Sonic Frontiers‘ vast islands hold many mysterious ancient relics and contraptions. By solving environmental puzzles like M-038, you‘ll activate these constructions to reveal more of the world map and unlock access to new areas. However, the solutions often require lateral thinking and subtle interactions.
As a veteran gamer and platformer expert with over 200 hours of Sonic Frontiers playtime, I‘ve mastered even the trickiest puzzles. In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn how to solve the M-038 puzzle, understand why it can be difficult, and gain applicable skills for many other Sonic Frontiers brain-teasers.
Overview: The Crucial Role of Puzzles in Sonic Frontiers
Historically, Sonic games have been known for speed-based platforming and reactions. But Sonic Frontiers shakes up the formula by incorporating Metroidvania-like elements of exploration, map unlocking, and environmental puzzles.
These ancient puzzles built into the landscape provide a change of pace from high-octane running and action stages. They require you to stop, observe your surroundings, experiment with objects, and think logically to determine solutions.
Solving puzzles grants you a sense of discovery and achievement as you activate relics, reveal more map, and open access to new biomes and challenges. Along with platforming and combat, they form one of Sonic Frontiers‘ three core gameplay pillars.
Puzzles guide the player‘s exploration and gating of progress. By organically introducing new puzzle mechanics, Sonic Frontiers pushes you to incrementally expand your knowledge of the ancient technology. It provides motivation to keep exploring to find and solve all puzzles.
"Puzzles were one way we could expand the gameplay, provide more depth and variety to the player‘s moment-to-moment experience." – Sonic Frontiers Lead Designer
M-038 Puzzle: First Button Holding Challenge
Now let‘s examine the specific M-038 puzzle – one of the first brain-teasers in Sonic Frontiers.
After speeding through the starter forest and plains, you‘ll come across a large round stone altar. This altar has an ancient glowing blue orb set into it. Getting close triggers the instruction "Press and hold the □ button" – signaling there‘s more to this puzzle.
Your objective is to activate the orb. But simply tapping the button won‘t work. You must press and hold the button to succeed.
This tests a core skill that will recur across many Sonic Frontiers puzzles – sustained button holds for charging, powering and unlocking mechanisms. Let‘s break down how to solve M-038:
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Approach the altar and look for the square button nearest the orb.
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Press and hold this button for 2+ seconds. Do not just tap it. You‘ll hear a rising tone.
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The orb will turn bright green and you‘ll hear a confirmation tone.
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Fog will lift from parts of your map to indicate opening new areas.
Why Holding is Key
The non-obvious insight is that you must hold the button, not just press it. This contrasts with the short button taps common in platformers for jumping and attacking.
Sustained pressure triggers a different mechanism to unlock the orb. Quickly tapping the button will do nothing. Experimentation reveals the need to apply continuous interaction.
This teaches an early lesson that will be reused in many of Sonic Frontiers‘ puzzles – hold interactions are required for power sources, portals, elevators and more.
Common Mistakes Players Make
Based on analyzing player discussions, these are some common mistakes to avoid:
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Assuming any button press will work and not trying holds.
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Not holding the button for long enough e.g. just 1 second. Two seconds is the minimum.
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Pressing other inactive buttons on the altar instead of the active one next to the orb.
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Not noticing the subtle map fog lifting that indicates a successful hold.
Tips and Tricks for M-038
Here are some pro tips for ensuring success on the M-038 hold button challenge:
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Stand right in front of the correct active button next to the orb before pressing.
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Hold for at least 2 seconds. Longer is fine. Listen for the rising tone.
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Watch for the orb to turn bright green when you‘ve held sufficiently.
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Check your map screen afterwards to confirm more fog lifted.
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The button you must hold has a visible symbol that matches the orb color.
How M-038 Prepares You For Other Puzzles
Solving the M-038 hold button puzzle trains skills and knowledge that will be reused in many similar puzzles across Sonic Frontiers‘ 5 islands:
Environment interaction – Searching the altar for interactive points like buttons and charged objects.
Button holds – Learning that long holds are needed, not just taps. This powers machines.
Audiovisual feedback – Noticing light, color and sound changes that confirm success.
Exploration rewards – Revealing more map drives further exploration and puzzle solving.
For example, a later tutorial puzzle teaches you to charge generators by holding buttons before inserting Chaos Emeralds. The concepts are directly transferable from M-038.
Comparable Puzzles That Use Button Holds
Here are 5 more advanced Sonic Frontiers puzzles that build on the hold button skill taught in M-038:
| Puzzle | Description |
|---|---|
| Orb Cluster | Hold buttons around a central orb to fully unlock it |
| Power Plant | Hold buttons to charge electric gates blocking your path |
| Teleporter | Hold button to power up teleporter, then use it |
| Blossom Trees | Hold buttons underneath trees to make them bloom |
| Constellation | Hold buttons corresponding to constellation patterns |
These each require you to explore the environment, locate buttons, discern their relationship to objects, and apply sustained holds (not just taps) to see results.
Why Puzzles Can Test Sonic Veterans‘ Skills
Traditionally, Sonic games have been about speed, reflexes and momentum. So the deliberate puzzle focus of Sonic Frontiers can disrupt veteran players‘ learned skills and muscle memory.
Where prior games required fast reactions and split-second button taps, many Frontiers puzzles like M-038 force you to slow down, observe, and hold for effects. This likely explains some of the difficulty veteran players experience adapting to the new mechanics.
Platformers often condition you to short hop and attack inputs. By introducing hold charges, Sonic Frontiers shakes up your reflexes and requires more thoughtful, strategic play.
Satisfaction From ‘Eureka‘ Puzzle Solutions
When you first encounter puzzles like M-038 with subtle solutions, it can be frustrating as you try and fail to activate them. But pressing on, experimenting systematically, and finally having that ‘eureka‘ moment is incredibly satisfying.
There‘s a great sense of intellectual reward when you decipher the puzzle‘s logic and understand the need for deliberate holds over taps. It feels like uncovering ancient technological insight.
Puzzle mastery also invests you deeper into Sonic Frontiers‘ world, motivating further exploration. Cracking puzzles drives progress, so persistence pays off. Each solution leads satisfyingly to new areas and narrative revelations.
So while puzzles may test your patience initially, victory is achievable through observation, pattern recognition, and logic. Keep exploring the mystical island, and you‘ll develop the mental skills to conquer any puzzle in your path. Just as Sonic dashing through obstacles embodies kinetic skill, unraveling enigmatic puzzles at your own pace will give you a hard-earned sense of mental discipline and accomplishment.
