Soul Calibur VI: General discussion

@UKStormDragon did you hear about a July patch being scheduled? They did say the final season pass character would be released with the next patch.

No, I could be mistaken, but I don't believe they've said anything to that effect. They did say the next patch would be a major one, or something along those lines. They also said, some time ago, that the last season pass character would arrive by the end of summer. I think you may be conflating the two statements into one?
 
It doesn't say July, but for sure, the next major patch will have the 6th DLC in it, that was a thing from the latest Q&A:

Thanks, I guess I was the one misremembering; I reviewed an abridged version of the transcript just to be sure before responding to Saru there, but for whatever reason, it didn't include that (rather salient) detail! Well it's enthusing. Of course, I don't know that we can feel at all certain of a July patch, so I'm not sure it changes too much, but it does at least show that things are far enough along on the new patch that they are fairly concrete as to what is in it. Better'n nothing, I'd say. :)
 
For anyone who's interested, the full official 4 disc official soundtrack to Soul Calibur VI is releasing next week
(Japan only / so will need to import for those overseas)

,
63819

©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
[SRIN-1161] - 5,184円 (roughly 47 USD/ 43 Euros) https://sweeprecord.com/srin-1161/
 
Since Cass took that long I hope at least she will come with an EXTRA, like a stage or something.
Don't hold your breath. A stage is a major investment of resources--nearly comparable in man hours to a character and in terms of both their willingness to invest in such things and the availability of necessary talent, I guarantee you're not going to see stages just randomly slipped in for free, at least not any time soon. Plus, the language the devs used in the recent Q&A makes it clear that this is something they are only just now seriously looking into/considering and that, as of that point, they hadn't even firmly committed to more stages, let alone begun developing such content. Given how long a stage would take, and all other factors, I'd say the probability of seeing another new stage in season one is effectively zero. I wish it weren't so and its another case of something I'd love to be wrong about, but on the list of things I believe we can safely call at this point, that's near the top.

Best case scenario, we get a little freebie dump of CaS items this patch, in addition to whatever season pass owners get with Cassie. Who knows, maybe they'll show uncharacteristically similar thinking to the fanbase here and throw in Edge Master. He still strikes me as something that is super cheap to do that would nonetheless tickle the nostalgia of veteran players and make the game feel just ever so slightly more like a complete traditional SC experience.

For anyone who's interested, the full official 4 disc official soundtrack to Soul Calibur VI is releasing next week
(Japan only / so will need to import for those overseas)

,View attachment 63819
©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
[SRIN-1161] - 5,184円 (roughly 47 USD/ 43 Euros) https://sweeprecord.com/srin-1161/
You know, that album cover raises a question: is that eyeball that Soul Edge has not more trouble than it's worth? I mean, how much good can it actually be doing when the eyesight of its wielder is usually perfectly up to the task of smashing it around? Meanwhile, any time someone wielding Soulcalibur wants to destroy Soul Edge (and I mean any time) they go straight for that eye as the weak spot. I mean, if I were a demonic, sentient, soul-stealing sword, I think the last thing I would want to do would be to grow a classic video game boss weak spot, rather than staying, you know, just a sword made of evil (but presumably quite resilient) metal.
 
Last edited:
I'm afraid if there came a stage with cassandra in season one, they'd have said so before, to further advertise season one.

But i hope we get a few stages with season two.
I mean, if they do make a stage, might as well make a bunch more while they're at it.
And lack of stages is a complaint i read often.

Provided there will be a season two.
 
For anyone who's interested, the full official 4 disc official soundtrack to Soul Calibur VI is releasing next week
(Japan only / so will need to import for those overseas)
The best place I’ve found personally is at CDJapan, with coupon code SUMMER19C200 to save 200 yen, or if you add 200 yen to your purchase (so buy almost anything else), you can instead use SUMMER19C500 to save 500 yen (requires 5000 yen purchase, but the soundtrack is only 4800 yen).

 
@UKStormDragon did you hear about a July patch being scheduled? They did say the final season pass character would be released with the next patch.

I'm going with the current patch schedule as they've generally always released a patch every month, and if i remember correctly the last june patch wasn't really that big and contained a few fixes which means that most of it could have been saved for the upcoming patch.
 
For anyone who's interested, the full official 4 disc official soundtrack to Soul Calibur VI is releasing next week
(Japan only / so will need to import for those overseas)

,View attachment 63819
©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
[SRIN-1161] - 5,184円 (roughly 47 USD/ 43 Euros) https://sweeprecord.com/srin-1161/
Maybe the eyeball is the real source of strength? SoulCalibur II’s Soul Edge (Complete) for Nightmare got a bunch of extra ones. Kappa

latest
Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember that: whoever designed that silly thing clearly never experienced how unpleasant it is to get blood in your eye. I can't imagine even an Eldritch Abomination soul-sucking sword made of fangs and connective tissues would find it pleasant.
 
Re: Soul Edge's design:

Eyes are the "gateway to the soul" and symbols of clairvoyance and omniscience. In the West, eye contact is customarily associated with telling the truth. The placement of the eye is also probably meant to be a nod to the all-seeing evil eye. In renaissance and early modern art, eye placement was often used as a metaphorical or comedic device, especially during the early renaissance. 20th century artists like Picasso and Dali used disfigured/displaced/surreal facial features to reflect different perceptions of these same symbolic meanings.

Basically, the eye motif seems to be a play on the themes of a soul's purity/truth, destiny and fate. For example, characters like Siegfried (neutral –> evil –> good) and Raphael (neutral –> evil?) are fighting their perceived fates and ultimately working toward a different truth than the one they believe is presently true. They're both seduced by the evil sword because the sword tells/shows them what they want to hear/see and their own souls are corrupted in the process of making a pact with the Sword Devil.

It also helps that it does look dope, like @Heniek said.
 
Re: Soul Edge's design:

Eyes are the "gateway to the soul" and symbols of clairvoyance and omniscience. In the West, eye contact is customarily associated with telling the truth. The placement of the eye is also probably meant to be a nod to the all-seeing evil eye. In renaissance and early modern art, eye placement was often used as a metaphorical or comedic device, especially during the early renaissance. 20th century artists like Picasso and Dali used disfigured/displaced/surreal facial features to reflect different perceptions of these same symbolic meanings.

Basically, the eye motif seems to be a play on the themes of a soul's purity/truth, destiny and fate. For example, characters like Siegfried (neutral –> evil –> good) and Raphael (neutral –> evil?) are fighting their perceived fates and ultimately working toward a different truth than the one they believe is presently true. They're both seduced by the evil sword because the sword tells/shows them what they want to hear/see and their own souls are corrupted in the process of making a pact with the Sword Devil.

It also helps that it does look dope, like @Heniek said.
Yeah, I mean I think we all get that the eye is an intentional aesthetic decision. Although, I'd argue that some of the symbolism you allude to, while well-trodden ground in classical mythology, literature, iconography and human psychology and semiotics generally, is probably unlikely to have been a direct influence on the choice to give Soul Edge an eye. Rather I think it's just the result of the typical body horror / Giger-esque / Lovecraftian stylism that plays upon the innate discomfort that masses of raw exposed-looking flesh and atypically-placed organs have upon most people, which has long been popular in modern fantasy and horror. That trend is about as old as almost any artistic trope in video games (particularly anime-inspired games): games as disparate as Lifeforce, Final Fantasy, Contra, Earthbound, Resident Evil, Metroid, Parasite Eve, Dead Space, and countless others all lean on this trope in their art design hardcore. Indeed, I had to force myself to stop listing examples above, because let's be honest, probably anyone here could list a hundred games they've seen this in before they started to struggle for more examples--even if we restricted ourselves to just games that came out before Soulcalibur.

So I very seriously doubt that the decision to stick an eyeball on Nightmare's (already quite organic looking) sword reflects some deep commitment to renaissance symbolism or an attempt to reference Jungian archetypes by the game designer who first created Soul Edge as we recognize it today. Rather I'm sure that artist was simply falling back on a very recognizable trope in fantasy-horror at the time: if you want to make something look evil in an otherworldly way (and generally "badass" as such things are judged in such mediums), make it look the colour and texture of exposed flesh--and bonus points if you can stick a few eyeballs and/or oddly-jointed limbs on it. That trend was birthed by early- and mid-20th century artists, became a huge trend in late 20th century animation (particularly anime) and then proliferated like mad in games. And I think the eyeball in particular was probably chosen for Soul Edge because it's an easy way to broadcast the fact that the sword is sentient. It's one thing to say that the sword killed so much that it became conscious through its thirst for blood, but its still a sword and would seem pretty passive, even if evil. But as soon as you see that eyeball blinking and darting around, suddenly it seems like a living thing that perceives the world around and has agency. It's a pretty effective visual tool in that respect, even if the premise is silly.

But honestly, whether intended as a deep metaphor or just a generic adaptation of a common fantasy monster trope, I get why it might have been done as as a stylistic matter. I was simply making a joke about the impracticality of the eye if we (for purely tongue and cheek purposes) try to analyze it as if it should adhere to some form of internal logic in the story. Which, if ever there was a game (or work of art generally) where it makes zero sense to try to make it adhere to logic or consistency, that work is Soulcalibur. Even so, if we do break it down, that eyeball is one dumbass decision on Soul Edge's part. It's like....you're an eldritch horror in a video game universe, dude! Everyone aims for the big, demonic eye!! Also, do you want to experience motion sickness? Because basically, since your main desire is to be used to cleave people into pieces so you can consume their agonized souls, that eye is going to see nothing but constant blurred shapes and backgrounds rushing around. Seriously, imagine it was your eye attached to that sword and then imagine seeing the average Nightmare combo from that perspective. I imagine the 'Complete' version of Soul Edge, possessing twenty-five eyeballs and a mouth, spends a lot of time barfing...
 
Last edited:
To those of you who think Grohs design is really out of place, I just wanna remind you that alot of characters look really out of place for the time period its supposed to take place in. This game series has always had a fantasy anime trope.
Alot of weapons can be considered magical like Ivys, Sophitias ect. No one in this game fights in a realistic way save for maybe Kilik , Mitsu and maybe Raphael.

This game is anime as fuck and groh in my opinion fits in fine. In a game with people who talk to the gods, wind priestess, fortune tellers, malfestation or a battle of basically sentient swords, the "magic" anime esque characters fit in just fine.
 
Back