The future of Soul Calibur

[DevilsDisguise]

Have you ever considered that maybe the developers cared more about making a good game than telling a good story?
Also you are grossly oversimplifying the development process and motivation to fit your own innane wishlist of things that aren't going to happen.

I'm cursed with optimysm then but I understand that realistic expectations will bring realistic answers. However, to them that aspect is just as important. I just want to see the story done better, tweaked.

Though I think they set their expectations with the gameplay too high actually. They're already an established branch of Tournament level fighters, and already in mainstream just not as overexposed as Tekken is, I'm surprised they thought otherwise. However you overcomplicate what I would like to see, sure it won't likely happen but what I ask for isnt complicated at all. If they're going to make a storymode anyway and remind us of how good they want it to be then why not want it to be good? (I never asked for a long extensive chore like 5's was though. Just want the themes to engage me. I don't care how long it is.)

 

[darkwings13]

SC5 should have been about The world's Apocalypse set by Nightmare, bring for the new cast into a dark age so SC6 could be when they can mature and be the Night Terror epoc.

I actually don't mind the initial atmosphere of SCV. From the instruction manual, it said the swords were destroyed seventeen yrs ago and so peace was logical. But under that peace, is the discrimination against the remnants of SE's powers; the malfested. They explained abit about the hate against them and we've seen how Dumas's 'purge' worked. It was pretty much accepted. Under happiness lies sorrows, under truths you find lies. History hides away more than one truth. This was the theme of SCV, especially by showing SC's cruel and merciless cold self. This episode in the series was supposed to establish a deeper connection between the swords and their victims. Whereas the other game just as had SC and SE destroy each other with a surface explanations.
Tis a pity that the story for SCV was cut short. Because from what I'm seeing, it's good. Having a world apocalypse by Nighty would be too much of an immediate leap. I like the building up they're doing.

 

[jtdam09]

SE will probably end up being partially destroyed.

They actually have potential with what they have now. There's still malfested characters running around, and then there's the Asian characters (Xiba's evil genes from his father, Arahabaki possessing Natsu, Leixia containing Dvapara-Yuga). My suggestion is the next game (SCVI) could be a build up to SE returning again, but mainly an exploration on the background of the characters. The new ones especially. That may include Yoshimitsu II. SCVI would also include the state of veterans in the game-Siegfried, Hilde, Voldo, Mitsurugi, etc.- and whereabouts of those not in the game-Korean characters, Setsuka, Taki, Li Long, etc. That way the characters are given a proper exit (Setsuka), and maybe a substantial role in the story (Taki, Xianghua, Kilik). The ending could lead to a cliffhanger.

The next game, SCVII could be SE taking power and conquering the world (aka DevilsDisguises primary idea) among other malfested beings (Xiba, Natsu, Maxi, Potentially Yoshimitsu, Hopefully Pyrrha again), and characters desperately trying to find SC. One game without SC wouldn't hurt the series. Would actually make it better.

SCVIII would be where SC is eventually found (Possibly involving Astral Chaos), and SC and SE battle once again. See how simple the summary is at least?

Gameplay-wise, the series has potential too. They just need something that could set them apart from other competition. JG, as overhyped as it was, is a fine addition to the series and should stay in the series. Brave Edge has potential. We already know that PS is going to add more moves for the characters, so the "simplified movesets" complaints will eventually die down. That's if they make another sequel. I gave Critical Edge the benefit of the doubt because of Soul Blade, but I'll admit that was one notable gimmick that they used to market this game.

The roster? Personally I'm fine with who they have now, even though 3 veterans wouldn't hurt (Zasalamel or a replacement/reincarnation, Talim, Yun-Seong). Every other addition should be new characters, with new weapons, and I don't mean "Aeon" new.

 

[DevilsDisguise]

I actually don't mind the initial atmosphere of SCV. From the instruction manual, it said the swords were destroyed seventeen yrs ago and so peace was logical. But under that peace, is the discrimination against the remnants of SE's powers; the malfested. They explained abit about the hate against them and we've seen how Dumas's 'purge' worked. It was pretty much accepted. Under happiness lies sorrows, under truths you find lies. History hides away more than one truth. This was the theme of SCV, especially by showing SC's cruel and merciless cold self. This episode in the series was supposed to establish a deeper connection between the swords and their victims. Whereas the other game just as had SC and SE destroy each other with a surface explanations.
Tis a pity that the story for SCV was cut short. Because from what I'm seeing, it's good. Having a world apocalypse by Nighty would be too much of an immediate leap. I like the building up they're doing.

Thats a fair assumption I suppose, but they should have made it more impacting, too bad it isn't just one character. We lost Zasalamel, Talim, Bangoo, and Salia (a new longsword user from the Schwarzwind) as planned characters. Meanwhile we got three mimics and two character slots for the Alexandra kids.
They had the potential to deliver the most diverse roster in the series, and they utterly failed on that front. It's not about missing characters, it's about lamenting the cut content in game that is profoundly lacking it. Pyrhha shouldn't have been the only one to suffer from it but the most traumatic. It would have been nice if all the new characters were affected in some milder way and they wanted acceptance from the older cast. That would then give the player and the characters the same time to develop an opinion. SC5 was just too casual the way most of how everything was put outside Pyrha's story. I mean in parellel we get Leixia going on about cute boys? Umm.. no.

 

[darkwings13]

I'm sure in time, Leixia will experience something traumatic. Her best friend Natsu harbors a demon inside her, her idol (and probably crush) Lord Maxi is a malfested and her half brother Xiba will have to control the Kali-Yuga. Her idea of a adventure of love and exploration will soon take a dive, that I'm pretty sure of. She'll soon realize that her sheltered upbringing and planned life Xianghua wanted for her was to protect her from these hardships.
With the way the storyline is happening, Zas and Talim really should come back for SCVI. Since they said that my priestess is alive, all I can assume is that she's going around helping to heal the malfested or she's been imprisoned. Probably by some devious dude who's aware of her healing abilities and wants to either use her or control her. As for Zassy, he's bound to notice something's going on. As the mastermind he is, I'm sure he's plotting to do something about it. (>*_-)
And the only thing I have to say gameplay wise is just to add a few more moves to the movelist. I'm not very fond of the CE but I do like BE.

 

[jtdam09]

I'm sure in time, Leixia will experience something traumatic. Her best friend Natsu harbors a demon inside her, her idol (and probably crush) Lord Maxi is a malfested and her half brother Xiba will have to control the Kali-Yuga. Her idea of a adventure of love and exploration will soon take a dive, that I'm pretty sure of. She'll soon realize that her sheltered upbringing and planned life Xianghua wanted for her was to protect her from these hardships.

Not to mention Yoshimitsu II, according to the artbook, having a malfested weapon. Also there's, hopefully, Mitsurugi, STILL begging on his knees for a challenging opponent, even though he doesn't want to remember his loss from Setsuka. Maxi and Mitsurugi could both be parallel to the historical Ryukyu Islands vs. Japan.

Then you have potential characters like a Korean, and Talim, who will be affected in some way.

And also....

*crosses fingers for Riki to appear*

I keep on saying that the new characters, especially the Asian group, have potential. You're not going to expect a roster full of newly introduced, fully developed characters in one game, especially with the pace PS has.

 

[coroso4]

The community should begin petitioning Project Soul to bring back the beloved characters that made previous Soul Calibur iterations so enjoyable; that is, before development on the next game is under way.

Soul Calibur 5 sold considerably less than 4, despite the series being "revamped" with a new generation of fighters. New combat elements certainly sparked new life into the game, but a single-player experience that actually imbues these fighters with character, motive, and contextualization for interacting with each other is seriously lacking. (Remember the flow-charts of character liaisons from the good ol' days?!) This lack of depth causes the series to be viewed as novelty-like by the consumer new to Soul Calibur.

Fans of previous SC entries were disappointed by the absence of veteran fighters such as Talim, Xianghua, Cassandra, Zasalamel, etc. Indeed, it did hurt to see these matured characters (with unfinished stories) be replaced by brats, each with only one recognizable character-trait (i.e. Xiba's hungry. really?) No doubt many prior fans were unwilling to buy the game with their favorite characters missing.

As far as gameplay is concerned, I am mostly satisfied with the changes 5 brought, and believe they make the game more interesting to play overall, and more accessible to someone new to Soul Calibur. However, removing many of the returning characters' fighting stances and hacking away at their move lists is unnecessary and only gives the player fewer options at his/her disposal.

Anyways, assuming that the new characters and plot of SC5 were met unfavorably by both veterans and newbies alike, Project Soul should really be looking towards the series' roots that players look back on so fondly. I think the new gameplay elements were enough to "revamp" the game as intended. With the return of the already developed and recognizable characters of past games, a concise plot could be created that includes everyone, new and old, and attracts SC gamers of all generations. For any of our community's ideas to be considered, I think we need to start early; before development on 6 is announced. Project Soul already has a plot worked out, (they just ran out of time to include the majority of it in 5 [which also makes a series reboot seem very unlikely]), so for them to be able to accommodate our demands we need to act soon! What do you guys think?

 

[DevilsDisguise]

To me I kinda feel that 95% of the new characters they put in SCV are made of comedic fail. They don't take themselves seriously and really kills the mood to me. Its almost getting too laidback when back then in SC2 it was very heavily emphasized that these characters were all warriors from around the world coming together to exchange morality and views of justice for the sake of their homeland or family in danger. They were all strong warriors trained to their limits by various masters under arts from different cultures set to prove themselves. Basically everyone was like Hilde.To me it kinda felt like One Piece's prologue. Everyone wants the Swords to control the World.


Though the damage had even reached the remaining veterans in a sense where they've been obscured out of the story or downgraded with pointless changes that make little to no sense or feel redundant. (Ivy and Sigfried are basically off screen voices now who have used up all their motivation. Cervantes is a jolly old soul now who accomplished nothing.)

My biggest problem is that the new characters were created were solely based on generic anime cliches all sharing the obnoxiousness that only works in cartoons. None of the new characters are original at all or even feel like they were made for this game. They've all been copied from othr games to a degree and were made to appeal to fans of another medium rather then market the fans to soul calibur. You don't find many similarities with the original cast to other characters out there (except maybe some unknown JRPGs that I've never heard of) The original cast was made for Soul calibur, the new cast was made to attract people who like obnoxious lucky-staresc/Suzumiyaesc anime. It sounds like a good idea on paper for marketing a broader audience and I agree but just isn't to me what Soul Calibur overall was. It isnt a game based on or paroding anime. There was no good or logical reason to replace like 1/4 of the series mainstay icons with even more vapid and annoying kids. Okay, they're "younger?" Great. I guess that excuses them for being obnoxious as hell, doesn't it? they butchered the mythos.

Natsu ironically is my favourite of the new characters but she's too casual and neutral about everything. These kinds of personalities we don't have time to develop because its just too gradual. If these characters were made for an anime version of this series then fine but with SC's vaguely told stories it would be hard to tell if they're actually developing let alone finding their reason to.

 

[optymuss]

I'm sure in time, Leixia will experience something traumatic. Her best friend Natsu harbors a demon inside her, her idol (and probably crush) Lord Maxi is a malfested and her half brother Xiba will have to control the Kali-Yuga. Her idea of a adventure of love and exploration will soon take a dive, that I'm pretty sure of. She'll soon realize that her sheltered upbringing and planned life Xianghua wanted for her was to protect her from these hardships.
With the way the storyline is happening, Zas and Talim really should come back for SCVI. Since they said that my priestess is alive, all I can assume is that she's going around helping to heal the malfested or she's been imprisoned. Probably by some devious dude who's aware of her healing abilities and wants to either use her or control her. As for Zassy, he's bound to notice something's going on. As the mastermind he is, I'm sure he's plotting to do something about it. (>*_-)
And the only thing I have to say gameplay wise is just to add a few more moves to the movelist. I'm not very fond of the CE but I do like BE.

i like dark and twisted plots; it is more enjoyabale to the general audience.

 

[DevilsDisguise]

i like dark and twisted plots; it is more enjoyabale to the general audience.

Its the only way I can feel the character's importance and truly feel wether or not their motives and perception of the plot they're surrounded by is genuine. I don't like ditzy bubbly characters that don't have a constructive side to them. I know I may be shoving out my preferences down PS's throat but I just see SC artistically more appealing as a darker game. Not a gloomy game but more reletive to what it once was, more demonic and dark. I mean
"I'll burn you alive / Cower in Fear / Come with me to hell / Taste my PAIN / I'll cut your heart out" doesn't fit a happy-go-lucky look to me. What happened? I like Omega Pyrha but there just isnt enough! Project Soul just changed Talim into the 7-year-old goodie-two-shoes she is now...but her personality isn’t as irritating as Xiba's, she's just representing youthful innocence on a vivid exaggeration parallel to Amy who is sadistic and downhearted.. Though like Leixia, she is tolerable and has the adorability shield for most fans.

 

[ShaolinTiger86]

I'm sure in time, Leixia will experience something traumatic. Her best friend Natsu harbors a demon inside her, her idol (and probably crush) Lord Maxi is a malfested and her half brother Xiba will have to control the Kali-Yuga. Her idea of a adventure of love and exploration will soon take a dive, that I'm pretty sure of. She'll soon realize that her sheltered upbringing and planned life Xianghua wanted for her was to protect her from these hardships.

I'm pretty sure the next game will take place more in Asia. On top of Maxi possibly being a malfested, Xiba now wielding the Kali Yuga, and Natsu possibly turning evil, the pressure will more than likely affect Leixia, which is why Xianghua will come back to help Leixia out. Not to mention that the malfested would take their business to the far east and a war is started, in which some Ming soldiers and civilians lose their lives. Jtdam09, there was a war going on in Ming Dynasty China around that time right?

 

[ShaolinTiger86]

With the way the storyline is happening, Zas and Talim really should come back for SCVI. Since they said that my priestess is alive, all I can assume is that she's going around helping to heal the malfested or she's been imprisoned. Probably by some devious dude who's aware of her healing abilities and wants to either use her or control her. As for Zassy, he's bound to notice something's going on. As the mastermind he is, I'm sure he's plotting to do something about it. (>*_-)
And the only thing I have to say gameplay wise is just to add a few more moves to the movelist. I'm not very fond of the CE but I do like BE.

I'm also certain that Zas will more than likely return after probably seeing some visions of SC and SE creating more catastrophes back in his time and decides to take up arms to prevent this from happening in the present time (a la his ending from SCIV). And as for Talim, I'm pretty sure the wind is telling her the same thing, and would probably want to destroy both swords also, which may lead to her teaming up with Kilik, who had the same idea of neutralizing both swords. There's lots of possibilities and storylines for these veterans to come back. It can work.

 

[BT_Johnny]

". . .which is why Xianghua will come back to help Leixia out."

Oh yeah.

 

[ShaolinTiger86]

i like dark and twisted plots; it is more enjoyabale to the general audience.

Well, Soul Calibur IV was on the right path in the series' direction and should've build more upon it. It would've made a lot more sense and caught everyone's attention. Imagine Soul Calibur V, with the same cast from IV, some new characters thrown in, more darker atmosphere (with some light/day stages), a viable plot, and bam you got a series worth taking seriously.

 

[optymuss]

Its the only way I can feel the character's importance and truly feel wether or not their motives and perception of the plot they're surrounded by is genuine. I don't like ditzy bubbly characters that don't have a constructive side to them. I know I may be shoving out my preferences down PS's throat but I just see SC artistically more appealing as a darker game. Not a gloomy game but more reletive to what it once was, more demonic and dark. I mean
"I'll burn you alive / Cower in Fear / Come with me to hell / Taste my PAIN / I'll cut your heart out" doesn't fit a happy-go-lucky look to me. What happened? I like Omega Pyrha but there just isnt enough! Project Soul just changed Talim into the 7-year-old goodie-two-shoes she is now...but her personality isn’t as irritating as Xiba's, she's just representing youthful innocence on a vivid exaggeration parallel to Amy who is sadistic and downhearted.. Though like Leixia, she is tolerable and has the adorability shield for most fans.

talim is a very hopeful person and and somewhat pure, if she is to be in SC or someone similiar to her then it would be very interesting to see her hope break or to see her manipulated on a level to make her despair or be nihilistic. This will be useful not in just enjoyability but the fact that talim is .....well.... facing hardships.

i dislike theory though

I'm also certain that Zas will more than likely return after probably seeing some visions of SC and SE creating more catastrophes back in his time and decides to take up arms to prevent this from happening in the present time (a la his ending from SCIV). And as for Talim, I'm pretty sure the wind is telling her the same thing, and would probably want to destroy both swords also, which may lead to her teaming up with Kilik, who had the same idea of neutralizing both swords. There's lots of possibilities and storylines for these veterans to come back. It can work.

take note that zas and talim were only out of SC because of their overall design flaw in relation to the new mechanics and the amount of time to make the characters newcomer friendly by providing flexibilty in their movelists.

many moves for zas and talim would be filtered and cut out in their SC4 movelist. These characters would probabaly have totally different styles if they were to be in SCV or any other future installment with similar mechanics.

if they were to be in SCV with a few tweaks to their SC4 movelist in terms of frames, but not structure, then both characters, especially zas, would be almost impossible to play with at a high level

so, again....it would take some in depth thought on how to make the character flexible for the player.

Well, Soul Calibur IV was on the right path in the series' direction and should've build more upon it. It would've made a lot more sense and caught everyone's attention. Imagine Soul Calibur V, with the same cast from IV, some new characters thrown in, more darker atmosphere (with some light/day stages), a viable plot, and bam you got a series worth taking seriously.

i like Sc4 for it's complexity. it was a fast game, but it was too complex for the average player to handle and it focused on more experienced players.

GIs for example were very overpowered, but me and many other people never saw players abuse this option to it's max.

so why not make it easier for everyone?

in terms of providing the younger consumer, it was horrid. It lacked flexibilty for the players.

I mean compare FF10 to FF12. FF10 took much time to perfect and was therefore a bit of a bore and complex(arenas, maxing out, dark aeons, penance), while FF12 provided more options for players and side quests.

Providing more options for players, any player, is worth it, but again you have to focus on the main idea of the game.

SC is a fighting game series not a final fantasy game.

you get what i am saying right?

 

[Mr.MeatHook]

All I can say is, evil demon Natsu = HAWT.

 

[Solo]

i like Sc4 for it's complexity. it was a fast game, but it was too complex for the average player to handle and it focused on more experienced players.
SCIV wasn't fast at all in my opinion. Although the main difference in speed between SCIV and SCV is the stepping distance. Not even the speed of the stepping. The rounds are faster only because of the damage output SCV characters have.
GIs for example were very overpowered, but me and many other people never saw players abuse this option to it's max.
And JG isn't? When you did a GI you where taking a risk. With JG you aren't risking anything.
so why not make it easier for everyone?
Because it isn't the veteran player's fault newer players have trouble learning.
in terms of providing the younger consumer, it was horrid. It lacked flexibilty for the players.
I'll just pretend you didn't say that.
Providing more options for players, any player, is worth it, but again you have to focus on the main idea of the game.
If we're talking about the movesets themselves I'd say SCV limits how a player can play a character. In older games you could play a character in many different ways.

 

[DevilsDisguise]

i like Sc4 for it's complexity. it was a fast game, but it was too complex for the average player to handle and it focused on more experienced players.

Complex yes but Fast? No. Most of the Characters to me felt heavier and slower. At times epecially with Nightmare and Sigfried it felt like they were actually wearing armour. Nightmare's speed was cut in half at least since SC3.

so why not make it easier for everyone?
in terms of providing the younger consumer, it was horrid. It lacked flexibilty for the players.

Most people, the actual fans of the series didn't find it difficult at all once the effort was put into to practice, why should a new generation get the exception. If people want to engage then learn it as we did.

Providing more options for players, any player, is worth it, but again you have to focus on the main idea of the game.

You can't demand more options but refuse to learn them. The previous SC games weren't hard and did have a competent tutorial to learn from. Though thats what I think the Single player modes did, it was the practice for people not ready for online that was more rewarding then pressing [X] 5 times then moving to the next move. With this in mind, I truly do value weapon Master for being both rewarding and educational. Thats why we need Single player content. For the beginners. SC4 and 5 offered no where to train without getting bored within the first 5 minutes.

take note that zas and talim were only out of SC because of their overall design flaw in relation to the new mechanics and the amount of time to make the characters newcomer friendly by providing flexibilty in their movelists.

Thats why they shouldn't have bothered to change what worked for them. I applaud their lack of cooperation and protesting with their functionality for the game but sadly got them nowhere.

 

[optymuss]

im guessing i wasnt specific enough, i am just stating what i have observed over the course of the series.

i dont care for theory fight, but i will say that JGs are risky. that is all.

I was saying both vetran and newer players didnt utilize the maximum potential of GIs, which was what made the game so much more faster, but against newcomers it was still too overpowering, but again even vetran players, throughout the series never utilized it to it's maximum potential. This problem existed throughout the series.

by the "younger consumer" i mean casual players, who looked at things like single player options and CaS. SC4 lacked in this.

you couldnt really play a character in multiple ways in past games because of the complexity and the player being overwhelmed.....also there wasnt much balance, but the mechanics were more important in previous installments, unlike SCVs flexibility though these mechanics were very one tracked in terms of how they were applied.

SCV is balanced, providing a somewhat even, if not exactly even risk/reward ratio. the mechanics give risk to theoretically everything in SCV, and this makes the game have many approaches for characters for players.

Ex: the different styles of pyrrha, voldo, viola, leixia, maxi, xiba, pat, a pat, omega, etc.

 

[Solo]

im guessing i wasnt specific enough, i am just stating what i have observed over the course of the series.

i dont care for theory fight, but i will say that JGs are risky. that is all.
I never knew option select JG was risky...
I was saying both vetran and newer players didnt utilize the maximum potential of GIs, which was what made the game so much more faster, but against newcomers it was still too overpowering, but again even vetran players, throughout the series never utilized it to it's maximum potential. This problem existed throughout the series.
I'll just leave this one alone, don't want to start a flame war.
by the "younger consumer" i mean casual players, who looked at things like single player options and CaS. SC4 lacked in this.
I don't care about them.
you couldnt really play a character in multiple ways in past games because of the complexity and the player being overwhelmed.....also there wasnt much balance, but the mechanics were more important in previous installments, unlike SCVs flexibility though these mechanics were very one tracked in terms of how they were applied.
Characters in SCIV had more tools to deal with more situations. That says enough right there.
SCV is balanced, providing a somewhat even, if not exactly even risk/reward ratio. the mechanics give risk to theoretically everything in SCV, and this makes the game have many approaches for characters for players.
Cervantes says hi.
Ex: the different styles of pyrrha, voldo, viola, leixia, maxi, xiba, pat, a pat, omega, etc.