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Sonic Frontiers Open World Failed, here is why
Critics and Fans alike, adore the latest Sonic game, Sonic Frontiers. Calling it “A step in the right direction” or “Best Sonic Game in the last 25 years”. I disagree with these people and i will prove to you why Sonic Frontiers Open World Failed.
Lifeless Open World
Looking at the picture above you might be thinking “Doesn’t look that empty, there are ramps and plattforms, also there must be even more later on.” Well sorry to break your Illusion but Sonic Frontiers Open World is filled with floating plattforms which don’t fit in with the enviroment at all. Also the same minibosses are pasted all over the map. Nice graphics sure but this is one of the only things the Open World has to offer. Not to say that some of them aren’t fun, the sumo miniboss for example can be pretty fun.
The music tracks in the Open World are also not very diverse. They all sound very alike, having this calm melody to it. I am not against having calm tracks especially when exploring a new area but more variety would have been welcome. Glad the Main Bossfights do a 180 and have intense rock music playing. Don’t distance yourself from this genre please Sonic Team!
The Thing that doesn’t help the Open World feeling not empty, is the lack of side content other games have to offer, when choosing to have an Open World or any kind of Hub Areas. Instead of having Sidestories to complete, the game offers you a selection of braindead “Puzzles”. Completing these will uncover certain Collectables on the map and create Grind Rails. These Rails cover a lot of ground on the map, kinda funny how instead of running you use grinding to traverse the map, while playing the fastest thing alive. Let me show you the brain busting Hamster Wheel Puzzle.
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Constant Pop-Ins In The Open World
Imagine trying to immerse yourself into the Open World running around, but then spotting a Pop-In. Unfortunately this isn’t a 1 time thing. This is not only ugly to look at but you can also get hindered while trying to progress the game via jumping around on the floating plattforms in the air to collect key items. It often happened in my Playthrough, that i was mid air and i didn’t know where to go next until it was too late and i failed that plattforming segment.
My Theory is that they had the Nintendo Switch Version of the Game in mind a bit too much. Having to optimize on weaker Hardware might have led them to not properly work on the other versions as much. The Switch having Pop-Ins would have been acceptable especially since the Game can even be run on the System. This shouldn’t be happening on other Plattforms however.
The Islands Of The Open World
Sonic Frontiers features a total of 5 different Islands to explore. This sounds really Good on paper, however Sonic Team messed this up. Instead of 5 Uniquely Themed Islands, we get 3 different Themed Environments. A Forest Area, a Desert Area and a Vulcano based Area. The Coolest Theme is fortunatly also the best Area of them all. The Vulcano Spot is called Chaos Island and is the most unique Area of the 5. Lava and Ice elements near a Vulcano! The problem is that the Gameplay loop of the Game makes exploring these Islands feel stale after the first time. You have to collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds in the same way, by beating the Cyberspace Levels. These are Stages designed like Levels in Sonic Generations, Unleashed or Colors (literally).
After beating enough you can collect the 6 Emeralds in the Open World and the last one you get in the Boss Arena. In one of the Forest Areas however, you have to climb Towers to collect the Emeralds. A welcome change of paste but it comes a bit too late. It gave me “Only Up” or “Getting Over It” Vibes, because you can redo a whole Tower if you fall down on the way up. It is dissapointing that the last 2 Islands, including the Tower Climbing are just blocked off Parts of the first Island with the same plain grassy Theme.
Conclusion Of Sonic Frontiers Open World
Sonic Frontiers proves that the Sonic Franchise really doesn’t know what it wants to be. Coming up with new things is important but changing the gameplay almost every Game is not the right approach. It’s no wonder Sonic Games are expected to be mediocre before release. They keep clinging on to the good ol days of Sonic way too much. Green Hill is present in almost every Game that came out in the last decade and Story references from past Games are inserted cheaply to have some Fanservice in the Game.
Even if they come up with new Ideas such as the 5 Islands, they manage to only make 3 unique environment themes out of 5. Even tough Sonic 06 has a reputation of having bad hubworlds, i still prefer them over this Open World design. I think it adds greatly to the charm of the environment. To me it just feels like the Team at Sega is out of Ideas, the repetative Gameplay loop combined with no engaging side content just proves it.
I really hope they revisit what made Sonic great in the past and make something good happen for 3D Sonic. 2D Sonic is in good Hands with the Fans who made Sonic Mania. 3D Sonic needs to be more original in their level themes and the design. Don’t copy level designs from previous Sonic Titles! But as i am in the Minority of people and the Game is loved by Fans and Critics, there is probably a sequel of Sonic Frontiers in the making as we speak.
Don’t forget to pray for a Sonic Unleashed Port all you good people!
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