, then the next game is sure to be a solid banger🤩
I hope the next game does the open zone format with actual sonic locations, imagine exploring Angel island, the arc or even just green hill zone with this fully 3D open-zone style. New locations too of course but something akin to the first sonic adventure. Also I’m fine if supersonic is just the final boss again and we get to do Eggman fights the rest of the time, I kind of missed that here.
Sonic Frontiers is Breath of the Wild for speedrunners
27:53 Leveling Rings gives you more time as Super Sonic.
7:27 I'd argue, however, that Unleashed's daytime stages nailed the boost gameplay on its first try and every boost game after that one just kept regressing. I do think that in Unleashed, as opposed to Generations, let's say, since it's the one that shares the same engine, you have to be more careful, more alert of your surroundings as you can actually mess up if you are not. QTEs made sense since the gameplay was more about keeping that flow and rhythm of the level instead; also, Sonic's controls were less restricted and less stiff, allowing for better control of your actions, and the levels were actually long and mostly 3D
Both Generations and Unleashed felt they were on rails, but in Unleashed it was more about keeping yourself in those rails by learning the layout of the level, keeping that flow and improving, as you could go off those rails super easily if you were not careful. In Generations, on the other hand, while still fantastic, feels like they restrict you a lot more, take away some degree of control from the gameplay and Sonic and thus make those rails feel more like a restriction rather than the goal, which Forces would accentuate even more and Colors would go on a different direction
One thing that took me completely by surprise was the Drop Dash. The game didn't properly teach me it until randomly during a loading challenge on the 3rd island. I wish it taught me earlier because once I got the hang of it, it quickly became my favorite to traverse across the Open Zone islands. It actually works based on momentum as the higher up you activate it, the faster and longer the dash itself will be. Also, it will go much longer if it's activated going down a hill versus a flat plain.
Also if you tap down during 2d sections in cyberspace (I don't know if it also works during the island 2d section) Sonic will roll into a ball like Classic. Never found an actual use for it, but I thought it was a cool bit.
What's funnier is that, that's how I scaled the slippery mountain in Ares island. I think it was called that. The one with Tails in it. That was on the switch version.
Thanks for the thoughts Jon! Picking this up for my son for Christmas now! I love the indepth look that you've taken.
I agree that a rating is not adequate to measure how to feel about this game. I found it really fun. I just beat it and want to play it again. The flaws are small but many. However like you said the heart makes it very playable.
This does look genuinely fun, i'll have to check this out sometime.
Also, you should totally check out Spark the Jester! It's a cool indie series that's very Sonic-Like, and 3 especially is really interesting! I'd love to see what you think!
Sonic Frontiers is the best Sonic game.
I'm so happy that there's finally a Sonic game that surpassed Sonic Adventure 2.
I actually like when there is no momentum in Sonic Frontiers I feel like I have more control with Sonic, I hope they won't add momentum in the next Sonic game because we don't need it.
Overall I'm so happy to be a Sonic fan right now.
People definitely level up Rings and Speed just to see some pretty good dialogue from the Koko fella. But that's it
1:32 A DK Rap reference in a Sonic review? It’s like this video was made specifically for me.
I really enjoyed playing through this game this weekend. The amount of Evangelion references in this game was just insane, it's funny how much they got away with. It's not even subtle.
Damn I didn’t know the window for parrying actually had a limit lol
29:29
This is most likely a reference to Amy's characterization in IDW Comics where she did a reading for everyone
No, that's just a little character tidbit that was included in the classic manuals, like how Knuckles likes grapes. Her obsession with tarot cards was actually what led her to Little Planet in Sonic CD in the first place. Recent media has been trying to reincorporate these little character traits back into the main series, and I like how it gives the characters just that little bit more dimension. Like they have lives outside of their adventuring and world saving.
@@brycebitetti1402 Oh no, I know it originated from the manuals, I just think they're trying to lean more closely into the IDW versions of these characters and world. I think that's also why you see so many other references to past game events
Great review Jon. While I personally found Frontiers to be ok at best, it's nice to hear it's giving a lot of people what they wanted.
I largely agree with all the things Jon said here. I really enjoyed the game and the references to the Adventure games were just the best kind of giddy fan service for me. One thing Jon didn't mention that I would like to see improved was the usefulness of items you get when killing the mini-bosses or just the collectables more generally. Towards the end of the game when you've maxed out your stats, you're just running around getting things for no reason. It feels like they didn't really know what to do with the in game economy. The fishing thing and the counter are both really strange design choices as well.
For me, I’d take another island and boss over the cyber space levels.
Or just full on Sonic and the Colossus, if they can make that many banging songs
On the topic of the people who were crazy enough to max level rings and speed, I was one of them, I did it... twice. Once on PC, and again on PS5, and you know what, if I ever end up getting the Xbox version, I'll do it a third time lol.
Island 1's laser puzzle is like a proper puzzle, it's a little tricky at first figuring how the lasers move each other, but it's not punishing you or wasting your time getting 5 billion points on the laziest table of pinball ever.
The amount of tears William is crying rn
Drum and bass and sonic is like the perfect mix
Honestly i actually wanna have a Jon ranting about skill trees video lmao
For me the star of the show here is Ian Flynn's writing and dialogue. This is what I've been waiting for for 20 years now. I like it when Sonic tells a serious story with continuity. The last 10 years or so Sonic was turned into a Saturday morning cartoon. Wacky slapstick humor and zero character development. Not even new lore. But this game turns it into a seinen. Just what I want out of a Sonic story.
They announced three waves of DLC for Sonic Frontier? The last Wave is giving us more Story Content and More Playable Characters! I can't wait.
This is to be the best review\video of sonic frontiers ive seen. ILove This!!
Where is Jon’s podcast-show btw?? 😄
You can turn them (the waypoints) off if you want in the settings. Though it may make you more lost as a result.
Also, I too never had a horror story with pinball, I failed once, cause I didn't expect it, but I did finish it on my second attempt
21:53 The reason you got an S rank there was before of the S rank times being set to 99:59:00 in all levels.
3:06 Well there is DLC announced that will change that.
Great job with this review. I had a lot of fun playing through this games regardless of the downsides it has, and I think you did well discussing it's positives and negatives.
Sonic Team did a fairly good job with what is meant to be the new foundation for their games going forward, though I do hope they are given more money, resources and manpower for future games since you can tell they needed it in later parts of this game. It was good that they spent more time with development, though that may have been due more to the pandemic than anything else, but it's clear that just giving them more time alone doesn't fix everything.
30:33 thank goodness I'm not alone, agree 100%
Not sure if you heard but they just announced that in the late portion of 2023, there will be new playable characters and new story and it seems the new playable characters are Amy, Tails & Knuckles.
Edit: Does this guy know you get permanent Power Boost with max ring capacity?
Kirby has the dark souls of fishing
my favorite feature was the fact i could take all that crap off of the hud
I think Bowsers Fury is a better comparison than Odyssey
43:19 "he was gone for 20 seconds and no one kissed him" bullshit they shouldve had every character kiss him
you can tell someone didn't play unleashed when they say the city cyberspace theme is new lol
Unleashed has one of the lowest completion rates based on achievements. I assume most people got stuck looking for medals and quit
Is this the Nintendo life staff? Or whatever the channel was called, pretty sure I heard that voice a lot before
Sort of. Most of the crew cane from GaneXplain. Alex was also part of it, but moved to Nintendo Life for a while before coming here. This is technically Alex's own channel so that's why it's mostly been him doing the videos.
@@Toonrick12 lol you got it mostly true except you're confusing Jon with Alex. Alex is the main person from Nintendo Life
I agree, slapping a number doesn’t do a game justice and Frontiers especially is emblematic of that. They finally struck something here and a team of 60 devs needs our support so SEGA gives them more to make the next game fantastic. Also, correction, you said “4-1” but the level being shown is actually 4-2. 4-1 is the Chemical Plant level with that sick dubstep. And then city level shown after is 4-4 which I think is one of the best in all the game. Probably Top 3 honestly
Glad you liked it
I really liked frontiers, not a perfect game by any means, but I enjoyed it enough to platinum it. Even things that weren’t trophies, like catching all the fish, and listening through all the Eggman logs. Overall, it was a really fun, if uneven experience, but those BOSSES. Honestly think the soundtrack was a big part of how much I adored them, as a huge fan of metalcore, but just seeing sonic be cool, which as someone who grew up with an almost unhealthy attachment to the rush games and unleashed, made me enjoy a 3d sonic game in a way I haven’t in over a decade. Really excited to see where the series goes next. Dope video by the way Jon, been really enjoying the retrospective look at sonic games you’ve been doing recently.
Great video! This actually convinced me to give the game a shot!
22:20 I too can't get S rank on that cyberspace level. (1-2)
Thanks for making such a respectful analysis, Jon
You actually managed to put down to words this bunch of jumbled feelings I have for this game.
I’m glad Sonic Frontiers is good and became my favorite sonic game
Jon, please make a rant video on skill trees. I think we'd all like that.
Nice to hear a Sonic fan's opinion that isn't just ONLY GENESIS SONC GOOD or FRONTIERS BEST GOTY EVER SINCE SNOIC 06. I played Frontiers to completion, I enjoyed the game but I agree with pretty much all of Jon's issues.
Great video you're one of the best gaming TH-camrs out there
Oh nice!
This is such a good review, I really enjoyed your overall message with this one. I agree Frontiers isn't perfect, and it definitely got repetitive and even frustrating at times, but I still had a lot of fun anyway. I came straight here to watch this once I finished the game today.
I did Max out every level including the ring count
The Sonic Boom attack is broken. If you use Sonic Boom as Super Sonic again Supreme, his health will go down 50% in seconds!
Sonic Frontiers definitely has its lows, but as you said, the positives certainly trump them. Being that when you’re just running around in the overworld, exploring these massive environments and completing objectives or claiming collectibles to explore of the map, it’s such a satisfying and addicting gameplay loop that I almost never grew tired of playing the game. My main issue besides the wonky physics in the Cyberspace levels and the combat being basic is that the game feels a bit rushed since the second half isn’t able to maintain its momentum due to Chaos Island being primarily 2D, Rhea being just a series a platforming towers rather than a full area, and Ouranos feeling like a separated second half of Kronos Island instead of its own unique area. While I certainly still enjoyed the game even in those areas, it wouldn’t be untrue to say that it didn’t maintain its momentum.
Nonetheless, while this’s far from my GOTY, it’s by far some of the most fun I’ve had from a videogame all year. To the point where I even managed to get the Platinum for it, even it took *ages* due to upgrading rings/speed being such a tedious chore. And Sega truly have a stellar formula here, so if they can work on this game’s kinks and improves in its strengths, then the next game just might be one of the best in the series. But as it stands, Sonic Frontiers is an imperfect but exhilarating and exciting new take on a new formula, and the first time I’ve felt hope for Sonic’s future in (Sonic) generations.
29:40 Someone forgot about Mario and Sonic Rio 2016.
As simple as it is, I actually like the fishing game in context with Frontiers. Its a beautiful change of pace from the rest of the game and compliments it well.
I'm nuts.
46:35 fin.
Cyberspace the corruption plot and the pop in and some janky stuff that's all the mid or bad stuff. Overall it was fun
The game aesthetics reminds me of '06
I'm in the middle of playing frontiers right now and I'm having a blast. I will say I wish some of the stages were more challenging, everything after 1-2 on Kronos Island felt... like a toddler could beat it with and S rank with their eyes closed lol. Great video though!
Ouranos can be quite tricky
Everyone's saying they want a Shadow DLC. I would personally prefer a Blaze DLC campaign. Cream and Silver could be digitalised and it would be a good excuse to bring the Sol Emeralds back.
I dont think this game is for me but I do appreciate your thoughts on it