History VideoGame / SonicFrontiers

* The first update, titled "'''Sights, Sound and Speed'''" (released March 22nd), adds a [[SoundTest jukebox]] that lets you listen to classic ''Sonic'' music in the open zones, a PhotoMode, and timed BossRush and Cyberspace challenges.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: When Sonic first encounters Big, he asks how he got here, with "here" being Cyberspace's various fishing locations. Big's answer? He was looking for fishing spots and ended up there. Everyone else had to be dimensionally warped in.

** Each Cyberspace stage's objectives don't have to be completed all at once, so you could finish a few of them before completing the remaining missions. Any Red Star Rings you collected will be saved so you don't have to collect them all in one go.

** The westernmost Island Mystery on Ouranos Island is a bit of a GuideDangIt in both how it functions, and how it is accessed. The way it works is that [[spoiler:it can be triggered at any time by interacting with the pedestal the same way one would interact with a Portal. It functions exclusively on audio clues, unlike the rest of the game, and works by Cylooping the three tuning forks in the matching order (at any point, not necessarily consecutively) — middle, left, right]]. Cyberspace Portal 4-7 and one location of the Hermit Koco are "locked" behind it. However, the game provides three other ways of reaching them. The gate can actually be bypassed by simple platforming, and doing so puts you next to a trigger button that will unlock platforms to provide a return path. Because the section of the map contains both a Cyberspace Portal and an Elder Koco, the area behind the gate can be accessed by fast travel two different ways, either by warping to the Hermit Koco by obtaining a scroll from fishing and clearing the closest Challenge, or by clearing all challenges and warping to the portal.

* ArtisticLicenseMarineBiology: Some of the fishes Sonic can pull out while fishing, such as hammerhead sharks, are not primarily found in lakes. Though this can probably at least be excused by the fishing spots being in Cyber Space and also carrying [[MythologyGag Chopper badniks, Goal Posts, and Item Monitors]], among other things; it's just a collection of memories after all.
* AscendedGlitch: The third episode of ''Speed Strats'' explains and gives an official name to the Homing Dash, a dash move performed by canceling a Homing Attack with a Boost, which is generally understood to be an unintentional quirk of the physics engine. [[WordOfGod Morio Kishimoto]] [[https://twitter.com/moq_46/status/1619142578695454720?t=2tWnEUuczEbF9diQ1ln1wA&s=19 revealed on Twitter]] that he knew about the Homing Dash during development, and while unintended, he kept it in as a technique in the hopes that players would enjoy it. The "Sights, Sounds, and Speed" update adds an in-game acknowledgement, in the form of an asterisk next to your clear time if you use it in a Cyberspace level. [[invoked]]
* AscendedMeme: The third episode of ''Speed Strats'' referenced two of the game's memes: Surprise Squid [[note]]a sudden jump cut to SQUID's BossSubtitles when it comes into range [[/note]] and Cyberspace Level 1-2 [[note]]infamous for being ThatOneLevel and a case of EarlyGameHell[[invoked]][[/note]].
* AstralFinale: The final boss fight of the base game sees Super Sonic [[spoiler:teaming up with Sage to fight against THE END]] in space [[spoiler:before it can destroy the Earth]]. This is averted in the Final Horizon update's new final boss, [[spoiler:where The End uses the Supreme as its new avatar]], fighting Sonic on the planet instead.

** The first Titan, GIGANTO, ragdolls Sonic into the side of a mountain with a toss, knocking him out in a single attack. [[spoiler:Sonic's fatal blow on [[BigBad THE END]] is Sage using the SUPREME Titan, which looks much like GIGANTO, committing a FastballSpecial of the same hand tossing him to pierce the creature through.]]

* CheckpointStarvation: The Cyberspace stages and Master Trials exclusive to "The Final Horizon" lack checkpoints, so a single loss send you back to the start, including [[spoiler:the Master Koco's Trial, which has you fight the first three Titans in a row with only 400 Rings.]]

** In Cyberspace levels, coloured asterisks will appear next to your completion time if certain game-breaker techniques are used:

** Once again, [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 a Hedgehog in a Super form plummets to Earth from orbit after exhausting himself saving the world]]; luckily, it goes better for Sonic than [[VideoGame/SonicHeroes it did]] [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog for Shadow]].]]

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: [[spoiler:The Cyber power introduced in New Horizons. After receiving the blessings of the four Titan pilots and completing Master King's trial, Sonic is able to harness and utilize the energy of CyberSpace to give himself a power boost; however, Master King warns Sonic that the power is so strong he needs to temper it or else he’ll spend it all and burn himself out. Though he keeps it under control and uses it to augment the power of the Chaos Emeralds as Super Sonic 2 during most of the final battle, he's forced to go all out and unleash its full energy as Cyber Super Sonic to destroy both Supreme and THE END, unleashing its energy in a furious blast against the two and leaving him drained and unconscious after.]]

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Falling off the islands or dying to an enemy or Guardian just rewinds time to a few moments beforehand, and you’ll usually have the rings you had beforehand intact. The worst that can happen is losing rings during a Cyberspace level or during a Titan fight (which sets your rings down to 100 in the latter case).

* {{Determinator}}: Given a DeconReconSwitch. Not even unstoppable titans will prevent Sonic from saving his friends, but he starts to question his motive when Sage antagonizes him because of his reckless insistence of exploring the Starfall Islands, not knowing what dangers the ruins hold. He keeps going even after [[spoiler:the very act of saving his friends begins to corrupt him, eventually trapping him in Cyber Space]]. Sonic's determination in turn causes Sage's to waver, making her question if the odds are really impossible. [[spoiler:It's Sonic's heroic spirit that ultimately convinces Sage to fight THE END along with him, following his lead in protecting his loved ones by sacrificing herself to keep Eggman safe.]]

** The Cyberspace Stages take inspiration from DrumAndBass and ElectronicDanceMusic, much like the Avatar stages from ''VideoGame/SonicForces''.

** Strangely applied to a matter outside of gameplay, a lot of Sonic's incidental thoughts and dialogue on friends, locations, and even the plot are passive comments he'll make if he's been exploring the game world for around ten minutes without interruption (such as fighting a Guardian, triggering a story event, or entering Cyberspace). Lines seemingly dummied out, like [[spoiler:Sonic [[LaserGuidedAmnesia slowly forgetting his memories]] when suffering the Cyber-Corruption on Rhea Island]], are extraordinarily hard to even hear because you have to commit to a ViolationOfCommonSense, and avoid interacting with much or potentially even outright idle in a ''Sonic game'' to hear them. Thus, it is entirely possible to complete the entire game without hearing most of these lines.

** The westernmost Island Mystery on Ouranos Island isn't handled the same way as any other Island Mystery or Map Challenge in the game. Unlike all other Island Mysteries, it is not unlocked by a story event and does not have any corresponding cutscene. Unlike Map Challenges, it does not unlock any of the map, and functions only slightly similarly to one other challenge (on Ares Island near the Fishing Spot). Unlike the entire rest of the game, it functions exclusively based on audio clues. Cyberspace Portal 4-7 and a Hermit Koco are "locked" behind it, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures but the game provides three other ways to access them]].

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: To save Amy, Tails, and Knuckles, Sonic travels the Starfall Islands to battle the Titans, [[spoiler:who are actually there to protect the Ancients' ruins as a prison keeping THE END at bay. However, [[ThereIsAnother there is one more concealed Titan]], SUPREME -- who, unlike the others, is being used as a SoulJar for THE END and kept sealed within Cyber Space]].

* LovecraftLite: A fairly dark example, almost verging into CosmicHorrorStory. Throughout the game, Sonic slowly discovers that [[spoiler:the Ancients were aliens forced to flee to Earth with the Chaos Emeralds after their home planet was destroyed by THE END, an incredibly powerful cosmic entity who appears as the greatest fear of anyone who views it and is dedicated to eradicating all life in the universe. It followed the Ancients across the universe to Earth to finish the job, devastating their defenses and shrugging off all attempts to defeat it. It couldn’t be destroyed by the Ancients, and it was only defeated when SUPREME's original pilot took on its corruptive energy and the other three pilots sacrificed themselves to seal it within Cyberspace. When it’s released by Sonic, the corruptive energy leaves Sonic catatonic, trapped between dimensions, and it promptly sets out to finish what it started and destroy the Earth]]. However, [[spoiler:Sonic and Sage, using the Chaos Emeralds and SUPREME respectively, face off against it in orbit and, thanks to Sage's HeroicSacrifice, manage to destroy its corporeal form and save the world from its attacks]].

** Should the player fail too many times on [[spoiler:the fight against [[TrueFinalBoss THE END]]]], the game will give them more extra lives.

** This isn't the first time that [[Videogame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight Sonic faces a Black Knight armed with a sword]].

** Sonic ends his first conversation with the Elder Koco with [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM "Let's do it to it!"]] Sadly, it's not voiced. [[spoiler:He DOES, however, get a voiced instance of the line later, when speaking with Sage in the main game's side story, and again in Another Story from the Final Horizon update when he agrees to try out Sage's plan]].

* NewGamePlus: After the "Sonic's Birthday Bash" update, defeating the base game's final boss unlocks New Game+ (beating ''Another Story'''s final boss will also unlock it if the player hasn't beaten the base game's boss after the "Birthday Bash" update). Sonic can carry over any unlocked upgrades (including the Spin Dash) and any stat levels, but cannot bring items.

** In the final battle, if the player fails to get any of the final prompts, [[spoiler:Super Sonic comedically has an OhCrap reaction as he faceplants into THE END.]]

** [[spoiler:The CoupDeGraceCutscene against THE END in ''Another Story'' involves a corrupted Super Sonic bouncing wildly across thin air as he pulverizes SUPREME and subsequently THE END with sheer kinetic force.]]
* RunningGagged: Sort of. Since ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', all of the games' [[TheStinger post-credit scenes]] (with the exception of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'') have had a scene with Eggman that's PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:The one featured in the base game's GoldenEnding has no trace of comedy whatsoever, with Eggman working to restore Sage]]. The ''Another Story'' scenario doesn't have a post-credits scene at all [[spoiler:but does feature Eggman and Sage going home together, since her sacrifice doesn't happen in this ending. It still puts the kiboh on the aforementioned running gag, however]].

* SkillScoresAndPerks: Sonic can upgrade his Speed, Power, Defense, and Ring Capacity up to 99 levels by collecting certain items, as well as gain new skills and abilities through earning EXP or progressing through the story.

** The [[spoiler:Final Battle against SUPREME/THE END in the Final Horizon DLC has THE END's moon form hovering over Ouranos Island]], in a huge call-back to ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''.

** Eggman says he's proud of Sage after she saves him from some Cyberspace enemies in one cutscene.

** {{Averted}} in the GoldenEnding and "The Final Horizon" DLC. Respectively, [[spoiler:Eggman is shown in TheStinger to have successfully reactivated Sage after her HeroicSacrifice]] or [[spoiler:Eggman and a surviving Sage agree to go home together after the FinalBattle, affirming their status as father and daughter]], thus [[spoiler:keeping his newfound daughter instead of reverting to his usual antics with Orbot and Cubot]] by the end.

* ThematicSequelLogoChange: The bottom portion of the logo is partially broken up and has a Portal replacing the "O" in "Frontiers" to represent the game's Cyberspace levels.

* TriumphantReprise: For the credits for "The Final Horizon", [[spoiler:a lyrical version of the original final boss theme, "I'm with you", plays, a heartfelt song dedicated to Sage finally finding a home with Eggman.]]

** Playing the game on Hard Mode (or changing the difficulty before the fight against SUPREME) allows the player to fight [[spoiler:THE END's second phase.]]
** Completing the story of "The Final Horizon" [[spoiler:allows the player to battle a new version of SUPREME that THE END takes over, continuing the standard Super Sonic style battle rather than changing to a BulletHell style minigame]].
* UnexpectedShmupLevel: Halfway through the game, Sonic is introduced to hacking consoles, which feature a minigame that can be summed up as "''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' and ''{{VideoGame/Ikaruga}}'' in a blender". Sonic must use a flying ship to shoot at a stationary orb while using Light Shots and Dark Shots to cancel out and absorb enemy bullets of the respective colors. [[spoiler:Doubles as {{Foreshadowing}} for the TrueFinalBoss, which is fought the exact same way but with Sage and Super Sonic replacing the hacking ship, and THE END replacing the little target orb.]]

** [[spoiler:Dr. Eggman is never fought either directly or indirectly at any point, making this one of the very few games where Sonic never clashes with his archenemy. Justified, as Eggman spends most of the game trapped in cyberspace, and by the time he gets out, he's forced to form an EnemyMine with Sonic since The END has become too much of a threat to ignore.]]
** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:Sage. While she attacks Sonic by siccing the titans on him, Sage herself is never fought directly, with her instead giving Sonic cryptic warnings and refusing to elaborate further. Like the above, this is justified since she's focused on getting Eggman out of cyberspace, and she ends up teaming up with Sonic to take down The END at the end of the game]].

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: Subverted. Rhea Island ''looks'' to be this, being a multi-stage gauntlet with a slew of [[TheReveal major reveals]] and Sonic's DarkestHour. But this is then followed up by Ouranos Island, which is a fully-featured world just like the ones preceding Rhea Island.

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: [[spoiler: The Cyber power introduced in New Horizons. After receiving the blessings of the four Titan pilots and completing Master King’s trial, Sonic is able to harness and utilize the energy of CyberSpace to give himself a power boost; however, Master King warns Sonic that the power is so strong he needs to temper it or else he’ll spend it all and burn himself out. Though he keeps it under control and uses it to augment the power of the Chaos Emeralds as Super Sonic 2 during most of the final battle, he’s forced to go all out and unleash its full energy as Cyber Super Sonic to destroy both Supreme and THE END, unleashing its energy in a furious blast against the two and leaving him drained and unconscious after.]]

*** Sonic harnessing extra power to achieve an even stronger Super form is very similar to the concept of the different levels of Super Saiyan. The specific form introduced in Frontiers is even labeled “Super Sonic 2” in the game’s code.

** There are two references to ''Franchise/DragonBall'':

* AstralFinale: The final boss fight sees Super Sonic [[spoiler:teaming up with Sage to fight against THE END]] in space [[spoiler:before it can destroy the Earth]].

-->[[spoiler:'''Eggman:''' Sonic, I hereby induct you into the Eggman Empire and order you to save us all. Understand? This is NOT an alliance!\\

-->'''Eggman:''' Sonic! I here-by induct you into the Eggman Empire and order you to save us all! Understand? This is not an alliance!

** The Grand Slam used on [[spoiler:SUPREME/THE END]] in "The Final Horizon" has Super Sonic [[BadassArmfold cross his arms]] before nonchalantly [[SpeedBlitz assaulting the boss]] until it collapse, with Super Sonic ending in the same pose. This is similar to how Super Sonic takes down [[spoiler:Zavok]] in the Metal Virus Saga of the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW comics]].
** The way that [[spoiler:SUPREME/THE END]] are defeated. [[spoiler:Super Sonic is fired out of a cannon to ram right into them, similarly to the Sonic Power Cannon from the third season of ''Sonic X''.]]
* NewGamePlus: After the "Sonic's Birthday Bash" update, defeating the final boss unlocks New Game+. Sonic can carry over any unlocked upgrades (including the Spin Dash) and any stat levels, but cannot bring items.

** If you manage to 100% map all islands, watch all side stories and get Sonic's stats completely maxed out, "Vandalize" is replaced by "One Way Dream" during the credits, you get to fight the TrueFinalBoss, and [[spoiler:an [[TheStinger extra scene]] is added to the ending that addresses Sage's fate]]. Though all of this can also be accessed if you finish the game on Hard difficulty, even if you just swap the difficulty to Hard right before fighting the final boss.

* AnachronismStew: PlayedForLaughs when Sonic discovers what's clearly a ''pinball game'' set up in ''ancient ruins'', with lights, bumpers, flippers, music and all. He leaves the game wondering if the concept of pinball is just a constant throughout history no matter what. The game also makes a story point for why much of the Ancients' technology is so advanced.

** The intro cutscene has Eggman upload a device into the red ancient technology spires with all the gravitas he usually has when putting into his schemes. [[spoiler:TheStinger sees Eggman working diligently and calmly working on one of his computers with a blue layout to restore Sage.]]

* BulletHell: The [[spoiler:full fight with THE END (only seen in Hard Mode)]] takes the form of an UnexpectedShmupLevel, and given [[VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}} its inspiration]], it hands black and white bullets out like candy. Good thing you've got that polarity mechanic...

** Big the Cat makes his first appearance in a mainline ''Sonic'' game since ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', after 19 years of being relegated to spin-offs and cameos.

** Zigzagged with [[spoiler:the fourth Titan, SUPREME. It's the only one ''not'' to be destroyed when Super Sonic defeats it, allowing Sage to pilot it against THE END. She then pulls a HeroicSacrifice while piloting it, meaning it gets destroyed anyway, but TheStinger in the GoldenEnding reveals Sage survived in some fashion.]]

** The player must start the FinalBoss on Hard mode to access the full boss fight. If played on Easy or Normal, it will skip straight to the QuickTimeEvent finisher. There is no explicit mention of this in the game itself, outside of the difficulty descriptions vaguely noting Hard Mode includes "something extra". Fortunately, the difficulty can be changed at any point, the game autosaves before the trigger for the final boss, and the autosave file cannot be overwritten or deleted, so it's always possible to try again.

* HardModePerks: If playing on Hard Mode, [[spoiler:the FinalBoss includes an UnexpectedShmupLevel phase with additional BossBanter]].

** At the end of [[spoiler:the fight against THE END, Sage sacrifices herself to finish THE END off. She gets better, as TheStinger reveals that Eggman was able to recover Sage's data]].

* MultipleEndings:
** The base game’s ending is the same whether you complete it on Hard or not. [[spoiler:Sage takes control of the defeated SUPREME and flies it to space, where she and Super Sonic face off against THE END. Though they’re successful in defeating it, their victory comes at the cost of Sage, who sacrifices herself in order to stop a last-ditch attack from THE END. Though Eggman mourns the loss of his “daughter” in silence, completing the game on Hard mode yields a post-credits scene of Sage being somehow restored by Eggman.]]
** The Final Horizon update’s GoldenEnding [[spoiler:has THE END directly assume control of the defeated SUPREME as an avatar, mutating its form and puppeteering it as if it was a feral beast. Empowered by the Cyber Corruption, Super Sonic manages to disarm and later completely destroy THE END, in part thanks to Dr. Eggman taking control of SUPREME’s rifle and using Sonic as a bullet against THE END. Unlike the base game ending, Sage survives all the way through, with the final shot being of her and Eggman watching the starfall together.]]

---> ("Fist Bump") ''Together we can show the world what we can do''\\

---> ("Break Through It All") ''Don't stop we're on a mission''\\

** In TheStinger, Eggman quietly works to [[spoiler:restore Sage to one of his computers]], rather than him [[LargeHam hamming it up]] as usual.

* RunningGagged: Sort of. Since ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', all of the games' [[TheStinger post-credit scenes]] (with the exception of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'') have had a scene with Eggman that's PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:The one here featured as the GoldenEnding has no trace of comedy whatsoever, with Eggman working to restore Sage.]]

** Throughout the game Eggman schemes to use the technology of the Ancients for his next plan despite being trapped within its Cyber Space. In TheStinger of the base game, [[spoiler:Eggman manages to save Sage by uploading her data into his [=EggNet=]. The computer he is working on shows the symbols associated with the Ancients, implying that she may have kept some data from Cyber Space.]] The ''Final Horizon'' ending changes it to show Eggman and Sage deciding to go home, while Sage has fully converted to a blue and white avatar, showing that she has kept the changes Cyber space and the adventure as a whole have done to her.

* TheStinger: The last scene after the credits for the base game shows [[spoiler:Eggman successfully bringing back Sage after the latter sacrifices herself to destroy THE END.]]

* SequenceBreaking: The trigger to start the Wyvern boss fight is activated by Homing Attacking its body. The intended way to do this is to collect six Chaos Emeralds to unlock the big tower on Ares Island, which will give you enough altitude to intercept Wyvern and start the fight. However, the ability to Homing Attack Wyvern is always available as soon as the Wyvern event happens, meaning it is entirely possible to start the fight at any time if you can get enough height to intercept it. This isn't intended to be possible until you've collected six Chaos Emeralds, but by using physics exploits you can launch Sonic at such high velocity that you fly high enough to get within range of Wyvern, allowing you to skip getting the Emeralds entirely since there are no other checks to see if you've made the correct amount of progress.

* RemixedLevel: The nine Cyber Space levels featured in ''The Final Horizon'' are arranged versions of existing Cyber Space levels in the base game. Each one is radically changed by adding a truckload of platforms and obstacles such that they are virtually unrecognizable from the original versions and become extraordinarily bigger and more open in scope, and each one has a special gimmick attached to it to change things up, such as green capsules that give Sonic a temporary Rocket Boost, hidden mines that explode when touched, a instant kill time bomb strapped to Sonic, or low gravity. Instead of collecting 5 Red Star Rings, you must instead collect three different types of collectables: [[VideoGame/SonicLostWorld Number Rings, Animals]], and [[VideoGame/SonicForces Silver Moon Rings]], some of which are on mutually-exclusive pathways and necessitate replays.

* HandWave: In ''The Final Horizon'', the reason why Amy uses tarot cards as a weapon rather than her standard Piko Piko Hammer is conveniently explained in a cutscene where it is insinuated that some unknown effects of Cyber Corruption prevent her from using her hammer normally.

* {{Infodump}}: [[spoiler:Rhea Island]] serves as this in the story, revealing the origins of [[spoiler:the Ancients and the Chaos Emeralds, their LastStand against THE END, and why Sage fought so hard to keep Sonic off of the islands]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: ''The Final Horizon'' update requires this of the player. The challenges are far more difficult and complex than in the base game, all the way up to [[spoiler:the new final boss SUPREME/THE END. The player's reward is the GoldenEnding, which is much happier and more triumphant than the original endings, having every character join Sonic to take the boss down and having Sage survive through the end to go home with Eggman as a family.]]

** A surprising amount is given to the returning non-Sonic leads. Tails comes to terms with his loss of confidence and reliance on Sonic and intends to set off on his own to grow as his own person, Knuckles shares that he wishes he could be free like Sonic and considers leaving Angel Island to go on his own adventures, and Amy decides to stop focusing her affections on Sonic and share her love with the world. Even Eggman gets some development, actively becoming a loving father to Sage.

* FirstEpisodeTwist: It's revealed during the first island that Sage is Eggman's DragonInChief, and shortly thereafter that she is his daughter, in a sense. Her apparent Ancient digital corruption is because she built her avatar and physical form in Cyber Space and then exited it, rather than her being Ancient technology.

** The way that [[spoiler:SUPREME/THE END]] are defeated. [[spoiler:Super Sonic is fired out of a cannon to ram right into them, similarly to the Sonic Power Cannon from the third season of Sonic X.]]

* InfinityPlusOneSword: As of the Sonic's Birthday Bash update, S Ranking every Action Chain Challenge rewards you with Sonic's signature ability, the Spin Dash. It has the same velocity as the Boost but boasts far superior momentum, allowing Sonic to launch himself across the map at incredible speeds simply by hitting level geometry, and comes with the added bonus of being able to barrel through foes in its path (whereas the Boost lost this feature in this game). Its only drawbacks are that it cannot be used in the air, as attempting to do so halts Sonic's momentum and charges the Spin Dash, and due to the nature of its unlock requirement, it can only be obtained at the very end of the game.

* AllThereInTheManual: The highway Cyber Space theme is called "Eternal Highway", according to a Japan-only guidebook.

* BrickJoke: When Sonic escapes Cyber Space and hears a mysterious voice call him "the key", he remarks "Sure beats being called a [[VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings 'rodent']]". [[spoiler: When Eggman gloats over Sonic being left comatose and trapped between dimensions due to cyber-energy corruption, guess what Eggman calls him?]]

* EvilAllAlong: PlayedWith. It's revealed that [[spoiler: the "spooky voice" guiding Sonic throughout the game is actually THE END, an EldritchAbomination trying to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy the universe]]]]. However, Sonic is [[ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter blatantly suspicious]] of it from the beginning, noting [[spoiler:[[ExactWords how vague its instructions are]] and [[ObviouslyEvil how creepy its voice is]]]], and he only follows its suggestions because [[MortonsFork he has no other options and Sage refuses to cooperate]].

* LovecraftLite: A fairly dark example, almost verging into CosmicHorrorStory. Throughout the game, Sonic slowly discovers that [[spoiler:the Ancients were aliens forced to flee to Earth with the Chaos Emeralds after their home planet was destroyed by THE END, an incredibly powerful cosmic entity who appears as the greatest fear of anyone who views it and is dedicated to eradicating all life in the universe. It followed the Ancients across the universe to Earth to finish the job, devastating their defenses and shrugging off all attempts to defeat it. It couldn’t be destroyed by the Ancients, and it was only defeated when SUPREME's original pilot took on its corruptive energy and the other three pilots sacrificed themselves to seal it within Cyberspace. When it’s released by Sonic, the corruptive energy leaves Sonic catatonic, trapped between dimensions, and it promptly sets out to finish what it started and destroy the Earth.]] However, [[spoiler: Sonic and Sage, using the Chaos Emeralds and SUPREME respectively, face off against it in orbit and, thanks to Sage's HeroicSacrifice, manage to destroy its corporeal form and save the world from its attacks.]]

** The "The Final Horizon" update has the Parry nerfed under Amy, Knuckles, and Tails' control, leaving it so it only lasts a few seconds rather than being able to be held indefinitely. And by extension, [[spoiler:the Perfect Parry unlocked for Super Sonic in the story's final act forces the player to rely on perfect timing for the parry rather than just being able to hold it down.]].

** In ''The Final Horizon'', one of Amy’s conversations with Sage finally reveals what the mysterious zigzag and circle symbol seen across the game means. According to Sage, the symbol represents [[spoiler: a god the Ancients worship. Sage posits the god might even exist in the present]]. There’s a close-up on Sage’s face to accentuate her positing, which suggests the matter may be explored in a future game.

** [[spoiler: Dr. Eggman is never fought either directly or indirectly at any point, making this one of the very few games where Sonic never clashes with his archenemy. Justified, as Eggman spends most of the game trapped in cyberspace, and by the time he gets out, he's forced to form an EnemyMine with Sonic since The END has become too much of a threat to ignore.]]
** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler: Sage. While she attacks Sonic by siccing the titans on him, Sage herself is never fought directly, with her instead giving Sonic cryptic warnings and refusing to elaborate further. Like the above, this is justified since she's focused on getting Eggman out of cyberspace, and she ends up teaming up with Sonic to take down The END at the end of the game]].