From the moment it was first revealed,Sonic Frontierswas worth talking about. It may not be a fully open-world game, but even its open zone design is a huge change to the traditional model ofSonic the Hedgehoggames. Since Sonic’s defining characteristic is his blazing speed, it’s hard to create an open world that lets players savor exploration without excessively reigning in Sonic’s abilities. Nevertheless,Sonic Frontiersis taking a shot at it, and that’s exciting. Sonic Team and Sega’s willingness to take on a significant challenge while designing the nextSonicgame speaks to an eagerness to rejuvenate the franchise.
However, as important as the player’s power to exploreSonic Frontiersis, ideally it isn’t the game’s only selling point. A lot of fans have compared early looks atSonic FrontierstoThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,which also took its respective franchise into a much more open-world gameplay model. While these games may have an interest in open-world design in common, that can’t be the only design approach thatSonic Frontiersborrows.Breath of the Wildchanged and enhanced theZeldaexperience in a ton of different departments, andSonic Frontiersshould do the sameif it wants to be an influential entry in theSonicseries.
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Learning from Breath of the Wild’s Approach
The open-world was undoubtedly a major selling point ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.In manyZeldagames, players already have the freedom to explore large portions of the world at their own pace, but usually, certain areas are locked behind major plot points.Breath of the Wild,in contrast, sets players free in a vast world where they’re free to seek out their own objectives at the pace they like and in the order they choose. While it was unorthodox for aZeldagame, the reception was positive thanks to the many ways Nintendo incentivizedexploringBreath of the Wild’s map.
Breath of the Wilddidn’t bill itself purely as an open-worldZeldagame, though. On the contrary, it built itself on tons of other fundamental changes.Link’s new arsenal of weaponsgathered from fallen foes and treasure chests completely overhauled combat by giving players vastly more fighting styles.Breath of the Wildalso gave players much more control over healing thanks to a cooking system that rewarded players for finding potent ingredient combinations and scouring Hyrule for choice components. These changes and more added up to a revolutionaryZeldagame.
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In order to succeed,Sonic Frontiersshould mind that approach. Open zoneSonicgameplay sounds great, but that one change to the formula isn’t enough to makeSonic Frontiersa landmark inSonic the Hedgehoghistory. Instead, Sonic Team needs to come up with mechanics similar toBreath of the Wild’s cooking and weapon gathering that make it feel completely different from its predecessors.Sonic Frontiersalready clearly intends to bevery different from recentSonicgamesthrough its open zones and potentially a rather serious plot, so Sonic Team should keep pushing to make the game as experimental as it can, pushing the boundaries ofSonicto see what lies ahead for the franchise.
Sonic Frontiers' Opportunities
Hopefully,Sonic Frontiersis ultimately all about making the most out of the Starfall Islands and Sonic’s ability to roam them and interact with new mechanics at the player’s leisure. Whether the islands are filled with sidequests and nonlinear objectives or collectibles that encourage players to search every nook and cranny, the partially open world needs to serve as a vehicle for interacting withother unique aspects ofSonic Frontiers.If the game’s zones are simply filled with well-knownSonicobstacles and enemies, then players won’t feel incentivized to get to know the game and its world. The more Sonic team innovates now, the betterSonic Frontiercan serve as a launchpad for the franchise’s next title.
Sonic Frontiersreleases during the holiday season in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
