Sonic Frontiers marks the first ever "open-zone" Sonic game. The particular use of the term confused fans for months before Sonic Team explained what open zone meant. The idea was to blend traditional 3D action stages with the same freedom and wide open spaces expected of games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Skyrim.
Ultimately, this meant that Sonic Frontiers would feature the series' take on an open-world game. As exciting as this prospect is, the bold new direction that Frontiers presents ran the risk of not living up to its promise. Many fans were concerned about the size of the maps available in Sonic Frontiers, as some titles try to emulate an open world instead of actively offering one. However, now that Sonic Frontiers is out, players know the open-zone structure works well in unexpected ways.
What Makes a Game 'Open World'
Open-world games are typically defined by giving the player a chance to clear objectives in any order, but Grand Theft Auto 3 re-defined the scope of what players expect to see in open-world games. These days, an open world is called into question when there isn't one big map for players to explore, leading to games such as Super Mario Odyssey and Pokemon Legends: Arceus not being seen as "true" open world due to splitting content across multiple maps.
Super Mario Odyssey offers non-linear objectives and world exploration across multiple kingdoms, but they're on their own separate closed-in maps. Pokemon Legends: Arceus gives players more wide-open spaces to explore, yet outside of side quests the progression is fairly linear. Due to this, fans typically end up disagreeing on which of these games fits the "open world" category. Sonic Frontiers' locations may be separated on different maps, while most of its progression seems linear, but the way its exploration is executed leaves fans with plenty of ground to cover.
The Scope of Sonic Frontiers' Starfall Islands
Sonic Frontiers' Starfall Islands are massive. The five islands that fans get to explore over the course of the game are filled with secrets, and there's a high chance fans won't find everything before they move forward. Each island may be contained in its own area, but the islands tend to be separate realistically, which Sonic Frontiers uses to its benefit and provides what feels like full-scale islands to run through at Sonic's iconic speed. It feels as open and free as one would hope.
While part of what players will find in Sonic Frontiers is mandatory, it may surprise fans just how much of the content is optional. It's possible for some players to completely skip over certain cutscenes regarding Sonic and his friends, and players can go through two or three islands without facing some of the game's bosses or fishing with Big the Cat. Despite the islands being self-contained, Sonic's adventure feels like it's in the player's hands.
With that in mind, it's easy to say that Frontiers serves as an exception to the idea that open-world games can't employ separate, closed-off maps. In Sonic Frontiers, the basic definition of open-world titles may still apply, depending on each players' threshold of what counts as linear gameplay. There may be a chance that Sonic Frontiers' ocassionally on-rails approach might be forgiven for the sake of the story at Sonic Frontiers' core.
Even though Frontiers still nudges players in the right direction with markers of where to find Memory Tokens, Chaos Emeralds, and more, the freedom it offers comes with a price. There's a map of each island, but it will only update as fans make their way through the many "Challenge" puzzles found Sonic Frontiers. Considering many players end up having to find these challenges blind, some more assistance with that mechanic would have helped keep players happily adventuring rather than losing their way.
Sonic Frontiers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
