Used to be a 3.5 but I ended up bumping this to 4 after the updates. I mean, Sonic Frontiers is definitely not a perfect game by any means, the story still kinda sucks even with the update's ending which is arguably worse than the original's, the art direction still feels like one of those "SEGA HIRE THIS MAN" Unreal Engine fan games where they just slap Sonic's character model on these realistic maps and the whole thing feels weird to look at.

However, I gotta say, this is probably one of my favorite open world games to come out in the last few years, simply because of how satisfying it is to control Sonic and make him run around, even if the maps themselves aren't particularly groundbreaking design-wise. I just love to run around those islands and go from one mini-challenge to the other as I gather stuff and unlock other areas of the map, there already were quite a handful of ways I could go from point A to point B in the game upon release, but after the updates tweaked the physics and added the Spin Dash as an unlockable, it allowed for even more creativity in how you navigate the map. I just wish the Spin Dash was unlockable earlier in the game, but I guess it would break it quite a bit if that was the case, but at least Final Horizon did put it to good use, I remember relying on it quite frequently to make my way through the new Ouranos island.

The way your character interacts with the environments is what will either make or break an open world game to me, which is why I also love Spider-Man 2 for PS2 despite that game being kinda repetitive with the city missions you need to do before you progress in the story. I never really cared all that much for the repetitiveness because swinging around New York as Spidey was more than enough to make up for it. Sonic Frontiers actually does suffer from a similar issue as in, the different islands could really benefit from more unique challenges to each of them based on their theming instead of the same ones repeated in all of them. Sure, there are maybe one or two that are unique to one island, but I wish that was the norm rather than the exception. As much as I enjoy running around and doing all this stuff with Sonic, there is a lot to improve in these maps and I hope Sonic Team learns the right lessons for once should the next 3D Sonic game have this open world format.

Speaking of things with room for improvement, the combat in Frontiers could also use some. It's flashy, fast-paced and feels like an extension of Sonic's moveset instead of turning this Sonic game into something else so it could have melee combat, but I feel it's a bit lacking in substance, some attacks feel a bit too similar and the skill tree is laughably small, to the point that I had all the skills unlocked when I wasn't even halfway through the game yet. Though, to be honest, this is probably the only time a Sonic game had melee combat and it didn't make me want to die, so even if it's still kinda shallow, I'd argue it's an improvement over previous attempts like Black Knight and the Walmart God of War stages of Unleashed. Also, the guardian fights have enough variety for me to give them a pass despite the combat itself not being the most in-depth thing in the world, the Super Sonic fights are also cool (aside from Supreme and that godawful The End fight in FInal Horizon), not particularly challenging but they definitely feel like a step up from the Super Sonic fights from previous games and the music that plays in them kicks ass.

Considering how my expectations for Sonic Frontiers were pretty much non-existent before release, it's kind of a pleasant surprise that this turned out to be one of my favorite 3D Sonic games behind Generations and Adventure 2. It's definitely flawed in a lot of ways, but I think it has a lot of heart and it manages to do enough right to compensate the not so great parts. I imagine not everyone will enjoy this game, which is definitely a first for Sonic, never happened before at all, but I did like it quite a bit, and as everyone knows, my opinion is the one that actually counts.

Fuck Final Horizon's last boss though, that shit sucked so much I had to mention how bad it was as second time.

BIG THE CAT, I OWE YOU AN APOLOGY. I WASN'T REALLY FAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME. YOU'RE A TRUE BRO, I'M SORRY I EVER GAVE YOU A HARD TIME. I'LL BE YOUR STRONGEST SOLDIER NOW.

Ahem. With that out of the way...

If you were to ask me what my least favorite genre of game is, I'd probably say... Visual novels. I don't read a whole lot, the last book I actually finished was back in 2014 or something. Open world games are a close second, though. Sure, "Open world" is not exactly a genre, but come on, most if not all of them share certain elements and design choices that codify what these games are all about. And none of them ever did anything for me.

I play them for a bit, fucking around and exploring, until fatigue inevitably sets in about 4 hours after starting. I don't derive the same feeling of wonder and excitement that other people get from these kinds of games. Everything is too expansive, most of the time points of interest are too far apart from each other, with only minor distractions peppered in between A and B. I mean, one of the defining features present in open world games is "Fast travel"; Why would I want to do that? If the point of these games is to explore and immerse yourself in your surroundings, why make it so that players are encouraged to skip and ignore traversal for the sake of time and efficiency? Sure, no one has to use fast travel, but it's a fact that the majority of players make use of it liberally.

I might be missing the point entirely, but if I'm not having fun, I don't care what that point is, which is why I always drop them, no matter how highly regarded they are. Even Elden Ring couldn't hold me in. Hell, Monster Hunter used to be one of my favorite franchises, but you bet your ass I soured on it big time the moment MHWorld came around, simply because maps were far larger than they used to be, even if they weren't exactly "super" open.

Actually, yeah. I'll use Monster Hunter to illustrate one of the things that irks me the most about these games.
You just broke into my house, pointed a gun between my eyes and told me "Open up paint and draw every single MH1 area from memory". I'd be able to do that in a heartbeat, down to the smallest detail. I could do that with 95% of maps from every single MH entry before World, and that's because maps in those games were segmented. Hardware limitations didn't allow Capcom to make expansive locales, they were forced to chop them up and place them between loading screens. This, in turn, led the team to fill every area with unique landmarks and environmental flourishes.

The grassy hills of MH1's Forest and Hills Area 1, the claustrophobic hellscape of Area 9, the beautiful view of the trees revealed by the cave's gigantic window from MH2's Jungle Area 7, the massive drop into the sea from MH3's Area 8, the breathtaking amber heights of MH4's Area 7, the list goes on and on.

They couldn't just go for scope, so they had to make sure all segmented areas left an impression, and it works to a tremendous degree. I can walk around these games as I would my own backyard. Not the case with World, once technology made those charming diorama-esque areas obsolete.

Scope for the sake of scope, that's what most open world games feel like to me. I prefer my environments packed with detail, while remaining compact enough to be memorable after a single visit.

All this is to say, I was very skeptical heading into Sonic Frontiers, my personal "end goal" in this marathon. After Forces left an incredibly sour taste in my mouth, the next game I have to look forward to is an open world experience? Hoo boy...
... Imagine my surprise, then, when Frontiers turned out to be more like a skateboarding park rather than a traditional Open World McGee. All they had to do was put this blue bastard in it! Problem solved!

Frontiers foregoes the whole immersion approach and instead offers you 5(actually 4) massive obstacle courses for your speeding pleasure. I mean, there's floating platforms and rails and structures all over the place with no rhyme or reason, how could anyone feel immersed in a world like this?
But to me, that didn't matter. The moment I boosted off a cliff and completely bypassed a set of bumpers to reach an objective, I immediately saw the vision here. This is Sonic's take on the concept, and what does he do best? Going fast.
It takes a while to learn some of the game's weirdest quirks. You can't do boost jumps from anywhere since trying to do it from the very tip of a cliff will kill all your vertical and horizontal momentum somehow, certain areas will trigger camera movements which throw your well thought-out leap of faith out the window, and the way Sonic interacts with things such as climbable walls isn't exactly clear from the get go. But once it clicked, it immediately turned one of the biggest problems I have with open world games into one of my favorite aspects of Frontiers. Why fast travel through a drab, boring ass map menu and sit through a loading screen when you can BECOME the fast travel? Jump off this incline just right, catch a ride through the next rail on your way down and boost jump out of it, and you'll be in your destination faster than ANY other open world protagonist would under normal circumstances.

It doesn't undo all of my grievances with the "genre", of course. Even though I mapped all of these areas thoroughly and collected all trinkets, I couldn't tell you where anything is. There are a couple of memorable landmarks here and there, but nothing compared to any of the previous 3D games. I could probably walk around Soleanna better than I would in any of these islands.

But Frontiers wants you to live in the moment; these islands aren't meant to feel like your digital home, they are playgrounds, each and every one of them. In my Sonic Unleashed review, I commented on how that game(and by extension most Boost era entries) feel more like racing games rather than "traditional" Sonic games. Going by that logic and bringing back what I said before, Frontiers feels a lot like a skateboarding game, filled with tons of mini objectives and side missions plastered all over the park, with little logic except "they're cool and you look cool while doing them :)". Sonic may not control like Tony Hawk, but that feeling of "Holy shit, I just made that jump into the rail and now I can grab this last video tape" is all over this game. The open zones and all the obstacle courses placed throughout were a joy to experience.

That said, running through these virtual trick parks isn't all that you do during your playtime. They tried their hand at some dedicated combat for the first time since Unleashed, and honestly, it feels about as good here as it did in that game. This isn't a compliment, since it's evident that Frontiers wants to be more. It wants to give Sonic a new gameplay pillar upon which to stand, but enemies simply don't follow suit. With the exception of intrusive shield-bearing/perfect-blocking enemies, none of the regular mobs give you any trouble or demand any thoughtful approach. Granted, that also applies to Unleashed, but the way encounters are structured and highlighted here just scream "We want to do character action combat SO BAD, PLEASE give this a shot", while Unleashed felt more like "yeah, the kids will dig it, heh". Paired with the fact that Guardians often feature intrusive mechanics that get in the way of combat, forcing you to play "regular" Sonic until there's an opening, fights here end up feeling like an afterthought. Speaking of which...

Cyber Space. These stages are worthless. I can practically hear the meeting over at SEGA H.Q. where they decided to include them.
"We're working hard at the open zones, but there probably won't be enough time or budget for a fourth fully fledged island."
"That won't do. The game needs to be longer. Uhh... Grab some Generations assets and bring back stage layouts from older titles. Make a side game out of them."
Why else would they go for these tired retreads of older games? It's nothing but padding, especially considering that Sonic's new physics are constantly at odds with these stages. Over before you know it, lacking in mechanical depth that made Unleashed/Generations' stages work, and somehow slow as molasses. No. (also, how did they screw up Red Rings? I swear, 90% of the time, I took a secret route around a stage thinking "well, this is where the red ring is gonna be, right?", only to miss like, 2 rings because they were placed at the regular, easier to reach route. why.)

Combat and Cyber Space were distractions from the main meat of the game: that extremely gratifying, city sized obstacle course. I really wouldn't mind if the entire game's progression was tied solely to exploring these. Cut out the combat, make it so that in order to progress I have to pull off a series of extremely tricky boost jumps and carefully timed homing attacks over a massive chasm or something. Although, to be fair, if that was the case, I would've missed one of Frontiers' stellar highlights.

The combat is an afterthought. These Boss Battles are not.
Don't get me wrong, they're not mechanically deep or any more intricate compared to regular encounters. Instead, what we have here are playable late 2000s AMVs featuring some of the best boss themes I've heard in a VERY, VERY long time. Never in a million years did I imagine that Sonic "Ogilvie Maurice" the Hedgehog would genuinely get me into emocore metal, yet here we are.
The presentation in these fights is insane, extremely gratifying and awe inspiring. My jaw dropped after blasting clean through Giganto's chest, and I popped off INCREDIBLY hard when Super Sonic used Knight's sword to slice him in half, complete with the massive mech slowly splitting apart and then exploding. Anyone who lived through those Final Fantasy X Sonic flash animations back in the day knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about. This is Super Mario Bros. Z-tier extravaganza, and I was ALL for it.

Speaking of music! Cyber Space might have sucked, but damn, the music selection for these stages is amazing. So much DnB goodness, a 1h+ mixtape courtesy of Tomoya "The Goat" Ohtani and guest artists.
Also, dynamic music that evolves as you progress? Check, check, check, for all islands. Great shit.

I guess all that's left to mention is the story. The emocore energy isn't limited to the boss themes; this story is a lot more melodramatic than any game before it. But hey, this time, they actually committed! It doesn't try to punch way too far above its own weight. It knows what it is and pulls it off pretty well, I felt. Plenty of character interactions despite the tiny cast, continuity welding out the wazoo(to mixed results), and an adorable new addition to the roster. I love Sage and I WILL protect her.

I still think that the series desperately needs a continuity reboot. Frontiers tries to acknowledge a TON of things from previous games, but considering how shaky this series' narrative foundation is, the result feels less like "this is how far we've come, huh" and more like "oh yeah, that did happen. crazy! anyway,"

What a pleasant surprise. I went into this expecting the worst thanks to my negative bias towards open world games, and came out with a very positive experience. That said, do I want this to be the new future for Sonic? Not really. I don't think this format is ideal or sustainable for this series, especially considering how the team often slaps in unnecessary shit to make up for limited time and budget. But Frontiers still gets a pass.

Of course fucking Sonic the Hedgehog is the one that got me to finish an open world game lmao

(Final Horizon review coming at a later time. I started up Another Story, and once I saw I had to map everything again and each character had their own skill trees to level up, I felt pretty exhausted.)

اللعبة هذي علمتني ما اثق ب احد

الايجاببات :


السلبيات :
- ماب يجيب الضيقة
- Pop-Out مزعجة وكثيرة
-بلاتفورمنق غير موزون حسيت اني بس امشي على اللي تسرعني
وبتعطيني سرعة واترك اليد وهي تلعب عني
-حوارات مدري وش تبي

This game is so jank, and unfinished, and scuffed, and ugly, but god damn it I do not care.

Sonic Frontiers is a return to form for the franchise in many ways. The return of the Shonen influence, the return of engaging storytelling, the return of more open level design and controls, it's the first sonic game in many, MANY years to make me feel something on a deeper level.

Frontiers is earnest, it's trying as hard as it possibly can to be something big, something special, and while it may fail sometimes, when it does succeed, it does so spectacularly. I cannot wait to see what a potential sequel could be like, due to this games success and high sales.

Divertido pra caramba! Elementos muito bem misturados, mundo aberto, a essência de Sonic, muita velocidade e as plataformas para ter acesso à coletáveis são bem legais. Joguei no difícil, e o fato de não ser muito complexo me fez gostar mais dele, na verdade, em partes... a dificuldade é justa, mas trechos como os de hacking final, são tediosos e muito frustrantes, e se jogar mal, terá que farmar muito anel antes dos bosses, enfim é um jogo incrível mesmo assim! tenho ele no PC e Switch, mas no switch foi onde zerei e... NÃO RECOMENDO, tem mini chefes e partes que simplesmente VOCÊ NÃO SABE O QUE ESTÁ ACONTECENDO! tem um na segunda área que eu literalmente só descobri oque ele fazia exatamente quando vi um vídeo em qualidade melhor hahahaha.
Em pontos negativos o jogo não brilha, tem bugs como qualquer sonic... Mas foi tudo facilmente ignorável. Já em positivos é um brilho gigante, o jogo é um destaque na franquia e um jogo bom por si só, Recomendo para geral, se sobressai de mais nos jogos de Sonic em 3D!