izigame.me

When I first started playing Sonic Frontiers, I wasn't sure what to think of it. The game just felt like a game, no impressions, positive nor negative, however when I played past the 3 hour mark I started getting into the addictive gameplay loop and enjoyed it a lot more. It isn't perfect, it should've been delayed, but it is the best Sonic game we got in the past 10 years and finally a game that I would even recommend to non-Sonic fans.
First, let's talk about the open-zone, which is a fancy word for a huge hub world you can explore. There are different islands to see. Traversal on these islands is a lot of fun, because, while it sounds like a gimmick, you simply go fast. Sonic feels really good to control, and it's simply fun to explore the islands at such a speed. Of course, there are a few things to do on these islands. You can do small parkours, challenges, beat enemies, minigames, fishing, or Cyberspace levels, which are the more linear levels. The game is a collectathon, so you get rewarded for most things with collectibles, meaning whatever you do, it is worthwile.
On these islands you find many rails and typical Sonic level elements. When you do them you go on a short trip that feels like a small level with additional alternate paths. These parkours are quite fun, and occasionally even better than the linear levels. It almost feels like a playground. Most of them are in 3D, but some are in 2D, and whenever you're doing the 2D ones you're stuck in the 2nd dimension, which breaks the pace for a bit, since if you don't wanna do them, you have to find a way out. I think the optimal solution would be a simple button to press to get back into the 3D space, luckily though, these 2D sections are mostly reserved for the third island. Furthermore, there are boost pads all over the place, and they're automating Sonic for a few seconds, which is questionable, because the point of the game is the freedom to walk around. Either Sonic Team should remove them, or make them go both ways, because at times it feels like you're fighting the game's mechanics. They should make the rails homing attackable instead, so the player initiates the parkours by choice, not by being thrown in there. It isn't a big annoyance, cause you always get rewarded, but it is unintuitive game design. Also, the parkours don't look nice, they just float and pop-in whenever they're needed, would be cooler to have it look more natural, like having a natural looping and so on.
There are also challenges which are really simple and easy, like doing a quick puzzle or having to go from A to B quick. Despite the lack of difficulty, I feel like they implemented them quite well, since you always keep going, never stopping. It felt like there was always something to do, no matter where you go.
Then, there's combat. First of all, the enemy variety is vast, there are dozens upon dozens of enemies, and minibosses to fight, each being a little different. The combat itself is a bit more style over substance, meaning there are many animations, it's very flashy, and at times button mash-y. There are different attacks, which you do by pressing two buttons at the same time, but you can use most attacks whenever, which is a bit OP, since some attacks deal heavy damage with no build up. That is a bit odd, cause you sometimes end up doing attacks unintentionally. I think it should be fixed by rather starting a combo, by pressing X, for example, a few times, and then you can start dealing heavy damage. As it is now, combat is fun, but for heavier attacks there should be a risk & reward system.
Now let's talk about Cyberspace. It's mediocre, if you never played Sonic it might be fun, but I really feel like it isn't great. Sonic's physics are altered during the levels, and he feels stiff, but also responsive at times, meaning a lack of consistency. His boost is a mere run button, it never fully depletes, which is odd, because the point of the boost is to keep it going by being good at the game. Sonic's moves are also a bit lacking. You don't have a short hop to keep your momentum, lightspeed dash doesn't keep your momentum either, you can't attack enemies from below, his homing attack is very slow and feels more like a combo starter without a combo, and the drop dash is poorly implemented. It's no use! It's the slowest movement option. Sonic overall feels painfully slow.
The levels themselves often feature level sections from older games, and they just make me feel like I wanna play the original level instead. It's good for newcomers, but it's noticeable when parts were made with different physics in mind. The very few original levels we do get are mostly fine, some are even good, but many have questionable level design where the easier paths are the fastest ones, or paths are just ordinary shortcuts.
There are also some small quality of life features missing, like when you pass a checkpoint I'd like to know my previous time to find out if I'm on a better pace than before, additionally dying before the first checkpoint doesn't reset your timer, and I would like to know when I'm in control of Sonic during the beginning of each level, like Sonic Generations' "Ready? Go!".
Story-wise, the game is nothing groundbreaking. It answered a few questions, but it honestly answered less than I and many hoped for. They also wasted the climax of the story, which might be because the last half of the game was rushed. However, the writing is finally bearable. Sonic doesn't talk like a socially inept Reddit user who posts daily memes, and they actually gave Tails a short character arc, to address his mistreatment in the past games. For a non-Sonic fan it's nothing groundbreaking, but for a fan they finally nailed Sonic's character. The only issue I had with Sonic was him not even mentioning what happened at the ending, he was just like "ok let's go home" and moved on.
Dialogue is good too, but at times they simply let the characters run through an emotion for a second, leading to awkward silence.
I think I should elaborate on the "the last half of the game is a bit rushed" statement.
The last two island don't have a lot going for them, they reuse the same assets, and they aren't anything great. They reuse a biome you already explored making it feel like mind numbing repitition, and the final boss, especially the secret final boss were rushed. They both are by far the weakest in the game.
Last, but not least, the game's technical aspects arent great. Sometimes if Sonic walks on a small incline you'll be sent flying, some animations abruptly stop to put you in your default pose, and obviously the pop-in isn't great. Also, I heard of some people having performance issues, for me the game ran buttery smooth, but started having a few more issues when I played the fourth island.
Another thing I would like to add is a critique I already had for Sonic Origins, the missing leaderboards.
It's Sonic, showing off how fast you can go is a given, so obviously online leaderboards would be the way to go.
Sonic Frontiers has a lot of jank, pop-in and unpolish, especially the last island felt rushed, and it's a bit too easy. There are many issues, but most of them I pointed out are rather small nuisances that I just want to address, so Sonic Team hopefully won't do these mistakes again. This game lays a great and unique foundation for what could be the best 3D Sonic game. For the first time in my life I can actually say that I'm looking forward to the future of Sonic. 7/10