How to reach the true final ending in Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers has just come out, which means that fans can finally see if the main campaign lives up to the hype. Before they reach the end and give their final verdict, however, they should probably know in advance that the ending of Sonic Frontiers will change substantially depending on their settings. The differences largely come down to gameplay, but they could make the difference between the player coming away satisfied or disappointed with the finale. It should go without saying, but expect heavy spoilers. There is a “true ending” in Sonic Frontiers, and here’s how to view it.

Turn away if you haven’t played

As it turns out, players can access Sonic Frontiers’ secret ending simply by setting the difficulty to Hard mode. On every difficulty, Sonic encounters the Supreme titan at the end of the game before heading to space to confront the entity known as The End. If set to Easy or Normal, the final battle against The End plays out entirely in cutscenes and quick-time events, making for a somewhat anticlimactic finale. Bumping up to Hard mode, however, and you will be treated to Sonic Frontiers‘ true final battle and ending which, bizarrely enough, plays out as a clear homage to Treasure’s classic shoot ’em up Ikaruga.

This fight, which sees players controlling Sage as she pilots the Supreme titan, involves switching between polarities to absorb light-colored and dark-colored bullets to fill up a meter for a super attack. Those who remember the punishing difficulty of Ikaruga may shudder at the thought of a final boss inspired by it. Fortunately, though, players can absorb bullets simply by shooting at them, which eliminates much of the potential difficulty. It’s not the kind of finale that anyone likely expected for Sonic Frontiers, but it’s hard to object to it.

Sonic Frontiers true ending – Do the cutscenes change?

After the battle ends, the ending stays largely the same no matter the difficulty. It sees Sage sacrificing herself to defeat the final boss for good while asking Sonic to look after her father. Weirdly, she is referring to Dr. Eggman in this case, as the two managed to develop a father-daughter relationship over the course of the game. After saving his friends from cyberspace, Sonic and the gang promptly celebrate and leave the Starfall Islands in a straightforward enough ending for them.

Eggman, on the other hand, looks out into the horizon as he grieves over his fallen daughter figure, making for what might be the most surreal ending shot to ever grace a Sonic game. A brief post-credits scene shows Eggman seemingly reviving Sage in a computer, leaving us to wonder if the character will return in a future game. Fans will likely debate over the quality of Sonic Frontiers for quite a while, but they will all likely agree that the ending goes in an interesting direction at the very least. If you’d like to see the ending and cutscene play out, YouTube channel CGInferno has the video, seen below.