Sonic fans have been clamoring for an inside look into Sega’s Sonic Frontiers ever since the reveal trailer. Luckily for everyone, the wait is over, thanks to the seven minutes of Sonic Frontiers gameplay released on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. This new Sonic speeds into an open world, collecting rings and exploring mysterious ruins littering the green plains. Unfortunately for Sega, the overall consensus towards this new chunk of gameplay left fans underwhelmed.
Twitter has been rife with the frustration and concerns of fans at the peculiar state of the gameplay Sega showcased. While the overall look of the gameplay looks ideal, considering that it has been rendered with the Unreal 5 Engine, for many it looks less of an actual game and more of a glorified tech demo. An opinion piece by Kotaku, among its commentary on the stilted animations, points out how strange it is to see “Sonic in a melancholy world that seems cobbled together from bits and pieces of other games.” It’s a take that many fans agree on, so much so that fans are taking active steps to get Sega to improve their game.
On Friday, June 3, 2022, Sonic fans took to Twitter with #ReleaseFrontiersDemo and #DelaySonicFrontiers, gaining enough fervor to last on the trending page for a good while. Sonic fans see the potential for greatness in Sonic Frontiers and simply want this video game to be the best that it could possibly be. They’re even willing to push for more delays:
Sonic fans are putting their all into getting Sega’s attention, and after the mixed reception of past games like Sonic Forces, many are in desperate need of a hit game that their favorite blue blur deserves.