2022 could be the year that Sonic the Hedgehog reinvents itself. Sega and Sonic Team's upcoming game, Sonic Frontiers, is already poised to break some major franchise conventions with its semi-open world, but the exact extent of the game's innovation remains to be seen. Regardless of the current mystery around the game, Sonic Frontiers has the potential to be an important game this year, although it'll have to compete with a lot of other 2022 releases in order to make an impact. 2022 happens to contain a variety of long-awaited video game releases belonging to all genres, and Sonic Frontiers will have to fight quite a few of them for visibility.
Notably, though, Sonic Frontiers doesn't have to worry about Zelda for now. Nintendo just delayed Breath of the Wild's sequel into spring 2023, meaning Sonic Frontiers has lost a major competitor in the action-adventure space. Breath of the Wild 2's delay is especially important because of how many people compared Sonic Frontiers to BotW when Sonic Team first revealed it. Releasing alongside the BotW sequel could have been uncomfortable for Sonic Frontiers, given all the DNA that it shares with the original game, and it could've hampered sales as well. A wonderful opportunity to seize on the action-adventure market seems to have landed in Sonic Frontiers' lap.
How Zelda's Delay Affects Sonic Frontiers
There's no denying the similarities between Sonic Frontiers and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The Sonic Frontiers trailers show off a grassy open world that'll presumably serve as a gateway to various other vibrant and exciting biomes, just like how Breath of the Wild's open world is structured. The Sonic game's story seems to have similar elements as well. Sonic Frontiers' Starfall Islands are covered in long-abandoned ruins that are supposedly full of ancient technology, and the announcement trailer suggests that Sonic will be fighting giant robots. That's not dissimilar from the history-heavy Breath of the Wild, which frequently challenges players with various Guardian models.
Because the two games are so similar, Sonic Frontiers will likely be better off thanks to the Breath of the Wild sequel delay, assuming Sonic Frontiers makes its 2022 release window. If the game isn't released alongside another BotW game, then there will be more cause to judge it on its own merits, rather than comparing it to the highly similar BotW2. Sonic Frontiers' innovations can be better appreciated if it has time to define itself, rather than being defined by timely comparisons, regardless of whether the comparisons are good or bad. Breath of the Wild 2 is also so demanded that, if the two games released close to one another, Sonic Frontiers would have a good chance of losing the battle for launch sales. Sonic Frontiers may sell more easily with BotW out of the way.
Borrowing From Breath of the Wild
There's no shame in Sonic Frontiers' similarities to Breath of the Wild. In recent years, Breath of the Wild has inspired many games, and for good reason; Nintendo found a highly successful way to make an open-world action-adventure game. Still, the Breath of the Wild family of games can't wholly define Sonic Frontiers. Sonic Team's game needs to be viewed as a standalone work that's contributing to the Sonic franchise's future, and that'll be much easier for fans and critics alike to do without the experience of playing the BotW sequel on their minds.
It'll be interesting to see just how much Sonic Frontiers ends up borrowing from BotW. The open world elements and setting premise certainly sound a lot like Nintendo's game, but Sonic Frontiers is bound to differ in some major ways, including its combat, platforming elements, and characters. Hopefully Sonic Team provides more insight on these components soon. As 2022 wears on, the moment for Sonic Frontiers reveals only draws closer. By the time the game releases, fans may be looking forward to something that builds on Breath of the Wild in plenty of valuable ways.
Sonic Frontiers releases in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
