Sonic Frontiers still draws the ire of players. This time, the open-world game is at the center of a level recycling controversy.
The summer has been tough for SEGA. For the last two months, the Japanese publisher has regularly highlighted Sonic Frontiers. Whether at the Summer Game Fest or at Gamescom 2022, whoever should sign the extension of the license comes up short. This time it’s a game mechanic that’s being challenged.
Sonic Frontiers has been accused of abusive level recycling
If the open world of Sonic Frontiers isn’t under attack, cyberspace is. This mechanic is actually playable at Gamescom 2022 and the gameplay has started circulating around the internet. What some thought was a nostalgic homage is seen by many as simply cutting and pasting levels from old games. For example, the videos show the level of Green Hill from Sonic Frontiers, whose level design corresponds exactly to that of Unleashed. Ditto for the chemical plant area which looks like generations.
Some fans took the opportunity to accuse SEGA of recycling entire levels and trying to obfuscate them by changing the skin. ” Between the lack of environmental art direction, Sonic’s reduced speed, and attack animations taking forever, it definitely feels like lower versions of Unleashed/Generations levels.
Much noise for nothing?
Others feel that the quality of gameplay and controls compromise functionality. Some believe the developers added them in a hurry to respond to player feedback following the fiasco of the first Sonic Frontiers video. However, the community is very divided on this topic. The feature was actually presented very early in the game’s communication.
We’ve known for a while that Sonic Frontiers would offer another dimension with bonus levels that mix genres a bit with traditional areas. So this in itself is not a surprise. “LPeople are really looking for an excuse to spit on the game before it starts. one player commented in response. We can’t blame him. Especially since Cyberspace is also supposed to contain original levels. Inevitably, this controversy amused some people, who parodied the Mario comparisons. Anyway, we remind you that Sonic Frontiers will be available on November 8th on consoles and PC.
