Sonic Frontiers' Open Zones Have a Lot of Open World Competition in 2022

gamerant.com:

Sonic Frontiers looks pretty abnormal for a Sonic the Hedgehog game, which is great news. Aside from a potentially serious tone and mysterious new threats, Sonic Frontiers appears to have a far more open map than the franchise has usually worked with. Fans of Sonic have seen the franchise attempt multiple different styles of 3D play in the last few decades, but even so, the latest game seems like it could be a step in an entirely new direction. While it isn't wholly open world, Sonic Frontiers will reportedly be «open zone», presumably featuring several separated regions that players can each explore freely, much like Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

While the open zone innovation is great within the Sonic franchise, it may not be enough to establish a unique identity for Sonic Frontiers. It just so happens that a lot of highly anticipated and potentially influential open world games are releasing in 2022, meaning Sonic Frontiers has a lot of competition in terms of impressing players with its overworld. While Sonic Frontiers needs a variety of innovations to succeed, Sonic Team still needs to ensure that the Starfall Islands have some unique characteristics that allow Sonic Frontiers' map to compare favorably with its fellow 2022 releases.

Will Sonic Frontiers Feature Shadow the Hedgehog?

2022 has good reason to be remembered for its open world titles. In mid-February, Guerrilla Games released Horizon: Forbidden West, following up on the enchanting open world of Horizon: Zero Dawn. Shortly after that, From Software's Elden Ring made its debut, offering Dark Souls fans a vast, menacing new world to explore. Beyond these fresh releases, open world lovers have The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 to look forward to; Nintendo