Soulcalibur VI Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos, Features and Esports Impact

Soulcalibur VI is the latest franchise to return in expert fashion.  

While it has been a banner few years for fighting-game enthusiasts thanks to monster releases and surging esports scenes, Soulcalibur has been remarkably absent and without a mainline series entry since 2012 after it succumbed to a sense of staleness and a bogged-down roster. 

Soulcalibur VI woos hardcore fans and invites countless new ones by getting back to basics in many areas, focusing on what makes the series unique, resetting the origin story and smartly sprinkling in a new system to balance it all out. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Soulcalibur remains one of the most accessible fighting games on the market. 

It's easy to pick it up and immediately feel competent, if not deadly, in the unique weapons-based action. That's not to say it's a button-masher, as the casual surface hides intricacies that will separate players in tournaments or online ladders.  

The tried and true eight-way run system is back, and as always, adds risk and reward to the combat. Vertical attacks do more damage but can be dodged outright. Horizontal moves are again safer and cover more directions the opponent can shift in, but do less damage.

This remains a title unlike some of its competitors, where massive combos and juggles aren't a critical part of the gameplay. At its core, Soulcalibur is about movement and managing space, and the variety comes from the weapon types employed by each character. Accounting for an opponent's distance and angle, if not keeping them on the ground, is the key to victory. It's nice to see the game stick to its core as opposed to chasing what other title in the genre do. 

That said, a way to counteract an offensive onslaught was a must. Soulcalibur VI realizes this and offers Reversal Edge, a fun mechanic capable of blocking most attacks aside from an unblockable break attack that leads to a rock-paper-scissors minigame of sorts within the fight. It's a much-needed addition, too, given that this series has always been offensively slanted, though it can feel unfair at times that the result of a counter is based on button presses from each player. 

Other familiar systems are here. The Soul Gauge builds over the course of a fight to unlock a Critical Edge (superattack) or Soul Charge (set of counterattacks), and a Guard Impact is the usual timing-based counter. 

While the game's easy to pick up and play, an experienced user who deploys these advanced systems while managing distance and hitting attacks on high, mid and low will always come out ahead against a novice—as they should.  

It should go without saying, given the series' track record, but Soulcalibur VI is gorgeous. It runs like a charm, too, making the detailed characters and varied stages all the more impressive. Fighting on the remnants of a temple with a river flowing toward a waterfall in the background as dirt kicks up during the scuffle is a treat—and easy to miss because most games are expected to look great these days. 

Libra of Souls and More

The two single-player offerings help Soulcalibur VI stand out. 

Libra of Souls is a single player text-based adventure with sporadic battles throughout the tale. It functions as an RPG-lite, almost in the same vein as a tabletop game, with the ability to earn weapons, pre-fight consumables like food and more. 

Players create their own fighter before hopping into the mode and will be confronted not only with the main quest, but also side quests and decisions that change the outcome of the finale. While there might be a little too much reading for some players—especially with how fast fights are—it does a surprisingly good job of fleshing out the story and universe. 

Outside the story itself, managing the systems keeps things from getting stale. Players level up and unlock new weapons, so it serves as a good way to see the game's vast arsenal in action. Food and other items offer stat buffs before battles even begin, and those bouts often have interesting stipulations or effects. 

The other single-player mode is Soul Chronicles, which is exactly what it sounds like. This is a retelling mostly of the events from the first game in the series, played out mostly through animated comic book-esque boxes. 

Soul Chronicles doesn't do anything too out of the ordinary for a story mode, and the goofy Soulcalibur story is still here. But the layout is unique. It's cool to see the entirety of the tale laid out on a timeline upon entering the mode. The main quest is at the top, with 19 character stories below. There is a ton of content, and all 19 tales focus on an individual. 

The roster doesn't feel bloated this time, as there are only 20 characters. Soulcalibur has a great selection of characters to pull from in a massive series overall, but this feels like it hits all the right points. The inclusion of Geralt from The Witcher series is brilliant. Past guest appearances like Yoda were simply jarring and out of place, whereas Geralt's medieval surroundings and style make him seamlessly fit into the cast. 

Traditionally speaking, Soulcalibur VI checks all the boxes. Arcade, versus and online modes are all here. It's the healthy smattering of single-player modes with customization and an overarching sense of accessibility, though, that ties it all together. 

Esports Impact

Project Soul knows how important it is to push out a game with esports potential and how supporting the competitive side can give it legs for years. 

One can sense the quest for the first requirement with the addition of Reversal Edge, which opens droves of new opportunities for pro players to digest and employ in tournaments. 

But at its core, Soulcalibur isn't about gaudy combos as much as it is about the fundamentals—and like in first-person shooters, those fundamentals are what set apart pro players. The footsie game over an eight-way run has already been a resounding success for Soulcalibur VI during tournaments at events like Evo. 

A 3D fighting game isn't always an easy sell on the professional scene, but Soulcalibur's eight-way system and the depth within feels like a different beast. In the past, the pro scene around the games hasn't taken off in the way it should due to variance in gameplay from release to release. 

It feels different this time, with the systems in place clearly aimed at drawing in and retaining both competitive players and droves of viewers alike. For the latter, Soulcalibur's status as a rare 3D release might help it even more, especially with the unique slant of it's being a weapons-based fighter. 

Provided the support is there in the form of developer-backed tournaments, even world tours aren't out of the question. At the end of the day, getting the gameplay right and releasing a fully featured title with even single-player experiences and online functionality naturally gets followed up with a competitive scene. 

Project Soul has done it the right way, and the payoff is a game with the potential to be one of the biggest esports around for the next few years. 

Conclusion

This is a blueprint for saving a franchise. 

Soulcalibur felt like it was on life support after the last mainline release, so a return to basics and a focus on serving up a complete product goes a long way toward making this feel like the best title in the series since Soulcalibur II. 

Whether it's the implementation of a hefty dose of single-player experiences, a unique fighting style with one grand new addition, or even the welcoming of a witcher from Rivia, Soulcalibur VI hits all the expected beats of a game in general, not just one in the fighting genre. 

Sprinkle in serious competitive upside—because everything else fell into place so well—and Soulcalibur VI is a resounding, well-rounded effort in a rejuvenated genre with enough juice to play a leading role.