Sonic Frontiers doubled down on what always resonated with me the most about the Sonic franchise - fast, fluid, expressive movement.
By segmenting the open world areas into bite-size obstacle courses rather than locking players into longer, linear levels, that expression in movement shines. There are only a handful of games that feel as good to move around in as this one does.
Although this game succeeds in the movement department, it severely lacks in the other area that made me love Sonic - style. The environments in this game are very uninspired and feel like some generic mix of Breathe of the Wild and Nier: Automata. It's hard to believe that a series known for some of its unique and recognizable locales, could be confused for any other generic adventure title if you just looked at some screenshots.
The music is fantastic as always. The boss fights are really fun and give a great sense of power. And the story is unusually good and nuanced for a Sonic title.
Overall, this is definitely a good step in the right direction for Sonic moving forward. I just hope they learn to bring back some of the style and attitude that made Sonic so fun to begin with.
7.5/10
By segmenting the open world areas into bite-size obstacle courses rather than locking players into longer, linear levels, that expression in movement shines. There are only a handful of games that feel as good to move around in as this one does.
Although this game succeeds in the movement department, it severely lacks in the other area that made me love Sonic - style. The environments in this game are very uninspired and feel like some generic mix of Breathe of the Wild and Nier: Automata. It's hard to believe that a series known for some of its unique and recognizable locales, could be confused for any other generic adventure title if you just looked at some screenshots.
The music is fantastic as always. The boss fights are really fun and give a great sense of power. And the story is unusually good and nuanced for a Sonic title.
Overall, this is definitely a good step in the right direction for Sonic moving forward. I just hope they learn to bring back some of the style and attitude that made Sonic so fun to begin with.
7.5/10