While they are weaker than Critical Edges, Brave Edges are more versatile and in some cases can lead to higher-damage combos. Brave Edges strengthens certain attacks for the cost of half a bar. Most are easy to combo into or have a special ability like being unblockable. Critical Edges are super combos that use one bar of the gauge for a powerful strike. This edition introduces a new special bar called a Critical Gauge to add some of the flash that competitors like Street Fighter have. A match between two experts is a give-and-take struggle to find an opening and gain better footing. Even with the more aggressive battles, however, a best-of-five round format gives you enough time to adapt to your opponent. With enough blows, you’ll eventually crack your opponents’ defense and leave them open for an assault. Meanwhile, the guard-break system will punish players for blocking too much. Players criticized Soulcalibur IV for being slower than previous entries, so Namco added a Quick Step for faster dodges. Even in the new arena type similar to early Tekken games where the level has no boundaries, you need to stay in your weapon’s best range to succeed.

Footwork is important because you can corner opponents for a painful wall combo or toss them into the abyss for a ring out.

The franchise’s 8-Way Run system allows players to move freely around the battlefield to a greater degree than other 3D fighters. You better study though: Each warrior has around a hundred moves, each with different properties. Each of the four buttons serves a specific purpose: horizontal swings cover a wide radius, vertical slashes deal more damage but are easier to sidestep, kicks are weak but fast, and guard defends against attacks.

Soulcalibur V is one of the easiest fighters to learn thanks to simple move commands that let you do multi-hit strings in no time.

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