Since I'm somewhat mixed on this game (I do like it, but it has quite a few issues), I'm just gonna list out pros and cons.
Pros:
- Visuals are pretty nice.
- Sonic controls wonderfully on the overworld.
- Cyberspace levels are well designed. Short and sweet.
- Boss fights are incredibly cinematic and memorable.
- Performances are surprisingly decent. They definitely toned them down from previous games, and the characters come across more grounded.
- The music is great, but you didn't need me to tell ya that.
Cons:
- The game is incredibly formulaic to a disappointingly simplistic degree. I can see why many got tired of it.
- Horrendous pop-in. But you already know that - it's frustratingly distracting at times. This game could've been better optimized.
- I find it a little too derivative of other games like Breath of the Wild. The Kocos simply being copy/pasted Koroks for example. But unlike the Koroks, they aren't really well thought out or fun to find - they're just randomly placed in the overworld. There are other examples of similarities too, but this removes some of Frontiers' self identity to me. It does feel like it's just following trends a lot of the time.
- Cyberspace controls could be more fluid. They're somewhat stiff, but I did get used to them.
- Skill tree is underdeveloped. I completed it pretty early on, so there isn't much sense of progression here.
- The narrative exists. As someone not interested in Sonic lore, it did nothing to grab me. Since it was so hyped up, I was pretty disappointed to see how shallow it was.
- Some shoddy camera moments, but nothing to the degree of say, Mario Sunshine.
- Overworld lacks variety and a sense of distinction. Besides a couple different biomes, they're pretty run of the mill. You even got three grass levels. There's so much more they could've done here to bring this digital world to life.
- More could've been done with the choice of Cyberspace locations. Too many variations of Green Hill Zone, real missed opportunity.
Overall, I did like the game. But, objectively there are a lot of issues I couldn't ignore. I feel like this is a decent stepping stone for what Sonic could become in the future. However, as is, it feels somewhat half-baked. I don't see myself returning to it, but I didn't regret playing it.
Pros:
- Visuals are pretty nice.
- Sonic controls wonderfully on the overworld.
- Cyberspace levels are well designed. Short and sweet.
- Boss fights are incredibly cinematic and memorable.
- Performances are surprisingly decent. They definitely toned them down from previous games, and the characters come across more grounded.
- The music is great, but you didn't need me to tell ya that.
Cons:
- The game is incredibly formulaic to a disappointingly simplistic degree. I can see why many got tired of it.
- Horrendous pop-in. But you already know that - it's frustratingly distracting at times. This game could've been better optimized.
- I find it a little too derivative of other games like Breath of the Wild. The Kocos simply being copy/pasted Koroks for example. But unlike the Koroks, they aren't really well thought out or fun to find - they're just randomly placed in the overworld. There are other examples of similarities too, but this removes some of Frontiers' self identity to me. It does feel like it's just following trends a lot of the time.
- Cyberspace controls could be more fluid. They're somewhat stiff, but I did get used to them.
- Skill tree is underdeveloped. I completed it pretty early on, so there isn't much sense of progression here.
- The narrative exists. As someone not interested in Sonic lore, it did nothing to grab me. Since it was so hyped up, I was pretty disappointed to see how shallow it was.
- Some shoddy camera moments, but nothing to the degree of say, Mario Sunshine.
- Overworld lacks variety and a sense of distinction. Besides a couple different biomes, they're pretty run of the mill. You even got three grass levels. There's so much more they could've done here to bring this digital world to life.
- More could've been done with the choice of Cyberspace locations. Too many variations of Green Hill Zone, real missed opportunity.
Overall, I did like the game. But, objectively there are a lot of issues I couldn't ignore. I feel like this is a decent stepping stone for what Sonic could become in the future. However, as is, it feels somewhat half-baked. I don't see myself returning to it, but I didn't regret playing it.
Reviewed on Nov 17, 2022