Soul Calibur V continues the never-ending story of souls and swords, by adding fresh new features to the once legendary series. But are these new features enough for the fighting audience of today?

During the Gamescom conference in Germany, Namco showed off their latest build of Soul Calibur V, which included the four newly confirmed returning characters. Joining the ever expanding cast was Maxi, Voldo, Tira, and Hilde, which the devs were quick to point out that they have balanced the character out in accordance with fan feedback.

The gameplay itself has changed slightly over its predecessor, no longer is there a Critical Finish move for each character, which are considered desperations move that result in a one-hit KO. Instead, they have opted for a more traditional super-move with the critical edge attacks. Much like other games in the genre, a meter builds up as you fight which can be used for a variety of different moves, such as guard breaks and “special moves”, some of which were referred to as Brave Edge moves, which consumes half a bar, and the aforementioned critical edge super attack which consumes a full bar. At the time of writing, you can charge up a maximum of two bars.

In going with this traditional fighting game mechanic, the fights themselves have demonstrated an increase in pace, with faster attacks, and slightly more damage than what we have seen in previous games. While the changes affect the time it takes to finish a single round, the game itself does still have the distinctive feel of a Soul Calibur game – knowing when to use your vertical attacks over a horizontal attack, or a quick kick to start up a combo or interrupt your foe, or positioning a more powerful throw, etc.

Soul Calibur IV was released a short while before Street Fighter IV, and the fighting game scene has not been the same since. The changes made to SCV seem to be in response to this, and while not the most original addition, it could make things a lot more interesting, not to mention competitive, in today’s crowded fighting game market.

Stay Tuned.