Sonic Frontiers is an interesting game, it annoyed me in a lot areas and it feels half baked in some aspects too. Which is wild how it still is one of my favorite Sonic games period because the things it does get right just had me grinning the whole way and made me finally excited for the future of this series again.
The open zone format is exactly the breath of fresh air this franchise needed, yes the pop-in can be distracting, the obstacles can sometimes get frustrating to go through, and some of the map challenges are really brain-dead and dumb. However the feeling of blitzing through these massive areas at super-speed is something I've always wanted to experience in a game and Frontiers satisfies that itch. Some of the little mini obstacle courses, while visually can become ugly and too cluttered, is really fun to have so many of that are decently designed. It's like a sandbox for mini Sonic stages which was a genuine joy to sink hours into.
The combat system is fun while leaving a lot to be desired at the same time, the ingredients are there with flashy moves, a parry and an emphasis on speed. It can eventually become too spammy and clunky. Fine-tuning this for future games would be very welcome, ofc also adding a bigger variety of regular enemies to fight since the over-emphasis on bosses (while the bosses themselves are really cool) are too numerous compared to regular enemies which can become very repetitive the more you get through it. This also goes to the levelling system, if Sonic Team is going to go with the ARPG mechanics, they need to commit to it more, at least have different enemies with different levels otherwise
Another thing I want to address is the collectibles, some of it felt genuinely pointless as the game gives you all these shortcuts for collecting them too fast and distracting you from engaging with the actual world. It's a mess as they eventually become pointless way too quick killing that aspect of the game that would've given the open zones some much needed identity for individual segments of its world.
Some of the cyber space levels are really short and pointless and the very limited use of level themes really didn't allow them to stand-out as much, alot of the 2D levels felt like unneeded schlock. However there were quite a number of gems in here harkening back to Generation and Sonic Adventure level design. After being bored by the way too linear levels of Forces, I had a blast going through these levels that had actual branching paths and shortcuts which I missed in the 3D games.
Finally when it comes to the story, I am glad to see Sonic's cast be treated with more respect and have heavy stakes actually given the weight it needs. It does meander with expostion and flashbacks but it comes together nicely. Ian Flynn did a fantastic job. Sage is a fun new addition to the ever growing cast and while her development with Eggman can feel rushed with a lot of key moments needing optional memory logs to fill in, it genuinely does lead to heartwarming moments. And finally I'm glad we can have legitmate badassery in Sonic again, I was taking screenshots like crazy with all the dope shit that can happen especially in the boss fights.
I played the Final Horizons update alongside this but since it has it's own page I'll share my full thoughts there later.
The open zone format is exactly the breath of fresh air this franchise needed, yes the pop-in can be distracting, the obstacles can sometimes get frustrating to go through, and some of the map challenges are really brain-dead and dumb. However the feeling of blitzing through these massive areas at super-speed is something I've always wanted to experience in a game and Frontiers satisfies that itch. Some of the little mini obstacle courses, while visually can become ugly and too cluttered, is really fun to have so many of that are decently designed. It's like a sandbox for mini Sonic stages which was a genuine joy to sink hours into.
The combat system is fun while leaving a lot to be desired at the same time, the ingredients are there with flashy moves, a parry and an emphasis on speed. It can eventually become too spammy and clunky. Fine-tuning this for future games would be very welcome, ofc also adding a bigger variety of regular enemies to fight since the over-emphasis on bosses (while the bosses themselves are really cool) are too numerous compared to regular enemies which can become very repetitive the more you get through it. This also goes to the levelling system, if Sonic Team is going to go with the ARPG mechanics, they need to commit to it more, at least have different enemies with different levels otherwise
Another thing I want to address is the collectibles, some of it felt genuinely pointless as the game gives you all these shortcuts for collecting them too fast and distracting you from engaging with the actual world. It's a mess as they eventually become pointless way too quick killing that aspect of the game that would've given the open zones some much needed identity for individual segments of its world.
Some of the cyber space levels are really short and pointless and the very limited use of level themes really didn't allow them to stand-out as much, alot of the 2D levels felt like unneeded schlock. However there were quite a number of gems in here harkening back to Generation and Sonic Adventure level design. After being bored by the way too linear levels of Forces, I had a blast going through these levels that had actual branching paths and shortcuts which I missed in the 3D games.
Finally when it comes to the story, I am glad to see Sonic's cast be treated with more respect and have heavy stakes actually given the weight it needs. It does meander with expostion and flashbacks but it comes together nicely. Ian Flynn did a fantastic job. Sage is a fun new addition to the ever growing cast and while her development with Eggman can feel rushed with a lot of key moments needing optional memory logs to fill in, it genuinely does lead to heartwarming moments. And finally I'm glad we can have legitmate badassery in Sonic again, I was taking screenshots like crazy with all the dope shit that can happen especially in the boss fights.
I played the Final Horizons update alongside this but since it has it's own page I'll share my full thoughts there later.
sondi
6 months ago