TGS 2022 - Hands-on Round-up
Tokyo Game Show 2022 is now but a distant memory. I played games, I wrote words:
All things considered, it seems to have been a successful return for TGS. Of course attendance was down, but that's to be expected given that we're still mid-pandemic and the current gen continues to stall.
Anyway, it's time to wrap up coverage with the last of my hands-on impressions, this time for Sonic Frontiers, Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Forspoken.
Sonic Frontiers perhaps had the biggest presence of any game at TGS. Or at the very least, the most visible. Sega's was the first major booth we saw as we descended the stairs into the belly of the show, and smack bang in the middle of that booth was a fifteen-foot high inflatable Sonic. Is this 2022 or 1992, you might have asked.
Sonic Frontiers received its fair share of flak for an initial trailer that featured familiar (3D) Sonic gameplay in a very unfamiliar setting. The gameplay and the aesthetic appeared to be at odds, and that is exactly how the demo felt. It was unnerving, as if elements from two or three very different games had been thrown together and each did nothing to enhance the others.
I was given free rein in a generous slice of the open world. A drab and largely empty setting punctuated by Sonic staples like loop-the-loops, springs and golden rings. These features sat uncomfortably alongside stone monoliths and grey, ancient gears in a foggy, largely empty world. There might be brighter, more cheerful, more Sonic-like parts of the game, but unfortunately I didn't reach any of them in my twenty minutes.
Jumping between springs, made easy by using the lock-on feature, and reaching what initially appeared to inaccessible heights was definitely entertaining and felt like Sonic proper. At times he was a blur, moving with speed from obstacle to obstacle, but at others general movement felt sluggish. While speed is important, the secret about good-Sonic is that it's not just about being quick. More than anything, it's about forward momentum. Sonic games are at their best when they're moving you forward smoothly and without pause - a sense of speed is often a by-product of this. Here, I never achieved momentum. There were no clear race-lines, no obvious and entertaining route from one feature to another, and little encouragement for continuous movement.
I'm not sure I'd call my demo a disappointment, as it was perfectly in-keeping with the previous trailers. Still, not great.
Sticking with Sega, I of course took the opportunity to play the remade and localized version of Yakuza Ishin. Or is it Like a Dragon: Ishin? I'm confused.
Whatever the name, it's good!
In this Yakuza expert's humble opinion, Ishin is by far the best of the spin-offs. In fact, it's up there with the best the mainline series has to offer. Featuring all the characters you love, but transported back to mid-19th century Kyoto, it's an entertaining romp. I first played it in Japanese when it was released in 2014, and being able to play a localized version (Japanese voices, English subtitles) was an unexpected treat.
Our lead, Kazum Kiryu / Sakamoto Ryoma, is searching for the man who killed his mentor and he has access to four fighting styles to help him beat the truth out of his enemies. At any point in battle you can switch between fists, katana, pistol, and a katana/pistol hybrid. Each style is significantly different and offers new moves and gloriously exaggerated and massively violent heat actions. Each style is also enhanced by a squad of supporting characters, who grant you buffs from afar. These squads include the newly-added Ichiban from Like a Dragon, which is excellent news for anyone with good taste.
The setting makes for a fascinating playground and I'm happy that a new audience will soon be able to enjoy it.
Finally, I had some time with Square Enix's latest action RPG, Forspoken. Much like Sonic Frontiers, Forpsoken had received some backlash following a poorly-received trailer. I can't comment on the English dialogue, which was ridiculed following that trailer, as I played it in Japanese and the narrative was not the focus. Instead, we were given ample opportunity to explore the open world, and get to grips with the combat.
Free exploration was encouraged, but the world was very barren, though it seems the lack of life is tied to the story. Navigating the terrain using a form of margical parkour was smooth and fast, which was a relief as there was a lot of lonely trekking involved in the demo. Objectives included clearing an area of enemies, activating monuments and (I think) travelling back in time to protect idiot villagers from waves of equally idiotic monsters. Far from inspiring, but hopefully there's more depth in the full game.
Combat was fluid and our protagonist is quite the balletic fighter. Much like Ishin, mid-combat switches between different styles was encouraged and it made things more exciting. Magic worked well on some enemies, whereas swords and other melee options were more effective on others. The combat lacked weight and feedback throughout, however, and I was already starting to tire of the samey enemies.
Frey strikes me as a potentially interesting lead, but she wasn't the focus here. With that in mind, I wonder if this demo did a poor job of showcasing Forspoken's strengths. We'll find out next January.
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