Sonic Frontiers Review by: claytune - 9.2/10
New Frontiers Heyo guys I wasn't sure if I would wanna do a review of Sonic Frontiers right away but after playing it I wanted to write this because I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would and also wanted an easy way to see all my thoughts on it right after playing it. I will cover some spoilers but I plan on using the spoiler tag for anything and giving an indication of what the spoiler is about so you can decide if it's something you wanna read if you've not played the game.
Gameplay 7/10 -
If you look at all the ratings and instantly question why the gameplay is the lowest-rated thing if I rated the game so highly I don't blame you, but I have my reasons. I'll start by saying that I think the gameplay of the "open zones" is a lot closer to an 8 than a 7 but I couldn't rate it that high due to cyberspace. Before I jump into my issues with cyberspace I'll talk about why I like the gameplay in the "open zones" and a large part of that is the control sliders in this game basically allowing you to decide how you want Sonic to control! Even better yet is the fact that Sonic actually turns well while boosting in this game which was mind-blowing for me when I was first messing with the controls. Alright, you might think "If you can customize the controls how can cyberspace possibly be that bad? Well, that's the issue the controls you set don't affect cyberspace and it can be pretty jarring going from your set controls to the set cyberspace controls where I'm convinced they had Sonic's speed all the way down cause he just feels slow in cyberspace which I imagine they did so the bite-sized ones wouldn't be over even quicker. Since I know some people have issues with it I'd like to mention the fact that most of the cyberspace level layouts are taken from previous Sonic games isn't an issue for me just how they control. On the topic of combat, I enjoyed the combat quite a lot I don't think it's as good as the werehog's combat but I do like that the combos and special moves all take Sonic's speed into account though I had issues with some of the button combos you had to do to pull them off since they'd have you pressing buttons together that normally had a different function so there's a couple of moves I pretty much never used but the skill tree does have an auto combo ability you can unlock but I disabled it so maybe that's on me but I wanted to feel in complete control of the fights.
Thoughts on the Titan boss fights.
[spoiler]I was blown away fighting the first titan boss it really feels like it would be a final boss in any other Sonic game, and that opinion pretty much stands for all the titan fights using Super Sonic for the fights was amazing![/spoiler]
Thoughts on the Final Boss
[spoiler]Oddly enough my thoughts for the titan boss fights all feeling like a final boss doesn't apply to the actual final 2 fights in the game, the final boss was just kind of eh and way too easy where the true final boss for some reason is a bullet hell? I don't mind Sonic having bullet hell gameplay but I did think it was a bit disappointing that you didn't fight the final fight as Super Sonic with similar gameplay to the other fights.[/spoiler]
Graphics 10/10 -
Sonic Unleashed has finally been bested in terms of graphics! I prefer how Unleashed looks but I have to admit technically Frontiers does look better.
Sound 10/10 -
I'll start with the voice acting for sound and I don't believe it but I thought everyone sounded good... Starting with Sonic's or well Roger Craig Smith's voice in this game I think he did a fantastic job the voice directing was fantastic throughout this game and the story which I have a lot to say about was perfect this time around. I didn't even think Amy sounded bad so I give a lot of credit to the voice directing for allowing me to view this cast that I've hated for 10+ years positively. Now for the music! I'll start with the islands and say they all had okay peaceful music I didn't think much of. Not really sure where to include this but I really love how it plays a bit of the Sonic Adventure fishing music when you catch a fish. Before I move on to highlighting vocal songs and what I really loved about each one I'll say that cyberspace's music for the most part was good with some tracks just being okay I actually was okay with how much of it was techno music since it fit with the theme of cyberspace.
Okay now for my rant about the Vocal themes I really wanna talk about! I'll be mentioning where they play and why they fit so read what I have to say with caution!
Cyberspace 1-2 - This song is a bop the best cyberspace song without a doubt and one of the only ones I noticed with lyrics I really wanna know who the singer is for this song I've had a guess since I first heard it before the game came out but the more I listen to the more I doubt it being who I initially thought so if anyone knows who it is let me know.
I'm Here -
[spoiler]I allowed myself to listen to the full version before the game came out cause I honestly wasn't sure if it'd play during the game and it turns out it's used rather similarly to how they used Fist Bump in Forces where they don't really play the full vocal theme at any point but use an edited version late in the game. I think this song fits Frontiers so well as the main theme with knowledge of the plot now and such.[/spoiler]
Undefeatable -
[spoiler]I'm so glad I went into the game knowing nothing of this song I'm not normally into metal at all (if this song would be considered metal?) but this is probably my favorite song in the game and it's just the theme for the first major boss! If I would have heard the song before the game came out I would have guessed it was the final boss theme. I should mention the song works perfectly for the fight and just how crazy said fight is. [/spoiler]
Breaking Through It All -
[spoiler]I initially didn't think much of this song but the chorus in phase 2 of the boss is epic but not as big on this one overall I'd say.[/spoiler]
Find Your Flame -
[spoiler]I can't really explain why but this song really reminds me of Infinite's theme and it's not even just that it has the same singer I can't explain it but it's pretty good. [/spoiler]
Vandalize -
Considering Sonic already posted this as the ending theme I see no need to talk about this song as a spoiler so while I love the song I don't really think it fits as the ending theme at all really. Still sad it had to be censored for the game. :(
One Way Dream -
[spoiler]The true ending theme actually works as an ending I really like how hopeful this song sounds cause for me that's how I felt beating the game hopeful for Sonic's future for the first time in a decade I have confidence in Sonic Team. As for NateWantsToBattle singing the song I normally find his YouTube covers pretty hit or miss but I think this kind of song was perfect for him. I was so happy with the game I didn't even mind hearing the Reach for the Stars bit of the song.[/spoiler]
Addictive 9/10 -
I've replayed almost every Sonic game but this one will likely be on the rare side of games for me to replay just cause it's bigger than most Sonic games and I feel like a major part of the enjoyment was the mystery of the plot and with that gone I'm not sure replaying it would be as fun but I'm sure I'll still enjoy the game again when I replay it and maybe I'll notice more references to other Sonic games when I do eventually replay it.
Story 10/10 -
The story is the best part of this game I'll get into why it's so amazing more with the spoilers part but this game respects Sonic's history and the writing was fantastic throughout the entire game with what it brings up.
Please don't read the spoilers if you care even the slightest bit about Sonic game plots without playing the game. :)
[spoiler]I'm not sure where to even begin but let's start with the fact that this game references Shadow the Hedgehog (The Game) in 2022 the Egg Memos you can get from fishing with Big are amazing they reference the Babylonians, Dark Gaia, the events of SA1&2, Neo Metal Sonic, this game being written by someone who actually loves Sonic The Hedgehog shows all throughout the game's writing. They even address Tails being inconsistent as a character bringing up Sonic Forces but also the times he helped in the adventure games! I could go on and on but instead, I'll finish by bringing up the fact they reference Sonic saying "Let's do it to it" which blew me away that he finally said it in a game. The tone of this game was so refreshing Sonic can actually be serious??? I hate the opinion that Sonic plots shouldn't be serious and my favorite Sonic game doesn't even have that serious of a plot for most of it. (Sonic Heroes in case you were wondering) I loved Sage's dynamic with Eggman with her considering Eggman her father it was heartbreaking at the end of the game. They set up some character development for Amy, Tails, and Knuckles I can't wait to see where that leads in the next game! [/spoiler]
Depth 8/10 -
I'm so glad that this game is longer than Forces if I paid $60 and the game ended after 4 hours I would have been pretty annoyed considering how long it had been since Forces but I was still on the first island at the point in time Forces would of have ended! The game has 4 full islands and 30 cyberspace levels so while it's not as long as said in one of the interviews leading up to the game's release still a good 20 hours.
Difficulty 7/10 -
Most of the time this game is not that challenging but every time I was feeling pretty relaxed the game would throw some way too hard fight or random cyberspace level that was so hard for no reason. I recall this one cyberspace level that was like 2:50 seconds long taking me 20 tries before I finally got the S rank and I just kept choking near the end of it took me way longer than it should have but it was a memorable bit of suffering. That said I can't talk difficulty and not mention cyberspace 1-2 I'm 99% sure the level layout is from Windmill Isle Act 2 the level that introduced me to Sonic in general but the timing is so strict on this level for no reason someone at Sega was definitely like let's torture all the kids who started with Unleashed by making a level they love one of the hardest in the game! There were a couple of mini-bosses that used grind rails that absolutely destroyed me and made me hope I never see a boss fight involving grind rails ever again in my life because I have spent enough time in one life span on grind rails over the past few days.
Overall 9.2/10 -
The game may not be perfect but I loved it, if you are a Sonic fan especially of the 3D games I can't recommend Frontiers enough!
Graphics
10 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
8 Story
10 Difficulty
7
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