[youtube width=”600″ height=”355″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU3neKGNktA[/youtube]
While on the E3 show floor, I got a chance to interview the producer on Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Stephen Frost. We talked about the game, some fans concerns and Sticks. I was originally going to do a transcript of the interview, but it’s 16 minutes long and that’s a lot to transcribe and it’s been a long week and I’m lazy. Besides, this way you get to hear it straight from the man himself and reading is overrated anyway. Enjoy!
Always great to hear from the main man himself!, Gotta say from how descriptive he was, I am loving this game way more than I could possibly imagine and that’s a good thing, I know there are sonic fans who are still going to hate it and stuff, and that’s fine by me, but I only ask that you give it a chance, if you play it and you still don’t like it, then you can say “Oh this game sucks” or something, but as of now they have 5 months to finish adding extra things like the music, i can tell you right now that the music that was being played was actually from the studio gibli/miyazaki movie Steamboy, so that’s a hint saying that the real music is still being made and it could be amazing, I have faith in this branch of the series, and I hope all of you can try to give it some faith as well
Sorry but no.
I will not give it a chance if it continues to look as it does. If they continue to show the game as they did in the B-Roll footage and at E3 I will not follow blind faith and spend my money on it.
Glad I’m not the only sane person here.
Yeah, cause having a different opinion makes people insane.
Opinions are reasonable, blind faith is madness.
Yes, because simply liking something for different reasons that you don’t agree with could only be “blind faith”, because according to you, anyone who isn’t you is an idiot, correct? 😛
Well then, you’ll forgive us if we pass your opinion on the game off as blind hate when it comes out.
But then, that’s expected of you for anything Sonic related, isn’t it?
How about you actually read what I said instead of just activating Sonic game defence mode because someone has criticised something?
I do not think this game looks very good in it’s current state. If I think that, why the hell would I buy it on launch day if they do not do anything between now and then to change that impression?
pre-ordering or buying the game if nothing has been shown to suggest the quality has been improved because you ‘think they’ll change it for launch’ is blind faith.
Blind faith is better than hating every single little thing that happens.
Faith gives people a reason to live, a reason to exist. As Sonic Adventure 2 put it, “They all have a reason to be happy.”
And my reason to be happy has been outlined in this interview. A bigger story, more character development and interaction, a bigger focus on exploration and combat, multiple playable characters, and the best voice acting the series has ever seen. This is MY Sonic game!
But apparently, you can’t even let me have that. You’re trying to urge people out of buying it by passing off your biased opinions as facts. Hell, you’ve flip-flopped before just to try and prove yourself right. You said yourself that Sticks looked like Marine, but the second her real name was confirmed, you went back on your word and stated that they look nothing alike, even though they clearly do.
Just because you’re one of the mods on this site doesn’t make you a commander of any kind. You’re still another person, and you can’t control us.
I think you’re just upset that this game is nothing like the Sonic games we’ve seen before. But that’s the whole, entire point of Sonic Boom. It’s trying to be something different. It’s trying to be something new and fresh, and not try and fanwank back to Sonic 1 again. That game isn’t even that good anyway!
I’m sorry, but I will NEVER take your opinion on this game seriously. Complaining about a game that you will never play is pointless.
Come back and talk to me when you’ve pre-ordered the game, then we can talk.
So just because it doesn’t appeal to you, it can’t appeal to someone else? and you call it blind faith? People can be faithful if they want to, you can’t say they are going about it blindly, because if that is the case then so are you. You’re just as blind as everyone else. As far as i’m concerned first impressions don’t MAKE a good game. I wasn’t impressed by Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker when i first saw it, but when i played it, it made me look a other Zelda games differently. You can’t say anything about the full product of this when the full product is not even out. Even Stephen Frost said that the E3 does NOT fully represent the WHOLE experience of Sonic Boom. It just represents what’s different about Sonic Boom in comparison to other sonic games. Technical issues like graphics or frame rate or animation can be ironed out with time. We just have to wait.
“Come back and talk to me when you’ve pre-ordered the game, then we can talk.”
Why on earth would I pre-order a game I don’t think looks very good?
Good for you guys, you think it looks great.
I do not.
So don’t tell me to pre-order a game because ‘it might look better when it’s finished’ when right now it doesn’t look that great.
You wanna do that, go right ahead, just don’t expect me to do the same when I don’t think it looks very good.
Well then, if you’re not going to play this game, I see no reason for you to keep talking about it the way you do. It’s counter-productive.
If you don’t like something, just ignore it, and have nothing to do with it. It’s as simple as that.
So according to you, if people don’t like the game or feel it has problems, they shouldn’t point them out or criticise it unless they’re going to pre-order/buy the game… even though they don’t like the look of it?
Exactly! Just leave it alone, and let people who are excited for the game have their fun!
The world would be a much better place if everyone followed this ideal.
Why should I or anyone leave it alone? It’s criticism of a product, there’s nothing special about it that means it’s immune from it.
It’s not that I’m against criticism. But it should come from someone who has actually experienced the game first-hand. And to me, if the Sonic Retro hands-on is anything to go by, then I’m looking forward to this.
If you have a problem with me looking forward to Sonic Boom, then that’s too bad. Deal with it.
For gods sake. Nobody has a problem with you or anybody looking forward to it. Nobody has said that!
The problem which is what you originally commented on is people saying “Have faith it’ll be great” and other words to that effect if people don’t think it looks good!
Well quite clearly, you do have a problem.
When someone says that they don’t like something that I like, it BECOMES my problem.
How would you like it if I said “All of the old Sonic games suck. I’ve never played them, and I never intend to, but I’ve seen enough to know that they’re not good games at all.”? That’s how I feel.
I’m trying to defend something that matters to me, and that’s the first Sonic game in several years that I’ve been genuinely excited for. Hearing people say that it’s not going to be good just frustrates me. It makes me think, “what if this game isn’t going to be that good?” My good feelings are replaced with fear and dread. This turns to anger.
And anger, in turn, leads to problems with my family…
I don’t want another incident…
So please… Just let me have this…
Okay, sorry about that last comment. I kind of lost it there.
Blind faith? We’ve already seen quite a few levels, the real madness here is that even if it’s not your cup of tea, that you still seem to be a total jerk about it. Just because somebody chooses to have faith in something that could kindle a whole new generation of people liking Sonic the Hedgehog (It certainly piqued my interest, and I’m going on 13..), apparently they are mad, everyone should boycott this, and shut down something that could be quite good for what you are supposedly a ‘fan’ of, considering you even bother to be a member of this negative stirring pot… Yeah, I can see now that I’m the insane one. The blind one.
Amen.
I’m still optimistic about it and keeping my mind open to it (dont want to be accused of dismissing the game just because its different); but if I dont like it when I try it out at Sonic Boom and if it doesnt receive great reviews upon releasing, I’m certainly not going to support it. I’d much rather continue to support the main series; while its had its ups and downs, I at least still enjoy the characters, art style, character design, settings, etc. Boom? So far, not so much. And with all of that lacking for me in Boom, personally, it better have one kickass game play style, level design, controls and story to still keep my interest.
I admire your enthusiasm and optimism, I feel that those are two traits that are seriously lacking from Sonic fans these days. Sure, there are reasons to be concerned about a lot of the games, but there’s already enough negativity in the world, and many of the games have plenty of positives to keep me playing. I’ve got just as much faith and hope for these games (the 3DS especially, because it looks like that one needs the most luck…) as you do, but I’ll still be cautious about them as well. I have to admit, this is a very drastic change for the series and it feels miles away even from what Lost World was trying to go for, let alone what Sonic Unleashed and Generations already accomplished. The pacing feels very different from what we’ve come to expect in a Sonic game, but the pacing of the series hasn’t always remained consistent either. While the general consensus seems to be that each Sonic game should be faster than the last (which probably should be the case most of the time), when it comes to spin-offs that are supposed to be different from the main series, I think some time should be taken and encouraged to dabble in other things. If anything, if they turn out bad, they don’t end up touching the main series. I think the best way for this spin off to grow is to try branching out in as many directions as it can until they find something that works and stick with it. Speed will always be a factor, but I always felt that there was room for something else too. Let’s just hope that the final product delivers that well.
Exactly dude, the whole point of Sonic Boom is to be something new, something on its own that’s not part of the main canon, and look at what they’re doing. Stronger Amy Rose who doesn’t after sonic constantly, a new adventure game with a story, brand new TV show and toy line, and lastly being able to play as other characters again, Sonic fans have been asking for many of these things for years, and I was one of them, of course I didn’t hate on them if they didn’t do it like most sonic fans do, but now there doing something we have been asking for, and its getting hate because its a little slow and there’s fighting, Ill say it again dude, they even said if you go into this game and expect a regular sonic game, then its not the game for you, I love this branch of the franchise and all of Sonic’s changes and innovations, that’s why even if it does fail, I will still continue to love it my friend.
*Clap* *clap* Bravo! bravo! I agree too. Let’s give this game a chance to shine. I don’t believe you have blind faith, you guys are just optimistic and open minded. A trait that people shouldn’t be lacking.
I’m content with Sonic games, but does that mean i love them to death? No. I can just have fun by looking at the good stuff about them. Like you I’ve also been waiting for this kind of game too. Or a Sonic Adventure 3. Yeah! That’s right! I said it! Glad to see people having an open mind.
OH MY GOD, THANK YOU MATTHEW. THANK YOU.
You guys are welcome, I will always love the hedgehog no matter what he does, even from the worst of games to the best games, and sonic boom is looking like an amazing game
“I only ask that you give it a chance, if you play it and you still don’t like it, then you can say “Oh this game sucks” or something.”
After paying $50.
Sorry, but it’s best to be as informed as possible before purchasing. This is why we read previews, reviews and play demos. I’ve played the game myself and while I’m hopeful that Frost is right and that the demo alone is not a great indicator of the overall product, what I’ve played so far does not give me confidence.
There is some hope. I’ll be writing a Sonic List this week covering some of my second impressions and thing I liked about the game. That said, I’ll say this. What I’ve played of it so far puts it on par with Secret Rings and Black Knight. Games which had god to great stories to them even though the game play falters.
Its not 50$.
Or you can rent it, yo.
Not even worth a rent from the looks of it.
Play the demo when it comes out dork, that one is free.
It’s either get my feelings hurt by the community or my feelings hurt by the developers behind the Sonic games. That’s usually how it’s been for years now. I want to just like something for myself and not have to worry about it’s reception for once. It must be fantastic being a Mario fan.
Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Sonic and Sega Allstar Racing series… Hell, even Sega actually went to the trouble in fixing the problems players had with Sonic Lost World. Even if this disappoints, at least we can take solace that Sega isn’t going to give a disappointment that was on the level of “fuck you” that is Sonic 06 or the padding in the games from that era.
You seem to be under the impression that all players have the same problems. The things I tend to value more so then others about the Sonic games I grew up with concerning the story, the characters, the longetivity, and the adventurous atmosphere have been ignored for a long while. And seeing it return here made me happy but then I have no choice but to get sad once more due to the reaction as if this fails, the concepts I like seeing making a comeback (whether they’re done right or not, it’s still waiting to be seen) probably won’t be embraced by anyone over at Sega again. It’s already been about 7 years since Tails was playable in a main stream title unless for some crazy reason you count Sonic 4: Episode II.
No matter what happens here I run the risk of either feeling left out of the community or feeling ignored by Sega. The common ground that has a full and complete package everyone can enjoy doesn’t seem to fall within their interests. I can’t say I put Colors and Generations on too high a personal pedestal despite recognizing that they’re good games.
I’ve had my feelings hurt so many times by the people hating on Sonic Boom that it’s not even funny… I feel you. We ought to start a whole new divison of the fanbase… 😛
Come to think of it, that’s actually not too far away once Boom is released. Not sure I can stand some of these people anymore.
Itll be ok Dolphina, Im with you I wont insult you for liking Boom
It’ll be ok Dolphina, Im with you I wont insult you for liking Boom
I hope you spoke to someone from Sanzaru Games? Anyway, I really liked what he said about the characters designs and story tidbits.
Not for this site, but yes I did. It’ll be up on Segabits later this week. I talked to lead level designer Matt and I got along great with him. Real nice guy. You can also see my preview of the 3DS version at this link. The 3DS version is coming along pretty good.
http://segabits.com/blog/2014/06/13/segabits-at-e3-preview-sonic-boom-shattered-crystal-3ds-draft/
Thanks for the heads up. Already read your preview – it’s really promising!
lol it’s so relieving to finally see people come to realize that Sonic Boom is no more than a bargain bin license-quality toy promo shit stain that will probably haunt the franchise for years to come (if we didn’t have enough of those to begin with.)
Looks like a better and better game to me with each new interview and trailer. Kind of weird really since no other Sonic games haven’t really interested me since Sonic Colors.
I’d have to agree, although Generations is one of my favorites.
Like Sonic isn’t anymore of a cash cow than it already is? Speak for yourself.
If Toonzai was ended on end of September on CW channel on finale on Saturday,
will Sonic X will be moved to Cartoon Network while Sonic Boom TV Series will air in this Fall?
Looks like a better and better game to me with each new interview and trailer. Kind of weird really since no other Sonic games haven’t really interested me since Sonic Colors.
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