#snapcube notice me senpai

[chanrain]

not me, just plugging another fun thing i do

[crusherthedoctor]

Tbh, the more I think about frontiers, the more it feels “artificial” it looks like a sonic game, and has elements people wanted, but it doesn’t feel natural. When I look at superstars, thats how I see sonic as a franchise. But when I look at frontiers, I get constant mixed feelings, especially with how it handled certain characters and story. I don’t know, but frontiers was probably a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Agreed.

It's not just the obvious qualities, like how it's piggybacking off of Breath of the Wild, or how various aspects of the level design are cobbled haphazardly in a way that detracts from the intended open world experience, or how bland everything is and how "Starfall Islands is meant to have its own aesthetic and style" doesn't work as an argument when there is no aesthetic and style for the environments, or how the writing feels a lot more Archie-esque, or how the voice actors sound less "I'm doing a low-key portrayal of these characters" and more "I'm genuinely depressed and bored IRL", or how The End is nowhere near as gripping as its manifestation of death schtick warrants, or how Tails says he's Wildly Inconsistent, or... everything to do with Eggman. Because even putting all that aside, the little things are frequently off as well.

Like cutscene pacing for example. There are so many moments with unnaturally drawn out pauses between characters during a conversation, and them just kind of fucking around and merely existing, the latter of which was something that the Pontaff games frequently got criticised for by fans. Then there's the specific way that references are often pulled off: they rarely feel natural and non-intrusive, and with how shoehorned they can get, you get the impression that they're desperately trying to convince you that they're totally Sonic fans to compensate for not actually knowing the games past the surface. Especially since half of them aren't even accurate references. Like shit, why not add an overdone Snapcube reference while you're at it, might as well given fans remember that more than they do the actual games at this point.

And I know I keep bringing this up, but I must stress: why is it that, nearly a year since the game originally came out, and despite all its popularity and acclaim, and fans taking any opportunity they can to boast about said acclaim ("It won an award!")... I can never find sincere praise for it that doesn't boil down to vague "They fixed it!" refrains, with maybe a side dish of Fuck Pontaff at most? Why am I more likely to find someone who can explain the ins and outs of why they like ShtH, ironically or unironically? Why am I more likely to find someone who can explain in helpful detail why they like Sonic Underground? Why are these diehard fans of Frontiers so reluctant to actually discuss the game, instead of repeating "It's the best because it is, please notice me Flynn senpai" over and over?

I'm sure they'd say that Frontiers' widespread adoration by the fandom shows they did something right. As if popularity automatically equates to quality. As if I can trust what a fandom that has grown to care more about portrayals that openly shit on the games has to say in order to convince me that I just don't get it, maaan.