Summary

  • The director of Sonic Frontiers views the game's active modding community as a rival to surpass, finding inspiration in the mods created by skilled users.
  • The Final Horizon update of Sonic Frontiers added highly requested playable characters, which inspired in some shape or form by the modding community and fan expectations.
  • The developers aimed to go beyond fan expectations and even viewed the full version of the game as their competitor, pushing themselves to create updates comparable to the base game.

The director of Sonic Frontiers, Morio Kishimoto, views the game's active community and mods as a "rival" for the developers to surpass. The modding community for the game has been incredibly dedicated ever since its original 2022 release, from mods that improve upon Frontiers' gameplay, to mods that gave Sonic new costumes and outfits to wear. Some of these mods have gotten pretty popular, and many people have been showcasing them on social media and YouTube, some of which managed to get the attention of the developers themselves.

Sonic Frontiers' director, Morio Kishimoto, has been pretty open about the game's development and reception, both before and after its launch. This includes taking feedback about Frontiers itself, adding new content based on fan demand for the subsequent updates that would be released throughout 2023. This culminated in the "Final Horizon" update of Sonic Frontiers, which added three additional playable characters, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles, who were all highly requested playable additions to the game. These additions were all, in some shape or form, inspired by the modding community, and Kishimoto's desire to surpass fan expectations.

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In an interview with Famitsu translated by My Nintendo News, Kishimoto was asked about the third update to Frontiers, along with what was included in The Final Horizon. He stated that the update was built as a way for the developers to show their gratitude to those who bought the original game, but realized they should make the update comparable to the full version of the game, viewing it as a "rival" in a way. He then brought up how Sonic Frontiers' modding community was also flourishing in the West, which he also viewed as a rival.

Sonic (right) and Big the Cat (left), a large purple cat, by the lake. Sonic is wearing his crystal ring and lightspeed shoes. He is holding a fishing rod. Image source: gamebanana.com

The "MOD" culture that is flourishing overseas was also a rival. There are some very skilled users overseas, and what we were planning to make as fan service turned out to be "It’s already working." …If the customers come that far, we’re going to go even further beyond their expectations and betray their expectations. As a result, we said, "Isn’t the full version our competitor?" That’s what we decided to do. - Morio Kishimoto (roughly translated)

Kishimoto complimented the skills of the modders, noting how they were creating things that the development team were also looking to include as pieces of fan service. When Famitsu asked what kind of mods he saw, Kishimoto answered that modders were adding characters to Sonic Frontiers who weren't playable in the game. He also was amused about how the community was adding moves that the team were already going to implement, like the Spin Dash that was introduced in the "Birthday Bash" update. As such, Kishimoto wanted to go beyond those expectations as well.

Sonic Frontiers' reception a year later has seen it selling over 3.5 million copies since its 2022 launch, along with the updates bringing in plenty of highly requested features based on fan feedback. When Kishimoto was asked about how this affected the game's update, he noted that there was feedback online about people finding the difficulty quite punishing, especially for newcomers. He came to the conclusion that they should have lowered the update's difficulty for it to be welcoming for newcomers as well.

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8 /10

Sonic Frontiers

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Action
Adventure
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 71 /100 Critics Rec: 56%
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Released
November 8, 2022
ESRB
E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Sonic Team
Publisher(s)
Sega
Engine
Hedgehog 2
Franchise
Sonic
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
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Worlds are colliding in Sonic the Hedgehog’s newest high-speed adventure! In search of the missing Chaos emeralds, Sonic becomes stranded on an ancient island teeming with unusual creatures. Battle hordes of powerful enemies as you explore a breathtaking world of action, adventure, and mystery. Accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high-velocity, open-zone platforming freedom as you race across the five massive Starfall Islands. Jump into adventure, wield the power of the Ancients, and fight to stop these new mysterious foes.

Become Sonic and journey to uncover the mysteries of the remains of an ancient civilization plagued by robotic hordes. With nothing but a handful of questions and a disembodied voice to guide you, set out to save your friends and the enigmatic inhabitants of the Starfall Islands from a colossal, mechanized threat.

Genre(s)
Action, Adventure