Hello! My name is Hisaharu “Heath” Tago, Producer for SoulCalibur V and a member of Namco Bandai Games’ Project Soul development team. I wanted to go over the SoulCalibur V news we announced at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con to the PlayStation.Blog and all of its fans.
SoulCalibur V (SCV for short) is a bit of a particular project. There are two main reasons for this: The first one is because Project Soul, the development team behind the SoulCalibur franchise, was disbanded after the release of SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny for the PSP system. The members were spread throughout Namco Bandai Games to work on other projects within the company. Soon after that happened, Katsuhiro Harada, the Director of the TEKKEN series, called on SoulCalibur fans to speak up and send a message to Namco Bandai Games to develop a new SoulCalibur title. As a result of Harada-san’s request, we received many passionate notes from fans allowing us to reform Project Soul for SCV.
The entire Project Soul team, myself included, appreciates the outpouring of support from fans and wanted to reflect this with a new Project Soul logo:
The new logo represents the team and fans coming together to make SCV possible. It also represents a new era and direction for the team, which can be seen and felt through SCV. I would like for fans to be proud of what they have done for us whenever they see this new logo.
The second reason are the changes to the battle system. These changes will surely surprise SoulCalibur fans and let them feel the beginning of the new chapter for the series. Some of you might have already recognized the changes by watching our trailers. SCV is faster and sharper, different from the previous games in the series.
The beautiful graphics the SoulCalibur series are known for will return with more elegance than ever before in SCV. We promise every player will feel extremely excited and satisfied when they defeat an opponent by successfully using the new Quick Move high-speed evasion from attacks, sharp combos in sequence, and brilliant special moves causing lots of damage.
We know that innovation causes not only expectation, but concern as well. Please be reassured that we understand that characters fans are used to must not be completely changed, and that these innovations must not make the game unbalanced. We are working day and night to ensure that the game will be well balanced and make for an exciting and satisfying gamepay experience.
And now, I would like to dicuss the SCV characters that have just been revealed!
I think Ivy’s appearance is what everyone really worries about, because 17 years have passed since SCIV. But as you can see below, you don’t have to worry about that. In a way, her eternal existence is promised.
Name: Isabella Valentine (Nickname: Ivy)
Sex: Female
Age: Stopped at 32
Birthplace: London, British Empire
Height: 5’10″ ( 179 cm)
Weight: 128 lbs. (58 kg)
Date of Birth: December 10th
Blood Type: Unknown
Weapon: Snake Sword
Weapon Name: Valentine (Ivy Blade)
Fighting Style: Unrelated Link
Family: Her adoptive parents, Earl and Countess Valentine, are deceased. Her real father is Cervantes.
The next is a brand-new character named Natsu. She is an apprentice of Taki, a character that has been in SoulCalibur since the beginning. I think it is better to show Natsu’s charm in motion and not by talking about her appearance — please look forward to gameplay videos soon. SCV’s sharper and faster battle system really compliments Natsu’s ninja speed and evasive maneuvers. After you use Natsu, you can discard any prejudice you may have that she is simply a replacement for Taki.
By the way, being so excited to talk about Natsu, I almost forgot to mention that Taki is alive.
Name: Natsu
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Birthplace: Izumo, Japan
Height: 5’5″ (166 cm)
Weight: 115 lbs. (52 kg)
Date of Birth: August 3rd
Blood Type: O
Weapon: Ninja Sword x2
Weapon Name: Kuzukiri & Awayuki
Fighting Style: Musoh-Battoh-Ryu
Family: She is Taki’s student and brought up by Chie, the chief of Fu-ma clan. She harbors the great demon Arahabaki within her.
Regarding the next new character, I’ll try not to explain too many details about him just yet. His name is Z.W.E.I. and he is a completely new character.
The biggest surprise with Z.W.E.I. is the short sword in his hand is not his main method of attack. His inclusion is making SoulCalibur’s “Weapon-based Fighting Game” style step into all-new territory. Please watch the Comic-Con trailer on Monday, July 25th and imagine how his fighting style will play out. The clue is Z.W.E.I. means “two” in German. Does that mean there must be a “one” as well?
Name: Unknown (Calls himself Z.W.E.I.)
Sex: Male
Age: Unknown (Appears to be early 20′s)
Birthplace: Unknown
Height: 6″ (182 cm)
Weight: 179 lbs. (81 kg)
Date of Birth: Unknown
Blood Type: Unknown
Weapon: Sword
Weapon Name: Kreuzgriff
Fighting Style: Self-Taught
Family: He does not talk about them.
If you are reading this before July 31st, I really would like you to come to EVO at Las Vegas. At the event, SCV’s Game Director Daishi Odashima will be in attendance to show some exciting content.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fans for their continued support for not only SCV, but the SoulCalibur franchise as a whole. This project would not be possible without your continued support.
