#Sonic frontiers 2023 series

To be clear, I think there’s a version of Sonic Frontiers, based on what I was shown, that can all come together and be great. It felt rough and incomplete, and didn’t nail any one small thing I could then point to and say “ That was fun - let me do that for a whole game!” In fact, the graphics and lacklustre art direction felt like the least of the 2022 holiday game’s problems. If I’m sounding harsh it’s because the demo didn’t do a great job of showing how Sonic Frontiers’ open-world elements will unlock new potential for the long running series. The rest of the time it felt like a nuisance to navigate. When the camera, aiming, and movement all line up, Sonic Frontiers gets close to nailing an esoteric but rewarding way of navigating a sprawling map. It was a briefly grand moment cut short by fighting both the camera and Sonic’s jittery move set as I struggled to hit the enemy’s weak spots without continually falling off the side. Toward the end of the demo I faced a giant boss called The Tower and for a moment it felt like I was in Shadow of the Colossus. My time spent was occasionally fun, often messy, and usually pretty rough-looking. From there I set off to explore puzzles, grind on rails, and fight the occasional boss. The demo opened with Sonic, separated from furry comrades Tails and Amy Rose, dropping out of a wormhole into a bucolic archipelago called the Starfall Islands and being enlisted by a mysterious AI to go find the Chaos Emeralds. I played the game while attending Summer Game Fest last week in Los Angeles and while I’m not ready to write it off just yet, I do remain incredibly sceptical of what Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka and his crew are attempting. But the recent trailers have fans worried, and after 30 minutes demoing the game hands-on it left me unimpressed.

#Sonic frontiers 2023 series

And after making the jump from side-scrolling platformer to 3D soap opera, the series is now going open world in its most ambitious entry yet with Sonic Frontiers.

The cult favourite gaming mascot is once again a mainstage attraction, besting Sony’s Uncharted at the box office and spawning a new Netflix series.

We’re at a new turning point in Sonic’s 30-year history.