Critical: 7/10
This is certainly a competent game, nowhere near the colossal mistake that was Sonic Forces: there’s interesting level designs and bosses, a nice art-style, and a good amount of content. But it’s missing the passion and polish that Sonic Mania set forth. The music, in particular, has some of the best and worst in the series has to offer. There’s a good effort in here, and Sonic Superstars tries to do something different, but it’s hard to see the game as anything other than… just okay.

Personal: 6/10

Critical: 7/10
A surprisingly content-rich update that is unapologetic in showcasing itself as a prototype playground experimenting on and expanding upon the physics and gameplay concepts beyond the base game. The Final Horizon is the challenge that experienced players have been waiting for, with steep difficulty spikes in the open world, combat, and Cyberspace—at the unfair expense of alienating newcomers and casual players.

It's not pretty or perfect, and there's a whole load of game design flaws and unintended frustrations, but there's a sense of freedom that is immensely enjoyable when it happens. Though this final update feels like a testing ground (to both its benefit and detriment) for the next Sonic game, it's clear that Sonic Frontiers is lovingly created under a more revitalized and dedicated Sonic Team—one we haven't seen in a long while. I believe in the vision that Morio Kishimoto and his team are reaching for, and I hope that it only goes higher from here.

Personal: 8/10

Critical: 7.5/10
One of the most visually appealing and mechanically rich entries in the series since the 3DS era, bogged by a poorly-presented narrative, a plethora of uneventful support conversations / safe characterization, and tedious side activities. Though this entry is better seen as a return to the classic Fire Emblem feel, it's a hard sell to newcomers and fans from Three Houses expecting robust social simulation and even veterans expecting to have any substantial interactions with previous protagonists from the franchise. Engage is worth considering if you're solely looking for a complex tactics / strategy game, since hardly anything else—save for its visuals and music—shines just as brightly.

Personal: 7/10
Just for context, I spent 45 hours in this game and went until Ch. 23, when I suddenly felt like I knew everything this game had to offer and didn't believe it could offer anything different to change my mind on how I feel about it as a whole. It's so strange to have a game spectacularly succeed with its visuals, music, and gameplay, but greatly fumble on narrative, characterization, and social aspects. I hardly think this is a low point for the franchise—it's more of a misstep and a glaring warning for what NOT to do for future titles.

Critical: 8/10
For an April Fool's joke, it's a well-produced mystery with excellent character writing and a little platforming. Under two hours, fans will enjoy this small-scale love letter to the franchise. Since it's free, anyone remotely familiar with Sonic should also give it a shot!

Personal: 8/10
For something that's meant to be an "April Fool's joke," it's really a great love letter / fan service to the series as a whole, especially with the new direction of characterization that the IDW comics started, and now what Frontiers is seemingly adopting going forward.

Of course, it's a nice treat admist everything, especially with Amy's inclusion in Origins Plus. It's a great way to really explore fan favorite characters and "correct" the kind of personality butchering that they've been experiencing in the past games.

And it's just a well-produced game. For a game that is sold under the April Fool's guise and FREE, there's a lot to enjoy as a fan, and perhaps anyone who been out of Sonic and needs an excuse to see where characters stand and so forth.

It's certainly an "out there" game for Sonic, but I think most of us (fans) appreciate the kind of experimentation and engagement with fans to make playful content.

Critical: 7/10
A short romp that covers both difficult puzzles and extreme reaction time challenges—topped with cute demon girls. Simple but effective with its mechanics, writing, and striking artstyle—check it out!

Personal: 8/10
I feel like an essential part of this game is surfing all those (un)official comics, all these characters deserve more wholesome moments

Critical: 8.5/10
Fusing the concepts of the previous two entries, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a rich reimagining of the series’ core gameplay, making for an expansive yet streamlined experience. Unfortunately, its narrative is buried within this emphasis on gameplay and mechanics, resulting in some lackluster environments and some missteps in storytelling—mostly an underwhelming start and end despite its compelling character moments in between. This third entry probably won’t leave the same emotional impact as the previous entries but it is worth jumping into purely for its gameplay and musical brilliance, along with its main cast’s endearing personalities.

Personal: 7/10

Critical: 7/10
Although filled with bountiful ideas, the game never manages to showcase that ambition in a meaningful way, resulting in repetitive objectives, frustrating moments, and a handful of technical issues. Although this game is a step up in scale for the franchise, and at times enjoyable, the glaring missteps and lack of polish inevitably sours the entire experience.

Personal: 8/10

Critical: 7/10
An experimental playground that embraces tons of genres and concepts but executes them with often glaring flaws. Story, music, combat, movement, and sheer amount of content is a step up from Lost World or Forces, though still hard to recommend for a general audience. For longtime fans, however, Sonic Frontiers is something to be excited for. Although this entry isn’t exactly Sonic Team’s crowning achievement many hoped it would be, it’s a step in the right direction for the franchise’s future—for now, Frontiers is simply a glimpse of that potential.

The Final Horizon Update: 7/10
A surprisingly content-rich update that is unapologetic in showcasing itself as a prototype playground experimenting on and expanding upon the physics and gameplay concepts beyond the base game. The Final Horizon is the challenge that experienced players have been waiting for, with steep difficulty spikes in the open world, combat, and Cyberspace—at the unfair expense of alienating newcomers and casual players.

It's not pretty or perfect, and there's a whole load of game design flaws and unintended frustrations, but there's a sense of freedom that is immensely enjoyable when it happens. Though this final update feels like a testing ground (to both its benefit and detriment) for the next Sonic game, it's clear that Sonic Frontiers is lovingly created under a more revitalized and dedicated Sonic Team—one we haven't seen in a long while. I believe in the vision that Morio Kishimoto and his team are reaching for, and I hope that it only goes higher from here.

Personal: 8/10
I think I need a little more time to sit with this one. The Sonic fan in me is SCREAMING with excitement and wonderment with how much has improved since previous 3D outings like Lost World and Forces. And yet, as someone who embraces the many apparent flaws this entry has, I kinda wish that Sonic Team either had more time or more thought into the game they were creating.

I enjoyed my time with the "open zone" concept, but it does get pretty tedious to search for memory tokens, vault keys, and portal gears. The integration of both 3D and 2D platforming is balanced and engaging, and it's clear that Sonic Team really wants to push into the more exploratory / open-ended level design, reminiscent of the Adventure series.

The use of many genre / mini-games were sometimes fun diversions that further helps gameplay variety, but some of them really disrupted the pacing of the game. However, I adore the emphasis of Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic. Even though these moments are incredible spectacles with banging music, the camera clunkiness and random pauses between scenes really takes you out of the experience.

Likewise, the cyberspace levels were surprisingly fun to run through, but the quality of them vary. Some play out like barebone tutorial / bonus stages from Forces; others are full-fledged levels that also have that sense of exploration and multiple paths. The concerns about "borrowing" level design didn't really hinder the experience—the actual Achilles Heel is that Sonic, for whatever reason, controls slower and more clunky in cyberspace. Especially seeing how FAST Sonic can go in the open-world, it always feels like his speed and momentum is being pushed back in these separate levels.

Finally, I thought the narrative was far more interesting than anything we got after 2010, but I still think that Unleashed and the Adventure series are the pinnacle of Sonic storytelling. Though the characterization of Sonic and his friends are FINALLY done right thanks to Ian Flynn, having the gameplay directly integrated with story progression (aka collect "x" amount of token to talk to Amy) means that these moments are too spaced out in between and don't really provide a fulfilling narrative on a grand-scale. Sonic Frontier's story is engaging because it taps and expands upon the lore of the franchise—but taking a step back from my Sonic fan brain, I can't really say the plot of this game was "good".

By the time the credits rolled, I was left wanting more. I can get a feeling that the content for the game's second half was somewhat constrained for time or budget. There's clearly an ambition with Sonic Team to make something great—I definitely didn't feel that way with Forces. But unfortunately, they still cannot achieve that vision with Frontiers. Which makes me optimistic that the next title considers all this praise and criticism, and makes a more focused, expansive experience.

All in all, Sonic Frontiers is a game that fans should absolutely play—right now if money isn't an issue, or whenever it goes on sale. For anyone else, it's tough to recommend unless you don't mind a fair amount of jank in its gameplay (not to an unplayable degree like Sonic 06) and unintentional goofiness.

EDIT: Oh my gosh, I forgot to talk about the MUSIC! Beautifully amazing, as to be expected from the SEGA Sound Team. It's definitely a new kind of sound for Sonic, even though it takes up familiar genres like rock, orchestra, and techno. Like with most Sonic games, even if you have absolutely no interest in playing the game, give the soundtrack a listen!