Soul Blade

It might seem a bit harsh, but when I sat down with Soul Blade (called Soul Edge in some regions) I can freely admit I wasn’t really expecting much. I’m no stranger to the Soul series. I’ve mentioned before that Soul Calibur III was one of my top three fighting games from my childhood, a veritable PS2 powerhouse that I spent untold hours on in my efforts to unlock every fighter, every weapon, and every weird and wacky customization option. Outside of that I’ve also played a bit of II, IV, and V, which are the ones people know because they have Link, Yoda, and Ezio in respectively. But, as you might be able to see, I’ve never been as far as back as the franchise’s roots until now, but if my recent journeys back in time with Tekken and Street Fighter have taught me anything, it’s to approach the elder fighting games with wariness.

Soul Blade / Soul Edge (Arcade, PS1 [reviewed])

Released Apr 1996 | Developed: Project Soul | Published: Namco

Genre: Fighting | HLTB: 10 hours

For those unfamiliar with the Soul franchise, this was Namco’s foray into the subgenre of fighting games that used weapons rather than purely hand-to-hand combat. The game’s – indeed, the franchise’s – story centres around the mythical weapon known as Soul Edge, supposedly the ultimate sword which, according to rumour, grants its wielder untold power. After an unknown period of time Soul Edge re-emerges in the late 16^th century in the hands of a pirate named Cervantes de Leon, who uses its power to become a dread pirate. While Cervantes disappears off the map with the sword, its re-appearance prompts a slew of warriors to launch into their own quests for it, each for their own reasons.

The truth about Soul Edge is far more sinister, however. The blade itself can shapeshift into whatever form the wielder desires; in Cervantes’ hands, for example, Soul Edge is not one sword but two, as he dual wields cutlasses. The sword also houses a force – this is the actual Soul Edge, a malevolent power that corrupts and controls the bearer, but few in the game know the truth about Soul Edge. Because of its power it is occasionally considered a sword of heroes, sought out by well-intentioned traveling fighters looking to defend something or someone close to them but who, should they actually find it, inevitably wind up ensnared by it.

Such is the case with our cast of characters for this game, as an eclectic mix of fighters assemble to quest for the Soul Edge. Much of the roster here would go on to be mainstays of the franchise, such was their staying power. This is probably helped by the fact that some of these characters fit into easily recognisable cultural archetypes, such as the steadfast samurai Mitsurugi, the agile ninja Taki, or the stoic warrior Siegfried. Others… don’t, but worry not, I’ll talk about Voldo later.

I’ve talked at length at why it is I keep returning to Tekken, and about the appeal of its utterly wild melodrama of a plot that centres around the hot mess that is the Mishima family. Although Soul Blade shares a similar type of big bad – there are definitely some similarities between the Devil Gene and the demonic power of the Soul Edge, especially in the way that they consume those who wield them – I don’t think I’ve ever really sank into the plot of the Soul games in the same way. Despite the evil possessing sword at the core of the narrative, and the fact that there’s some very “out there” characters that show up, especially as the series moves forward, it’s always seemed to me to lack that same sense of zaniness as Namco’s other fighting franchise. Soul, in contrast to Tekken, always feels like it takes its weirdness at face value, and with a sense of solemnity as if it entirely makes sense that random fighters from all across the world are duking it out over a mythical demon sword.

Because of this, I feel like Soul lacks an essential sense of self-awareness that Tekken has, and it lacks the structural strength of other fighting games like Street Fighter, which has very odd elements to its narratives but at least has the fallback of a general fighting tournament plot structure to give shape to its games’ stories. Soul then looks to its characters to carry the narrative, with each one searching for Soul Edge for personal reasons, but the results are mixed. I appreciate any fighting game that gives me some solid plot reasoning for why on earth a 7 foot pelt-wearing man-mountain is swinging a big club against a teen girl cowering at the other end of a naginata, or why both of them are looking for the same thing, but a subtle awareness of the ridiculousness of proceedings is, I think, a healthy part of fighting game writing and it’s that which Soul Blade lacks. 

Still, I do like that Soul Blade gives us not one but two kinds of story mode to work through! As a start there’s the basic arcade ladder, which works exactly as you’d expect in that you pick one of the game’s characters and then fight through the roster. Every character has the same finale consisting of a fight against Cervantes and then the animated power of Soul Edge itself, and there’s no other structure or story to the preceding fights. I’d definitely have liked a small preamble as to why this character is searching for Soul Edge prior to the ladder, but in fairness to Soul Blade that doesn’t seem to have been a genre standard at this point. You do get a post-ladder story cutscene though, detailing what happens to your fighter as they defeat Cervantes and stand over Soul Edge, weighing up whether to claim or destroy it.

There’s also the Edge Master mode. This mode of play actually gives us backstory for each fighter, detailing clearly why they are on their quest, so that’s neat! You also get justification for why you’re fighting a specific character each round, so as long as you’re into reading, the Edge Master mode offers a really engaging narrative experience – especially for a PS1-era fighting game. You’ll also want to play it though because it’s the game’s more exciting challenge mode, as each round gives you a specific win condition to achieve and rewards you for doing so with a new weapon for your chosen character. Each fighter can unlock a surprisingly wide array of weapon options; every weapon has unique stats making them more or less effective than others in various areas, and many even have special characteristics that might aid your style of fighting, such as having great reach or being more capable at breaking an opponent’s defense.

I suppose we should actually talk about how Soul Blade works, and how it is to play. Characters have three main attack buttons corresponding to horizontal and vertical attacks, and kicks. The fourth face button is for guarding, and I think this is the difference-maker for Soul Blade personally, far more than anything else it does. Guarding in other contemporary fighting games was typically done passively, either like Tekken, where characters would guard by default so long as you weren’t doing any other inputs other than deciding to have them standing or crouching, or like Street Fighter, where you held away and maintained the right height relevant to your opponent’s attack in order to block. Soul Blade, however, uses a far more aggressive, active blocking system that lets players interrupt many of their attacks in order to choose to block, as well as implementing a block-break move by timing your guard input to match the strike you’re defending against and pressing towards your opponent at the same time. Doing so causes your character to parry and stagger your opponent, switching momentum to your favour and giving skilled players an opening for their own attacks.

This type of guard elevates Soul Blade into a far more technical and rewarding fighter than many of its contemporaries, while still balancing a sense of ease of entry. When you first pick the game up you’ll find fighters fairly easy to get to grips with because of the simple three-button attack system; in some ways it feels similar to Tekken in that regard as it means that attacks have a clear directional quality to them and you can string together simple combos without having to dive into the move lists. However, the more you play the more you begin to realise the importance of guarding and the way in which is can change the flow of a fight. At its higher levels, it can sometimes feel like a deadly game, waiting to see who blinks first as you both attempt to land a hit without eating a riposte. Of course, getting there means learning the roster and their attacks, which is easier said than done.

Guarding is a balance though; you can’t simply hide behind the guard button and turtle. To stop hyper-defensive play, Soul Blade gives each fighter a weapon gauge, kind of like a health bar for your sword (or staff, or nunchakus, or whatever). Guarding or clashing weapons lowers this bar, and if it empties your weapon shatters, forcing you to continue the rest of the round barefist. Doing so means you lose essentially all your range, power, and defensive ability, not to mention that you’ll need to work with an entirely different move-set all of a sudden. It’s a simple solution to the problem of players opting for a too-defensive approach to play, but an elegant one.

There’s also another unique quality to Soul Blade’s combat: ring outs. Unlike its contemporary 3D fighters, Soul Blade’s bouts take place on small square arenas and stepping – or falling – outside the arena boundaries results in a game loss regardless of your health. There are different set dressings for this, some of which make more sense than others; I understand that falling off a high plateau or off a ramp precariously rushing down a river would end a fight, but stepping off a tiny stage in the middle of a Germanic castle feels a little more anticlimactic than I would like. I like the inclusion of ring outs though as a victory condition; while more competitive players might balk at being able to lose despite controlling a fight, I relish the tension it adds. It means you need to be aware of your position and of how your attacks might change that, and gives more function to sidestepping (although Soul Blade is a little early on the implementation of that, and as such it’s more than a bit wonky). It would be nice to have a little more variety in the stages though, both in terms of size and shape.

I suppose there’s another thing I ought to talk about with Soul Blade that seems to come up a lot around this franchise, and that’s (some) of its character designs. In short, they’re pretty… well, gratuitous. These might well have been made in the ‘90s when the industry and its audience was male-dominated, and that might well offer some explanation for some of the decisions made during the design process, but it’s hard not to cast an askance eye over them now. Among the fighters there are perhaps three specific individuals that stand out to many modern onlookers: Sophitia, Taki, and Voldo. The former two are fairly straightforward. Sophitia is a Greek warrior and her costumes are all designed with the male gaze in mind; you can’t really otherwise explain her hyper short flappy white skirt away otherwise, and nor would we expect a developer to be able to justify putting her in a swimsuit either. Taki is also a relic of this era of design, given she’s a ninja in a form-fitting playsuit and she has a weird underboob armour plate purely designed to push her chest out. If these kind of complaints make you roll your eyes, tough shit bucko, because the Soul developers double down on these kind of things as the series goes forward so you’re going to hear about it again. Also, don’t be a tosser, these things matter. 

No discussion about the Soul developers’ rampant horniness would be complete though without mention of Voldo. Now, I’m going to start this with a straightforward admission: I love Voldo. I love everything about him, from his design and costume to his eerie, inhuman movement. He’s easily one of the creepiest, weirdest, most unsettling characters ever made for a fighting game, and that’s a triumph. His backstory is already grim as fuck; a slave of a long-dead merchant/crime lord, Voldo remains a loyal servant to the final memories of his master, seeking out Soul Edge purely to present to the coffinbound corpse that he guards in its secret trove. His face is bound by leather straps pulled so tight that they cut into his flesh, blinding him and preventing him from speaking save for screeching, breathy rasps. He goes to battle wielding twin katar hand-daggers that he swings in balletic arcs, his lanky limbs twisting and contorting in eye-watering ways; he holds the unique position of being able to directly attack opponents without facing them, making him one of the game’s most awkward characters to both use and fight. We’re bringing him up now, after the talk about Sophitia and Taki, because he also comes up in the discussions around sexualised characters, clad as he is in tight leather BDSM-inspired gear complete with prominent codpiece and lithe sensuous movements, but typically he crops up because of the question of whether he’s a good example of sexualisation in games, a bad example, or merely a terrifying one.

With all this being said, how does Soul Blade hold up now? Honestly – really well! I was wonderfully surprised at it, actually. There are definitely small bugbears here and there, like how most fighters struggle to pull combos together as the input timings are a bit fiddly, or the aforementioned points about the stages and the narrative, but I these didn’t put me off that much. Soul Blade, for me, is a success of mechanics, a fighter that blossoms as you play from a fun weapon-based Tekken-like to a surprisingly technical game that stands tall in its own right and as highly-complete and competent first entry in the franchise.

5/7 – GREAT. 

Damn fine stuff, a game that doesn’t quite make the top echelon of games but sparkles regardless and holds the interest expertly. Make the time to give this a play.