Leinahtan
[10] Knight
Fighting games are about both of those things.
Yes, a lot of fighting games emphasize those, but it doesn't mean every fighting game has to have both of those to the extreme. A large number of fighting games have been introducing "combo breakers" as a counter to those, others only allow so many guaranteed hits. Many (if not all) introduce diminishing returns until the opponent has a full recovery. It is all about the balance, and Soul Calibur has been more on the lower combos and more emphasis on advantage for counter hits with the built in guard impacts on some moves. This is especially true with the 8 way movement being more important.
I just hate the "I launched you, now I do 40% and there is nothing you can do". Some games even have 100% if you are so good at entering the correct string. At that point, I might as well drop the controller.