Sonic Frontiers is looking to shake up the Sonic formula in a few different ways, not the least of which is giving the game an open-world setting — or “open zone” as Sega calls it. We’ve seen lots of combat in the trailers leading up to the game’s release, and the latest gives us an overview of its skill tree — the first of its kind in the Sonic series.
The Combat & Upgrades trailer explains how Sonic levels up and the skills he unlocks by doing so. Skill Pieces can be both found as collectibles and looted from defeated enemies. When the game begins, Sonic will have access to his usual moves like the homing attack, drop dash, and stomp. Later skills include Phantom Rush, a flurry of blows that moves so fast it looks like multiple Sonics are attacking at once. Sonic Boom is a kick that fires shockwaves at enemies from a distance, and Wild Rush is a zigzag move that looks like several flashy, long-range homing attacks strung together.
Some attacks are meant to break through enemy defenses. Cyloop briefly drops a bad guy’s shield, but it can also dig up rings from the ground if you need a pick-me-up. Sonic even gets a parry move in Frontiers, letting you stop an enemy attack, slow down time, and dish out some damage of your own. As the trailer promises, these encounters will get tougher as you journey through all the stages and zones the game has to offer. We even get to see what a boss encounter looks like, and many are said to involve unique mechanics.
The trailer also mentions using Red Seeds of Power and Blue Seeds of Defense to boost your stats — you’ll get one of each if you preorder any version of the game. Sonic Frontiers releases on November 8, and it’s coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.
