Thoughts on Sonic Frontiers

Written on July 28, 2023

Sonic Frontiers, as of right now, is the latest entry in the Sonic series and I like it more than I expected. Going in I expected things to be thin, and they were, but not in the way I expected. I put about 25 hours into the game and beat it on Hard. So, I want to talk about it. If anything about this interests you, I’d recommend the game. They do offer a demo on Switch and PlayStation. Keep in mind this is not a review, just my thoughts on stuff.

Pacing and the Gameplay Loop

The pacing of the game is faster and so much more out-of-the-way than you’d think. Play a small open-world segment for a story collectible, unlock part of the map by doing a challenge, watch a story conversation, kill a boss, play a Cyber Space stage, and all of that loops into each other. Due to how short the segments are and how little fanfare is given to these things, playing the core loop allows for a state of flow that the checklist nature of things didn't show to me until things got tedious. That lack of fanfare is actually really important to my amount of enjoyment in the Open World segments. If I did any simple thing and the game stopped me to compliment me I probably would have hated Frontiers. Insert Korok, here.

Open Zones and Story

Exploration in general is fairly basic but still rewarding in the way that you get a lot of smaller rewards. Small rewards can work, but I feel like Frontiers has too many rewards. Despite the fact I put about 25 hours into the game, I feel like I still haven’t experienced enough. This becomes an issue with the core loop in my eyes, not only because the rewards are so insignificant, but because most of the Open Zones are filled with some of the most basic and trite things. I swear I zoned out half the time reaching a flow state not of focus, but of boredom. The only time this is really challenged is in two situations and one of them isn’t even from the base game, but a DLC addition. Those two things are the various Towers in the game and the Action Chain Challenges added with the second DLC Update.

Action Chain Challenges sort of fix my issues with the basic Open Zone platforming challenges. Only in the way that they make the process of getting into a flow-state part of the game. The challenge works by starting at a point and you have to collect orbs that up a score multiplier. Doing any sort of thing offers a score and since most of the orbs are put around these platforming challenges, it feels pretty great to keep chaining things. It still doesn’t fix the fact there is fairly zero reward for it. Unless you do all of them, in which case you get the Spin Dash.

The Towers are pretty self-explanatory. They’re focused challenges that if you fail mean restarting because you’ll fall back down to the start. I actually like that, it’s probably one of the only times the game ever punishes you. The Towers are also excuses for the game to not only offer a unique vista or view, something I feel Frontiers does fairly well. Also, can I mention that for a second? Frontiers isn’t the best-looking game, but I feel like its environmental design and ambiance is done fairly well. Sonic and Pals are juxtaposed in a foreign land with forces outside of what they know. Despite that, they keep on running.

Controls

Running is a pretty big part of the game as well being a Sonic game after all. I would say that this is probably the best Sonic has controlled since the Adventure games. It helps that you’re able to tune how you want Sonic to control, but I feel that has led to a bit of inconsistency. Frontiers being a take-it-or-leave-it experience the controls feel the same way. Despite how responsive I feel Sonic controls, it’s not the same for everyone because of those control options.

His responsiveness to me is really in how tight he feels. If you haven’t played with the deceleration settings, he stops on a dime if you let go of the stick. Leading to Sonic feeling a bit artificial, since there isn’t much momentum, but what you trade for that is complete control of Sonic at three speeds. Running, Boosting, and Power Boosting.

The Boost in this game, outside of the Power Boost, is even slower in this game compared to the other games in the series. While I feel like that might be an issue for some, the big issue with the Boost in every game is the balance between complex level design and spectacle. You can’t speed through an entire level in a minute and also have it be dense without a really big focus on level design. This is why I feel like every game since Unleashed has actually slowed and paired Sonic down to allow for a more dense and interesting level design. Frontiers has also slowed the speed down, while speeding around the Islands feels good, it would be pretty hard to do any segment at higher speeds. That being said, there is the Power Boost, a new mechanic that Sonic unlocks when he is at max rings in the game. This boost is much faster, it feels like nearly double the speed. Despite this, it doesn’t even trivialize the open zones. It’s certainly faster, but not too fast. However, once you find out about power boosting there really isn’t any reason to not use it.

In a future game, I would hope that you have both the normal boost and power boost at all times. Press the boost button once to get a normal boost and double tap it to get a power boost at the cost of draining the boost meter faster. The power boost has a higher speed and the normal boost has better steering. Almost like a car, I’d like to shift between gears to control Sonic.

Back to the actual game, Power Boost sort of trivializes the normal boost and there are rare moments that I see people, myself included, not using it at all times. It makes the large islands actually conquerable in a not tedious time. Power boosting is not the only way to get around the islands quickly either. Before the changes to deceleration in an update there were two really good ways to keep speed. Rail Launching and Homing Dashing. Both of these allow the fairly thin open world challenges to become a veritable playground to keep speeding around, as boosting off any rail or canceling a homing attack quickly into a boost turns into a way to gain quite the amount of speed. It’s pretty thin and simple but there’s a certain joy to keeping those high speeds when traveling to whatever thing you want to do next.

Jumping is also another big thing for a platformer. I think the way Sonic controls in the air is fairly good, I just think that outside of rail launching and homing dashes, he slows down too much. This was remedied in the second large update allowing changes to deceleration in the air. There are two other actions in the air that I think are done quite well. I think the double jump, despite being small, helps a bunch with smaller corrections. Adding the drop dash off that double jump was also pretty interesting, mainly because Modern Sonic’s Air-to-Ground options have never really been a thing. The drop dash, however, does not feel good outside of 2D sections in the game. It feels so obtuse to use because it’s a simple speed-up into a really quick slowdown. The last really good change is something so small I don’t know how many people appreciated it. If you hold the button for Stomp when Sonic hits the ground he instantly pops back up. It helps a lot in 2D sections to quickly hop from place to place with a bit more precision.

One final note on the game, mainly on the changes due to free DLC Updates. I mentioned earlier that if you complete all the Action Chain Challenges you unlock the Spin Dash. This is probably the newest and simplest way to get around once you unlock it. The Spin Dash acts as an alternative boost method, while also granting a new style of the drop dash. Unlike the rest of the movement methods, it carries a lot of momentum. Once you unlock it the Spin Dash sort of becomes the game. A slope before which halted your momentum now becomes a ramp and stuff. There is only one big issue with it, you can only unlock it once you finish all Action Chain Challenges. This means you will not get to use it until the final island of the game. Unlocking it this late really gimps the amount of enjoyment I feel the entire game gains from its inclusion in the game. At least it’s in the game though, there is something I do wish wasn’t in it.

Combat

What can I really say about this that isn’t negative… The main boss fights with the Titans are fantastic. However, the combat in terms of the actual structure is quite lacking. I will compliment it on one angle though. I think the basic attack chain being an extension of the homing attack is a perfect extension of the move, especially when adapting it for combat. The issue comes in with how the combat controls and platforming controls overlap. For example, take Homing Shot, a move that takes the input of boost and homing attack at the same time in the air. It can still trigger if you press the combination at the same time quickly. Since homing attacks are used so often if your target in a chain of homing attacks is a mob you have to not boost. Unless you want to watch a 3 to 5-second-long scene which not only breaks the pace and sometimes even moves Sonic away.

Now that I mentioned that, I can actually say the real issue with combat, utility and length. Basically, all of Sonic’s combat moveset is made for a 1v1 which isn’t bad but the issue is that there’s no real game to it. It’s just spam homing attacks until you want to watch a 3-5 second long cutscene that also does damage. There is no launcher and there really isn’t any game outside of defense and evasion. If a mob brings up a shield, you cyloop the mob and break it. If they do a combo, sidestep or parry. As a base, I actually think it could serve as a great part of the game. However, it needs much more work to be substantial to be a focus of the game like it is currently. It’s very telling that the most the game asks of you is to either parry or cyloop, or that most bosses force some sort of platforming before you can even attack them.

I don’t know what I would actually do to fully change the combat to make it work. However, I will admit that without it being part of the main loop, the controls for things like boss fights would be such a departure from standard gameplay. The reason the Titans work outside of the theming, the pregame climbing moment, and the music, is that the controls don’t change too much. It is super easy to just pick up and go once you get to them because you know all the combat controls. Combat isn’t the only place with a difference in controls.

Cyberspace

That other change in controls also comes with my personal favorite part of the game, Cyber Space. These are the 30 normal boost levels featured in the game. What really changes in Cyber Space is the controls. Sonic is much more rigid and way less loose compared to the open world. For example, the boost doesn’t really have a turning radius like before. You can turn it slightly but it's not able to do circles like the open world. The change in controls forces a change in mindset. You actually have to learn how to control Sonic and I really like that. It also removes the combat moves altogether, so you can’t accidentally get a move out.

One of my favorite parts outside the changes to Sonic’s controls is a silly thing, but it is the level design. Now I know that a lot of Frontiers levels are just remakes of various level sections from various 3D games of the series, but that’s actually the best part. Despite what some might say about a lack of creativity or something, the change of how Frontiers plays actually changes how you approach those designs. I actually think it’s a pretty interesting callback that in my mind made me think about how Sonic and the difference of design from the Boost and Adventure eras could mix in the future.

I will admit that a lot of my enjoyment of them comes from an extra mode added to the game in the first major DLC update. That being the Cyber Space Challenge. A gauntlet mode where you run through the levels in a set order. Time attack and various modes in Sonic games have sort of been my bread and butter of the series. I never really go back to play through the stories of the games, it’s always to get a better time or play a stage. This mode really allows for that. If there was one thing I really wished for, it's that they had a playlist that was like 7 randomly picked stages every time instead of the set 5 playlists they have currently.

All of this being said I do wish that Cyber Space had more original ideas because some of the original stages they have made are nice. Not to mention the reuse of various level themes like Green Hill and Chemical Plant. The new original level theme they made for Frontiers, Eternal Highway, is really pretty and I think if they made more it would be like the cherry on top of what we already have. Though, they have actually made better use of the themes with really nice lighting and setting some of the stages at night or sunset which make them really pop.

Final Thoughts and the Future

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Frontiers. Despite a lot of its ideas being half-baked or lacking to me, there is just an innate joy to playing Sonic in an open-world playground. Visually the game is more of a treat than I thought and the Starfall Islands have plenty of things to stop and just gaze at. The soundtrack is pretty good as well, I think the more mellow open-world ambiance is really good. From EDM to Nu-Metal, it reaches all the itches I’d hope for in a Sonic game.

I also got to commend Sonic Team themselves for being super responsive to fan feedback. The fact they’re trying their hardest to fix and change things for a better game is really cool to see. Not to mention that the updates and things are very well done too. Offering things from quality of life to actual full-on content for free is so surprising from a AAA company. I hope this becomes a regular occurrence not only for Sonic Team but from AAA teams that have passion like this.

I know I’ll probably be booting up Frontiers for a while just to get my fix, even if it is just a stage or two. It’s not often I can say I was surprised by a Sonic game these days and I’m quite glad I was. With Update 3 around the horizon, I can only see brighter and greener hills for the future of the series. I, for one, can’t wait to see what Sonic Team cooks up next.

I know that this is fairly scattershot, but I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts. I wanted to get out a more personal and opinionated piece this time. Thank you for reading and have a good rest of your day.