Soulcalibur 6 Wiki – Everything You Need To Know About The Game

After a six year hiatus, Project Soul and Bandai Namco are bringing back the supremely popular fighting series Soulcalibur. Soulcalibur 6 is the next major instalment in the series, and being treated as a celebration of the franchise’s 20th anniversary.

As such, Project Soul are approaching it as more of a reboot of the entire series.

Development 

Development of Soulcalibur 6 began all the way back in 2014, before the game was first officially announced at 2017’s The Game Awards. Bandai Namco confirmed the game would be launching for the PS4 and Xbox One, of course, but also that it would be coming to PC as well, which is notable because this makes it the first time the series has ever released on PC. The development of the game is being spearheaded by producer Motohiro Okubo, who previously handled the development of Tekken 7, but it working on his first Soulcalibur game ever.

Since the game’s announcement, the developers have been pretty vocal about how they’re approaching Soulcalibur 6’s development. For starters, they’ve mentioned that the game will have quite a bit of focus on its narrative (which seems to be something of a renewed trend in fighters these days), while also stating that it will serve as a reboot of sorts for the series. They’re also making efforts to introduce mechanics that will help newcomers get accustomed with the game and its style as well. Soulcalibur 6, just like Tekken 7, will run on Unreal Engine 4.

Story

As mentioned already, Soulcalibur 6 is going to be a pretty story-focused game, which you don’t often see in fighters (though it is becoming more common once again lately), while we also know that the game will serve as a reboot of the series. The way it will do that is by retelling the story of the very first Soulcalibur, and approach it from different angles and perspectives to reveal new secrets and revelations that were not included in the first game. The story will take place between the years 1583 and 1590, and will once again focus on the battle between the two legendary blades – Soul Edge, the cursed sword, and Soul Calibur, the spirit sword.

The campaign will also have some substories, while storytelling will be done through a mix of cutscenes and narration done over illustrations and art. Project Soul have also confirmed that the game’s story will begin as Kilik sets out on his quest to steal the Soul Edge, while the developers have also said that players will be able to see the story from the perspective of multiple characters. More interestingly though, the developers have also claimed that in addition to the game’s main story mode, there will also be what is essentially a whole different story, which will be a different way to play the story mode. It’s been described as “a whole different experience that you’ll be able to enjoy.” More concrete information on this is yet to be revealed.

Gameplay

Among the biggest additions being made by Soulcalibur 6 in terms of new mechanics is Reversal Edge. Intended as a more defensive option, Reversal Edge is a single button timing-based mechanic that allows players to block oncoming attacks, which triggers a slow-motion effect, and thus allows them to quickly strike back with a counter attack of their own. Upon the triggering os the slow motion effect, the opposing players engage in a single button exchange against each other, and the winner of this is decided by what has been described as a complicated rock-paper-scizzors-like system of strengths and weaknesses.

Lethal Hit is another new mechanic being introduced in SoulCalibur 6. Lethal Hit allows players to be able to successfully land moves that can literally send players flying. Of course, very particular and specific conditions have to be met for these, depending on which move is being pulled off, so players can’t spam the new mechanic, but when it does happen, it will be quite effective. After being absent in the previous Soulcalibur game, Soulcalibur: Lost Swords (which, in all fairness, was just a free-to-play spinoff title), the versus modes and online multiplayer modes are also returning, not that there was ever any doubt, while arenas will obviously have ring outs once again. Arcade Mode is also set to return, while the game will also have Character Creation.

There are plenty of other returning features and mechanics as well, and while some have been brought over pretty much as they were in previous instalments, others have been heavily reworked. An example of the latter is Soul Charge, which returns for the first time since its last appearance in Soulcalibur III. It has now been heavily changed, and players can now transform into entirely different versions of themselves, which will grant special abilities and other powerful attacks to let loose. Soulcalibur V’s Just Guard also returns, and while the developers have hinted that the mechanic might be slightly changed, details have not yet been revealed.

On the other hand, there are moves that are going to return but will be largely unchanged. For instance, armour break returns (known from the last two numbered Soulcalibur titles), and will function more or less the same as it has done in the past, allowing players to damage separate sections of armour (interestingly enough, it will also have an effect on characters’ hair, of all things, as well). Critical Edges also return, after they made their comeback in Soulcalibur V after their introduction (and last appearance) all the way back in Soul Edge. In Soulcalibur V Critical Edge was very different though, and functioned more like Super and Ultra combos in Street Fighter. In Soulcalibur VI, it will remain unchanged. Guard Impacts are also once again included, but this time they will incur no gauge costs.

The question that will be on most people’s minds, though, is how many characters does Soulcalibur 6 have in its roster, and who are they? As of yet, Project Soul have confirmed a total of fifteen characters for the game. Thirteen of these are returning from previous entries, while of the two new ones, one is guest character, meaning there’s only one completely new addition to the series’ roster. This completely new character is Groh. Apparently, he’s a part of the Aval Organization, and armed with dual sabres, is on a mission to rid the world of all “outsiders”. The character that most people will probably be most interested in though (or a large number of people, at the very least) is the guest character- who is none other than Geralt of Rivia, star and protagonist of CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher trilogy, armed with his dual swords of steel and silver each.

Several characters who were missing in Soulcalibur V are also returning to the limelight. These are- Sophita Alexandra, Chai Xianghua, Zasalamel (who has, interestingly enough, inherited moves from Abyss), and Taki. The other characters confirmed for the roster are: Kilik, Ivy, Maxi, Mitsurugi (a veteran and mainstay of the series), Siegfried (who has brand new armour), Talim, Nightmare, Yoshimitsu, and Voldo. Of these, the likes of Voldo, Yoshimitsu, and Zasalamel are wearing completely new outfits, while others like Taki and Kilik will be wearing reimagining or mixes of several of their older ones. It has been announced that four more characters will be added to the roster post-launch as part of the content delivered through the game’s season pass.

In addition to these characters, the season pack will also include over 100 customization options, and 2 armour packs. Till now, the following stages have been confirmed for Soulcalibur 6: Indian Port: Impending Storm, Windswept Plains, Snow-capped Showdown, Cursed Moonlit Woods, Replica Kaer Morhen (in celebration of guest character Geralt), Sunken Desert Ruins, Shrine of Eurydice: Cloud Sanctuary, Ostrheinsburg Castle: Hall of the Chosen, and Master Swordman’s Cave: Azure Horizon.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.