History YMMV / SonicFrontiers

* HePannedItNowHeSucks: [[WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}} Jim Sterling]] rather infamously named the game as their worst game of 2022. Their original review was extremely harsh, and had a lot of major complaints about the game, such as the physics and camera controls, and the feeling that the open world was barren and lifeless. While fair enough, the controversial part was their insulting of Sonic Team as "lazy hack fucks", which was seen as in incredibly poor taste since the review came out shortly after reports of the amount of crunch that the team developed the game under came out, in addition to being seen as hypocritical due to Sterling themselves making workplace mistreatment in the industry one of the most recurring topics of criticism in their videos. Further intensifying the controversy, Sterling thook a pot shot at the game's fans during their annual listing of the year's worst games, saying that they have "zero standards" and "will eat up anything Sonic Team shits out".

*** However, Tails' sections generally would not need the homing attack or climbing, Amy also doesn't need climbing (and can more often than not use her insane vertical movement to climb scale most heights anyway), and Knuckles' gliding would be addressed in a later patch which removed the long start-up animation and correcting the issues with his turning.

* GoddamnedBoss: The SQUID, almost [[MemeticMutation memetically so]]. Its flying, roaming nature means it can easily get in your way when you least expect it (and, simultaneously, make it really hard to track down when you're in the mood to fight it). Also, depending on how high your speed stat is, the [[GetBackHereBoss initial phase]] can take eons to complete and getting tossed out of the "ink path" for whatever reason will force the player to start over the chase once more.

* FanartAtFirstSight: Sage, the mysterious young girl who appeared at the end of the Nintendo Direct trailer, quickly received a great deal of fan art not long after Sega properly revealed her.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Amy is a bit of a BaseBreakingCharacter here, as she is portrayed quite differently than in recent games. Some fans complain that Amy's primary method of attack was changed from her hammer to [[DeathDealer her tarot cards]], as with the exception of ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'', Amy was never once shown using her tarot cards for combat. As for her writing, there are fans who feel her more subdued behavior is just a boring version of her usual {{Fangirl}} tendencies.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: A good few people complain about how Amy's primary method of attack was changed from using her hammer to [[DeathDealer using her tarot cards]], as with the exception of ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'', Amy was never once shown using her tarot cards for attacks before.

** The idea of a blue video game character being sucked into cyberspace to play through memory-themed {{nostalgia level}}s may seem like it was a decision created by Sonic Team, but it was already done in ''VideoGame/MegaManXtreme''.

** Cyberspace 4-4 is widely seen as the best Cyberspace level in the base game, due to its substantial length, decent challenge, original theme, and beautiful music. 4-2 and 4-3 are also highly regarded for their originality and good level design. Unsurprisingly, all three of them were remixed in Update 3's DLC Cyberspace stages.
** Among the Cyberspace levels in ''Final Horizon'', 4-G and 4-I stand out in fun factor due to the former's unique gimmick of having Sonic accelerate through a gear-shifting mechanic and the latter for its surreal, low-gravity landscape formed entirely of floating cars.

** The Cyberspace levels are seen as either a fun diversion from the open zone gameplay and a clever way to integrate more traditional Sonic stages into the game, or the worst part of the entire game due to their reliance on reused assets and level design, wonky physics, and clunky controls.

** Among the Cyberspace levels in ''Final Horizon'', 4-G and 4-I stand out in fun factor due to the former's unique gimmick of having Sonic play like an actual accelerating car with a gear-shifting mechanic and the latter for its surreal, low-gravity landscape that's apparently made entirely of floating cars.

** After the Master Koco Trial in "The Final Horizon", [[spoiler:Super Sonic battles SUPREME and defeats it in the same way as the main story... until THE END links itself with the Titan, taking complete control over it]]. This new final boss is more difficult than the original final boss, with ''three'' phases (four if you count the original final battle that precedes this one as the first phase) where its main attack is an orb that chases Sonic and depletes thirty Rings (or less if you're playing below hard mode), [[TennisBoss needing to be countered with a Perfect Parry]] (that, unlike the main parry, requires exact timing to be successful). When its health bar is depleted to a certain amount in this phase, it becomes a PuzzleBoss, with it always regenerating its energy and its health will not go down no matter how powerful Sonic's attacks are. The solution to this puzzle is for Super Sonic to cut the link [[spoiler:with THE END's moon form and the SUPREME Titan]] (which isn't conveyed outside of a hint by the Master Koco, and hitting it can be a challenge if targeted incorrectly) and then perform a Cyloop on the boss' back, which again, isn't conveyed properly other than the player might switch targets and discover the opening that can be targeted. From there, [[spoiler:Super Sonic has to Cyloop the Rifle from disarmed Titan, which will give it to Eggman]]. The energy balls the boss fires can then trigger a cinematic the first time Super Sonic is hit by them in this phase, which, while it serving as a really awesome set piece, also serves as a straight up ''ring check''. If you don't have enough rings when [[spoiler:THE END]] fires its giant orb attack that depowers Super Sonic, it will be an ''instant kill''. If you do have enough rings to survive it, you will be reduced to 100 rings, requiring you to finish the fight '''quickly'''.

** After the Master Koco Trial in "The Final Horizon", [[spoiler:Super Sonic battles SUPREME and defeats it in the same way as the main story... until THE END links itself with the Titan, taking complete control over it]]. This new final boss is more difficult than the original final boss, with ''three'' phases (four if you count the original final battle that precedes this one as the first phase) where its main attack is an orb that chases Sonic and depletes thirty Rings (Or less if you're playing below hard mode), needing to be countered with a Perfect Parry (that, unlike the main parry, requires exact timing to be successful). When its health bar is depleted to a certain amount in this phase, it becomes a HopelessBossFight, regenerating its energy no matter how powerful Sonic's attacks are. Super Sonic then needs to cut the link [[spoiler:with THE END's moon form and the SUPREME Titan]] (which isn't conveyed outside of a hint by the Master Koco, and hitting it can be a challenge if targeted incorrectly). After Super Sonic has [[spoiler:disarmed the Titan of its rifle and has given it to Eggman]], the energy balls it fires will trigger a cinematic the first time Super Sonic is hit by them in this phase. While it serves as a really awesome set piece, also serves as a straight up ''ring check''. If you don't have enough rings when [[spoiler:THE END]] fires its giant orb attack that depowers Super Sonic, it will be an ''instant kill''. If you do have enough rings to survive it, you will be reduced to 100 rings, requiring you to finish the fight '''quickly'''.

** And just when you thought the pain and suffering was over, in comes Master King's Trial from the same update. You fight GIGANTO, WYVERN and KNIGHT in succession, at level 1 stats, without regaining rings between phases (which is a problem considering these are Super Sonic fights, and your Ring Cap is at level 1, meaning only 400 Rings), and to top all of that off, parrying no longer works unless timed perfectly (bear in mind, you physically cannot damage WYVERN or KNIGHT without parrying). This is the hardest challenge in the game and nothing else even comes close, with people reporting to struggle with it even on easy mode and many saying that it may have dethroned [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Eggmanland]] has the hardest thing the series has ever done.

** For starters, the platforming challenges require a deeper understanding of the game's mechanics and controls in a way the base game rarely did; namely the climb up the Tower of the Masters, which have Sonic scale small and precise platforms with precision, where the slightest mistake results in the player falling down and losing progress. Unlike the towers in Rhea Island, there are no checkpoints or pulleys to help you get back up. Thankfully, like Rhea Island in the second update, playing on Easy mode adds balloons and other items to help make platforming easier.
** At the top of the towers are the Master Trials, which has Sonic fight souped-up versions of common enemies and Guardians, all at Level 1 and sometimes lacking key skills. The final trial has Sonic face GIGANTO, WYVERN, and KNIGHT at Level 1, in a row, with only 400 Rings, with a Perfect Parry (despite the game informing and encouraging the player to not worry about timing beforehand) and includes the ColossusClimb preamble. Again, losing at any point requires the player restart from the beginning.

** Even when fully maxed out on skills and at level 99 in their stats, Amy, Knuckles, and Tails are all terrible at combat compared to Sonic: the three all have short and low-damage combos that are much less effective in the air than Sonic's melee combo, to say nothing of the damage he can output with special attacks that his friends simply can't match. Even against a stationary target dummy, Sonic's friends struggle to do even a fraction of the damage that he does, and against the enhanced Guardians found in the expansion they have no chance whatsoever. They're tailored more for puzzle-solving than fighting, but considering how it isn't hard to accidentally run into a Guardian, fighting becomes an inevitability.

** Also introduced with "The Final Horizon" is Sonic's new mechanic of having to Perfect Parry. In the base game, you can hold a parry for upwards to 20 seconds without an issue and still deflect attacks, but the Perfect Parry is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: having to time it to actually get parries to work now. This wouldn't be so bad if [[spoiler:the Master Koco challenge re-fights]] didn't show exactly ''why'' the default parry works as it does, as enemy attacks tend to be severely disjointed with a HitboxDissonance from their actual animations, making it hell to figure out when to time a parry. These fights in particular also ''speed up'' said attacks, and the game silently lowers your Perfect Parry window timing the higher the difficulty; with your normal parry completely disabled, it's not unheard of for most players to just stick the game to Easy for the mercy because Sonic's portion of this final campaign is a DifficultySpike like nothing else in the ''series''.

* HilariousInHindsight: "Chao in Space" has been AShowWithinAShow since the Chao first appeared in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''. This game definitively establishes [[spoiler:that the Chao did, in fact, ultimately come from space]].

** That fans of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' have a long-standing friendship isn't exactly news - however, this relationship is taken to a new level with ''Frontiers'': the Titan boss fights have a huge DBZ-esque atmosphere, so strong that fans who played ''Videogame/DragonBallZKakarot'' are changing the music from battles with bosses like Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Buu with Titan boss musics like "Undefeatable" and "Find Your Flame". Here's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-VQ_ISjCAI an example]].

* CharacterRerailment: One of the reasons that this game's story was so well-received was its portrayal of the cast in light of the 2010's. Sonic's playful and snarky attitude is still present, but done in moderation while also highlighting his empathy and dedication to his friends (Roger Craig Smith even [[VocalEvolution gives him a more mature tone]]). Sonic's friends are also given more introspective scenes, with Knuckles in particular having his heritage readdressed for the first time in years, and Eggman builds up a sympathetic relationship with his "daughter" Sage.

* ThatOnePuzzle: The puzzles in the game are pretty rudimentary and quick, but one puzzle, "A Grave Mystery," is noted to be incredibly difficult for what is the gate to the first major boss of the game, being a LightAndMirrorsPuzzle where you need to align 4 lights with linked rotation into the right mirrors in order to recreate the pattern on the ground. Figuring out which ones are moved by each and how they'll rotate has caused plenty of frustration for players. There's another issue, too - it's one thing to figure out the solution to the puzzle, but figuring out what the ''objective'' is is its own issue. You're told to use the marks on the ground as hints and the central grave lights up if a beam hits it, but you're given no further context on what the win state is for the puzzle. Half or more of the time spent solving the puzzle can end up being the process of even figuring out what you're supposed to do. It can actually be fairly stimulating to puzzle out given some time thinking about it, but it stands in ''stark'' contrast with the rest of the 'action platformer racer' gameplay, being something you'd find in a 90's adventure game.

** Dr. Eggman being a father figure to Sage. Some love the idea of Eggman having a kid and consider it to be a great way to humanize him. Others, however, find it to be a forced development that is too out of character for him, arguing that he is too egotistical for him to be affectionate towards anyone (especially considering his willingness to [[WouldHurtAChild hurt children]] in past games). Some fans, however, have argued against this, arguing that while Eggman is an egotist, he has shown varying degree of affection towards his own creations (particularly those that serve him well, like Metal Sonic and E102 Gamma) in the past and given that Sage is one of his most successful creations to date (and his most human), it makes sense for him to show affection towards her. A few have also taken an in-between approach, arguing that Eggman's affection towards some of his prior creations was mostly reserved for when they helped him further his plans, and that Eggman's affection towards Sage is therefore a roundabout way for him to pat ''himself'' on the back for creating a competent underling, something which even writer Ian Flynn [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN-woCdhh-E&t=2568s has also argued]] in an episode of the Bumblekast.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The [[spoiler:true BigBad, THE END]]. Despite [[spoiler:[[GreaterScopeVillain being responsible for a lot of past events in the overarching story of the games]]]], we don’t really get to learn much about it, apart from being [[spoiler:an EldritchAbomination OmnicidalManiac HiddenAgendaVillain]]. Where did it come from? Why does it want to [[spoiler:destroy everything]]? Why did it [[spoiler:target the Ancients]] in the first place? We don’t really get to learn much about it, with fans hoping that it survived so more can be learned about it. Previous statements on the Bumblekast made by him as well as the fanbase's interest in the character for its eldritch nature implies that The End, while physically destroyed, might get another chance to return in the future.