Among the many games slated to release in 2022, Sonic Frontiers stands out as the most interesting, yet confusing of them all. After a small teaser trailer in May 2021 revealed that the next Sonic game was coming soon, the only thing players would know about the game for months was that it would be in a semi-open world. By the time more proper information was made public, fans had been waiting for more details for over a year.
After waiting so long, fans now know plenty about Sonic Frontiers. They know what characters are confirmed to be returning and which characters are new to the series. They have a general understanding of its overall gameplay loop, and fans also know what to expect of three out of the five unique Starfall Islands that make up Frontiers' setting. Players also know the game's release date, and with two months left until launch, Sega will need to go quiet on information about this ambitious new game if it wishes to keep the intrigue that it's been aiming for.
What's Known About Sonic Frontiers So Far
Sonic Frontiers is the first "open-zone" adventure game in the series. Players will be able to customize Sonic the Hedgehog's famous speed and play style, and fans can also play as Super Sonic freely as long as they've earned the Chaos Emeralds by besting the game's Cyber Space stages. There are also smaller things to do like fishing with Big the Cat and collecting the cute Koco creatures scattered across Sonic Frontiers for skill tree upgrades. The story of the game features Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Dr. Eggman as the Chaos Emeralds have gone missing with their last sighting on the new and mysterious Starfall Islands.
To uncover the mystery of the islands, Sonic Team has stated that fans will likely spend up to an average of 20-30 hours to beat Frontiers. In terms of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, this is a lot. Even Sonic Team itself has said Sonic Frontiers contains more content than any Sonic game that came before. While fans wished to know more about Frontiers before the game launched, Sega may have revealed too much information. For a game that has specifically tried to tease future players with knowing some about the title, but not everything, there may need to be a bit of silence on Sega's part to avoid spoiling the title's surprises.
The Mystery of Sonic Frontiers
When Sonic Frontiers was formally revealed at last year's Game Awards, not much was known about it apart from it being open-world. Fans wouldn't get much information on the game until June of the following year when IGN gave various looks at the game throughout the month. However, the gameplay left a lot to be desired by many fans. Not much information was shared in this period, with a majority of it finally being revealed in a Nintendo Direct trailer released at the end of the month. The biggest thing Sega managed to do was get future players to question the marketing campaign Sonic Frontiers was using.
Despite the backlash at the time, Sonic Team remained confident and defended the game, with its leader publicly saying fans didn't understand Sonic Frontiers' gameplay yet. The developers have also been very public about how the mystery in the tone of Frontiers' story is intentional. How well that has worked, however, seems to vary between different Sonic fans. Regardless, it seems that Sonic Team most definitely wants gamers to pick this game up with plenty of questions in mind.
Yet, if this is what the developers are intending to do for the game's marketing, fans already have too much information on Sonic Frontiers. Through demo footage recorded by the fans at gaming conventions, along with Sega's own trailers, gamers already know the puzzles on the first island, along with a few notable bosses. Only two of the Starfall Islands have yet to be shown in official materials, and both vocal themes for Sonic Frontiers have been revealed. Lately, as developers have tried their best to showcase their games before launch, they've ended up revealing key parts of the games fans wished they could have experienced for themselves. Pokemon in particular has been criticized for doing this when it came to its latest games.
Even though there's a lot known about Sonic Frontiers, the game still holds secrets that have yet to be revealed. While many of these mysteries lie with the game's story, certain pieces of the gameplay such as Super Sonic's role haven't been fully detailed. Players can use Super Sonic to take on bosses during the game, but one trailer implied that some enemies could steal the Chaos Emeralds from players. Hopefully these lingering details remain secrets until the game launches.
Sonic Frontiers launches November 8 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.