Worried Fans 'Don't Understand' Sonic Frontiers Gameplay, Says Sonic Team Boss

gamerant.com:

Sonic Frontiers has been the subject of surprising controversy lately, with fans of the franchise and onlookers criticizing the recent presentations of Sega's upcoming open-world 3D platformer. In wake of this criticism, many have called for Sega to delay the upcoming 3D platformer, claiming that the footage of the game showcased by IGN bears a lack of polish and requires more development time. After weeks of criticism leveraged at Sonic Frontiers' gameplay, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka has now responded and says that Sonic Team has no desire to delay Sonic Frontiers, and that fans just «don't understand» the game.

Sonic Frontiers was first announced during the Sonic Central presentation in June 2021, but was first formally showcased under the title at The Game Awards 2021, where it was revealed to be an open-world take on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise inspired by games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. After this reveal, Sega went quiet regarding the title until June 2022, where it revealed the first look at gameplay as part of IGN First. This gameplay presentation was immediately met with criticism due to the game's strange and unpolished looking art direction, and a lack of context regarding the gameplay that was being shown.

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Until now Sega and Sonic Team have remained quiet regarding the game's criticism, however, Sonic Frontiers recently appeared at the in-person Summer Game Fest Play Days event where members of the press got to go hands-on with a curated demo that revealed new story elements and featured full, open-world gameplay. Reception towards this demo has been surprisingly positive, with outlets such as Easy Allies and Eurogamer praising it