“Do your souls still burn?” This was the question posed to the audience at The Game Awards by Motohiro Kubo before he left the stage, only to be replaced by the trailer for Soul Calibur VI. Yes, the series lives on, and it is coming back in a big way.
The new trailer highlighted a couple of key things: flashy new graphics, a dramatic story which once again pits good against evil, and the return of some fan-favorite characters. The last game in the series hit in 2012 before the new generation of consoles had even kicked-off. Soul Calibur V featured Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio as a special character, but no hint of who would feature in the sixth game in the series was dropped tonight.
The Soul Calibur games have always been a great 3D fighting franchise. Weaving and dodging between an enemy’s attacks and lurching forward to deliver your own has always been responsive, stylish, and fun. And it has only gotten better over the years. Soul Calibur V signaled a new era, introducing plenty of new characters and progressing the timeline.
Not only will Soul Calibur VI expand on the lore, but it will undoubtedly pepper in new gameplay additions that will change the game for the better. Bandai Namco has been doing very well with its fighting games, most recently with the release of Tekken 7. By all accounts, it knows how to manage its franchises, so fans don’t need to worry. When the game lands next year, we will finally see the series back in form for the first time in six years. The footage was very much just a tease, but it hints at great things to come and a return to the basics.
Soul Calibur VI will release on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 sometime in 2018.