Sonic the Hedgehog thread

[Reprise]

Loving it on PS5, have been playing it all afternoon. Also, barely noticing any pop in, so I am confused, as it is far more prominent in the videos I watched online.

 

[Sheephead]

Ok question -- Does pop-in improve depending on which version you get? Switch being the low man on the totem pole of power, I assume would be the worst. Do the PS4 and even PS5 version suffer the same pop-in?

Yes, they all have pop in I believe.

Even the PC version still has pop in, with no options to increase the distance. I'm sure that in a few days there will be a mod to increase it though. The PC version runs great, but it barely even uses the CPU and has no option to increase the 60fps cap. Within a few hours someone has worked out how to remove the FPS cap using cheat engine, so no doubt there will be more tweaks coming soon.

On the console front, obviously you can't change stuff unless your console is modded, so these changes would only come by an official patch.

 

[Reprise]

From everything I've read: both good and bad reviews seem to echo the same sentiment. The foundations are there for something much better if built upon in a sequel. It seems like everyone is praising Sonic Team for figuring out a formula that might actually work the for old hedgehog if only it has a little more polish put into it.

It sounds kind of similar to my feelings on Shenmue III. The foundations were in place but it probably needed at least another year in the cooker to truly get there.

Yup, this is spot on. It's good, but it's flawed. There is a solid foundation here for sure though.

 

[Down by Law]

It's brilliant. I'm 2 hours in and it keeps getting better and better the more stuff I unlock.

 

[Nathanial Essex]

The pop in is terrible, that alone loses a few points for me and this is probably factored into a lot of those 7 scores too. It's so bad that I even see rings pop in from a short distance. I have seen people bring it up like it's not a big deal because other games have it, but there are a few reasons why it's worse in this game.

1 - The distance between you and the pop ins are way too small. I can't believe SEGA thought this would be okay, it's incredibly jarring. I remember seeing similar in Cyberpunk, a game I have seen people use to defend the pop ins in Sonic. I don't understand why people would use that game to defend pop ins when Cyberpunk was torn to pieces because of it's bad performance.

2 - It's much easier to see because there is nothing to disguise them. In other games, there is usually so much going on on screen that it's easy to disguise the pop ins, Sonic Frontiers doesn't have that luxury. Everything is very open and in your face, so you're going to notice them more than you would in other games.

3 - Sonic moves fast, so the faster you move, the more pop ins you see.

I have my suspicions that this game was designed around getting it to work on the Switch over anything else, because I cannot understand why SEGA would think people would be okay having these issues on modern consoles and especially pc. I hope devs aren't doing this, it would be another example of the Nintendo Switch holding games back, just like with Dragon Quest XI S. That game is supposed to be the definitive edition of the game, but it's graphically so much worse than the original release, and this is because it was designed around getting it to work on the Switch.

Na, Nintendo Switch isn't holding anything back. This is just God awful lazy development. Plenty of developers manage to create games across platforms and generations and simply optimise it.

Sonic Team as a studio should just be shut down. God knows how they've survived so long with such mediocrity.

 

[Reprise]

Just done the first island. The game is fantastic so far.

 

[spud1897]

Just done the first island. The game is fantastic so far.

But did pop in ruin your experience and make you want sonic Team shut down? 🤣

All seriousness I'm 90 mins in and loving this. Controls nicely. Exploration works. Yeah it's got some rough edges but there's plenty of joy here.

 

[Sheephead]

Same here. About 2 hours 30 mins in and loving it. Found some recommended control settings on twitter and Sonic feels nice and responsive, love how it feels! The game clearly has some jank to it, but it's just super fun and addicting. Been a while since I've enjoyed a game this much. Just feels low commitment and I don't have to focus to heavily on the story etc. It's just interesting to explore, a pleasure to control and mindless fun.

I'm trying to get S Rank all on all of the levels. 2-1 was a pain in the ass but got it eventually. I feel like there is a lot of different combo's that you can do to keep up your speed on those levels so they are also fun to reply (the music is fucking banging too).

Excited to play more!

 

[Reprise]

But did pop in ruin your experience and make you want sonic Team shut down? 🤣

All seriousness I'm 90 mins in and loving this. Controls nicely. Exploration works. Yeah it's got some rough edges but there's plenty of joy here.

Haha, honestly though I'm barely even noticing the pop in. The game is far more polished than any recent 3D Sonic game (not that that necessarily says much).

Also, I really think it's commendable just how well Sonic controls and how well this game plays. I like 3D Sonic games, I loved the Adventure games, thought Sonic Colours and Unleashed were decent and that Sonic Generations was amazing. But every one of those games has real issues with janky cameras and controls that often result in me feeling like I fall or die when it's not my fault at all. In Frontiers though I am speeding around the open area, grinding rails and jumping over platforms with absolute fluidity and precision. It feels great.

I do agree with whichever review it was that compared this to Pokemon Arceus, in the sense that it's a huge shift for the franchise, but as a result, it's a bit of a barebones game that has all the core pieces in place to be built upon in future installments. It's tons of fun though, regardless. I hope they do use this formula moving forward and they don't scrap it all again and do something else with the next title, as Sonic Team does sometimes have a tendency to do.

 

[punkmanced]

There are bound to be some performance patches that improve things. If you like the game now, chances are it'll only improve over the next few months.

 

[I Got Sriracha In My DNA]

Wow I'm kind of having a blast with Sonic Frontiers. Honestly I'm very forgiving with some of the technical issues like the pop in's but if Sonic Team continually supports it to fix these kind of issues with patches then it may very well end up a truly great game.

 

[Daily Propane]

Going to wait when its free on PS Plus

 

[Down by Law]

This was fun

 

[Sput Vas Normandy]

This is the first 3d game of Sonic that I actually want to play (I only like 2d games). Definetely gonna buy it in some sale.

 

[Spaghetti]

Only got around to completing the extended tutorial in Frontiers and won't have a chance to play more until the weekend, but it's a good sign that I've been wanting to go back to it all day at work.

 

[Reprise]

This was fun

Ha I just did that myself tonight.

 

[red]

This is the first 3d game of Sonic that I actually want to play (I only like 2d games). Definetely gonna buy it in some sale.

did you not play the dreamcast version?

 

[Sput Vas Normandy]

did you not play the dreamcast version?

No I didnt. I mean, everybody says its fantastic and so on, but Idk, I just look at it and I dont like it. Idk its like, the camera. I dont get used to the camera and the speed. Prolly is just me because everybody loves them, but I just couldnt.

On the other hand, this is the first Sonic's 3d game that seems like I can play it and the camera & speed wont bother me.

 

[Hermit]

I'm probably in agreement with metacritic score right now. Low 70's feels fair. It's fun, but the technical issues bring it down for me. I hate the pop ins, they make me second guess things and break my momentum. They still haven't sorted out Sonic's jumping either, he feels too heavy and restricted. It's been this way since Sonic Generations. Low quality 30fps cutscenes have outstayed their welcome too.

It's fun, but I find most Sonic games to be fun anyway, it's just those same technical issues that bog things down a bit.

 

[Reprise]

I have nearly finished the second island.

Personally, whilst I do have minor gripes about things like the controls and camera etc, I do think this is the best Sonic has controlled since the Adventure games. I always struggled to adjust to the boost games, because Sonic controlled more like some kind of vehicle than a person (or animal, I guess) and I found the games just too fast. I liked them and obviously got used to it. Some of my issues with those games remain, such as Sonic's jump just not feeling right (it's too heavy and restrictive, as Hermit mentioned), but overall I think everything works much better than any other 3D Sonic game that has been released since Adventure 1 and 2.

I also agree with one review that said it is consistently pretty good, but lacks any real epic moments or highs. There's no Sonic being chased by a whale, or a monster truck, and all the cyberspace levels (whilst actually very good imo) are a bit meh after a while because they only rely on 4 different design styles.

The great big robots, mini bosses, titans and what not come close. They're mostly fantastic, but they're hardly Shadow of the Colossus quality. Good idea and some are cleverer than others in terms of their design.

I'm excited about where Sonic Team goes next with this. Could the next game take place on Mobeus and have more Sonic-esque world designs? Could they have small towns and communities to explore? Could they bring back the Mystic Ruins and other areas from past games perhaps? Could "cyberspace" levels be expanded upon and draw from wider influences? I don't know, it's going to be interesting, because it feels like thr next game is going to be the tough one. They built a solid foundation here, but now they need to take it to the next level without breaking it or making the core experience inferior.