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