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SoulCalibur VI (PS4) - a superior calibre of fighting game

SoulCalibur VI (PS4) – a superior calibre of fighting game

Geralt from The Witcher guest stars in Bandai Namcos revamped fighter, but does the famous single-player mode live up to fan expectations?

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Fighting games once again stand at a turning point. Theyve had their renaissance, with the release of Street Fighter IV, and theyve survived the inevitable comedown from that, as typified by Street Fighter V. The genre hasnt faded from public view, as some feared it might, but it does now seem slightly directionless, with no obvious new ideas or long-awaited sequels to look forward to. But SoulCalibur VI may hold the answer: not in the fact that it does anything new or unexpected but that it simply gets on with the job of being a good game.

Its been over six years now since the last mainline SoulCalibur sequel and at first it was unclear exactly how this new entry was being pitched. But since its now 20 years since the first game (ignoring spiritual predecessor Soul Blade) Bandai Namco started positioning it as an anniversary celebration. And it its true that SoulCalibur VI can be seen as a sort of greatest hits compilation of both characters, concepts, and game modes. Although sometimes it seems almost more of a straight remake of the first game.

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Innovation is not necessarily what most fans want at this point though, as this is a franchise that has consistently failed to make the most of its early promise. More than that, its actually contrived to ignore some of its best elements – most obviously its innovative single-player modes – and pass itself off as something considerably less interesting than it seemed to be back in the early 2000s. SoulCalibur VI though finally starts to set things right.

One of the most frustrating things about the SoulCalibur franchise is that unlike many other fighters, which often struggle to maintain a truly unique identity, its never had any such trouble. Most obviously, it deals only with weapon-based combat. Its nominally set in 16th century Eurasia and so everyone is armed with various kinds of swords, staffs, and melee weapons. And while the dopey story deals with plenty of supernatural nonsense few of the characters wield anything much in the way of magic. Its a stretch to say its realistic but it has always managed to stay relatively grounded.

SoulCalibur also makes more use of 3D movement than any other one-on-one fighter, including stablemate Tekken. Although youre locked onto your opponent and just circle around them, the series signature eight-way run system allows you much more freedom of movement than is normal. You can end up facing completely the wrong way if you mistime a move or, most famously, end up falling off the side of the arena with a ring out.

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While SoulCalibur VI might not strictly be a remake it certainly does have the air of a soft reboot, as it tries to keep things simple with just three main attack buttons (horizontal, vertical, and kick) and a guard. Preset combos are not at all necessary to succeed and instead more focus is put on a new move called Reversal Edge. This is similar to systems in other recent fighters, such as Injustice 2, where you can trigger a mini-cut scene and have to quickly input an attack at the same time as your opponent – in what is essentially a high-tech game of rock, paper scissors. Although there is more nuance to the concept than it first seems since you can both dodge and counter it if you get your timing right.

Along with a guard break and the character-specific Critical Edge super moves the combats major features try to encourage tactics rather than button-mashing, while at the same time leaving the game as accessible and intuitive as possible for new players. And as such it works very well, rewarding defence and careful timing much more than mindless aggression but not requiring esoteric, or difficult-to-pull-off, moves in order to compete successfully.

SoulCalibur VI - Geralt gets his first big cameo

SoulCalibur VI (PS4) – Geralt is the guest star this time

Another feature the series has always been known for, at least from the second entry, is guest characters and this time round its Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. With his twin swords and fantasy background he fits the setting very well, although this time round the game is sensible enough not to focus on him so much that he makes someone elses character the centre of attention. Although it is very disappointing to find that there are only two proper new characters on the Soul side. Theres over 20 characters in total, from throughout the franchises history, but the lack of new faces is a shame.

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But the franchises most famous feature – if only because its so perversely failed to take advantage of it in recent years – is its campaign mode. Theres an arcade mode, and a story mode that plays almost like a visual novel with the odd action interlude, but the real meat of the single-player is Libra of Soul. This works similarly to the originals mission mode, in that you get to move around a map of the world competing in one-off fights with various opponents (many of them unique custom characters) using specific rules or limitations.

Theres also a strong role-playing element in that you control a character of your own design who can be upgraded both visually and in terms of weapons and equipment. It often costs money to move from place to place and you can hire computer-controlled mercenaries to fight for you, which all seems entirely appropriate given the early promise of the concept. Although it does become repetitive quicker than youd like, with far too much boring story text and too little time spent actually fighting.

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If theres a real disappointment though its that the games presentation lacks the panache of earlier games; something evident from the first second, when instead of being greeted by a bombastic intro similar to Soul Blade or SoulCalibur I you instead get a dull, slow-paced explanation of the plot using sketchily-drawn static screens. Maybe its a budget issue but the Unreal Engine 4-powered graphics are very good and instead it seems more that the developer has fallen into the trap of taking the series throwaway background lore seriously, with lots of extremely tedious exposition and banal dialogue.

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As a fighting game though this is the best the series has been in a long time and while the single-player modes still have some issues, multiplayer must always be the heart of any fighter. In that sense its the games accessibility and distinctive gameplay which is its main draw, and the reason people have put up with its self-defeating design decisions for so long. SoulCalibur VI does help to redress the mistakes of more recent sequels but the tale of souls and swords still needs to be retold at least once more to get everything exactly right.

SoulCalibur VI

In Short: The best SoulCalibur VI of recent generations, with an accessible but tactically deep combat system. But while the single-player options are much improved theyre still far from perfect.

Pros: Excellent fighting system that anyone can pick up and play but which has plenty of hidden depth for more expert players. Good graphics and a wide range of game modes. Geralt works great.

Cons: The single-player modes have too much boring storytelling and unnecessarily short fights. Low rent presentation and too few new characters.

Score: 8/10

Formats: PlayStation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, and PC
Price: £49.99
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Developer: Bandai Namco Studios/Project Soul
Release Date: 19th October 2018
Age Rating: 16

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