Sonic, Tails, and Amy arrive following the readings of the Chaos Emeralds, but while I played for more than three hours, I still have little idea of what's going on with the characters, the islands, or the creatures that inhabit them. Sonic Team has remained largely mysterious about the way the narrative plays out in Frontiers. "It was during that time when Ian Flynn presented some ideas for bringing different characters into the story," director Morio Kishimoto says. "We had the development team think about how it could get integrated into the new open-zone format, which then prompted Ian Flynn to present even more new ideas to us, and through that cooperative back and forth, we settled on the characters that would appear in the game." "You might hear some names dropped that'll surprise you."ĭespite Sonic Team largely calling the shots, Flynn was still able to have some major say in the overarching narrative. "As you're running around, listen to what Sonic says to himself," he says. While not everyone's favorite characters appear in Sonic Frontiers, Flynn hints that we might get deeper cuts mentioned. Those familiar faces – Eggman, Amy, Tails, and Big, to name a few – were hand-selected by Sonic Team and then handed over to Flynn to further flesh out the characters and their arcs. "Sonic sets out alone to find his missing friends, but this is an undeveloped land that no one has visited before, so we won't be seeing a huge cast of characters." "The story begins as Sonic, Amy, and Tails visit undeveloped Kronos Island and are separated by a mysterious phenomenon," Iizuka says. Yes, Eggman is in the game, as are a small handful of Sonic's friends, but the cast of characters is trimmed down substantially from some recent games. Players shouldn't expect a wide array of character cameos or familiar boss battles as was seen in those games. While Sonic Forces and Generations also referenced several other Sonic games, Frontiers looks to do so with a lighter touch. "Including references to other games makes it clear that the Sonic Frontiers story isn't a standalone world, but a part of the long history of Sonic." We know there aren't any Chao Gardens in Sonic Frontiers, but small lines like that add to the overall connectivity of Frontiers to the rest of the Sonic the Hedgehog timeline. "Those are things Ian put in for the fans," Iizuka says. Since Sonic Frontiers' story takes place at the latest point of the Sonic timeline as it exists currently – after the events of Sonic Forces and Team Sonic Racing – all previous titles are fair game. In one voice line, the Blue Blur wonders if Kronos Island would make a good location for a Chao Garden. As you're running through the open zone of Sonic Frontiers, Sonic will make small comments to himself.
There isn't anything that will be too dense for new fans to wade through, but just enough for long-term fans to appreciate."ĭuring my hands-on time with Sonic Frontiers, I witness some of Flynn's handiwork in that regard. I also wanted to bring some interconnectivity to the previous games. "I wanted to advance the characters' personal stories, even if just by a little bit. "I'm a career Sonic nerd, so I wanted to weave some of the series' legacy into the story," Flynn says. Flynn's longevity with the franchise, having contributed heavily to both comic series and even writing a couple of episodes of the popular Sonic Boom cartoon, impressed Sega, and a few years after IDW picked up the rights to the franchise, he was invited to contribute to the narrative of Sonic Frontiers.
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