I had a great time with Sonic Frontiers! It's a little rough around the edges and isn't going to win any game of the year awards, but for a Sonic title? Being "Just Good" is a major accomplishment worthy of praise. The open world is fun to boost around in, combat is a bit button-mashy but it looks and feels cool, and the writing is comparatively superior to any other Sonic game I've played. Without coming off as edgy or campy, even.

Pros:
+ Running in the overworld feels good, and the buggy moments are manageable.
+ Wide moveset that gets wider with skill point allocation. You START with light-dash, you just won't get a tutorial for how to use it till some random load screen.
+ The writing is really good and never got me groaning or annoyed. Eggman especially got great characterization.
+ Fantastic OST, especially during boss fights!
+ Speaking of boss fights- they're hype as hell, and while not terribly difficult, they're cinematic and always feel cool to finish.

Cons:
- "Cyberspace" levels (shorter traditional Sonic levels that are not open-world) are the weakest portion of the game, with wonkier physics and rewards that you eventually find alternate ways to acquire instead of bothering to finish in S-rank time.
- While the island worlds are big and cool and neat, they're littered with grind rails and platforms that are all the same style. There's a grassy island, a desert island, a volcano island... and then they sort of just repeat the grassy/mountain stuff. Sprinkle some ancient ruins and weird tech and you've got slightly uninspiring world design.
- There are stats you level up by collecting certain items throughout the island worlds- a Power item, a Defense item, and then not-koroks for your Ring Capacity and Speed. Power and Defense both get leveled up for as many required Power/Defense items as you've got on hand, but Rings and Speed both require talking to a different NPC, selecting the 2nd and 3rd options from a drop-down menu to select the stat you want to level, and then it levels that stat ONCE. And it takes several seconds to hang on that "Leveled up!" notification before asking if you'd like to level another stat up. Whereupon you'll have to select Rings or Speed again. Having to slowly level up those stats with 198 individual dialogues instead of maybe 20 times with the power/defense NPC was a major pain in the ass.

My verdict: Sonic Frontiers is a solid 6.5 or 7 outta 10. Not perfect, but even a decent Sonic is an impressive Sonic. If it doesn't sound up your alley, look up the boss fights on youtube and give the soundtrack a listen at least. That alone is worth checking out. I got it on sale for like ~$20 USD, and got ~22 hours of playtime. For all the moments I was annoyed/slowed down, there were far more moments where I was zipping around, grinning at Sonic's lines not being painfully cheesy, and having feelings over spoilers. If you like Sonic, absolutely get it if you see its on sale!

I had a great time with Sonic Frontiers! It's a little rough around the edges and isn't going to win any game of the year awards, but for a Sonic title? Being "Just Good" is a major accomplishment worthy of praise. The open world is fun to boost around in, combat is a bit button-mashy but it looks and feels cool, and the writing is comparatively superior to any other Sonic game I've played. Without coming off as edgy or campy, even. Pros: + Running in the overworld feels good, and the buggy moments are manageable. + Wide moveset that gets wider with skill point allocation. You START with light-dash, you just won't get a tutorial for how to use it till some random load screen. + The writing is really good and never got me groaning or annoyed. Eggman especially got great characterization. + Fantastic OST, especially during boss fights! + Speaking of boss fights- they're hype as hell, and while not terribly difficult, they're cinematic and always feel cool to finish. Cons: - "Cyberspace" levels (shorter traditional Sonic levels that are not open-world) are the weakest portion of the game, with wonkier physics and rewards that you eventually find alternate ways to acquire instead of bothering to finish in S-rank time. - While the island worlds are big and cool and neat, they're littered with grind rails and platforms that are all the same style. There's a grassy island, a desert island, a volcano island... and then they sort of just repeat the grassy/mountain stuff. Sprinkle some ancient ruins and weird tech and you've got slightly uninspiring world design. - There are stats you level up by collecting certain items throughout the island worlds- a Power item, a Defense item, and then not-koroks for your Ring Capacity and Speed. Power and Defense both get leveled up for as many required Power/Defense items as you've got on hand, but Rings and Speed both require talking to a different NPC, selecting the 2nd and 3rd options from a drop-down menu to select the stat you want to level, and then it levels that stat ONCE. And it takes several seconds to hang on that "Leveled up!" notification before asking if you'd like to level another stat up. Whereupon you'll have to select Rings or Speed again. Having to slowly level up those stats with 198 individual dialogues instead of maybe 20 times with the power/defense NPC was a major pain in the ass. My verdict: Sonic Frontiers is a solid 6.5 or 7 outta 10. Not perfect, but even a decent Sonic is an impressive Sonic. If it doesn't sound up your alley, look up the boss fights on youtube and give the soundtrack a listen at least. That alone is worth checking out. I got it on sale for like ~$20 USD, and got ~22 hours of playtime. For all the moments I was annoyed/slowed down, there were far more moments where I was zipping around, grinning at Sonic's lines not being painfully cheesy, and having feelings over spoilers. If you like Sonic, absolutely get it if you see its on sale!