Riding off of 358/2 Days, I expected something better as this game is on a handheld with higher fidelity than the DS, but this game took everything I liked and appreciated about Days and took a big ol' horse shit on it.

If I had to describe this game in one word, it'd be "useless."
This game fails at everything it attempts to do. The characters are terrible, by having another trio reflection of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, but with no personality or defining character traits to make them stand out. The first instance of downright terrible writing in the series, with characters being so oblivious to Xehanort's motives that it almost borders on being a satire of the plot of the Star Wars' prequels. And the worst gameplay in the series, with terrible mechanics such as Command Finishers, Command Styles, and Shotlocks, bundled together in an engine that is two steps away from shitting itself.

For a game that is meant to set up the next major story arc in the series, it's the most contrived, convoluted, and boring series of retcons I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

The pre-release for this game was one of the rockiest rides I've ever been on. From a vague CGI reveal trailer to the long wait till that god awful IGN reveal trailer, I probably felt all emotions humanly possible waiting for this game to come out. After Forces, I had almost lost complete faith in this franchise. releasing that game after something like Mania was the greatest fumble I've ever seen in gaming history. It wasn't a good spot for fans, especially since Mania looked like a significant change in how the franchise was being handled. 

After the IGN World premiere, I felt the same feeling I did when Forces dropped. It was over; we were cooked. It wasn't until the demo at Summer Games Fest that everyone would actually get their hands on the game and see for themselves what this game had to offer. I was broke as hell and lazy as fuck, so I didn't go, but the response to the demo on Twitter surprised the hell out of me. To put it bluntly, I was surprised people were saying this game was better than bad; it was great, amazing even, and I just had to take their word for it. I don't think people would lie about liking a Sonic game in the year 2022. I only had witness accounts and terrible-quality phone videos of boost gameplay to go off of, as well as some small gameplay snippets the YouTube channel posted leading up to the game's release. After everything was said and done, the only thing left for me to do was wait for the game to come out. 

When I had the game in my hands, I skipped a class I had that day for the first and only time. I played this game from start to finish twice, once on the Switch (bad) and once on PC (good). On my switch playthrough, I beat that game in 13 hours in one session. I wanted to stop multiple times, but I never actually did. I was hooked on this game, and I loved every bit of it. I liked running around and fighting enemies; it was new and a unique spin on this franchise's formula. The bosses were great, and the soundtrack was phenomenal. and the story wasn't terrible for once; it was actually decent! I saw the light; Sonic was back. Over time, that feeling faded, and my opinions changed, as they should. But there's so much I want to say about this game. 

I don't love this game like I do others like SA1 or Unleashed, but I do have a great deal of respect for Morio Kishimoto, Iizuka, and everyone else who worked on this game. A game like this shouldn't possibly exist in the state it's in. The Sonic Team was in the most unwinnable situation ever. With layoffs for their team, a reduced budget, and strict deadlines up their ass, it looked unwinnable, but they made the game they wanted to make. If Iizuka hadn't negotiated for that extra year of development, then I don't know what would've happened to this franchise; it probably would've sunk, but we don't have to worry about that. 

This game feels like the fresh new gameplay style the series really needed. The series has had multiple gameplay styles before, but I feel like this game has the potential to pave the way for a satisfying middle ground between adventure and boost gameplay in the future. This game has a world design I like to call "McDonald's Play Place.". It's mostly just huge terrain, except that you have tiny, curated spots of platforming segments that reward you for completing them. It's not a bad style at all. I find it fun doing the little platforming sections quickly and moving on to the next in quick succession. The only problems that stood out were during Chaos Island, where you're forced into a 2D camera and get stuck in some challenges by accident. Things like that can get frustrating quickly. The pop-in doesn't do the games any favors either; I'm going to assume the switch port is the main reason why the pop-in is so terrible. I'm of the opinion that the switch port is surprisingly decent, but I still don't think the other ports should suffer because of this one.

Cyberspace is coupled with this game as its second main gameplay style. It's kind of terrible. I can safely say that it's a shallow imitation of good boost level design from before, because it's just reused level design from before. On one hand, yeah, it's terrible, and on the other, deadlines are a bitch, and this was probably the easiest thing they could do. If the controls were half decent, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm kind of shocked we got something worse than Sonic's gameplay in Forces. I say kind of terrible because I kind of like how broken and satisfying the air boost is, so that's a plus. Chronos Island has entirely unique level designs for Cyberspace, and they have a good grasp of how to design levels; they just need to be longer than a minute. If they had more time, then maybe their skills would've shown more.

Combat with Sonic is not a bad idea. It's just that this game has more of a stilted and clunky alpha version of a sensible combat system and honestly doesn't feel good to play for me. Kishimoto has stated they thought of DMC combat as a good base for combat, but IMO, I feel like they could do a system more like KH2, where it's very simple on a surface level, but bosses and encounters are built around mastering how to pace yourself in combat and not having complicated combos for the sake of all audiences. All in all, I find myself avoiding all combat unless necessary for the story because it just isn't fun to me. Maybe it will be improved in future outings.

The soundtrack for this game is phenomenal; I understand why it broke the top 10 on Spotify. It deserves all the praise. Tomoya Ohtani continues to prove himself as an amazing composer for the series, and his overwhelming passion shines through his compositions. 

Bosses in this game are the main thing I see people talk about in this game, and for good reason. It's the first time we see Super Sonic used casually throughout a game as a major part of the story. Super Sonic being used in regular boss fights is cool in concept, but due to him being Super Sonic, it makes things hard to balance around. I find these bosses to be great in presentation but bad from a design standpoint. When the worst thing a boss can do is waste your time until you run out of resources, I think you messed up badly. There's no real challenge, but at least it looks cool, I guess. Spectacle can only carry you so far. You need style and substance, not one or the other. I will say, though, that these fights are cool as fuck; I can't hate them.

The story for this game, while not great, is a good change of pace from the self-serious and undercooked plot of Sonic Forces and the laughable embarrassment of a nothingburger that is Sonic Lost World. The subtle writing and dialogue can seem a little corny, like Sonic's constant references to past games, but for once, it feels nice to have some acknowledgement of connected continuity. We haven't had something like that since the adventure era. I'm a sucker for character-focused narratives, and it was awesome to have Sonic and his friends think about old times and reflect on their time together. I'm mixed on Ian Flynn's abilities as a writer, but he did well this time. Sage is an okay addition to the cast. I think it's neat that Eggman has a new member of his cast that isn't an annoying robot. She just needs to spread her wings more in the future.

As an experience, I say it does lose its muster towards the end. Rhea Island and Ouranos Island feel like they were bundled together at the last minute, and the final boss fight against Supreme is terrible and severely disappointing. The end fight in Hard Mode is also terrible. Maybe I don't see the vision because I haven't played Ikaruga, but I didn't think it was a good experience, especially since it was just a reused minigame style. On the topic of minigames, fuck that pinball minigame on Chaos Island that shit never worked properly for me. 

I have to commend Kishimoto and Iizuka for believing in Sonic as much as they do. I believe they echo the same love and passion long-time fans have for the series. Whether you love or hate this game, we can't deny the impact it has had on the franchise. Sonic is doing well for the first time in Japan in a looooooooong time. More heads are turning to the series, and the developers have a vision for the future of this series. We just have to believe in them as much as they believe in Sonic.

Right now, the franchise seems to be doing great (mostly thanks to the success of the movies). Sonic Team is recruiting again, and it looks like it's only going to get better from here.

Let's just hope Sega doesn't screw it up.