As Expected, Soul Calibur V Has Been Announced

Based on Namco Bandai's super-helpful countdown clock teaser page that everyone seemed pretty sure was related to a new Soul Calibur game, we expected an announcement of the new title sometime around now-ish. And we certainly got one, though anyone who was glued to that page for the last several hours actually missed the first Soul Calibur V announcement, which happened like six hours ago.

At a press event held in Dubai (which we didn't go to, because Dubai is far), Namco Bandai officially released the first details on its new Soul Calibur sequel, which is coming next year for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The new game is set 17 years following the events of the last game, and focuses on a new character named Patroklos, who is the son of Sophitia. He has a moveset directly inspired by her play style.

Producer Hisaharu Tago was quoted as describing the new game as a "generational shift" for the series, with a number of new characters joining some old standbys. Though character lists are still currently under wraps, Siegfried and Nightmare have both been confirmed. Tago also said that some guest characters, in the vein of Star Wars (but probably not actually Star Wars) would likely appear. Create-a-character is back as well, so perhaps you can just make Darth Vader if you really feel like it.

Soul Calibur V also marks a shift in gameplay style, with the two-handed swords of old being replaced by short swords. "The enigma as to why the swords have become short swords" will apparently be addressed in the game's story. So don't worry, you won't be left dangling with excruciating anticipation over the mystery behind that little detail.

The change in swords will have some impact on the pace of the game, which is described as "lighter, sharper, and more elegant." Tago stated this would lead to moves and combos that felt more continuous and easier to pull off, but was also quick to mention that the core gameplay would still feel appropriately like Soul Calibur.

No actual gameplay has been shown as of yet, but we expect we'll be seeing more of the title come this year's E3. In the meantime, feel free to start speculating wildly about who those guest characters will be. I'm going with the guys from The Knife Show.

Looking forward to this.

I was a big fan of the first two games but 3 and 4 were pretty awful games.

Not sure if I care about SC series anymore after 4.

SCV ready to go.

Still playing SC4 sometimes :)

Welcome back.....to the stage of history.

Will be interested to see how their boob physics have advanced.

" Will be interested to see how their boob physics have advanced. "

Back then there were no pills you could take to extend the length of your sword Alex.

Uh... almost 100% sure some of the characters in SCIV used short swords.

They're going to fight with shorts words? This is a spelling game?

Soul Calibur Vs what? *internet laugh* eek.

Well, as long as Knightmare has got his big ass sword, I'm okay with this news. He still has a big sword, right? Right?!

" Uh... almost 100% sure some of the characters in SCIV used short swords. "

I really don't get what everyone's problem with 3 and 4 is, I mean they had pretty bad story modes, but with the exception of the last two Mortal Kombat games, pretty much every fighting game has bad story modes.

So this is going to be the Street Fighter 3 of roster changes for Soul Calibur (sort of?)? Alrighty. I expect a lot of the roster to be just children of veteran cast members (so hey, younger versions of Taki and Ivy and Mitsurugi. Well, not Mitsurugi. It'd be cool to see him still going crazy at age 60-something). Kinda meh about the guest characters, but maybe they'll make them work better than the Star Wars folk. And the idea of making the game faster and more fluid sounds good to me.

Would be nice to see Namco not throw in any stupid guest characters, but at the very least let's see some improvement over Star Wars characters.

Does the world need another SC game?

If they make a port for Nintendo's new console I hope they put Link in it again for shits and giggles.

After the last SC on the 360 that I played, I think that if this is another disc based game that it probably won't do all that great versus downloaded digital version. To me this is another Japanese franchise that did well in the arcades but starting to fade on being a fun fighting game & if it's a disc based game, the last one went rather stale in a short amount of time (glad I rented it but if I bought it I wouldn't be sure how long I'd want to play it).

" @LordXavierBritish said:

" Uh... almost 100% sure some of the characters in SCIV used short swords. "

I believe that was actually a reference to the swords Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, which have in the past been depicted as two-handed swords. "

I remember Soul Calibur 2 being really good. What happened?

" @Hailinel said:

" @LordXavierBritish said:

" Uh... almost 100% sure some of the characters in SCIV used short swords. "

I believe that was actually a reference to the swords Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, which have in the past been depicted as two-handed swords. "

In Soulcalibur 1 and 2, Xianghua used the Calibur and it was a pretty small sword.  It changed appearance in 3 but was still pretty small, only 4 had the huge broad sword version.

So I'm not really sure what they're trying to say with the short sword thing either, other than maybe just that Seigfried and Nightmare don't have their huge weapons any more..  Which seems to ruin the point.  I liked the huge variety of weapons in the game.

"

I loved SC2 and SC4 and I am stoked for SC5. It's been some time since the last game anyway. Unless you count legends. Which I don't.

Street fighter and Mortal Kombat have both demonstrated that they are up to the innovation challenge, its time to see if SB can keep up. My opinion: no

1up has a teaser trailer, here.

I'm a soul calibur fan.  Can't say I see why anyone who liked the first games would feel differently about the later ones, aside from some poorly chosen additional characters and weaker single player modes.    Didn't improve much over time, but how often do fighting games do that?

lol Dubai i feel someone is taking advantage somewhere.

" Does the world need another SC game? "

I like boobs.

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

Somewhat excited for the game, but was hoping they'd drop the whole "guest characters" idea. I'm not very fond of that.

" @Cube said:

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

The same could easily have been said about Mortal Kombat when the game was first announced.  After Armageddon and MKvsDC, the only people clamoring for more MK were the diehards like Jeff. "

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

The same could easily have been said about Mortal Kombat when the game was first announced.  After Armageddon and MKvsDC, the only people clamoring for more MK were the diehards like Jeff. "

Mortal Kombat and SC are two different series. Mortal Kombat has proven it's still relevant today if they include fatalities. It's SC's turn to prove it's relevance after 4 years. I really don't see it taking off, considering the mixed opinions of SCIV. We'll have to wait for E3, but I don't think anything new will be brought to the table. "

every important fighting game comeback has happened since SC4. i don't think anyone really cares about it at this point. i guess casual fans will enjoy it. i know my best friend is mad into soul calibur, but he sucks at ever other fighting game we play.

so with mk, ssf4:ae, mvc3, and next years sfXt, will anyone even be playing this?

" I like boobs. "

" @Cube said:

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

The same could easily have been said about Mortal Kombat when the game was first announced.  After Armageddon and MKvsDC, the only people clamoring for more MK were the diehards like Jeff. "

Mortal Kombat and SC are two different series. Mortal Kombat has proven it's still relevant today if they include fatalities. It's SC's turn to prove it's relevance after 4 years. I really don't see it taking off, considering the mixed opinions of SCIV. We'll have to wait for E3, but I don't think anything new will be brought to the table. "

Of course they're two different series.  But MK was on the outs before the latest game was released.  There's absolutely no way to say definitively right now that SCV can't return to the glory days, either. "

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

The same could easily have been said about Mortal Kombat when the game was first announced.  After Armageddon and MKvsDC, the only people clamoring for more MK were the diehards like Jeff. "

Mortal Kombat and SC are two different series. Mortal Kombat has proven it's still relevant today if they include fatalities. It's SC's turn to prove it's relevance after 4 years. I really don't see it taking off, considering the mixed opinions of SCIV. We'll have to wait for E3, but I don't think anything new will be brought to the table. "

Of course they're two different series.  But MK was on the outs before the latest game was released.  There's absolutely no way to say definitively right now that SCV can't return to the glory days, either. "

This is the part where you re-read what I originally said. I never said anything about "definitively" or "absolutely". The world "probably" doesn't need another Soul Calibur game.  "

Though it had it's problems, I enjoyed the last Soul Calibur, so I hope that they build on and improve the franchise with SCV.

Enjoyed four, amazed by the reaction people gave four due to the size of the female breasts.

I enjoyed the 2 handed sword combat.  Replacing it with a sword and shield, my least favorite weapon, makes me completely turned off to anything SC related anymore.

" Enjoyed four, amazed by the reaction people gave four due to the size of the female breasts.

Majority of gamers suddenly went against showing breasts in video games upon it's release, remember reading so many articles dedicated to that exact subject. Stupid when you think of it now. 

"

I like SC games, fighting with weapons is still enjoyable as a change of pace after all these years.  

" @TrueEnglishGent said:

" Enjoyed four, amazed by the reaction people gave four due to the size of the female breasts.

Majority of gamers suddenly went against showing breasts in video games upon it's release, remember reading so many articles dedicated to that exact subject. Stupid when you think of it now. 

"

And despite the exploding clothes, the ladies in SCIV weren't any less dressed than the average Mortal Kombat female. "

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @Hailinel said:

" @Cube said:

" @phrosnite said:

" Does the world need another SC game? "

Pretty much this, and the answer is "probably not". With Street Fighter IV, MVC 3, SF x Tekken, Mortal Kombat, etc. I think SCV will get lost in the shuffle. "

The same could easily have been said about Mortal Kombat when the game was first announced.  After Armageddon and MKvsDC, the only people clamoring for more MK were the diehards like Jeff. "

Mortal Kombat and SC are two different series. Mortal Kombat has proven it's still relevant today if they include fatalities. It's SC's turn to prove it's relevance after 4 years. I really don't see it taking off, considering the mixed opinions of SCIV. We'll have to wait for E3, but I don't think anything new will be brought to the table. "

Of course they're two different series.  But MK was on the outs before the latest game was released.  There's absolutely no way to say definitively right now that SCV can't return to the glory days, either. "

This is the part where you re-read what I originally said. I never said anything about "definitively" or "absolutely". The world "probably" doesn't need another Soul Calibur game.  "

" I'm a soul calibur fan.  Can't say I see why anyone who liked the first games would feel differently about the later ones, aside from some poorly chosen additional characters and weaker single player modes.    Didn't improve much over time, but how often do fighting games do that? "

I really liked Soul Calibur II. III seemed okay but misguided and IV was a beautiful mess (NO FREAKING STAR WARS CHARACTERS THIS TIME!!!) So I'm feeling skeptical about this.