So, About Sonic Frontiers... 

So to summarise: Alex likes it, Felix doesn't and Zion doesn't think we shouldn't tame animals 😁

This is probably my favorite Sonic Frontiers "review"/discussion thus far. Very balanced, everyone's voice was welcomed, people on both sides were humble, and I just really enjoyed this. Thank you guys! This was a breath of fresh air after so much divisiveness I've seen these past few days.

Learning to play Sonic is kinda like riding a bike... if you try and go slowly and carefully you wobble and fall, but if you have the confidence to commit it becomes easier to control

As a Sonic fan, I will 100% take a game where some people love it and some hate it over a universally hated Sonic game, so I’d see it as a success. I do understand the criticism though, and it’s fine to not like it

From what I've seen it's not a bad game but there's definitely room for improvement. However this is a step in the right direction for a Sonic renaissance.

For those who feel like Sonic doesn't control that well, I would highly encourage them to adjust the hell out of the controls. There are a ton of options that I am sure will make your experience so much better.

As a 42 year old, Ive played quite a few Sonic games. I absolutely love this game! Also, I never really got into the old 16bit games. But I fired up Sonic 2 after a Frontiers session and surprisingly, I enjoyed Sonic 2 more than I ever have. I think this game captures the feeling of Sonic perfectly and actually helped me 'understand' Sonic games!

One thing that goes a long way for me: No lives, especially w/ the "open zones." The fact falling into the ocean is ultimately not thay consequential encourages me to experiment. I do still apply certain care near cliffs and the like, because I just tend to do that, but still. It directly reinforces my development in controlling Sonic.

The game has its warts on every platform, the Switch just has the unfortunate fate of being the most cut back version. That said, I've logged about 20 hours in the game and can't put it down. Being able to really open up Sonic and blaze across these huge open islands while hitting bumpers, grinding rails, and homing attacking stuff is an absolute joy. A lot of 3D Sonic games in recent years felt like they did everything they could to stop you from maintaining speed. Frontiers doesn't. It does suck that it's only 30 frames per second, the pop-up is egregious, and sometimes the wild momentum can feel unwieldy, but I'm having fun with it!

The first 2 hours I played the game, I thought it somewhat fun, but thought I would get bored of it pretty quickly. The next time I played it, it was like a magical switch flipped in my head. It might be because I got used to the controls, but suddenly I went from forcing myself to play it for a couple hours to not being able to put it down. That's pretty much how I felt until the second-to-last island, then I started to feel like the mini platforming challenges scattered around the world were starting to feel a bit too repetitive. If it wasn't for the fishing mini-game, the last island would've felt like a slog. Overall I really loved the game though, I look forward to seeing what they do with this formula in the future.

This is a good template for sonic moving forward, absolutely had a blast with this game on switch, I would like more of a story out of the next game and a meatier campaign / post game. Gameplay can be tightened up a little as well, but the framerate was never an issue for me. 30 fps never bothers me as long as it's solid and smooth.

The reason I think Sonic frontiers is divisive is well because it's Sonic. No other game controls or even remotely feels like sonic. Sonic is like an acquired taste. It's hard to get into because it seems like you're supposed to go fast but when you do it feels like you're punished for going fast because of enemies or pitfalls or walls. There's more complexity and replayability when it comes to Sonic but most people who aren't into the series dint really understand that. It's why Sonic team really tries to streamline the gane and made it super generous with everything because they know a lot of people don't understand Sonic. It's the same reason why when you see online footage of the demo version a lot of people playing seemed like they've never touched a game in their lives. Since sonic is jusy vastly different that in most cases it feels like no other game.

2:25 "I hate running around in sonic" tf does that even work? sonic's whole shtick is running really fast

4 out of 10?!?! Was he having a bad day or something? I am having a great wtf time with this game. It's great to just pick up and play. Very somber at times, the music is fantastic, the amount of just trying to figure out puzzles at times is very satisfying. I am thinking an 8 for this game. Enjoying it a lot more than i thought I would.

My take on Sonic games is that being able to go fast is a reward for mastering the game and mechanics. In the modern games you should never be too hasty to use boost unless there is a clear path ahead of you. Once you learn the layout of a level so well that you can just run full speed through it, it is an amazingly exhilarating experience. People that are unfamiliar with Sonic games see experienced players boosting at full speed through a level and try to do the same without the experience. It just leads to them getting frustrated and having a bad time. Sonic Frontiers eases this slightly by forcing you to level up your speed gradually, but it isn't perfect.

Personally, I think the critic score average of 7/10 is spot on. I love the core gameplay to pieces and had a blast with it (and the widely available fan-made physics mod just make it even better), the OST is fantastic, and I love how the story goes back to the style of the Adventure games' storytelling and builds on both the characters and series lore. That said, the game is brimming with rough edges and cut corners: awful pop-in, jank as hell camera, and reused level themes, layouts, and even islands towards the end of the game just sour it for me. That said, it is still my favorite 3D Sonic game behind the Adventure titles and Generations, and is a marked step in the right direction.

This is fascinating. This is like the Final Fantasy 8 of Sonic games. At least this feels like someone at Sega had ambition after the nothing bland game that was Forces.

I find it really weird how critics like the cyber space levels but don't like the open world while fans loath the cyber space levels but enjoy the open world.

You can tell Sega learned from Forces mistake, i think the gameplay is very unique compare to anything else in the series

An opinion doesn't mean a game gets 4/10. Your opinion would mean you still realize it's a 8-9/10 and then saying you don't like it. That's what preference is.

I enjoy these types of videos a lot myself, it's very interesting to hear the different points of view and they all make sense to me. Also I must admit that I have no plans to play Sonic Fronters myself, I've actually never played any Sonic-games because I hate stress and having to be quick, I want to take my time and just explore in a slow pace and that has made me just know that no Sonic-game would ever be my cup of tea because the whole point to it is quickness. And that's totally fine, I still find videos about Sonic Fronters interesting and enjoyable and I totally get how it can be very fun for many others to play :)

As a long time Sonic fan who grew up with sega genesis... I absolutely love it. It feels like greeting an old friend who was not doing well for a while. Without the lense of love from the original games, I don't know how I would feel about it. I was smiling ear to ear only because they've done a lot of what we were wishing for years. If you never played sonic and didn't have those desires... It's hard to see what your opinion would be. My favorite Sonic game was Sonic 3 and Knuckles... and to me... the blue boy is finally back. If he never was with you back then... then you might not miss him now. I do think the feeling is there and it's 100% worth trying if you have any interest.

Im just glad this game isnt awful. There are some flaws and romm for improvement but im glad we finnally have a 3d sonic game thats worthy to the series

Totally agree with Alex chaos island was torture. I loved the first two islands but then you get to the third and it highlights all the problems the game

I think Alex explained it perfectly. It just depends on the person, if you grew up with that 3d era you understand jank . But if you didn’t, it won’t hook you like that.

Sonic Frontiers' 72 on metacritic is WAY too low. This is an incredible game. Very few flaws. It's held back by the series' reputation.

Also I love how Felix said he wants to keep holding the Boost button in Cyberstages, since that's effectively the main thing you did in Unleashed (Day), Colours, Generations and especially Forces. =P

Respect other's opinions even if you disagree. I wish other reviewers knew how to do this when a game has a Metacritic score they don't like instead of condoning review bombing

I absolutely loved the game. It does get easier with time, and way more fun the faster you go. It clicked for me in the 2ed world. I definitely feel it needs a demo or needs to be on something like gamepass a year from now.

Hearing Alex say he likes a Sonic game is surreal

My biggest hopes with the next game is they keep this formula but improve upon it, have it in a much more colorful and vibrant world, and PLEASE STOP USING GREEN HILL AND CHEMICAL PLANT AS CRUTCHES!

I mean u can adjust the Controls in the options menu but idk how much will influence their opinion

One of my favorite games from Sonic so far and I love the Story and all that it needs to be updated on everything pop in, Skins and Newgame+, Boss rush and better Cyberspace Controls

What song do they have playing in the background? I feel like it's a game's ost but I don't know from where.

Great discussion! The amount of serotonin I get for going fast, riding rails, bouncing off springs, etc all in a row is just... *chefs kiss*

As someone who's never been a huge fan of the Sonic franchise, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by this game. The open world aspect felt fresh and invigorating, the classic-style cyberspace levels were fun and (mostly) intuitive, the soundtrack was amazing, the movement mechanics were (mostly) fun to experiment with...overall? Great experience! I will say though, some of the Cyber Space levels had some glaring design issues like the one where you had to jump from spinning stone platform to spinning stone platform. Can't tell you how many times I just fell off into the void because of wonky camera angles. Also, passing by too closely to certain overworld enemies locked you into weird camera angles that I wasn't a fan of. I also found a pretty game-breaking glitch where I got launched outside of the game's skybox so there's definitely some bugginess to the overall experience but it didn't detract from my ability to enjoy it.

Hey anyone know the name of the melody playing in the background in the first minutes of the video?

I am really enjoying the game - both 3D sections and 2D sections. What I hated was when they inserted a random 2D section in the 3D are, especially when you could just be boosting around only for the camera to force you into the 2D perspective. Furthermore, cyberspace desperately needs drifting

Wut music was playing in the background?

My favorite 3D Sonic game since generations. I find it so relaxing blasting through the terrain, launching into the sky, dashing your way through obstacles. I also really like the puzzles and fishing segments that provide a really nice change of pace. I'm playing it on pc and it was janky on day one but it's slowly improving. Are there bugs? yes, lots lol but it feels really good for the most part and the speed is unlike anything since SA1. If you're not a Sonic fan I don't know if you will like it, but I think most Sonic fans will love it.

Great discussion, guys! Casual Sonic fan who ended up buying the game on PS5 and enjoying it, although I can see and think all criticisms I’ve heard are valid. Just one of those who enjoyed it quite a bit in spite of the game’s flaws. I also found quite a big difficulty spike in the platforming on island 4. But I just put it down for a few days and came back to it and was able to complete it. That is the only factor keeping me from buying and finishing it again on Switch. I’d dread island 4. 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

In short, Alex leans to the fact Felix has a skill issue

"It's not one to one, obviously" Lol it is pretty close. Most of the cyberspace stages are almost exactly replicas of old lay outs

I am so curious about this game. I'll definitely pick it up eventually, probably on sale sometime after beating God of War Ragnarok. The game's been compared to BotW a lot, but I'm personally getting serious Mario Odyssey vibes. Obviously I don't expect anything near the quality of those two games, but traversal looks super fun and the world feels like a theme park, jam-packed with activities.

I love Alex and I respect everyone's reviews! I hope Alex gets to review Scarlet and Violet

It's amazing how the people who didn't enjoy their time with the game also were the ones who didn't read any of the hints the game throws at you. How do you play for an hour before you realise there's a boost button, its one of the first things the game teaches you. Same with the Parry. Not to mention how it constantly puts you in little training missions when loading stages that lets you test this stuff out.

I love this game

I think people who play the other sonic games can appreciate the improvements and experimtations meanwhile non sonic fans won't appreciate it and look at the game comparing it to other games like botw and are more harsh to its flaws

Some people loves it, hates it, are in the middle - good for them. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. - Everyone is going to have a different opinion of this game. We're all going to find things we like, hate, or dont care about. One thing is for certain - Sega selling as many copies as Sonic Adventure 2 is a good thing and it means Sonic still has a future.

Great discussion. I have a long history with the Sonic series. I grew up in the 16-bit era and Genesis is my favorite system of all-time in large part because of the Sonic games of that era (including non-Genesis entries like Sonic CD and Game Gear's Sonic Chaos). However, after Sonic Adventure 2 the series was so mid-tier to bad that I skipped most entries (other than Secret Rings which was a disappointment) until Sonic Generations on the 360 in 2011. Phenomenal game. Since then it's been more average and below titles but for some reason I decided to get Frontiers and I'm happy I did. Wouldn't put it on the same level as 1-3, Knuckles, CD or Generations but it is my favorite after that and a genuinely good Sonic the Hedgehog release. I do think being a long-time fan helps my enjoyment but I'd still recommend the game to anybody. If the option is there, however, go for the PS5 or Xbox Series X version. I got it for the XSX and, as cool as portable play is on the Switch, a game that relies on speed like this one needs to be played on much more capable hardware.

Bloody love the game! Playing on PS5 though. It’s got some problems, but is a phenomenal foundation. Most of the problems could be solved through additional play-testing imo. It can be a bit inconsistent with how it communicates with the player, and certain mechanics can be a little glitchy. But all that aside, holy crap this game is such unbelievable fun! Brilliant level design

Got Sonic Frontiers on PS5 excited to play but it is on my backlog. It will be my 1st 3D Sonic =)

It depends on how good of a player you are to get a decent experience Aswel 🙏🏽👍🏾it's like I never got into resident evil games and I grew up with all platforms starting from 2600 Atari the NES all up until the switch now...I've actually put time into resident evil 4 on switch and now I love the franchise..I think it's time you put into a game is how much you like it aswell and you have to be a decent player to have fun or some fun 🙏🏽I love how people are changing their minds about Sonic frontiers now after playing the game for a while, this is what gaming is supposed to be like 👍🏾🙏🏽and remember guys there is going to be patches for the switch Sonic frontiers 🙏🏽

I think for anyone this game is mixed wether you love or hate it but I really think that the next game can be something truly special

I love it! Always a Sonic fan

1:54 Im sorry what game were you guys reviewing?

Hello Alex from Nintendo life, Lovely people here!

Amazing game. Can either do adventure or focus on sonic levels.

Alex: Gah I knew I’d say Sonic Forces at some point! Narrator: Little did Alex know that was the second time he said Sonic Forces.

I have to ask. Did anyone at Nintendo Life ever figure out you can click the left Stick to pick up your dropped Rings? I found out watching someone stream the game. I beat the game and never knew myself. 😅

It's the best sonic game since sonic unleashed, dam that game was so good.

Honestly, the game is enjoyable.

I feel even though it may be a bit clunky or different, I feel this is a great step towards old sega with them making more risky games with fun and unique gameplay. If they improve the game, it may be much more fun to play or they release new games which work better or are even better.

Its the best Sonic games since Sonic Adventure 1 but that doesn’t mean its a 10/10 game lol. I think it is better than Generations also in physics and performance. On the Switch the performance holds it back. Pop-in and some glitches. Def better than those other 3D Sonic games that just seems like quick time button presses. The vertical exploration is a positive highlight I wasn’t expecting.

I feel like this duality of opinions usually happen on games that are more mobility focused that get more niche cult status, like Gravity Rush or Jet Set Radio. Where there's a set movement control, and a world that's built around it and the aim is to learn how best to use your movement controls to traverse the game world. And Sonic 3d games feel like the epitome of this controversy

The thing I like about the game is that the gameplay is more free movement than the on rail kinda path like Sonic Generation.

I loved it, and I'm a person who has tried and hated every 3D Sonic game to date. I just love any game that cares more about giving you places to explore than pushing you through a story path. I've played a lot of Frontiers and I'm not even sure I could tell you what those repetitive progression tasks are because I've never once cared about making progress. That's not what's fun about this. I love it for the same reasons I love Breath of the Wild, it's just a place to exist in and look around and see what you can find. There's eventually an ending and progress will inevitably happen, but if you're playing a game primarily to get to the end and see the credits then you might be underwhelmed by this type of game.

I knew, Sonic is fantastic, plated it yesterday.

I finished the game in 26 hours and have logged another 10 so far while going for 100%. Nintendo Switch version looks a bit rough, but it ran quite well with no noticeable frame drops; if it’s all you can get it on it’s still solid, but get it on something else if you can. It’s got a lot of mostly small issues, none were gamebreaking, some were annoying, but it was lots of fun and the good’s do outweigh the bad. It’s definitely at least a good game, but it obviously won’t stick the landing with everyone. I give it a solid 7.5-8/10.

I love Sonic games so I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I was pleased with what we got after finishing the game. I just wish it was longer, but hopefully that just leaves an opening for a sequel

I think Sonic controls pretty good in this game, but it feels like there is still room for improvement. There's almost no reason to use the drop dash, there are some physics mods for the PC version that make rolling around with drop dash really fun almost as fun as the spindash from SA1. Unfortunately the game becomes impossible to beat at certain points due to not being built for those physics.

Compared to other 3d sonic games it pretty good and enjoyable.

Sonic frontiers is great

Such a good breakdown of all the points. I fully agree though that the physics and "feel" of Sonic is a key factor. Personally, I really liked the game but didn't care for Sonic's floatiness or homing delay with enemies. But damn did it feel the closest in a LONG time to a Sonic Adventure game. I didn't like how most 3D Sonic games had felt like Autorunners, and never really played much 2D Sonic, so the fact it almost felt like a love letter to Sonic Adventure clinched it all for me. But the framerate slowing Sonic's speed down is a fair point (though but the upper levels of speed he feels perfectly fast to me)

1:56 that explains a lot.

I enjoy it but my problem is with the boss and having to try and spam a button quick enough. It's impossible for me and I always get knocked back

Why did you cut off after mentioning Dunkey’s video?? Give us the Dunkey Cut!

Everytime I make a mistake in frontiers, I don't blame it on jank, I get relieved that the safety wheels we've had since secret of the rings are finally off again. The controls are good enough that you can recover from most mistakes anyway.

I really hope Felix never plays a fromsoft game considering he needs everything explained to him to enjoy a game 😅

*I have no idea why they made the main world look so dumpy and uninteresting. It is a stark contrast to the cyberspace stages (**20:05**). I want to run around in a open world in that art style.* The main world...nah, I'll pass. Kind of a big deal if free roaming is part of your concept. I get that they want to differentiate but you can do that without making it so jarring and without making your world look crappy by comparison.

Honestly I think my head would explode if I had "everyone's opinions" as Felix puts it.

I honestly did like three of thee cyberspace levels and then just used big the cat to get the vault keys. I went into like two the first island, one the second and then ignored the rest.

I LOVE IT! LIKELY GETTING THIS MASTERPIECE TODAY

"That sound came from a Zelda game!" ..."That's a sonar ping. It's been around a lot longer than Zelda games."

I wholly agree it's fascinating. never have I found a game where every single complaint I can find myself even AGREEING with yet still completely disagree with the overall opinion. I think this game is fantastic and is one of my favourite games I've played this year and if someone told me they hated this I'd fully understand

We live in a timeline where the newest Sonic game is more polished than the newest Pokemon game. Frontiers is already $40 at Best Buy, so I'm gonna take the plunge. But I have absolutely no interest in Scarlet/Violet. EDIT: Just went to make the purchase and saw Amazon is now offering Frontiers for $29! Glad I waited till the night!

I enjoyed the game. On the topic of Breath of the Wild, I think the parts that feel closest to it are when sonic goes into cyberspace.

Alex: "There must be things you like about the game!" Felix: "Oh yeah! The game play loop... is there." That's probably the highest praise anyone's ever given to a game! (8:53)

On first glance the game has a very 2013 E3 demo look about it

People who say they don't like how the game feels on Switch or other last gen consoles, need to try the 60fps mode on PC, Xbox Series X or PS5. (disabled there by default) If they don't like it then, it's understandable. 30fps on Switch is a necessary compromise, but you should not criticise the game for that, I think? Though I agree that it is janky at times, even at 60fps. It's just that the difference from 30 to 60 is just THAT big, especially when playing a Sonic game, you should give it another go.

DO THE 3D BLAST VIDEO ZION (if you have time)

3:30 nails it ,i mean, it actually feels like a Sonic game 🤷‍♂️. So if you DON'T like going fast , constantly ruining into the lv design, dieing, and ultimately trying again for a slightly faster run. Then this might not be your game. I've always felt that classic sonic is like designed for speed runners.

Without getting too much into the controversy, a lot of Cyberspace levels are 1:1 copies of stages from earlier games with different visuals The "good ones" are when they copy the 3D segments from the main stages of games such as Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, etc. The "bad ones" are when they copy, for example, *the horrendous Sonic Unleashed DLC stages that nobody played* (except for me).

12:30 I love how hard it was, games r too easy nowadays, but yeah unfortunately no other cyberspace gets close to its difficulty

15:18 nice one editor

Personally (after growing up with the Mega Drive originals) I never really enjoyed 3D Sonic much _until_ this game 😂 I did start enjoying it more once I changed the movement settings to have a low starting speed and slower acceleration, though

Felix is sonic labyrinth sonic

Great game imo (I’m 40) however I do do agree with some of the points raised here. I also would suggest that the low switch review should point out it is better on other systems from a technical standpoint.

I can respect Felix’s take on the game, but I have to disagree on the gameplay feeling repetitive and never once felt that way outside of the combat. Which’s admittedly a bit undercooked and could be expanded upon, especially since I ended up maxing out the skill tree by island three. But the pure, open zone gameplay encourages exploration and discovery, and this leads to a gameplay loop I found so addictive and satisfying that I never grew tired of it. If you see a rail or tower in the distance, you’re naturally incentivized to go and check it out, and this leads to you finding other items or routes along the way. Including puzzles to open up more of the map, which in turns show’s another marker to open it up further…the list goes on. And since you can get each chaos emerald or do the Cyberspace levels in any order, you’re free to explore the overworld and progress in any way you please. In fact, I found so many collectibles while just running around and exploring that I never needed to go out of my way to collect them until the last island. I could understand if someone didn’t just enjoy playing the game felt it grew tiring over time, but since I personally had a blast and felt the gameplay loop really worked well, I personally can’t really understand someone considering it repetitive. Otherwise a huge, 150+ hours RPG like Persona 5 could be considered repetitive due to repeating the same gameplay loop throughout the entire game, rather than Sonic Frontiers’s much shorter 10-20 hours of playtime.

It has FISHING!? XD like, WOW, every game needs a fishing minigame for some reason.