there's been plenty of remasters that don't actually enhance the product at hand and just do a few minor things. Textures aren't always even enhanced in some cases. So long as they have the actual files and haven't lost anything crucial then its really not a huge undertaking.
I think probably they do have the files for SCII and forward, but I doubt they do for SCI and SE, so the best they can do for those is a straight port (which with regard to SCI, they did previously, on XBOX 360), unless they want to just outright remake them. Assets from games in those eras were very rarely preserved as individual asset files; indeed, if not for the fact that Project Soul were in a habit of re-using their assets for later games, it's probable that they wouldn't even have the assets for SCII (and thus would not have gotten SCII:HDO) since by that point in time, most companies were not in the habit of archiving their assets.
But you're still massively under-appreciating how much work this would be, if we're talking about a true remaster and not a port. Because no, SCII:HDO is not just a straight port of SCII vanilla running on better hardware than was available a the time. If an HD remaster were as simple as that, the remaster market would be fifty times larger than it is. I reiterate: remastering 5-9 games would be massive undertaking that they could not have any realistic hope of recouping their costs on. It's a fantastic daydream: I've indulged in it myself far more times than any adult can reasonably justify. But I can recognize it for being just that: a daydream.
Besides, just having the games preserved on a current day PC port at the very least would be worth it to enough fans. In general its a pretty good collection.
Now that I can certainly agree with: I'd happily buy any re-release of any mainline game in the series, even if the port had no graphics upgrade or online capability: I'd buy each for twenty to thirty dollars (or pounds) apiece just for the convenience of having them all on one current generation machine. But I'm not the average consumer. If they re-released 5-9 games in one compendium, they couldn't charge much more than $60, just because of how the market for digital re-releases works. That's just not remotely enough for them to turn a profit, even without a graphical upgrade or online capability (and having those features absent would drastically reduce the number of people willing to buy the product at any given pricepoint).
Even getting a game to emulate and run bug free on contemporary systems is a cost in itself, nevermind mixing in netcode and matchmaking for online play, graphical updates and all the other bells and whistles expected of a compilation. Now, don't get me wrong, if they did make a nine game compilation complete with online functionality and upgraded visuals for each entry, I'd pay $300 for it. They couldn't beat me off with a stick as I tried to stuff the cash into their pockets, tears of joy streaming down my face. But again, I don't think there's enough people like me to even begin justifying such an effort.
indeed even if its juts 1 or 2 stages, we have to keep in mind that SC6 did not got that big of a budget this time around so if this happens we should at least be grateful for their efforts.
You know, usually I'm pretty critical of people being too entitled in what they expect out of a given entry in the franchise, because obviously they have to strike a balance of competing elements--especially today, when production costs are up so high, their market share is down, and they can't possibly accommodate everyone's priorities for a $60 pricetag, and the serialized content model is not yet established enough for them to parse a game out in pieces. But honestly, the showing for the stages here is so incredibly pathetic (and I honestly don't think that the word is hyperbolic or that there's a more reasonable description) that it really does feel like this is something that some more effort is due on. There has literally, in more than twenty years, never been a game with fewer stages than this one: SCI (released in
1998) had more stages... What's more, the stages we do have in VI are bland, stylistically uninspired, lacking in dynamic features, mostly lacking in detail, and general all-around generic in feel. Further, not a single one has interactive features (aside from the Astral Chaos barrier on the inner ring, which I guess barely qualifies) and none have visual or platform variants. It is just so much less than we have traditionally gotten with a Soulcalibur game, that I think we can legitimately feel a little robbed in this aspect.
I'm sympathetic insofar as this content (along with roster size and CaS elements) was obviously given short-shrift to accommodate the expanded story content (underwhelming as it it is in every possible way) which they new they had to hit hard this time around because of complaints arising out of SCIV and SV's story modes. So I get why they arrived at their priorities (much as I disagree with them). But too much was taken out of the stage selection, and it very, very seriously hampers the replayability/general enjoyability of this game. I don't mind paying for it in a season pass, but they really need to address this if they want the game to have any significant amount of longevity. People are very divided on how good this game is and where it sits in the SC hierarchy, but pretty much everybody agrees the stage selection, and let's not mix words, sucks the big one. We faithful fans definitely deserve better in this respect. So will I be grateful if they put in the effort? I mean, yeah, technically yes. But I'll be more than disappointed if they don't: I'll feel they really dropped the ball here on a core aspect of the game.
I remember watching a tournament, I do not know if I've heard wrong, but I'm sure the commentators mentioned that Seong Mi-na was in the game since
Soul Edge, but she does not have a own stage in
VI.
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Yes, Seong-mina definetly goes back to Soul Edge: she was the first character I ever mained, to the extent I mained anybody back then. But no one has gotten their "own" stage in SCVI (aside from Inferno clearly belonging in the Astral Chaos and Geralt and 2B to their respective stages). Some games in the franchise have made an explicit link between particular characters and particular stages (through the Exhbition Theatre or other supplemental/library content or just very strong and clear thematic links). But, other than guests characters and maybe a few returning characters, that's just clearly not the case here. The stages are pretty generic in tone and ambiguous as to location. There's a handful characters who arguably have a stage they fit best with--for example, I suppose we can assume that Maxi is at home in Indian Port, given he is pirate?; Sophitia surely belongs in the Shrine of Eurydice; Kilik has always been at home home at the Proving Grounds; and Nightmare seems appropriately situated in the new ambigously nefarious-looking location in Ostrheinsburg Castle--but most characters don't seem to fit anywhere in particular, even if certain stages suit better than others.
I wish they'd bluntly just recycle all the SC4/5 stages and just make them vibrant for the sake of this game having lots of variety. Even if we get like 2 genuinely new stages then a ton of ports it would be the cheapest solution for them and the best for us to get a lot easily. (Though they may need to do some work on the stage sizes).
Well, importing new stages across different engines and platforms would not really save them as much time as you may be thinking. Some assets can be re-used, but rendering them such that they look tonally consistent with the rest of the game as constructed in the present engine would actually arguably end up being more work than starting from scratch, particularly as they would have to upres everything without making it look like crap. Beyond that, fully half or more of the locations in SCIV and SCV would just not make sense for SCVI's narrative. I think it could all just come off as ill-fitting to SCVI. But that said, I really do think stage design for the franchise hit it's zenith in SCIII and SCIV, so I'd be thrilled to see some of those stages return. Thesmophoros' Imperial Garden? You bet. Phantom Pavillion? Hell yeah. Sailor's Rest? Oh baby!
