Sonic Frontiers hasn't been available for all that long, but it already has a lot of people saying nice things about it. The positive reception Sonic Frontiers has received thus far has not gone unnoticed, as it even prompted the game's director to make some enthusiastic comments about what comes next.
Released just over a month ago, Sonic Frontiers defied early expectations to secure a generally favorable response from critics. Sonic Frontiers critics and players alike seem to share enthusiasm about the switch to an open-world format and what it could mean for the series going forward, and the game did well enough for itself to nearly bring home a trophy at The Game Awards earlier this week.
"The third generation is off to a good start," director Morio Kishimoto tweeted, celebrating the fact that the game received enough votes that it reached top-five contention for the "Players' Voice" award at The Game Awards. "I am sure that this result will be a big driving force for the next work. We promise you an experience of greater excitement and surprise." He offered no definite word on what the next project might be, but already the current title's strong performance has some people discussing how a Sonic Frontiers sequel could improve upon the first game if it ever became a reality.
In recent years, Sonic Team's development team has struggled to find the formula for success that might delight fans in the way Sonic Adventure did at the start of the Dreamcast generation. The brightest spots during the last decade, such as Sonic Mania, have tended to limit themselves to only two dimensions. Numerous entries of the three-dimensional variety have featured shortcomings that made their various strengths difficult to appreciate. That's true even though Sonic Lost World served as a blueprint for Sonic Frontiers.
Right now, the most exciting news series fans have is that more Sonic Frontiers DLC is on its way. Already there is a Monster Hunter collaboration pack, and future additions could include additional playable characters with accompanying storylines. Sonic has made a lot of endearing friends over the years, and their inclusion as playable characters would not only make a lot of sense, but might give the developers time to produce an ambitious follow-up to Sonic Frontiers that will deliver on increased fan expectations. If anyone has a chance of delivering on that promise, it seems Morio Kishimoto and the current group of developers at Sonic Team are the ones to make it happen.
Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Nintendo Life