The level of polish and detail here is immense, inside the sandbox of this game if you feel like you can do something you most likely can. Somehow this game made around a PS2's limitations feels less limited and hand holding than almost every single game that will come out in this era and the ones that have been shortly before. Amazing visuals, story and music just elevate the fundamental inner workings of the game to a higher status. My only complaint is that the Big Shell from MGS2 is amazingly designed and I do prefer manmade environments in my MGS compared to the jungle.

I completed The Final Horizon update for Sonic Frontiers. It’s a good but brutal update. I know the game is kicking a lot of peoples ass right now, it’s almost like an endurance test. Morio Kishimoto, director of Sonic Frontiers, has a history of making extremely easy Sonic games (Colors, Forces etc) and Frontiers is his last chance, he had said on twitter if this game fails he will be replaced. So he really took to fans criticisms and suggestions for Update 2 and 3. Update 2 had added a spindash with momentum, which was the biggest request at the time. Update 3 tackled the other biggest request, challenge. Many players complained the game was far too easy, and they were right. So it seems Kishimoto worked very hard with this update to revamp this entire island of Ouranos with trials and bosses that are extremely difficult and require failure to succeed. There is some bullshit here but most of it is designed okay, it’s nothing remarkable but it is extremely satisfying when you complete something. This updates main goal though, is to add an ending to the game, something it succeeded in above and beyond, the final boss and ending is more than worth playing through the extremely difficult update, you get to hear 2 new vocal tracks and see Super Saiyan 2 Sonic while fighting a crazy ass boss, it’s a great time. It’s the first time since about 2008 Sonic has actually felt raw and sincere, and not cringe.

I don’t think this update will change my score of the game (3.5/5) but it certainly will make me remember it as a good Sonic game. If you like Sonic pick the game up on sale, but beware of the crazy difficulty.

Very conflicting experience here. Most Ubisoft games do end up looking pretty good visually and having great music, their production values are kind of similar to someone like Michael Bay, where the things on display mean nothing but usually look pretty damn good. The crazy John Wick execution style gameplay, immense detail of Chicago and amazing music score might at times, convince you what you're doing is actually meaningful. But it's not, the story is wet bread and although Aiden is very cool and badass most of the time, he's a piece of cardboard, an action figure. A strong visual and gameplay base does not mean anything when your beautifully rendered Chicago has nothing to do in it. There were times that felt great interacting with the city, mostly figuring out the puzzles to activate the cTOS towers, but that's about it.

MUCH MUCH better than I thought. Replaying it with my older brain now makes me appreciate the game so much. Especially with all the mods I installed that fix this shoddy PC port to restore it back to how the game is played on Dreamcast. It makes me realize this definitely was a good transition to 3D for Sonic, and the reviews of the time reflect that. But as you know, the internet did its thing with this game, I think defamation is a key factor in the negative reception of this game especially compared to the rest of the Sonic series. If you're gonna play, install the mod fixes and have fun. Amy and Big are really the only down points of the game, and even then, they’re completely manageable and moreso boring instead of broken. Sonic controls the best he has in 3D in this game in my opinion. (review from Feb 16th, 2023 on Steam)