The Japanese publisher Namco Bandai announced Soul Calibur V at a press conference in Dubai today.
The game is said to be set 17 years after the events of the fourth game, and puts players in the role of Patroklos, the son of Sophitia. Patroklos is said to be "inspired" by the gameplay of Sophitia, but is "sharper" and "more agile." His moves are also inspired by Sophitia.
The fifth game takes the Siegfried ending in Soul Calibur IV as its canonical ending.
Namco Bandai described the new game as a generational shift, featuring new characters and a return of a few characters from the previous game.
"SC 1-4 was a continuous story," said Project Soul producer Hisaharu Tago. "We want to make a generational shift with a new story this time."
When asked if the game would feature guest characters like Link and Yoda, Tago responded, "Difficult question. We will have guest characters as we did with Star Wars. Please stay tuned for information on that."
Besides featuring all new characters, the game is said to be "lighter, sharper, and more elegant" compared to its predecessors. "Gameplay in IV could be a little heavy, particularly when you were online," Tago said. "We wanted gameplay that was more fast and reactive."
"Maybe the hardcore fans will be afraid that we will lose the core of the gameplay, but that's not the case," he assured. "And for new players it's nice to have gameplay that is more continuous—you don't need to wait as much between moves."
"There is quite some change in the gameplay from SCIV. The pace of the game has been improved, and the combos will be easier to perform, and the moves will be easier to pull out."
