76 reviews liked by Kirby


Let me open by saying that this is THE most subjective rating that I've ever given, as I don't think that this game will work for most people. In many cases, it won't even work for the most ardent Sonic the Hedgehog fan. Above all else, Sonic Frontiers is somewhat of a freak experiment - an amalgamation of different influences carried out with a vague level of uncertainty, but paired with a nearly apologetic degree of optimism.

As a former Sega Genesis kid, I've always found myself with this strange, inexplicable affinity for Sonic. I don't know why that is. I haven't enjoyed a Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2, I don't care for a single one of Sonic's Genesis era titles, I detest both of the recent Sonic the Hedgehog movies, and I've never even dreamed of watching one of Sonic's numerous television adaptations. Still, I'm always rooting for Sonic, and I've long wished for an unmissable game that mirrors Sonic's legacy. Well, you've seen my relatively high rating for this. Is Sonic Frontiers that game? Well, no, but Sonic's future has never been brighter.

Let me get the obvious stuff out of the way: Sonic Frontiers is quite ugly, although it is far from visually uninspired. Sonic Frontiers is far too long, and its open world is couched much more in semi-meditative emptiness and infuriating navigation than in opportunity. Sonic Frontiers has about 10 different types of interlocking currency, and its map system and optional fast travel system will drive the average player insane. Sonic Frontiers has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR original boss themes by Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens. Sonic Frontiers has a maddeningly slow stat upgrade system that ultimately relies on fishing with Big the Cat to reasonably max out. Sonic Frontiers has unlockable side stories that tend to be much more trouble than they're worth. Sonic Frontiers has a barely functioning lock-on system and a skill tree that falls far below the expectations of a 2022 release. Sonic Frontiers is far. Too. Fucking. Long.

But you know what else? Through it all, Sonic Frontiers is FUN. Even with all of my criticisms in mind, I was still compelled to 100% this game. For the first time, Sonic Team has paid almost no mind to designing a satisfactory physics engine, electing instead to place that responsibility in the hands of the player. The wide, empty landscapes lend the player immense freedom to run unimpeded, and you're given the option to go under the hood and adjust Sonic's top speed, acceleration, brakes, steering, and camera distance. The level of trust placed in the player to create their ideal Sonic experience is like nothing I've ever seen from a game of this stature. When everything fits together—the dazzling spectacle tuned to Sonic's breakneck speed—the result is often nothing short of awe-inspiring. Not only that, but it remains abundantly clear that Sonic Team genuinely cared about the surprisingly dark narrative that they were trying to weave, even if I had some trouble following its implications.

Is this the Sonic game to end all Sonic games and silence Sonic's legions of naysayers? No, but I doubt that any game can wear that crown. However, Sonic Frontiers evinces something that has grown exceedingly rare in the AAA game space: the courage to upend one of gaming's most recognizable franchises. Here's your Sonic Adventure 3, with (almost) everything that that entails.

A game with great foundations that is insanely padded out and tedious.
This game would be at least 2-3 scores higher if Alabasta wasn't as long or as bad as it was.

first, I think we should be making new games instead of remaking so much stuff.
second, if you're gonna remake something, remake something that could actually stand to be refreshed rather than a pristine action classic from a vaunted survival horror series.
third, if you're gonna remake a pristine action classic from a vaunted survival horror series, maybe try taking it in a different direction, emphasize the horror more for example, there's just no way you can compete with the OG.
wait this game is really good? what the fuck.

ummm where are the sega arcade machines?!?!? what did they do for fun back then, read??? (video review)

I have a funny history with the God of War series. The PS2/PS3 trilogy was the first Playstation series I ever played through, as a newbie to the whole thing when I got my own PS3 in like 2010. In replaying those games before the 2018 game, I discovered that I liked them a great deal less, found them just totally tiresome and annoying. The 2018 game shocked me completely by being a lot more considered and digging into Kratos as a character and his new surroundings, giving him friends and family to protect. To some people this was also tiresome in a new way, but I found it well-meaning and genuine and so it worked on me. Idk, sue me.

So when it came to Ragnarok, I honestly just filed it away in my brain as "more good stuff" and proceeded to not think about it, worry about it, or hype about it until it eventually dropped. That's a weirdly super good headspace to be in for a new game! I should try it again sometime lol. Anyways, they got me again! God of War Ragnarok is impressive for all the ways that it seems unconcerned with itself, taking a longer time to just weave a really fucking engaging narrative that brings this whole series to a thrilling and natural climax. It's such a breath of fresh air, to play a modern Playstation game that doesnt feel like it has anything to fucking prove to me. It's focused on being a fun ass video game with competent progression systems, and enough story hooks and surprising twists to keep me engaged the whole way. They made the new God of War the closest thing I've personally seen to a western-developed modern Final Fantasy game lmao, it's so fucking cool. I dunno, there's a lot of meaty stuff here in the narrative about unraveling a dark, abusive, colonial history and succeeding our parents and what that means, but like. All I wanna say is that the game is fucking cool as hell! Great job to everyone involved, excited to see what Santa Monica does next.

Perhaps This Is Hell

I honestly don’t know how to articulate how much I love this game but I will try. one who has played many games might see derivation and believe there is nothing here but truly I feel like the actual content and storytelling, the themes and visuals, are so rarely done to this degree of excellence, or even done at all in video games, so I implore you to please play this game, because my words pale in comparison to the actual experience.

The amount this game punishes engaging with enemies combined with how often it forces you into combat encounters makes it very unfun for me. There's some interesting stuff going on but not enough to pull me through any further.

A strong beginning and ending unfortunately don't make up for everything in between. When it works, it really works, but there's so much that doesn't that it makes this one hard to love.

This game is far too happy to waste your time at every opportunity. Whether it's a protracted sequence to follow an NPC, or mandatory things to progress only happening on specific days, way too much happens to prolong the experience to its detriment.

It feels like a lot of the writing missed what made the original work and tried to cover with meta nods and it just misses the mark as a result.

It was nice to go on another adventure with York, but I wonder if we really needed it.

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