Round Up The Reviews Are In For Sonic Frontiers
Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Sonic Frontiers Nintendo Life Should you rush to get it? by Share: Image: SEGA Well, is almost here, folks. Sonic's first new 3D adventure in five years launches tomorrow, 8th November, and some reviews have been speeding through the checkpoint to prepare you ahead of time. And they're all over the shop! Sounds like a 3D Sonic game, doesn't it? At the time of writing, most of the reviews for Sonic Frontiers are for other platforms and very few cover the Switch release of the game. As a result, you'll have to be patient for the NL verdict on this one — no spin-dashing for us here — as Switch review codes were late out of the door. But rest assured, we'll have our thoughts up as soon as we can. Gotta go fast... but not that fast So, we'll jump right into the press' thoughts, and we'll jump right in with the few Switch reviews of the game that are out there. The lovely folks over at loved the game, scoring Sonic's open-zone adventure a riveting 9/10, saying (via machine translation): "Sonic Frontiers is a brave game that sets a new standard for the franchise. Although it has certain flaws, such as a world that feels somewhat repetitive at times, it is tremendously fun. Without a doubt, the best Sonic game in years and a right step into the future." In a slightly more cautious take, has awarded the blue hedgehog a 7/10, commending the game's exciting direction, but acknowledging that it needs some work: "Rough around the edges and disappointing in more than one area but an exciting new direction for SEGA’s blue mascot nonetheless, one that Sonic Team would be smart to stick with and refine and explore further." Now onto the PlayStation 5 reviews, and our friends over at Push Square have awarded Sonic Frontiers an 8/10, saying "It immediately places itself among the best Sonic games ever made" despite the flaws: "While it is wrought with minor issues, the overall package of Sonic Frontiers mostly hits the mark, with its satisfying gameplay, a storyline that will please long-time fans, and an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack." felt similarly, giving the game a 7.75/10, believing that this is the basis for Sonic going forward, though lamenting the pop-in in the open zone areas as well as feeling like the areas weren't "optimized for exploration": "Though the open-zone design sometimes lacks cohesiveness, the islands do a terrific job of doling out the core gameplay loop. Exploration rewards you with memory tokens to progress the side-character stories, but outside of lore drops and revealing the map, scouring every corner of an island is rarely as fruitful as I would have liked." Lastly, was a bit more disappointed in their 2/5 review. Praising the writing but criticising the gameplay loop, the publication feels like "there are flashes of what could have been": "Sonic Frontiers features the kind of lightweight yet engaging storytelling that should easily enrapture fans young and old – though I'd hate to be a child forced to play through some of the abysmal platforming featured throughout. Was taking Sonic open world an ambitious endeavor? Yes. Did it pay off? Absolutely not." Remember, this is just a handful of thoughts that are out in the wild for Sonic Frontiers right now. Our will be on the way soon, joining the ring of opinions that are forming out there as soon as we're done with the game. But it looks like, early on, that opinion is all over the place. You'll be able to make your own mind up too, as Sonic Frontiers launches on Switch tomorrow, 8th November. How do you feel about early reviews so far? Let us know! Related Games Share: About RPG lover first and Nintendo fan second, Alana is often found overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. Fortunately, she’s also easily pleased by anything Yoshi-related, creepy-but-cute Pokémon, and SEGA air pirates. Comments ) This game might end up getting the best reviews for a mainline sonic in a long time. Good for sega. Hopefully the next game is better and they perfect the engine. Still looks like pso2 NGS: sonic edition Mostly good, that's awesome. Did any of the reviews mention how the switch version runs. Don’t know if I should get it on switch or ps4 Hooray!! Don't have to cancel my pre-order =P Hm ...Did not expect those kind of ratings ...Colour me intrigued, if only slightly. I'll wait for your review, though. One of the guys of Digital Foundry implied on Twitter that the Switch port isn't very good, even if it's your only option, I wonder how bad it is then I've yet to see any major outlet confirm they've actually received a Switch review code Sega:We want high review scores for this game
Also Sega: Forces awful controls in Cyberspace and disables the settings that would have fixed this and helped them in a lot of reviews
Nintendo Prime just tweeted out that he is playing the switch version on live stream tonight. That will be a good opportunity to take a look at the switch version. Hopefully it is good, I would really like to play the game portable. gamesradar and digital trends seem to be the lowest reviews so far and both have some very odd choices (i.e.: digital trends bringing up dunkey for some reason...?) so i'm optimistic here No way am I getting sucked into this at this early stage. Definitely one to let the dust settle on and see what word of mouth is like in a few months time. As long as the PC version isn't busted for whatever reason, I'll pick this up tomorrow. Been 11 years since the last good 3D Sonic and while scores are ever-so-slightly lower than I would've liked, I've heard a lot of good things, still Wait, GamesRadar still exists?? They are so irrelevant these days that I was sure that they went out of business.. lmao. I agree with Game Informer; It's a really fun game.. but stupidly unpolished. What is it with game developers these days that just release games that are just not fully ready yet? I think I'll wait for a patch and decent sale. It seems to be a very divisive game, I think I will pass. Sounds like a 10/10 for Sonic fans. I’m confused by the polarity of the reviews. Sounds like the kind of game I'd have to play myself to tell if I'd be interested or not. I'm not calling out bias but I feel like most of the lower scores come from people that didn't like the game for what it is I would buy it, even if the reviews are like 50%. so you completely listening to others opinions instead of your own? Removed - trolling it actually runs pretty ok on switch. like not better than the competition but better than you'd expect, i saw switch gameplay on yt and it was far from bad threw the smile in for good measure, huh? A 7/10 average is good going for a 3D Sonic game. Doesn’t look like something I’d want to pay full price for but I’ll give it a go when it’s on a decent sale (which, as SEGA/Sonic games go, probably won’t be long) "Now onto the PlayStation 5 reviews" This site is beyond parody. No, we shouldn't come here for news on other consoles. That's what IGN is for. This is a Nintendo site. From the Digital Trends Review (2/10): "Sonic Team continues to demonstrate that it's not quite sure what to do with the blue blur" I don't agree with a 2/10, but they're on point here. Sonic was everything. A Werewolf, a Black Knight, a arabian tale, a random village dude with a scarf, even a revolutionary. In Frontiers, it's like Sonic in the BOTW world trying to ignore all the melancholic atmosphere from his friends and enemies. Tails is in a complete existential crisis in this game. It's pathetic. I don't have an opinion, because I didn't play the game, so I have to trust others. If there was a demo, then maybe I could be convinced to buy the game. technical issues is sonic frontiers main problem.. to be fair, they say that for basically every Switch port at this point... I was surprised about how negative they were about the Persona 5 port. Wait until you actually see gameplay to decide if it bothers you or not. I'm mainly worried about pop in. Since that is already questionable on PS5. I’m glad it sounds good sonic usually has issues just being amused . its every sonic game the same and the fans will never learn it
There are a few videos on YouTube that show off the switch version. When people got copies early, I saw a hour long video of the switch version. It runs fine, but definitely not as good as other versions. Maybe a constant mid 20’s when it’s raining and whatnot Sounds like a 7/10 will be coming down the pipeline from NintendoLife shortly If only the realese of this games help put a discount on Sonic colors, it would have serve its purpose ? would probably put my money on having to meet deadlines the companies put on the developers. Sounds like a solid game. Satisfying gameplay and engaging storytelling sounds good to me. You know, I was decently skeptical when this released, and to be honest, I’d still prefer a linear 3D platformer that’s actually in 3D, but looking at this game in motion, I’m pretty impressed. I’m definitely going to get it soon, but probably not day 1. Kinda wanting to give the game a go, but I have too much on the plate currently. Will wait for later when their is a sale, or when I have the time. No he didn't. He just obviously said it was better on PS5 and Series. I'll grab this if the Switch port is decent enough. Same Was interested till the first trailers and had the tiniest hope they would turn it around, but from reading a couple reviews seems just pretty meh in the end. A lot of half baked feature creep, major pop in issues (especially at the speed they want you to go) and a fairly basic combat system. Nothing really new. Don't care. I have it ordered as far as I know its fine. There are videos on YouTube already I'll wait for a sale, I'm in no rush to play this. I will judge for myself when I play Frontiers, that said going by most of the reviews I read so far it sounds like the game is adequate-ish at best. From the reviews you should actually see that it's more than just ''adequate''. It's actually great.
You want an ''adequate'' game, look at Sonic Colors or Black Knight. 2/10 is being extremely fair.. this is sonic after all... I mean good lord the amount of absolute crap sonic games, you should already know what you going to get!! Sega doesn't get it! Only a few killer games on Gamecube when they had some other studio making games like Monkey Ball and F-Zero!! that's stupid. Look at mario. Milked to death. I'll grab the Switch port down the line, but that's mostly because Switch is the only modern system I own. : If it really is great thats obviously a plus but thats not the impression I have gotten so far. I always take notes of both the positive and negative points and while the latter aren't much they are still notewhorthy (hopefully Sega will iron most of them with patches). Again I will judge for myself when I have my hands on the game. does anyone know why this game retails at £50. Jesus Christ its expensive So its another Sonic Game with mixed reviews some really like it others say its terrible well I give this one a skip until sale comes not worth playing full price. Sound like another failure. Just well regarded this time. I think the further they move from the formula the worst it gets.
Its like a new album from a retro artist, people want one of the same not an evolution
It will always be a retro game, people will always prefer Sonic Mania Seems like a pretty solid "buy it on sale" I've gone from not gonna bother to wait for a deep sale when I have absolutely nothing else to play. looks awful. the reviews I saw were 1/5 and 2/10. you didn't mention those ones though. funny that... I pre-ordered the PS5 version cause I had credit on one of the big digital retailers in my country. Just got to find out that the retailer is shutting down now that I'm actually excited for the game. Cherish your pre-order! Cherish it! Might get it on pc this time, just feels right for how this game looks, but might get it on switch later on sale if I enjoy it as much as I think I will.
Over 50% of the reviews on Metacritic are 70-90’s though, so the few 10-20’s are pointless.
Edit: Nintendo Life did bring up the one 2/5 review.
Here’s non spoiler Nintendo Switch footage of Sonic at max speed, the console seems to be keeping up good enough. Finally, sonic is getting high scores, and wile it’s far from perfect, it’s a good step in the right direction, let’s just hope they don’t do a complete 180 like generations. Can't wait for my Xbox copy to unlock to play on my Series X. I wish more people would talk about Sonic's customizable control parameters, so far I haven't seen anything about that. Well, hopefully in just over seven hours I can find out for myself! I'm actually pretty excited for this game. Cool! Looks pretty smooth! Not bad scores, save for like 3 negative ones listed on Metacritic. Oh dear, doesn't seem to be the bloodbath that some people were weirdly hoping for. Even now there's people in denial mode. Fair enough if you just personally don't like 3D Sonic but why are you praying on its downfall lmao. I got it a day early (happens sometimes since I live near the mail center) and put about 7hrs in thus far. Unfortunately don't have a lot good to report. Frontiers is very aimless most of the time, just running from one action segment to the next. It simultaneously feels as if there's way too much to do (it has Ubisoft 'map full of icons...but only 6-8 different kinds over and over' disease) and also too little holding it together to keep me engaged. They try to do some puzzles and they aren't well executed, one particular mandatory light puzzle very early is going to make a million kids rage. Bosses are quite tough, at least the first two area-ending bosses, but I didn't enjoy them. The skill tree and leveling feel incredibly out of place, but you'd better upgrade often or those aforementioned bosses will crush you quick. Overall I'd say 5/10 or 6/10 from what I've played so far. I liked Forces significantly more, even with its flaws. I'm sure ultra Sonic fans will enjoy it, but I was hoping for a bit more because I tend to like Sonic games less than I think I will. I'm curious about NintendLife's review, but I'll likely wait for a good sale before dipping in myself. The only review I care about is what dunkey thinks about the game… Ill asume NintenderoS reviewed the Switch version An average Sonic game by the sounds of things. Wasn’t expecting much more than that. I can't wait for the reviews to come in that are for the PC and Switch which I imagine are the worst performing by far. I mean the PS5 still has god awful graphics and pop in.
Of course the Nintendo Switch version will be the worst one, but it seems to be at least a decent port. It has 3 good-great Metacritic scores so far (70, 85, & 90) and can keep up with a fully upgraded Sonic well enough: tbf, pushsquare and nintendoLife are from the same family of websites, your NL account even works over there. who even takes GamesRadar seriously? Waiting until I'm done with Pokemon Violet's main campaigns until I buy or start a new game.
My favorite thing about any of the switch reviews posted were done downloading the leaked ROM Long story short, if you want to play a below average game, buy it on any other console other than the Switch. Yes it's portable, but so is a gaming laptop and it'll run better and you'll have more playtime considering the battery is far better. Shareholders. I tried to say this game would be the one that would end up turning things around but everyone was so doom and gloom after the first trailer that no one took me seriously! I've made up my mind, I'm gonna play sonic frontiers whether it has technical issues or not. Or what the critics say about it. lol, ok, I will! sorry to hear that! I got sonics new game today. It's a fun game . It's not perfect but no game is. I'm sure Sega will give us a patch to smooth the game out. I have the PS5 Version. Sonic is heading in the right direction. I give it 8.5 out of 10 SEGA should get a demo out ahead of the Christmas holidays to try and boost sales. Absolutely no way I'm buying this game without trying it first. The lack of a demo, given the negativity that surrounded the earlier trailers, speaks volumes. a lot of complaints to do with the earlier trailers were just nitpicks, dont listen to those. , So true, and I bet there is very little Switch info on Pushsquare. Will be getting this for the Series X, the Switch is still my main console, but pretty much for Nintendo content and the odd indie title. Oh and Alien isolation is awesome on the Switch. Doesn’t seem like a good game imo, but I’m glad some people are enjoying it.. Leave A Comment Hold on there, you need to to post a comment...
Also Sega: Forces awful controls in Cyberspace and disables the settings that would have fixed this and helped them in a lot of reviews
Nintendo Prime just tweeted out that he is playing the switch version on live stream tonight. That will be a good opportunity to take a look at the switch version. Hopefully it is good, I would really like to play the game portable. gamesradar and digital trends seem to be the lowest reviews so far and both have some very odd choices (i.e.: digital trends bringing up dunkey for some reason...?) so i'm optimistic here No way am I getting sucked into this at this early stage. Definitely one to let the dust settle on and see what word of mouth is like in a few months time. As long as the PC version isn't busted for whatever reason, I'll pick this up tomorrow. Been 11 years since the last good 3D Sonic and while scores are ever-so-slightly lower than I would've liked, I've heard a lot of good things, still Wait, GamesRadar still exists?? They are so irrelevant these days that I was sure that they went out of business.. lmao. I agree with Game Informer; It's a really fun game.. but stupidly unpolished. What is it with game developers these days that just release games that are just not fully ready yet? I think I'll wait for a patch and decent sale. It seems to be a very divisive game, I think I will pass. Sounds like a 10/10 for Sonic fans. I’m confused by the polarity of the reviews. Sounds like the kind of game I'd have to play myself to tell if I'd be interested or not. I'm not calling out bias but I feel like most of the lower scores come from people that didn't like the game for what it is I would buy it, even if the reviews are like 50%. so you completely listening to others opinions instead of your own? Removed - trolling it actually runs pretty ok on switch. like not better than the competition but better than you'd expect, i saw switch gameplay on yt and it was far from bad threw the smile in for good measure, huh? A 7/10 average is good going for a 3D Sonic game. Doesn’t look like something I’d want to pay full price for but I’ll give it a go when it’s on a decent sale (which, as SEGA/Sonic games go, probably won’t be long) "Now onto the PlayStation 5 reviews" This site is beyond parody. No, we shouldn't come here for news on other consoles. That's what IGN is for. This is a Nintendo site. From the Digital Trends Review (2/10): "Sonic Team continues to demonstrate that it's not quite sure what to do with the blue blur" I don't agree with a 2/10, but they're on point here. Sonic was everything. A Werewolf, a Black Knight, a arabian tale, a random village dude with a scarf, even a revolutionary. In Frontiers, it's like Sonic in the BOTW world trying to ignore all the melancholic atmosphere from his friends and enemies. Tails is in a complete existential crisis in this game. It's pathetic. I don't have an opinion, because I didn't play the game, so I have to trust others. If there was a demo, then maybe I could be convinced to buy the game. technical issues is sonic frontiers main problem.. to be fair, they say that for basically every Switch port at this point... I was surprised about how negative they were about the Persona 5 port. Wait until you actually see gameplay to decide if it bothers you or not. I'm mainly worried about pop in. Since that is already questionable on PS5. I’m glad it sounds good sonic usually has issues just being amused . its every sonic game the same and the fans will never learn it
There are a few videos on YouTube that show off the switch version. When people got copies early, I saw a hour long video of the switch version. It runs fine, but definitely not as good as other versions. Maybe a constant mid 20’s when it’s raining and whatnot Sounds like a 7/10 will be coming down the pipeline from NintendoLife shortly If only the realese of this games help put a discount on Sonic colors, it would have serve its purpose ? would probably put my money on having to meet deadlines the companies put on the developers. Sounds like a solid game. Satisfying gameplay and engaging storytelling sounds good to me. You know, I was decently skeptical when this released, and to be honest, I’d still prefer a linear 3D platformer that’s actually in 3D, but looking at this game in motion, I’m pretty impressed. I’m definitely going to get it soon, but probably not day 1. Kinda wanting to give the game a go, but I have too much on the plate currently. Will wait for later when their is a sale, or when I have the time. No he didn't. He just obviously said it was better on PS5 and Series. I'll grab this if the Switch port is decent enough. Same Was interested till the first trailers and had the tiniest hope they would turn it around, but from reading a couple reviews seems just pretty meh in the end. A lot of half baked feature creep, major pop in issues (especially at the speed they want you to go) and a fairly basic combat system. Nothing really new. Don't care. I have it ordered as far as I know its fine. There are videos on YouTube already I'll wait for a sale, I'm in no rush to play this. I will judge for myself when I play Frontiers, that said going by most of the reviews I read so far it sounds like the game is adequate-ish at best. From the reviews you should actually see that it's more than just ''adequate''. It's actually great.
You want an ''adequate'' game, look at Sonic Colors or Black Knight. 2/10 is being extremely fair.. this is sonic after all... I mean good lord the amount of absolute crap sonic games, you should already know what you going to get!! Sega doesn't get it! Only a few killer games on Gamecube when they had some other studio making games like Monkey Ball and F-Zero!! that's stupid. Look at mario. Milked to death. I'll grab the Switch port down the line, but that's mostly because Switch is the only modern system I own. : If it really is great thats obviously a plus but thats not the impression I have gotten so far. I always take notes of both the positive and negative points and while the latter aren't much they are still notewhorthy (hopefully Sega will iron most of them with patches). Again I will judge for myself when I have my hands on the game. does anyone know why this game retails at £50. Jesus Christ its expensive So its another Sonic Game with mixed reviews some really like it others say its terrible well I give this one a skip until sale comes not worth playing full price. Sound like another failure. Just well regarded this time. I think the further they move from the formula the worst it gets.
Its like a new album from a retro artist, people want one of the same not an evolution
It will always be a retro game, people will always prefer Sonic Mania Seems like a pretty solid "buy it on sale" I've gone from not gonna bother to wait for a deep sale when I have absolutely nothing else to play. looks awful. the reviews I saw were 1/5 and 2/10. you didn't mention those ones though. funny that... I pre-ordered the PS5 version cause I had credit on one of the big digital retailers in my country. Just got to find out that the retailer is shutting down now that I'm actually excited for the game. Cherish your pre-order! Cherish it! Might get it on pc this time, just feels right for how this game looks, but might get it on switch later on sale if I enjoy it as much as I think I will.
Over 50% of the reviews on Metacritic are 70-90’s though, so the few 10-20’s are pointless.
Edit: Nintendo Life did bring up the one 2/5 review.
Here’s non spoiler Nintendo Switch footage of Sonic at max speed, the console seems to be keeping up good enough. Finally, sonic is getting high scores, and wile it’s far from perfect, it’s a good step in the right direction, let’s just hope they don’t do a complete 180 like generations. Can't wait for my Xbox copy to unlock to play on my Series X. I wish more people would talk about Sonic's customizable control parameters, so far I haven't seen anything about that. Well, hopefully in just over seven hours I can find out for myself! I'm actually pretty excited for this game. Cool! Looks pretty smooth! Not bad scores, save for like 3 negative ones listed on Metacritic. Oh dear, doesn't seem to be the bloodbath that some people were weirdly hoping for. Even now there's people in denial mode. Fair enough if you just personally don't like 3D Sonic but why are you praying on its downfall lmao. I got it a day early (happens sometimes since I live near the mail center) and put about 7hrs in thus far. Unfortunately don't have a lot good to report. Frontiers is very aimless most of the time, just running from one action segment to the next. It simultaneously feels as if there's way too much to do (it has Ubisoft 'map full of icons...but only 6-8 different kinds over and over' disease) and also too little holding it together to keep me engaged. They try to do some puzzles and they aren't well executed, one particular mandatory light puzzle very early is going to make a million kids rage. Bosses are quite tough, at least the first two area-ending bosses, but I didn't enjoy them. The skill tree and leveling feel incredibly out of place, but you'd better upgrade often or those aforementioned bosses will crush you quick. Overall I'd say 5/10 or 6/10 from what I've played so far. I liked Forces significantly more, even with its flaws. I'm sure ultra Sonic fans will enjoy it, but I was hoping for a bit more because I tend to like Sonic games less than I think I will. I'm curious about NintendLife's review, but I'll likely wait for a good sale before dipping in myself. The only review I care about is what dunkey thinks about the game… Ill asume NintenderoS reviewed the Switch version An average Sonic game by the sounds of things. Wasn’t expecting much more than that. I can't wait for the reviews to come in that are for the PC and Switch which I imagine are the worst performing by far. I mean the PS5 still has god awful graphics and pop in.
Of course the Nintendo Switch version will be the worst one, but it seems to be at least a decent port. It has 3 good-great Metacritic scores so far (70, 85, & 90) and can keep up with a fully upgraded Sonic well enough: tbf, pushsquare and nintendoLife are from the same family of websites, your NL account even works over there. who even takes GamesRadar seriously? Waiting until I'm done with Pokemon Violet's main campaigns until I buy or start a new game.
My favorite thing about any of the switch reviews posted were done downloading the leaked ROM Long story short, if you want to play a below average game, buy it on any other console other than the Switch. Yes it's portable, but so is a gaming laptop and it'll run better and you'll have more playtime considering the battery is far better. Shareholders. I tried to say this game would be the one that would end up turning things around but everyone was so doom and gloom after the first trailer that no one took me seriously! I've made up my mind, I'm gonna play sonic frontiers whether it has technical issues or not. Or what the critics say about it. lol, ok, I will! sorry to hear that! I got sonics new game today. It's a fun game . It's not perfect but no game is. I'm sure Sega will give us a patch to smooth the game out. I have the PS5 Version. Sonic is heading in the right direction. I give it 8.5 out of 10 SEGA should get a demo out ahead of the Christmas holidays to try and boost sales. Absolutely no way I'm buying this game without trying it first. The lack of a demo, given the negativity that surrounded the earlier trailers, speaks volumes. a lot of complaints to do with the earlier trailers were just nitpicks, dont listen to those. , So true, and I bet there is very little Switch info on Pushsquare. Will be getting this for the Series X, the Switch is still my main console, but pretty much for Nintendo content and the odd indie title. Oh and Alien isolation is awesome on the Switch. Doesn’t seem like a good game imo, but I’m glad some people are enjoying it.. Leave A Comment Hold on there, you need to to post a comment...