Sonic Frontiers "still has a long way to go," apparently
The game's director is paying attention to the feedback of critics and fans alike.
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Sonic Frontiers only just came out, but according to the game's director Morio Kishimoto, there's still some work to be done.
It's the first time in five years that we've had a new 3D Sonic game, and depending on your perspective, Sonic Frontiers is either a great step forward, or just not your cup of tea. Unfortunately though, it's pretty objective that the game doesn't always run the best, particularly on the Switch, which is somewhat of a mess visually. But Kishimoto seems to know there are problems, and admits there's "still a long way to go," with the game.
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"I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you until now, because we’ve been busy since the release date," tweeted Kishimoto on Friday (November 11, translations from GamesRadar). I’m relieved that the release date has arrived and that [Sonic Frontiers] seems to have reached everyone safely.
"We are checking out the opinions of the critics and players. As you have pointed out, we still have a long way to go, and we will take this seriously like a global playtest."
Obviously it's a bit unclear if the phrasing is just as odd in Japanese, as treating the release of a literal Sonic the Hedgehog game as playtest doesn't seem like the best move. But then again, this latest entry does mark a pretty big change for the series, so maybe it isn't entirely unsurprising that this game is more like one big test for the future of the series than anything else.
VG247 didn't review Sonic Frontiers, but generally the game received pretty mixed reviews. On the higher end of scores, VGC gave it a 4/5, calling it "the best 3D Sonic game in years," whereas GamesRadar gave it a 2/5, saying "Was taking Sonic open world an ambitious endeavour? Yes. Did it pay off? Absolutely not."
Guess we'll just have to wait and see what Kishimoto means by "still a long way to go," and if the team can improve upon the groundwork they laid.