After a five year wait, players are currently making their way through the latest Sonic title, Sonic Frontiers. Some players might have already seen all it has to offerm as according to Sega, Sonic Frontiers boasts a 20-30 hour playtime. This depends on how long fans want to spend time with it due optional cutscenes and boss battles they can opt out of. Even though the game has quite a lot of content in it, there's a chance that fans will be craving more due to the fact that it's been so long since a new Sonic title was released, let alone one as detailed as Frontiers.
There may be a way for fans to experience more from this new open-zone title, but it depends on if Sega banks on a recent industry trend. These days, it's not uncommon for a game to either keep itself active through free updates, like Splatoon 3 or Mario Strikers: Battle League, or to please fans with one last hurrah through expansions later down the line, like Sega's own Sonic Mania Plus. With this in mind, it may be best for Sega to extend the life cycle of Sonic Frontiers with downloadable content, as Frontiers is currently very highly regarded among fans.
Sonic Frontiers' Positive Reception With Fans
With critics, currently Sonic Frontiers has mixed reviews, but a majority of them have been positive. On sites like Metacritic, the user score has been incredibly high. On Steam, the game is sitting with overwhelmingly positive reviews, and Sonic Frontiers has broke the most concurrent players record ever held by a Sonic game. This includes Sonic Mania, the game that saw the return of proper classic 2D Sonic. As a result, the feat is impressive without a doubt, and this means that Frontiers in currently in demand.
Most fans don't believe Sonic Frontiers to be perfect, but it's been seen as a return to form for 3D Sonic by many. With this much momentum behind the aspect of the series Sonic Team has been trying to help succeed for years, it would be a great idea for Sega to capitalize on something like an expansion pack that gives fans maybe one or two more islands to explore with Sonic Frontiers' newly established open-zone formula. With the right touches, an expansion pack of new content could have players coming back for more with ease.
Features Sonic Frontiers Is Missing
While Sonic Frontiers sits as one of the largest games in Sonic history, fans seemingly can't get enough. To them, a few key features seem to be missing. Completing Sonic Frontiers' story unlocks Arcade Mode -- the game's own version of the classic Time Attack mode most Sonic titles offer. Yet, fans are wishing for more, such as a Theater so the story can be re-experienced without going through the game again, or a Boss Rush Mode for the Super Sonic battles.
There may be a chance that these features could be added in the future, considering that Sonic Frontiers' extras menu looks rather empty. It only features the outfits and beginning DLC packs so far. However, it's hard to say just what new features could get added in free updates later down the line. After all, adding a sound test would irritate the fans who bought the mini soundtrack with the digital deluxe edition. But with the lack of things that similar games to Sonic Frontiers had and used to its full potential, like a photo mode, there are a few options.
Not every game likes to join in on the trend of DLC updates or expansions. Kirby and the Forgotten Land is most likely not getting DLC, for instance, as HAL Laboratory has moved on to other projects. Yet, Sonic Frontiers' story still has a few blanks to fill that could be resolved through extra content. Ultimately, it's up to Sega, but the best chance fans have is to support what they have now. Luckily, with all of the success Sonic Frontiers has been seeing lately, fans are already making sure to do just that.
Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.