This weekend at Comic-Con I had the honor of speaking with Soul Calibur V producer Hisaharu Tago to learn more about what’s in store for the fabled fighting franchise.
In our Indian style sit down, in the confines of one of the halls at the San Diego Conventions center, Tago-san opened up a little more about some of the new features for this 2012 release. While he was still very coy about some of the bigger surprises that are in the works, it’s apparent that they are really listening to the fan feedback from Soul Calibur IV to ensure that Soul Calibur V is the best in the series.
Destructoid: Soul Calibur V looks even faster and flashier than previous games. What has been the inspiration for the decision for these new gameplay enhancements?
Soul Calibur IV was released three years ago. Since Soul Calibur IV and until now, so many fighting games were released and they improved their fighting systems. They have improved in terms of speed, combos and extra attacks, graphically and technically.
Since the game is set 17 years after the events of Soul Calibur IV are we going to see a lot of new fighters?
The ratio for returning and new characters will be about 50/50.
Will the returning characters look older or maybe be slower than they used to be?
This change doesn’t lead to the old characters moving slower. The characters will be matured and their experiences will have changed their fighting styles. I didn’t want to see Mitsurugi fighting like a grandpa, swinging his sword saying “oh it’s so heavy.”
The footage from the E3 trailer showed what appeared to be a stage from Soul Calibur IV.Was this just a placeholder? Will we see all new locations in Soul Calibur V?
You can find more brand new stages for Soul Calibur V, that maybe you thought were in Soul Calibur III or IV. Some of the brand new stages have no ring outs. It is a big change for Soul Calibur V.
Some stages before have had walls to prevent ring outs. Will we see even more juggling combos?
These new no ring out stages will be similar to Tekken where there are no walls, an infinite stage.
Will there be an arcade version along with the console editions?
Soul Calibur V will be released first for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. I can’t say anything at the time about the development of an arcade version now. The company doesn’t want to have an arcade version of Soul Calibur V, but personally I would love to develop an arcade version.
Will gameplay mechanics such as armor and weapon breaking return in Soul Calibur V?
Since production has started the team has been working on reviewing every feature that has been in Soul Calibur to pick out and improve every feature. For example “ring outs” in some stages have been removed. Please stay tuned for new information about armor breaks and weapon breaks. Every feature could be more interesting.
The series has been great for both serious and casual players, but Soul Calibur IV‘s Critical Finish attacks were near impossible for me to pull off. Are you trying to make Soul Calibur V even more accessible for newer players?
Some new gameplay systems were announced at E3. There is no more Critical Finish in Soul Calibur V, instead there is Critical Edge. Critical Edge is relatively easy and simple to execute.
That’s great to hear! While Critical Finish attacks were beautiful I rarely ever got to see them.
Critical Edge will have the same king of camera work and beautiful visuals.
The series has been known to have some special guest characters. Soul Calibur IV had Darth Vader and Yoda. Should we expect more characters like that with Soul Calibur V?
At this moment we can say yes about these types of characters. There is guest characters in Soul Calibur V, but we can’t say who they are, so stay tuned. I promise to make you surprised.
Can we expect the same great extra modes in Soul Calibur V that the series has become to be known for?
In the Soul Calibur series, every Soul Calibur game can gives not only a competitive mode, but some extra modes. Soul Calibur V must have some extra modes.
What weapon would you most like to bring to Soul Calibur V that has not been previously featured in the series?
New character information will be coming. So at the moment I cannot say a specific answer. The Soul Calibur series has always been characterized as a weapons based fighting game. There are so many weapons in the game, but the team has broadened the definition of weapon in Soul Calibur V. So some new characters will have you thinking “so this is a weapon.”
