

The largest issue that the open-world environments have is apparent from the start and partially why its reveal was so heavily scrutinized: Its maps are profoundly empty.

The change is certainly refreshing and mostly for the better, although there are still plenty of open-world kinks and rough edges to iron out. Sonic Frontiers is Sonic Team’s latest effort to reinvent the franchise and boldly emphasizes exploration within vast maps rather than the linear blasts of levels that fans have come to expect. The Sonic franchise has always had its ups and downs, failing to ever find the consistency that its mustachioed rival had within the 3D space.
