lets be real, we all know its been downhill since SC2

Fantastic entry of the series, probably with both Season 1 & Season 2, is one of the best titles of its series with one of the best casts. Brings in speed and some of the really cool newer stuff of SCV with a bit of its fun modernity while leaving behind the terrible decision of Guard Impact costing meter, and back to its roots when it comes to this mechanic. Also leaving behind the stiffness of SCIV behind, arguably the worst title in the series in terms of free-flowing gameplay... yet the cast selection was great. The game features a ton of customization, character creator, an RPG mode & the online is great despite being delayed-based netcode.


Character Creation comes back as expansive as its ever been like SCV, but now there's a whole mode called Libra of Souls that intertwines with the main story and fills in the gaps of the overarching story lines as a soft-reboot sort of sequel in an alternate timeline that spans between SoulCalibur 1 & teethering into SoulCalibur 2, and brings elements of both SoulCalibur 3 & SoulCalibur Legends story plot points & characters that would lead into a different future, yet similar, beyond SoulCalibur 4... if they ever decide to expand and continue supporting the series.

Libra of Souls is like Chronicles of the Sword for SC3, but not nearly as fun nor as ambitious, but you get to use your own character in a simple RPG mode and witness the world building that SC6 is trying to concoct with this Soft-Reset/Soft-Reboot of the series as the "Conduit" (AKA the name terminology they give to your created character).


Gameplay is fast & fun, lots to work with in customization, music is fantastic, online is delayed-based unfortunately but it's some of the best Bandai Namco has to offer pre-Tekken 8. Definitely better than Tekken 7 by several notches. My one complaint, is Reversal Edge as a mechanic... it's easy to spam and kills the flow of the fight, and becomes repetitive... but it's a marvel to watch at first and casuals will probably love the mechanic... besides that, they got everything else right especially movement and speed more akin to SoulCalibur II's speed while keeping some of the complexity of the modernity that SCV brought in gameplay, while also fixing its one blunder which was putting Guard Impact behind meter, this game solves that issue... Guard Impact is finally back to being a regular mechanic like it should always be.


Unfortunately we never got a Season 3, probably because of COVID which also hampered and threw a wrench at this game's exposure for tournament IRL play & e-sport events. Also it would have been nice to have yet another 4 characters in the mix for sorely missing characters such as: Aeon Calcos (Lizardman), Rock, Algol, and one more Guest if it followed the patterns of past Season Pass... if not, just Yun-Seong... and as a bonus and free update: Edge Master as the Mimic Character that we never had in SCVI, and a Tournament mode that also worked online, to end the SCVI run beautifully... but that would remain a pipe dream.


All in all, it's a fantastic game and with all the DLC it's pretty up there with arguably the best, if not within the Top 3 of the best games in the series... which SoulCalibur 1 & 2. SoulCalibur 3, is an honorable mention due to its expansive character cast, extra movesets and single-player game, but mechanics and gameplay is kinda broken and balance is wack... recommend the mod for the PS2 release called SC3 Definitive Edition, or just play SC3 Arcade Edition (actual arcade port) if you all you care for is the core-gameplay.

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Extra segment - related outside of the base product & that includes modding the game (The Bonus DLC portion of the review):

Speaking of life beyond the base game: I recommend trying out, for people that want to see more out of this game, such as restored movesets, a fan balance patch, Brave Edges coming back from SCV to give you more things to do with your meter outside of SoulCharge & Supers as opposed to only being accessible by only Yoshimitsu & Geralt as the only characters with meter burn mechanics in this entry, Reversal Edge (my least favorite mechanic) removed for a new mechanic called Violent Edge that gives you a mini combo for half a meter a la Haohmaru's combo super or paying tribute/homage to Soul Edge's/Soul Blade's Super Combos...

As well as new characters such as Natsu (Astral Ninjutsu playstyle - Natsu from SCV with new stuff), Viola (Ars Planetarum - SCV character), Pyrrha (ProjectPyrrha - A mix of Pyrrha & Pyrrha Omega from SCV + new stuff), Kestrel (Codename Kestrel - New Moveset), Leixia (from SCV) & Lightning from FFXIII (New Moveset).

Bonus of using the fan patch... Lizardman's moveset further expanded and restored from the incomplete moveset found from the Lesser Lizardmen in Libra of Souls, need to have the character with the moveset injected as a Created Character with the mod loader.

All of these new characters, at the moment, can only currently replace pre-existing characters... but they are currently researching ways to make these new additions + entire cast have the ability to co-exist by adding new character slots. Crossing fingers that this will be realized at some point.

All of this can be played on the VodkaVerse fan-patch & its mod loader... as a bonus you can also install separate pieces of Community DLC (CDLC) that won't replace pre-existing customization pieces but live right along with the rest of the content, plenty of Classic pieces brought back from SC4 & SC5 + more.

For those interested, check the VodkaVerse discord in the following link and enjoy more SoulCalibur VI with the community, as well as keep a close eye in the development of the fan patch as well as its additions:



https://discord.gg/CjX5fbv




SC6Mods: VODKALIBUR - Features Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1-e9IWpcj0

VodkaVerse: Violent Edge Showcase 「SOULCALIBUR™Ⅵ | VodkaVerse」
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxduXKCLB1E

Lightning (Trailer) 「SOULCALIBUR™Ⅵ | VodkaVerse」
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLRHDOJfU7Q

Looking forward to more SoulCalibur VI in the next coming years with the community, until Bandai Namco decide to make another entry... hopefully they won't take another 7 years like they did between SCV & SCVI.

Cheers & may your soul still burn ~

SoulCalibur I (1998): The Legend Will Never Die (it's about memorable characters)
SoulCalibur VI (2018): The Legend Will Never Buy (it's about buyable characters)

It's kind of hard to put a grade to a product I've loved in past iterations-especially when I CANNOT get past a never ending Tutorial...I've gotten stuck more times in the (unskippable) Tutorial of Soul Calibur 6 than every Soul Calibur tutorial set combined.

i have never used a non-custom character

I just wish we had SC 5 Cervantes. That's just me, though. Just trying to combo some poor doode into the ground.

tiny knightmare

Online is delay based and there isnt much single player content
Other than that its a good game

good

love this game