Soulcalibur Legends

Soulcalibur Legends is a complete anomaly within the Soulcalibur series. Instead of the traditional one-on-one duels in an enclosed arena, it offers an action adventure in which the player, as Siegfried, fights through crowds of enemies across several levels with the goal of finding the sword Soul Calibur and destroying the malevolent Soul Edge once and for all. Along the way he's accompanied by the winged being Kamikirimusi, known from previous installments of the series, and the levels gradually culminate in boss fights – modified versions of fighters players know from the classic Soulcalibur games, such as Nightmare or Ivy, only cast in the role of far tougher opponents than the player is used to from one-on-one matches.

The combat thus resembles a hack-and-slash action game like Dynasty Warriors more than a classic tournament-style Soulcalibur – the player hacks through dozens of enemies at once, collects equipment and materials scattered across the levels, and gradually unlocks stronger attack combos as well as weapon upgrades, giving the game a light element of collecting and gradual character growth that the classic installments of the series don't have.

The game was made exclusively for the Wii, and its entire design is built around motion controls – attacks are performed by swinging the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and stronger strikes and special abilities are triggered by gestures. That's precisely why Soulcalibur Legends was never released on any other console: without motion controllers, the game would lose its main reason for existing. Instead of a set of fast tournament matches, it offers one continuous story split into levels with progressively stronger enemies, making it more of a single-player adventure of gradually gaining power than a competitive fighting game centered on balanced duels between two people.

Why play it: Soulcalibur Legends is for players who want to experience the world of Soulcalibur differently than in the arena – as a physical, motion-controlled brawl against hordes of enemies, rather than a set of balanced one-on-one duels.