Sonic Frontiers was a massive risk for SEGA. Seriously. After years of the "boost formula" feeling a bit stale, Team Sonic decided to throw the blue blur into a massive, melancholic open zone that felt more like Shadow of the Colossus than Green Hill Zone. But here is the thing: if you played it at launch, you probably felt like the Sonic Frontiers ending was a bit of a letdown. It was a weird, sudden shift into a bullet-hell minigame that didn't really let you use the Super Sonic powers you'd been upgrading for thirty hours.
Then came the Final Horizon update.
This changed everything. It wasn't just a patch; it was a total mechanical overhaul of how the story concludes. If you’re looking back at the game now, or playing it for the first time, understanding the difference between the original ending and the "true" ending is basically essential to liking the game.
The Original Finale: What Went Wrong?
The base game ends on Ouranos Island. You collect the Chaos Emeralds, you fight a giant robot named Supreme, and then... you play a version of Ikaruga. Honestly, it was jarring. You spend the whole game mastering combat, unlocking "Sonic Boom" kicks and parries, only for the final boss to be a hacking minigame against a giant purple moon called The End.
The lore was there, though. We learned about the Ancients, who were actually aliens—ancestors to Chaos from Sonic Adventure—who fled to Earth after their planet was nuked by an entity of pure void. It’s heavy stuff for a series about a hedgehog who likes chili dogs. The End represents the heat death of the universe. It’s nihilism incarnate. But fighting a literal circle in the sky felt like the developers ran out of budget.
Ian Flynn, the lead writer, did a lot of heavy lifting here. The dialogue between Sonic and Sage, Dr. Eggman’s AI "daughter," actually carries a lot of emotional weight. Sage sacrifices herself to pilot the Supreme mech and destroy the moon. It’s sad, but then she’s immediately brought back in a post-credits scene, which kinda cheapens the blow.
Why The Final Horizon Changed the Stakes
In 2023, SEGA released the Final Horizon DLC for free. It didn't just add a new coat of paint. It branched the story right before the finale. Instead of the "Ikaruga" moon fight, you get a gauntlet that is arguably the hardest content in Sonic history.
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You have to play as Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. They each have their own skill trees now. Knuckles feels heavy and powerful; Amy uses her tarot cards to float. It’s a return to the "multiple protagonist" feel of the 2000s era. But the real meat is the new Sonic Frontiers ending boss: Re-imagined Supreme and the entity known as The End.
This version of the fight is cinematic gold. You aren't just a little ship shooting pellets. You are Cyber Super Sonic. You’re literally ripping a giant cable out of a god's head while a metalcore track screams in the background. It fixed the biggest complaint fans had: the lack of a "Super" feeling.
The Difficulty Spike is Real
I’m not kidding when I say the new ending is brutal. The Master King Koco’s Trial requires you to parry perfectly with a frame-perfect window. Most players actually hated this at first. It felt like the game was punishing you for not being a pro-gamer. SEGA eventually patched in a difficulty slider because people were getting stuck for hours.
But that’s the beauty of it. The struggle mirrors Sonic’s own struggle with the Cyber Corruption. The narrative and the gameplay finally synced up.
Understanding Sage and Eggman’s New Dynamic
One of the best things about the Sonic Frontiers ending—in both versions—is what it does for Dr. Eggman. For years, Eggman has been a caricature. Here, he’s a father.
Watching him interact with Sage is weirdly touching. He’s proud of her. He’s grieving when she "dies." It’s the most human we’ve seen him since Sonic Adventure 2. This matters because it sets a new tone for the franchise. We aren't just doing "Eggman steals the emeralds" anymore. There is actual stakes and character growth now.
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The Final Horizon ending leans into this even more. Sage survives in a way that feels earned, and the bond between her and Eggman suggests that future games might feature her as a recurring, perhaps even anti-hero, character.
The Lore Implications: Where Do We Go From Here?
The Ancients being related to Chaos is a massive "lore bomb." It retcons Sonic Adventure in a way that actually makes sense. It explains why the Emeralds were on Earth to begin with. The End isn't just a one-off villain; it’s a cosmic force that exists beyond the physical world.
By defeating it, Sonic has essentially reached a level of power we haven't seen since he fought Solaris in Sonic '06. But this time, it’s canon and it sticks. The "Cyber Power" Sonic wields at the end of the DLC suggests that he’s evolving. He’s not just fast anymore; he’s tapping into a digital-ethereal energy that might be the focus of the rumored "Sonic Frontiers 2" or whatever the next big 3D title ends up being.
How to Get the Best Experience Now
If you are picking up the game in 2026, don't just rush to the end. The "True Ending" is hidden behind the Final Horizon portal on the last island. It's a big rainbow-colored ring. You can't miss it.
- Max out your stats. Don't go into the final trial with low defense. You will get one-shot.
- Learn to dodge-parry. In the DLC ending, you have to dodge and parry simultaneously to open up the boss's weak points.
- Listen to the lyrics. "I'm Here - Re-Edit" contains clues about Sonic's mental state during the fight. It's not just a bop; it's storytelling.
The Sonic Frontiers ending isn't perfect. The camera still glitches out sometimes. The platforming can be finicky. But it represents a turning point. It's the moment the series stopped being afraid to be serious.
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Whether you prefer the poetic, quiet sacrifice of the original or the high-octane, god-slaying spectacle of the update, the conclusion of this game changed the trajectory of the series. It proved that Sonic can handle complex themes and difficult gameplay. It isn't just for kids anymore, and honestly, that's exactly what the franchise needed.
Actionable Steps for Players
To fully wrap up your experience with the game and see everything the ending has to offer, you should focus on a few specific tasks. First, ensure you have collected all of Sage’s and Eggman’s voice memos on the islands; these provide the necessary context for their relationship that makes the ending hit much harder. Next, if you’re struggling with the Final Horizon difficulty, switch the game to "Easy" specifically for the Master King Koco trial—it increases the parry window significantly without changing the story outcome. Finally, go back and watch the credits of both versions. The artwork shown during the credits of the DLC version provides a direct bridge to what the characters do immediately after leaving the Starfall Islands, giving you a much cleaner sense of closure for Tails, Amy, and Knuckles.