Between his next Netflix series and his first two films (a third is already in the works and will arrive in dark rooms in 2024), we can say that Sonic is not idle. So much so that to complete his increasingly aggressive campaign around Sonic Frontiers, the blue hedgehog had made an appointment, a few weeks ago, with the press on the side of Hawaii, just to take the temperature and to soak up the atmosphere to come from the last born of the Sonic Team: an open world, or rather several open worlds since the frame of the new Sonic is dispatched on five islands. We weren't on the Hawaiian trip, but we still took our share of a change of scenery when we embarked on the Sonic Frontiers test. The trailers of the last few months have not lied: we really find ourselves on a gigantic map, wandering at full speed in order to understand the why and how and try to find, too, a way to get home safely. Once again Sonic has gotten himself into trouble, obviously always against his will - the hero is literally on the edge of a plane when things go downhill for him - dragging his friends Amy, Tails and even Knuckles with him, what we discover several hours later. The fault for this completely unorganized mess obviously lies with Dr. Robotnik, who has found no better way than to insert an artificial intelligence into an ancient relic, causing a fault in Cyber ​​Space, a fault which will eventually take everyone , with the exception of Sonic. Have no fear, we won't go any further in terms of history, the rest will be discovered while playing, especially since the story has its share of small twists.
HEDGEHOG WITHOUT BORDERS
Five open zones, this gives us a substantial lifespan. Between 20 and 30 hours to clear the main story and double (if not more) to collect all the game's collectables. Already a good point for Sonic Frontiers, which is a particular open world. Moreover, in its communication, Sega has always highlighted the fact that this episode would be in open areas and this naming detail is understood quite quickly in the game. Indeed, Sonic is dropped in a vast map, can be move wherever he wants, but he will only be able to truly understand his environment and perform certain actions after having unlocked an area and the gameplay elements that go with it. Several tools are available to the player to "reveal" these areas and above all, reveal (this time, without quotes yes) the map, part by part, in the style of old-fashioned Assassin's Creed. The practice is both puzzling and not all that unusual, since it borrows a process already seen elsewhere. It is obviously new for a Sonic… but without being really off-putting. Moreover, it should be noted that the first island is a vast tutorial of what we will be able to do in the game. We are still well guided therefore, which will absolutely not be the case in the following maps. We spend enough time and hours to become familiar with the controls and to understand the first island to understand how the others work, even if some want to be more vertical or mainly offer other game mechanics.
In Sonic Frontiers, we do not meet many people. What seemed empty to us in the images published before the game's release is confirmed: it's big but it's not very crowded.
Let's talk about mechanics. Sonic regulars will not be lost: there are obviously the famous rings, a guarantee of resistance and speed, the bumpers, which allow access to elements in height and the rails, on which Sonic can pick up speed and store as many items as possible. We're not going to lie to you, seeing all these elements in an open world surprised us. Not really by their presence. But by their way of being brought on the map. We clearly had the impression while playing that these had been laid down a little randomly (this is obviously not the case), perhaps because some rails do not match at all with elements of the decor. Again, we are at the stage of visual impression - especially that once used to the operation of the ramps and rails, we no longer think about it - and that does not sulk the pleasure that we can take to embody a Sonic totally free of his movements.
THIS IS MY SONIC, MY BATTLE
The latter can accelerate, slow down, has a double jump and can obviously turn into a supersonic ball to gain speed and face its enemies. This is obviously not all since our hedgehog has 12 skills to unlock, all as it goes along and all related to combat. Yes in combat, because in Frontiers, Sonic is a fighter, a real one. We understand better therefore why the trailers of the last few weeks highlighted the attack and defense capacities of Sonic. The latter has variety in its movements (trampling, burst of energy, fast and nervous combos, dodging, parry) including a run-loop, which as its name suggests, is used to surround an enemy or an object and can destabilize him (if he was guarding or hiding behind something), knock him down or activate him. The feature is not a gimmick and is one of the most important in the game, like the Sonic Boom, these shock waves caused by the hero's footwork and which hurt, very very badly, opponents without the slightest effort. With so many assets, Sonic has enough to answer his attackers. The trouble is that these are ultimately not very legion.
In Sonic Frontiers, we do not meet many people. What seemed empty to us in the images published before the game's release is confirmed: it's big but it's not very crowded. We come across small fry (but then small) and a few mini-bosses who have for them to offer some interesting patterns. In detail, it is above all combat mechanics that they offer, since the latter, rather than really hurting us, offer us more solutions than complications during clashes with these mini-bosses. So we fight unevenly – we can literally cover a hell of a lot of ground without ever crossing an enemy – and we end up moving above all a lot, which brings us to the point of speed.
STICKY SONIC
Designed as an adventure game, Sonic Frontiers also has RPG vibes, with its skill tree and the possibility of raising some of its statistics with NPCs, the Kocos, which are also linked to the plot lines. main. Defense, attack, speed, ability to carry more rings (once our limit is reached, Sonic has its maximum run and optimal resistance), it's all there... except that everything is scored out of 100 (99, precisely , the last stat point is for us) and that you will have to level up a lot to feel any difference. Another point, not boosting your stats did not seem to us to be unacceptable. You can - even without touching the difficulty of the game - advance and face the enemies, which offers obvious accessibility to the greatest number but raises a lot of questions about the relevance of the feature during the adventure, without having particularly looked for boost these attributes. No doubt the biggest fans of platinum games will have a blast finding everything, unlocking everything and reaching the max level in each category.
The main downside for us was the speed. If it's exhilarating to move with Sonic, we quickly realize - finally, after several hours of play anyway - that the latter has a speed that is ultimately not very immersive. There is no real feeling of speed over time - the fault of the sacred distances to be covered perhaps? - and to get it, you absolutely have to ride high up and play with the bumpers. Clearly, do not just move on the ground. The other place to appreciate having the hair in the wind is in the levels of Cyber ​​Space – in fact we gravitate in the memories of Sonic – which we can reach after having unlocked areas. These levels are mandatory to obtain the keys… which will allow you to recover, one by one, the Emeralds of Chaos, without which you will never be powerful enough to beat the Titan of each island. In these levels, it's a real tribute to the Sonics of the past that Sonic Team offers us, with an old-fashioned level design and real speed races. We do not sulk his pleasure, because - we will come back to this - between a filter reminiscent of the era of Sonic on MegaDrive and more current colors, these are literally the best levels of the game and by far the most beautiful. Time allotted to finish the course, red rings to recover, precise number of classic rings to catch, everything is there. To the point of regretting that it is not the whole game that has benefited from such graphic care.
AT THE BORDERS OF REDUNDANCY
Our test was performed on PlayStation 5, but we were able to test the game on PC as well. In both cases, there was no fluidity concern. The day-night and good weather-rain passages are mastered - with a few more enemies in the evening, who knows why - and overall, and contrary to what the trailers might suggest, the game is much less catastrophic visually than expected. But… it's still not worthy of the next-gen. The technique is dated, proven and the beginning of the game, not to mention certain cutscenes, do not do it justice. The textures are sometimes ok but never amazing and more often than not drool nicely with the rest of the decor. If Sonic and his friends are doing relatively well, the enemies can't say the same. The robots and automatons that we face lack care and charisma too. Like the environment, they lack care and visual ideas, which does not make them really interesting at first glance.
From a game in open world, or in open areas, we could legitimately expect better in this register. But it must be said: Sonic Frontiers is not very beautiful, which is not necessarily encouraging for the lower versions and in particular the Nintendo Switch. Above all, there is some clipping throughout the game, with decorative elements that literally disappear once you have barely turned on their heels and others that are already present but do not appear only at the last moment before our eyes. It's more than average today and the overall gameplay, despite the abilities offered to Sonic, does not really temper this impression. Like all games of this type, Sonic Frontiers suffers from its gameplay centered on a well-defined methodology: we find elements to reveal the map, we unlock mini-wheels either by facing the few enemies present, or by defeating the mini- boss, we activate portals, we fulfill the challenges of Cyber ​​Space thanks to this portal, we end up recovering like this each Emerald of Chaos and once all the stones in our possession, we will attack the final boss of the ile, the Titan, in our Super Sonic form, while trying to save our friends prisoners of Cyber ​​Space, to understand the motivations of Robotnik and that of a young girl, Sage, who is also angry with our hedgehog.
Busy menu but repetitive menu, which tires as much as it can hang, which obviously depends on the level design of the maps visited. In our case and when we had fewer indications on what to do, Ares Island was more pleasant to visit than Kronos Island, for example. But in both cases, the repetitiveness is real and in the specific case, the game does not have any secondary quest - yet inherent to the open world - likely to vary the pleasures: all that is to be done, with one or two exceptions near - must be done to move forward. What seriously make the player drop out during the adventure if the latter has not hooked on the story, the atmosphere and the general tone of the title, more mature and darker, or if he does not is not an absolute fan of the license, sine qua non conditions to turn a blind eye to the technical and graphic weakness of the title first and its lack of variety in its progression mechanics, then.
