Soulcalibur 6 has multiple story modes. Each main character gets a gauntlet of fights tied together by some art stills and voiced dialogue; this covers the game's main plot and fills you in on each character's backstory. Alternatively you can create your own fighter using Soulcalibur's bizarre character creator, and then travel around a world getting into fights with other fighters born in the character creator.
This is especially surreal because there's no rhyme or reason to the cosmetic options. You can make lizards, demons, skeletons, angels, and 'automata'. Characters can wear hats, scarves, and horse heads, as you can see in the quick video I made above. So far the most fun part of the singleplayer is seeing what the character creator is going to generate next. To celebrate, and ahead of my review next week, let's examine some of the choicest heroes and villains to cross my path so far.
Ghostly dandy
Look out, it's a level five DANIEL! He shows an admirable commitment to the colour theme and shows up the complete lack of effort I put into designing my character: a lizard with no clothes on. Custom characters take on one of the main roster's moveset. Daniel is complementing his graceful attire with the poised sword work of Xianghua—a great match.
Calibur: 8/10
Questionable trousers man
Only a true berserker could dream up this combo. The leopard print trousers combined with ornate breastplate and feathery shoulderpads are the symptoms of a man who has gazed into the evil heart of Soul Edge and forgotten how to dress. Holding a greatsword casually in his offhand, he channels the spirit of Nightmare. Unlike Nightmare, it is quite hard to take him seriously.
Calibur: 3/10
Oily pirate
Oily pirate is a whole genre of character in Soulcalibur 6. Every other fighter you meet is some sort of pirate and most of them look like they have been dipped in Ronseal. He wields a big hammer, Astaroth-style, and looks like a he's been inflated with a bicycle pump.
Calibur: 1/10
Fancy lizard
There are man-sized lizards in Soulcalibur now. Where did they come from? This is a cheaty one because that fancy lizard is actually my character from story mode after I'd unlocked a few items. He fights with Mitsurugi's samurai style and almost everything he wears—including two scarves—flaps around him as he spins around doing moves. He is absolutely ridiculous.
Calibur: 10/10
Straight-up vampire
Soulcalibur's ring announcer likes to introduce each contest with an melodramatic speech, setting the stage for an epic clash between legends. Then you make a naked lizard beat the shit out of a naked furry devil man pretending to be Asteroth and you wonder: what even is this game?
Calibur: 7/10
Don't worry, you do occasionally bump into the main cast of the game. That includes Geralt, who is surprisingly well realised in this strange universe of warring lizard demon people.
