SoulCalibur stories
Poll results: Soul Calibur 6 has at least 10 characters that are still unannounced; vote on which missing characters you'd like to see return
Update: The results are in! You can check them out after the jump.
Earlier: Soul Calibur 6's story will be taking place between the original Soul Calibur and Soul Calibur 2 meaning that most of the original cast will be returning after Soul Calibur 5 removed and replaced many of the series' iconic characters.
The latest E3 build of the game showed off a character select screen with 23 available spaces, not including random select, with only 13 characters announced and selectable meaning that there are likely more than 10 characters left to be announced plus more if we include the season pass.
10 of the announced characters are from the early titles while Grøh is an entirely new addition to the roster, Zasalamel returns after appearing in Soul Calibur 3 and 4, and Geralt of Rivia makes his way to the world of Soul Calibur as a guest character from the Witcher series.
The current returning cast from the first games includes series staples Mitsurugi, Taki, Sophitia, Ivy, Xainghua, Nightmare, Siegfried, Kilik, Maxi and Yoshimitsu though others appear to have been leaked by the ESRB recently.
As for the setting and timeframe of the game, the story will go back as far as 1583 A.D. which is actually a year before the events of Soul Edge/ Soul Blade, so we might see characters or references included from that game carry over as well. It will conclude in 1590 A.D. just before the start of the events of Soul Calibur 2.
Below we'll take a look at the characters from Soul Calibur 2 that are still not announced for Soul Calibur 6, and you can find the Soul Blade and original Soul Calibur characters after the jump. Be sure to vote in our poll for which of those characters you'd like to see make a return.
Soul Calibur 6 producer teases another 'major single-player mode' alongside new story mode details
We recently learned that the character creator mode that had become a bit of a staple for the Soul Calibur series would be returning for the sixth numbered entry, and it appears as though even more modes and features have yet to be revealed for the game.
In an interview featured in the latest weekly Famitsu magazine, Soul Calibur 6 producer Motohiro Okubo shared more information about the game's story mode and teased another large single-player mode is in the works for the title.
The story mode for Soul Calibur 6 will be called "Soul Chronicle" and will be told seemingly via a timeline with each character receiving their own selectable scenes along its grid. 2D stills and 3D cutscenes will be used alongside fights to expand upon the game and individual characters' stories.
For the timeline, the story will take place over a six-year period between 1583 and 1590 A.D. while most of the exposition will begin at 1586 A.D. meaning that it'll encompass the story prior to the original Soul Calibur leading all the way up to Soul Calibur 2.
Character creator and season pass confirmed for Soul Calibur 6
Bandai Namco had a busy E3 showing off Soul Calibur 6 to all who were interested, and now we know much more about the title including when it's coming out and what modes and features will be included.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, the game's producer, Motohiro Okubo, confirmed that the character creator mode would be returning in Soul Calibur 6 though he did not elaborate much as to what players should expect for the feature.
Create-a-Soul was first introduced in Soul Calibur 3 and has since become a staple for the franchise appearing in every numbered title since which still remains the only major fighting game series with a consistent original character creator mode.
"In terms of other modes, there is the alternative story mode that I mentioned before and the character creator that is a key element of SoulCalibur," said Okubo via Newsweek. "That’s going to be in there, we don’t know how it’s going to look yet. There will be online modes, of course, but how all of this is going to play out, I’d say stay tuned."
The character creator mode in previous games allowed players to use move sets of every character in the game (minus guest characters) plus some exclusive styles like Devil Jin in Soul Calibur 5 to customize their own original creation using hundreds of armor sets, hair styles and other accessories to make whatever they'd like whether they be cool, funny or just plain weird.
The E3 build of Soul Calibur 6 featured a character select screen with 23 slots for characters, so the game should feature at least 22 different character creator styles since Geralt's style likely won't be able to be used for the mode if it works similarly to previous titles.
The ESRB may have leaked unannounced characters for Soul Calibur 6
Game developers need to disclose any forms of violent, sexual or drug related content to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) so they can give each title an age-based rating with descriptions as to what the game contains. Their description for Soul Calibur 6 may have included too many specifics.
The newest Soul Calibur title is rated 'T' for its use of "blood, mild language, partial nudity and violence" while its rating summary goes into more details as to what those ratings are for.
In the case of this title, they say which weapons the characters use including some that belong to characters that have yet to be announced for Soul Calibur 6.
E3 2018 Soul Calibur 6 footage gives us another look at Geralt, Yoshimitsu, Taki, and a new stage
Soul Calibur 6 is getting some time to shine at E3 2018 this week. Bandai Namco's upcoming weapons-based fighting title will be playable on the show floor for those in attendance.
We're starting to see footage of Soul Calibur 6 surface from various publications, giving us a fresh look at some of the recently revealed characters.
In today's footage -- courtesy of VG247 and 巴哈姆特電玩瘋 -- we've got over 20 minutes of new gameplay footage for you to enjoy.
Featured in these matches you'll find recently revealed returning characters such as Taki, Yoshimitsu, and Maxi. You'll also catch The Witcher's Geralt in action here, who happens to be a guest character in Soul Calibur 6.
A new stage can also be seen here, as Taki vs. Yoshimitsu and Geralt vs. Nightmare takes place on a forest at night backdrop.
Some of the gameplay here appears to suffer from slowdown, likely due to the equipment it was played on. It's safe to say that Soul Calibur 6 actually plays a bit faster than what's shown in these videos.
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Soul Calibur 6 gets official release date, new story mode trailer
Bandai Namco has revealed Soul Calibur 6's official release date today at E3 2018. The latest entry in the 3D weapons-based fighter is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 19th, 2018.
Along with a release date, a new story mode trailer for Soul Calibur 6 was unveiled. In it, we see several of the currently announced characters doing battle as a search for Soul Edge unfolds.
The trailer opens with a look at Siegfried grabbing a hold of the Soul Edge and harnessing its power. We go on to see battles between Mitsurugi and Groh, Ivy and Xianghua, and more.
An interesting menu with character names is shown that appears to be the way players will experience the story. Progress for each character and the timeline of their stories is featured here, meaning we'll likely be able to piece together the full tale with each character individually.
A quick look at story mode art pieces can also be seen here. In these stills, we see other characters such as Cervantes, though we're unsure if this confirms that he'll be a part of the playable roster.
You can check out the trailer below.
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Sony E3 2018 conference: What fighting game reveals might we see tonight?
It's that time of year again, folks. E3 2018 is officially underway.
Before the show floor doors open up to industry members and the public alike, gaming's biggest companies are running their conferences to showcase what content and titles are coming down the pike.
Yesterday, we saw Microsoft's presentation which brought with it another Bandai Namco fighting title, Jump Force. Sony is gearing up for their conference later tonight, which will undoubtedly bring with it a slew of exciting reveals and announcements.
There are a lot of fighting games currently on the market with more to come this year and next. From DLC to brand new characters or even games, there's potential for all kinds of great announcements tonight.
If you're a reader on this site, chances are you're awaiting any and all fighting game reveals from Sony's conference. But what might we be seeing if there are indeed fighting game reveals scheduled to take place?
Let's jump into what are some of the big reveals we could be seeing in just a matter of hours.
Spawn is getting a new movie at a time when Soul Calibur 6 and possibly a new Mortal Kombat are on the way
Earlier this week news broke of an all new Spawn movie that is currently in the works. With the series' creator Todd McFarlane at the helm of the project as writer and director of the film, fans will once again get to see the dark anti-hero on the big screen.
What we know about the movie so far is that Jamie Foxx is confirmed as the role of Spawn. Though we're expecting to see a reboot here, McFarlane said in an interview with Deadline that he is not looking to tell the origin story again and has a trilogy in mind for the Hellspawn.
Contrary to what people might be looking for, the new Spawn film might not actually feature that much of the anti-hero, Forbes points out. "The scariest movies, from Jaws to John Carpenter’s The Thing, or The Grudge and The Ring, the boogeyman doesn’t talk," McFarlane explained in the aforementioned interview.
"It confuses people because of the comic book industry, and because they all default into their Captain America mindset and I keep saying, no, get into John Carpenter’s mindset or Hitchcock. This is not a man in a rubber suit, it’s not a hero that’s going to come and save the damsel. It’s none of that.”The film's main character is actually Twitch -- a detective in the Spawn universe. Still, Spawn will be back in the limelight in 2019.
Considering that Bandai Namco's Soul Calibur 6 is set for release sometime this year and we might be seeing an announcement for a "Mortal Kombat 11" at E3 2018 in a couple of weeks, the chances of Spawn returning to fighting games might be better than ever.
Maxi joins the Soul Calibur 6 roster
Another fighter joins the Soul Calibur 6 battle. Maxi, the nunchaku-wielding warrior, enters the ring.
Bandai Namco has officially revealed the next Soul Calibur 6 contender sharing Maxi's gameplay trailer. In it we get a glimpse at what the character can do in the latest installment in the series.
Maxi takes on opponents using the Shissen Karihadi fighting style. His weapon of choice this time around is his treasured Fatibal.
As we see in the trailer, Maxi's playstyle puts a focus on speed. Quick nunchaku strikes, parries, and a lot of flare will surely keep opponents on their toes when facing this fighter.
Maxi is a returning character to the Soul Calibur series. His first appearance was Soul Calibur (1998), and he went on to join the roster of seven more Soul Calibur games over the years including every main numbered entry.
Soul Calibur 6 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC later this year.
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Toryuken 7 results ft. NuckleDu, Problem X, Justin Wong, JoeyFury
Update: This story has been updated with final results.
The action isn't over yet, we've got yet another big event going on this weekend, namely Toryuken 7 in Toronto, Canada.
This is a Ranking Event for the Capcom Pro Tour, so points to get in to the Capcom Cup are on the line.
Besides that, the event will also be hosting Dragon Ball FighterZ, Tekken 7, Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[st], Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo, Sailor Moon S, King of Fighters 14, Samurai Shodown 5 Special, Garou: Mark of the Wolves and Soul Calibur 2 on stream.
Players attending include NuckleDu, Mouz|Problem X, FOX|Justin Wong, Circa|JoeyFury, Teemo, WBG|CJ Truth, Nephew, Rise|Marn, Chi-Rithy and many more.
It's a two-day event, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the game you're most invested in, and enjoy the action.
Streaming is being done at Toronto Top Tiers and Toronto Top Tiers 2.
Tekken's Yoshimitsu joins the Soul Calibur 6 roster
More Bandai Namco news this morning as the company officially revealed the next playable Soul Calibur 6 character. Yoshimitsu from the Tekken series joins the battle.
The Original Mechanical Ninja returns with sword in hand and wacky attacks at the ready. The Manji Ninjitsu practitioner brings his Manji-Sword and Fu-Ma Blade into the fight.
Yoshimitsu sees the release of a gameplay trailer this morning, which gives us a look at what the warrior is capable of in the latest Soul Calibur installment.
Being a regular in the Soul Calibur series, Yoshimitsu retains several of his trademark moves. The trailer provides a look at some of his new tools as well, though, including his super which sees Yoshimitsu pull the soul from his opponent, then slice it up.
Earlier this month, Bandai Namco unveiled fan-favorite Soul Calibur ninja, Taki. We have seen a steady stream of mainstay Soul Calibur characters revealed so far, with one guest character in The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia.
Soul Calibur 6 is due out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC later this year.
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Bandai Namco creating online division to improve network services of their games; could even affect the netcode for other companies like Capcom
It has been reported by Dualshockers that Bandai Namco is spinning its network services to a subsidiary company. The purpose of this action is to improve the online infrastructure of their games.
This wholly-owned subsidiary is simply named "Bandai Namco Network Services." Bandai Namco has revealed that they plan to launch this division on October 1, 2018.
Gamers that play Bandai Namco's games online will surely benefit from such a move. Supposedly, this will allow the company to more quickly respond to player demand for stable online services.
They will be hiring and training a specialized team to accomplish the necessary tasks across Bandai Namco's business. So which fighting games could this potentially impact?
Soul Calibur 6 still doesn't have a release date, but you can pre-order the game for $46 on Amazon right now for Xbox One
Pre-ordering games is nothing new for this industry where publisher's would usually offer DLC or special swag for consumers that would reserve the games before launch. Now, some retailers are changing the game a bit by offering discounts for players wishing to pre-order games.
Amazon Prime and Best Buy's Gamers Club offer 20 percent discounts on most game pre-orders now costing buyers around $48 instead of the standard $60 in the United States, but a current deal on Amazon is even cheaper than that for the latest Soul Calibur.
Xbox One owners can currently pre-order Soul Calibur 6 on Amazon for $45.99 which could save you up to $14 off of the game. Unfortunately, this deal does not carry over for the other platforms' versions as the PC version still sits at $60 and the PlayStation 4 version is "currently unavailable."
Amazon changed some of their rules for qualifying pre-orders to receive the 20 percent discount, so I tested the game by adding it to my cart and checking out where it appears that the 20 percent discount will not be applied on top of the already cheaper price.
We still don't know when Soul Calibur 6 is coming out this year, but we know it's coming. A recent retailer posting suggests we may see the game in late September though that hasn't been confirmed.
Bandai Namco has been very open with letting players get their hands on the game while it's still in development including an exhibition at Texas Showdown this weekend for some more glimpses of full matches in the game.
Gameplay footage of Soul Calibur 6 exhibitions at Texas Showdown 2018
We've been getting small trinkets of gameplay footage for Soul Calibur 6. So far, it looks like this upcoming game will be taking a lot from the speed and fluidity of Soul Calibur 2.
While at Texas Showdown 2018, a set of exhibitions for Soul Calibur 6 was shown off thanks to Level Up Live. As a result, some good footage of some of the game's announced fighters going at it is available for viewing.
The first exhibition set pits Moonchord IV Wind against Bibulus. Moonchord is using Mitsurgi while Bibulus is trying out Groh.
Next, Party Wolf faces off with Link RKC. These two players are doing battle as Kilik and Sophita respectively.
Finally, Party Wolf takes on Bibulus for the last exhibition that was shown on stream. Once again, we get to see more footage of Kilik and Groh.
After the jump, you'll find a stream that I've time stamped when these exhibitions began. Before then, check out this sequence that had Mitsurugi punishing Groh's "anime teleport" with his Critical Edge. The animations are pretty nice looking.
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Here's how Taki went from losing her family to Soul Calibur's fan-favorite ninja warrior
Taki is returning to the world of Soul Calibur. Bandai Namco revealed the fan-favorite ninja as a playable character on the Soul Calibur 6 roster this week, with the official trailer dropping earlier this week.
With Taki back on the battlefield, now is a great opportunity to take a look back at how she became the warrior we know and love today.
Back in February, History Behind The Warrior put together a video that delves deep into Taki's Soul Calibur history.
Taki hails from Japan and lost her family early on in her life to an unknown illness. On her own at a young age, Taki was eventually found by a ninja master named Toki, who recruited her into his clan after learning of her parents' demise.
As part of the Fu-Ma ninja clan, Taki discovered that she had supernatural powers, which she incorporated into her fighting. After becoming a little bit older, Taki began setting out on missions to defeat evil demons across Japan.
There's quite a bit more to Taki's story in Soul Calibur, so be sure to check out History Behind The Warrior's video below.
Soul Calibur 6 is due out sometime this year, though rumor has it that we might be seeing the game launch on September 27th.
'Taki is the original boob ninja' - Maximilian and Floe react to Soul Calibur 6's newest character reveal
One of Soul Calibur's most memorable characters was revealed for the upcoming Soul Calibur 6 yesterday as the Taki character reveal trailer leaked out into the public realm.
We've grabbed the reaction videos from both Floe and Maximilian to compare and contrast how these FGC figures are liking this latest iteration of the Soul Calibur mainstay.
Floe states right away that he's been a long time Taki fan (and for more than just her physical assets) and is going to play her regardless.
That said, he's got quite a few observations about her game play potential that are giving him some cautious hope for her to be the addition to SC6 that he's most wanting.
Maximilian focuses more immediately on Taki's presentation, noting the small touches developers put on her such as the glowing Japanese symbols that light up on her body when she lands certain techniques.
There's plenty more to both reaction videos, so check them out and then let us know what you think of SC6 Taki in the comments after.
Update: Taki's HD reveal trailer for Soul Calibur 6
Update: The HD trailer has been officially released by Bandai Namco. You can check it out after the jump.
Earlier: Taki has been revealed for Soul Calibur 6. Apparently this character was revealed earlier than intended. She is joining Grøh, Ivy, Kilik, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Siegfried, Sophitia, Xianghua, and Zasalamel.
Wonkey of Avoiding the Puddle managed to save the video before it was removed. For the time being, this is a low quality video.
The trailer shows us Taki's capabilities. As she is a ninja, she utilizes hand signs during combat. She appears to be capable of throwing a blue projectile and then dashing afterwards. Another trick she is shown doing is placing an energy bomb on the opponent then blowing it up for a launcher after performing one of her hand signs.
This time around, she is donning a ninja mask. You are still able to see her mouth though. The ninja is wearing a bright red color with armored shoulder pads. As usual, she is armed with her weapon of choice, a kodachi.
Taki is a character that's been one of the series iconic fighters since Soul Edge. She was also playable in Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur 2, Soul Calibur 3, Soul Calibur Legends, Soulcalibur 4, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, Soulcalibur: Lost Swords, and Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul.
Notably, she was absent in Soul Calibur 5. The ninja was seemingly replaced by Natsu.
As of right now, we only know that Soul Calibur 6 is coming out sometime before the end of 2018. With that said, a listing on Amazon seems to suggest that the game will be releasing on September 27th.
