Soulcalibur VI

Soulcalibur VI is the return of the weapon-based fighting series after a several-year hiatus, uniting the history of the entire series into one story on PlayStation 4. The game returns to the timeline of the first entries and offers a newly told story of Soul and Weapon, complemented by a separate chapter with the player's own character, who can be created from scratch in a detailed appearance editor and then taken through the entire story mode alongside the series' familiar characters. The roster was further expanded by guest fighters from other franchises, among them none other than Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, further broadening the already colorful gallery of characters from the Soulcalibur world. On PS4, the combat system relies on the newly added Reversal Edge mechanic, which gives fights a stronger element of guessing the opponent's intent and adds another layer of decision-making to the series' traditional offensive and defensive style.

Studio Project Soul, under the Bandai Namco Studios banner, also reworked the visual style into comic-book-stylized graphics, giving the game a distinctive look compared to the more realistic previous entries and showing it off even better thanks to the PlayStation 4's power. The game also features an extensive character editor, allowing players to bring their own fighters inspired by characters from other games or media into the arenas and share them with other players online, which became one of the main drivers of the long-term popularity of the sixth entry after its release and brought the series attention even outside the tournament scene. The series' signature ring-out mechanic, in which a fight can be ended by knocking the opponent out of the arena, remained a key part of the strategy in the sixth entry as well, since a bout doesn't end only by depleting health, but also by pushing the opponent off the battlefield.

Why play it: Soulcalibur VI is an ideal entry point into the series thanks to its clear summary of the story, its elaborate character editor, and a combat system that refreshes established patterns from previous entries with the Reversal Edge mechanic, without alienating players who have never played the series before.