Soulcalibur 6 will take the series back to its origins

“Revisit the events of the original Soulcalibur”

By Michael McWhertor@MikeMcWhertor Dec 8, 2017, 11:13am EST

When Soulcalibur 6 was revealed last night, it wasn’t immediately clear when the game was set in the fighting series’ timeline. That was definitely Soulcalibur mainstays Mitsurugi and Sophitia duking it out in the debut trailer, but considering how the series has toyed with the age of its characters, a young looking Mitsurugi wasn’t much to go on.

Today, however, Bandai Namco confirmed that Soulcalibur 6 will go back to the beginning, saying that players will “revisit the events of the original Soulcalibur.” Bandai Namco said that the new fighting game will feature a “diverse lineup of new and returning characters,” and confirmed Mitsurugi and Sophitia.

That back-to-basics approach will probably be good news for fans of the game’s core cast of characters, but bad news for fans of younger, more recent fighters like Talim and Tira. But it’s almost assured that popular mainstays like Taki, Ivy, Siegfried and Kilik will return.

On the gameplay front, Bandai Namco confirmed that the series’ 8-Way Run movement system, a mainstay since the first Soulcalibur title, will return in Soulcalibur 6 alongside a new gameplay technique: Reversal Edge. “Read opponents’ attacks to execute a strategic Reversal Edge to land a counter attack while in guard,” Bandai Namco said of the new move in a fact sheet.

Soulcalibur 6 will come to PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One in 2018. Check out a batch of new screenshots in the gallery below.