As the "tale of souls and swords" has been "eternally retold" each entry has become slightly more over-the-top, whether it's the appearance of Kratos, the rapid increase in pixels making up certain areas of Ivy's character model, or the lengths of customisation the player can go to with created fighters, Soul Calibur had begun to verge on the ludicrous. Yet with Soul Calibur V it would appear that this aspect of the game is being dialled back. Don't be mistaken, this dial is still set to ten – retaining the flashy and fast combat the series is known for – but so far it's not at full-on lightsaber eleven.
Oh, shiny!.
Set over fifteen years after the events of Soul Calibur IV, the world has moved on and characters have aged suitably, Mitsurugi for example, is now looking weather beaten from his travels, Sophitia Alexandra has had children - Patroklos and Pyrrha – and they now enter the arena as new combatants. For a title that's so unafraid to experiment with time and space, there's now a profound sense of realistic chronology and setting.
Of the two arenas shown, perhaps the most visually exciting was one within the boundaries of a castle under siege, two combatants going toe-to-toe amidst a raging war, where several NPCs in the background are locked in their own struggles. In terms of play mechanics these areas aren't a million miles away from previous games – there are ring outs to capitalise upon for quick victories and walls to trap opponents - but it's encouaraging to know that Soul Calibur V's development team are continuing the tradition of visually impressive backdrops to the action.
The return of many favourites will make fans happy.
Soul Calibur V's engine itself appears to have been refined too, as models are more detailed than ever before; Hildegard's armour glistens and shines in the light, Maxi's nunchuks are highly detailed as they gracefully spin and twirl toward their target. Maxi's smooth flowing fighting style also showcases just how impeccable Namco's animators have become at chaining movements together and there's a definite beauty to behold in the deadly dance of two skilled players duking it out.
The fantastical elements of Soul Calibur's design are still here, with axes and daggers, swords and spears often leaving trails of colour behind them, especially upon the execution of more powerful techniques, though they obfuscate the action less than number four. However now these movements seem to have a lot more weight behind them; successfully landing a string of stabs and slashes has real impact and when a character lands a position sensitive throw, the game's camera frames each stage of the grapple for maximum "ouch" value.
Purple circle beats yellow circle.
Bouts are over quickly, a good combo string often removing a quarter of a player's life bar, but so long as you're equally matched, the tide of battle can turn on a dime; a well timed counter or cheeky sidestep opening opponents up to direction-and-button-press punishment. From the character select screen it looks as if over thirty warriors will make the final build, a number which one might describe with the adjective "whopping". New entrants fit the mythos and play perfectly, better fitting the overall tone of the series than a resident of Dagoba ever could, and since many have grown up or grown older, their speed has been altered a little to fit their personas better. What remains rapid are the loads into matches and general setup, each menu clean but clear, the process of getting into games taking seconds.
The convention was only showcasing local multiplayer so it'll be a while before we see how the online fares, likewise the single player content wasn't on show and will be deathly important should the net code be weak. However, with several months ahead of Soul Calibur V's planned release in Q1 of 2012, things are looking very rosy for Namco's now premiere fighting series.
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