Soul Calibur VI: General discussion

[Tenchi8]

as I mentioned before the order I did was based on the order that the T8 gameplay trailers were released, so I wanted an announcement trailer and that the characters had individual trailers just like SC6 started to do, unfortunately Mitsurugi and Sophitia did not.
Nina - Ivy
Kazuya - Siegfried / Nightmare
Jin - Kilik / Raphael
Paul - Mitsurugi / Cassandra (In fact, Paul would be Sophitia, but I remember that they already mentioned that Arthur has Paul as a facial base, I doubt that Arthur is playable in SC7, who knows in SC8, so I replaced it with Mitsurugi.)


I would like the announcement trailer to be different, like showing 3 characters (knight, assassin and a samurai / CaS) entering the Ostrheinsburg Chapel (pls they need to redo this stage, besides being iconic it's part of Siegmare's canon) trying to steal Soul Edge and they end up fighting each other and in the end the silhouette of Nightmare would appear. That would make it clear that CaS would be back, plus if it's too optimistic bring the SC3 Jobs too, or at least the sets representing them, preferably completely NEW generic costumes.

Or the announcement could be similar to SC4, 5 veterans and the new character fighting each other, preferably the newcomer is a female character since SC6 didn't have one, with the exception of 2B, but being a guest, she doesn't count as a new female character , at least not for me.

I particularly hope that Siegfried was one of the last characters to be revealed and Raphael appears earlier. Yoshinori said on his twitter that Raphael is the protagonist of SC2, if you follow the logic that the next game will adapt this part of the story, then I would like to see him, unfortunately I very much doubt the writers will transform him into a good protagonist, given that his storyline of getting revenge on Soul Edge has gone to hell, in my view this obsession with Amy ruins him as a character.

• Ivy
• Mitsurugi
• Raphael
• Nightmare
• Taki or Grøh or Cassandra
• New Character

Sophitia would probably be one of the first to appear, but I think a lot of people will hate me for this but I wish they put Sophitia and Seong Mina as DLC. I think Cassandra should have the focus, after all, until today many think that she is the protagonist of SC2, and she was never highlighted, if possible a second story mode with her just like LoS gave Mitsurugi, Grøh and Maxi a plot. I highly doubt they would do that, but I know both would sell well, then I would reference SC2, as both only appeared in the console version of sc2, being excluded from arcades. I believe that Mina's story should start when Yun Seong decided to steal the White Storm and look for Soul Edge, Hwang was already DLC and technically Talim has to arrive in the village before YS. Cassandra using Sophitia's sword makes me believe that her journey starts first, obviously they can do the same as SC6 and she actually takes the original Omega Sword, but that would get repetitive.

Well, in the end this is just my personal opinion, as I said it's not right who was DCL in SC6 to be DLC in SC7. Harda already mentioned that it's more practical to add characters than to create games each year, so DLC will likely return. I really hope they have time to make 7 and not have to "cancel" characters like they did in 6, clearly Tira wasn't originally intended to be DLC, and Edge Master and Aeon were cut.

as I mentioned before the order I did was based on the order that the T8 gameplay trailers were released, so I wanted an announcement trailer and that the characters had individual trailers just like SC6 started to do, unfortunately Mitsurugi and Sophitia did not.
Nina - Ivy
Kazuya - Siegfried / Nightmare
Jin - Kilik / Raphael
Paul - Mitsurugi / Cassandra (In fact, Paul would be Sophitia, but I remember that they already mentioned that Arthur has Paul as a facial base, I doubt that Arthur is playable in SC7, who knows in SC8, so I replaced it with Mitsurugi.)


I would like the announcement trailer to be different, like showing 3 characters (knight, assassin and a samurai / CaS) entering the Ostrheinsburg Chapel (pls they need to redo this stage, besides being iconic it's part of Siegmare's canon) trying to steal Soul Edge and they end up fighting each other and in the end the silhouette of Nightmare would appear. That would make it clear that CaS would be back, plus if it's too optimistic bring the SC3 Jobs too, or at least the sets representing them, preferably completely NEW generic costumes.

Or the announcement could be similar to SC4, 5 veterans and the new character fighting each other, preferably the newcomer is a female character since SC6 didn't have one, with the exception of 2B, but being a guest, she doesn't count as a new female character , at least not for me.

I particularly hope that Siegfried was one of the last characters to be revealed and Raphael appears earlier. Yoshinori said on his twitter that Raphael is the protagonist of SC2, if you follow the logic that the next game will adapt this part of the story, then I would like to see him, unfortunately I very much doubt the writers will transform him into a good protagonist, given that his storyline of getting revenge on Soul Edge has gone to hell, in my view this obsession with Amy ruins him as a character.

• Ivy
• Mitsurugi
• Raphael
• Nightmare
• Taki or Grøh or Cassandra
• New Character

Sophitia would probably be one of the first to appear, but I think a lot of people will hate me for this but I wish they put Sophitia and Seong Mina as DLC. I think Cassandra should have the focus, after all, until today many think that she is the protagonist of SC2, and she was never highlighted, if possible a second story mode with her just like LoS gave Mitsurugi, Grøh and Maxi a plot. I highly doubt they would do that, but I know both would sell well, then I would reference SC2, as both only appeared in the console version of sc2, being excluded from arcades. I believe that Mina's story should start when Yun Seong decided to steal the White Storm and look for Soul Edge, Hwang was already DLC and technically Talim has to arrive in the village before YS. Cassandra using Sophitia's sword makes me believe that her journey starts first, obviously they can do the same as SC6 and she actually takes the original Omega Sword, but that would get repetitive.

Well, in the end this is just my personal opinion, as I said it's not right who was DCL in SC6 to be DLC in SC7. Harda already mentioned that it's more practical to add characters than to create games each year, so DLC will likely return. I really hope they have time to make 7 and not have to "cancel" characters like they did in 6, clearly Tira wasn't originally intended to be DLC, and Edge Master and Aeon were cut.

I feel you. ^^
I enjoyed all of the SoulCalibur game trailers. I could never get tired of watching them. :)
I once almost thought Cassandra was a protagonist in SC2 also, because of the way they presented her
in the cut scene with that heroic looking up, gesture. XD One of those "this looks like a job for..." kind of looks.
XD Gotta say though, I love how they had my main, Mitsurugi leaping from boat to boat and taking on the archers and gunners. That will
always be my favorite scene of the SC2 openings. XD

Cassandra starting things off does sound interesting, and of Mina's also. Who knows, maybe those will be the narrative we
can look forward to in SC7. But I think you might be on point with the direction they might go. And then there's the confrontation
with the other Cassandra from the original timeline also. I'm curious to know how that will play out in the next installment. It was interesting
that she encountered her other self like that. ^^

 

[Spanky]

Well it appears Jun is going to take a page out of Sophitia and 'save' Kazuya. Though, I think Jun genuinely cares about him, unlike Sophitia using it as an excuse to extract as much bad boy evil seed that she can before she gets married to Rothion.

Holy smokes that had me howling xDDD I can't unsee it this way now, lol.

 

[SSfox]

I came back to play some online bro the online is a ghost town

 

[LisaK]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1645805792728322048

https://twitter.com/x/status/1650516107122360330

 

[SSfox]

WOW

https://www.reddit.com/r/SoulCalibur/comments/131sf4a

 

[LisaK]

wanted to buy Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, but with this news I think I'll pass.

 

[Spanky]

Question re. the SC discords: does anyone know if there is a SC discord specifically focused on lore (all characters and concepts, not character-specific)?

I want to geek out over lore but I don't want to spam the character-specific discords with lore junk in the process.

 

[SSfox]

Question re. the SC discords: does anyone know if there is a SC discord specifically focused on lore (all characters and concepts, not character-specific)?

I want to geek out over lore but I don't want to spam the character-specific discords with lore junk in the process.

I've asked same question here months ago, i don't think there is a general SC discord, at least i didn't find one (which surprised me tbh), there is one i found but it is specific to SC2.

Are anyone motivated to make a SC/8WR discord? Maybe 8WR mods?

 

[LisaK]

I don't use this app, but from what I've seen it's better to open a thread here than go to this place, the most you'll get is people complaining about movements, several polls about guests that will NEVER appear on soulcalibur, toxic users talking about other people to fill their void, yt flops that confirm SC7 every week, since there's no way to make 300x videos about Season 3 anymore. I won't even mention the freaks who think they are their own characters to the point of putting their own personalities and beliefs into fictional characters. Anyway..

 

[Spanky]

Lol! Queen Lisa, you're not wrong. There's some weird folks out there. Although, from what I've seen of the SC discords, they're actually pretty quiet and tame overall and I've liked them so far.

Weirdest we got currently is someone running a poll to choose who the horniest mains are
mfs gotta seek help

 

[Tenchi8]

Question re. the SC discords: does anyone know if there is a SC discord specifically focused on lore (all characters and concepts, not character-specific)?

I want to geek out over lore but I don't want to spam the character-specific discords with lore junk in the process.

XD I feel ya. I love reading up on wikkia on the Soul Characters, and overall lore of the SoulCalibur world. There's so much to read about and even talk about. :)

 

[LisaK]

Since we're bored and this website is dead, how about we do a dynamic*?

Spoiler

YOU are the next producer/director for SC7, so please list the characters you would include in this game.
RULES:

• Your base roster must contain a total of 24 characters from the franchise + guest character. (Out of 25, that's the number of characters that were in SC 2)
• The game must have a maximum of 3 guests and a minimum of 2 guest and no guest character from a previous game can return.
• You can integrate to your roster any bonus character from SC 3 or 4, except Angol Fear. Nothing against the character, but she is canon of the Sgt universe. Frog/Sergeant Keroro, so she could be classified as a guest character, being the hardest to return compared to Ashlotte, Kamikirimusi, Scheherazade or Shura.
• Just like SC 6 you can have exactly two season passes, allowing 8~9 extra characters, totaling 33~34 playable characters in SC7, the same number of playable characters in SC4.
• Regardless of how many extra characters you have in your 4~4 / 5~4 / 4~5 season pass. The first pass must contain a guest character. You don't need to include a guest in the second (and last) season, unless you want 3 guest characters in your game, just like you had in SC 2 and 6.
• As I mentioned earlier you will be entitled to have 8 or 9 extra characters to release as DLC. If you choose to have 9, one of them will have to be a free DLC or a Pre-Order character like Eliza from T7/Shao Kang in MK11.
• The order of your character roster has to be the way your announcement trailers were released, following the SC 6 model.
• Soul Calibur 6 aimed to narrate the events of SC 1, BUT it omitted 3 characters from that game: Aeon, Rock and Edge Master, so in summary you can only exclude 3 sc2 characters from YOUR SC 7, that is, most of the characters that been to SC 2 MUST return.
• With the exception of Geralt, 2B and Haohmaru, all characters in SC 6 must return. As for Inferno, he is not mandatory, however you will have to add a final boss in his place and specify him as a possible Unplayable Boss just like Night Terror was in SC3.
• Optional: If you want to explain your choice just open a spoiler tag with the character's name and explain your reasons why it was included in the base or as a dlc.

 

[Spanky]

The next time I have a slow day at the office with nothing to do, I wanna try working on this, Queen Lisa :)

 

[SSfox]

Since we're bored and this website is dead, how about we do a dynamic*?

Spoiler

YOU are the next producer/director for SC7, so please list the characters you would include in this game.
RULES:

• Your base roster must contain a total of 24 characters from the franchise + guest character. (Out of 25, that's the number of characters that were in SC 2)
• The game must have a maximum of 3 guests and a minimum of 2 guest and no guest character from a previous game can return.
• You can integrate to your roster any bonus character from SC 3 or 4, except Angol Fear. Nothing against the character, but she is canon of the Sgt universe. Frog/Sergeant Keroro, so she could be classified as a guest character, being the hardest to return compared to Ashlotte, Kamikirimusi, Scheherazade or Shura.
• Just like SC 6 you can have exactly two season passes, allowing 8~9 extra characters, totaling 33~34 playable characters in SC7, the same number of playable characters in SC4.
• Regardless of how many extra characters you have in your 4~4 / 5~4 / 4~5 season pass. The first pass must contain a guest character. You don't need to include a guest in the second (and last) season, unless you want 3 guest characters in your game, just like you had in SC 2 and 6.
• As I mentioned earlier you will be entitled to have 8 or 9 extra characters to release as DLC. If you choose to have 9, one of them will have to be a free DLC or a Pre-Order character like Eliza from T7/Shao Kang in MK11.
• The order of your character roster has to be the way your announcement trailers were released, following the SC 6 model.
• Soul Calibur 6 aimed to narrate the events of SC 1, BUT it omitted 3 characters from that game: Aeon, Rock and Edge Master, so in summary you can only exclude 3 sc2 characters from YOUR SC 7, that is, most of the characters that been to SC 2 MUST return.
• With the exception of Geralt, 2B and Haohmaru, all characters in SC 6 must return. As for Inferno, he is not mandatory, however you will have to add a final boss in his place and specify him as a possible Unplayable Boss just like Night Terror was in SC3.
• Optional: If you want to explain your choice just open a spoiler tag with the character's name and explain your reasons why it was included in the base or as a dlc.

Sounds fun, i'll do than bit later

 

[SSfox]

• Your base roster must contain a total of 24 characters from the franchise + guest character. (Out of 25, that's the number of characters that were in SC 2)
• The game must have a maximum of 3 guests and a minimum of 2 guest and no guest character from a previous game can return.
• You can integrate to your roster any bonus character from SC 3 or 4, except Angol Fear. Nothing against the character, but she is canon of the Sgt universe. Frog/Sergeant Keroro, so she could be classified as a guest character, being the hardest to return compared to Ashlotte, Kamikirimusi, Scheherazade or Shura.
• Just like SC 6 you can have exactly two season passes, allowing 8~9 extra characters, totaling 33~34 playable characters in SC7, the same number of playable characters in SC4.
• Regardless of how many extra characters you have in your 4~4 / 5~4 / 4~5 season pass. The first pass must contain a guest character. You don't need to include a guest in the second (and last) season, unless you want 3 guest characters in your game, just like you had in SC 2 and 6.
• As I mentioned earlier you will be entitled to have 8 or 9 extra characters to release as DLC. If you choose to have 9, one of them will have to be a free DLC or a Pre-Order character like Eliza from T7/Shao Kang in MK11.
• The order of your character roster has to be the way your announcement trailers were released, following the SC 6 model.
• Soul Calibur 6 aimed to narrate the events of SC 1, BUT it omitted 3 characters from that game: Aeon, Rock and Edge Master, so in summary you can only exclude 3 sc2 characters from YOUR SC 7, that is, most of the characters that been to SC 2 MUST return.
• With the exception of Geralt, 2B and Haohmaru, all characters in SC 6 must return. As for Inferno, he is not mandatory, however you will have to add a final boss in his place and specify him as a possible Unplayable Boss just like Night Terror was in SC3.
• Optional: If you want to explain your choice just open a spoiler tag with the character's name and explain your reasons why it was included in the base or as a dlc.

[/SPOILER]

- Ivy, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Siegfried, Taki, Xianghua, Talim, Astaroth, Sophitia, Cassandra, Kilik, Tira , Zasalamel, Setsuka, Maxi, Voldo, Yoshimitsu, Cervantes, Raphael, Yun Seung, Edge Master, Lizardman (or Aeon or both as palette swap), 2 new characters (A new female inspired from Bloodborne/Victorian Era, you can make her a Vampire would work great too, and a male character inspired from Mongolian era with savage very agressive gameplay, something like Radhan from Elden Ring + 1 Guest: Albedo Kreideprinz from Genshin Impact

- 2 Extra Guests DLC you mean?: Hum Nordique Saga Kratos and the sorceress from Dragon's Crown

- No Bonus Character i really want, but i would like to see a new fully revamp Li Long like they did with Amy in Sc6

- 9 Extra DLCs: Azwell (Preorder), Seung Mina (Lisa will hate me for putting her DLC!!), Amy, Hwang, Rock, Revamped Li Long, 2 new characters : A Badass Black milf ala Darkly Dagger, a young girl bow user ala the archer of Dragon's Crown)+ 1 other guest, hum i don't know no other guest i really want, EDIT: Ok actually i'd say Baiken, i don't play much GG but i find her so cool, would be cool rivalerie with Mitsu

- Order? Oh shiet should have read this first, i don't really know or matter that much, but i'd say Ivy (not cause i'm bias just cause she's one of the most recognizable in SC) Nightmare Mitsu and 1 newcomer should be some of the first, but again it's not huge deal to me.

- Welp!!

-IDK about Final boss, just something cool, i consider Cervy and Algol the best SC bosses so far, actually won't mind Algol as a playable character (but i didn't put him cause i forgot about him lol), maybe a female boss would nice for this time, something like Malenia from Elden Ring for example, very menacing, intimidating and powerful, while super sexy and hot!!


Fuck after writing all this i'm more excited for the next SC

 

[LisaK]

- 9 Extra DLCs: Seung Mina (Lisa will hate me for putting her DLC!!)

Actually I'm less biased about my characters than you guys think, in fact there's a "recent" comment from me where I mention that I would put her as DLC alongside Sophitia.

Ok actually i'd say Baiken, i don't play much GG but i find her so cool, would be cool rivalerie with Mitsu

When I bought Xrd REV 2, I was playing arcade mode with characters and it was time for Baiken, at first I was like "another wh*re.." I ended up liking her. She's nice and personally I would have been happier if she was in SC6 than Haohmaru.

 

[SSfox]

Actually I'm less biased about my characters than you guys think, in fact there's a "recent" comment from me where I mention that I would put her as DLC alongside Sophitia.


When I bought Xrd REV 2, I was playing arcade mode with characters and it was time for Baiken, at first I was like "another wh*re.." I ended up liking her. She's nice and personally I would have been happier if she was in SC6 than Haohmaru.

Oh you made you roster? i missed that

I personally love all SC characters up until SC3 and they all are incredibly iconics, it's since SC4 shiet started getting a bit weird, funnily it's also the same timing where tekken (with T6) also started adding what i consider (imo) weird characters. Can't imagine how hard it is to make picks like this by devs (ok but i'm not talking about SC5 devs, that roster was so weird everytime i rethink about it lol)

Yeah Baiken is so cool, her design is awesome and her gameplay is fresh and innovatives specially with the ropes mecaniques, i would actually like to see SC character with this kind of rope mecaniques would be too OD!!

 

[LisaK]

Oh you made you roster? i missed that

I haven't done my roster yet but I already mentioned how much I wanted PS to spolight Cassandra, especially since she was DLC in SC6. It has already been mentioned by the devs that SC2 intended to make a change in the game's cast, so much so that Mitsurugi and Taki would be replaced by Seidou (who is a canon character) and Setsu, but they changed their minds. Well, I mentioned this because Sophitia and Mina weren't in the plans for SC2, being introduced only in the console version, that is, Cassandra and Kilik would take their places, so it would be kind of a reference to make them DLC in SC7, which I believe I will narrate the events of SC2, obviously with some changes. Both are popular enough to generate a good profit, I doubt that will happen, but they would be the female characters I would sacrifice as DLC.

 

[Rusted Blade]

Since we're bored and this website is dead, how about we do a dynamic*?

Spoiler

YOU are the next producer/director for SC7, so please list the characters you would include in this game.
RULES:

• Your base roster must contain a total of 24 characters from the franchise + guest character. (Out of 25, that's the number of characters that were in SC 2)
• The game must have a maximum of 3 guests and a minimum of 2 guest and no guest character from a previous game can return.
• You can integrate to your roster any bonus character from SC 3 or 4, except Angol Fear. Nothing against the character, but she is canon of the Sgt universe. Frog/Sergeant Keroro, so she could be classified as a guest character, being the hardest to return compared to Ashlotte, Kamikirimusi, Scheherazade or Shura.
• Just like SC 6 you can have exactly two season passes, allowing 8~9 extra characters, totaling 33~34 playable characters in SC7, the same number of playable characters in SC4.
• Regardless of how many extra characters you have in your 4~4 / 5~4 / 4~5 season pass. The first pass must contain a guest character. You don't need to include a guest in the second (and last) season, unless you want 3 guest characters in your game, just like you had in SC 2 and 6.
• As I mentioned earlier you will be entitled to have 8 or 9 extra characters to release as DLC. If you choose to have 9, one of them will have to be a free DLC or a Pre-Order character like Eliza from T7/Shao Kang in MK11.
• The order of your character roster has to be the way your announcement trailers were released, following the SC 6 model.
• Soul Calibur 6 aimed to narrate the events of SC 1, BUT it omitted 3 characters from that game: Aeon, Rock and Edge Master, so in summary you can only exclude 3 sc2 characters from YOUR SC 7, that is, most of the characters that been to SC 2 MUST return.
• With the exception of Geralt, 2B and Haohmaru, all characters in SC 6 must return. As for Inferno, he is not mandatory, however you will have to add a final boss in his place and specify him as a possible Unplayable Boss just like Night Terror was in SC3.
• Optional: If you want to explain your choice just open a spoiler tag with the character's name and explain your reasons why it was included in the base or as a dlc.

Eh, I mean, you've placed so many broad criteria, caveats, and restrictions on your roster thought exercise that there's only a tiny sliver left over for discretion: basically the only variances between people's picks are going to be guests, plus or minus two or three main roster characters, and the order the included characters come in. That said, here's what I'd like to see, and it's very simple, and I think even fits into your constraints, depending on some of the edge cases:

First and foremost I just want the entire SCI-SCIII:AE main roster (excluding mimics if necessary) plus Hilde. So: Aeon/Lizardman, Amy, Astaroth, Cassandra, Cervantes, Hilde, Hwang, Ivy, Kilik, Li Long, Maxi, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Rock, Seong-mina, Setsuka, Siegfriend, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Tira, Voldo, Xiangua, Yoshimitsu, Yun-seong, Zasalamel.

What I can live without/actually would rather not see, are any magic levitating/shape changing sword wizards: if necessary to make room for any of the above, fuck off please Necrid, Algol, and Azwell. I'm actually a bit of a defender of Necrid, rare as that is: if anything, I think each variation on this theme was less of a proper fit for this franchise than the one before him, with Azwell in particular just being such a tonally, stylistically, and technically goofy character. But plot wise we should probably expect Algol in the next game and, unfortunately, I doubt Azwell is going anywhere after featuring so prominently in the reboot plotlines of so many characters in SCVI. But this is about who I would most want to see if making a cut to 34 characters, with a boss and some guests. So Sayonara Algol.

Now if there's a class of character I'd like to see less than the energy sword wizards, it's the duo of hair-dyed emo-meets-anime Imagine Dragons cosplayers with completely impractical weapons held in the most idiotic possible way. Take a seat Zwei and Groh: seen quite enough of you and your dumb names and even dumber weapons for one lifetime. Definitely not keen to see whatever other new character some people salivate over from these goofy anime-energy fueled plotlines. Ichts Ashtka or whatever the hell. And though less egregious, imo, no room for Dampierre either, I'm afraid.

I think at least one mimic makes sense, and I don't see why it shouldn't be Edge Master, given his inexplicable absence from SCVI, but Olcadan and/or Charade would be just fine by me. But the cut is going to be tight, so I can live without a mimic if we have to keep the number under 34. If there's a boss, given the likely time to be covered in the next game, it probably makes sense to feature Night Terror: Abyss would be fine too, but narratively I think we've kinda-sorta been set up for Zas taking another path than becoming the undead sword wraith this time. And Inferno would not make as much sense as either of the other two options for SCVII, I wouldn't think.

For me, no "bonus" characters without distinct styles, a la SCIV's manga artist specials: CaS has really made these questionable expenditures of development resources. Though if they ever wanted to bring Kamikirimusi back with her own distinct style, that would be pretty boss, because I think that character design (including the cudgel/kanabo) is quality. On that same topic, finally truly distinct versions of Han-myeong and Arthur would be a great idea. As for the half-complete SCIII bonus characters (non SCIII:AE), I don't think we are ever likely to see them return with fully developed movesets, but if it were to happen, I'd love to see Abelia, Greed, and Valeria above any of the others.

Nobody originating from SCV seems due to join at this point (and would mostly be redundant on characters listed above anyway), though I would not be in any sense miffed if they decided to include both Amy and Viola as playable characters. A version of Amy dual-wielding her rapier/crystal ball or a vanilla Amy who goes Viola in soul charge are also experiments I could be happy to see them try.

As for guests, there's no end to the list of characters I'd love to see show up. Here's just a partial, dated list of past notions I thought would fit. But realstically, they have to be characters who make sense for cross-promotion with recently released or upcoming titles. In this regard, I think Kratos returning, utilizing a moveset based on the more recent GoW games would a great idea. I'd love to see another Tekken sister-franchise drop-in, and since the two we've had so far are Heichachi and Devil Jin, I think Kazuya makes a lot of sense. A guest from a final fantasy property probably is not out of the question, and that could be someone from FFXVI, or FFVII Remake 2, in which case, man would I love for it to be Tifa.

Now, it's a pipe dream, because the much-yearned-for Switch Soulcalibur game that some stans have prognosicated for is never going to happen, but needless to say, BotW/TotK Link is something special enough to daydream about anyway. I actually liked the inclusion of Star Wars characters in IV, despite the obnoxiousness that was Yoda, so any number of characters from any number of SW game subfranchises might be interesting, with the Fallen Order protagonist being an obvious contender. And, should the next Bloodstained sequel get delayed so long it ends up contemporaneous with SCVII, I think Mirielle would fit like a glove into Soulcalibur's aesthetics. Someone else here at 8WR suggested that back in the early SCVI days, and I still think it's a great notion.

So, distilling this down to something that would fit in your scheme, except for the fact that I'm ignoring the "everyone in SCVI must return" rule, because f*** excluding anyone for Azwell and Groh:

Home roster: Aeon/Lizardman, Amy, Arthur (1st season pass), Astaroth, Cassandra, Cervantes, Han-myeong (1st SP), Hilde, Hwang, Ivy, Kilik, Li Long (1st SP), Maxi, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Rock (2nd SP), Seong-mina, Setsuka, Siegfriend, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Tira, Voldo, Xiangua, Yoshimitsu, Yun-seong, Valeria (2nd SP), Viola (2nd SP), Zasalamel. Guests: Kazuya (pre-order), Kratos (1st SP) and Tifa (2nd SP). Boss: Night Terror. Or, alternatively, if Amy and Viola are merged into one play style, add Kamikirimusi with distinct style as a 2nd season pass character.

Utterly unrealistic, of course, but if I had my druthers, those are the 34 I would pick. though I deeply hope we are looking at something closer to 40 for SCVII.

 

[LisaK]

Eh, I mean, you've placed so many broad criteria, caveats, and restrictions on your roster thought exercise that there's only a tiny sliver left over for discretion: basically the only variances between people's picks are going to be guests, plus or minus two or three main roster characters, and the order the included characters come in. That said, here's what I'd like to see, and it's very simple, and I think even fits into your constraints, depending on some of the edge cases:

Well, I'm sure PS had more restrictions on them making SC6. I would say that I was very generous in giving the right to 34 characters, the conditions are not so bad: include two guests, exclude only 3 characters from SC2 (if you want) and preferably bring most of the characters that were in SC6.

Utterly unrealistic, of course, but if I had my druthers, those are the 34 I would pick. though I deeply hope we are looking at something closer to 40 for SCVII.

SC3 had 43 playable characters if you count the bonus, but being very realistic, I think it's very difficult for SC7 to have 34 characters, 40 would be almost impossible. SC6 had 28, being 8 DLC, I would say if we're lucky the next game will be 32.