What a downgrade (...and where's Setsuka?)

[Shaoh_Kahn]

Having gotten Soul Calibur IV (*why is the title of the game spelt as "oneword" here?!) working on the PS3 emulator, at 60fps and HD, it really puts into context just how much of hash job SCVI is. SCV was bad -- to be sure -- but, 'VI' is just a lazy cash-in:

• arenas seem like they're from each other's generation (SCIV was released in 2008!)
• SCVI's roster is a joke compared to SCIV's -- even IV's dumb boss is better that VI's joke character
• cameos are pathetic also (nothing compares to Vader, but, even Spunkspiller is better than Geralt or that weeb titillator sexbot)
• the music... my lord, the music -- SCIV's is sublime, while SCIV deserves only to be muted (other than Geralt's theme, which does not count)
• THE GAMEPLAY:
- guard impacting destroyed (GI'ing high = GI'ing low!? 🤨...😂... ♿... and no parries?! 🙄);
- super moves on teat and tailored for the Smash Brothers demographic;
- dumbed-down command inputs, with no option for the old school style;
- mindless combo system;
- all the same hit-box issues still present in SC's infamous pseudo 3-D game engine...
• customisation is wack -- they should have spent the time on fleshing out the roster, than on worthless dress-ups
• no attribute customisation (yeah -- it might not have been "balanced", but, it was still fun to experiment with)
• story might as well have been skipped over entirely in this game, it's just that embarrassing when compare to the decade-old game
• no decent additional game modes, like SCIV's Tower of Souls
• online match-making is literally non-existent...

Really, the only thing SCVI did better than IV, was it added automatic match-making in training mode... Other than that, it's the worst game in the series besides 'V'... AND WTF IS SETSUKA?!

[Nina - Lord of The Backrooms]

I really agree with most of what you have to say about 6.. But in my opinion SC5 was the most mechanically sound game in the series; it's also the one that I enjoyed the most next to SC3. My opinion aside, it's a fact that this game would never have sold half as well as it did without the character creation element, nor would people still be playing SC5 on lest gen systems.

I couldn't care less about the characters on the roster.. as long as there are a lot of options; the only interesting ones to me were Nightmare and Dampierre. If you really dislike 6 so much, you should give 5 a try if you can; it's really not that bad if you let go of your attachment to specific characters that you feel should be on the roster. The biggest and main problem in SC5 was the lack of any detailed ingame guide explaining each mechanic..explaining buffering and things like that. The just-guard mechanic was "perfect," but most players overlooked it because it was never explained in a way that allowed them to effectively practice and use it.

Anyway, this all seems like a well thought out review.. a bit biased, but a review none the less. You should post your review on the review section of the store page if you haven't yet.. maybe the devs will see it and decide to make some changes.

[Nachtmahr]

Really not feeling this entry as well. Think I will refund it and wait for the changes they are going to make in season 2, somewhere in 2020 and then rebuy it on a deep sale. All the new and changed mechanics work against the flow of the game. The super animations are way too long, Reversal edge will not be removed in season 2 though and the balance is meh at best. No reason to pick Taki when you have characters like Azwell. Setsuka / Alpha Pat were literally the only reasons to keep me busy because their just frames were fun to practice and to do. Don't get me started with the "waifu pass" and the catering towards weebs

[Thundercracker]

Originally posted by Shaoh_Kahn:

snip

trolling street fighter and MK get old? you already did this months ago.

as for where setsuka is, at this point in the timeline, she's a baby. a literal infant.

[Rinku]

The gameplay of VI is the best this series has seen since the times of Soul calibur II, so that says a lot by itself. Stages are fine. Customisation has been truly lacking since III, where you were able to create complete new characters with new movesets. And in terms of game modes, both IV and V were pretty lacklustre coming from II and III adventure modes. VI has bringed more in that regard than just generic survival and counterattack modes.

You can clearly notice by the graphics and the OST (Which still good, it is not that memorable though) that this game had a very limited budget. Considering that, I'm happy with what it is.

[El-DoX]

imho we have to keep in mind that Bandai wasn't exactly convinced to revive the series after the fifth chapter, and that explains the reduced budget in production, not really a "downgrade". story mode is one of the first problems, lack of content, OST, cosmetics. it's clear, technically we're talking about an old gen game but the core gameplay remains interesting. maybe a little bit far from a classic Soul Calibur (i've played II on gamecube, IV on 360). fortunately there are many people who believed anyway in SC6 and rewarded the game just enough to convince Bandai to support the game, with a season 2 and a reworked gameplay, in other words relaunch it. so i agree with nachtmahr, probalby i refund the game, waiting next year and see what's going to happen.

[Byros]

SC V nearly killed the franchise, the mistakes and extremely poor design choices made by Namco are still felt today in the sense that SC VI was assigned a low production budget and inherited a broken reputation.

Namco decided to use the cheap & terrible unreal engine to reduce costs & minimize financial risks, that resulted in eternal loading times for everything in-game, the elimination of tag matches and characters that could use multiple movesets like Edge Master or Olcadan, Inferno also lost the ability to mimic movesets and had to be given an all together different moveset derived from Strife's moveset in SC3

Game assets are reused from SC IV and SC V for the base game and Season Pass 1, we're still missing lots of armor parts from those games, they're probably going to be recycled as well and sold as Season Pass 2.

What little new content has been created for SC VI seems to be below average, look at the sterile & blurry stages, new armor parts are uninspiring & quite inferior to those from previous releases.

All of the above can be forgiven, but the major flaws in Soulcalibur VI reside in the Capcomized gameplay system with copycat energy meters & lesser movesets.

Gameplay-wise, the new mechanics have been poorly received by most players, the problem lies in wanting to provide instant gratification for a new audience by means of automation and dumbing down the gameplay system.

Here are some examples:

-Automated super finisher moves (CE) bound to a single button with cinematic interruptions.

-Reversal edge with auto-blocking and auto-attacking, everything bound to a single button, crowned by more cinematic interruptions.

-Automated fake multiple-hit combos that can be easily "requested" via command input buffering reducing the need for synchronized inputs & timing, you can literally drop the controller, grab a beer & watch the automation execute the combo job requests.

-Grab moves bound to a single button as well....

A regular match feels like half the time you are actually controlling the action, while the other half of the time you are just watching a cartoon animation with pink lights.

The pure and rewarding gameplay balance that Soulcalibur used to have, has eluded Namco for quite some time.

In spite of all the previous flaws and poor design choices, SC VI is still a good game, I believe we should thank Motohiro Okubo for trying to resurrect a dead franchise and produce a new game with the meager resources he was given.

Nevertheless, imagine the possibilities for improvement and additional sales that Namco can get if they actually eliminate the automation, fix the gameplay system, and move cinematics to story mode instead of being used in the middle of a match.

I'm still looking forward to Season Pass 2.

[VinylComp]

Originally posted by Shaoh_Kahn:

Having gotten Soul Calibur IV (*why is the title of the game spelt as "oneword" here?!) working on the PS3 emulator, at 60fps and HD, it really puts into context just how much of hash job SCVI is. SCV was bad -- to be sure -- but, 'VI' is just a lazy cash-in:

• arenas seem like they're from each other's generation (SCIV was released in 2008!)
• SCVI's roster is a joke compared to SCIV's -- even IV's dumb boss is better that VI's joke character
• cameos are pathetic also (nothing compares to Vader, but, even Spunkspiller is better than Geralt or that weeb titillator sexbot)
• the music... my lord, the music -- SCIV's is sublime, while SCIV deserves only to be muted (other than Geralt's theme, which does not count)
• THE GAMEPLAY:
- guard impacting destroyed (GI'ing high = GI'ing low!? 🤨...😂... ♿... and no parries?! 🙄);
- super moves on teat and tailored for the Smash Brothers demographic;
- dumbed-down command inputs, with no option for the old school style;
- mindless combo system;
- all the same hit-box issues still present in SC's infamous pseudo 3-D game engine...
• customisation is wack -- they should have spent the time on fleshing out the roster, than on worthless dress-ups
• no attribute customisation (yeah -- it might not have been "balanced", but, it was still fun to experiment with)
• story might as well have been skipped over entirely in this game, it's just that embarrassing when compare to the decade-old game
• no decent additional game modes, like SCIV's Tower of Souls
• online match-making is literally non-existent...

Really, the only thing SCVI did better than IV, was it added automatic match-making in training mode... Other than that, it's the worst game in the series besides 'V'... AND WTF IS SETSUKA?!

Ima call a massive troll here off the immediate site of "SC4 60fps HD emulator".


Please just be quiet lol

[Shaoh_Kahn]

Originally posted by NINE9NINE:

in my opinion SC5 was the most mechanically sound game in the series; it's also the one that I enjoyed the most next to SC3.

Fair enough... Although, SCII is generally consider the best "mechanically" (e.g., parrying only vertical attacks, is real-world logical); 'V' is much-hated and almost killed the IP (evinced by the the long hiatus between iterations and the dud spin-offs in between); and 'III' is sometimes dismissed "competitively" (due to that cancel bug... which I actually found an interesting way in which to extend combos).

I like 'IV' because it's a good overall package, and its GI system -- the series escutcheon -- was still intact back then. Each to their own, however (obviously).

Originally posted by -Nachtmahr-:

The super animations are way too long, Reversal edge will not be removed in season 2 though and the balance is meh at best.

Yeah... The "supers" in modern fighters have gone from the "desperation" attacks, or "spirited" abilities that were earned, to casual titillation: no command inputs, thus, overpowered (relative to their efficacy); overly stylised mini cut-scenes that, as alluded to, complete destroy the flow of play (esp. in a game like SCVI, with those awful "Reversal Edges", on top of the multiple "Critical Edge" supers landing in any, one bout); stupid move properties that allow for abuse (armour, start-up)...

I once actually advocated for more stylised "super" moves in fighting games... But, that was before the gameplay of this genre became so dumbed-down, that any scrub and his poodle could mash out a "Critical Edge", "Fatal Blow" or "Issen"... To say nothing of awarding the only resource these abilities require -- meter -- to the losing or worst player 🙄

The fighting game genre took a wrong turn at Albuquerque, and I fear it hasn't the fuel left to U-turn and make its way back to Respectability Town...
---

www.troll.meme/mindless-parrot-sans-any-contribution-copy-pasta

Yes -- you are the malignant tumour that is metastasising throughout the FG genre, and killing it 👈

[Habaduba]

First complaining about a weeb sexbot and then crying setsuka is not in game... yeah sure. While I agree there are little good offline modes, the game is better then 3,4 and 5 in preety much every aspect.

[Byros]

Originally posted by Habaduba:

First complaining about a weeb sexbot and then crying setsuka is not in game... yeah sure. While I agree there are little good offline modes, the game is better then 3,4 and 5 in preety much every aspect.

SC6 is far from being better than SC3, it is better than SC5, but that game was crap to begin with.

[Byros]

Originally posted by Sown-Laughter:

Originally posted by Shaoh_Kahn:

Fair enough... Although, SCII is generally consider the best "mechanically" (e.g., parrying only vertical attacks, is real-world logical); 'V' is much-hated and almost killed the IP (evinced by the the long hiatus between iterations and the dud spin-offs in between); and 'III' is sometimes dismissed "competitively" (due to that cancel bug... which I actually found an interesting way in which to extend combos).

I like 'IV' because it's a good overall package, and its GI system -- the series escutcheon -- was still intact back then. Each to their own, however (obviously).


Yeah... The "supers" in modern fighters have gone from the "desperation" attacks, or "spirited" abilities that were earned, to casual titillation: no command inputs, thus, overpowered (relative to their efficacy); overly stylised mini cut-scenes that, as alluded to, complete destroy the flow of play (esp. in a game like SCVI, with those awful "Reversal Edges", on top of the multiple "Critical Edge" supers landing in any, one bout); stupid move properties that allow for abuse (armour, start-up)...

I once actually advocated for more stylised "super" moves in fighting games... But, that was before the gameplay of this genre became so dumbed-down, that any scrub and his poodle could mash out a "Critical Edge", "Fatal Blow" or "Issen"... To say nothing of awarding the only resource these abilities require -- meter -- to the losing or worst player 🙄

The fighting game genre took a wrong turn at Albuquerque, and I fear it hasn't the fuel left to U-turn and make its way back to Respectability Town...
---


Yes -- you are the malignant tumour that is metastasising throughout the FG genre, and killing it 👈

so again you are to dumb to stop mashing out strings and eat a critical edge . ya . like I said . Learn to not mash and you wont eat CE RE or FloorE

Real fights are about simple patience distance and simple strikes; and simpletons throwing their limbs at one another in frantic bouts of frustration, is not a real fight; its a angry amateur brawl.

Reversal Edge & Critical Edge are the worst mechanics in the franchise, a waste of development time & resources.

[Nina - Lord of The Backrooms]

Originally posted by Byros:

Originally posted by Habaduba:

First complaining about a weeb sexbot and then crying setsuka is not in game... yeah sure. While I agree there are little good offline modes, the game is better then 3,4 and 5 in preety much every aspect.

SC6 is far from being better than SC3, it is better than SC5, but that game was crap to begin with.

How many hours did you play SC5? You seem to really dislike it.. I'm totally disappointed in SC6, but I still play it.. especially since they're supposed to be making some mechanical changes soon. If you're simply saying that SC5 was bad because it was unfinished and lacking your favorites, that's not enough to dismiss it like that.. if it was absolute crap there wouldn't have been a 6. People are still playing SC5, myself included.

[Byros]

Originally posted by NINE9NINE:

Originally posted by Byros:

SC6 is far from being better than SC3, it is better than SC5, but that game was crap to begin with.

How many hours did you play SC5? You seem to really dislike it.. I'm totally disappointed in SC6, but I still play it.. especially since they're supposed to be making some mechanical changes soon. If you're simply saying that SC5 was bad because it was unfinished and lacking your favorites, that's not enough to dismiss it like that.. if it was absolute crap there wouldn't have been a 6. People are still playing SC5, myself included.

Yes I do, I have played it quite a bit, I did finish the story mode 1607 A.D., Arcade & Legendary Souls, I even bought most DLC except Dampierre and the modern outfits for CaS, heck I still have my X360 with it, and just as yourself I still play it, but mostly for comparison purposes and to check armor parts that are present in SC5 and still missing from SC6.

Some things SC5 does better than SC6, like better stages, no in-match cinematics, even better command inputs, for example Brave Edge has a decent double semi-circle motion, superior to the dumbed down, one button triggered super combo critical edge that we currently have.

So I get to play all Soulcalibur releases (1 to 6) in their original hardware.

[Zelph]

Originally posted by Byros:

Originally posted by Habaduba:

First complaining about a weeb sexbot and then crying setsuka is not in game... yeah sure. While I agree there are little good offline modes, the game is better then 3,4 and 5 in preety much every aspect.

SC6 is far from being better than SC3, it is better than SC5, but that game was crap to begin with.

Only thing better about 3 was the story mode. The game was a mess balance wise.

[Byros]

Originally posted by Zelph:

Originally posted by Byros:

SC6 is far from being better than SC3, it is better than SC5, but that game was crap to begin with.

Only thing better about 3 was the story mode. The game was a mess balance wise.

The original PS2 release had balance issues, those were fixed in SC3 Arcade Edition.