Fighting games rely on their speed for much of their excitement. The snap of a kick, the defender swaying to dodge and the counter-punch are commands issued at the speed of button presses and acted out onscreen in a fraction of a second. But that speed can also overwhelm new players, making them panic and mash buttons. Strategy goes out the window when someone can’t visually process the fight as it’s happening. This is a problem that Soulcalibur 6 tackles with a particularly cool new addition to the series.
One of Soulcalibur 6’s cleverest tricks is to offer a move that slows the action to a crawl for two purposes; to display the beauty of the game’s animations and to show beginners the fundamentals of combat.
The new move in Soulcalibur 6 is called the Reversal Edge. It allows players to absorb enemy attacks and then strike back, and it’s as easy as tapping a shoulder button. Think of it like a panic button to get the opponent off your back; you even have a good chance of doing it by accident if your hand seizes up in panic.
Both players will known exactly what happened if it’s triggered, however, and there’s plenty of time to react once a Reversal Edge has begun. Time slows to a crawl and the fighters go to a ready stance. Players must then decide between the main three attack buttons in what is effectively a rock-paper-scissors duel.
The wide horizontal attack slices opponents who try to dodge to the side. The fast and powerful vertical attack cuts down the horizontal attack before it can reach its mark, and the dodging kick slips safely around the vertical attack and strikes. The winner of this exchange does some damage — and perhaps opens their opponent up for a combo — before the fight resumes as normal.
💎 Developer: Project Soul
💎 Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
💎 Director: Motohiro Okubo
💎 Genre: Fighting
💎 Platform: PC - PS4 - Xbox One
💎 Mode: Single-player - Multiplayer
💻 PC Requirements:
🔘 OS: Windows® 7 64-bit
🔘 CPU: Intel® Core™ i3-4160 3.6GHz or AMD® Phenom II X4 965
🔘 Graphic: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 or AMD® Radeon™ R7 370
🔘 RAM: 6GB
🔘 HDD: 60GB
🔘 Others: DX 11
