New Sonic Frontiers trailer provides a more in-depth look at the combat

The public reception to the pre-release material of Sonic Frontiers has improved quite a bit in recent months. Although there still exists certain aspects that warrant concern, fans generally feel much more optimistic about the game now than they did when the initial gameplay demonstrations surfaced in June. This sentiment extends to the combat, which Sega showed more of in a new trailer uploaded this morning. The trailer explains many of the combat features we have heard about in recent months in a bit more depth, so those who see the combat as one of the more promising aspects of Sonic Frontiers will definitely want to watch it.

The trailer provides an official look into the game’s skill tree system, which we already saw glimpses of in a few images that have surfaced online. One of the skill tree abilities shown off goes by the name Phantom Rush, and it comes in the form of a meter that Sonic can build through landing combos. Once the meter fills up completely, Sonic’s attacks will receive a hefty boost for a limited time. Abilities like this will provide Sonic with way more options than just the homing attack, drop dash, and stomp he gets by default.

Titanic new threats

Additionally, the trailer briefly covers the Guardians, more powerful opponents that Sonic must defeat using specific strategies. One of these Guardians, which previously made an appearance in the Tokyo Game Show trailer, creates several rails that Sonic must light up by grinding on them. Once all of the rails are fully lit, Sonic can target the Guardian’s weak point.

The combat trailer also confirms that Sonic Frontiers will throw more difficult enemies as the player progresses through the different islands. This slightly goes against director Morio Kishimoto’s previous comments stating that the “open zone” format has eliminated the need for a standard difficulty curve. Since Sonic Frontiers has a leveling system for making fights more manageable, Kishimoto’s comments could still apply to the combat in the end.