I think what would be interesting to do for the next one would be to set it on an island that Eggman is in the middle of taking over. There are ruins, but they are few and far inbetween, and the enemies just stand around waiting to be attacked, they're not really doing anything, and there's no real sense of progression, the islands don't get more hostile to you as you do the challenges, and they don't really change. The reason Frontiers feels empty is because there's no life at all, bar a few birds. Too many times I've gone "I need to collect this," only to have no idea which of the many random objects nearby will lead me to it (and on more than one occasion the correct one isn't even shown due to draw distance issues). One easy change however would be if the map pointed you not to the location of a collectable, but where the platforming challenge needed to get it starts. No more pop up structures randomly in the sky like it’s a test beta, actual unique structures that fit with the terrain itself that’s baked into the levels thoughtfully and creatively.Īgain, I think that the Open Zone in Frontiers was constrained, so the next entry should just improve from there.Īs others have said, the pop-in is a real problem, and the art direction needs work to stop it look like random floating platforms, but those are problems that would be fixed with simply having more man hours to commit to it. Time cycles and NPCs, alongside more varied structures with more exploration. I think it rails against the open zone’s entire idea and instead more OZ orientated assets need to be implemented. This is infamously felt most on chaos island, where the ambitious terrain and mechanics clashed most violently with the constraints, leading to that 2D section platforming that it locked your character into.įor the next entry, I think the 2D stuff needs to be scrapped entirely, leaving that for mini games or the cyberspace equivalent in the next title. With that, I genuinely think alot of the open zone’s design mishaps directly germinate from the hardware/budget, from the pop-ups to the lack of assets for terrain variety. That alone doesn’t get enough praise imo. I think what they did with their engine was pretty admirable, ESPECIALLY jumping directly from Forces of all games. What should be added to make the open zone feel less "empty"? How should the progression be changed so it's not as repetitive? What games should Sonic Team take inspiration from? Would love to hear yalls thoughts. And the grind of having to get memory tokens does drag on for a long time if you're not efficient. Part of that is definitely the subpar art direction, but I think it's also the fact that there just objectively isn't a lot to interact with on these islands, at least compared to other open world games. I've noticed a lot of people not in the Sonic community, especially on Reddit, call the world bland and empty. And everything kinda blends toghether after a certain point. The only problem is that it gets really repetitive and monotonous once you've seen everything, especially if you're going for 100%. Taking in the sights, listening to the music, fighting guardians, it's all very fun. I love just running around doing things on my own and finding new ways to get tokens. Be inspired by fast-running animals all day, but the moment you say Sonic you've crossed a line you can't return from.In my personal opinion, the open zone of Frontiers is honestly pretty fun for the most part. And if you ever want to be able to publish this broadly or monetize it, don't use Sega's IP. You should absolutely go ahead and make a game! Just keep your expectations realistic and you can both finish the project and avoid disappointment later. I'm not saying this to try to discourage you. Sega publishes games made by dozens or hundreds of experienced developers with big budgets, not individuals who are trying to avoid coding entirely. I cannot stress enough how it's not a small number it is literally zero. The reason to not think about money is because it's going to distract you from actually making the game. They're very unlikely to do anything about it for multiple reasons, but permission and lack of consequences are different things. I want to be clear: you don't have the legal right to make a game without express written permission from the IP holder. I wouldn't take a YouTube comment from five years ago as legal permission.
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