New Sonic Frontiers Gameplay Trailer Has Skill Trees, Pinball Action, And Sonic Booms

Sega has provided a new look at the combat systems of Sonic Frontiers, the new open-world game, that gives the fastest hedgehog alive a few new tricks to use while he explores the mysterious Starfall islands. Sonic still has plenty of speed which will come in handy as he races across unfamiliar terrain, but with plenty of robotic enemies around him, he'll be able to do more than just run and bounce around them.

Like other role-playing games, Sonic will have a skill tree with several nodes that you can invest experience points into, and Sega says that the skills you'll be able to unlock can be used strategically in encounters.

If you feel like getting up close and personal, combos can chip away at enemies and can be combined with the Phantom Rush ability to unleash multiple near-instantaneous attacks. Wild Rush takes advantage of Sonic's speed and turns him into a battlefield pinball that can hit enemies hard while avoiding incoming fire.

To keep you in the fight for longer, Cyloop involves Sonic running around the ground to dig up power rings and get back into the battle. Cyloop can also be used to run rings around your opponents, disabling their shields and setting them up for a knockout blow.

The catch here is that as Sonic gets more powerful, so too do his enemies. They'll level up alongside you, and the titanic Guardians have unique combat mechanics that you'll need to learn and overcome to take them out. For more on Sonic Frontiers before it launches on November 8, you can check out gameplay of Sonic speeding through the island landscape and watch a music video of the game's ending theme "Vandalize" by rock band One OK Rock.