Sonic Frontiers Thread - PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC

I kept trying to use the terrain to fly onto the platform and skip all of the green walls, but I could only manage to skip most of them.

 

Yeah, I kind of regret that this was the first challenge I ran into because it doesn't feel well-designed at all. Fully upgraded Sonic feels WAY too fast to be running on those tiny walls, and climbing is so incredibly slow and unwieldy. Didn't even give that challenge the time of day. The challenges feel VERY hit or miss, did one on Kronos that was just A simple automated quickstepping section, yet the very last quick step would always throw Sonic WAY too far and off the platform for some reason. I had to try again and make sure I wasn't hitting quickstep twice, ended up finding a "sweet spot" to quickstep where it didn't instantly kill me. A lot of this stuff is just BEGGING you to be broken by launching yourself up to the Koco and not interacting with the challenge at all.

A lot of it just feels super janky imo. You do get some kinda cool stuff like that Excalibur Koco challenge with the ramps, but idk, it's free content so meh

 

I want to like this game, I keep opening it up to play I even keep up with improvement mods (none that change the game, thinking things like draw distance or graphical enhancements) but when the map is mostly empty you realize the entire game is set waypoint, go to waypoint, question how you're getting to platform in the sky, struggle, curse, run into some spring in a different zip code do simple challenge and you get it.

Edit: It gets better. Kinda.

 

And it'll get worse than ever when you reach the third island.

 

I cleared every island, I think once you get into the groove and know how to fight the automation it's alright. I don't know that I'd want another game like this but it's alright.

 

I agree. Frontiers is far from the worst Sonic game ever and can be enjoyable in the most banal way possible. But you really have to fight the game to get it to do what you want. None of its systems/mechanics are particularly robust or well thought out. Chaos Island is the epitome of that.

 

To me, none of the islands really stood out as better or worse.

 

I definitely got what they were going for with a lot of the forced routes in the open zone stuff, especially on Chaos Island. The camera would snap into place and the level geometry would line up with a really nice perspective of the background elements and all of a sudden you're playing a "Sonic level". However, and this has been said before, it would have been so much better if the level geometry looked like it belonged in the world instead of just generic, purple-gray structures.

 

I really hated the amount of 2D on Chaos Island my first time around, but after finishing the game and trying to grab all of the memory tokens, music notes, etc. I ended up enjoying finding places to abuse Sonic's ability to "fly" just as much as on the other islands, so I guess it ended up growing on me.

Ares is probably my favorite though, in this regard.

 

It's not the worst game in the franchise but I do think it has some aspects which are the worst in the series.

- Worst 2D controls.

- Worst visual design (Chaos island).

To name a few.

 

Funny, it was the last one I did and probably the second hardest one behind the tower thing which is also on kronos. I got fed up and just launched myself into the sky and cheesed it.

 

What is Frontiers the best at though? Anything? I legit can't think of anything.

 

The sheer amount of customization options for the physics, especially post update 2. That’s a plus in a way, let’s you fine tune the experience.

 

I'd argue the combat, because IMO combat in any other Sonic game is pretty much garbage. But maybe I'm the only one that likes Frontiers' combat, for the most part. Unleashed combat was too slow, IMO. Plus I hate QTEs (and while there are some in Frontiers, they're at least very basic, very quick).

This is the only Sonic game where I felt like enemies with healthbars weren't just a pain to deal with, with notable exceptions like the Cerberus (which enemies like that are problematic, they slow the pace to a crawl and there's no strategy involved, you just do the same thing every time you encounter them).

 

I liked the combat too, it could be a little more involved but def more fun than any other combat they’ve done so far

 

I've deliberated on this for a while, but I think I can confidently say Sonic Frontiers has the best soundtrack of any Sonic game, owing to its length and sheer variety.

The bulk of the music you hear is ambient, melancholy, or otherwise subdued island background music. The soft piano melodies of Kronos Island were an immediate earworm, and as the island progressed the music became more involved and kinetic. Movement 2 and 4 are my favorites for highlighting the contrasting parts of the island. Movement 2 focuses on the vast, mysterious, and lonely landscape, whereas Movement 4 focuses on the fact that it's a exciting playground to run around at the speed of sound in. Ares Island is a bit weaker, but still solid. Chaos Island is where it starts to really get interesting, beginning as a somber ambient track with heavy percussion and progressing to a triumphant brass section telling you "you're almost there". And Ouranos Island is simply a beautiful track.

Next on the list we have the Cyber Space music, containing the high-energy beats expected from a Sonic game. It's all of a similar EDM vein, but the tracks themselves are quite varied and all evoke different tones. 1-1 "Database" is an underrated favorite of mine that perfectly encapsulates the danger and unknown nature of Cyber Space. It's a complete curveball of an opening track that sets the mood for the entire rest of the game. The follow-up, 1-2 "Flowing", is the polar opposite, and one of the few Cyber Space tracks with an upbeat tone - also an earworm. Nearly every track evokes a different tone, ranging from melancholy, frantic, chaotic, nostalgic, and "damn, I really wanna dance to this!"

The Guardian tracks aren't quite as strong in comparison, but they evoke a similar mysterious vibe that the Cyber Space tracks do. Many of them have persistent, repeating patterns that create a driving force constantly moving forward, perfect for a battle against the fastest thing alive. They aren't really earworms, but they do their job to amplify the Guardian fights and make them more exciting. They're also much longer and more varied than the game would have you believe - give them a full listen when you get the chance, you'll be surprised.

And now we arrive at the part most people talk about, the vocal tracks. I divide these into two sections - the "traditional" tracks, and the "metalcore" tracks. Traditional tracks include "I'm Here" and "One Way Dream", which are generally closer to what you'd expect from a vocal track in Sonic. They make liberal use of guitars, strings, and a mix of orchestral and rock sounds to create a unique sound not often replicated elsewhere. "One Way Dream" is more traditional, with a decidedly not-metal singer overtop a fast-paced backing track with a sense of finality and celebration. "I'm Here" is on the more experimental side, with changing time structures, heavy guitars, frantic violins, and a high-pitched vocalist that wouldn't be out of place in a punk rock band.

The metalcore tracks include "Undefeatable", "Find Your Flame", and "Break Through It All", and are usually what people are referring to when it comes to the game's boss music. And for good reason. These perfectly exemplify the Titan fights - a complete and utter thrashing with anime-esque imagery like prying mouths open, slicing things clean in half, piercing through bodies, and blocking a laser beam with your bare fucking hands. They perfectly service the fights themselves, and make you feel like an unstoppable badass. Couple that feeling with a genre never associated with Sonic - metalcore. Crunchy, harsh guitars, intense drum and cymbal breakdowns, and of course, screamo vocals yelling about how awesome you are. There's a reason these fights have become some of the most memorable experiences in Sonic, and part of that is due to the music setting the tone. It was a special feeling fighting Giganto for the first time and pummeling him with punches while listening to the words "I am Undefeatable". Hell yes I am.

There's more to it that I haven't covered in detail, like FM synthesis, the bouncier Adventure-esque compositions by Kenichi Tokoi, and it even has a lo-fi track in it! This game has such an incredibly varied soundtrack that took me a while to truly appreciate. I liked it at first listen, but now it's something different. It's a testament to Sonic Team's philosophy with this game. It's a bold new direction, and an ambitious, experimental new step into Sonic. It's genuinely incredible. For the longest time I held Sonic Mania and Generations as my favorite soundtrack, but I think I can decisively say Frontiers has topped both of them. I enjoy nearly every single track, and I will hopefully continue to love it for years to come.

 

I 100% solidly agree, negating Overlord's disagreement. I wouldn't find Frontiers anywhere as enjoyable if it the music wasn't there doing the heavy lifting. I always enjoy when the sound team stretches their legs into new genres. They always knock it out of the park.

 

The cyberspace music is pretty good but I think every other song in Frontiers is not what I want from Sonic at all. The island themes are really soft, moody or intense in ways that I don't think suit the carefree fast nature I'm looking for. And the metalcore tracks are just pure junk. Not AS bad as Forces OST, but it's pretty close to the bottom for me.

 

I love frontiers music, listening to the action chain theme right now. But the metal core adds to the super fights I feel, it brings back the kinda epic cheesiness of live and learn or open your heart.

Also I’m a sucker for piano mood pieces so sign me up for the island tracks too.