Sonic Frontiers | Review Thread

John Elden Ring

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Game Information

Game Title: Sonic Frontiers

Platforms:

  • Nintendo Switch (Nov 8, 2022)
  • PC (Nov 8, 2022)
  • Xbox Series X/S (Nov 8, 2022)
  • PlayStation 5 (Nov 8, 2022)
  • Xbox One (Nov 8, 2022)
  • PlayStation 4 (Nov 8, 2022)
Trailers:

Developer: Sonic Team

Publisher: SEGA

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 73 average - 67% recommended - 26 reviews


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Critic Reviews


AusGamers - KostaAndreadis - 5.5 / 10
There's also a cartoon-like story too, but with one-note dialogue and equally bland voice work - the quality is a far cry from the recent films.

Checkpoint Gaming - Kolby James - 8.5 / 10
Put simply, Sonic Frontiers is the best 3D Sonic game ever made, and a fantastic step in the right direction that bodes very well for the future of everybody's favourite blue hedgehog.

Digital Trends - Tomas Franzese - 1 / 5
While not outright broken like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) or Sonic Boom, Sonic Frontiers is a heavily misguided game that muffles good ideas with questionable narrative, technical, and gameplay design decisions.

Easy Allies - Brad Ellis - 7.5 / 10
Sonic Frontiers brings the Blue Blur to new horizons. And while it has problems, it's by far the most enjoyable and ambitious 3D entry in a long time.

GamingTrend - Jack Zustiak, David Flynn - 85 / 100
Frontiers boldly plants one foot into the future with its "open zone" structure while keeping the other stuck in the past with mechanics and level ideas that are over a decade old. This approach results in a satisfying game even if it does not push the series into as many new frontiers as it could. It still hits many of the right notes that long-time fans will appreciate and works especially hard to satisfy those who have felt like the past few Sonic games have been missing some personality.

Inverse - Hayes Madsen - 7 / 10
Sonic Frontiers is a fascinating game, mostly because of how little it actually feels like the rest of the series. The game’s marketing has called it an “evolution” of the Sonic formula, and that’s certainly accurate, but it’s still hampered by some growing pains. Sublime exploration and intuitive mechanics constantly clash with Sonic Frontiers’ insistence on introducing mandatory mini-games and one-off gimmicks, many of which simply aren’t engaging.

Kakuchopurei - Alleef Ashaari - 80 / 100
Sonic Frontiers is going to be a good first-time experience for many gamers who have never played a Sonic game, and the story/narrative is standalone enough that you don’t need to have played any other Sonic game before playing Sonic Frontiers.

PSX Brasil - Ivan Nikolai Barkow Castilho - Portuguese - 80 / 100
Sonic Frontiers manages to mix what we expect from a Sonic game with an open world full of collectibles. The gameplay is great, the soundtrack is fantastic and the graphics are good. The title lacks in the difficulty, story and in the visuals of the cutscenes.

SIFTER - Gianni Di Giovanni - Liked
SONIC FRONTIERS is clearly inspired by some of the best games of the last five years and on the whole is a fast, fun experience, with the odd speed bump along the way. It ties nostalgic classic Sonic courses with modern 3D platforming in a way that mostly works but isn't always seemless.

Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Unscored
Video Review - Quote not available

TheGamer - Rhiannon Bevan - 4 / 5
There are teething issues and a reluctance to let go of the past, but it’s also a daft Sonic game with a charming story told in the most competent way we’ve seen in years. Sonic might not be back in the big leagues yet, but he’s catching up. Like Sonic Adventure all the way back in 1999, Frontiers could give the series a new lease on life - Sega has to ditch the old ways and let it happen.

TrueGaming - عمر العمودي - Arabic - 6 / 10
Sonic Frontiers is not as polished as we had hoped, it suffers from repetition and mediocre execution, even the story is weak.
There are some good ideas presented in the game's open world, but past installments mistakes do come to haunt the new game as well.

Twinfinite - Justin Mercer - 3.5 / 5
Quote not yet available

VGC - Chris Scullion - 4 / 5
It may have had a mixed reception earlier this year, but Sonic Frontiers' final form is a brilliantly refreshing adventure that gives the series a much-needed shake-up. The occasional control and camera 'quirks' still pop their head up, but they appear far less frequently than Sonic fans will be used to, making for a much less frustrating experience overall. We would absolutely welcome more of this.

We Got This Covered - Jon Hueber - 4.5 / 5
Sonic Frontiers marks an ambitious, seismic shift for the series, with a massive open-world adventure that both honors its past and pushes the boundaries of what this franchise can look like moving forward.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8 / 10
Sonic Frontiers is an all-around solid Sonic the Hedgehog game. The shift to a more open-world style of gameplay works almost entirely in its favor and allows the game to offer more freedom and exploration without resorting to werehogs. At heart, it's still the same basic 3D-style gameplay that the franchise has been doing lately, but the change in perspective works in its favor. Not every change is a winner, but enough are that I dearly hope that Sega sticks with this flavor instead of reinventing the wheel. Fans of Sonic will be delighted, and those on the fence should give Frontiers a shot. It's easy to see how the greater freedom (and lack of annoying gimmicks) could be the difference between frustration and fun.
 
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Satoru

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Overall nice reviews, good! About time there's a good Sonic 3D game.
 
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Bryank75

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Damn, I really wanted it to get over 80 meta, I guess this is a 'wait for sale' game for me!

It does look quite fun from what I've seen.
 
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Vertigo

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Yea just caught a bit of skillup’s review…. No longer interested honestly.

I do have an itch for a sonic game once in awhile but haven’t really liked anything I’ve played since Generations, Mania (and a bit of unleashed). Colors is overrated IMO and I hate the power up gimmicks. Too much Mario for a sonic game.
 

TubzGaming

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John from Digital Foundry on Sonic Frontiers Switch: “If you have another option, please consider that other option”​

Was that port done by the same team that ported Colors Ultimate?
 

RE4-Station

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I wonder how the sales of this game will be, The two sonic movies did surprisingly well and I wonder if we will see a noticeable effect on the game side of this franchise
 

Bryank75

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Thought this would be the return of Sonic, what happened. Heard lots of hype for this one tbh....

A lot of great ideas in there, it seems like it was the execution that hurt it more than anything but with gaming, it usually is all in the execution so I'm not sure I'm adding much.

I'm really interested but I will wait for it to be a bit cheaper with those reviews.

I really liked the mix of 3d and 2d....
 
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Kokoloko

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Maybe Sonic only works in 2D

Id mostly agree, but I did enjoy Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure 2.

Heck I love Sonic Adventure 1 but its more nostalgia, I get why people don’t like it and it has alot of issues, but I love the feel of it and some of the stages are cool
 

thelastword

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Maybe Sonic only works in 2D
You can make a great game from any perspective. I guess you just need the dev talent and vision. Mario 64 was successful after many 2D mario's. It's 2022, Sega should be able to make a competent 3D Sonic at the very least, but maybe Sega isn't as great as they used to be anymore.....
 

Vertigo

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I’m still of the opinion they should’ve kept making Generations sequels.
 
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