Sonic Frontiers came and went to mostly mixed reception from general audiences, but mixed to generally positive from its fanbase. It's been a while since Sonic Team properly elevated this series beyond including a completely unrelated gimmick to pair with the game's speedier levels, so finally getting to play a new Sonic game with a consistent and fairly satisfying gameplay loop from beginning to end was very refreshing.
Like many games in the series, however, it isn't perfect and a sequel could greatly build upon its foundation to make something really fun. So what do we want to see?
1) More cohesive, streamlined, and varied level design
Sonic Frontiers' gameplay loop has you exploring its 5 islands in search of various items which gate your progression until obtained. It's satisfying, but frankly by the time you're done with an island, you're pretty exhausted by it.
I think the next game should significantly pair down the islands' size, but increase the total amount.
I'd love if instead of 5 huge, fairly bland looking biomes we got to explore 8+ medium sized ones. Similarly, I'm anticipating the level design to feel more cohesive within the world itself. Most of the islands you explore just have a ton of rails and strips of, like, level, just floating around them. The next game I'm hoping makes the areas you traverse look more intact with the world itself.
2) Better art style.
Frankly, Frontiers' art style is extremely bland. It looks fine enough I guess, but the complaints regarding it looking like an Unreal Engine tech demo are absolutely valid.
There are so many interesting locales to see in the Sonic series. Why can't we explore some worlds that look anything like this:
Or this:
Or, really, anything that isn't just bland fields and biomes. I think having smaller worlds to explore would help facilitate more diverse areas to explore, so hopefully that means improving the art style too.
Those are my main gripes, really. I wanna see denser, more interesting level design with more visually inspiring art to go with it.
Like many games in the series, however, it isn't perfect and a sequel could greatly build upon its foundation to make something really fun. So what do we want to see?
in b4 "for it to not come out" or "Sonic dies in it"
1) More cohesive, streamlined, and varied level design
Sonic Frontiers' gameplay loop has you exploring its 5 islands in search of various items which gate your progression until obtained. It's satisfying, but frankly by the time you're done with an island, you're pretty exhausted by it.
I think the next game should significantly pair down the islands' size, but increase the total amount.
I'd love if instead of 5 huge, fairly bland looking biomes we got to explore 8+ medium sized ones. Similarly, I'm anticipating the level design to feel more cohesive within the world itself. Most of the islands you explore just have a ton of rails and strips of, like, level, just floating around them. The next game I'm hoping makes the areas you traverse look more intact with the world itself.
2) Better art style.
Frankly, Frontiers' art style is extremely bland. It looks fine enough I guess, but the complaints regarding it looking like an Unreal Engine tech demo are absolutely valid.
There are so many interesting locales to see in the Sonic series. Why can't we explore some worlds that look anything like this:
Or this:
Or, really, anything that isn't just bland fields and biomes. I think having smaller worlds to explore would help facilitate more diverse areas to explore, so hopefully that means improving the art style too.
Those are my main gripes, really. I wanna see denser, more interesting level design with more visually inspiring art to go with it.
