If you are reading this, chances are you've spent a decent amount of time playing Samurai Shodown V Special, Samurai Shodown (2019) or some other similar entry. You may be interested in what makes Samurai Shodown VI unique from other entries, or may be confused by aspects of the game which feel weird or off. Below is a list of general system changes from Samurai Shodown V Special to Samurai Shodown VI:
The game has throw techs. Furthermore throw followups are automatic, even when unarmed.
WFTs and Secret Moves both have a super flash and a brief pause before the attack commences.
Your time in Rage is marked by a visible timer where your meter usually is, similar to Samurai Shodown (2019) in its current state.
Similar to Samurai Shodown (1993) (and previously Samurai Shodown (2019) before one of the more recent patches), disarmed weapons stay where they are on the ground and do not move with the screen.
Damage has been significantly toned down. Even Enja's Heaven's Glow only does about 40% on average. This theoretically gives the defendent more opportunities to escape pressure.
Plenty of standing and crouching slashes that couldn't recoil on block before will now do so, while there is no running slash in the game which will recoil on block anymore.
The Weapon Gauge takes longer to fully refill, but attacks such as Zankuro's heavy slashes will drain less of it.
Chip damage still only does about one pixel per hit, but because your lifebar is longer this means chip damage is generally less threatening. You no longer take chip damage from blocking slashes when unarmed.
You will automatically block the next hit(s) of a true blockstring if you had blocked the first hit. This will also protect you from mid-string crossups.
Certain characters do not run, but instead have step dashes when one inputs 66. These include Amakusa, Gaira, Gen-An, Iroha, Kusaregedo, Kyoshiro and Tam Tam. Curiously, Gaira's console-only headswap Kim Ung Che has a run instead of a step dash. Just like backdashes, these step dashes are aerial and are thus susceptible to air throws, but they can not be cancelled into air specials.
Runstop can be cancelled instantly into a jump, making special moves with up inputs impossible to buffer through a runstop. Additionally, touching an opponent will not end your run.
Your input directions do not change at any point in your jump, even if you have crossed over an opponent.
There is a new movement option available to some characters: Triangle Get Off, which is essentially a wall jump but your character falls instead of jumps. Everyone with a Triangle Jump has access to this new manuever.
Crossups are now possible in the corner, though certain matchups may make this difficult with interference from wide collision boxes.
You are unable to delay your wakeup (unless you are running VII Spirit, which is console-exclusive), and there is no holding left or right to control where you roll. Instead of the traditional wakeup roll system, Samurai Shodown VI adopts tech rolls where one must tap the E button right as they hit the ground, or 4E if they wish to roll back a greater distance. The timing is rather precise so you would do well to get it down. There is a bit of strike vulnerability after recovering from a short roll, which can be exploited easily by strong meaty attacks such as Sieger's Vulcan Weinen. Long rolls are vulnerable to throws and command throws and will send you a great distance back from the opponent, which may be good or bad depending on your character and how close you are to the wall behind you. The presence of tech rolls means that guaranteed pursuit followups are very, very rare.
There are no high/low pursuits anymore. Instead, there is only one type of pursuit (3C), which is mainly used to counter opponents who won't tech roll. Pursuits are only guaranteed against hard knockdowns if you have enough of an advantage and are close enough, but they can be performed unarmed. In the arcade version, there is a glitch where Iroha, Gaira and Mizuki can combo from their pursuits into their command grabs. This was fixed in the console releases but may be re-enabled by setting the game mode to Arcade.
Universal overheads are gone, but some characters retain their old ones as command normals.
Certain attacks have greater juggle potential. Mina's 6C, for instance, will launch the opponent and allow for realistic followups.
A deflected slash attack will yield the exact same amount of time to punish no matter the strength of attack, and furthermore deflecting an opponent's heavy slash will not disarm them. However, deflecting the I Spirit-exclusive Hyper Slash will disarm the opponent.
Counter hits will reward you with extra frame advantage, but no extra damage.
Deephits can still be earned by hitting a crouching opponent, but no longer through hitting the opponent deep into your jump, though aerial heavy slashes generally have enough hitstun that they can link into a close medium slash or something similarly fast. Instead, deephits can be achieved through hitting an opponent while they're vulnerable to counter hits.
You are no longer able to Hara-Kiri.
Version Differences
Arcade
41 playable characters.
Six selectable Spirits: I, II, III, IV, V and VI.
Murasaki Nakoruru is a hidden character who requires a code to be unlocked.
Sugoroku is the only sub-boss one may encounter in Arcade Mode.
0 Spirit is exclusive to Makai Gaoh who is unplayable.
The OTG command grab glitch is present. During the game's run at Tougeki '06, Gaira and Mizuki players were forbidden from following up their command grabs with any OTG attack.
Murasaki Nakoruru and the console-exclusive characters are unlockable in the standalone Japanese PS2 version, but are available by default in every other release.
Kuroko may also appear as a sub-boss in Arcade Mode with different requirements to Sugoroku.
The OTG command grab glitch is disabled by default but can be toggled by setting the game mode to Arcade.
The descriptions for each Spirit have been given new translations. Notably, the typo of Spesial to denote E-button actions has been corrected to Special.
Each release contains a training mode, a survival mode, a Spirit editor for use with VIII Spirit, a color editor and a gallery which contains all endings, a sound test and illustrations.
Tier Lists
There are a variety of tier lists around for Samurai Shodown VI, with the only clear consensus between then being who the top tiers are and who the bottom tiers are. None of these are recent, so take them with a grain of salt.
S-: Mizuki, EX Mina, Rera, Shizumaru, Yunfei, Kazuki
A: Everyone else
D: Murasaki Nakoruru (she is slightly faster), Tam Tam
E: Genjuro, Nakoruru, Wan-Fu
Basically everyone else in the game falls in A Class (Zankuro, Gaoh, Haohmaru, Galford, Hanzo, Yumeji, Ukyo, Charlotte, Sieger etc). You have a few discussions changing from A Class downwards, but for the most part it is a pretty well balanced game. All the A Class can certainly compete against the S Class in this game
