1 star reviews, Sonic fans and gamers calling for Sonic Team's heads, so much frustrating jank that would make Heroes blush, and a slightly undercooked game/update with multiple playable characters. We are more back than ever before dark age heads.
Sonic Frontiers' Update 3 is a complete mess and a bizarre note to end Frontiers on, both exciting and concerning. Update 3 is reductive and bloated as hell for a 3D platformer, but I might like it anyways.
The three amigos finally return as playable characters in a mainline 3D entry and I'm surprised with how decent they control, given their more underdeveloped applications in the past. Tails has his best iteration in a 3D Sonic game, Amy has a decent showing with a nice focus on aerial/verticality applications calling back to the advance games, and I'm just happy Knuckles is playable again even if his gliding and punching still feels like a far cry to his surprisingly well-executed kits in SA 1 and 2. Most of the update was just me running around the zone as each of them since it still feels unreal that we can control them again finally in an open 3D field. Hopefully their gameplay becomes more developed and given more distinguishing factor in the future games as they all feel a little too similar to each other and each of their challenges suffer from this as well. The fact that none of them can or are even built for combat encounters outside of Sonic sucks, especially with Amy and Knuckles here.
The difficulty and its design within the new update is atrocious. Yeah the main game was piss easy (which still felt engaging given Frontiers' new style for a Sonic game), but at least it didn't expect you to play near-perfect in combat and boss trials that feels like a demented fan mod trying to mold the game into something it's clearly not built for. Can't say I enjoy the stipulations in the trials; I'd let all those kocos burn than do those missions on hard, even 'easy' for the boss rush trial gave me some trouble with how weak Sonic is versus the enemies. Playing on easy for these sections did allow for some fun in this chaos but I think they went a little too far in trying to up the challenge of the game with the trials.
I wasn't a fan of the towers at first but I slowly began to appreciate the more open and intricate approach that made them way more engaging than their Rhea counterparts. The cyberspace levels are all amazing and add so much creativity that I felt was lacking in much of the main game's cyberspace levels, and they are all in 3D and feel like a dream to blast through.
Fortunately, the ending is sick and feels way more complete than what the original ending was. Supreme is an actual fleshed out encounter, but still kinda easy and really annoying in his last phase when trying to target his life source provided by The End. Weird they focused on Sonic's new super form, only for it to gain just an easy perfect parry option, and then whatever his "cyber" form is that we probably won't see again. Wouldn't say the ending is an overall improvement but it is a solid and more formulated conclusion to Frontiers, though I miss the trash talking The End did during the random Shmup section. And the new versions of One-Way Dream and I’m Here are okay compared to the originals.
For as psychotic this entire update is, it's good to see that Sonic Team is willing to go even further with this open zone format, whether the results fully worked this time or not. Really hope the team and Sega don't look at the response to this as a reason to go back to the insufferably safe era of Sonic games prior to Frontiers.
Sonic Frontiers' Update 3 is a complete mess and a bizarre note to end Frontiers on, both exciting and concerning. Update 3 is reductive and bloated as hell for a 3D platformer, but I might like it anyways.
The three amigos finally return as playable characters in a mainline 3D entry and I'm surprised with how decent they control, given their more underdeveloped applications in the past. Tails has his best iteration in a 3D Sonic game, Amy has a decent showing with a nice focus on aerial/verticality applications calling back to the advance games, and I'm just happy Knuckles is playable again even if his gliding and punching still feels like a far cry to his surprisingly well-executed kits in SA 1 and 2. Most of the update was just me running around the zone as each of them since it still feels unreal that we can control them again finally in an open 3D field. Hopefully their gameplay becomes more developed and given more distinguishing factor in the future games as they all feel a little too similar to each other and each of their challenges suffer from this as well. The fact that none of them can or are even built for combat encounters outside of Sonic sucks, especially with Amy and Knuckles here.
The difficulty and its design within the new update is atrocious. Yeah the main game was piss easy (which still felt engaging given Frontiers' new style for a Sonic game), but at least it didn't expect you to play near-perfect in combat and boss trials that feels like a demented fan mod trying to mold the game into something it's clearly not built for. Can't say I enjoy the stipulations in the trials; I'd let all those kocos burn than do those missions on hard, even 'easy' for the boss rush trial gave me some trouble with how weak Sonic is versus the enemies. Playing on easy for these sections did allow for some fun in this chaos but I think they went a little too far in trying to up the challenge of the game with the trials.
I wasn't a fan of the towers at first but I slowly began to appreciate the more open and intricate approach that made them way more engaging than their Rhea counterparts. The cyberspace levels are all amazing and add so much creativity that I felt was lacking in much of the main game's cyberspace levels, and they are all in 3D and feel like a dream to blast through.
Fortunately, the ending is sick and feels way more complete than what the original ending was. Supreme is an actual fleshed out encounter, but still kinda easy and really annoying in his last phase when trying to target his life source provided by The End. Weird they focused on Sonic's new super form, only for it to gain just an easy perfect parry option, and then whatever his "cyber" form is that we probably won't see again. Wouldn't say the ending is an overall improvement but it is a solid and more formulated conclusion to Frontiers, though I miss the trash talking The End did during the random Shmup section. And the new versions of One-Way Dream and I’m Here are okay compared to the originals.
For as psychotic this entire update is, it's good to see that Sonic Team is willing to go even further with this open zone format, whether the results fully worked this time or not. Really hope the team and Sega don't look at the response to this as a reason to go back to the insufferably safe era of Sonic games prior to Frontiers.
_YALP
11 days ago