After Sega started pumping out mediocre Sonic games, I eventually gave up on the blue hedgehog altogether.  Having no intention of returning to the Sonic franchise unless they produced something that really stood out, I couldn’t help but take notice of Sonic’s first 3D adventure, Sonic Frontiers.  Nevertheless, after buying multiple lackluster games in the past starring the speedy blue hedgehog, perhaps you can understand why I was rather hesitant to jump straight into this game without good reason.  Fortunately, when I discovered that a demo was released, I was given my risk-free opportunity to try this game out for myself and see if it surpasses my, admittedly low, expectations.

The game opens with a distorted cut scene of Dr. Eggman doing…something sinister.  Based on the glitchiness, I can only assume the mustachioed doctor is messing with the fabric of reality or something equally villainous.  We then cut to Sonic, Amy, and Tails taking a ride on Tails’ plane before they are sucked into some sort of portal and get split up from each other.  Not to nitpick, but I did find Sonic’s voice to be strangely deep (Amy sounded rather different from what I’m used to, as well).  At least Mike Pollock is still voicing Eggman, just as he has been since the early 2000’s.

Ahem, anyway, it is here that I got to play through my first Cyber Space level, a more traditional Sonic level that is rather reminiscent of Green Hill Zone.  This level was perfectly fun, but short, and then we’re thrown into the open portion of the game, where Sonic speaks to a mysterious voice that wants him to find the Chaos Emeralds, destroy the Titans, and tear down the walls between dimensions.  Sure, I’ll add all that to my to-do list.

The demo ends after 15 minutes, so I needed to make the most of my short time.  At first glance, many of my concerns from early gameplay videos I saw before the game’s release remained.  I still don’t understand why they chose to make this place photo-realistic rather than colorful like the far more attractive Cyber Space levels.  And I still stand by my assessment that various elements, like grind rails and springs, don’t exactly blend well into the environment.  Of course, all of this can be overlooked if the game is fun, so I should probably get to it, shouldn’t I?

What remained of my time was spent progressing through a fairly linear area (I guess they didn’t want us to completely roam free during the demo), learning the controls, fighting robots with Sonic’s homing attack, and solving very simple puzzles, such as stepping on switches or turning a statue to face the same direction as the others.  (I can only imagine these puzzles get more difficult later?)  I even managed to defeat some sort of boss known simply as Ninja.  Apparently Sonic can even learn new abilities by spending accumulated Skill Points, and I was granted the Cyloop ability, which allows you to create a trail of light by holding X, which can have “various effects” if you manage to create an enclosed loop with it.  Unfortunately, immediately after using this new ability to open a door, the demo ended, leaving me with…mixed feelings.

Maybe 15 minutes just isn’t enough time for me to fully decide if Sonic Frontiers is the game for me.  An open-world Sonic game is certainly appealing, but I’ve been let down by the franchise a few times too many to trust again that easily.  And so I turned to the internet to see more comprehensive thoughts on the game.

And again, the reviews are quite divided, with many people either loving or hating the game.  Probably the most fair comments I heard were the people who described the game as fun, but not actually good.  I also found many of the same complaints that I had, along with many people talking about a huge pop-in issue, though I didn’t really notice this during the demo.  For me, this mainly occurred with clumps of grass, nothing too big, but I also didn’t have a terribly large expanse to explore yet, so I’m not sure how the pop-in would have been if I had been running towards many large objects far in the distance.

I know I only played a 15-minute demo, but there was nothing during that time, short though it was, that changed my mind about the game’s lack of polish or how incohesive the open environment is when the platforming elements look so out of place.  From what I’ve read online, if you’re a big Sonic fan and are looking for a game that’s fun and different from the usual Sonic formula AND you’re okay if the game feels rather low budget, then perhaps you’ll enjoy Sonic Frontiers.  I’m just not sure this is something for me, especially at $59.99!  But if you’re interested, Sonic Frontiers is available on all major consoles and PC and takes about 15-20 hours to beat (40-50 for 100%).