Sonic Frontiers’ disappointing footage is said to be from an “Early Build”

After years of waiting for the next mainline title in the franchise, SEGA finally showed off gameplay for Sonic Frontiers to fans. Unfortunately, as of now, the game’s ambitions seem to be held back by a large number of technical issues. According to SEGA however, the footage seen so far is from an “Early Build,” lending hope for the final game.

SEGA partnered with IGN to give the first real look at Sonic Frontiers, with multiple minutes of pure gameplay shown off, from combat to traversal and more. Unfortunately, the footage was met with a great deal of backlash from fans, due to a number of major glaring issues, as well as some smaller nitpicks.

According to IGN’s senior editorial producer Mitchell Saltzman, “it's worth emphasising that this gameplay and the version that I played were from an early build,” adding that “Ultimately, my time with this early build answered the one question I had on my mind – will Sonic's one-of-a-kind gameplay translate into open-world? The answer is a resounding absolutely.”

One of the biggest issues with the footage was the fact that the game suffered from an excessive amount of pop-in, with obstacles and more not appearing until Sonic was nearly on top of them – a major concern considering Sonic’s speed. While it is safe to assume that the pop-in issue will be resolved by the time the game is released, many of the other fundamental design elements are likely too far deep into development to be changed.

That being said, according to Saltzman, what has been shown so far is but a small slice of the game, with the full experience offering an enticing gameplay loop in the form of: “Explore open world > solve puzzles to open up map > find collectibles to improve stats > fight world bosses to earn portal gears > use portal gears to unlock linear Sonic levels > complete linear Sonic levels to unlock chaos emeralds.”

It’s safe to say that Sonic Frontiers may have gotten off on the wrong foot with fans of the franchise. Hopefully Saltzman is right with their assessment of the game and that when Sonic Frontiers does finally launch, it is met with a wave of positivity. We will have to wait and see.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Sonic Frontiers so far? Do you have faith that it will be good? What are the most glaring issues so far? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Become a Patron!