With Sonic Frontiers, we get a Sonic game with an open world for the first time. Does Sonic’s fast-paced gameplay work in this, or should we quickly go back to old-fashioned gameplay?
Do you know that? You’re actually really looking forward to playing it, but on the other hand, you’re also a little afraid to start things because a lot of things can go horribly wrong. I had that too with Sonic Frontiers. I no longer need to tell most of you that I am a true fan of the blue hedgehog and really wanted this new open world concept to succeed. Luckily, it worked for me too.
Digital world
In Sonic Frontiers you as Sonic together with your friends are looking for the Chaos Emeralds that ended up somewhere on the Starfall Islands. Once in the area you end up in a sort of digital wormhole. Sonic manages to escape, but his friends are trapped and so begins an adventure to save your friends.
That escape from the digital world is quite special. No one has ever achieved this before, and that raises questions. Particularly with a mysterious girl who watches Sonic and harasses him by sending him huge robots. Who is she? Where is she from? And what does she want from him?
Open world
Let’s start right away with the biggest change in the formula. The open world. The Starfall Islands consist of five separate and large enough islands that you can run around freely. This seems a bit awkward at first. It’s not immediately clear what to do and it all seems quite random. Think grind rails that seem to be randomly placed for no purpose, springs and boost pads, and other stuff we know from previous Sonic games.
However, the longer you play, the more everything falls into place. There are several small puzzles you can solve to fill parts of the map. With this you discover new puzzles, but you also conjure up new gravel tracks and the like. This way it becomes more and more clear how the island works and you also get more and more opportunities to move around the islands. You also find that those rails, springs and boost pads aren’t as randomly placed as you might initially think, but that they allow you to reach higher areas and also special items like medals that you need to continue the main propulsion story.
Furthermore, the islands are also full of enemies. Robots come in all shapes and sizes, and all with their own attack patterns and weaknesses. The little ones are easy enough to beat and they give you experience points. When you have collected enough of them, you can exchange them for a new ability.
The big ones take a little more practice. Figuring out how to take those bitches down is a puzzle in itself and, due in part to the wonderful explosion when they break apart, is very satisfying. Plus, they provide the elements you need to immerse yourself in the digital world for more traditional Sonic gameplay.
Traditional game
In that open world there are portals here and there that give you access to the digital world. When you go through it, you suddenly find yourself in a completely different game with the classic gameplay again; that is, running from point A to point B as fast as possible, collecting rings along the way, eliminating robots and avoiding obstacles.
There are four different missions associated with each level. Complete the level, find all red coins, complete the level with x number of rings and finish the level within the given time. You will receive a key for each objective and if you complete them all you will receive one more. You need those keys back in the open world to find the Chaos Emeralds, so these quests are certainly not optional and seamlessly bridge classic gameplay with the open world.
Final boss
When you have completed all your objectives on one island, the final boss is still waiting for you. This hinders the release of one of your friends and must therefore be broken. However, these bosses are gigantic in size and the only way to defeat them is to use the Chaos Emeralds and transform into Super Sonic. What follows is a wonderful show, supported by great music and beautiful animation. Really nice end of an island.
Then go to the next island and do it all again…
Repetition
As good as it is to run through that open world, defeat those big enemies, collect items to get stronger, and run through those digital levels, when you start out on a new island you can’t escape the feeling of: here we go again. You are literally starting from scratch. Again map an island, collect medals again and find those Chaos Emeralds again.
Yet I found that this bothered me less than I initially thought. Each island has slightly different puzzles, different environments, and other enemies, so the grind never really gets into it, and I just wanted to keep playing. In fact, the longer I play it, the more I like it.
Sound and Vision
Graphically, Sonic Frontiers is nothing special. It’s the cartoonish style we’re used to and that’s fine, but don’t expect a showcase for the latest generation consoles. In terms of sound, this is actually the same. The voice acting isn’t bad, but it isn’t brilliant either.
The music, on the other hand, I think is very good. The background music when running across the open island is beautifully relaxed, almost serene. When you then go into battle with one of the bigger bots, things quickly ramp up to give you a big boost for the fight. Music in the digital world is completely opposite to that in the open world. Nothing relaxed, but at a fast pace, because the level must also be played. However, the music for the final bosses takes the cake. I still have the metal song that accompanies the second boss fight, the Wyvern, stuck in my head. This is how music should support a game.
Beauty flaws
In terms of gameplay, the game is well put together. Sonic can be controlled smoothly, and you can also summon various combos and special attacks just like that. Even at high speed. What I don’t like working, even after playing for nearly 18 hours, is estimating distance. Sometimes I miss a jump completely, simply because I don’t see how far I have to jump. The same goes for hitting a gravel track at high speed. Somehow there isn’t a nice clear in-game way to estimate that distance.
Also, the game suffers a lot from its own speed. Sonic sometimes runs faster than the game can load certain items. If it’s a bush or a stone, then that’s it, but in Sonic Frontiers sometimes it’s complete ruins that suddenly pop up in front of you and that’s pretty creepy. Fortunately, I did not encounter game-breaking bugs and other trifles.
Yes you can fish
One last thing, you can also fish in the game. This is a fairly simple minigame that can give you some pretty cool stuff. Think fast travel to certain points, items to make Sonic stronger, or medals to advance the story. Then relax in an otherwise fast-paced game.
Conclusion
Sonic Team offers a great new game with Sonic Frontiers. The open world in combination with the classic gameplay in the digital worlds works wonders. While things may feel a bit repetitive, the gameplay is so fun you want to pick up the game again and again.
Technically everything doesn’t work perfectly yet and then the fact that sometimes large parts of the world suddenly appear in front of you is very disturbing. Also, distance and depth are also sometimes difficult to estimate.
However, the game with its addictive gameplay and beautiful music is a must play for everyone who has a warm heart for blue hedgehog.
