The Clayton Awards 2018

Game of the Year 2018 – Yakuza Zero

There were some strong contenders for my GOTY, but I think there was always going to be one clear winner – Yakuza Zero. It knew when to be serious and when to be fun. It was a wild ride from beginning to end.

‘I began Yakuza Zero not sure if I’d like it, and the slow opening hours made me a little concerned. But once I’d got stuck into the game, I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s a game that really shouldn’t work – you’ve got a serious, fairly dark central story supported by absolutely wacky side content.

And yet, Yakuza Zero finds a way to balance everything perfectly. It’s an experience, that’s for sure. Overall, I couldn’t recommend Yakuza Zero more highly. It’s a wild ride, and more than worth the asking price for this PC release. Pick it up, you won’t be disappointed.’ (Full Review)

Most Disappointing Game of 2018 – Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series 

 

An easy choice, but I feel kind of bad about it considering Telltale folded this year. That said, it didn’t really come as a surprise when you look at the quantity of their output and how the quality suffered as a result.

‘With the GoT licence, Telltale had an opportunity to deliver their most ambitious title yet, but instead delivered a title that doesn’t even try. It’s a step back from their previous work – both graphically, technically and narratively – when it should have been a step forward.

As I said, it’s not a terrible game. The story and characters are decent enough to see you through – even if it does often feel like someone’s mediocre fan fiction. Overall, it’s a disappointing title. It’s lazy, shoddy and should have been so much better.’ (Full Review)

Now Playing: Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come: Deliverance has a strong opening from both a narrative and gameplay perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed my initial 20 hours with KC, as I described in my First Impressions post. I was hooked by the story, I liked Henry as a protagonist, I liked the supporting cast of friends and foes, and I liked that Henry really did suck at everything.

Having to learn how to fight, sneak, steal and even read, gave those initial hours a great sense of satisfaction at seeing Henry becoming strong and smarter with every step you took. You actually had to be clever when approaching dangerous situations – such as a camp of hostile bandits. The game felt challenging in the best possible way.

The problem Kingdom Come has, is that the challenge soon dissipates. Once you acquire better gear, level up some of your stats, and gain a good grasp of the combat system, it all becomes incredibly easy. It does make sense within the context of the world – the quality of your equipment and your experience in combat will naturally give you an advantage over others – but it also results in a game where combat and stealth become increasingly trivial, even during the story based missions.

There doesn’t appear to be any level scaling in Kingdom Come so if, like me, you prefer to break up the main quest by completing side missions on the way, you’ll suddenly find some of the main quests become a bit of a joke. To give you an example, one of the earlier main quests sees you face off against a ‘boss’ type character who I was particularly excited to fight, as the confrontation was nicely set up by the narrative.

 

However, the actual fight was incredibly anticlimactic. Because I’d spent some time doing side missions and increasing my stats prior to this fight, I only struck this ‘boss’ character once and the fight was over. It was a disappointing end to what should have been the most challenging and engaging fight in the game so far.

Fighting multiple opponents can still prove tricky as you progress, but that’s primarily due to how clumsy the combat system becomes when attempting to fight more than one person – and this is an issue which becomes even more prevalent during the later stages of the main story. As I said in my FI post, the combat works best in 1v1 situations. As soon as 3 or more people are involved, it becomes a bit of a mess.

This is very noticeable in the story missions that involve large scale battles. Trying to pick out an opponent and fight 1v1 is nearly impossible as ally and enemy soldiers surround you and everyone clips through one another in a big, clumsy mess. It’s far easier to just run behind enemies and strike at their exposed backs. And they’ll let you do it too, because enemy AI, when it comes to these big scale fights, is pretty terrible and easy to abuse.

 

Kingdom Come has this strange separation between narrative and gameplay. I really enjoyed the core story and the majority of the story based side missions, but I enjoyed them more for the narrative rather than the gameplay. And that’s because Kingdom Come doesn’t always value your time.

What do I mean by that? I mean that the game likes to pad its content with unnecessary travel. Far too many quests have you bouncing back and forth between the same locations to the point of tedium. To give you an example – one side quest has you stealing various items from various locations. Towards the end of this quest chain you’re tasked with stealing an item from a farm. You travel to the farm, steal the item and return . . . only to be tasked with stealing another item from the same farm.

As part of another quest you have to convince a guy to go to the blacksmith to pull out his sore tooth (don’t ask) and once you do, escort him so he doesn’t chicken out. There’s a blacksmith within a short walk of the guy but instead, he decides to slowly walk to the other blacksmith on the far side of town across the river.

It’s little stuff like this that really irritated me throughout the entire game. I didn’t hate it. It was just mildly annoying and totally unnecessary. It probably didn’t help that the majority of the quests and action takes place within one half of the world map – the other half is barely utilised – so you’re always going to be travelling through the same areas and roads fairly often.

 

Some skills also feel like a ridiculous grind to improve. Despite playing Kingdom Come for 65 hours, completing the core story and over 80 quests, I still fell short of hitting max level – although I do wonder if this was bugged. I also barely improved some skills – such as lock picking – despite using them frequently.

Although I found the travelling aspects of the missions somewhat tedious, I can say that I enjoyed them all for the stories they told. There’s some really enjoyable stuff in here and I don’t want to be too harsh or make it sound too bad – because it’s not. As I said, it’s more mildly irritating than anything.

Which kind of sums up how I feel about Kingdom Come: Deliverance as an overall experience. It’s really very good – the story, the characters and the world in particular. It looks great and my performance was consistently solid. I didn’t experience any major bugs or issues, aside from a single quest which I wasn’t able to complete properly.

I liked the combat. I liked learning and training new skills. In fact, I liked pretty much everything about it – but it’s a game hampered by so many minor irritations that they drag the overall experience down.

7/10

Gallery: Kingdom Come

Now Playing: Battlefield V

Despite my reservations about the release and future content plans of Battlefield V, I decided to give it a shot. It’s the first Battlefield game I’ve purchased since the original 1942, and that’s an important piece of context to keep in mind during this review. I can’t compare V to the previous Battlefield releases, including the most recent Battlefield 1. If you’re looking for a review from a Battlefield fan who is more familiar with the series, then I’m not your guy.

Let’s begin with the good stuff. I thoroughly enjoy the core gameplay of Battlefield V. It’s why I enjoyed the BETA so much and it’s why I decided to purchase the game. The shooting, movement, squad/team mechanics and the dynamic destructible maps make Battlefield V a real joy to play. How a game ‘feels’ to play is always tricky to describe, but Battlefield V really does feel good to play.

It’s a game where nearly every online match has an entirely unscripted ‘wow’ kind of moment, as the various gameplay systems combine to create quite spectacular engagements. The most impressive aspect for me is the destructibility of the environments. This can radically change the shape of the battlefield and how you approach various objectives.

It also plays into the excellent ‘fortifications’ system, which allows you to construct makeshift barricades or dig out defensive positions. I typically find maps in online shooters to grow rather stale after several plays, but that’s not such a problem here due to the way the maps change dynamically throughout every battle – changes which are entirely player driven.

 

The squad and team mechanics are also cleverly incorporated to encourage and reward team co-operation and play. They make it beneficial on both a personal and team level to work together and support your squad. Battlefield V is by far at its most enjoyable and satisfying to play when teams really do embrace these mechanics and work together. Of course, the flip side is that Battlefield V is at its least enjoyable when they don’t.

In terms of visuals and audio, Battlefield V looks and sounds amazing – despite that horrible audio glitch I encountered in the BETA persisting into the release. In fact, a lot of little issues that I experienced in the BETA haven’t yet been fixed. I had one match in which our team kept spawning in the ‘dead zone’ out of bounds area of the map. I’ve had occasions when the reloading animation doesn’t play or when health packs fail to heal.

Probably the most infuriating issue is when trying to use a bipod on a Support class weapon. The bipod has a mind of its own and flips on and off at will. And there’s still issues with attempting to vault over scenery. A couple of times I’ve gotten stuck on scenery unable to move. There’s a general lack of polish to Battlefield V which is as disappointing as it is surprising.

Although I appreciate the addition of single player content in the form of the ‘War Stories’ I can’t say they’re particularly great. They’re not bad, but they’re short, forgettable and range on a scale of quality from ‘okay’ to ‘meh’. They also don’t really play to the strengths of the core gameplay which is big, combined arms battles. Nearly every mission is a solo, stealth or commando ‘one-man-army’ style experience.

 

It may be they’ll add bigger, more elaborate War Stories in the future, but I can only review what’s in the game at release. And what we’ve got so far isn’t very inspiring. I appreciate the variety of locations and characters, but they all follow a similar pattern of objectives and style of play.

They said they wanted to focus on lesser known aspects of WW2 in Battlefield V and that’s an approach I can totally get behind. However, I think they needed to balance this out a little with more familiar battles and locations. It may be they’ll add this kind of stuff in later but like I said, I’m not reviewing potential future expansions, but what’s in the game now.

I would love to see a Battle of Britain map in which the German team must bomb and destroy key locations, as the British side have to fight back with AA guns on the ground and fighters in the air. I’d also love to see a D-Day map or series of maps for the Grand Operations mode featuring a beach assault/defence. A Stalingrad map, maybe? The Pacific Theater?

There’s so much potential in terms of what they can do, where they can go and what would look and play fantastic in this engine. But that’s always been my concern about Battlefield V – there’s no guarantees. If the game hasn’t sold as well as EA might like they might just pull the plug on future expansions.

 

I quite like the cosmetic customisation – pointless as it is – although the cost of some cosmetics is pretty silly and discourages you from purchasing them when the in-game coins you’ve earned are best spent on upgrading your weapons and vehicles. They really need to increase the ways you can earn more coins. More regular and varied Assignments would be a good addition.

There’s a good selection of maps and modes in this initial release, and I like how maps can feel very different to play depending upon which mode you choose. The weapon/vehicle selection is decent but there’s certainly room for expansion. Battlefield V really does feel like a ‘foundation’ release. And as a foundation, it’s a pretty solid one upon which they can now build.

I’ve now played Battlefield V for 70 hours and I still want to keep playing so I can’t say I’ve not had good value from the game, and that value will only increase as new content is released. That said, because this is a ‘foundation’ release, you’re also not really missing out on anything if you choose to wait for the inevitable discount.

Overall, I’m really enjoying my time with Battlefield V. It just needs more content and more polishing. As long as EA don’t decide to pull the plug on future expansions, Battlefield V should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

7/10

Gallery: Soul Calibur VI

Kingdom Come: First Impressions

I kind of wish I hadn’t picked up Kingdom Come: Deliverance in a recent sale. Not because it’s bad, but because I’ve haven’t been able to stop bloody playing it. I’ve clocked 20 hours of play in less than three days. I’m not sure that’s entirely healthy.

I’ve been interested in Kingdom Come since its release, but I was still very wary about purchasing it, even on discount. I’ve seen many people warning of bugs, crashes and save corruptions, even following multiple patches and updates. But I’m pleased to say that – so far, at least – I’ve had no crashes, bugs or issues with any of my saves.

The game looks lovely, with some very nice lighting and weather effects. I’m playing on Very High settings with the HD Texture Pack, and my performance, overall, is pretty solid. It’s only when I’m running or riding through one of the larger towns that I notice any dip in the frame rate.

Kingdom Come is a first person, historical RPG. You play as Henry, the son of a blacksmith, living in Bohemia in 1403. Unlike say, an Elder Scrolls game, you’re not a ‘chosen hero’ or a ‘man of destiny’ – you’re an illiterate peasant who can barely hold a sword. But Henry is such a likeable chap that you really want to help him succeed.

The story of Kingdom Come has been excellent so far, and I’m eager to see where it goes. It knows when to be serious and when to be fun. You have your typical main quests which drive the core story onwards, in addition to a variety of story based side quests and the less elaborate ‘activities’. There’s certainly plenty to see and do.

Kingdom Come, as far as the gameplay mechanics go, is an interesting mix of skill, stats and gear. The combat is skill based, in the sense that you must learn to properly time your attacks, blocks and combos, but your character stats in the form of strength, agility and vitality also play an important factor.

And the quality of your weapons and gear is also important as is your individual skill level with particular weapon types and the associated ‘perks’ you can unlock for every skill. I guess the question is: is the combat any fun?

Well, the system does feel pretty good once you get the hang of it, and 1v1 fights can be very enjoyable. The only times I’ve had problems with the combat is the few occasions I’ve had to fight multiple people, which the system doesn’t seem to be designed for. Trying to switch between two or sometimes three targets in a fight can prove troublesome.

Then again, I suppose that’s the point. It shouldn’t be easy to fight three people at once, not when they can easily surround you. Kingdom Come isn’t just about skill, stats or gear, it’s also about playing smart. You can’t just charge into a bandit camp and expect to win against four or five guys. But what you can do is wait, watch and maybe try to lure one or two of them away. A swift arrow or a stealth kill can even up the odds.

And then, you can charge in, maybe catch the bandits by surprise or when they’re sleeping. A bandit with no weapons and in his underwear isn’t much of a threat and can be cut down with ease. It’s kind of funny watching them abandon their camp and flee for their lives.

Henry really does start at the bottom. You need to train every skill which takes time, patience and practice. You even need to devote time to simply learn how to read. It may be slow, but it’s a pretty satisfying progression, as you really do feel that Henry is becoming stronger and smarter as you play.

I really like the world map. It’s both functional and lovely to look at, which is something a lot of open world developers could learn from. The games uses as auto-save system, but you can also brew or buy a ‘save potion’ which lets you save whenever you like. I’ve seen some criticism of this system, but I can’t say I’ve had any issues with it. It’s very cheap to buy (or free, if you pick them yourself) the ingredients you need, and you can brew enough potions to last you for several hours of play very easily.

Whilst some may dislike the limitation, I can see the intent. It forces you to think very carefully about what you’re doing, or what fight you’re going to get into. It forces to you stick with decisions you’ve made – you can’t just reload your quick save every two minutes. That said, I do think the game could auto-save more frequently, such as when you fast travel.

Overall, I’m having a lot of fun with Kingdom Come and after taking a short break to complete some side quests and explore more of the map, I’m eager to get stuck back into the main story. It’s possible it could all go tits up, of course, and I could encounter bugs or other issues, but so far, so good.

Now Playing: Soul Calibur VI

Soul Calibur VI is a fantastic fighting game and, as someone who hasn’t really got stuck into a fighting game for nearly a decade, I’ve had an absolute blast with it. I’ve already sunk 40 hours into the game, and there’s still so much to do. I’ve still got missions in the Libra of Souls story mode to complete and I’ve still not finished the Soul Chronicle mode with every character.

There’s a lot of game here, to be sure. When so many recent fighting games focus purely on online/tournament play, it’s good to get such a substantial quantity of solo/story focused content. Notice I said quantity not quality. Because if I’m being honest, as far as the overall production quality of Soul Calibur VI goes – it’s actually pretty poor.

The visuals are noticeably dated, both in character models and stages. The menu and UI are ‘functional’ at best. The character creator is fun, but too many cosmetic items have clipping issues and the selection is sparse. The Arcade mode is as basic as can be. The Libra of Souls mode severely lacks unique artwork and cut scenes – it only seems to have about 4 backgrounds which it recycles endlessly.

 

In short, Soul Calibur VI feels like a game knocked together on the cheap. It’s clear they were on a tight budget and had to cut many corners. I’m not saying any of it is bad – it’s just that none of the pieces are of a quality they could and should be, considering the premium price.

Despite this, Soul Calibur VI is still a game I’d recommend. Because even though it has its flaws in terms of its modes, features and presentation, the core of the game – the fighting mechanics – are so f**king good. You have a sizeable roster in which every character offers a very unique and distinct style of play. I’ve always loved the SC characters and variety of styles, and it’s genuinely hard for me to just pick and stick with one, because I enjoy playing them all.

I love the character models and how their personalities shine through in their animations. Because every character shares a basic core input set, it doesn’t feel like a chore to learn to play as each of them – you always have a foundation of basic moves upon which to build. Combat is fluid and incredibly stylish. The camera sweeps, swings and zooms at all the right moments to provide some lovely cinematic shots during special moves, but it never distracts from the action.

 

As I said in my First Impressions post, SC isn’t really about learning convoluted combos, it’s more about timing and position. Yes, it’s possible to button mash your way through some fights, but against harder AI or a human opponent, mashing will only get you so far.

Libra of Souls, in the way it runs parallel to the core story, is an enjoyable mode, even if the weapon collection/upgrade system is a little basic. Soul Chronicle, which lets you play through individual stories for each of the roster is also very enjoyable, even though I kind of wish there was a little more content/story for some of the characters. And I can spend hours in the character creator, even though it really needs those upcoming customisation packs. For many though, it’s the online modes that’s at the heart of the experience.

The ‘casual’ rooms are nice, but the lack of any kind of proper chat system for spectators is a little odd. I guess it stops people from acting like an ass, but watching a match in a silent room is kind of weird. The ‘ranked’ system, at least at the early levels, feels more like an XP bar, which slowly fills up even if you lose a lot more than you win.

 

The online experience as far as technical considerations go is pretty good overall, but not without the occasional network error or lag issues. I like that I can join ranked games straight from the training mode and at the time of writing, ranked play is still very active, with a new match every 20 seconds or so at peak times.

I’ve split my time between three characters in ranked, which probably isn’t ideal, so I’m now going to try and stick with one to see how high I can push. I’ve had some fantastic matches online and as I’ve said – win or lose – I enjoy a good scrap. And I don’t really mind custom characters in ranked. I like to see the crazy shit people create.

I know some people don’t like it, but I don’t see the point in taking ranked play so seriously – lag is always going to be more of a factor than a custom character with a slightly different height. If you care about ‘pro’ play then play in a proper tournament or set up your own custom room and let the rest of us have our fun.

 

You’re going to meet players who spam certain moves, which is just something you need to learn to deal with. And you’re going to meet players who rage quit just before you win. But on the whole, 90% of my ranked matches have been good natured and enjoyable.

Overall, Soul Calibur VI is an excellent game, despite the somewhat cheap production quality. It’s a title elevated by the strength of its gameplay. Oh, and they just announced 2B from Nier: Automata as the next DLC character which is a wonderful addition. If only we could get Bayonetta in here too, and then we’d have the perfect game.

8/10

The Battlefield V Dilemma

I sometimes wonder if publishers want me to buy their games. I seem to recall a time when I didn’t need a bloody spreadsheet to work out exactly what content I’m paying for. Ubisoft are by far the worst when it comes to confusing release editions. Any interest I had in the latest Assassin’s Creed rapidly faded when I saw the eight different editions, each with varying levels of content.

EA isn’t quite as bad as far as multiple editions go, but they’re still not making Battlefield V an attractive purchase. I enjoyed the BETA a lot, which is why I’m considering buying the game, but they’re not making it easy for me. You have the Standard and Deluxe editions which is to be expected, but I dislike the ‘early access’ offered with the Deluxe – you can play five days ‘early’.

But it’s not really ‘early’, is it? You’re simply paying more to play at release, and if you pay less, then you’re playing late which, in a game with objectively advantageous weapon upgrades, will put you at a distinct disadvantage. This is bad enough, but then I saw the ‘Premier Access’ edition, which is part of a new Origin subscription service.

It actually seems like pretty good value, but in order to entice players to join the service, EA is allowing Premier accounts to play BFV eleven days ‘early’. ELEVEN DAYS. That’s a f**king joke. If the game is ready to be released on that day, then it’s ready to be released for everyone, regardless of which edition they purchased. Imagine you couldn’t afford or didn’t want to pay extra – now you have to sit and watch for eleven days as other people play and enjoy the game.

Talk about a big ‘f**k you!’ to your own customers. I’ve seen people refer to the ‘Standard’ edition now as the ‘Pleb Edition’ because it appears that’s how EA views those who purchase it – ‘F**k those guys, they can wait’. I don’t have an issue with the subscription model, or with the Deluxe edition – at least it’s only one, as compared to eight – but the ‘pay to play early’ model is absolute bullshit.

And that’s not my only problem with BFV. As I said in my BETA Impressions post, I have concerns about future support for the game. They’ve released a ‘road map’ of sorts, but it’s very basic and only includes content that was already confirmed – a handful of new maps set in Greece, vehicle customisation (who really gives a f**k?) and the ‘Firestorm’ Battle Royale mode. They promise ‘more content’ beyond this, but give no details.

As I said, I don’t expect specifics so far in advance, but a simple ‘yes, we’re going to add in new factions like the U.S’ would be far more reassuring. If I knew for certain there would be an ‘Eastern Front’ expansion or a ‘Pacific’ expansion in the future – even if I didn’t know what would be included or when – at least I would know it was coming. As it stands, there’s still no guarantees for any substantial content beyond Firestorm in March 2019. The ‘more content’ they refer to could just as easily mean a handful of weapon and vehicle skins.

It just doesn’t strike me as a confident ‘live service’ plan. It’s like they’re hedging their bets – if the game doesn’t sell as well as EA expects, they can easily reduce/cut future content updates and nobody can really complain because nothing was actually promised. As a potential customer, it’s just not reassuring.

And really . . . what’s my incentive to buy at release – or ‘early’, if I pay more? When the base game is looking so sparse, why shouldn’t I wait a few months for the inevitable discount and pay less for more. I know people may argue that this applies to every game these days, but it’s really a question of value. When I look at the base release of BFV, do I feel that I’m getting good bang for my buck? Ignoring all the other problems, that’s the real dilemma. Even if I don’t like the ‘early access’ bullshit, or I’m worried about future support, if I felt the release game had the content to justify the purchase on Day 1 – or Day 11, if you’re a pleb – then I’d be more happy about picking it up.

The problem is, EA haven’t convinced me. They’re still being cagey about release day content, probably because they know it’s not very substantial. I mean hell, we’re only a few weeks from release and, at the time of writing, I’ve still not seen anything of the character customisation yet. Let me remind you, EA – I enjoyed the BETA a lot. I’d still like to BUY YOUR GAME. STOP MAKING IT SO BLOODY DIFFICULT.

Soul Calibur VI: First Impressions

The best way to describe my initial impressions of Soul Calibur VI (and yes, I know it’s ‘SoulCalibur’ but I prefer it with the space) is to say that it’s good but it should be better. It’s kind of frustrating because the foundation is here to build what should have been the definitive Soul Calibur game. At least, that’s how I feel right now, with just over 15 hours played. As I sink more time into the game, my opinion may change, so keep that in mind.

I haven’t really got stuck into a fighting game for several years. In fact, the last time I did was probably Soul Calibur IV a decade or so ago. The original SC on the Dreamcast was one of my favourite games on the platform, as was SC II on the GameCube. But I didn’t play SC III or V, and I’ve kind of drifted away from the fighting genre ever since SC IV.

So I was kind of excited to return to the series with VI. I think I probably preferred the SC series because it’s a more ‘casual’ fighter in the sense that it’s far easier to pick up and play. The button combos aren’t needlessly convoluted or tricky to perform and many characters share similar inputs, so even if you’ve never played a particular character before, you’ll already have a foundation of basic moves upon which to build. SC was never really about mastering complicated combos. It was more about movement, timing and precision. Knowing the right move to perform and when for the greatest impact.

I also liked the focus on solo/story content. Whereas many recent fighters seem to be more focused on online/tournament play, SC VI offers a substantial single player experience. It’s best to begin with ‘Libra of Souls’ – a story based mode in which you create a custom character – because it offers a good range of tutorials that explain various aspects of the combat system.

 

Libra is an RPG-lite in the sense that you ‘level up’ as you traverse the world and complete missions, but it’s pretty basic. You can buy or win new weapons, some of which can be upgraded with unique boosts, but it’s a very limited system. The story of Libra will carry you across the world and your custom character will encounter the ‘main’ cast of SC VI at various points.

It’s a story that runs parallel to that of the ‘core’ SC VI story and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far. It starts slow, with a lot of very easy, single round fights. But once you start hitting level 25-30, that’s when it gets a little more interesting. I’m currently level 33 and I’ve just had a couple of very challenging ‘boss’ style fights and it appears I’ve still got a long way to go.

I also like that you can totally change your character or weapon at any time, so you’re not locked to a particular look or style. In addition to the Libra is the core story mode – Soul Chronicle – in which every character has their own unique segment that combines into a complete tale. But I haven’t got stuck into this mode yet, so I can’t really comment on it here.

And then we have Arcade mode, which is a little strange in the sense that’s it’s just eight random fights – there’s no ‘boss’ fight at the end. You’re also only ranked on time taken. I’ve played it a couple of times and it’s fine, I guess, but it feels a little tacked on. You also have the standard Versus mode against the CPU, and a training mode to learn the various moves.

 

The training mode is decent, but not great. Although I’ve gotten used to seeing the button inputs displayed as they would on a fight stick and not on my 360 pad – where A is X and B is Y – it would have been nice if you had the option to display the inputs according to your chosen controller. It would also be nice to be able to display them on the screen as you practice, rather than having to enter and exit the various menus every time you want to learn a new combo.

The custom character creator is a lot of fun, and I’ve probably spent a couple of hours just messing around with it. I do understand people not wanting custom characters in ranked – because some people design characters that use equipment to intentionally ‘hide’ their character animations, making it very difficult to read or respond – but those incidents are pretty rare from what I’ve seen, and I quite like seeing all the crazy shit people have created.

Which leads us onto online play which I’ve enjoyed a lot more than I thought I would. It has its problems, no doubt. I’ve had several network errors kicking me out of a match, and lag can sometimes kick in making everything seem like it’s running in slow motion. In a way, I kind of prefer getting matched against higher ranked players because I know that – even if I lose – I’m going to get a pretty good fight.

 

I like to win, don’t get me wrong, but I also like a good scrap that goes right to the wire. I like fights where I can mix up my play. Where it’s a little more tactical. Cat and mouse. Where, even if I lose, I feel like I had a good time and maybe learnt something new. Of course, not every online fight is like this. There’s a lot of players who just spam one or two heavy combos and try to pin you against a wall or get an easy ring out.

It’s not my place to tell people how to play or enjoy the game, but I can’t say I find these fights much fun because the best way to defeat them is to simply find a combo they don’t know how to counter and spam it right back at them. Sure, I like winning, but winning like that just isn’t much fun, at least for me. I prefer matches where I get to see a range of moves and tactics, even if I lose. The ‘spam’ attack matches are kind of anti-fun, but it’s just something you have to learn to deal with.

Visually, SC VI looks dated. It doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t look as good as it should, either. The character models don’t look much better than I remember in IV, and the stages look even worse. The production value, at least as far as the visuals go, is poor considering the price. Which leads us back to my initial impressions that everything Soul Calibur VI does it does well – but it could and should have done it better. That said, I’m certainly enjoying my time with the game and once I’ve completed Libra and the core story mode, I’ll be sure to post a final review.