So… Sonic Frontiers, huh? After a long period of half-assed Sonic games except for Sonic Mania, will the blue hedgehog have finally defeated their bad streak? Well… Hm… I’m not sure, honestly. I had a fun time with Sonic Frontiers, but at the same time it feels so unpolished, rough around the edges and uninspiring that I’m not entirely sure how to feel or what to think about it
Okay, let’s start with the basics. Gameplay. So, what the fuck is going on with Sonic’s movement in this game. In the open world, he controls fine and feels satisfying, that’s for sure, but in cyberspace? This is the most rigid and unsatisfying Sonic ever, what the hell happened here?
The new boost is… Strange. It’s better at some aspects, like it’s cool to have it forever instead of a meter to recharge, and in exchange it’s not all-powerful. Also, on air it’s quite satisfying and helps reposition Sonic very well during platforming. On the other hand… It’s hard to adapt to after so many Sonic games using the old boost mechanic, and this one SUCKS on the ground. It just takes away all momentum and it’s uncontrollable for drifting. I understand the second part may be on purpose, but it’s still so unsatisfying and works a lot better on open-world instead of on cyberspace
Now, as for cyberspace itself. Why. Why. Literally why. Why are all the fucking levels the same templates from Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Angel Island and some weird mix of City Escape/Speed Highway. I know this game loves the nostalgia factor (a little too fucking much when it’s inserted in such an uninspiring way like this), but the worst part is THE FUCKING LEVEL DESIGN. To be played? Okay, most of these are fine. Aesthetically or memorably? These are just either Sonic Generations RIP-OFFS, like, THEY ARE NOT EVEN BEING SUBTLE, it’s baffling how OBVIOUS it is that some of these levels are the exact same levels. Or even worse, just fucking building blocks put together to resemble a shell of a level, as if we didn’t have enough of those across the entire fucking game’s islands already
Now, the islands… Alright, I’ll give this one to them. They’re really fun to explore and play around, though the little segments to get tokens get old FAST. Plus, pretty much every island recycles the same assets and they are all so… uninspired, just grass and sand all over, it’s kinda disappointing and one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t like the direction Frontiers was taking during the first reveals. The art direction altogether is bland and boring
Also random things I hate: third island’s sudden focus on 2D sections that don’t let you go away, treasure points suddenly stopping giving actual rewards and becoming part of the stupid segments that only yield ONE single token, and WHOEVER THOUGHT IT WAS OKAY TO HAVE THE SPEED/RING KOKO BE SO FUCKING SLOW. In the end, that last part also correlates with how slow and little polish the menus and interfaces have, but welp
Now, let’s focus on the combat. It’s cool, and many of the enemies are fun to fight against and beat (others, not so much, but alright). It’s clear that this game sacrificed some aspects for the sake of the focus on combat (even the boost button placement, lol), though I don’t really like how most combos and skills you unlock yield the same result and are just there for being fancy and flashy instead of serving an actual or different purpose. So, in summary, there’s not really any depth to the combat except big damage or fast hits
Finally, let’s take a break from the negativity and hand them a W at last: the Super Sonic boss fights. It’s been repeated to oblivion, but they finally made Super Sonic feel a powerful being, that the player can get absolutely hyped about. The Titans go fucking raw too, and the music is just… hits all the right spots. It’s no Crush 40 unfortunately, but these themes go SO hard and it’s incredible. My favourite was probably the Knight boss fight, in terms of music, boss design and fight
On that same topic though… WHY WASN’T THE FINAL BOSS A SUPER SONIC BOSS FIGHT??? WHY DIDN’T THEY END THE GAME ON A SUPER HIGH NOTE??? Literally just a space invaders minigame, the hell😭😭😭 And the credits music was so good but had absolutely no visuals or anything to look at meanwhile
As usual, Sonic doesn’t disappoint with its music, though there haven’t been as many tracks that stuck with me as there usually are in Sonic games. It’s so huge that it’s hard to pinpoint which songs are specially to my liking, y’know? Like, EVERY cyberspace stage having their own theme is cool but also kinda overkill
You know what’s bad though? The fact that even Sonic Forces’ cutscenes looked better than whatever we have in here. It all looks so rigid and colorless, it’s so weird
Also, no minimap? The map is great and very informative, but I find myself having to rely on markers or opening way more than usual, so what was holding them back from implementing such a nice quality of life feature? Honestly, a lot of what this game is missing boils down to quality of life and polish. Like, another example, WHY THE FUCK ARE THERE NIGHT MAP UNLOCKABLES IF WE CAN’T CHANGE THE TIME??? Like, you can’t even stand there and wait. You have to move around. It’s the most uncomfortable thing
Anyways, as for the story. I never expect a lot from Sonic but there were a few bangers here and there in its history of games. But Frontiers? Huh… It’s just there, I guess. I’d say Sage and the lore of the ancients are the most interesting parts of it, even if it’s not executed thaaat well
One thing I’ll never get over though is how they build up this cybernetic corruption on Sonic during the entirety of the game just for it to be solved by… a circle of friendship… while Amy, Tails and Knuckles just disappear to… nowhere? Like what the fuck was that lmao
The ending also is… eh. I expected Sage’s sacrifice after the final boss (my poor baby, another black/red character dying in space at the end of a Sonic game). Then, they just leave the ending open, and we never know what that one symbol that has been showing throughout the entire game means, what😭 I’m guessing they are leaving it up to the DLC or a sequel, but holy fuck it does not help the game look any more finished since many segments feel extremely rushed or lacking as if they didn’t have enough development time
The writers loved name-dropping or making references to past Sonic characters, games or events, and I absolutely adore it! The problem comes when they are extremely on the nose or forced though, which sadly a lot of them are… But I’m not complaining about some lil good fanservice honestly
As for the characters themselves:
- Sage my child. I really liked her overall and she fits as the cover character of this game. Her development was clichéd but I still care for her a lot and I’m loving all the fanart of Eggman’s children together
- The usual gang, Amy, Knuckles and Tails… We had SO little characters to focus on, and somehow they still managed to not do anything with either Amy or Knuckles again. As for Tails, though they still recycle the same struggle and character development from Sonic Adventure, at least he deciding on becoming a hero of its own and not depending on Sonic feels fresh
- The Ancients… damn I loved that they went back to the Chaos species and developed on their origin. Plus, their relationship to the chaos emeralds (which are now alien, wow) and their backstory being persecuted by an evil being was cool (did we ever get any closure on what the fuck The End was?)
- Sonic: Sonic
And, easy peasy 100%, exploring around was super fan and none of them were particularly difficult. Like, they did not even ask you to get every fish in every island, but I still did
Anyways, in conclusion I had a lot of fun playing Sonic Frontiers but my general opinion is really similar to, for example, Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, since at its core it’s a very fun and enjoyable game to spend time with, but the obvious lacking dev time and polish shows in a lot of facets of the game. Hopefully the free DLC that it’s coming will fill the missing parts this game had, but as usual, it makes me feel like I played an unfinished product at launch
Silvy 