Should you buy SoulCalibur VI for Xbox One?

SoulCalibur VI is reviving the love of a game you've probably known for your whole life. The story of the Soul series is so rich and enticing it's hard not to find yourself becoming invested in the fate of the fighters.

Here you get to take on the challenge defeating the Soul Edge. This is a blade forged in evil that threatens to corrupt even the mightiest of fighters. Can you prove your strength, find the SoulCalibur, and defeat this evil once and for all?

When it comes to a storyline, the Soul series has never been one to disappoint. Now, for the first time you'll be able to see the entire story laid out in front of you from start to finish.

Pros:

• Great story
• All new combat combos
• In-depth character creation

Cons:

• The environment and graphics could have used more work
• Far too many slow-paced cutscenes
• Only three new characters

Between the graphics and the environment, SoulCalibur VI stuck to its roots with a lot of the old-school forms of environment reactions and power moves. This made everything seem a little behind on its time.

The good: Story mode, combat, and character creation

SoulCalibur VI has not only continued the tale of their legend in the Soul blades, but it pieced together the stories of all its previous games in the most beautiful way. That means this sequel will not only leave you feeling fulfilled of all the new things you'll learn, but it will also help you understand all the things that happened before. It makes it perfect for returning fans who want to feel satisfied in the stories they grew up in, but also great for the newer fans who have no idea what's going on.

Then you have a whole new, and upgraded, combat system. There is no "slam on the buttons until a combo makes sense" when you're playing this game. The tutorial will take you through the new system for combat, which you'll notice to be much different from the previous games. On that note, the sequences flow a lot better, complemented with new moves and abilities that make every character unique to play. SoulCalibur VI is easy to learn but difficult to master, as the best fighting games often are.

On top of all this, you have a very advanced character creation system and phenomenal new characters. You'll get to personalize your very own fighter from their outfits, body type, weapons, equipment and color schemes. If that doesn't get your heart racing then maybe this will: There are three new characters for you to sink your teeth into. SoulCalibur VI introduces Geralt, who you might recognize from the Witcher, as a playable character. The other two new characters are Azwel and Groh who, by God, are an absolute nightmare to fight against. While Groah is a dual-style fighter, Azwel dips into the realms of "God's among men" with his gauntlets that allow him to summon any type of weapon at his fingertips.

The bad: Environment, Cutscenes, and general graphics

For an arcade fighting game that was released in 2018, I have to say I was pretty disappointed in the graphics of the game. During combat, there was a notable difference in the style of how things played, but nothing really seemed that upgraded when it came to graphics vs. the previous entry in the series. When looking at it first hand, it seems generally low-quality.

Also, when it comes to arcade-fighting games, the environment can make a world of a difference. You want to see the ground crack when you shove your enemies faces into it, and all the little details in the background serve as another thing to get that much more excited over. While there were reactions to your moves in the environment, they just seemed a little lackluster. Even during the power moves, I was a bit disappointed to see not much had changed from some of the original games.

Then, here comes the bittersweet news about the cutscenes. What I can say is that the story mode of Soul Calibur VI was very new player friendly. Instead of just referencing a part of a story that a veteran player may have already known, it would go into full detail — from the beginning. While I deeply appreciated all the refreshers and new knowledge I found myself very slowly not caring about the cutscenes because they just took too long. If they had been broken up a bit more, I think the idea of re-writing the story from the start would have worked a lot better.

Should you buy SoulCalibur VI?

Even if the graphics seem too close to the older titles, or the cutscenes take too long to go through, SoulCalibur VI is still a phenomenal arcade-fighter game. All the new upgrades to their combat system make learning the combos that much easier, meaning no more button mashing when you're thrown into a jam. When you defeat your best friend in a fight, you feel like you earned it, and that makes at-home tournaments all the better. Between that and the character-creation system, I can't imagine this not being a game you and your friends will have hours of fun playing.

Alternative fighting games

If you like the look of SoulCalibur VI but it's doesn't quite fit your style, there are a few other arcade-fighting style games on the market which might be better suited for your needs!