Skip to main content

SoulCalibur V missing three-fourths of planned story says producer

Image used with permission by copyright holder

SoulCalibur V is a good game. The fighting is tight, fast, and beautiful to look at, the smoothest slice of one-on-one weapon fighting that Namco’s made since 2003’s SoulCalibur II.

Recommended Videos

There’s a problem though. It’s missing parts. Whole characters with distinct fighting styles from previous entries are gone. Some classic fighters, once unlocked through the game’s single player modes, are stripped of their signature weapons and turned shuffled golems like Edge Master. Who would do that to Kilik and Sophitia!? Worse still, rather than the lengthy action role-playing single player modes of classic SoulCalibur, this game has a bizarre story mode that follows just two new characters, Pyrhha and Patroklos, the whiniest brother and sister in gaming history.

Turns out this wasn’t always the plan. SoulCalibur V producer Daishi Odashima told Train2Game (via Kotaku) in an interview that the team was building a fuller solo mode for the game. “Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character’s 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.”

Straight from the producer himself: SoulCalibur V released with just a quarter of the single-player content it was supposed to have.

That is heartbreaking. Where many franchises suffer from an overabundance of alternative modes and mini-games as more sequels release, SoulCalibur has been shedding features with each successive entry. Not only have full stories for characters been yanked out, but quest modes like SoulCalibur II’s Weapons Master have disappeared as well. Project Soul, the team behind the series, has also taken out great competitive modes like Team Battle, where each player selected eight fighters and set them against each other in a seamlessly tournament.

What have these features been replaced by? A character creation mode that lets you live the dream of having Lady Gaga fight Voldo and online fights.

It’s not as though players don’t want this content in their fighting games. 2011’s Mortal Kombat is a perfect example. That game had not one but two substantial single-player modes. The story mode was not only long and well-written–by self-aware schlock standards at least–but a competent trainer that taught players how to use most of the game’s characters. It was complimented nicely by Challenge Tower, a series of 300 funny and difficult missions to plow through. If Namco needs proof that it was worth investing in the difficult creation of these modes, just look at Kombat‘s 3 million sales in its first six months.

You are missed, classic SoulCalibur.

Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
3 PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (June 13-15)
Dead by Daylight player standing in front of a fire.

After the State of Play last week, followed by all the Summer Game Fest announcements, PlayStation fans have tons of upcoming PS5 games to look forward to. The only downside is we can't play them right now. That's where my weekly PS Plus game recommendations come in to save the weekend. This time around, I wanted to mix things up by celebrating Friday the 13th as well as give you some games to wet your appetites for a few of the more exciting game announcements. I've crammed in a classic multiplayer game, brutal single-player adventure, and cult classic strategy title here to cover as many bases as possible.

Dead by Daylight

Read more
3 new Game Pass games to play this weekend (June 13-15)
The mobile base in The Alters.

If you're a superstitious person, Friday the 13th might be a bad sign for this weekend. While I can't say you won't encounter any bad luck, what I can promise is that you will have more than enough fun with all the new Game Pass games hitting the service. Last weekend's Xbox Games Showcase showed off too many upcoming Xbox Series X games to count, most of which will be day-one Game Pass games when they come out, but we still have a while to wait for games like Keeper and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. All that excitement may have overshadowed the latest batch of Game Pass games, including a fantastic day one sci-fi survival game like nothing else, a delightful co-op strategy game, and the biggest sports game just in time for the World Cup.

The Alters

Read more
I played 9 games at Tribeca Fest. They all need to be on your radar
A character stands in a church in Mio: Memories of Orbit.

Here's a tip for anyone who's trying to scout out the next great indie game: Pay attention to Tribeca Fest. A few years ago, the film festival expanded its modern, multimedia approach to include video games as official selections. In that time, it has showcased a who's who of indie games that went on to become critical darlings. We're talking games like Blue Prince, Immortality, Despelote, and Chants of Sennaar -- all of which went on to become some of the best reviewed games of the 2020's here at Digital Trends. You will always find something truly special at Tribeca Fest.

This year's show is no different. Nine upcoming games were in competition at the festival this year, and all of them are poised to become breakout indies. Because we love nothing more than scouting promising indies, Digital Trends attended this year's Tribeca Fest and checked out what this year's show had to offer. From a stylish beat-em-up to a 90s coming of age tale soundtracked by the likes of Devo, these nine games should be on your radar.

Read more