SCV Story Speculation/Discussion

I agree, man. The axe rightfully belongs to Bangoo. :D That's why I hated the developers for essentially taking out all of Rock's awesomeness and handing it over to Asta.

Back on track, I have a feeling Bangoo will finally become a playable character in SC5. What I've been wanting to see since SC1! I just hope for a good storyline. :)

I agree

Bangoo + Rock's SC1 Axe + faster/smarter version of Rock's moveset + Wolf skin = WIN :D

You have it wrong, Sophi will take the 2 swords and then start a killing rampage, then she will reproduce like a rabbit and we will have a blond hot cast :D

actually he will have a dodo coat and headgear for sure u.u
i want dodos in scV too

wow all these pepole that r sophitia haters i have one bit of advice play soul edge.

It's weird that I play this game competitively but actually care if the story is legit or not. So when it was announced that SCv was 17 years after four...I was like "yes!" Because I am so over most of the characters in this game.

As a competitor I don't care if the entire roster is changed. Give me a cool character and I will make things work. All we care about is balance and entertaining matches.

However, as a fan of the series I really want a good story in SCv. And not just that, I want the characters to have a depth to them that solidifies their personality, culture and purpose to the story.

Part of why it wouldn't bother me if SCv had nothing but new faces, is because of the delivery of the single player in SC4. The single player experience sucked to say the list. The characters were very bland. I felt that the culture side of each character was missing. These characters are from France, Korea, Britain etc..that didn't translate in their dailogue or there costume designs. The story didn't make an ounce of sense. SC4 also had no weapon demonstrations to familiarize yourself with the various disciplines. I actually hope they take the Tekken route and have character speak their native tongue in SCv.

A character driven game needs character depth. Otherwise, SC4 to me was like Halo with just the mulitplayer. It lacked immersion.

After several installations in this series, I ask...who the hell are these characters? Do you really know anything about Taki, Mitsurugi, Talim, Tira...etc? Their background, where they're from, what makes them who they're, where they live. Will Taki and Mistsurigi ever hit it off? Will Maxi ever kill Astaroth? The more I look at the characters in Soul Calibur, despite how many games I have played in the series, the characters are strangers to me. So why would I care about them?

I main Yun Seong, Nightmare then Zasalamel. I picked up Yun Seong because I liked his design. In SC2 he was introduced as an arrogant teen, out to prove himself. He had swagger, his comments were corky, his move-set was very flashy...a typical show off. People find him annoying which to me is lol worthy, but as a character he had a lot personality and potential to grow. In SC4 I couldn't even play him seriously.

I play nightmare because he's cool. But Zas is black specifically Sumerian. Potentially one of the most powerful characters in the game. He has all these fancy mind fuck powers in the story that never translate to his moveset.(which is silly) Also he potentially has the most interesting background story.With all his power and knowledge he can influence the story very significantly.

So In SCv, I am really hoping for great story and character depth. Especially for the returning characters. Mitsu apparently has a brother...just that detail makes his story that much more interesting to me.

Traditionally, the game's story matters to the casual gamer. SC3 had the right idea, I hate reading text. Namco does this in Tekken as well. Less of that and more cut scenes...like Mortal Kombat 9. I want to be immersed in the game, in all it's attributes, both with the move-set as a competitor and the story as a fan of the series.

I disagree entirely. Have you played BlazBlue? Or mortal kombat 9. They both have very good stories. It's all about execution really.

I want a longer story which includes everyone like in MK, not like in SCIV where you had to do each characters story, because it got a bit too repetitive.

No, I want one like MK because to me, it was more personal to see it from each characters point of view so I think that would enhance the offline side of SCV.

Given that the game is heavily influenced by anime, according to the designers, is it really any surprise that the characters have less "character" and are more like "charicatures"? They leave all kinds of room for fanboys to fill in the blanks and get attached to the character image and fill-in what they think the character should be. It's no surprise that almost all of the cast fall into shitty shounen/MOE stereotypes; because that's what sells to the target audience.

Would I LIKE it if characters had more depth in SC? Well, I'm not gonna lie. Sigfried being a pansy whining emo bitch for 5 games got old quick. The best part of the story for me was when Mitsu was like "naw, fuck bullets! Oh shit I got shot!". That's about as much character development as I've ever seen in Soul Calibur.

Interestingly, on PAPER the character's have the potential for development that never plays out in game. In SC2 Cassandra's concern for her Sister being mother leads her to take her stuff and go off and do that shit herself. Sisterly love at it's finest. There was a lot of potential there- until Cassandra became the "fuckup" Alexandra sister and became more concerned with hitting people with her ass, and more or less became a joke. Fuck Japan, and their sense of humor.

-Idle

I see your point, but SC is different from other games, such as MGS or Uncharted, where you've a couple/group of characters. It's much easier for the them to really change and give them character development when they're so few. (and epecially the main guy/gal).

The cast of SC are many, so it's hard to give them such treatment at that level. Still, they've done pretty well for this game; Siegfried is the main good guy, and has definitely had a strong history and character development. Most others have been treated the same, just to a lesser degree. SC has and will always have the best roster of a fighting game.

Also, I know a lot about every single character you mentioned. Taki/Mitsu thingy is only a side-story. Maxi defeated Astaroth in SCII, only to be swallowed by the ground when Ares (the god who Astaroth thinks has created him) demanded it to happen. Maxi eventually woke up in a village though where he was taken care of... while Astraroth was created once more.

It's in their stories. They can't give each character all the cut-scenes. It's a fighting game with 25+ characters; it's hard to pull that shit off. SCIV sucked btw (in that area anyway), so don't use that game as an example.

I love story. I love reading stories, I love writing stories, I love tales that encompass the epic. Soulcalibur is a pretty ripe place for story, too, the medieval history of Earth has a lot of blank places that can easily be filled in with such interesting shenanigans.
That being said, I am not the majority. And above all, a story is only one facet of the game--not even the major part. Fighting games are unique beasts in that they live and die on their gameplay alone. A lot of other genres (most notably the FPS) can get by with some pretty shoddy work and still be pretty good, but for fighting games their gameplay is THE determining factor.

Should story be sacrificed to ensure a better game? I hate it, but if it ensures good gameplay, it has to.
Do I want story to be sacrificed to ensure a better game? God, no. Absolutely not.
Do I want the characters to have better characterization instead of just a single sentence summing up their entirely? God, yes. Absolutely.
Is there a good chance of it? I doubt it. Other genres have developed, experimented, and perfected the art of storytelling within their medium. FPSes have Bioshock, Modern Warfare 1, and a host of other games with at least a memorable (if corny) story. Even fighter's baby brother genre, beat-'em-ups, have developed incredibly with the influx of God of War/Devil May Cry wannabes.
Fighting games are still struggling to even tell a "once upon a time". While BlazBlue, Def Jam: Fight for NY, and Mortal Kombat 9 were INCREDIBLE steps in a good direction, they're sadly still only a small puddle. Hell, a lot of fighters now STILL insist on using that stupid-ass "it's a tournament!" set-up. Which is always inherently evil and has some evil jackass heading it for SOME reason. Who thinks his ultimate martial arts is better than someone else's ultimate martial arts (which it never is).

Oh God this. If you can´t put two words together, is it so hard to hire a writer? To tell him where you want the plot to go? To show him the character sketches and have him help flesh them out?

I'm gonna bet that we see something akin to the MK9 story mode. That thing was a game-changer.

I have a feeling that any game that can get away with it (things like tag games really can't) will go with that method in the future.