Sonic Frontiers’ Story Tone Described as Melancholic & Lonely; Plot Premise & More Detailed
As part of their month-filled coverage for the upcoming highly anticipated Sonic Frontiers, IGN briefly interviewed one of the individuals responsible for the game’s story, Ian Flynn. He has played an integral role in Sonic stories for over a decade, with significant contributions to the comics, Sonic Boom television show, and even writing a Sonic Encyclopedia.
Flynn clarifies that, unlike other Sonic projects where he typically takes the lead in creative decision-making, Sega “provided the story, backstory, plot beats, usable characters, and so on” for Sonic Frontiers. This news emphasizes that Sega has their own vision for this game’s narrative and that Flynn has to abide by several rules. Essentially, while he has creative liberties to an extent, they likely primarily affect the game’s dialogue and more granular aspects.
The title’s story-pacing had to be carefully considered since this is a non-linear experience. Flynn and the team had to account for how players would witness events unfold when they had immense gameplay freedom. The previous plot premise is reiterated, with Sonic, Tails, and Amy getting separated at the Starfall Islands when looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic will have to save his friends, learn more about the island, and how various seemingly disconnected facets connect to each other. Flynn states that Eggman is his favorite Sonic character to write for and that he’s taken in some “interesting directions” in Frontiers.
The story’s tone is described as melancholic and lonely, a vast shift from the past decade of Sonic games. Alongside characters facing their own personal challenges, an unspecified one “will have their very identity shaped by their interactions with Sonic, which isn’t always a comfortable process.” Some past tragedies correlating to the Starfall Islands are also mentioned, all culminating in Sonic’s signature “never say die ” attitude being confronted.
You can view the entirety of IGN’s thought-provoking interview with Ian Flynn via the former’s official website.
Sonic Frontiers is releasing for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC in Holiday 2022.
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