There was a LOT riding against this game. A string of mediocre to bad games. Small bursts of brilliance undermined by said string of mediocrity. Small budgets. Rushed deadlines. Pressure from Sega higher ups. According to rumor, Sonic Frontiers was the current director Morio Kishimoto's last chance to direct anything within Sega, due to prior reception and financial failures of previous titles, so that was also a big pressure placed on the team and the game itself.

Despite the insurmountable odds, Sonic Frontiers launched with acclaim, being hailed as the first good 3D Sonic game in years. It did come with faults, and there were a variety of criticisms launched towards the game, but there was no doubt that a lot of care was given crafting this title, despite the gameplay jank that has been present since Sonic Adventure and the crunch that ended up happening.

The story is typical Sonic fare, but with a twist of Sonic being separated from his friends due to digital world shenanigans that he managed to escape from, leaving him alone upon the mysterious Starfall Islands. Perhaps not quite alone, as an ever enigmatic presence encourages him to take on the Titans of the islands, and the hologram of a young girl continues to antagonize Sonic to impede his progress. Soon, he finds his friends, though as digitized ghosts, barely present in the physical world, and strives to restore their physical forms while uncovering the secrets of the islands.

It's not necessarily a complicated or super expertly written story, but it is a lot of fun to play through and the character interaction between Sonic and co. tend to be both refreshing and entertaining, which is more than it has been lately. Sonic himself, while the snark and jokey nature is still there, is pared back enough to allow a wider range of emotion and tone to come through, and to allow the seldom jokes that make it through to land better than it had in a while.

Gameplay itself is divided up into three parts. Open World (Open Zone, as it's called in this game) exploration, Combat, and Cyberspace runs. Easily the strongest aspect of the game is the exploration, as each zone is a blend of natural environments/ruins with artificial obstacles, and there's something cathartic racing through the forest, only to for a full tilt jump off of a spring-pad into a series of grind rails, wall runs, and speed ramps, darting from course to course, only to finally come back down to the ground and hit it running full speed. Combat, while somewhat simplified, is a fun bag of normal attacks and special moves that provide close and ranged attacks and a myriad of movement options. It's a bit of a shame most enemies start dying off quicker and quicker as your attack level gets higher, making combos less viable. The weakest part would have to be the Cyberspace runs, which are still fun distractions that grant progression, but the worst half tend to be the 2D ones, which seem to have a separate engine running that severely limits speed and jump potential, making it feel stiffer than it should. Aside from that, there are a variety of smaller minigames and side attractions, but none of them overstay their welcome, allowing the three core gameplay elements to take center stage.

Boss battles, however, are the absolute star attraction, as it utilizes the core combat gameplay with the Super Sonic flair that fans have been DYING for ever since Super Sonic became a story element and finale to most titles.

Which brings me to the end of the game. Both the normal and the alternate scenario. Now, I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I actually liked the normal ending to a degree. The End fight was harrowing and chilling, and I'm a bit of a fan of space shooters, so I felt right at home, and the levels of homage and symbolism made it feel like a lot of thought was put into it, rather than it feeling like a cop out. Then, when a major character is sacrificed to save the world, it was legitimately heartbreaking, especially when seeing the one that created said major character shows genuine sorrow all through body language in the end.

HOWEVER... the alternate scenario, which allows you to play as Amy, Knuckles, and Tails, and have a brand new fight with the final boss in a more eldritch mecha horror sort of way, allowing for a more complex and multifaceted battle that tests skills along with your wits, and to end not on a bitter sweet note, but a genuinely happy end that lets everyone but the final boss go off to their next adventure with smiles all around, even for the villains. It was just better and more engaging. I liked the original ending, and it actually got me to shed a tear, but I LOVED the new ending, and it left me satisfied and eager to see where the next game would go.

Sonic Frontiers is a game I can't ever help but have biases towards. This was a game I imagined and hoped for when I was still in high-school. Dreams of running through a dense forest at top speed, only to reach a grassy clearing full of red and white flowers while unknown mechanical foes wait for Sonic to fight, before busting the bots up in DMC style hand to hand combat, before speeding away, doing tricks off of a spring-pad jump. No, this is not the perfect Sonic game, and it's still not my favorite despite the FREE update's major improvements, however it is a few steps in the right direction, and it satisfied the teenager in me that hoped to see even a fraction of what I dreamed of some day, getting more than just a fraction in the process.

Cheers to Sonic Team. I await your next run!