Why Sonic Frontiers Doesn't Look Like A Sonic Game
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Sonic Frontiers has an oddly realistic art style that directly clashes with Sonic's cartoony character. We explain why Sonic Frontiers looks like this.
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Timestamps:
Intro: (0:00)
There Is No Definitive Sonic: (1:07)
Classic Sonic Art Style: (2:10)
Sonic Adventure & Unleashed Art Style: (3:58)
Sonic 06 Art Style: (5:30)
Why It's Okay That Sonic Frontiers Looks Different: (6:41)
Outro: (8:34)
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Hello, I make content on various types of video games! My favorite franchises are Sonic and Mario, as you can tell, I love platformers! If you like to watch reviews, video essays, or discussions about video games, I highly recommend you stick with me because we do a lot of that here! Enjoy your stay!
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#SonicTheHedgehog #SEGA #sonicfrontiers - Ігри
You hit it on the head. At this point the franchise is so adaptable that Sonic could work with just about anything. Anyone that says it doesn't look like Sonic hasn't played a Sonic game in years.
everything after sonic 3 and k and before gens has been not “sonic “
To be fair sonic in forces just felt wrong.
Also it has been years since forces so-
For a mo I was baited to take the title at face value, but yeah, basically Sonic is top notch in adaptability. But that doesn't mean sonic doesn't have an ongoing problem with under-utilizing that adaptability, and being lazy just mixing and matching styles randomly. Even Mario has this problem, since Super Mario World the art style hasn't known if it wants to look like Yoshi or Donkey Kong, and that forms a kind of kitsch that cheapens the whole franchise. Some people ONLY notice it when you put something like a T-Rex or a realistic shrubbery into the game.
Since Forces SEGA actually HAS been trying to reinvent the original ideas of things like loop-de-loops, Green Hill Ginghams, and Special Zones, into this "virtual reality" aesthetic. Fans just discarded Special Zones as gamey fluff even when they're essential in the introduction of Chaos emeralds, sonic HAS to go fast into this warped reality where they can be found. Of course if you just carry on and go "oh, since the good game Adventure had them just lying around in random places, I guess that means we can ignore the Classics instead of giving ADVENTURE hell, for being written lazy as heck". And now SOME people think Adventire is the lore cornerstone who did it "the correct" way, and others say anything goes because anything DOES go, ever since Adventure just threw crap at a wall. Then you can do stuff like Unleashed, "oh there's these ancient emerald pedestals because plot", and call it "flexibility". But it's just gaudy.
@@cyan57 nah.
His identity in sonic 1 was a platform game that was faster than your average platform per character.
Cd and 2 made a new style. Which was speedy platforming. 3 & k just evolved it. Sonic adventure brought those styles and brung it to 3d. Ever since then it’s been speed and platform gameplay until unleashed which introduced the boost mechanic. Then that’s when sonic started to get a lot more experimental with colors, secret rings, black knight, colors. Then games like generations made the boost mechanic official. Then sonic games just became more of a boost & wisp type thing with games like forces.
My point is that sonic has not really lost character, just changed characters.
Sonic frontiers is not "sonic-y" but black knight is?
We have to remember that we only saw ONE zone! We don’t know about the other ones yet. That’s what I hope at least. I don’t mind this art style as long as we get variety.
Well we saw green hill so expect them to recycle more levels lol
@@lordadz1615 Level recycling isn't a new thing anyways.
@@drkspnova Yes i know that but im tired of it cus its game after game. Like at one point you feel like their taking the piss. Like do something new for once. people dont miss green hill zone so much to the point it needs to be in every game
I'll be honest even in some weather conditions it reminds me of Sonic and the Black Knight, more specifically the gameplay footages in where he's fighting a group of enemies in a cloudy and misty weather. Really reminds me of the game's opening cutscene.
And now I'm a little more sad. That game took Sonic to a different world (basically isekai'd him kind of) and still made him work. Even traditional stage elements were reworked to the game. Rings were yellow fairies, boost pads were gusts of wind (which were probably also by fairies), spikes were already perfect, etc.
Actually the more you compare these 2 games, they could've used S&TBK as inspiration for the new setting.
@@snowyneko6710 but they did rework the stage elements. They're supposed to look out of place it's the intention.
@@snowyneko6710 That's true, S&TBK was the perfect storm of medieval fantasy and Sonic elements perfectly working for one setting, a drastically different design for the series that ended up actually fitting like a glove. It was lightning in a bottle essentially.
And yeah I think taking isnpiration from that game and how it used its setting and level elements could've really benefited the overall design. Like the things you mentioned, Sonic staples being changed to fit this new environment.
Kind of off topic here, but I think I have a theory around Sky Sanctuary being used in Frontiers. If the plot of the game is Sonic getting his friends memories back then what if Sky Sanctuary is Sonic's way of getting Knuckles' memory back?
that would make sense, ngl it would be cool to see stages like angel island or hill top in 3d but i doubt we will
@@JaySurf27 Yeah
Imagine we get a Knuckles boss fight in order to regain his memories
So basically stages that are key to characters. So Tails could be Chemical Plant and so on.
@@thaneros I feel like Tails would be Emerald Hill, since that’s where he met Sonic and started following him around. I think if this theory is true then it would probably be important moments in Sonic’s relationships with his friends. For example, Sky Sanctuary is shortly after Sonic and Knuckles teamed up. For example, Amy would probably get Stardust Speedway or Metallic Madness, etc. sort of like Sonic Generations but with an actual story.
Yeah a lot of people said SA2 didn't look like sonic- and it didn't from a glance but it has it all, the tracks, the bouncy things, the LOOPS!! Surreal, exaggerated, but still realistic lighting and textures.
I love the grungy realistic city scenes in Adventure & Unleashed and the cyber future of Sonic Riders- Fronteirs is still really mysterious... So I remain cautiously optomistic.
BUT also I am praying for Chao gardens!
I can't imagine anyone saying SA2(or even 1) doesn't look like sonic(tho they were my first expansive sonic experience besides 2 😂)
Exactly! People say that game from 3K all the way to Gens has been "not Sonic" when it's simply not true (06 don't count)
"You don't got a choice it's my video"
Me: OH YEAH?! Well it's my phone!!
*Leaves.
Complete power.
I'm a huge fan of exaggerated realism. I like the way Frontiers looks well enough, but Sonic could have a truly unique open world if they just went crazy with it. I feel like while the classics are a different style, you could get their feeling from steep hills and such.
I feel like Sonic's always been about combining polar opposites, so long as Frontiers knows to get wacky every once in a while it'll be interesting.
The contrast between Mario and Sonic in “He can work anywhere”, is Mario was designed to have that in mind. Given the time up until now, he has the privilege to work in any style and any game. If I put the fan games to the side, Sonic didn’t really have a choice in “defining” after 06. He was just going with the motions, but not always in a good way. While he MAY work in anything presently, the lack of consistency is the reason why things will never go back to how they use to function. I know it sounds like a bland answer but, “At the time” is a phase that stands against the sands of time for better and worse for Sonic.
All because Sega wanted that Wii money.
Facts!
I remember reading something about this.
One small flaw with Sonic's design, is that he was created to be a complete counter to Mario, and to some extent Nintendo during the very early console wars. To counter Mario's lack of personality (at least before he was contagiously joyful and expressive, in a good way), Sonic was made to be cool with attitude and probably even to show off the Genesis's hardware. The problem is, what's cool during an era eventually shifts. It falls pretty in line with Sonic.
Of course I still believe Sonic could stand the test of time (the classics and other games sure did!), But it does feel a little like he's hit an identity crisis, as a franchise, due to trying to follow and be too many different things over the years.
A theory of mine on why sonic has struggled to adapt too, is because since his whole thing is going very fast, his stages take too much time to make because of their huge distance and scale especially compared to other platformers, and to me that's probably why they keep trying to do introduce more things in each game so development wouldn't take even longer.
I don’t know, I think the classic games themselves prove that Sonic can work in any setting. Like, the first game was Sonic just going from stage to stage, saving animals from an evil scientist, the next game was Sonic fucking traveling through time in order to save the future of whatever zone he’s landed in, the next game Sonic goes to fucking space to take down Eggman’s Death Star and also starts turning Super Sonic, and the the next game has a prophecy, upgraded Super Sonic form, and ancient ruins. I feel like you could put that Sonic in any environment and it wouldn’t feel out of place as long as you have him save animals at the end of the each stage. Although that says nothing about the diversity in gameplay Sonic has had, but that’s not the point. I just think that OG Sonic had way crazier shit going on than people are giving him credit for.
Sonic works in both he’s just that guy
@@Orang_Himbleton he doesn’t have to save animals all the time like how is sonic supposed to change eyed and be cool when he’s doing this childish as shit
People also seem to forget that Sonic is SUPPOSED to feel out of place in this game. He's lost his memory and is in a strange, mysterious, and almost alien environment. It's kinda like Mario Oddessy, where the contrast between a cartoon-y character and a realistic environment is supposed to further the game's theming and direction.
He lost his memory??
@@mr.incognitoyt2235 Very strongly implied, based on what the demo reviewers said
@@KYRA_RISING Oh, alright
@@mr.incognitoyt2235 Sega is trying to copy Breath of the Wild
@@Libtardo123 Sonic Frontiers is NOT a copy of Breath of the Wild.
0:10 to be fair sky sanctuary isn't really reused that much compared to green hill zone (witch also isn't reused that much tbh)
but the game's look
needs to be a bit stylized tbh
Stop saying tbh
@@piperchikita6425 why XD
Green hill zone was in sa2, generations, mania, lost world and forces. I'd say its been reused a lot.
My main issue with sonic frontiers' art style is that, to simply put it, it genuinely just looks boring
sonic's art style can be anything but when you have generic hills and mountains with 0 distinguishable traits that make me go "wow that looks cool" then it just flat out fails to engage my interest. nothing about this world to me feels like something that I would wanna go and explore. I know dozens of people have made this comparison before and I'd hate to be a broken record here but it really does look like a base unreal engine 4 map to use for graphical testing and nothing more (yes I know this is running on hedgehog engine 2 im just making a comparison). I'm actually quite fond of some of the locations in sonic 06. Mainly referring to levels like kingdom valley. It has so many set pieces and structures that just give off this weird urban vibe and I really love what they went for in that level. Makes me wonder stuff like "who built this? what purpose does it serve?". I am a fan of many different games and genres and I respect them for all having unique and memorable locations. But this? I'm sorry but this just doesn't cut it for me. Even if this wasn't sonic and I saw some other game that has an art style that is equally forgettable and bland as this you'd still find me complaining it makes no difference to me. Hey maybe the other islands will look more interesting, do I actually think they will? no I highly doubt that but I'd love to be proven wrong. And if you like and enjoy this game's art style for what it is then hey more power to you but this is just what I have to say on this matter.
I actually really like the environment I just hope it has a lot of things to do and Sonics movement get smoother
Mario Oddessy: **Puts Mario in a very realistic environment that is far removed from what was seen in previous games.**
People: This looks good!!!
Sonic Frontiers: **puts Sonic in a very realistic environment that is already very common in games of the franchise.**
People: This doesn't look like a Sonic game.
Mario odessey is nowhere near realistic
3:12 Actually, sonic3&k was already going for quite a realistic art style
All I can ever care about is playing the games and enjoying the high speed adventure that I’m being set to accomplish
1:09 I never understood that complaint since Sonic has always gone for a semi realistic artstyle for the enviormmets ever since going 3D. Even Sonic Adventure had super detailed clouds/sky boxes for the time it was made. The clouds look almost like a painting and now we have that idea brought to its fullest potential with HD textures
I agree with this topic. This topic is very misunderstood. Sonic Frontiers has caused the fanbase to become more chaotic than it already was. I think Sonic Fans have been taught the wrong lesson from the first movie when that infamous trailer was released. This caused many people, including Sonic Fans, to make fun of the design and made it clear to Paramount that this design needed to be changed. Fast-forward to now, the fanbase has been taught the lesson that "complain and you will get your way." This is exactly what you're taught when you are a child. I'm sorry for this being off topic. No, I'm not saying criticism for this game is stupid and unjustified. I'm saying that some Sonic Fans are displaying deadly verbal power. If this goes on, Sonic Team will stop taking it seriously. Anyways, after all that rambling, great video, Matt! :)
SpeedSuperSonic's burner account found lol
@@SweaterSwagg I didn't know it wasn't okay to agree with someone.
I hope the game doesn't go through the same thing that happened to Sonic Unleashed. When Sonic Unleashed came out fans didn't give the game a chance because they were still disappointed with Sonic 06 and then after several years fans realized that Unleashed was an amazing game. The Meta Era would have been different if Unleashed had the support of the fans, but the damage has already been done. And yes, I know the critics were to blame, but still, fans should have been rooting for Sonic Unleashed at the time of its release.
Sonic Frontiers will be the game that defines the future of the next mainline Sonic games and it will be very different from what was seen in the Meta Era, but if the fans don't give it a chance, then we the fans are missing out of something good...
@@sebastianmartinez5963 That could be the case. The only way we'll know is when the game comes out. The game's reveal had put this fanbase into an absolute trainwreck.
@@CSTH1 It....it was a light joke...
And what exactly does a Sonic game look like? I believe that discussion throughout the community would at least be insightful.
Really like nothing. Games are more about the feeling and less about the visuals. Mariogames don't look as consistent across the board as one might think, neither does Pokemon or Metroid or literally anything I can think of. Zelda especially has a similar brand of randomness as Sonic actually. We have OOT and MM which look like a semi-realistic artbook with twilight(Mix of light and dark) aestetics, Windwaker which looks like a cartoon, Twilight princess which gets as close to realistic grimdark aestetics as the series can go, Skyward Sword which is another middlepoint except looking like a painting and Botw looks like it's between Skyward and Windwaker.
But if I had to asign a single aestetic reference to Sonic, then I'd personally say the series looks more like styalized realism than being cartoony. Sure, it started cartoony and some rare games only have that aestetic, but 80% of the series looks at least semi-realistic. Even Forces decides to treat the more whacky environments as smaller parts of a more grounded world, even if that game fundamentally fails at storytelling.
Hmm well anything that has grindrails, dash panels, springs and just floating cartoony stuff. That is obviously what every game, spinoff or mainline have and what a Sonic game is.
This is a well informed and respectful video so I respect the hell out of that. My biggest issue with artstyle is that the realistic looks don’t mesh well with the floating rails and dash pads. It makes it seem like the map came first and they just added in those elements to make it look “Sonic”
I grew up with all eras of sonic so I gave a love for the games of all eras
“Hey Tom I’m gonna be late…Yea traffic is pretty heavy on the corkscrew, there was an accident on the loopty loop”
but looking at it now, I agree with the last statements. Sonic is an ever-evolving franchise and has different art styles for everyone to enjoy. From cartoon to realistic to both, it's all related to your preference. but at the end of the day, it's the gameplay that matters, and when it comes to a sonic game... the gameplay will fit anywhere.
Honestly for the most part Sonic games have always had a very vivid and in-your-face colour pallet even in the somewhat muted games like Sonic 06 SA2 and Shadow the Edge, the closest comparison I can make is Sonic and the Black Knight alot of those levels had a basic real world beauty to them the same way Frontiers is trying for but the main difference is Black Knight still held true to making sure the worlds colours matched Sonics cartoon/anime apperence, Frontiers is not blending Sonic to his environment or vice-versa, Sonic is clashing with Frontiers art style that is creating a disconnect at the visual level that can and will take many people out of the game every few mins and will most likely ruin someones gameplay expirence along the way, Frontiers does not look fantastical enough for Suspention of Disbelief to fully kick in, its kinda like if you took GTA5 modded the player characters into anime/cartoon characters with full celshading but left the rest of the game with its photorealisim it would look absurd no matter how you try to sell it.
I think the best artstyle in Sonic was in Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic and the Black Knight. Even Sonic looked perfect. Sonic was realistic as well as looking cartoony as well.
Wild take: the other islands will look like the different eras, with the classic checkered textures, to adventure, to modern, to boom. They just wanted to show off this particular artstyle for the initial teasers because of their current marketing team.
I don’t mind sonic frontiers art style at all but they should’ve made a new sonic model instead of using the same one that they been using for almost 15 years
Yeah, he doesn’t fit in the world at all.
Well, they're not using the same model, they're using the Forces model, which differs from the Unleashed model, with the Forces model being a lighter blue and having shorter quills.
@@masterofgamesbrian7058 Yeah I know there’s it’s slightly different but if you compare adventure up to 06 every single game has a unique model From secret rings to now we’ve been having the same sonic with a few tweaks here and there besides boom anyways
@@arrownoir well again, that is actually the point this time
@Matthasnocuts THANK YOU!!! I saw a lot of Kingdom Valley in the small clips that were leaked. It reeked of 06 environment. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees it.
There are some people who think that this game is an Open World game, and it isn't, is just a game with Sonic Adventure gigant hub worlds (that could explain why there are lots of floating platforms and rails in the air) were you need to do some quests (there are lots of them and there are lots of ways to complete them) and open the action stages. This stages will be the way how Sonic gets back his memories, that's why are Generations styled. The game looks good right now, even if we don't know almost anything about it, the marketing really sucks.
I also think it's from a story point. you aren't in your world anymore in a completely new place
While I agree with the "Sonic should be in everything and still blend in" statement, I think what the fans are talking about is how it looks like an Unreal engine fangame more than something they would actually publish, usually sonic is based on a straight forward path or going in a level where everything connects, however the gameplay without the hud, and open area without much looks like a scrambled mess. But of course, we won't really know until it's finally released.
Ok guy. Floating rails and platforms look realistic. Right 👍🏾 sure buddy.
All we gotta do is give it the proper time, have patience, and hope for the best.
I really like it. This game is supposed to be different and it makes sense for the game to look different as well. I am really excited for Frontiers.
Frontiers has some exaggerated realism (the floating rails and whatnot), but I do think that's the real disconnect for a lot of people. Perhaps they plan on bringing the exaggerated realism back more in the cyberspace stages. I love the "open world" idea being played with here. But honestly I could do to see more vibrant colors and more...for lack of a better word, "Sonicy" landscape features beyond random piles of floating junk that conveniently form running/grinding paths.
That being said, if the intent of such an environment is to communicate a bleakness of him being lost, disconnected, then it works. Although it's not going to resonate with some people. Much as a fan of Sonic as I am, that feeling doesn't resonate so well with me, and I'll explain why.
The real world is usually depressing enough, now more than ever. Majority of us play games to escape that, and Sonic games (for the most part) always had a general vibrance and brightness about their environments so even the more sinister stages felt somewhat upbeat (the severe outlier in the classic games being the bad future stages of Sonic CD...guess which classic game is my least favorite).
At a glance the relative bleakness I see in the Frontiers preview material (including the enemies and combat) makes me wonder if Sonic Team is still searching for some mold they can fit Sonic into that's gonna magically resonate with more gamers. TBH, Frontiers makes me think more of Elden Ring than BotW (and who could fault SEGA for that after observing the success of Elden Ring). Perhaps they've concluded that gamers want environments that seem relatively dark and depressing, and many gamers do seem drawn to that. I am not one of them.
I remain cautiously optimistic about Frontiers, but I think this is another big part of the disconnect for a lot of longtime fans. Realistic nature can be beautiful. It can also be bleak. Which side of it is SEGA going to show us?
Well yeah, not every game is for everyone. But to this point, Frontiers doesn't really look bleak at all, unless one also considers the Windows XP desktop with some added flowers as bleak. In which case...ok?
@@lpfan4491 Color tone, saturation and vibrance are huge factors. Desaturate the XP Desktop by about 40% and add some monolithic stone structures and faceless, colorless creatures to the scene and yeah, kinda bleak. Compare the green grass and blue sky tones of the Frontiers footage to Adventure, Heroes, Unleashed, Colors, or Generations. Even 06 to a degree.
I know not every game is for everyone. My point was there are certain aesthetic and atmospheric undertones that contribute to Sonic "feeling" like Sonic. And most Sonic games over the years have retained those on some level, despite experimenting with other stylistic changes. Previously I'd say the most dark and depressing looking mainline Sonic games were 06 and Forces, neither of which were received particularly well. I think that's part of why.
4:15 I think a better name is "Magic Realism"
my opionon: i dont find the realistic art style that bad
I still think Frontiers doesn't look like a Sonic game. The thing with past exaggerated realism in Sonic games, and even Sonic 06, is that they had style and felt Sonic-y. Even Sonic's model for each game, was made to fit those games. It felt more "How do we make Sonic's world fit into the real world?" instead of "Just drop Sonic things from the most recent game in a realistic environment." That's why people say it's like an unreal engine demo, because it clashes together and has no identity so far.
Just bringing up Sonic 06 tells me even more why Frontiers doesn't look like a Sonic game. Characters and traditional sonic stage props (springs, boost pads, etc) were redesigned to fit in with the setting, especially Eggman.
tl;dr All Sonic games had their identity. Every shift in tone or style was still consistent towards the change. Frontiers feels like it has an identity crisis.
"Just drop Sonic things in a realistic environment."
That's excatly describing adventure, even chaos emeralds don't exist in Special Zones but are jsut lying around LITERALLY dropped into this realistic environment. People gave it a pass if they were 9yo, but MOST sonic games have just mixed art styles with no rhyme or reason.
NATURE has an identity. It's laughable to take SA2 loop-de-loops literalized as being BUILT out of girders, like that makes artistic sense and has "identity", and then turn on THIS artsyle because you're already bored of how a flowery field looks like in real life, like it has NO identity. Like Unleashed copypasted ethnic cartoons HAVE "identity". They don't have SONIC'S identity.
How can you say it doesn't look like a sonic game
The original trailer didn't seem to have as many roads or rails. Its like Sonic Team is adding them as they go along to keep the environment from being too empty.
Thank you. I Literally could not put it better myself. I really wish I could.
Thumbnail’s beautiful well done
Matt are you live streaming Sonic origins tomorrow
People complained of Sonic Lost World being too cartoony
People complained of Sonic Frontiers being too realistic
True ?
You just can't please Sonic fans
@@Wildcatt1999 Sonic team found a middle ground in Sonic Adventure and Unleashed, then they throw those to the garbage.
Oh and how would I define how a Sonic game looks specifically its environments? Anything we've seen before or have yet to see like with this game but has atleast a floating grindrail and dash panel.
The problem isn't the realism. The problem is that there aren't sonicky elements (loops,, hills, etc.). Unleashed and the adventure games found a good blend, but this is too realistic to feel like a sonic game.
The legend appload a video
Makes me think this is there version of BOTW but seeing all the relics and tech I feels like he’s in an ancient land
2:08 Why did I laughed more than what I really should have them? 😂
I hope there's a thing that can generate a certain level/stage (only disappears if u go to a certain amount of range) so u won't worried about stages kept appearing and disappearing in the sky
(Edit: and yes I am talking about frontiers)
The one great thing from what I noticed so far the reused levels so far don't seem to have any 2D sections so I'm still a bit disappointed no original stages just reused generations levels that are redone with 3D gameplay no 2d sections so I'm excited for that glad so far 2D sections are gone.
We've had this before with the Riders trilogy, Unleashed, 06 and lots of other games, my theory with the Babylons connected easily makes this work.
I understand your point of view and I agree with it...but come on man! They could have gave me atleast one loop 😔
2:49 That's my favourite classic sonic environment of all time. It deserves more love.
We wanted an open world Sonic game and we got that. Why are people complaining about it? I think the switch ruining it because they had to make the game suitable for it + the game isn't even finished. We just have to wait and see
I keep getting surprised by the reasons game get backlash
There was literally a project cancelled due to stuff getting leaked 💀💀💀
i luv the surreal setting in frontier, I will buy as soon as it get released
the reason that i think it doesn’t look like Sonic is because Sonic games have ALWAYS had their own unique aesthetic and atmosphere to them. No matter what that atmosphere actually WAS and how much it differed from previous games, they all felt really unique and like something you would only see in a Sonic game. But i’m sorry, i’m gonna be that guy, I have to say it. They saw how Breath of the Wild sold and made Frontiers a rip-off of that, at least aesthetically. There are WAYYYY too many parallels for me to believe otherwise.
Because it looks like Sonic slapped into the PSO2 NGS engine and even uses some of its animations.
The most thing I hate about it is that they use the sonic model from sonic forces. I just wished they use the Sonic Generations model.
3:01 ah interesting tabs, but yea nice video
🧐
I don't think many people are saying that the world doesn't "look" like Sonic, or if they are, they don't mean it literally, or aren't too bothered by it.
What I see most people saying is that SONIC doesn't fit in this world they've put him in. Mostly because of, yes, the reused Forces model.
If you look at the images of 06 Sonic superimposed into the released screenshots, it actually looks really nice! Why? Because 06 had a completely new and different model in a style that fit the world he was going to run around in! A world that feels quite similar to 06! (As you've said in the video)
I don't get why they're reusing this model when it very, very clearly stands out from its surroundings. Usually, player character clarity is a GOOD thing, but this does not do it in a GOOD WAY.
(I also see people defending the abundant asset reuse in this game, but they're forgetting that Sonic has had completely different models in pretty much every game before Gens...)
The other thing I see people mean/say is that the zone isn't DESIGNED like Sonic.
Everyone says that it looks like PSO2 New Genesis and Xenoblade, but I feel as though these thoughts would be better avoided if the world just had more...Sonic elements in it. From what we've seen, it really does just look like a scrapped area layout from the Aelio Region of PSO2 NGS but with a bunch of random crap square platforms and disembodied, no...dis...enstructured(?) rails floating in the sky.
You mentioned "exaggerated realism", but that's more tied to the art style than the game design, although the two are heavily connected.
The main point is that the world should BEND AROUND Sonic and co.'s abilities, that's what makes them feel so exciting! Even 06 has it! The world can still be believable while having a lot of Sonic elements in it, you said so, yourself! It just seems to be REALLY lacking, right now, so to an observer who just sees cartoony Forces Sonic going a static 1 mph on a floating rail around a hyperrealistic obelisk and Final Fantasy waterfalls (not to mention the BotW climbing), something is inevitably going to look "off" to them.
I personally have not seen many people going around talking about a "definitive" Sonic "look" either, moreso just which art style they prefer over the rest, if they care at all.
I've sort of forgotten what I was going on about at this point, so whatever. Have a nice day! If you even read this
Hopefully they can make a good 3d sonic game the last good 3d sonic probably was generation which came out in 2011
I think the reason why it doesn't look like a sonic game is because it's open world and it's a type of spnic game we have never had before!
I think Black Knight has the closest environments to Frontiers. Sure, Black Knight still had some exaggerations to it, but look.. no loop-de-loops!
Bro in one of the interviews they said that they said it’s not going to look like any other sonic game
I'm at a point that I'm okay with how Sonic Frontiers' art style looks, yeah We see the springs, dash pads, grind rails and (possibly) shuttle loops and Classic Levels (reused from Sonic Generations, hope the cyber space levels are fully 3D), I'm just tired of the art style from Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces in Modern Sonic games and that I think Sonic Adventure 1, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations art styles is best fitted for Modern Sonic.
Look at Super Mario Odyssey's New Donk City and how Mario looks out of place with the GTA style Humans (giving off the who framed Roger Rabbit being Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Pauline, Toad and Bowser looks like a Toon characters), while it looks strange for Mario and Sonic to keep that toon making them look like a fish out of water but out in a real world it's also kinda cool (again giving off the Who framed Roger Rabbit or Space Jam feel of a toon in a real world)
TBH I really don't want Sega to go back to the Sonic 06 style for Sonic I think the Sonic Character (especially Eggman) all look ugly.
Justifying the art direction in Frontiers because the series doesn’t have an art style makes sense, but it only points to the very problem: not that the series doesn’t have an art style, but that it NEEDS ONE. Nobody in the fanbase talks about this, and it didn’t start with Frontiers (this video is proof of it), but at some point, the series' art direction needs to be defined by Sonic Team/Sega. They seem more focused on characters looking consistent than the settings they’re put in, but even that’s not consistent, like how fans debate how long Sonic’s quills actually are, for instance. I know I’m contrasting the point in the video, and I’m glad this video brings up the topic, but as a longtime fan, I don’t think it’s wrong for people to think Frontiers or other games doesn’t look like Sonic. My wife's not even a fan of the series, but even she could tell the look and feel of Frontiers was way off.
im so glad u brought up sonic 06! because that game has been getting a lot of attention since forces with a lot of people seeing the potential in it. maybe sega picked up on that? also with the 'dark-era' suddenly being given a lot of praise. Sonic and the black knight environments look a little like this game too. I'm excited for more environments! hopefully we get some more epic and imaginary elements like those games and of course amazing music. either way i feel like sega did what the fans wanted: an open world with references to "dark era" games. i don't get the hate
I personally am not saying there is one specific way to make a Sonic environment but looking at Frontiers I do think there is one specific way to NOT make a Sonic environment, and that is to make it so barren soulless and be littered with weird thin grind rails and metallic robot enemies with no personality. There’s also no density in the environment. It’s not about how realistic it looks but the fact that there’s so little in the environment that is interesting. And the music just being ambient background noise makes it so much worse too
Sonic fans: it doesn't look like Sonic! REEE!!!
Also Sonic fans: oh no! Green Hill anesthetics again, because squares on the ground! REEE!!!
Only Sonic fans take other Sonic fans seriously.
You’ve hit the nail on the head.
Question btw, not about this video, are you ever going to show your face on at least a live stream or something
The art style is amazing but the thing that threw me off was no music
You make it sound like its sad to see no more loops and cool terrains. It’s not, Sonic is just evolving, and it’s for the better IMO
I think the issue comes in when we're talking about Sonic's character design compared to the environment. if they maybe perhaps feature designs that resemble the Sonic from the films it would work much better in this environment.
My problem isn't that it looks super realistic, it's that it looks super realistic then has random platforms hanging in the sky like some Minecraft map.
Probably because there's nothing that looks Sonic-ish enough in the open world, there's no loop-de-loops, no cartoony/stylized visuals, and while I don't mind that, i can see why some people think it doesn't look like a Sonic game. Really getting tired of the reused levels from older games though
Ok so Frontiers doesn't have loops...have you seen the other islands already? God, they really got us all thinking and talking about the game lol
I get the fact that they want the world to “have a meaning and be true to the story” but HOW is this going to be fun without MOMENTUM BASED GAMEPLAY?! So far this is pretty much death stranding but with a sonic mod
The Adventure and Mania aesthetics will always be my favorite. The Adventure art style along with the funky Sonic Rush music and cool exaggerated poses, and the bright & colorful Toei art style with upbeat dubstep music will always be unbeatable for me. But that doesn't mean new styles like this are a bad thing. I'll always love Sonic for what it is.
I'm pretty sure the artistic dissonance of sonic being paired on a hyper-realistic setting is narratively relevant anyways
Sonic frontiers is using an "extended reality" type of art-style meaning it's much like sonic 06 it looks realistic but has unrealistic things inside it, i think environments is easiest to see the difference in art-style, sonic adventure 1&2 have a little more realistic than for example Sonic heroes which has much more exaggerated environments, colours and such and the design is more open and free.
Woulda looked so cool had it been in the classic sonic artstyle though
like how there was rails in the adventure games lmao
Question, in what way is this like Sonic Forces?
Sonic 06 sonic feels like he’d fit here the most
"Exaggerated Reality" I call it, fits the Sonic world perfectly. However, Sonic himself looks too "smooth" and "clean" for a realistic environment, he and the rest of the cast should be given the Brawl or 06 treatment with good looking fur and cloth textures.
If these characters live in this world, they should look like it.
I wish people would wait for the game to come out and play it before they judge. Doesn't it drive you all crazy spending minute by minute by minute thinking about this stuff when you got months before you're even going to be able to actually play it yourselves and then when you do you'll form your real opinion. We've only seen a fraction of what they have to offer in this game they haven't even shown clips of different zones yet. And I got to say if you sit there and you take note of Every Witch Way a character flips or jumps and every little gesture the character makes then maybe you spend too much time analyzing video games. I just like games that are good that I enjoy. I feel like I could ruin every game that I play if I watched people's reviews about them
Normally I'd agree with you about the realism aspect however you have to remember one sega did try to blend things a bit with sonic so he wouldn't feel out of place the adventure games and unleashed is a good example of this where it was done. My problem with frontiers is that they slapped forces model into a realistic environment where previously he was in a cartoony environment where things worked a bit better there. That's my gripe and point where sonic feels out if place. No problem with using realistic locations as I'm all for it but they need to do a bit to make it seem like it's his world I guess.
I don't particularly have problems with Frontiers for its bland world style, but the level design of it looks like a god damn Unreal demo example of an open world level, where every prop is just lazily dropped on "generic grass world no 1" layout . Like it looks like a testing level that developers use to check if all the features of movement and physics works correctly.
I guess I'm one of the folk who always thought introducing realistic elements in a sonic game worked against the visual design of it, Sonic '06 being the most egregious of examples.
My Personal favorites artstylewhise are definitely Adventure, Unleashed and Classic. While I can understand people liking the new asthetic of Frontiers, It just doesn’t look good to me I dunno
Great Video by the way, Keep on
Its NOT the goddamn art style, its the world and the alien npcs
Sonic combat system reminds me of sonic and the black knights
I think your misunderstanding, “this doesn’t look like sonic?” is us saying nicely, “why dose it look like a dead lifeless “Nintendo hire this man” unity store game”.
Now before I say this, it is to be known I am a huge Adventure and unleashed fan…even as a kid growing up when Sa2 came out I always said “who tf is driving on these spirals?” And I never really liked the fact that most sonic stages aren’t on the ground…we’re always high as fuck off the ground 😂
I take issue with the lighting and the color palette
3:09 I want to see someone mod this
Ok, I completely understand what you're saying, but in my opinion the issue I have with it isn't about how the world is designed, it's how sonic is designed. Each game does have its own unique artstyle but it also has a sonic model that fits that style, I think if there were to tweak the model they have currently texture wise it would fit a lot better than just the forces model. In the end it's not that big of a deal to me but it would've been nice if they went the extra mile and created a new model for this game. Regardless, im still very excited for this game
For me, Sonic looks best in Classic Style. Basically Sonic Frontiers should be set in an open world that looks like Sonic Prime
7:58 you say that as we literally see a loop de loop on screen
This is facts