after dr Eggman can’t keep his evil fingers away from an opportunity to gain the powers of the ancestors, he, Sonic and their friends end up in a world no one has seen before. The Isle of Kronos is an inhospitable island where the ruins of an ancient high-tech society are a distant memory. However, it is not yet completely empty of life. Mysterious little creatures are still trying to live their lives, but they are outnumbered by creatures intent on inflicting pain on others.
With Sonic Frontiers, the development team has tried to add something new to the saga and introduces an open game world with this installment. This world is full of challenges that Sonic must face. Quite small at first glance, but is becoming more and more of an exciting journey of discovery for everyone who wants to travel miles with the little blue hedgehog. Unfortunately, the world of Sonic Frontiers isn’t very interesting to explore as it looks gray and a bit run down. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see or do, but it’s not particularly exciting. Rather, the tasks on offer are fairly repetitive and can at times feel more like an obligation than a pleasure. Because Sonic Frontiers doesn’t seem very rewarding, rather it feels like doing things without really understanding why. In fact, we just collect thousands of things without feeling that they are really helping us.
As I said before, there is a lot to do on the island of Kronos. There are small puzzles to be solved around the island, which gradually clear the fog on the map and reveal various activities for the player to carry out. That Grow up They’re one of the few creatures left on the island, and if you find the Koco hermits or elders, they can reward you handsomely by increasing your defense, attack power, max ring capacity, or max speed. Also, the island’s guardians are waiting to fend off the invaders, which in this case is Sonic of all people. However, this is just an example of the different activities that can be done in Sonic Frontiers.
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However, the game does not only take place on the island of Kronos. Defeating the bosses unlocks gears that can activate mysterious portals that plunge us into other worlds. Some may be completely unknown, while the Green Hill zone, for example, is more well known. However, these worlds should not be perceived as open worlds, but as levels that we must complete to unlock new key scenes in the story. The quality of these cutscenes varies, but when they are fulfilled they are one of the highlights of the game. Because here we have the possibility to play as Sonic in both 2D and 3D and it is, as you may have imagined, the 2D levels that shine a little more.
There’s been a lot of talk about Sonic’s fight in this episode ahead of time as they’ve been pretty sparse in the past. Sonic is no longer bouncing off enemies’ heads, but has his sleeves rolled up and ready to pummel them. The island of Kronos is a nest of ancient creatures distinct from each other. While some guard their weak points, others don’t care and can still bring you down quickly. Luckily, there are a few tricks to counteract the different types. At the beginning of the adventure, Sonic learns to run around enemies and create a trail that confuses the enemy as the circle closes. Those with any type of armor also become vulnerable to the hedgehog’s fists. Each enemy also drops skill points that can be used in the experience tree, where new skills are unlocked. There aren’t many options available, but it’s estimated that the battles will become more and more varied during the approximately 20 hours that the adventure lasts. Later we can, for example, launch shockwaves at the enemy or perform a zigzag attack against them, resulting in a variety of combat techniques.
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Something that many have probably overlooked is that the island of Kronos isn’t the only one available to explore in Sonic Frontiers. After all, the Sonic team didn’t show anything about the other islands, which are very different from each other. Amy, Knuckles and Tails are imprisoned on the different islands and we have to explore them all to kill the titans and free our friends. There are five different islands to explore in Sonic Frontiers, and Kronos Island is just the start. All differ both in their appearance and their enemies. It takes about four hours to complete an island, but this can also vary depending on whether you just want to do story-related activities or do something else, such as crafting. B. Go fishing with Big. In practice, however, there are only four Kings’ Islands, as one of them is only worth a short visit.
Graphically, Sonic Frontiers leaves a lot to be desired. The game feels very dated graphically, with slick textures reminiscent of the start of the previous generation. Also, the system doesn’t seem to load parts of the world that are about 100 meters away, and since everything goes pretty fast when we play as Sonic, rails, trampolines and other things suddenly appear. It doesn’t look good at all. The good thing, however, is that the title offers two different modes in which you can give priority to graphic or image updating. However, since the game looks so outdated, there’s no point in playing in 4K resolution and then having to suffer with the game being choppy. Prioritizing frames per second seems like the obvious answer to the question.
Aside from the fact that Sonic is now freer than ever, the tone is also very different from previous games. Most of us probably associate Sonic with joy and rock or pop music. In Sonic Frontiers, however, the atmosphere is darker and more melancholy, which I’ve come to appreciate during my sojourn in these dreary worlds that were once full of life and joy. While the Sonic team may not always hit the nail on the head, I want to take my hat off for trying to bring something new to an otherwise predictable and (mostly) bad series. It looks a lot like Sega’s equivalent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and while it doesn’t fare better in comparison, it’s still a good attempt at emulation based on Sonic’s stats.
The story of Sonic Frontiers is relatively sparse, and at first it feels like there is no story at all. But the deeper we get into the game, the clearer it becomes that there’s something the Sonic task force wants to tell. However, neither Super Mario nor Sonic have ever been synonymous with good stories, so it doesn’t matter. Sonic Frontiers is more about the backstory of these islands where the player can imagine what the ruins were. Whether that’s a good thing or not is up to you as a player, but personally I feel that more story elements shouldn’t have been included. I’m also glad that Dr. For once, Eggman works more in the shadows instead of showing up too often and spoiling the moody mood with his screams. In any case, the developers have managed to create a good interpretation of Sonic, where every time he takes a step closer to the final goal, he becomes corrupted and risks dying trying, but keeps going until his last breath.
To be honest, I was quite surprised that I enjoyed Sonic Frontiers so much. Despite the poor graphics and many uninteresting activities, there is something that makes running with Sonic in an open world a lot of fun. I also appreciate that each island has just under ten levels mixing 2D and 3D environments in which we can play as Sonic as usual. There are many things I wish the developers would have done, but that doesn’t stop Sonic Frontiers from standing out as one of the best games in the series for many, many years.
