TL;DR Review
Positives
+ Sonic's control & moveset
+ Open Zone Design
+ Story (Specifically, Sonic's characterization)
+ Accessibility/Customization Options
+ Music, especially at boss fights
Negatives
- Final act pacing issues
- Unpolished at times
- Scripted moments can interfere with open zone navigation
Neutral Notes
~ Lots of pop-in, but didn't really interfere with gameplay. Got used to it personally.
~ I played on easy/medium. 100% maps, all cyberspace challenges completed. Did not collect all tokens.
~ I did not fish or upgrade my levels via the elder coco or whoever.
In Depth
While I've heard Frontiers get compared to Breath of the Wild regularly, I think Super Mario Odyssey would be a much more apt comparison. Sonic's moveset has been expanded significantly to traverse several worlds where he completes puzzles and platforming challenges to collect keys and advance beyond the next progress gate. Sounds familiar.
The zones were fun to explore and traversing the area via platforming/grinding to collect tokens/keys is a super satisfying gameplay loop. And while the open zones have a good combination of both open world exploration and platforming sequencing, I did quite often get force from one to the other unwillingly. For example, when trying to reach a ledge I'd see a spring that I'd think I could use only to find when I jump on it I get locked to a 2D view where I can no longer move toward the ledge. I'd just have to complete the 2D sequence and then find a new way. This happened too often for my taste.
What Frontiers throws into the mix is several "Cyberspace" levels that feel like a more tradition Sonic level from a Generations or Colors. As well as combat which I honestly enjoyed more than expected. The abilities gradually unlocked via the skill tree provided a lot of variety that felt great to use once I got used to how the combat functioned.
The visuals are a mixed bag. While the environments and textures of the open zones aren't outright offensive, they're unremarkable. Definitely could have used some more variety in the later zones. With 2-3 of the 5 zones having a very similar look "forest" theme, I understand why general audience jump to Frontiers looking like it's copying the BotW asthetic. The prerendered cutscenes that take place to progress the story are terrific and have some of the best moments for these characters in the series. However, the in game cutscenes where Sonic has brief moments of diaglouge with an NPC are super stiff and take me out of the story.
The story, overall, I really enjoyed. Like I said, some of these characters have their best moments here. And it was really cool to see a different side of Eggman. The final act did drudge on for me a bit. There was a great moment in the story at the end of the 4th zone that left me amped and motivated. I was ready to rip through whatever the final zone through at me. I was very surprised that the final zone was the same as the first 3 zones. Not only that, it was bigger and longer and I had another 5 hours before the real ending. I think if that final zone had been the smallest and been an accelerated/denser version of the first 3 zones, I would have loved it.
Couple smaller notes - Boss fights were pretty good. I found a couple of them to be particularly annoying, but the killer music during these encounters more than compensated for that. And then the customization in Frontiers is great. From the ability to turn on/off specific components of the HUD (personally I turned off the level display and speedometer), to straight up changing Sonic's starting speed and acceleration. Great options to have to allow newer players and/or veterans to tune the game to whatever feels best.
All in all, what an outing for the Blue Blur. I think if Sonic Team continues to iterate on this gameplay formula/design, they've create a really strong foundation with Frontiers. Hopefully nowhere to go but up!
Positives
+ Sonic's control & moveset
+ Open Zone Design
+ Story (Specifically, Sonic's characterization)
+ Accessibility/Customization Options
+ Music, especially at boss fights
Negatives
- Final act pacing issues
- Unpolished at times
- Scripted moments can interfere with open zone navigation
Neutral Notes
~ Lots of pop-in, but didn't really interfere with gameplay. Got used to it personally.
~ I played on easy/medium. 100% maps, all cyberspace challenges completed. Did not collect all tokens.
~ I did not fish or upgrade my levels via the elder coco or whoever.
In Depth
While I've heard Frontiers get compared to Breath of the Wild regularly, I think Super Mario Odyssey would be a much more apt comparison. Sonic's moveset has been expanded significantly to traverse several worlds where he completes puzzles and platforming challenges to collect keys and advance beyond the next progress gate. Sounds familiar.
The zones were fun to explore and traversing the area via platforming/grinding to collect tokens/keys is a super satisfying gameplay loop. And while the open zones have a good combination of both open world exploration and platforming sequencing, I did quite often get force from one to the other unwillingly. For example, when trying to reach a ledge I'd see a spring that I'd think I could use only to find when I jump on it I get locked to a 2D view where I can no longer move toward the ledge. I'd just have to complete the 2D sequence and then find a new way. This happened too often for my taste.
What Frontiers throws into the mix is several "Cyberspace" levels that feel like a more tradition Sonic level from a Generations or Colors. As well as combat which I honestly enjoyed more than expected. The abilities gradually unlocked via the skill tree provided a lot of variety that felt great to use once I got used to how the combat functioned.
The visuals are a mixed bag. While the environments and textures of the open zones aren't outright offensive, they're unremarkable. Definitely could have used some more variety in the later zones. With 2-3 of the 5 zones having a very similar look "forest" theme, I understand why general audience jump to Frontiers looking like it's copying the BotW asthetic. The prerendered cutscenes that take place to progress the story are terrific and have some of the best moments for these characters in the series. However, the in game cutscenes where Sonic has brief moments of diaglouge with an NPC are super stiff and take me out of the story.
The story, overall, I really enjoyed. Like I said, some of these characters have their best moments here. And it was really cool to see a different side of Eggman. The final act did drudge on for me a bit. There was a great moment in the story at the end of the 4th zone that left me amped and motivated. I was ready to rip through whatever the final zone through at me. I was very surprised that the final zone was the same as the first 3 zones. Not only that, it was bigger and longer and I had another 5 hours before the real ending. I think if that final zone had been the smallest and been an accelerated/denser version of the first 3 zones, I would have loved it.
Couple smaller notes - Boss fights were pretty good. I found a couple of them to be particularly annoying, but the killer music during these encounters more than compensated for that. And then the customization in Frontiers is great. From the ability to turn on/off specific components of the HUD (personally I turned off the level display and speedometer), to straight up changing Sonic's starting speed and acceleration. Great options to have to allow newer players and/or veterans to tune the game to whatever feels best.
All in all, what an outing for the Blue Blur. I think if Sonic Team continues to iterate on this gameplay formula/design, they've create a really strong foundation with Frontiers. Hopefully nowhere to go but up!