The Soul Gauge (ソウルゲージ?) is a mechanic that is found in Soulcalibur IV, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, and Soulcalibur VI. In Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, it is a colored gem beside the characters' HP Gauge. It appears as a meter near the timer in Soulcalibur VI, although it functions quite differently compared to the previous games.
Soulcalibur IV[]
The Soul Gauge is a colored gem beside the characters' HP Gauge in Soulcalibur IV. The gem changes color when the player guards and is attacked. The color gradually changes from blue to green and eventually to red and then flashing red. The player's own Soul Gauge will regenerate if the he or she makes an attack and hits the opponent, guarding or otherwise, gradually changing from blue to flashing white. Additionally, performing a Guard Impact will actually damage the attacking player's Soul Gauge, and can even result in a Soul Crush.
If the character manages to empty the opponent's Soul Gauge, the opponent will be put into a special stun animation, during which the opponent can't attack, block, move, or attempt guard impacts. A powerful Critical Finish move, which will defeat the opponent instantly, can be performed by pressing A+B+K+G (all attack buttons and the guard button at the same time) while the opponent is in this special stun animation. Each character has his or her own personal Critical Finish move. Regardless of whether or not one performs the Critical Finish, Equipment Destruction occurs upon the area that the crushing attack landed. The Soul Gauge itself also becomes cracked, depleting much more rapidly in subsequent rounds.
Namco stated that it developed the Soul Gauge to decrease the benefits from constant guarding, thus giving the game a faster tempo and making the matches more offensive.[1]
It may also be interesting to note that Darth Vader, Yoda and the Apprentice don't lose equipment, but it still has the same effect.
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny[]
The gauge reappears with a few changes:
- All characters possess a new Guard Break attack, done by pressing A+B+K. When this attack is used on an opponent with a flashing red Soul Gauge and they are not blocking or one that's had their guard broken, the opponent is stunned and the Critical Finish is automatically activated.
- The addition of a new mechanic: Active Purge (アクティブパージ?), which is performed by pressing 222 A+B+K. Active Purge will restore the Soul Gauge to the max, but will have the character destroy all their armour in the process. Active Purge also acts like a Guard Impact, reflecting any on-coming attack.
Soulcalibur V[]
The Soul Gauge does not return in Soulcalibur V, nor do Soul Crushes or Critical Finishes. Soul Crushes have instead been replaced by Guard Bursts, and instead of having a Soul Guage visible on-screen, there is an invisible guard stamina system. Instead of having the Soul Gauge indicate when a character is about to be Soul Crushed, in Soulcalibur V the health begins to flash red when a player blocks too many blows; a sign that a player is close to getting Guard Bursted.
Soulcalibur VI[]
The Soul Gauge returns in Soulcalibur VI, although it functions like the Critical Gauge from Soulcalibur V. The Soul Gauge has a couple of different uses in this game:
- Critical Edges, cinematic supers returning from Soulcalibur V. Costs one bar to use.
- Soul Charges, which is a new mechanic (despite sharing a name with a different one from older games) that puts the user in an enhanced state, usually with access to powerful, exclusive attacks. It also stops the timer, and causes all attacks to deal chip damage. It costs one bar to use.
- Soul Attacks, a new attack that puts the user into Soul Charge after performing it. Costs one bar to use.
- Resist Impacts, a new type of Guard Impact that works on Break Attacks and Unblockables. It consumes 1/2 a bar to use.
- Brave Edges, a mechanic returning from Soulcalibur V. Only Yoshimitsu, Geralt of Rivia, Setsuka and Grøh have these attacks.
The Soul Gauge is filled by moving forward, landing an attacking, whiffing your attack, having your attacked get blocked, throwing an opponent, throwing breaking or breaking your opponent's throw, lethal hits, successfully pulling off a Just Input, parrying a move using Reversal Edge, or landing a Reversal Edge. A player also gains one full bar of if they are one round away from losing the entire match.
| Meter Gain | |
|---|---|
| Light attack | 1/60th of a bar |
| Medium attack | 1/24th of a bar |
| Heavy attack | 1/15th of a bar |
| Whiffed attack | 1/120th of a bar |
The Guard Stamina also returns from Soulcalibur V, acting exactly the same as it did there (other than Guard Bursts being renamed to Guard Crushes). However, as the Soul Gauge does not directly affect the Guard Stamina, or vice versa, thus it will not be detailed here in this page.
See also[]
References[]
| Gameplay in Soulcalibur IV |
|---|
| Critical Finish | Equipment Destruction | Force Gauge | Skills | Soul Crush | Soul Gauge |