Blades clash for a critical beat-down — SoulCalibur VI Hands-on

SoulCalibur’s always been a unique mix to the fighting game genre. While Ryu and Ken may prefer to fight with their fists, the cast of SoulCalibur prefer to fight with weapons. At E3, I was given the chance to play a few matches of SoulCalibur VI to get a feel for how the game controls compared to its predecessors.

SoulCalibur VI has a few new tricks up its sleeves including the addition of Reversal Edge. Reversal edge was made with newcomers in mind. If a player lands it, both players are brought into a slow-motion sequence where they have to play a round of figurative rock, paper, scissors to determine if the hit lands or the receiving end misses. This was incredibly simple for both my opponent and I to grasp, but felt too luck-based in a game focused on combat.

Another addition is the Soul Charge. When the gauge is full, players can easily activate soul charger which powers them up in both speed and power. I was able to use this power to turn a match around when I was in a tight spot.

Returning to SoulCalibur VI is the Critical Edge. This is a power attack that, if it lands, could cause a large amount of damage. It’s difficult to land this attack, but the connecting hit has a satisfying amount of weight to it.

During my hands-on time, I had the chance to play as this game’s guest character, Geralt from The Witcher series. He feels heavy, but some of his attacks rely on shooting fire out of his fist, which can lead to a satisfying sequence when his critical edge lands on the opponent.

Lastly, I can begin to mention how beautiful this game looks. All of the backgrounds come to life and each move is fluid in 60fps. Apparently, SoulCalibur VI is being developed in Unreal Engine 4.

While I didn’t get to experience it, we were told briefly about how the story will be held in SoulCalibur VI. This mode will follow the story of the Soul Calibur and the Soul Edge with each fighter having their own story to complete.

SoulCalibur VI will be released on October 19th, 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned to Gaming Trend for more information coming out of E3.

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