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SoulCalibur 5's story mode is one-fourth its originally planned size
SoulCalibur 5's lackluster single-player offerings majorly stuck in my craw when I reviewed it last January, and while the game's combat is primarily excellent, I couldn't overlook the fact that its story mode is, as I said in my review, "a 3-hour hodgepodge of indecipherable, confusing storyboard panels punctuated by random (although admittedly gorgeous) cinematics."As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who wanted more from the game's story mode: "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every characters' story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren't able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game," said SC5 director Daishi Odashima during an interview with Train2Game.In its current form, SC5's story mode follows the adventures of Sophitia's children Pyrrha and Patrokolos. Similar story modes would have existed for every character, but developmental restrictions prevented that from happening. Voice overs for some characters' canned stories exist in a finished, usable state, but Namco Bandai currently has no plans for how (or if) they'll ever be used.
Namco Bandai site teases 'new chapter,' likely next Soulcalibur
We've known a new Soul Calibur game is coming since back in December and now it would appear that Namco Bandai is finally ready to make a formal announcement. Well, not now now. Like, in two weeks. A site teasing a "new chapter" in something has recently emerged online, counting down to May 11 -- presumably when the identity of said chapter will be announced. Corroborating the mid-May reveal is a tweet from Soul Calibur's "current game director" Daishi Odashima promising "to announce something" at that time. If we were rating the mystery behind this reveal, we'd probably give it an F. Minus. [Thanks, Jaxon]
Soulcalibur series returns to the stage of history
Daishi Odashima, Soul Calibur IV designer, opened a Twitter account on Christmas day, offering the following tease as his gift to fans of the weapons-based fighter series: "SC is BACK! Get ready, fans!" To prove he was serious, he included a picture of himself at his desk, with a drawing of the Soul Calibur sword. With a new Soul Calibur now in the works, that officially brings the number of franchise fighting games on the way from Namco Bandai to three, including Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Tekken vs. Street Fighter. Thanks for this fighting game renaissance, Street Fighter IV!
