On Sale 11/8! Sonic Frontier" Impressions! Sonic's new frontier, running around a vast open field!

Sega's November 8, 2022 release of "Sonic Frontier" is an action adventure in which Sonic, a character synonymous with speed, traverses a mysterious island, exploring and engaging in a variety of activities.

The history of "Sonic," featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog who runs around at super-speed, has now passed the 30-year mark. This time, "Sonic Frontier" is a nominal genre "new frontier action adventure" in which Sonic adventures in an open field. Here are our impressions of this title.

Sonic, his self-proclaimed girlfriend Emmy, and his sidekick Tails visit the forgotten "Starfall Islands" in pursuit of their nemesis Eggman's footsteps and the "Chaos Emerald," which gives its holder powerful powers, but they get sucked into a hole in space-time and become separated. Sonic arrives at "Kronos Island" alone, and is led by a mysterious voice on a journey to find Emmy and Tails.

Sonic and his friends go to the "Starfall Islands".

Tails and Emmy's plane gets lost.

The mysterious voice calls Sonic "The Miracle Worker," but ......?

Kronos Island is a vast, open field. Surrounded by lush nature, it is dotted with artifacts such as stone monuments and mysterious rails floating in the air, although no human presence is visible. In addition, mysterious enemies with geometrical shapes roam the island. There is a certain surrealism and strange harmony in the way the artifacts and strange enemies stand quietly in the unpopular world. Combined with the quiet background music, it makes you feel as if you are running alone in a post-apocalyptic world.

Even though Sonic is a fast runner, he cannot run through the wide island of Kronos all at once. It is just not efficient to search in the dark. What helps in such situations are the "ancient gimmicks" located here and there. The contents of the gimmicks, such as reaching a destination within a certain time or flipping multiple switches, vary, and once solved, the surroundings are recorded on a map. The main flow of the game is to first solve the riddle of the ancient gimmick, and if there are places of interest on the map, to explore them.

The "ancient gimmick" is a variety of devices. A mysterious plate is glowing at your feet, but what does it mean?

If you solve the riddle of the ancient gimmick, your surroundings will be recorded on the map.

When playing an open-field game, everyone thinks, "I want to move faster! in open-field games. In many games, the immediate goal is to acquire a vehicle or means of transportation, but Sonic allows you to speed around on your own feet. You can enjoy watching the sunset as you ride along the coastline, or you can set off without a destination in mind and take side trips as your fancy takes you.

In addition, "coco," creatures that look like clay bells, can be found everywhere, such as in the grass and behind trees, and collecting them increases the possession limit of the ring (like Sonic's physical strength in this work) and speed.

There are many mysterious tricks and things to look for here and there in the field, so there is never a dull moment.

At the end of a detour, you will find a mysterious object. If you successfully jump across, you will be led to higher and higher places.

The mysterious terrain looks like a spider's web. It is hard to believe that it is a natural object. ......?

In the meadow, there is a vehicle with a mark that looks like Eggman's face. It seems that he had come to the Starfall Islands one step ahead of us. As you can see, there are meaningful locations here and there in the field

Coco," a creature that looks like a clay bell, can be found all over the island and can be collected by Sonic to increase the number of rings he possesses and his speed.

If you are thinking, "Isn't it difficult to make a jump action in an open field? There are bumpers and rails all over the island.

The island is dotted with bumpers, rails, and rings that accelerate when entered, all familiar gimmicks from the "Sonic" series, to guide you through the action. If you decide on a "homing attack," in which you curl your body around a bumper and hit it, you will fly toward another bumper, and if you homing attack further, you will jump on a rail at the destination where you were blown off, and if you proceed while jumping across multiple rails, you will find a ring at the destination where you glide, and if you jump well, you will fly off and finish the game. If you jump well, you can fly and finish ....... You can play with a feeling similar to that of general 3D action. The feeling is a little different from the usual free exploration, where the player runs through a course created by a gimmick.

Also, from the stone monument, you can go to the "electric space". This is an independent stage that runs from start to finish, and fans can enjoy playing in a 2D style with a horizontal viewpoint, or a 3D style with a rearward viewpoint, in keeping with the previous installments in the series.

Gimmicks such as bumpers, rails, and a ring that accelerates when entered are scattered throughout the island.

A mysterious stone monument leads to a "cyber space.

The cyberspace is a separate stage where you race toward the goal.

There are mysterious enemies on the island, and they will attack Sonic. Sonic's speed allows him to ignore them and run through them, but defeating them gives him "skill pieces" that allow him to learn skills and "fruits" that increase his attack and defense, so sometimes it is a good idea to fight aggressively.

Sonic's attack actions include not only the well-known "homing attack," in which he curls his body into a ball, but also a wide variety of punches, kicks, and various skills.

One of the most impressive is the new "psi-loop," which is a new feature in this year's game. Holding down the button as he runs, a line is drawn around Sonic's feet, and if you draw a circle around an enemy, you can inflict damage. The circle does not have to be a nice circle, but the trick is to make it small and lean, as there is a limit to how long the line can be drawn. To do this, you must get close to the enemy to some extent. The way Sonic plays with his enemies by circling around them is like something out of an old foreign anime, which is perfect for the American atmosphere of Sonic. The homing attack can also be used to catch up with multiple enemies after they have been surrounded and blown away, which is exhilarating when it is successful.

Sai Loop is also very active in exploration. If you surround the ground, rings and buried items will pop up, and you can also activate devices. It is so useful that you should surround any suspicious places at any time, and it is a new action that only the agile hero Sonic can perform.

In addition, when the number of combos exceeds a certain number, the "Phantom Rush," which launches attacks so fast that the player appears to have split into two, the "Sonic Boom," which sends a shock wave with a kick, and the "Final Smash," which continuously attacks when the player is in a defensive stance and receives an attack, will increase, This is a great motivation to advance in play.

Mysterious enemies roam the island.

A surreal sight of balloon-like enemies floating in the valley

Surrounding an enemy with a line around it activates the "psy-loop. You can inflict damage on enemies inside. Smaller enemies can also be blown away.

If there are "fruits" obtained by defeating enemies, attack and defense power can be increased.

The "Phantom Rush," an attack so fast that it appears as if it has split into two halves.

Sonic Boom" sends a shockwave with a kick

After blocking an enemy's attack with "Parry," a special rush "Final Smash" is possible.

Particularly impressive are the battles against boss-like "guardian deities.

Some of the guardian deities have huge bodies and cannot be defeated in a normal fight. As you can see from the images, there are cases where the difference in scale is the size of an ant and an elephant.

For example, in the case of ASURA, a near-humanoid guardian deity, its weak point is located high up on a human's shoulder, and Sonic's attacks cannot reach it. The first step is to surround its feet with Sai Loops to knock it off balance, and then attack it by homing in on the soles of its feet, one of its weak points. Once on the ground, he must dash up the surface of the arm and attack the weak spot .......

It is like a climactic scene in a movie, but instead of a movie or a QTE (Quick Time Event) where you press a predetermined button, you fight with your own techniques in the manner of an action game.

The guardian god "ASURA"'s weakness lies in his elevated position. There is more than one pattern of attack, such as psy-looping to the feet to hit the attacker off balance, or running up the arm of the attacking ASURA to attack it. Let's find an effective attack!

The "Giant God" is even larger than the "Guardian God," and is as big as a cloud. It uses a homing attack to fly across the rocks and strike the main body, but the difference in size is obvious!

As you can see, "Sonic Frontier" incorporates a variety of ideas, and new challenges for "Sonic" can be felt everywhere.

The mystery of the Starfall Islands, including the cyberspace, the yet-unseen guardian god, and the identity of the mysterious girl who follows the giant enemy, the Gigantic God, will be interesting to find out.

Sonic Frontier" will be released today, November 8, 2022. Action game fans and Sonic fans should not hesitate to check it out.

SQUID, the guardian god flying gracefully through the sky. Running normally won't catch up with it, but how can he face it?

A mysterious girl appears in front of Sonic. She follows the Giant God.

(Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)

Game Information

Sonic Frontier

Compatibility ：PlayStation 5／PlayStation 4／Nintendo Switch／Xbox Series X|S／Xbox One／PC（Steam） ※DLL version only for Xbox and PC

Release date ：November 8, 2022

Price :

Package and digital version: 6,589 yen (tax included)

Digital Deluxe 7,689 yen (tax included)

Genre : New world action adventure

Player : 1 player

Publisher : SEGA Corporation

CERO ：A (for all ages)

＜Language : Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean

▼PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch

Audio: Japanese, English

Subtitles: Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified)

▼ Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One/PC version

Audio: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain)

Subtitles: Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Portuguese (Brazilian), French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Russian, Polish

(C)SEGA