Is Sonic Frontiers ACTUALLY the next "Breath of the Wild"?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - “I have no idea!” (Say that in Sonic's movie voice.) But that's the point.

Remember this announcement trailer of Sonic Frontiers that was world-revealed at The Game Awards 2021? What did you think about it?

The entirety of my whole reaction was, “This doesn't seem like a Sonic game trailer though. It's all choir singing noises. Well that told... us nothing about it.” And... well, that's really all there is to it for me. But to... lots of other people (I won't link to this, but you can... look this up and easily find examples), they instantly thought that this is Sonic the Hedgehog meets The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The official SEGA website has that trailer and the marketing buzzwords,

“Worlds will collide in Sonic the Hedgehog’s newest adventure.

An experience like never before, accelerate to new heights and experience the thrill of high velocity open-zone freedom.
Battle powerful enemies as you speed through the Starfall Islands - landscapes brimming with dense forests, overflowing waterfalls, sizzling deserts and more!
This Holiday 2022 - Speed into new realms.”

Well, the first thing I noticed there is the word new. Newest adventure. New heights. New realms. Maybe if it's so new and an experience like never before, it's not a knock-off of an existing game. Who knows. Forests, waterfalls, deserts, and more... that's pretty standard videogame environments within the Starfall Islands... BUT ALSO PLACES FROM The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild! Since they're islands, maybe you can travel between them. What if each island is a zone? ...Are they interconnected (like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) or selectable through a menu? The zones are supposed to be open and expansive, based on all of those wide, sweeping camera angles, right? And the fact they said “open-zone freedom.” Just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild! Sonic is even looking out from a cliff, just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. And there's even a big tower to climb! Why, it's just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

Mockery aside, I do suppose it's hard to dispute that they knew exactly what they were doing with this shot.

...If anything, it could just as easily be more like Super Mario Odyssey. Remember that? That has new places, forests, waterfalls, deserts, relative freedom within several zones (though selectable from a menu), possible overlooking-cliff shots if you want, and there are... tall structures to climb as well.

You can speculate endlessly (and maybe you find that fun?) about what kind of game Sonic Frontiers will be, but the fact is that... they didn't show any gameplay. The actual game itself could be anything. The whole trailer could just be a big lie. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time that a Sonic the Hedgehog trailer didn't reflect the real product.

While that hyperlink goes to being about the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer, it also applies to things like what became Sonic the Hedgehog 2006.
Seems JUST like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, except predating it by several years!

Not every game with large areas has to be like Breath of the Wild. Breath of the Wild is a lot more specific than that. (And if I wrote that article about how Paper Mario: Sticker Star is similar to Breath of the Wild, I'd link to it here... but I haven't, because I'm behind on several Paper Mario related backlog articles that take a lot of time and effort to write...!) Both journalists and fans alike need to realise this.

Though if Sonic Frontiers were like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it'd probably be... a lot more glitchy. And to some people (speedrunners, clip-based content creators), that's a very enticing prospect!


Feel free to speculate your wildest dreams (or nightmares) based on that very limited info-less trailer and marketing paragraph in KoopaTV's comments section. That comprises the entirety of the official knowledge for the game right now.


Game developers trying to purposefully give people vibes of Breath of the Wild is absolutely a real marketing strategy that actually happens, like with Craftopia.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land isn't trying to be Breath of the Wild but it seems like any 3D game will be called that by at least one idiot journalist.
Half a year later, and actual gameplay of Sonic Frontiers is revealed. And... yes, it is trying to be like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild but worse.
Ludwig played the game after it released and got a demo, and to no one's surprise, disliked it.
FINALLY, it's the article about Sticker Star and Breath of the Wild's similar game design!