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Soulcalibur: Lost Swords back online following launch issues
As quickly as it appeared, Bandai Namco's free to play, singleplayer Soulcalibur: Lost Swords vanished in a cloud of bug reports and uncooperative servers. Now, Soulcalibur: Lost Swords has returned, and the publisher claims things are "running smoothly." Last week, on the day Soulcalibur: Lost Swords should have made its debut, we described the game as mechanically similar to Soulcalbur 5, though noted that Lost Swords is packed with typical free to play gimmicks. Players may only choose a single fighter from a relatively paltry initial handful, and can only battle foes until their pool of in-game currency runs low or they opt to spend real-world cash to squeeze in a few more fights. Unfortunately for would-be combatants, this entire system relies on constant connectivity with Bandai Namco's servers. When Soulcalibur: Lost Swords launched alongside a rash of connectivity errors, the publisher had no choice but to delay the game's debut. Though the announcement posted to the Bandai Namco Facebook page makes no mention of what previously crippled the fighter, the publisher claims everything is now up and running on the PlayStation Network, urging players to report any future connectivity issues they might experience. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Soulcalibur: Lost Swords issues make game unplayable, 'launch delayed'
Free-to-play fighter Soulcalibur: Lost Swords may be available in the West now, but players are complaining that the game is completely unplayable. In a sort of rehash of last year's Sim City issues, Lost Swords requires players to connect to its servers when launching and playing the game, despite being a single-player experience. Sure enough, that's the point players can't get past at the moment. Instead, the PS3 game eventually produces an error code message and then sends players back to the title screen. Player reports on Twitter, Facebook and the PlayStation Blog indicate the problem is widespread, although it does seem that some players have managed to access and play the game. We tested it out this morning, and while we managed to register a profile and create a character, we weren't able to access Lost Swords gameplay across several attempts. The only mode the game let us select was Quests, and when trying to load up the initial tutorial quest, it produced an error code for a lost connection to the server, and returned us to the title screen. Lost Swords also wouldn't let us load it without signing into PSN beforehand - it's not clear why exactly that's been implemented, although a key feature of Lost Swords is being able to download other players' characters to use as tag-in allies in battle. For its part, Bandai Namco America has acknowledged a "technical issue that has delayed the launch of the game" - for the record, Lost Swords remains available to download on the PlayStation Store, and the game itself makes no note about a delayed launch. "We have discovered that the issue requires a resolution across multiple parties and therefore our efforts to remedy the issue is taking longer than anticipated." the publisher said last night on the Soulcalibur Facebook page. "Currently we are working feverishly with a key partner to implement a solution in the shortest amount of time possible." [Thanks, JC!] [Image: Bandai Namco]
Soulcalibur: Lost Swords finds a home on PlayStation 3
Today marks the debut of Bandai Namco's Soulcalibur: Lost Swords, an attempt at transferring the free-to-play success of Tekken Revolution to the publisher's other big 3D fighting franchise. Like Tekken Revolution, Soulcalibur: Lost Swords is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and can be downloaded from the PlayStation Network at no charge. Though superficially a one-on-one fighter mechanically similar to Soulcalibur 5, Lost Swords is a single-player game where players fight their way through typical Soulcalibur battles, earning items which can then be used to customize their chosen character. As in Tekken Revolution, each battle requires that players expend a certain amount of in-game currency, though once this supply runs low, players can either wait for it to gradually refill or shell out real-world cash to speed the process. To reward those who just can't wait to slice and dice their polygonal foes, Bandai Namco is offering a gratis set of "bonus items" to anyone who plays the game within its first month of release. There's no word on what exactly these bonus items are, but knowing the series it could be anything from new weapons to inexplicable Star Wars tie-ins. [Image: Bandai Namco]
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords heading to Europe, Australasia this spring
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords will launch this spring on PSN, Namco Bandai (soon to be Bandai Namco) announced today. The launch window for the free-to-play fighting game is for Europe and Australasian regions; no word on a North American release date as of yet. It was originally expected in winter 2013. Meanwhile, Japanese players should be able to check out the game today. SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is exclusive to PS3, and features weapon forging and discovery as well as elemental combat. According to the trailer that accompanied the announcement, players will "gather allies from around the world" by using friends' characters for support in their battles. Other than that, it is entirely a single-player experience.
Pyrrha, Astaroth, Nightmare unveiled for Soulcalibur: Lost Swords
Three wise fighters came to Soulcalibur: Lost Swords. And lo, the swordswoman Pyrrha offered the game the gift of Woe, the meat slab Astaroth presented the gift of Destruction, and the dark knight Nightmare... more Destruction. It was not the happiest of holidays, especially since Soulcalibur: Lost Swords really wanted a Buzz Lightyear doll. And lo, Namco's free-to-play, single-player fighter ventures onto PS3 sometime next year.
Soulcalibur won't draw free-to-play Lost Swords until next year
Free-to-play fighter Soulcalibur: Lost Swords is now due in 2014, after originally being pinned to hit PS3 via PSN in winter 2013. The new release window was announced on the series' official Facebook page, and via two trailers from Namco Bandai Europe. The two trailers showcase returning combatants Sophitia and Siegfried, but are essentially the same videos released by Namco Japan last month. As for the game, we do know that shirtless samurai Mitsurugi is another confirmed fighter, the game itself is limited to single-player, and that it runs on the next iteration of the Soulcalibur 5 engine. Beyond that, confirmed details are as difficult to find as the swords.
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords fights alongside friends in new screens
Namco's newly released screens of free-to-play, single-player entry SoulCalibur: Lost Swords are more revealing than they first seem. According to Siliconera, what we're looking at is a support system that lets you temporarily swap in a friend's character for your own. Namco Bandai hasn't released any concrete details on what modes feature in Lost Swords, but we do know the game's running on the "next iteration" of the SoulCalibur 5 engine. As Producer Masaaki Hashino told us in September, "The game system itself is quite different, it's been more streamlined and simplified so that people can more easily perform flashy, over-the-top maneuvers," Soulcalibur: Lost Swords is due to hit the PlayStation Network this winter.
Namco Bandai trademarks 'Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul'
"Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul" has been trademarked by Namco Bandai in Europe, suggesting that the publisher has an as yet unrevealed Soulcalibur game in the works. Reading through the trademark application tells us little about what Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul might be. Its approved uses suggest that this will be a new video game (or potentially an online service) but beyond that details are scarce. We've reached out to Namco Bandai for more information, but the company was unwilling to comment. If Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Souls is indeed a new Soulcalibur game, it would mark the third such project currently in progress at Namco Bandai. Not only is the publisher developing a high-definition remake of fan-favorite Soul Calibur II, but it's also working on the free-to-play fighter Soulcalibur Lost Swords.
SoulCalibur: Lost Swords coming winter 2013 with Sophitia in tow
Namco Bandai's new free-to-play, single-player tale of souls/swords SoulCalibur: Lost Swords is expected to launch on the PlayStation Network sometime this winter, the company announced at a private pre-TGS event earlier this week. The game also marks classic Athenian warrior Sophitia's return to the stage of history, after being killed off between SoulCaliburs 4 and 5. So far, Mitsurugi and Siegfried are the only other confirmed characters, but we figure that won't be the case for long. Producer Masaaki Hoshino could not speak to how exactly the game will be monetized, though he was able to clarify that Lost Swords runs on "the next iteration" of the SoulCalibur 5 engine. "The game system itself is quite different, it's been more streamlined and simplified so that people can more easily perform flashy, over-the-top maneuvers," Hoshino told us through a translator.
Soulcalibur Lost Swords is a free-to-play PSN exclusive
Namco Bandai Europe announced Soulcalibur Lost Swords this morning, the publisher's latest in its growing line of free-to-play PS3 games. Like Tekken Revolution, Ridge Racer: Driftopia, and Ace Combat: Infinity before it, the first F2P Soulcalibur will be released over PSN, and will be exclusive to the platform. Namco Europe's announcement comes after Lost Swords scans were unearthed from Weekly Famitsu (via Game Jouhou and Gematsu). According to the Namco announcement sent to Joystiq, Lost Swords is a "free-to-play single-player experience and will feature numerous famous fighters including Siegfried and Mitsurugi." We've reached out to Namco to confirm the game features no multiplayer. Also, while the announcement is strictly for Europe, it seems likely Lost Swords will come to North America too, given a regional trademark unearthed for it a few months ago. While details are sparse, Namco promises more info at next week's Tokyo Game Show, where we'll also get to see more of the upcoming Soul Calibur 2: HD Online.
'Soulcalibur Lost Swords' trademark enters the stage
Namco Bandai has filed a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for Soulcalibur Lost Swords, a potential new entry in the storied fighting franchise. The trademark was filed last week on July 11 and specifically mentions a game "that may be accessed network-wide by network users via mobile phones and computers; providing computer games via network between communications networks and computers." No other information is provided in the Soulcalibur Lost Swords trademark filing. Soulcalibur V launched on the PS3 and Xbox 360 early last year. It's a game that our review said is "simultaneously one of the best Soul Calibur games ever made, as well as the worst Soul Calibur game ever made" due to its strong fighting mechanics and less-than-stellar production values.
