The PC launch coincides with the beginning of the game’s third season, which will bring a total of eight new characters (4 now, 4 later) and a big singleplayer mode, with crafting and recruiting as well as punching.

Of course, the ability to cancel any normal attack by hitting the block button is also back, so baiting out an opponent’s guard impact with a nice little fake-out, before hitting a huge punishing series of blows is key. The super meter is now used for fantastic looking ‘Critical Edge’ attacks, as well as a timed transformation which buffs your chosen character’s attacks.

The Witcher and Dark Souls for instance both put high premium on player skill rather than simply the numbers on things, with every weapon type having its own feel. Games can also find a good half-way house by allowing for weapons to be reforged and upgraded and slotted with additional abilities, Soul Calibur, without going all the way to what’s referred to as either the Ship of Theseus or Trigger’s Broom paradox: the question of whether or not a thing where every part has been swapped out at some point is still the thing.

Soul Calibur launched into open beta via Steam Early Access in February, where it found a frosty reception due to character unlocks only coming as pricey microtransactions. GameSprite have since added a way to unlock them with virtuacash earned through playing. It’s a bit of a grind to get them, but hey, that’s GameSprite monetisation for you.

This success has also ensured the longevity of the game. Behaviour have released two updates so far. The first, the Asylum, transposes the game’s outdoor hide-and-seek into a single, procedurally generated building, and introduces a new killer, the Nurse. The second was a cosmetics pack labelled The 80s Suitcase, a more lighthearted gesture which nevertheless raised some concerns about the direction of the game. “Because we’re associated with Starbreeze, we got a lot of flak at first, people were talking about the [Payday 2] microtransaction debacle from all this.

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