#like in sonic frontiers i wish he had a moment after sage 'dies' where when they look away he has a sad face

[eyestrain-addict]

Funny how both Sonic and Shadow are "Even if I'm exhausted and broken I'll keep moving forward, and I'll hide it from everyone because they need someone to believe in/ I won't let anyone emotionally close to me" type characters but Shadow is loud about it and Sonic is quiet about it

[ninboyfriend]

Final thoughts on the Frontiers story THIS POST SPOILS THE ENTIRE GAME <3

I really liked the plot of this game but to be real much of it was a standing around and talking kind of thing. I like that kind of story in a lot of other games but this being a Sonic game, I don't feel like it was the best choice. I think the Knuckles portion of the game was one of the best solely because of the kind of character he is and how he lends Action to a plot inherently. He is a very active character on par with Sonic which is a necessary matchup to me- Every other character seems to be taking a passive role through either choice or direct helplessness which makes the plot go very, very slowly. I think this could have been combated through having the stages be more necessary to the actual story rather than "pass this to get an item to progress." If it felt like getting the key was a more dynamic thing, that would have made it feel much less slow- Maybe Sonic has to collect Key Shards or some shit and manually assemble them (with the help of his friends and the hindrance of Sage) to get a key and is able to speak to the other characters during this time so it feels less like grinding. I feel like this would have been a relatively small change and really changed a lot for the times that felt void of plot.

I do really like the story that's going on though, it feels like an expansion on pre-existing staples without entirely removing the intrigue of a lot of them. The aliens are clearly modeled after chaos and the chao in general and with some outside hints I feel that will be relevant in a future game. It's a good starting place!

I still don't really understand the character of Sage, but I also may have missed a few optional conversations in the game so I'm gonna chalk that one up to personal error.

The aliens themselves didn't really feel like characters and the best part for me was when the elder alien was showing the cyberspace to the children. I wish we had had more moments like that where we got to see parts of their culture (especially since their collective cultural memory is inside the cyberspace- I would have especially loved to see Knuckles be part of this. Wasted opportunity to me), it would have been a lot more impactful knowing even at that time that they all died already and it would have made the (....Very underwhelming) fight with The End feel a lot more meaningful.

This felt more like a mystery-solving game than an action game which isn't great for Sonic really? But I had fun. I was pretty disappointed when Sonic's cybercorruption, which had been built up as an extreme danger to him and framed as him hurting himself willingly for the sake of others, was sort of magicked away by Friendship in a way that did not feel like it really changed the previous situation at all. I feel like there could have been a lot more emotional meaning if we had had something similar to 06' where the rest of the gang had to put some real effort into bringing him back and maybe a more complete version of their little emotional remarks while bringing him back. You built up a point that he was torn out of his body between worlds!!! There should have been repercussions for that!!! I don't want a weird torture porn situation, this is still a kid's game, but it felt hollow. The third act is a hard thing to get right in anything, and this went so well up until that exact moment. Twas lame I am sorry to say.

I do wish there had been a few less verbal references to previous games (not to mention left field canonization of certain characters and events that were dubiously canon before? I could have done without that even if I do dearly love both Tangle and Sticks) and more of those events having actual impact on the world outside of the group's knowledge of them. I wish it felt a bit more like a game than a comic or Talking Simulator but seeing everyone well characterized again was so refreshing I give it a pass.

Overall I think this game was excellent if meant to serve as a soft-reset of sorts. I don't know that it's a soft reset I would pay 60 dollars for again, but I am giving the game and team Sonic the benefit of the doubt and hoping this game is intended to set in stone a new standard for things the game has been lacking.

I really truly just hope they learned enough from this game's reception and flaws to improve upon them. Literally anything is better than another Sonic Forces but I would still like to see them do better lol.

BTW none of this is to say I did not like the game, I think it fucking rocks and I was overjoyed to play it and regret nothing. That is all I will stop writing this long ass post otherwise I will start nitpicking