![]() ![]() For instance, you won’t need to complete every one of each island’s Portal levels, so long as you get enough keys in total from a few of them - a maximum of four per level are available - to open Chaos Emerald vaults. Not missable, in the way many open world games pack in hidden secrets, but rather that huge swathes of the game can simply be bypassed or ignored entirely. ![]() Unfortunately, it’s not enough to really diversify the game, and the absence of anything else, only highlights how hollow the world is.Įven worse, much of Frontiers feels almost optional. A fifth island in the middle does offer a break from the routine, with some extremely challenging towers to navigate to the tops of, testing even veteran Sonic players’ platforming skills. By the time Sonic Frontiers crosses the finish line, you’ll have repeated this formula over four islands, and even the excitement of those epic battles loses its lustre. While the Titan battles are the game’s biggest thrill - imagine single-handedly taking down one of Neon Genesis Evangelion or Pacific Rim’s signature mecha as a diminutive hedgehog - the problem is one of repetition. gargantuan machines that can only be conquered in glowing, flying, Super Sonic form.Ĭombat itself is Frontiers’ biggest and best update to Sonic canon, with the eponymous ‘hog boasting a host of flashy new abilities. ![]() Completing objectives rewards Vault Keys to unlock Chaos Emeralds, all leading to battles against the current island’s Titan, aka. Styled as massive stone thrones, these drop players into recreations of classic Sonic The Hedgehog levels, offering rapid bursts of familiar gameplay, racing toward each level’s end goal. Sonic will have to defeat various Guardians - large, robotic enemies that each require unique tactics to take down - to earn gears, which are used to unlock Portals. Even taking that into account, Frontiers struggles - the sudden pop-in of objects is notable, even on PS5 (version tested), and at a level that undermines the game’s next-gen credentials.Įach of the islands offers the same formula, too. The separation loosely fits the story, but not in a way that couldn’t have been written around, and in practice, seems largely in place to reduce the demands of building a singular vast world. The story, penned by long-time Sonic writer Ian Flynn, finds Sonic and pals Tails, Amy, and Knuckles drawn to the Starfall Islands by the ever-unpredictable Chaos Emeralds, with each of the five islands offering a still large, yet self-contained, open field to explore. For one thing, it’s not a true open world game, at least not on the scale of its chief influence. To developer Sonic Team’s credit, the unlikely mix succeeds slightly more often than it fails, but this isn’t the resurgent adventure for the hyper-speed hedgehog that fans may have hoped for.įrontiers’ greatest failure is perhaps being overly cautious, unsure of just how much it wants to revamp the series. ![]() In other areas though, there are gameplay and progression mechanics that seem lifted straight from Link’s most recent foray (most notably a straight lift of the latter’s random ‘Blood Moon’ event that resurrects all defeated enemies), jammed somewhat awkwardly into Sonic’s mold of speedy platforming. In some cases, it’s merely visual overlap, with the architecture and landscapes - filled with vast open plains, vine-strewn ruins, and buried hints of lost, ancient cultures - making the similarities to blighted Hyrule unavoidable. With the full game racing into view, the influence that Link’s last grand adventure has had on Sonic’s newest one is undeniable. Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switchįrom the moment Sonic Frontier’s first teaser trailers offered a glimpse at its newfound open world approach, Sega’s latest outing for the Blue Blur struggled to outrun comparisons to Nintendo’s seminal The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. ![]()
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