A quick thing before we start, if you want to hear a funny story, look up Tim Langdell, the man who trademarked the word "edge" and went after anyone using it, causing this videogame franchise to switch from its original name, Soul Edge, to Soul Calibur for the rest of the series.
Anyway, that's why Soul Calibur VI is actually the seventh entry in the series. It's also a prequel, revisiting the story of Soul Calibur 1 - but who cares about the story in a fighting game, right? It's all about the fast, silky smooth, one-on-one melee combat, the clang of steel on steel and the lavishly designed characters spouting bombastic win quotes and posing like idiots.
So what's the main innovation this time? It's called the Reversal Edge, a mechanic that allows players to absorb their opponents' incoming strikes and counterattack, resulting in a rock-paper-scissors-style mini-game. The winner knocks their opponent flying. Personally, I don't really care for this new feature, as it seems more based on luck than skill, but others may like it.
The super moves from the previous game have returned, allowing players to unleash a devastating and visually impressive attack once they've charged up enough energy. There's also a decent amount of content for a single player, including an arcade mode, a story mode and a mission mode, which is nice because many fighting game developers think that single-player content is beneath them lately.
WATCH | The game trailer for Soul Calibur VI..