A legend as old as time.
The weapon wielding fighting game franchise has returned. Soul Calibur 6, is the latest entry in a fan favorite franchise. Developed and published by Bandai Namco and produced by the internal team Project Soul, Soul Calibur 6 delivers a fighting experience like no other. Released on October 19, 2018 , Soul Calibur 6 is determined to reignite the flame of the fighters’ soul.
GRAPHICS: 2/2
If there is anything that Bandai Namco has locked down over the years creating fighting games, it is visuals. Soulcalibur 6 looks incredibly amazing. The greatest display of it’s visual prowess is undeniably found within the super powerful character creation. Allowing the creation of iconic characters from all walks of life. This much power could be terrifying but in this case it’s amazing. The possibilities are endless and every single asset used looks just as high quality as the original characters in the game. Frame-rates are incredibly smooth and consistent and load times are nearly non-existent. Even the terrible idea to use visual novel style cutscenes to move the story along, look fantastic. Soulcalibur 6 is magnificent to look at in action.
STORY: 2/2
How does a long standing franchise with a plot involving a war between good and evil keep things fresh? Simple, reboot. Soulcalibur 6 has easily one of the best reboot concepts since Mortal Kombat 9. (Remember that reboot, it was amazing.) Soul Calibur 6 brings fans back to the roots of the story. Much like Bandai Namco’s other super series, Tekken, the story of Soul Calibur is experience through the eyes of every playable character in the game. Each character experiences a different perspective of this world threatening plot. Unlike past games in the series, however, it appears the development team decided to make every story official canon. This makes some of the endings a little lack luster on their own but, as part of the bigger picture, every piece of the puzzle fits perfectly.
AUDIO: 1/2
The music composed for this game is stellar. It does an incredible job of boosting adrenaline with its heavy orchestration. Every stage has a theme song that plays to the uniqueness of the stage. These subtle design choices are amazing and the menu sounds are just present enough to be interesting. Where Soul Calibur 6 continues to excel is in character creation. Even the voices available to the created hero feel exciting and fresh in a weird way. Maybe these are the normal grunts and theres nothing special about them at all but for whatever reason in this game they felt great.
GAMEPLAY: 1/2
Much like it’s spiritual brother, Tekken, Soul Calibur 6 is a very technical game. With a roster of nearly 30 characters, before including created characters, there’s a gameplay style for every gamer. The return of Critical Edge, the one button super move, was extremely welcomed. As was the brand new introduction of Reversal Edge, a new type of guard that can lead to auto blocking any attack. Guard Impact and Soul Charge also returned making some classic mechanics feel fresh and updated. There wasn’t anything groundbreaking or incredibly surprising but the gameplay was always fluid and smooth.
FUN: 2/2
Fighting games are one of the last standing same room multiplayer experiences left in gaming. A good fighting game can be hours of fun for a group of gamers. A great fighting game offers months of fun for a single player and groups of gamers. Soul Calibur 6 is absolutely on the high side of great fighting games. Even if everything else about this game was sub par, the freedom of the character creation is outrageous. Individual story lines for every character adds hours of semi-adventurous fun. Seriously, A quick Google search will show how much fun people are having playing Soul Calibur 6.
Although the previous entry wasn’t a disaster for the series, it was not without its flaws. And those flaws were strongly addressed with the release of Soul Calibur 6. Load times minimized, graphics still top notch, character creation returned and made even better, it’s really amazing. Most notable of all is the slight reboot to the story. Long time fans will find the story has been rebooted and become much cleaner and interesting. Overall better told. Soul Calibur 6 is a must have for any fighting game fan and a great recommendation for anyone else.
SCORE: 8/10