Soulcalibur: Lost Swords Introduces New Mechanics To The Game

Soulcalibur: Lost Swords, Namco Bandai’s upcoming free-to-play fighter with micro-transactions for PlayStation 3, will be going through its beta-testing phase from November 14 – 18. Today, Namco shared details on the game’s “Soul Break” and support character system.

After meeting certain conditions, you’ll see a red glow appear around the enemy. This is known as the “Soul Burst,” and doing big damage from here on will lead to a possible “Soul Break”.

In addition to weakening opponents after breaking their armor with the Soul Break, doing so will give you a chance of acquiring a drop from the opponent, which consist of raw materials and weapons.

The “Weapon Arts” are powerful attacks that will vary according to the weapons you’re equipped with. The above is a look at Mitsurugi’s guard shattering move and Siegfried’s long-ranged Weapon Arts attack. The Weapon Arts can be activated by pressing R1 or square and triangle simultaneously, after meeting conditions.

Here’s a look at Soulcalibur: Lost Swords’ support character system, where you’ll get to borrow any of your friends’ characters to help out during quests, which also requires certain conditions.

In the above scenario, we see Sophitia change positions with Mitsurugi, who arrived in the form of a support character card. However, you’ll only get to temporarily use the character, so you won’t be able to always rely on your buddy’s level 100 Mitsurugi to carry you all the way.

The three characters who’ll be available to play as in the beta test are Siegfried, Mitsurugi, and the recently announced Sophitia.

During the beta, you’ll get to purchase “Continue Tickets” and “AP Recovery” in addition to several other items from the game shop. Namco Bandai also tease that players who have a save data from the beta will have something to look forward to once the full version of the game officially launches.

Soulcalibur: Lost Swords will be available this winter for PlayStation 3.

Update: A representative from Namco Bandai explained the Soulcalibur: Lost Swords beta is only set for Japan with no plans to extend it to North America or Europe at this time.