144p
24 reviews liked by 144p
Corn Kidz 64
2023
It's like if Banjo-Tooie's level structure was actually good and sane. Does the thing that game does where a level is like one big puzzle with multiple smaller ones to solve within it, but its not designed maliciously. Appreciate the way it really doesn't play like what has been standardized as the "good 3d platformer moveset", but still feels really good to nail. Has fall damage because its not cowardly. In general it feels like what Rare was going for with its harder platformer moments like Rusty Bucket Bay or all of Conker's Bad Fur Day but just not nearly as mean, but mean enough to be satisfying to beat. I think a lot of 3D platformer people have turned on Rare's n64 platformers for several reasons, but games like this show that there's still plenty of right lessons to take from those games besides "have a joke about balls" or "have more collectibles than God"
Sengoku Rance
2006
The more I play Rance the more I look at his dick in the H scenes instead of the actual woman getting fucked
Demons Roots
2021
Demons Roots is an incredible statement that a powerful ending can redeem any kind of garbage, tropey, degenerate writing to cement itself as one of the greatest video game stories of all time.
Most JRPGs have a dreadsome mid-game lull or, even worse, blow their load early and the final quarter turns into a slog. Demons Roots is in many ways a stunning counterexample, not the least of which because the game absolutely betrayed my early expectations. There is no praise strong enough to emphasize how good the pacing is here. I loved the first couple dozen hours, I really did, but political intrigue withstanding, it was evident to me this story was riding its tropes and nonsensical eroge twists into the ground. Dumb party members will reveal everything to an antagonist because anime bullshit; the script waylays you with tomfoolery like "hot guys really think they can get away with anything." Early Demons Roots is riddled with Jappojank and the tropey characters that propel it along.
And it's all a fucking ruse, because as the game unfolds, the one-dimensional characters reveal little shades of nuance. The script, keenly self-aware, makes fun of itself. And this rich, harrowing political drama about war and racism absolutely explodes with intrigue, betrayal, death, twists, and delicate, deliberate writing that redeems all prior plot conveniences. One guy wrote this is "Game of Thrones if Game of Thrones was good" and there is two things I know: I'm tired of all political dramas being compared to Game of Thrones, and I fucking love Game of Thrones. Yet as I crawled through chapter 4, the similarities between these two stories became uncanny.
At the heart of it is a tragic and heartcrushingly human story about the tolls of war. Humanity is motivated by a shared hatred of some nebulous other; "us" vs "them" mentality; can we accept and learn to cohabitate with this inherently evil "other," demons vs humans, humans vs demons, disparate peoples desperately trying to cohabitate when propaganda, tradition, and their own cultures demand them to hate each other? A single human may forgive, but can an entire culture? This theme carries the game to its final heartbeat, explosive revelation after explosive revelation, culminating in an immensely powerful ending occupying my very first thoughts as I woke up this morning.
By the end of it all, this disparate and distinctly eroge cast of bikini-clad, isekai'd, crossdressing, freeuse mages, equal parts insufferable and adorable, evolved into one of JRPG's most nuanced, poignant casts, and it happened so subtly I hadn't even realized how attached I was to these characters. This is not faint praise. I find most JRPG casts merely "acceptable." The Xenoblade series, Tales, many Final Fantasies... some of them have characters I love, but mostly I find casts as a whole exist to shade the plot. Demons Roots deftly balances both; I would not care for the world's plights were it not for its cast, and I wouldn't care for the cast were it not for the cursed world they inherited.
All of the game's flaws can be summarized neatly by the RPG Maker design limitations. The smut is (mostly) lame. The traditional, turn-based combat is pulled straight from 1994, and even JRPGs from that era have more cinematic presentation than Demons Roots. This is indisputably the lowest budget, most obviously JRPG Maker JRPG I've ever played. There are other indie JRPGs coming out this decade with better production; Astlibra and Chained Echoes immediately spring to mind. I know, I know; I hate people who bitch about graphics as much as anyone else might, but video games are just as much a visual art as they are a musical and written art, and Demons Roots is, visually, absurdly boring. I do love the music, though. This soundtrack bops. It's dynamic and eclectic, rich with chiptunes, orchestral, chamber music, metal, and it all just works.
Exploration is rote; towns exist, but there's not much to them, and the only real reason to explore them is to indulge in flashes of interaction with side characters that might miss integral character shades otherwise. Dungeons are stylistically the same boring isometric dungeons you've seen in any other SNES [inspired] JRPG. The saving grace is that lootable objects are everywhere, with numerous hidden trails; scouring them is the primary means of obtaining new equipment, so exploration is rewarded and almost mandatory if you don't want to grind your ass out of more challenging boss encounters.
The combat design carefully navigates around the genre's common pitfalls: every character is good, some a bit more than others, but they all have their moments; debuffs are consistently useful, including in boss fights, and often mandatory; party members can be swapped in and out without wasting a turn; and encounter design is usually just complex enough you can't X-mash your way to victory. For an RPG Maker game, everything was designed with as much of a modern touch as possible, but there's no getting around the limitations of its system. I'd be overwilling to overlook all of the game's flaws if it had an even somewhat exciting progression system. Earn EXP and level your characters linearly? Literally 1994.
I was prepared to write a frustrated diatribe about all the praise this game is getting from the select few willing to overlook it's an eroge and play it """for the plot"""; at minimum, I was certain everyone praising the shit out of this game just happened to be among the small herd of weirdos that love goofball anime comedy and Jappojank storytelling (fucking shounen lovers), and there's no way Demons Roots would appeal to anyone else. Well, I was wrong. If you, like me, find yourself slightly disillusioned in the early hours thinking you got jebaited by a bunch of trolls voting "Pingu in the City" to MyAnimeList's top anime charts, press on, because literally every hour is better than the last. After spending the early year balls deep in Astlibra, these two games make clear the indie JRPG scene is where the most insane, off-the-wall design is going to happen, and I hope to see these games get more mainstream attention. I'll close this with a final thought:
Deathpolca is the greatest JRPG protagonist of all time.
Most JRPGs have a dreadsome mid-game lull or, even worse, blow their load early and the final quarter turns into a slog. Demons Roots is in many ways a stunning counterexample, not the least of which because the game absolutely betrayed my early expectations. There is no praise strong enough to emphasize how good the pacing is here. I loved the first couple dozen hours, I really did, but political intrigue withstanding, it was evident to me this story was riding its tropes and nonsensical eroge twists into the ground. Dumb party members will reveal everything to an antagonist because anime bullshit; the script waylays you with tomfoolery like "hot guys really think they can get away with anything." Early Demons Roots is riddled with Jappojank and the tropey characters that propel it along.
And it's all a fucking ruse, because as the game unfolds, the one-dimensional characters reveal little shades of nuance. The script, keenly self-aware, makes fun of itself. And this rich, harrowing political drama about war and racism absolutely explodes with intrigue, betrayal, death, twists, and delicate, deliberate writing that redeems all prior plot conveniences. One guy wrote this is "Game of Thrones if Game of Thrones was good" and there is two things I know: I'm tired of all political dramas being compared to Game of Thrones, and I fucking love Game of Thrones. Yet as I crawled through chapter 4, the similarities between these two stories became uncanny.
At the heart of it is a tragic and heartcrushingly human story about the tolls of war. Humanity is motivated by a shared hatred of some nebulous other; "us" vs "them" mentality; can we accept and learn to cohabitate with this inherently evil "other," demons vs humans, humans vs demons, disparate peoples desperately trying to cohabitate when propaganda, tradition, and their own cultures demand them to hate each other? A single human may forgive, but can an entire culture? This theme carries the game to its final heartbeat, explosive revelation after explosive revelation, culminating in an immensely powerful ending occupying my very first thoughts as I woke up this morning.
By the end of it all, this disparate and distinctly eroge cast of bikini-clad, isekai'd, crossdressing, freeuse mages, equal parts insufferable and adorable, evolved into one of JRPG's most nuanced, poignant casts, and it happened so subtly I hadn't even realized how attached I was to these characters. This is not faint praise. I find most JRPG casts merely "acceptable." The Xenoblade series, Tales, many Final Fantasies... some of them have characters I love, but mostly I find casts as a whole exist to shade the plot. Demons Roots deftly balances both; I would not care for the world's plights were it not for its cast, and I wouldn't care for the cast were it not for the cursed world they inherited.
All of the game's flaws can be summarized neatly by the RPG Maker design limitations. The smut is (mostly) lame. The traditional, turn-based combat is pulled straight from 1994, and even JRPGs from that era have more cinematic presentation than Demons Roots. This is indisputably the lowest budget, most obviously JRPG Maker JRPG I've ever played. There are other indie JRPGs coming out this decade with better production; Astlibra and Chained Echoes immediately spring to mind. I know, I know; I hate people who bitch about graphics as much as anyone else might, but video games are just as much a visual art as they are a musical and written art, and Demons Roots is, visually, absurdly boring. I do love the music, though. This soundtrack bops. It's dynamic and eclectic, rich with chiptunes, orchestral, chamber music, metal, and it all just works.
Exploration is rote; towns exist, but there's not much to them, and the only real reason to explore them is to indulge in flashes of interaction with side characters that might miss integral character shades otherwise. Dungeons are stylistically the same boring isometric dungeons you've seen in any other SNES [inspired] JRPG. The saving grace is that lootable objects are everywhere, with numerous hidden trails; scouring them is the primary means of obtaining new equipment, so exploration is rewarded and almost mandatory if you don't want to grind your ass out of more challenging boss encounters.
The combat design carefully navigates around the genre's common pitfalls: every character is good, some a bit more than others, but they all have their moments; debuffs are consistently useful, including in boss fights, and often mandatory; party members can be swapped in and out without wasting a turn; and encounter design is usually just complex enough you can't X-mash your way to victory. For an RPG Maker game, everything was designed with as much of a modern touch as possible, but there's no getting around the limitations of its system. I'd be overwilling to overlook all of the game's flaws if it had an even somewhat exciting progression system. Earn EXP and level your characters linearly? Literally 1994.
I was prepared to write a frustrated diatribe about all the praise this game is getting from the select few willing to overlook it's an eroge and play it """for the plot"""; at minimum, I was certain everyone praising the shit out of this game just happened to be among the small herd of weirdos that love goofball anime comedy and Jappojank storytelling (fucking shounen lovers), and there's no way Demons Roots would appeal to anyone else. Well, I was wrong. If you, like me, find yourself slightly disillusioned in the early hours thinking you got jebaited by a bunch of trolls voting "Pingu in the City" to MyAnimeList's top anime charts, press on, because literally every hour is better than the last. After spending the early year balls deep in Astlibra, these two games make clear the indie JRPG scene is where the most insane, off-the-wall design is going to happen, and I hope to see these games get more mainstream attention. I'll close this with a final thought:
Deathpolca is the greatest JRPG protagonist of all time.
YIIK is one of the worst games I’ve ever played but… that’s also why I love it so much?
This feels different to other games that I’d call the “worst”, that I’d usually describe as something like a huge disappointment in a favourite franchise or just an obvious cashgrab. It’s easy to see all of the passion that went into YIIK, the amount of care and different ideas that the creators had, and how they wanted to make something that would stick with people. And I guess for me, they did succeed with that last point. Just not in the way they wanted!
In the past year, YIIK has honestly become the game I’ve talked about the most, telling multiple people about it and how insanely flawed the story and execution can get, and each time it never gets old seeing how they react to it. I seriously love telling people how much of a trainwreck it becomes, to the point where I’ve gained a… huge ironic appreciation towards it? I don’t know what to call it, but I guess “guilty pleasure” might work too?
When I first finished YIIK, I hated it. But as time has gone on, it’s got to the point where I’m unable to hate it now. It’s what I’d call my favourite worst game ever, one that I think everyone should play at least once just because I don’t think having someone explain it to you or watching a video about it can fully show just how ridiculous this game can get
This feels different to other games that I’d call the “worst”, that I’d usually describe as something like a huge disappointment in a favourite franchise or just an obvious cashgrab. It’s easy to see all of the passion that went into YIIK, the amount of care and different ideas that the creators had, and how they wanted to make something that would stick with people. And I guess for me, they did succeed with that last point. Just not in the way they wanted!
In the past year, YIIK has honestly become the game I’ve talked about the most, telling multiple people about it and how insanely flawed the story and execution can get, and each time it never gets old seeing how they react to it. I seriously love telling people how much of a trainwreck it becomes, to the point where I’ve gained a… huge ironic appreciation towards it? I don’t know what to call it, but I guess “guilty pleasure” might work too?
When I first finished YIIK, I hated it. But as time has gone on, it’s got to the point where I’m unable to hate it now. It’s what I’d call my favourite worst game ever, one that I think everyone should play at least once just because I don’t think having someone explain it to you or watching a video about it can fully show just how ridiculous this game can get
I LIKED this game. I think people resent it because they feel it represented a decline in the series. However, for what it was at the time, which was a handheld experience, it accomplished what it set out to do and I had fun playing Paper Mario Sticker Star, and not the paper mario it wasnt.
Gaming doesn't get any better than this
Sonic Frontiers
2022
It’s been 10ish long years since Sonic Generations, the last 3D Sonic game that I’d call good (I did like Team Sonic Racing but I’m not sure whether that counts), and I was full of hope that this game would change that when it first revealed… until we saw the first footage of gameplay, and it felt like all of that hope went down the drain. I usually avoid any trailers/footage after a game is revealed when it’s still upcoming, so I never kept up with anything else shown after that, however I would hear people talk about how much better it looked. I was still pretty skeptical until I played a demo at MCM back in October which ended up clearing any doubt I had and shown me what everyone was talking about
The open world was an idea I wasn’t sure of originally. Taking the boost gameplay, one that’s felt heavily restrictive in past games, and putting it in an open area sounded weird. But this is the best it’s ever felt. The combat is really cool too, I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as fun as it was. I think my only problem with gameplay is the 2D sections in Cyberspace. The 2D sections in modern boost games have always felt hit or miss, though more misses than hits for me, since I only ever thought they felt fine in Unleashed and Generations. I’m hoping that this is the last Modern Sonic game to have 2D sections
Now the bosses… EACH ONE IS COOL AS HELL, I think what shows what the more recent games have lacked is how Giganto alone had more of an impact than any of the final bosses from Colours onwards. Starting it and hearing Undefeatable for the first time has to be one of the most hype moments in the whole franchise. Avoiding listening to it every time it appeared in my Youtube recommended made it so worth it. They really capture the same energy that the games in the 2000s had, which is the one thing I hoped to return to the series. The vocal themes are some of the best ever, each one goes so crazy and I must’ve listened to each of them MANY times in this past week alone
The way this game was written kinda links back to when I just mentioned it feeling like the games from the 2000s. I loved the way Sonic’s dynamic with each character was written, as well as Sonic himself. He feels more like how he used to be, and not the one who feels the need to crack a joke every 2 seconds. Here’s hope that the games after this will continue to be like this. If there’s one sentence I could use to describe Frontiers as a whole, it’d be “Sonic is back”. I’m really looking forward to how the future games improve on what was here, and what else will be brought to the series. As well as future updates for Frontiers, since the roadmap seems very promising
The open world was an idea I wasn’t sure of originally. Taking the boost gameplay, one that’s felt heavily restrictive in past games, and putting it in an open area sounded weird. But this is the best it’s ever felt. The combat is really cool too, I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as fun as it was. I think my only problem with gameplay is the 2D sections in Cyberspace. The 2D sections in modern boost games have always felt hit or miss, though more misses than hits for me, since I only ever thought they felt fine in Unleashed and Generations. I’m hoping that this is the last Modern Sonic game to have 2D sections
Now the bosses… EACH ONE IS COOL AS HELL, I think what shows what the more recent games have lacked is how Giganto alone had more of an impact than any of the final bosses from Colours onwards. Starting it and hearing Undefeatable for the first time has to be one of the most hype moments in the whole franchise. Avoiding listening to it every time it appeared in my Youtube recommended made it so worth it. They really capture the same energy that the games in the 2000s had, which is the one thing I hoped to return to the series. The vocal themes are some of the best ever, each one goes so crazy and I must’ve listened to each of them MANY times in this past week alone
The way this game was written kinda links back to when I just mentioned it feeling like the games from the 2000s. I loved the way Sonic’s dynamic with each character was written, as well as Sonic himself. He feels more like how he used to be, and not the one who feels the need to crack a joke every 2 seconds. Here’s hope that the games after this will continue to be like this. If there’s one sentence I could use to describe Frontiers as a whole, it’d be “Sonic is back”. I’m really looking forward to how the future games improve on what was here, and what else will be brought to the series. As well as future updates for Frontiers, since the roadmap seems very promising
Mahoutsukai no Yoru
2012
The fact that this is only supposed to be the first part is enough to convince me that the rest of Mahoyo will be the best trilogy ever
Sonic Frontiers
2022
This review contains spoilers
Whew, what an absolute blast Frontiers was. I don’t normally do reviews for games (mostly because I'm not really good at writing them). But I just felt like I had to do one for this game in particular. Sonic is one of my favorite franchises of all time, and this game was an excellent ride all the way through. I can't really say this will be much of a "professional review", more like me passionately rambling on about a blue hedgehog I've loved ever since I was 7 years old lmao. But I really enjoyed my time with this game blind, so I just wanted somewhere to release my personal thoughts on this game. I broke it up into sections as I found this review to be quite long, and so it made it much easier for me to categorize my thoughts much better.
Story and Character Writing:
Firstly, I want to talk about the story and character writing. I think this had some of the best storytelling and character writing the series has had in a very long time. The amount of effort and love that went to the characters in this game completely took me by surprise. I really want to thank Ian Flynn for bringing back these wonderful characters we’ve missed for a whole decade. I've loved his work in the IDW Sonic comics, and I'm glad he didn't disappoint here. I really loved him giving these characters satisfying character introspection and development. And I also loved how he provided interesting new directions for these characters as well, such as Tails wanting to venture out on his own, and Dr. Eggman’s relationship with his precious daughter Sage. The development of their relationship is actually one of my favorite parts of the story, and I feel like it adds more complexity to Eggman as a character. As for Sage herself, she's a wonderful new addition to the Sonic cast, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her in future games.
I also very much appreciated the more serious tone of this story as well. Personally, I’m a really big fan of the more Shonen-esque ambition and gritty tone that the stories of the Sonic games in the 2000s had. They weren’t perfect, but they just had this Shonen ass energy to them that really drew me into the series when I was a kid. So I'm very happy this game brought back that atmosphere, because I'm an absolute sucker for that kind of anime stuff considering I'm Shonen trash lmao.
Now, I do think that the last act of the game did feel... a bit rushed? Not that I think it was particularly bad, but just that I felt like the pacing for the last stretch of the story did feel significantly faster to me compared to how the story had been consistently well paced up until that point. Don't get me wrong, I still thought there was some incredible emotional beats, and I genuinely really liked the ending of the game. But... I do feel like the pacing could've been handled much better during the last act though. So I'd say that's probably the only real issue I had with Frontiers' story tbh. But other than that, I really loved it, and I'd say it's definitely up there for me as one of my favorite stories of any Sonic game.
Speaking of Sonic, now, I think I want to talk about the Blue Blur himself for the rest of this section. Sonic is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, but it’s been quite hard for me to like him as much as I used to. I’m mainly referring to how he had been written since the release of Colors as I just couldn’t really connect with him as a character like I used to. I think I just found his character to be way too reliant on joking around, and not taking anything seriously at all. However, in this game, I absolutely LOVED how he was written. He was everything that made me love Sonic in the past; his cheesy snark, his emotional maturity, and just his sheer tenacity to make sure that the people he cares about are safe even at the expense of his well being.
When I see this precious blue hedgehog, climbing these large ass towers, despite the amount of pain he’s in because of his cyberspace corruption, that was probably one of the most hard hitting scenes I’ve seen from Sonic himself in a long ass time. And it genuinely hurt me having to make him do that (although, climbing those towers was fucking cool as hell though, so oops lmao). And that's another aspect of this game that I liked, which was Sonic’s physical vulnerability in this game. He’s not at all invincible here on the Starfall Islands, like my man has to go into his Super form just to stand a chance against the titans in this game. And I love how there are moments where he really has to escape from these powerful opponents as well. I just really liked the tension that provided throughout the story, and it just further reinforced how determined Sonic is to save his friends, which I’m a sucker for that anime friendship bullshit, haha.
Also… Ian Flynn sure is a fan of my boy Sonic going through it for his ideals lmao. N-Not saying it’s a problem, I actually quite love it, but I also hate it at the same time because Sonic suffering hurts to watch lmao.
Lastly, I think what made me really love Sonic in this game is Roger Craig Smith’s excellent performance as him. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Roger’s take on Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I can totally understand why he had his fans, but for me, he just didn’t resonate with me other than his performances in spin-off material such as Sonic Boom. It just sort of seemed like the voice he used for Sonic just didn't fit him in the main games imo.
But this game really changed my opinion on his Sonic, as I just found him to be absolutely stellar as him in this game. Specifically, the moments where Sonic is speaking to his friends in their moments of insecurity or reflection. I absolutely adore main protagonists who possess such a strong level of emotional and interpersonal awareness (such as Luffy from One Piece, who is also one of my favorite characters in all of fiction lmao). I just loved the firm, yet empathetic tone he gave Sonic as he was giving his friends and even his enemies the insight and advice that they needed in order to help them grow. And like, I knew Roger was a talented voice actor, but I felt like he was able to truly bring out his all for Sonic in this game rather than in the past. Honestly, I think all he really needed was a better script and voice direction. I still think I have Jason Griffith as my favorite VA for Sonic, but I really look forward to seeing Roger Craig Smith’s full potential as Sonic in future games for sure. Honestly, the whole cast in this game were pretty good, they really brought their A game this time around, especially Mike Pollock (who also killed it in this game too, haha).
Gameplay: Open World Exploration:
Aside from the story, this was another aspect of the game I was really looking forward to experiencing. The idea of an open world Sonic game left me intrigued, however I was skeptical at first. It was the first time Sonic Team had ever done anything like this before, so I was worried about how it could be done. Especially with a character like Sonic who could cover so much ground in a short amount of time, that it made me wonder how exploration could really feel satisfying. And while there are a few things that are rough around the edges here and there, I think they did a really great job with this foray into an open-world game. It honestly felt really satisfying to me running around at the speed of sound as this blue hedgey while traversing grasslands, rivers, mountaintops, etc. I have to admit, controlling Sonic felt sluggish to me at first. But then the more I played the game, the more I began to get a hang of how Sonic controlled, and it became really fun controlling him tbh. Overall, it was just incredibly addicting doing the regular Sonic things such as boosting, doing tricks, going through orange rings, especially with the privilege of having large islands to explore as a fast blue hedgey. Another thing I quite liked was the Cyloop as well. It was really fun spamming it as I was exploring to see what I could find (and to grind for rings and memory tokens lmao). I also really liked using it on those blue flame thingies that revealed stuff as well. While I wouldn't say these islands were as fleshed out and engaging to explore as the areas in the Xenoblade games, I still think they did a pretty good job on their first attempt at an open world setting.
And honestly, I never really found myself getting lost all that much either as I was exploring. I found the compass at the top of the screen to be very useful in helping me navigate to find puzzles, story progression, portals and other things as well. Well, that's not true, I did find the third island to be quite hard to navigate tbh, but other than that, it was pretty easy to get around these islands. I also just found it very cathartic filling out parts of the map as well by doing the puzzles in this game. And tbh, I think it was satisfying just doing things in general as I was exploring these islands. I haven't played many open world games, but I think simply finding things to interact with, clearing puzzles, and overall, just charting out more of the map is what draws people into this genre, and I think I love that as well. Just the freedom of being able to explore in the way you want to has such a strong appeal, and I think that sort of freedom really suits the Sonic series very well.
Gameplay: Cyberspace Stages:
When it comes to the Cyberspace Stages... I'm quite mixed on them. To get the negatives out of the way, I can't say I was the biggest fan of the 2D Cyberspace Stages. Honestly, I'm not sure why Sonic Team is so insistent on the boost games having 2D sections, or in this case having stages that are entirely 2D. I mean, sure, some of the 2D Cyberspace stages were fun, and they weren't particularly long, so they were rather inoffensive. But eh, most of them were kind of whatever to me tbh. However, I really enjoyed the 3D Cyberspace Stages though, especially the ones that were modeled after levels from prior 3D Sonic games. I thought that was really cool when I learned about that, and it made me appreciate the stages more knowing that tbh. I know the subject of nostalgia and reusing assets in Sonic games is a rather hot topic. I can't say I'm a big fan of it myself, but I didn't mind it too much here. Although, I did think it was kind of lame that they only used four different stages for aesthetics though, with two of them being Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Which personally, I think those stages have definitely overstayed their welcome lmao.
But despite that, I think some of my favorite Cyberspace stages were the ones modeled after Sonic Adventure 2's stages, like Sky Rail and Metal Harbor. Idk, I just thought those were really fun to see in the boost formula. And I think what I really liked about doing these Cyberspace stages was doing the missions. I felt like it gave me the incentive to keep re-trying a stage and get better at it. And I have to admit, it was pretty rewarding completing all four missions (especially when you do it on your first try as well). And that chill ass results music you hear after completing a level is really damn good too.
Personally, while I used to love the boost games, I became pretty indifferent to them over time as I felt like I enjoyed the more grounded speed and level design of the Adventure era 3D Sonic games more than the boost games. But I feel like this boost game to me felt different though. I don't know exactly why, but I actually liked using the boost in this game. Probably because it wasn't as fast as it is in the other games? I also really loved using the air boost as well, as I found it to be very useful in helping me clear stages faster. And the stomp was really fun to use as well, alongside doing homing attack chains (which are fun in any Sonic game honestly lmao). So yeah, I had a lot of fun playing through the Cyberspace stages for the most part.
...though, I really hope Sonic Team stops making their stages have 2D sections in them lmao. I mean, they are harmless for the most part in this game, even when exploring the islands (I actually quite like them there), but I'd prefer if my 3D Sonic game were just 3D pls lmao.
Gameplay: Combat System and Bosses:
Now I want to talk about one of the things I really loved about the gameplay: the combat system. As a Sonic Heroes fan, one of my favorite aspects of that game was its combat system, so I was really interested in seeing how they did it in this game. NGL though, this dude Sonic actually having combat moves kind of weirded me out at first lmao. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that Sonic doesn't normally fight like that in the main games, so it was kind of surreal seeing it lmao. But despite that, I instantly fell in love with how the combat was in this game, and I really liked how fresh and flexible it made taking out enemies be. You can still kill enemies normally with the homing attack, but I think it's really cool how you can use melee moves after your homing attack (similar to how Shadow operated in Sonic 06). I think the level up system Sonic had in this game was pretty cool too. I thought it added a lot to the overall gameplay, and made things a lot more interesting. I did think it was rather clunky how they handled leveling up your Speed and Ring levels through the Elder Koko though. I feel like they should've made it more like the Hermit Koko where you get your Speed and Ring levels all at once, rather than one level at a time. Speaking of rings, I also thought it was very cool how Sonic had a sort of health bar in this game. Like, Sonic doesn't just lose all his rings when he gets hurt, it's all dependent on what level his defense is, and that's really cool honestly. I also really liked the skill tree in this game as well. You can give Sonic some really sick ass moves that I loved chaining together with his regular melee moves, such as his Homing Shot, Loop Kick, Stomp Attack, etc. Honestly, this game made me feel like Sonic was a DBZ character, and I'm all about that life lmao. And I haven't even got around to talking about the bosses in this game yet, with some of them REALLY making Sonic seem like a DBZ character lmao.
And so, I guess that leads me into talking about the bosses now lmao. I think the bosses in this game are easily my favorites in any Sonic game. I think the guardian bosses were really fun to run into while I was exploring the islands, and I found most of them be quite engaging (except Caterpillar, that thing can go fuck itself). And then as for the titans... whew... fighting the titans in this game goes absolutely crazy dude. I'd say they were definitely one of the highlights of the game for me. Like, they are easily some of my favorite bosses in any game EVER. They were so much fucking fun to fight, and the fact that they let you use Super Sonic more than once in the story aside from the climax is so fucking cool. I really hope they do that more often. I also just love the way these bosses are structured, like the more Shonen anime ass approach to fighting these giant robots is the type of shit I love seeing in my Sonic game. Also, controlling Super Sonic felt really satisfying as well, especially with the free range he was given such as in the Giganto boss. Like, I've always loved playing as Super Sonic in any Sonic game, but I think the combat system made him really fucking fun to play as in this game, and I really looked forward to fighting each titan because of that.
I think if I had to pick a favorite titan boss, it would most certainly be the Wyvern boss. As much as I loved the Giganto boss as it set the stage for how these bosses would be, I think I liked the Wyvern boss just a bit more. Honestly, just everything about it, from scaling the tower to reach it and then running on its digital energy trail; flying alongside it as Super Sonic as you gaze upon the island you spent the past five hours exploring on foot, and then just parrying its attacks and beating the shit out of was really sick too. It's just an overall really damn good boss fight, and I love the QTEs added to these titans too. It made the experience all the more exciting for me as the amazing cinematography just got to go crazy, as this 3 ft, Super Saiyan hedgehog dodge the missiles of a giant ass robot wyvern, as he guides them back to the Wyvern in question, and then as the Wyvern chomps down on that hedgehog, the hedgehog holds its mouth up with his bare hands, kicks its open, and then has it eat its own missiles.
...that's my favorite part of the boss, yes lmao. Seriously, that went way too fucking hard than it needed to lmao.
Unfortunately, not all of the titans were winners though. While I loved Giganto, Wyvern, and Knight, I can't say I really cared for Supreme that much despite it being the final titan you face. I mean, it was a perfectly fine boss fight, but I just found it to be pretty anticlimactic, and I don't think it was as exciting as the prior three titans. But eh, at least the true final boss was really cool. I can't say I expected to play a game of Touhou as the final boss of a Sonic game, but hey, as a Touhou fan, I was all for it lmao.
The Soundtrack:
Like most Sonic games, the music in this game was absolutely incredible, specifically the vocal songs imo. I think my favorites in this had to be Undefeatable and Break Through It All. When I first heard the opening lyrics of Undefeatable when Sonic transformed into Super Sonic against Giganto, I remember it sending chills down my spine. Like, I made it my mission to stay away from most content released for Frontiers before I played the game, and I'm glad I did so, because experiencing these amazing vocal songs for the first time was an absolute delight.
I mean, come on dude, when you have lyrics in a song such as...
WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES BACK AROUND AGAINNNN
AND IF WE DON'T COME DOWN... WE'LL BE LOST IN THE WINDDDDD
You know your game's soundtrack goes fucking hard lmao.
Some of my other favorite tracks in this game are Ouranos Island's theme, Cyberspace 1-2's theme, and the music that plays when you're doing the chill fishing minigame with Big (which I'm not even sure how he ended up at the Starfall Islands, but hey, I won't question it lmao). But anyway, the soundtrack in general is just really great honestly. This is definitely some of Tomoya Ohtani's best work in quite some time, and I really loved the variety of techno, hard metal, orchestral, and EDM compositions in the soundtrack as well. I wouldn't say this game has my favorite Sonic soundtrack, but it's definitely a strong one in the series that's for sure.
Final Words:
I think this game was definitely a step in the right direction for the series. I've been a fan of the franchise since the mid to late 2000s, so while I can't say I'm an "experienced veteran" of the series like people who grew up with it back in the 90s, I'm just really glad this game brought back the elements that made me love the Sonic series back in the mid 2000s. And alongside it adding new elements (whether they be gameplay or plot related) that I'm really looking forward to being explored in the future as well.
I'm honestly really hoping this game gets some really sick post game updates or DLC. I'd really like it if there was a boss rush mode, and it would be really cool if there were more islands to explore as well. Oh, and PLEASEEE give us DLC where we can play as Super Sonic exploring the islands. I was really upset finding out that he wasn't something you could unlock after beating the game. Having that as DLC would certainly raise the game up for me, because like, after seeing what Super Sonic can do in this game, who wouldn't want to be able to transform as him, and just become absolutely BUSTED lmao.
All in all, Sonic Frontiers is not a perfect masterpiece. It definitely has its flaws, and there are certain things about it that definitely rubbed me the wrong way. But I think that's okay, after all, no game is perfect imo. Even the games I've rated 5/5 on this site, I have issues with as well. I had really been anticipating this game ever since it was announced, and while I was cautiously optimistic about it, I was really pleased with the end result. I genuinely really enjoyed the story, gameplay and music of this game, and it made me pretty happy playing it, and I think that was all I needed from it. I absolutely adore this blue hedgey and his series, and no matter the highs or lows he faces, I'm always going to be a fan of his till the very end, haha.
Story and Character Writing:
Firstly, I want to talk about the story and character writing. I think this had some of the best storytelling and character writing the series has had in a very long time. The amount of effort and love that went to the characters in this game completely took me by surprise. I really want to thank Ian Flynn for bringing back these wonderful characters we’ve missed for a whole decade. I've loved his work in the IDW Sonic comics, and I'm glad he didn't disappoint here. I really loved him giving these characters satisfying character introspection and development. And I also loved how he provided interesting new directions for these characters as well, such as Tails wanting to venture out on his own, and Dr. Eggman’s relationship with his precious daughter Sage. The development of their relationship is actually one of my favorite parts of the story, and I feel like it adds more complexity to Eggman as a character. As for Sage herself, she's a wonderful new addition to the Sonic cast, and I'm really looking forward to seeing her in future games.
I also very much appreciated the more serious tone of this story as well. Personally, I’m a really big fan of the more Shonen-esque ambition and gritty tone that the stories of the Sonic games in the 2000s had. They weren’t perfect, but they just had this Shonen ass energy to them that really drew me into the series when I was a kid. So I'm very happy this game brought back that atmosphere, because I'm an absolute sucker for that kind of anime stuff considering I'm Shonen trash lmao.
Now, I do think that the last act of the game did feel... a bit rushed? Not that I think it was particularly bad, but just that I felt like the pacing for the last stretch of the story did feel significantly faster to me compared to how the story had been consistently well paced up until that point. Don't get me wrong, I still thought there was some incredible emotional beats, and I genuinely really liked the ending of the game. But... I do feel like the pacing could've been handled much better during the last act though. So I'd say that's probably the only real issue I had with Frontiers' story tbh. But other than that, I really loved it, and I'd say it's definitely up there for me as one of my favorite stories of any Sonic game.
Speaking of Sonic, now, I think I want to talk about the Blue Blur himself for the rest of this section. Sonic is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, but it’s been quite hard for me to like him as much as I used to. I’m mainly referring to how he had been written since the release of Colors as I just couldn’t really connect with him as a character like I used to. I think I just found his character to be way too reliant on joking around, and not taking anything seriously at all. However, in this game, I absolutely LOVED how he was written. He was everything that made me love Sonic in the past; his cheesy snark, his emotional maturity, and just his sheer tenacity to make sure that the people he cares about are safe even at the expense of his well being.
When I see this precious blue hedgehog, climbing these large ass towers, despite the amount of pain he’s in because of his cyberspace corruption, that was probably one of the most hard hitting scenes I’ve seen from Sonic himself in a long ass time. And it genuinely hurt me having to make him do that (although, climbing those towers was fucking cool as hell though, so oops lmao). And that's another aspect of this game that I liked, which was Sonic’s physical vulnerability in this game. He’s not at all invincible here on the Starfall Islands, like my man has to go into his Super form just to stand a chance against the titans in this game. And I love how there are moments where he really has to escape from these powerful opponents as well. I just really liked the tension that provided throughout the story, and it just further reinforced how determined Sonic is to save his friends, which I’m a sucker for that anime friendship bullshit, haha.
Also… Ian Flynn sure is a fan of my boy Sonic going through it for his ideals lmao. N-Not saying it’s a problem, I actually quite love it, but I also hate it at the same time because Sonic suffering hurts to watch lmao.
Lastly, I think what made me really love Sonic in this game is Roger Craig Smith’s excellent performance as him. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Roger’s take on Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I can totally understand why he had his fans, but for me, he just didn’t resonate with me other than his performances in spin-off material such as Sonic Boom. It just sort of seemed like the voice he used for Sonic just didn't fit him in the main games imo.
But this game really changed my opinion on his Sonic, as I just found him to be absolutely stellar as him in this game. Specifically, the moments where Sonic is speaking to his friends in their moments of insecurity or reflection. I absolutely adore main protagonists who possess such a strong level of emotional and interpersonal awareness (such as Luffy from One Piece, who is also one of my favorite characters in all of fiction lmao). I just loved the firm, yet empathetic tone he gave Sonic as he was giving his friends and even his enemies the insight and advice that they needed in order to help them grow. And like, I knew Roger was a talented voice actor, but I felt like he was able to truly bring out his all for Sonic in this game rather than in the past. Honestly, I think all he really needed was a better script and voice direction. I still think I have Jason Griffith as my favorite VA for Sonic, but I really look forward to seeing Roger Craig Smith’s full potential as Sonic in future games for sure. Honestly, the whole cast in this game were pretty good, they really brought their A game this time around, especially Mike Pollock (who also killed it in this game too, haha).
Gameplay: Open World Exploration:
Aside from the story, this was another aspect of the game I was really looking forward to experiencing. The idea of an open world Sonic game left me intrigued, however I was skeptical at first. It was the first time Sonic Team had ever done anything like this before, so I was worried about how it could be done. Especially with a character like Sonic who could cover so much ground in a short amount of time, that it made me wonder how exploration could really feel satisfying. And while there are a few things that are rough around the edges here and there, I think they did a really great job with this foray into an open-world game. It honestly felt really satisfying to me running around at the speed of sound as this blue hedgey while traversing grasslands, rivers, mountaintops, etc. I have to admit, controlling Sonic felt sluggish to me at first. But then the more I played the game, the more I began to get a hang of how Sonic controlled, and it became really fun controlling him tbh. Overall, it was just incredibly addicting doing the regular Sonic things such as boosting, doing tricks, going through orange rings, especially with the privilege of having large islands to explore as a fast blue hedgey. Another thing I quite liked was the Cyloop as well. It was really fun spamming it as I was exploring to see what I could find (and to grind for rings and memory tokens lmao). I also really liked using it on those blue flame thingies that revealed stuff as well. While I wouldn't say these islands were as fleshed out and engaging to explore as the areas in the Xenoblade games, I still think they did a pretty good job on their first attempt at an open world setting.
And honestly, I never really found myself getting lost all that much either as I was exploring. I found the compass at the top of the screen to be very useful in helping me navigate to find puzzles, story progression, portals and other things as well. Well, that's not true, I did find the third island to be quite hard to navigate tbh, but other than that, it was pretty easy to get around these islands. I also just found it very cathartic filling out parts of the map as well by doing the puzzles in this game. And tbh, I think it was satisfying just doing things in general as I was exploring these islands. I haven't played many open world games, but I think simply finding things to interact with, clearing puzzles, and overall, just charting out more of the map is what draws people into this genre, and I think I love that as well. Just the freedom of being able to explore in the way you want to has such a strong appeal, and I think that sort of freedom really suits the Sonic series very well.
Gameplay: Cyberspace Stages:
When it comes to the Cyberspace Stages... I'm quite mixed on them. To get the negatives out of the way, I can't say I was the biggest fan of the 2D Cyberspace Stages. Honestly, I'm not sure why Sonic Team is so insistent on the boost games having 2D sections, or in this case having stages that are entirely 2D. I mean, sure, some of the 2D Cyberspace stages were fun, and they weren't particularly long, so they were rather inoffensive. But eh, most of them were kind of whatever to me tbh. However, I really enjoyed the 3D Cyberspace Stages though, especially the ones that were modeled after levels from prior 3D Sonic games. I thought that was really cool when I learned about that, and it made me appreciate the stages more knowing that tbh. I know the subject of nostalgia and reusing assets in Sonic games is a rather hot topic. I can't say I'm a big fan of it myself, but I didn't mind it too much here. Although, I did think it was kind of lame that they only used four different stages for aesthetics though, with two of them being Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Which personally, I think those stages have definitely overstayed their welcome lmao.
But despite that, I think some of my favorite Cyberspace stages were the ones modeled after Sonic Adventure 2's stages, like Sky Rail and Metal Harbor. Idk, I just thought those were really fun to see in the boost formula. And I think what I really liked about doing these Cyberspace stages was doing the missions. I felt like it gave me the incentive to keep re-trying a stage and get better at it. And I have to admit, it was pretty rewarding completing all four missions (especially when you do it on your first try as well). And that chill ass results music you hear after completing a level is really damn good too.
Personally, while I used to love the boost games, I became pretty indifferent to them over time as I felt like I enjoyed the more grounded speed and level design of the Adventure era 3D Sonic games more than the boost games. But I feel like this boost game to me felt different though. I don't know exactly why, but I actually liked using the boost in this game. Probably because it wasn't as fast as it is in the other games? I also really loved using the air boost as well, as I found it to be very useful in helping me clear stages faster. And the stomp was really fun to use as well, alongside doing homing attack chains (which are fun in any Sonic game honestly lmao). So yeah, I had a lot of fun playing through the Cyberspace stages for the most part.
...though, I really hope Sonic Team stops making their stages have 2D sections in them lmao. I mean, they are harmless for the most part in this game, even when exploring the islands (I actually quite like them there), but I'd prefer if my 3D Sonic game were just 3D pls lmao.
Gameplay: Combat System and Bosses:
Now I want to talk about one of the things I really loved about the gameplay: the combat system. As a Sonic Heroes fan, one of my favorite aspects of that game was its combat system, so I was really interested in seeing how they did it in this game. NGL though, this dude Sonic actually having combat moves kind of weirded me out at first lmao. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that Sonic doesn't normally fight like that in the main games, so it was kind of surreal seeing it lmao. But despite that, I instantly fell in love with how the combat was in this game, and I really liked how fresh and flexible it made taking out enemies be. You can still kill enemies normally with the homing attack, but I think it's really cool how you can use melee moves after your homing attack (similar to how Shadow operated in Sonic 06). I think the level up system Sonic had in this game was pretty cool too. I thought it added a lot to the overall gameplay, and made things a lot more interesting. I did think it was rather clunky how they handled leveling up your Speed and Ring levels through the Elder Koko though. I feel like they should've made it more like the Hermit Koko where you get your Speed and Ring levels all at once, rather than one level at a time. Speaking of rings, I also thought it was very cool how Sonic had a sort of health bar in this game. Like, Sonic doesn't just lose all his rings when he gets hurt, it's all dependent on what level his defense is, and that's really cool honestly. I also really liked the skill tree in this game as well. You can give Sonic some really sick ass moves that I loved chaining together with his regular melee moves, such as his Homing Shot, Loop Kick, Stomp Attack, etc. Honestly, this game made me feel like Sonic was a DBZ character, and I'm all about that life lmao. And I haven't even got around to talking about the bosses in this game yet, with some of them REALLY making Sonic seem like a DBZ character lmao.
And so, I guess that leads me into talking about the bosses now lmao. I think the bosses in this game are easily my favorites in any Sonic game. I think the guardian bosses were really fun to run into while I was exploring the islands, and I found most of them be quite engaging (except Caterpillar, that thing can go fuck itself). And then as for the titans... whew... fighting the titans in this game goes absolutely crazy dude. I'd say they were definitely one of the highlights of the game for me. Like, they are easily some of my favorite bosses in any game EVER. They were so much fucking fun to fight, and the fact that they let you use Super Sonic more than once in the story aside from the climax is so fucking cool. I really hope they do that more often. I also just love the way these bosses are structured, like the more Shonen anime ass approach to fighting these giant robots is the type of shit I love seeing in my Sonic game. Also, controlling Super Sonic felt really satisfying as well, especially with the free range he was given such as in the Giganto boss. Like, I've always loved playing as Super Sonic in any Sonic game, but I think the combat system made him really fucking fun to play as in this game, and I really looked forward to fighting each titan because of that.
I think if I had to pick a favorite titan boss, it would most certainly be the Wyvern boss. As much as I loved the Giganto boss as it set the stage for how these bosses would be, I think I liked the Wyvern boss just a bit more. Honestly, just everything about it, from scaling the tower to reach it and then running on its digital energy trail; flying alongside it as Super Sonic as you gaze upon the island you spent the past five hours exploring on foot, and then just parrying its attacks and beating the shit out of was really sick too. It's just an overall really damn good boss fight, and I love the QTEs added to these titans too. It made the experience all the more exciting for me as the amazing cinematography just got to go crazy, as this 3 ft, Super Saiyan hedgehog dodge the missiles of a giant ass robot wyvern, as he guides them back to the Wyvern in question, and then as the Wyvern chomps down on that hedgehog, the hedgehog holds its mouth up with his bare hands, kicks its open, and then has it eat its own missiles.
...that's my favorite part of the boss, yes lmao. Seriously, that went way too fucking hard than it needed to lmao.
Unfortunately, not all of the titans were winners though. While I loved Giganto, Wyvern, and Knight, I can't say I really cared for Supreme that much despite it being the final titan you face. I mean, it was a perfectly fine boss fight, but I just found it to be pretty anticlimactic, and I don't think it was as exciting as the prior three titans. But eh, at least the true final boss was really cool. I can't say I expected to play a game of Touhou as the final boss of a Sonic game, but hey, as a Touhou fan, I was all for it lmao.
The Soundtrack:
Like most Sonic games, the music in this game was absolutely incredible, specifically the vocal songs imo. I think my favorites in this had to be Undefeatable and Break Through It All. When I first heard the opening lyrics of Undefeatable when Sonic transformed into Super Sonic against Giganto, I remember it sending chills down my spine. Like, I made it my mission to stay away from most content released for Frontiers before I played the game, and I'm glad I did so, because experiencing these amazing vocal songs for the first time was an absolute delight.
I mean, come on dude, when you have lyrics in a song such as...
WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES BACK AROUND AGAINNNN
AND IF WE DON'T COME DOWN... WE'LL BE LOST IN THE WINDDDDD
You know your game's soundtrack goes fucking hard lmao.
Some of my other favorite tracks in this game are Ouranos Island's theme, Cyberspace 1-2's theme, and the music that plays when you're doing the chill fishing minigame with Big (which I'm not even sure how he ended up at the Starfall Islands, but hey, I won't question it lmao). But anyway, the soundtrack in general is just really great honestly. This is definitely some of Tomoya Ohtani's best work in quite some time, and I really loved the variety of techno, hard metal, orchestral, and EDM compositions in the soundtrack as well. I wouldn't say this game has my favorite Sonic soundtrack, but it's definitely a strong one in the series that's for sure.
Final Words:
I think this game was definitely a step in the right direction for the series. I've been a fan of the franchise since the mid to late 2000s, so while I can't say I'm an "experienced veteran" of the series like people who grew up with it back in the 90s, I'm just really glad this game brought back the elements that made me love the Sonic series back in the mid 2000s. And alongside it adding new elements (whether they be gameplay or plot related) that I'm really looking forward to being explored in the future as well.
I'm honestly really hoping this game gets some really sick post game updates or DLC. I'd really like it if there was a boss rush mode, and it would be really cool if there were more islands to explore as well. Oh, and PLEASEEE give us DLC where we can play as Super Sonic exploring the islands. I was really upset finding out that he wasn't something you could unlock after beating the game. Having that as DLC would certainly raise the game up for me, because like, after seeing what Super Sonic can do in this game, who wouldn't want to be able to transform as him, and just become absolutely BUSTED lmao.
All in all, Sonic Frontiers is not a perfect masterpiece. It definitely has its flaws, and there are certain things about it that definitely rubbed me the wrong way. But I think that's okay, after all, no game is perfect imo. Even the games I've rated 5/5 on this site, I have issues with as well. I had really been anticipating this game ever since it was announced, and while I was cautiously optimistic about it, I was really pleased with the end result. I genuinely really enjoyed the story, gameplay and music of this game, and it made me pretty happy playing it, and I think that was all I needed from it. I absolutely adore this blue hedgey and his series, and no matter the highs or lows he faces, I'm always going to be a fan of his till the very end, haha.
Neat and fun recap to the series at large and that's all it really needed to be... it's been a while since I first played the games and it really helped rekindle my love for them
EXCEPT why does Kairi still not get a proper role despite appearing to be the main focus of the game please Nomura she deserves so much better
EXCEPT why does Kairi still not get a proper role despite appearing to be the main focus of the game please Nomura she deserves so much better