SoulCalibur VI Preview - Better camera work, new dynamic effects, better sword lines in a fight and much more

braini (61)in #gaming • 7 years ago (edited)

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During The Game Awards, Bandai Namco announced SoulCalibur VI for the PlayStation 4. It took a long time, but the game is now really coming and although the release is still a bit away from us, we could already get started with an early version of the fighter.

Double development

SoulCalibur VI will be released next year and then the game has been in development for about four years. Three years ago the team came up with a proposal from Bandai Namco and gave the green light for the development. Three years is quite a time in itself, especially if the release is tapped for four years, but that is not without reason. The team that works on SoulCalibur VI has also worked on Tekken 7 in recent years and thus there has been a double development that has cost a lot of energy and capacity and still costs.

Nevertheless, the game has been in the making for quite some time and Tekken 7 is already out. That does not mean that the team is finished with that game, but there is now more room to make SoulCalibur VI. For this game, the development team has a new vision, because they want to further clarify the overall story. SoulCalibur VI has to complement the story of the first SoulCalibur. Everything that that game does not tell in detail, SoulCalibur VI will do. That focuses on Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.

How did it begin? Why is there fighting and how has that had an impact on the franchise to date? All sorts of aspects that play a role in the story of SoulCalibur VI, in which they tell the story in a certain way again, but in a proper way. This is also very important for the franchise, since on this basis one can move forward again. Although SoulCalibur VI is a new game with new gameplay, it also has very clear references to the original game in the franchise, and even Soul Blade.

Wonderfully smooth gameplay

Exactly how the story will develop and those who all play an important role in this, Okubo did not want to lose. The same applies to the roster and possibly unique characters, but the demo version that we could play gave a bit of an indication. The version we could play was very limited, but on the basis of closed spots in the roster we came to the conclusion that there are at least 20 characters in the game. They can battle at least 13 internships and that in itself is quite a number. It is expected that there will also be console exclusive characters in the game and what we played was the Battle mode in which we played against the CPU or another player.

That is of course not representative of the other modes and especially the story, but it gave a cautious impression of what we can expect. The same applies to gameplay and is based on analyzes of previous parts. The gameplay in SoulCalibur V was found to be a bit too complex, but well in the basics. They now take this foundation for SoulCalibur VI and mix it with the action and feeling of SoulCalibur II. The gameplay goes very smoothly and that the entry threshold is indeed not too high. This makes it interesting for newcomers, of course, but complex gameplay is not excluded.

The basis of the gameplay is now to a certain extent better accessibility, but players will soon be able to learn the complicated commands for more depth. This will not be as complex as SoulCalibur V, but it will not be too light, so fans will soon be bored. Learning the combos and discovering the depth is part of the fun that you have to experience in the gameplay. In addition, the very smooth and fine gameplay, as we have experienced shortly, has been supplemented with some innovations. Important here is 'Reversal Edge', which is a new system to block incoming attacks and turn that into a powerful counterattack.

The Reversal Edge system is an element that we see more and more often in different forms in games today, with which battles remain exciting until the very last moment. However, the nuance in SoulCalibur VI is that if you use this, you can continuously block incoming attacks, regardless of the strength of an attack. If this goes well, then you can convert the series of blockades into a powerful counterattack, so that a dangerous situation can be put to your own hand. Obviously, the opponent can do that too, resulting in intensive pots where the camera takes a dynamic position in the heat of the battle, to make it even more spectacular.

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The new system gives the gameplay a bit more depth and that will have to provide more tension. It complements the existing whole that will be further refined with SoulCalibur VI compared to the previous part. Of course the special very powerful attacks under the denominator 'Critical Edge' are not lacking and although we were able to play with only two characters, it looked spectacular, so that promises something for the final game.

Improvements here and there

We can say that the gameplay felt very nice and solid. It is of course important to finish your opponent as effectively as possible, but if you are handy, your opponents can also knock out the level, which means you win immediately. That brings us to a point of criticism, namely that the levels in the state in which we played them were a bit... boring. A plateau between all kinds of structures and a level in the forest surrounded by mountains, a fence and a river. This gave the impression that the levels - or stages - were limited in possibilities, because there was no question of destruction or multiple layers. Characteristic of the franchise, incidentally, but we hope that there will be some more innovation in the final game.

What is positive, is the fact that the developer takes all the experience of Tekken 7 into the development of this game. That means technically that the input lag is as minimal as possible. The state in which Tekken 7 is against the release of SoulCalibur VI - through patches - will be the basis for input-lag for this new title. Completely excluding is impossible, but it will be limited to an extreme minimum. Furthermore, in SoulCalibur VI we can expect better camera work compared to previous parts, new dynamic effects, better sword lines in a fight, more realistic lighting and so we can continue for a while. In short, technically it should soon be top notch.

Preliminary conclusion

It gave a good impression of what we can expect, because it played wonderfully smoothly. The frame rate was already very stable in the demo version, visually it looked neat and the new Reversal Edge system provides more intense fights. However, SoulCalibur VI still has some time to go in terms of development and the knowledge that has been gained with Tekken 7 will be taken into account. The first impression of the gameplay was fine and they still have a lot of time, so - although maybe a bit premature - SoulCalibur VI seems to be a very decent fighter.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!

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