On May 31st, Sonic fans the world over got their first glimpse of Sonic Frontiers' open-world gameplay through the release of an official gameplay teaser. Then, a day later, IGN released seven minutes of gameplay through their IGN First program. This news has been highly anticipated by Sonic fans, and the reactions are starting to pile in. While some fans are reacting super positively to the fresh take on Sonic's gameplay, others are skeptical. Regardless, there is certainly a lot to unpack in both of these videos.

SEGA'S Gameplay Teaser Trailer

On May 31st, SEGA released a near 40-second glimpse of gameplay on various social media outlets including the Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube and Twitter accounts. Reactions to the teaser were varied on both platforms. One YouTube commenter noted that they were "impressed by the mood and atmosphere" and hoped that Sonic Team delivers on the game. Others shared similar sentiments, stating that they liked the idea of running freely in a wide-open world. The reception was much more mixed on Twitter. Though there were several who praised the open nature of the gameplay, some found it lacking soul, as stated by Twitter user Loki Scarlett.

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"It reminds me of how sick I am of Sega chasing other games’ hype. I knew this was gonna be Breath of the Genshin but with Sonic.
I’m honestly done.
Completely and utterly done.
Sonic at this point is like Mario is for Nintendo, a Mickey Mouse for Sega to plop into trend chasers."

Others had issues with the animations or the perceived speed of the character. Some praised it for using an engine similar to the title Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, but some criticized the presence of floating rails. However, all of this was a teaser for the gameplay reveal that would be shown on IGN just a day later.

IGN First Gameplay Reveal

Results were much more mixed when IGN released seven minutes of gameplay that focused on exploration. Some commenters noted how the game looked empty and had no soul. Others critiqued the animations and said they looked unpolished. Various Sonic YouTubers also weighed in, with premydaremy calling it Sonic Forces: Open World Edition, claiming that the engine is simply the same as 2017's Sonic Forces but in an open world environment. Still, some praised the new direction that the game is going in, but they needed to see more footage before making any firm judgments. Thankfully, that is exactly what Sonic fans would get just two days later.

IGN Combat Trailer

On Friday, June 3rd, IGN released yet another gameplay video for Sonic Frontiers, this time focusing on the combat. This video showed off Sonic battling various enemies and even taking down some bosses, all with a variety of moves other than his standard homing attack. The reception to this video was much more positive. Various commenters noted that they liked the variety of attacks shown off in the footage and were now excited about the direction the game was going. Still, the animations were criticized for being unpolished and too stiff. Consistent throughout the comments, however, are calls for SEGA and Sonic Team to take their time and not rush the game.

Sonic Frontiers is set to release in the Holiday season of this year, so there's plenty of time for any refinements to be made. Furthermore, there's still Summer Games Fest on June 9th, and it's unknown what will be revealed there. It is certainly shaping up to be different from any Sonic game in recent years. Whether or not this will be the right direction for the franchise is yet to be seen.

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