Review: Sonic Frontiers (Played on Nintendo Switch) – Nintendo Life [4/10]
Review: Sonic Frontiers (Played on Nintendo Switch) – Nintendo Life [4/10]
by schuey_08
40 Comments
RJE808
The NintendoLife site is so ass lol. Such a stark contrast to the YT channel.
aroloki1
This game is something else for sure. Critics reviews are everywhere from 2/10 to 9/10.
Metacritic userscore is stellar. I know that people can review there without owning the game but I’ve never seen a positive review “bombing” there so it would be strange.
Not only that but on Steam only owners can score a game and it is currently at 94% with more than 3000 reviews.
It may seems like the game has tons of issues which leads to bad reviews but the gameplay, the loop it provides is actually quite enjoyable and this is why gamers seemingly like it much more than critics.
TheOffiicialTOY
I’ve been playing it on Switch and it’s higher than a 4 to me so far. At least 7.
HeroOfLight
That score is way off. I have no idea how much the Switch graphics (it’s still a smooth 30fps) affects their score but I’ve been playing on the PS5 and I find the game a lot of fun. For me it feels fresh and different compared to a lot of games in the industry and I’m not a Sonic fan.
Having beaten the Switch version, 6.5 is my honest rating. It’s a good base for SEGA to work off of for future games but it’s loaded with many poor/lazy design choices like 2D sections on the Island.
aegtyr
What an unfair review. Yes, the game has issues, but the core gameplay loop is fun and addicting. A fun game should never have a 4/10 score.
justintib
I’m certainly having fun with it (in handheld no less). From what I’ve seen, the pop in for large objects is ass on any system, so don’t expect that to change if you play it somewhere else.
theattackcabbage
Thats another oof for Nintendo Life. Frontiers is good not great but good no way they should have scored it a 4.
Deceptiveideas
6/10 for Sonic Forces but 4/10 for Frontiers, yeah ok
mpc92
Some of the comments here are ridiculous. Nobody is “wrong” for liking or disliking a game. The whole point of a review is for someone to give their individual and unique opinions.
Personally, I’m glad when a reviewer is willing to go against the popular opinion rather than just giving good scores to everything. I don’t need constant confirmation of my existing opinions.
CausticPanda
Man, I’ve been a NL fan for quite a while, but lately they just can’t seem to make sense of their own reviews. It’s either a 9/10 for a meh game with glaring issues or a 4/10 for a fun game with the same glaring issues. Personally, i think this is a bad take. SF is pretty ugly in handheld (haven’t tried docked yet) but it’s super fun and runs well. I don’t think a 4 is a fair score for ugly alone when they gave the abortion that is Sonic Forces a 6.
zakpat
This is slightly odd as they live-streamed the game on release on YouTube for three hours and the NintendoLife guy who was playing was having a great time. Lol
OoTgoated
What the shit!? Okay like yeah recycling old assets is super lame but the rest of this take just makes me want to think you don’t know what a Sonic game is and, as much as I hate to say it, you need to git gud.
Sonic has always briefly wrested control from the player to do loop-di-loops, chase sequences, and rail segments. It’s a break inbetween the platforming and robot smashing, generally has an adrenaline pumping visual appeal, and helps seperate Sonic from other 3D platforming mascots. It’s always been part of the premise of Sonic and is part of the overall appeal. You can’t dock points from a Sonic game for being a Sonic game.
As for the glitches, they really aren’t as prevelant as you say and it sounds more like you just struggled with the controls, controls that have been more or less the same thing for over a decade and all that was added were some flashy kicks. You called this shallow and maybe it is lacking nuance but this isn’t Bayonetta and you can’t honestly think Sonic is worse off for it. It’s a welcome addition to what used to amount to just doing Homing Attacks over and over.
As for the performance, almost every Pokémon game on Switch has severe pop in and ya’ll have them all at no less than an 8/10. Oh and let’s not forget Breath of the Wild. 10/10 right? Shall we look at all the recycled assets and performance issues that game has? It’s not on Switch but Elden Ring is another example of a game with loads of recycled material and frequent pop in and that’s another 10/10 nearly across the board. (Not to hate on any of these games or to say they aren’t deserving of high praise, I’m just pointing out they have similar problems but nobody docked points for it).
It just seems like you’re docking points because you don’t like what Sonic is and being overly harsh on performance that’s par for the course with both the open world genre and the hardware you’re choosing to play on (which you should be used to by now honestly). I’m not even that big of a Sonic or open world fan but this is easily the best Sonic game I’ve played since Dreamcast. It’s not a masterpiece but a 4/10? You really have to just hate Sonic to think that.
3AZ3
I’m enjoying it so far. I’d give it a 7/10. It’s all subjective, but 4/10 seem brutally off.
YsoL8
I’m pretty indifferent to sonic, the thing that’s surprising me is that I’ve looked at this sub and nintendo and this is the only review I’ve seen aside from arlos. World seems to be sleeping on this.
Based on the footage, I still think the open world looks empty and the levels / challenges look very straightforward. Most of it seems to consist of nothing but running.
yarbles66
I play on Switch OLED & a pretty good PC. I love my Switch, but AAA games (is this even considered an AAA game? Doesn’t look like it had an AAA budget) on current gen PCs/consoles generally don’t port well to Switch given the hardware literally isn’t up to spec – and it’s showing more than ever – even new Nintendo exclusives such as Bayonetta 3 are pushing (and failing) the hardware beyond its limits. Don’t get me wrong – I love my Switch & the OLED has me playing it more than ever – but the games really need to be designed with Switch limitations in mind.
I played this on PC & IMO 4/10 is generous.
The open world sections are TERRIBLE. They look like ultra generic, last gen open worlds with little Sonic-y bits thrown in, which just look out of place. It’s almost like a bad mod to another game where you can play as Sonic and they pulled these Sonic type structures/mechanisms in. I thought it was absolutely terrible. The Sonic Colours type sections are the best bits – but then you could just play Sonic Colours which can be picked up for peanuts now… I’m not saying Sonic Colours is a great game, but its kinda fun for a quick 20-30 minute blast.
What are fair games to compare this to? Mario Odyssey? Whatever you compare it to, it’s mediocre. And frankly, with so many good games around (old & new), I have no time whatsoever for mediocrity; fortunately I love a huge variety of game genres, so I’m really spoilt for choice & if a new game I was kinda looking forward to sucks, I’m not that bothered.
This is an absolute stinker in my opinion. 2/10 – and that’s purely for the excellent music.
Superpan21
All I can say is think for yourself. Can you judge by what the critics say? Look at IGN’s review of God Hand. They gave the game a 3/10. God Hand is actually a well-done game.
or_maybe_this
People defending this game to the teeth are weird, man. It’s not a good game.
The music is dope. The ideas are ok. For a Sonic game, it’s not *bad* (but that bar is a low one). It’s kinda fun, but it gets repetitive as fuck.
It’s not a *good* game.
People wonder why game outlets give high grades: because weirdos like the ones in this thread tear you apart if you don’t love the IP
for real, this is some north korea “everything is fine” levels of bs
SenpaiSwanky
Man, I get the issues but I feel like this is a bit over the top lol.
I am playing handheld on Switch and the first area looked pretty bad no doubt, pop in and all. From what I understand though, these are issues on all consoles. Obviously PS looks better but it is also experiencing pop in so we can’t blame the Switch for that.
The game runs smoothly though. My biggest issues are honestly mechanical. Some of the fights feel stupidly early access, especially the bigger bosses like Squid in the starting area. Ashura fights are another good example, the blue and red rings you have to run though/ avoid really scream early access to me.
That being said, the world design is clever and flashy, and the individual levels scattered throughout the game are all amazing and look great even on handheld on Switch.
Edit – like, this person lists reused level design as an issue with the game. Sonic Team has been doing this since day 1, and they remain incredibly faithful to level design in this sense. Green Hill, Casino zones, outer space levels, all that shit. Nothing new on that front, just padding to make the 4 seem more palatable. If the 4 is this reviewers honest opinion they shouldn’t need padding.
ttman1994
User reviews sold this for me. Over 90% positive steam reviews and a 9.0 for switch user reviews on metacritic were the deciders.
My thought process was that these are mostly going to be Sonic fans (like myself) willing to take a chance on it.
I’m to the point user scores matter more, even if they can be skewed through review bombing.
ElTontoDelPueblo
This game needs a demo
ES_Legman
As a huge Sonic 1-3 fan and mania I have never really enjoyed any 3d sonic I don’t know why, but I would love if they released a Sonic game as a 2d/3d side scroll platformer kinda like DKTF.
Alasdair91
Let me preface this by saying I’m not a long term Sonic fan, don’t think I’ve owned a Sonic game other than the racing one on the WiiU. This game is good, if graphically flawed on Switch. Is it the most ugly game on there? No. But it isn’t great either. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 dropped to under 360p at times and looked like mud and it got 9/10, so 4/10 for this feels rather unfair.
MattadorGuitar
Honestly I’m glad for a more critical score. Ive mentioned before that I think that ever since Sonic 06 Sega could release anything and as long as Sonic isn’t T posing through a bug infested Green Hill Zone people will clap and call it a surprise for the series. People are so overly charitable with 3D Sonic because he’s a great character and we all want to like him, but the games get away with so much shit that would not be tolerated on other franchises.
metalhammer69
I watched about 5 hours of it last night on twitch and had an extremely bad impression. The main gameplay loop feels like if you took Breath of the Wild and just removed everything but the Korok seeds collection, then built the environment in an empty wasteland using Forge mode in Halo. The design doesn’t feel cohesive at all, almost to the point it feels procedurally generated. I really, **really** wanted this to be cool and fun, but it didn’t even meet my fears and low expectations from the trailers. It feels like a tech demo.
That’s just my opinion though. Does the idea of a sonic game with like a thousand sporadically placed 10 second long platforming sections with collectibles that are required for progress sound fun to you? If so you’ll probably like this game. It felt really, really bad to me
kuribosshoe0
I played it at PAX, and… it’s not that it isn’t fun or doesn’t have some cool stuff in there. But the controls also feel kind of loose and janky, and to be blunt it looks like dogshit visually. Hard pass for me.
Getabock_
“It’s pretty ugly, but the gameplay is kinda fun (if you’re a Sonic fan) (compared to other Sonic games)”, is what I keep hearing about this game. So, just like all the other 3D Sonic games.
imaspaceheater
To each their own, it’s the only game in many years that’s captured my attention to where I don’t wanna stop playing. The over world gameplay is so fun and well designed I get addicted to it. About to beat the 3rd island now.
jhonnyhax
Just give me a sonic game with chao garden again please
BobSagieBauls
I think it was ok!
Phillies22fan
I guess we weren’t playing the same game or my opinion is just different, I love it, feel a need to play it constantly, I will say the comments about the precision jumping are indeed correct
spirit5794
I think it’s a fun game. I wouldn’t recommend it on Switch unless it’s all you had or you play in handheld often. It’s just a bit muddy and blurry, that’s all.
TurnaboutAdam
I respect this a lot, considering they’re also doing sponsored content for the game. Can’t say this review was bought for, that’s for sure.
Cowboy_Dandy_III
A Sonic game with a mediocre score; who would have thought???
GreedyDiceGoblin
Huh.
Picked it up on PS5 tonight and was having a blast.
ThisOneTimeAtLolCamp
This is the problem with review scores. Literally everything that is reviewed from any site these days is a 7 or higher and when something comes out that is pretty rough and is scored for it, people lose their minds.
Personally from what I’ve seen of the game on PC/PS5, it looks like a 5 or 6/10 game. I can understand the score being a step lower for the Switch version.
Skill Up has a great system of recommend/do not recommend.
Popcorn_Bucket
I’m having so much fun playing the game, haven’t played Sonic title since 06. I understand the complaints of it looking empty but how fun it is zooming around the map you don’t notice. It would definitely be better if everything wasn’t just the same abstract floating obstacles. Combat isn’t challenging in the sense of difficulty but in the sense of how fast you can beat them, similar to the challenge of a level. I like the music a lot too, has an edm tone in a lot of the levels.
vmathematicallysexy
FWIW this post is the first negative post I’ve seen on this game. Have heard nothing but good things otherwise
5i5TEMA
Okay, 4 of the 5 cons listed here make no sense to me, and I have dozens of hours in this game.
>Platforming is rife with annoyances and glitches
>Combat is shallow and, again, full of glitches
Half of these is true; 2D platforming is super annoying in a 3D game and the combat is easy (which I’m thankful for).
But i have experienced absolutely 0 glitches and you won’t get any unless you look for a guide on how to trigger them.
>Collecting various items gets tedious and repetitive quickly
this only happens if you “farm” them.
If you collect them around the world you will easily clear the game without having to run through the same area twice.
The graphics do, indeed, suck.
Cyberspace levels being recycled is only a valid point if you cruticize Mario Kart for reusing old tracks.
brettwestgor
I bought this game and it’s amazing. The 4/10 review is BS
40 Comments
The NintendoLife site is so ass lol. Such a stark contrast to the YT channel.
This game is something else for sure. Critics reviews are everywhere from 2/10 to 9/10.
Metacritic userscore is stellar. I know that people can review there without owning the game but I’ve never seen a positive review “bombing” there so it would be strange.
Not only that but on Steam only owners can score a game and it is currently at 94% with more than 3000 reviews.
It may seems like the game has tons of issues which leads to bad reviews but the gameplay, the loop it provides is actually quite enjoyable and this is why gamers seemingly like it much more than critics.
I’ve been playing it on Switch and it’s higher than a 4 to me so far. At least 7.
That score is way off. I have no idea how much the Switch graphics (it’s still a smooth 30fps) affects their score but I’ve been playing on the PS5 and I find the game a lot of fun. For me it feels fresh and different compared to a lot of games in the industry and I’m not a Sonic fan.
Watch the Arlo review for a better take.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWbQ2-GKibQ
Having beaten the Switch version, 6.5 is my honest rating. It’s a good base for SEGA to work off of for future games but it’s loaded with many poor/lazy design choices like 2D sections on the Island.
What an unfair review. Yes, the game has issues, but the core gameplay loop is fun and addicting. A fun game should never have a 4/10 score.
I’m certainly having fun with it (in handheld no less). From what I’ve seen, the pop in for large objects is ass on any system, so don’t expect that to change if you play it somewhere else.
Thats another oof for Nintendo Life. Frontiers is good not great but good no way they should have scored it a 4.
6/10 for Sonic Forces but 4/10 for Frontiers, yeah ok
Some of the comments here are ridiculous. Nobody is “wrong” for liking or disliking a game. The whole point of a review is for someone to give their individual and unique opinions.
Personally, I’m glad when a reviewer is willing to go against the popular opinion rather than just giving good scores to everything. I don’t need constant confirmation of my existing opinions.
Man, I’ve been a NL fan for quite a while, but lately they just can’t seem to make sense of their own reviews. It’s either a 9/10 for a meh game with glaring issues or a 4/10 for a fun game with the same glaring issues. Personally, i think this is a bad take. SF is pretty ugly in handheld (haven’t tried docked yet) but it’s super fun and runs well. I don’t think a 4 is a fair score for ugly alone when they gave the abortion that is Sonic Forces a 6.
This is slightly odd as they live-streamed the game on release on YouTube for three hours and the NintendoLife guy who was playing was having a great time. Lol
What the shit!? Okay like yeah recycling old assets is super lame but the rest of this take just makes me want to think you don’t know what a Sonic game is and, as much as I hate to say it, you need to git gud.
Sonic has always briefly wrested control from the player to do loop-di-loops, chase sequences, and rail segments. It’s a break inbetween the platforming and robot smashing, generally has an adrenaline pumping visual appeal, and helps seperate Sonic from other 3D platforming mascots. It’s always been part of the premise of Sonic and is part of the overall appeal. You can’t dock points from a Sonic game for being a Sonic game.
As for the glitches, they really aren’t as prevelant as you say and it sounds more like you just struggled with the controls, controls that have been more or less the same thing for over a decade and all that was added were some flashy kicks. You called this shallow and maybe it is lacking nuance but this isn’t Bayonetta and you can’t honestly think Sonic is worse off for it. It’s a welcome addition to what used to amount to just doing Homing Attacks over and over.
As for the performance, almost every Pokémon game on Switch has severe pop in and ya’ll have them all at no less than an 8/10. Oh and let’s not forget Breath of the Wild. 10/10 right? Shall we look at all the recycled assets and performance issues that game has? It’s not on Switch but Elden Ring is another example of a game with loads of recycled material and frequent pop in and that’s another 10/10 nearly across the board. (Not to hate on any of these games or to say they aren’t deserving of high praise, I’m just pointing out they have similar problems but nobody docked points for it).
It just seems like you’re docking points because you don’t like what Sonic is and being overly harsh on performance that’s par for the course with both the open world genre and the hardware you’re choosing to play on (which you should be used to by now honestly). I’m not even that big of a Sonic or open world fan but this is easily the best Sonic game I’ve played since Dreamcast. It’s not a masterpiece but a 4/10? You really have to just hate Sonic to think that.
I’m enjoying it so far. I’d give it a 7/10. It’s all subjective, but 4/10 seem brutally off.
I’m pretty indifferent to sonic, the thing that’s surprising me is that I’ve looked at this sub and nintendo and this is the only review I’ve seen aside from arlos. World seems to be sleeping on this.
Based on the footage, I still think the open world looks empty and the levels / challenges look very straightforward. Most of it seems to consist of nothing but running.
I play on Switch OLED & a pretty good PC. I love my Switch, but AAA games (is this even considered an AAA game? Doesn’t look like it had an AAA budget) on current gen PCs/consoles generally don’t port well to Switch given the hardware literally isn’t up to spec – and it’s showing more than ever – even new Nintendo exclusives such as Bayonetta 3 are pushing (and failing) the hardware beyond its limits. Don’t get me wrong – I love my Switch & the OLED has me playing it more than ever – but the games really need to be designed with Switch limitations in mind.
I played this on PC & IMO 4/10 is generous.
The open world sections are TERRIBLE. They look like ultra generic, last gen open worlds with little Sonic-y bits thrown in, which just look out of place. It’s almost like a bad mod to another game where you can play as Sonic and they pulled these Sonic type structures/mechanisms in. I thought it was absolutely terrible. The Sonic Colours type sections are the best bits – but then you could just play Sonic Colours which can be picked up for peanuts now… I’m not saying Sonic Colours is a great game, but its kinda fun for a quick 20-30 minute blast.
What are fair games to compare this to? Mario Odyssey? Whatever you compare it to, it’s mediocre. And frankly, with so many good games around (old & new), I have no time whatsoever for mediocrity; fortunately I love a huge variety of game genres, so I’m really spoilt for choice & if a new game I was kinda looking forward to sucks, I’m not that bothered.
This is an absolute stinker in my opinion. 2/10 – and that’s purely for the excellent music.
All I can say is think for yourself. Can you judge by what the critics say? Look at IGN’s review of God Hand. They gave the game a 3/10. God Hand is actually a well-done game.
People defending this game to the teeth are weird, man. It’s not a good game.
The music is dope. The ideas are ok. For a Sonic game, it’s not *bad* (but that bar is a low one). It’s kinda fun, but it gets repetitive as fuck.
It’s not a *good* game.
People wonder why game outlets give high grades: because weirdos like the ones in this thread tear you apart if you don’t love the IP
for real, this is some north korea “everything is fine” levels of bs
Man, I get the issues but I feel like this is a bit over the top lol.
I am playing handheld on Switch and the first area looked pretty bad no doubt, pop in and all. From what I understand though, these are issues on all consoles. Obviously PS looks better but it is also experiencing pop in so we can’t blame the Switch for that.
The game runs smoothly though. My biggest issues are honestly mechanical. Some of the fights feel stupidly early access, especially the bigger bosses like Squid in the starting area. Ashura fights are another good example, the blue and red rings you have to run though/ avoid really scream early access to me.
That being said, the world design is clever and flashy, and the individual levels scattered throughout the game are all amazing and look great even on handheld on Switch.
Edit – like, this person lists reused level design as an issue with the game. Sonic Team has been doing this since day 1, and they remain incredibly faithful to level design in this sense. Green Hill, Casino zones, outer space levels, all that shit. Nothing new on that front, just padding to make the 4 seem more palatable. If the 4 is this reviewers honest opinion they shouldn’t need padding.
User reviews sold this for me. Over 90% positive steam reviews and a 9.0 for switch user reviews on metacritic were the deciders.
My thought process was that these are mostly going to be Sonic fans (like myself) willing to take a chance on it.
I’m to the point user scores matter more, even if they can be skewed through review bombing.
This game needs a demo
As a huge Sonic 1-3 fan and mania I have never really enjoyed any 3d sonic I don’t know why, but I would love if they released a Sonic game as a 2d/3d side scroll platformer kinda like DKTF.
Let me preface this by saying I’m not a long term Sonic fan, don’t think I’ve owned a Sonic game other than the racing one on the WiiU. This game is good, if graphically flawed on Switch. Is it the most ugly game on there? No. But it isn’t great either. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 dropped to under 360p at times and looked like mud and it got 9/10, so 4/10 for this feels rather unfair.
Honestly I’m glad for a more critical score. Ive mentioned before that I think that ever since Sonic 06 Sega could release anything and as long as Sonic isn’t T posing through a bug infested Green Hill Zone people will clap and call it a surprise for the series. People are so overly charitable with 3D Sonic because he’s a great character and we all want to like him, but the games get away with so much shit that would not be tolerated on other franchises.
I watched about 5 hours of it last night on twitch and had an extremely bad impression. The main gameplay loop feels like if you took Breath of the Wild and just removed everything but the Korok seeds collection, then built the environment in an empty wasteland using Forge mode in Halo. The design doesn’t feel cohesive at all, almost to the point it feels procedurally generated. I really, **really** wanted this to be cool and fun, but it didn’t even meet my fears and low expectations from the trailers. It feels like a tech demo.
That’s just my opinion though. Does the idea of a sonic game with like a thousand sporadically placed 10 second long platforming sections with collectibles that are required for progress sound fun to you? If so you’ll probably like this game. It felt really, really bad to me
I played it at PAX, and… it’s not that it isn’t fun or doesn’t have some cool stuff in there. But the controls also feel kind of loose and janky, and to be blunt it looks like dogshit visually. Hard pass for me.
“It’s pretty ugly, but the gameplay is kinda fun (if you’re a Sonic fan) (compared to other Sonic games)”, is what I keep hearing about this game. So, just like all the other 3D Sonic games.
To each their own, it’s the only game in many years that’s captured my attention to where I don’t wanna stop playing. The over world gameplay is so fun and well designed I get addicted to it. About to beat the 3rd island now.
Just give me a sonic game with chao garden again please
I think it was ok!
I guess we weren’t playing the same game or my opinion is just different, I love it, feel a need to play it constantly, I will say the comments about the precision jumping are indeed correct
I think it’s a fun game. I wouldn’t recommend it on Switch unless it’s all you had or you play in handheld often. It’s just a bit muddy and blurry, that’s all.
I respect this a lot, considering they’re also doing sponsored content for the game. Can’t say this review was bought for, that’s for sure.
A Sonic game with a mediocre score; who would have thought???
Huh.
Picked it up on PS5 tonight and was having a blast.
This is the problem with review scores. Literally everything that is reviewed from any site these days is a 7 or higher and when something comes out that is pretty rough and is scored for it, people lose their minds.
Personally from what I’ve seen of the game on PC/PS5, it looks like a 5 or 6/10 game. I can understand the score being a step lower for the Switch version.
Skill Up has a great system of recommend/do not recommend.
I’m having so much fun playing the game, haven’t played Sonic title since 06. I understand the complaints of it looking empty but how fun it is zooming around the map you don’t notice. It would definitely be better if everything wasn’t just the same abstract floating obstacles. Combat isn’t challenging in the sense of difficulty but in the sense of how fast you can beat them, similar to the challenge of a level. I like the music a lot too, has an edm tone in a lot of the levels.
FWIW this post is the first negative post I’ve seen on this game. Have heard nothing but good things otherwise
Okay, 4 of the 5 cons listed here make no sense to me, and I have dozens of hours in this game.
>Platforming is rife with annoyances and glitches
>Combat is shallow and, again, full of glitches
Half of these is true; 2D platforming is super annoying in a 3D game and the combat is easy (which I’m thankful for).
But i have experienced absolutely 0 glitches and you won’t get any unless you look for a guide on how to trigger them.
>Collecting various items gets tedious and repetitive quickly
this only happens if you “farm” them.
If you collect them around the world you will easily clear the game without having to run through the same area twice.
The graphics do, indeed, suck.
Cyberspace levels being recycled is only a valid point if you cruticize Mario Kart for reusing old tracks.
I bought this game and it’s amazing. The 4/10 review is BS