sonic frontiers is a game i went into wanting to like more than anything. i love 2d sonic but most 3d games have a lot of problems, so it makes sense that i would want a 3d sonic game i can say with no caveats that i enjoyed. im sad to say that frontiers is no different and suffers from most of, if not all of the same issues that have plagued the series since its transition to 3d. the setpieces are bland, the music prioritizes being "cool" over the style and substance of the 2d games, needless unenjoyable 2d sections that don't even try to feel as good as actual 2d sonic, you constantly fight against the controls and camera, and the story and characterization is still laughably bad somehow, despite ian flynn being the writer this time around. ultimately i do think fans of generations and unleashed will probably like this one though.
new issues introduced are that the open world is inconceivably bland and empty as well as being aesthetically bankrupt. none of the soul or style of previous 3d sonic titles shines through with the locations in frontiers whatsoever. i played on the switch, and the only open world switch game (or 3d game ive played on it in general) that i'd say looks worse is pokemon legends arceus and uh. yeah. not a great look when that's who you're contending with. pop in on the switch version is also miserable, not sure if that's the case in other versions. the new girl character also sucks? she's an awful design and nothing about her character is endearing or interesting. the game managed to make the first time you go super sonic the most bland and miserable experience out of any 3d sonic games which is genuinely an accomplishment. they ruined the one consistently enjoyable part of 3d sonic. amazing.
by the time i got to the 2nd island, saw that it was just a vast rocky desert, and that i would have to repeat the needless item collecting for a whole other island i just couldn't bring myself to play more.
the best i can say about it is that it's an improvement over boom, lost world, and forces i guess. if anything, my only positive takeaway from sonic frontiers is that it made me want to give sa2 another chance
also the best part of the game is big's fishing minigame even if the water had weird texture glitches every few times i went fishing.
new issues introduced are that the open world is inconceivably bland and empty as well as being aesthetically bankrupt. none of the soul or style of previous 3d sonic titles shines through with the locations in frontiers whatsoever. i played on the switch, and the only open world switch game (or 3d game ive played on it in general) that i'd say looks worse is pokemon legends arceus and uh. yeah. not a great look when that's who you're contending with. pop in on the switch version is also miserable, not sure if that's the case in other versions. the new girl character also sucks? she's an awful design and nothing about her character is endearing or interesting. the game managed to make the first time you go super sonic the most bland and miserable experience out of any 3d sonic games which is genuinely an accomplishment. they ruined the one consistently enjoyable part of 3d sonic. amazing.
by the time i got to the 2nd island, saw that it was just a vast rocky desert, and that i would have to repeat the needless item collecting for a whole other island i just couldn't bring myself to play more.
the best i can say about it is that it's an improvement over boom, lost world, and forces i guess. if anything, my only positive takeaway from sonic frontiers is that it made me want to give sa2 another chance
also the best part of the game is big's fishing minigame even if the water had weird texture glitches every few times i went fishing.
6 Comments
i saw how empty it was and how many mcguffin tokens i had to get for knuckles and after how absolutely lame the end of the first island was i couldn't do it anymore
wrong the best part is THAT minigame where if you mess up your life is over
Watching the hype cycle for this every step of the way made me feel like I was going insane. I'm not sure why some many people want a Sonic game by way of Ubisoft, and it's especially upsetting to hear that Sonic Team wants this to be the template going forward. I think you could reason that they'd only improve on a sequel and fix some of these issues, but considering they had something solid with Colors and Generations and then started botching things again doesn't inspire much confidence in me that they will.
100% agree with it having no aesthetic or soul.
100% agree with it having no aesthetic or soul.
so many*
i'm not a fan of 3D sonic post-adventure 2 so i never found enjoyment in the boost formula and since i didn't keep track of the marketing outside of "open world sonic game" i was excited just because i thought it was a break from boost stuff and i thought an open world would be fun for a character like sonic but sonic team just did not learn anything from open world games over the past decade or so, but i guess that makes sense since they tend to be gamefreak levels of behind the curb when it comes to games evolving and learning new things
brockreiher
1 year ago