The SoulCalibur franchise finally makes its triumphant return, but can it stand with the other numerous fighting games that have been released over the past few years on our current-gen systems? It’s been 6 years since the last mainline SoulCalibur game was released, and this is our first look at the franchise on current-gen systems. SCVI takes us back to the start, retelling the story that has been built upon over the years; it's the perfect start for newcomers of the franchise and there is still plenty new content for those familiar with SC lore.

SCVI has 2 story mode options. The first is Libra of Soul; players will play through the SC timeline with their own custom-made character - an RPG-esque type mode that involves levelling up your character as you travel through the map, obtaining new items that can be used in combat, granting you various perks. This also lets you obtain new weapons as well as comrades who will fight with you in battle. This particular mode lets you forge your own destiny with your character and gives you various choices that will tip the scale towards good or evil, altering how the story plays out as well as the weapons your character acquires.

Main quests and side quests are scattered around the map; side quests require you to travel around various points on the map, and doing so will cost the player gold, which can be earned in combat, to travel to these points. As you level up, you gain additional health as well as being able to equip higher level weapons assisting you in combat. Weapons also have various attributes such as their damage output, as well as special attributes like health recovery or additional critical hit damage, which can all be enhanced or combined to create new weapons with various attributes. It’s quite an enjoyable mode where players will find the most depth in terms of single player content. However, it is heavily text-based and unlike the other mode, has very little voice-over dialogue which did get a bit tiring for me at times.



The other story mode is Soul Chronicle, the retelling of the main story which follows a few of the cast members while also integrating other characters as you progress through the timeline. This mode is fully narrated and is accompanied by some of the best artwork you will find in any game. There are 20 chapters within the mode, but in addition to this, every character also gets their own timeline you can go through, telling their story of where they were and what they were doing during a specific time. It all comes together to re-tell the great story of SoulCalibur. Each character has about 6-7 chapters to get through within this mode. Completing these also rewards players with SP currency which can be used to purchase additional items for use in customization.

SCVI allows for 100 custom characters as well as 100 player downloaded characters to be saved. Best of all, everything can be customized, from hair and outfits to colours and pattern designs - even blood type.

On the topic of customization, SCVI has quite a few choices, giving players the option to choose between a male or female character based on 16 different races, from human to demon to skeleton. There should be something here for every player. Existing characters can also be customized, and players are able to download other players customizations (ed - a neat little addition because I'm always curious of other players' creativity). SCVI allows for 100 custom characters as well as 100 player downloaded characters to be saved. Best of all, everything can be customized, from hair and outfits to colours and pattern designs - even blood type. My only complaint with the character creation mode is the list of items; there aren’t as many items as there were in the previous title and this seems to have been left out as incentive for players to purchase the season pass.



The most important part of a fighting game is its combat, and SCVI is better than ever. The 8-way run system combined with a 3-button attack configuration for horizontal and vertical attacks which can be used in high, medium and low attacks, as well as a kick attack and a block button that have been retained, but a new mechanic has been added to the combat system. A new defensive mechanic called Reversal Edge allows players to counter incoming attacks.

The most important part of a fighting game is its combat, and SCVI is better than ever.

Reversal Edge has its own button and the longer it is held, the more attacks it will absorb - if you land the attack from the Reversal Edge after a successful counter, both players will enter a slow timed state. Here, each player will press a button and guess what the other player may do. It could end up in a clash and a return to neutral state or allow for you to dodge an attack and retaliate. Reversal Edge can be beaten by unblockable attacks so that is one thing to keep in mind; it seems to be a more beginner-friendly mechanic and something that players use instead of guard impact which repels incoming attacks, putting the attacker in a staggered state. Just remember that the staggered player can also guard impact back so think about your follow-up carefully.

Critical Edge and Soul Charge also make a return. A Critical Edge is a super move that costs 1 bar and is great for punishing whiffed attacks or opponents in a negative state. Soul Charge also costs 1 bar and puts the player into a charged state. This powers up normal moves but also gives you access to additional attacks and combo strings, causing chip damage to any blocked attacks. Choosing what to spend your resources on is a big part of the mechanics.



Additionally, there is an arcade mode. However, this is just a series of 8 random fights and has no story tied to it. Other modes also include VS mode, training mode and online battle. Online can be done in ranked or casual and is a lobby-based system. Museum mode lets you unlock all sorts of information; movies and artwork related to story, characters, music, etc. There are 22 playable characters - many fan favourites return and, surprisingly, only 3 new characters are present. Groh and Azwel join the cast with Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series appearing as the guest character. Annoyingly, Tira, who is in arcade mode as well as Libra of Soul, has been held back for season pass buyers. While I am in favour of DLC for fighting games, I am not in favour of completed characters being kept behind a pay wall.

Geralt’s Kaer Morhen level is a great addition to the game and features one of my favourite soundtracks to fight to.

On the plus side, the iconic announcer is back and better than ever. He really adds to the hype of matches (ed - *shivers*). There are some great stages in the game as well with fantastic soundtracks; Geralt’s Kaer Morhen level is a great addition to the game and features one of my favourite soundtracks to fight to. From grassy planes, to castles to snowy mountain tops, each stage is unique and has a great atmosphere around it. Unfortunately, there is very little in terms of a tutorial, apart from some text based information detailing the different mechanics - there is nothing that will show you or teach you the uses for these mechanics.



All in all, SoulCalibur VI is a fantastic addition to the series and has quickly become my favourite fighting game of this generation. It looks amazing, sounds incredible and runs great. Combat is easy to get into and its simplified mechanics encourage players to dive deeper into the combat system. The game has some basics missing which points towards its overall budget but hopefully the game sells well and the developers put a bit of those profits into updates and some additional free content for early adopters. I’m looking forward to watching this game grow in the competitive scene and can highly recommend this to both casual fighting game fans and tournament players.