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.