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What really sets SoulCalibur apart from its genre contemporaries is an invading sense of adventure. It tells a great story of knights and ninjas, goliaths wielding an ax and pirates warriors, all fighting for mythical weapons of good and evil. He adds a catchy orchestral score and grandiose narratives about entwined fates and unmissable fates. Of course, the deep and rewarding mechanics are at the heart of any good fighting game – and SoulCalibur VI certainly has it – but for this series, adventure has always been the soul.
This spirit of adventure is most evident in the two story modes of SoulCalibur VI. The Balance of Souls is the most fleshy of the two and is inspired by the beloved mode of the Master of Arms SoulCalibur II. This is both a fighting game, a role play and a Dungeons & Dragons campaign; you create your own unique fighter using a creator that, while usable, is not as sturdy as that of the other Bandai Namco fighter, Tekken 7. From there, you embark on a journey that will lead you across the world you will come across paths – and swords – with both named characters and named generic partners.
Libra of Souls tells its story mainly through lyrics, but it is surprisingly engaging, with dialogues and descriptions that set the stage for the inevitable fight and give even some of its opponents to the pier. The story that has led you to travel the world is that you are "abused" with diabolical energy and you have to absorb the Astral Cracks to stay alive. Although you are among the main quests missions, various side quests appear around you, NPCs asking for a hand to solve their problems. Of course, the solution every time is a sword fight, but the game does a valiant job building the world along the way to give texture to its fantasy universe. You will learn that Ceylon is a major producer of cinnamon, favored by royalty and therefore very valuable, and that hamlets are being decimated by a thirsty azure knight thirsty for souls. You will meet a potential entrepreneur who, although affable, is mainly looking for help; a gunsmith who seeks to impress the royal family to win a contract; and a priestess who doubts her abilities, among others.
By completing these missions, you will gain experience that will allow you to be at the height, and this is where the RPG bindings are the strongest. Growing up, you can use more powerful weapons with different styles and visual properties. Enemies also become more resilient and, in addition to that, special combat conditions spice up the fighting. These can make one type of attack more effective while decreasing the strength of others, forcing you to diversify your skills within the combat system. Another problem for role play mechanics is the ability to select a food to take in combat. These bonuses, such as increased damage, improved health at the start of a new turn, or extra experience for a win, just to name a few. If you prefer to leave someone else doing the dirty work, you can visit the Mercenaries Guild and hire a fighter, equip him with a weapon and food, then send him to fight. At best, the AI will get a win; at worst, they will eliminate some health from the enemy before you step in.
The Balance of Souls also contains some small touches that reinforce the idea that you are a wandering warrior on an epic journey. One of them is an indicator at the top of the world map that displays the years as you go, establishing a passage of time when you bounce between places and fight in quick succession. Another solution relates to the decisional moments, some of which simply dictate how you act towards a character, while others weigh your soul to good or bad, have an impact on history and determine the unfolding of the final battle. The eventual consequence of your actions is minimal, but it's an elegant way to give you a little bit of paternity in the story.
The main problem of Libra of Souls is the relationship between storytelling and the actual game. The mode is very heavy in text, which would pose less problems if his fights were not so fast. In the hands of a capable fighting game player, many enemies can be dispatched in less than 10 seconds, which means that the time spent at Balance of Souls is heavily skewed in favor of reading versus fighting . And while loading screens before and after battles are quite short, they can become more and more tedious. The mode also lacks variety, so beyond the occasional fighting conditions, it does very little to keep you on your guard. For the most part, the application of an aggressive strategy will allow you to come out victorious.
The second mode, Soul Chronicles, is a more typical interpretation of a fighting game story, but it is still broad and presents an interesting approach to presenting its story. It contains a main story that describes what is happening with the legendary Soul Edge, but which is complemented by 19 character-specific campaigns, which deepen what they do as the story unfolds. Although they rely heavily on static artworks, they are fully cast and the artwork itself has an eye-catching style, similar to that of a sketch. There is also a microcosm of Libra of Souls problems, because battles can be completed in a blink of an eye, which means more typing buttons to advance the text.
Nevertheless, Balance of Souls and Soul Chronicle are a satisfactory offer for a single player, the first can last more than eight hours and the last about four hours. Idiosyncrasies aside, give you a lot to do and offer you a complete and captivating story. In the end, you will have traveled the world, met a variety of colorful characters and fought all kinds of strange creatures. Quite the adventure.
SoulCalibur VI does not require hours of study and experimentation … you can get a controller and feel competent in no time
The beauty of SoulCalibur's gameplay is its simplicity, and in this respect, SoulCalibur VI is a bit like paper-stone scissors. In its most superficial form, the rules of engagement are simple and the pace of battles means that decision-making is based on instinct as well as tactics and responsiveness. True, the same can be said of most fighting games, but unlike them, SoulCalibur VI does not require hours of study and experimentation to do it; you can take a controller and feel competent in no time. Although there are complex systems and techniques to consider, the inability to interact with them does not threaten you. Before long, powerful, but slow, vertical attacks, you'll soon realize that horizontal attacks interrupt your steps and are a sure way to exert pressure. The kicks represent a good balance between the two, but with a limited scope. It takes little time to internalize these basic principles and their complexity appears faster than in most fighting games. Get started in blocking and movement, both of which are intuitive, and the play factor becomes a key strength of SoulCalibur VI.
The simplicity of the surface conceals more complex systems, and SoulCalibur VI is mechanically dense. It overlays the systems of the entire series, so even veterans will have to look at the different pieces and determine how they fit together. Although each character has a relatively limited range of attacks, the eight-way movement allows you to edit them. Attacks also occur at different heights – high, medium, and low – and the lock becomes a three-tiered system. More confident players may react to an attack by executing a last-second Guard Impact to repel it and leave their opponent open, but a shifted player may retaliate with a knockdown – a turnaround reversal.
From there, it only gets complicated. Reversal Edge is a special position that will counter incoming attacks at any height. It is executed with one button and the longer it is held, the more it can absorb attacks. This makes the defense against an attack attack very easy, but the ease of execution means that it also helps to stay on guard of Guard Impact, more skill-based. Reversal Edge seems to target casual gamers because, while a successful Guard Impact places the initiator in a more advantageous position, Reversal Edge establishes a neutral playing field by causing a clash. Here, the action slows down, the camera gets closer and the two fighters actually bet on what the other player will do and counter it. This is a useful way to create room for maneuver when smothered, but the guessing game gives rise to a sense of randomness that can be frustrating. The solution is to launch a non-blocking break attack to stop an inversion edge.
Beyond that, there is Critical Edges, which are the equivalent of super hits of the game. These are governed by the soul gauge, which is built by attacking, defending and taking damage. . Once a level is reached, it can be used to perform an incredibly powerful and bizarre cinematic attack. A soul gauge can also be used for a soul load, a kind of return state that opens a distinct set of motions to be used by a character, reinforces normal attacks and makes them susceptible to block opponents for a short time.
These are just some of the SoulCalibur VI systems. It therefore offers a lot to teach those who want to become students. However, it can sometimes seem unnecessarily complex. This is probably a symptom of creating a collection of systems that give players hardcore fighting games the depth they need, while allowing casual gamers to resist them. On paper, this may seem like a good approach, but the end result is a construction in contradiction with itself, as if it were built from K-Nex and Lego – the simplest parts undermine the complexes, and although it works, it's inelegant. A good player with an understanding of all systems will almost always triumph over someone who only uses basic systems. The most important problem with this superfluous is to make the transition from the casual to the expert a little less attractive. This complexity is overwhelming when it does not need to be, and if there are simpler and easier options, there is less incentive to dig below the surface.
SoulCalibur VI is an easy fighting game to recommend. Like all the best titles of its kind, it has a low entry barrier and a high skill ceiling. For those looking to play a few games with friends, it's welcoming and immediately enjoyable. For those who are determined to exploit the depths of his systems to prepare for the tournament, he has a lot to break down and understand. Better yet, those who want to play alone will find that SoulCalibur VI contains the most important content for a single player in all current fighting games.
At the time of writing this article, SoulCalibur VI's online servers are not online. GameSpot will test the game after its release and update this review with an assessment of its online performance.
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