Tell us. Does the fire of your soul still burn? Many fighting game franchises in the world have had varying levels of popularity over the years. Some are more fantastical. While others focus more on real martial arts and the brutal combos, you can do with them. Within the middle of that group is the SoulCalibur Saga from Bandai Namco. The franchise has had seven core titles over the years, with mixed success depending on the game you bring up. Despite this, there’s a rumor going around that a remaster or a collection of the original games could be on the way.
The “reveal” comes from Nick Baker from the Xbox Era Podcast. He claimed to have a source that stated due to a renewed trademark that Bandai Namco did for the SoulCalibur series, that we could get a remaster or collection coming soon enough:
“We all love remasters right, everyone loves a good remaster…so that’s what I’ve heard Namco might be looking at… [unclear] whether we’re just getting the original SoulCalibur remastered, or if they’re doing a remastered collection of games…”
There is more to this rumor than simply the word of a source. Bandai Namco has been slowly doing remasters of their other properties of the past. You might recall that the Baten Kaitos games from the Nintendo GameCube era are getting a remaster set for later this year. So if they can pull off one great remaster, why not another?
So what would be better here? A remaster of the first game? Or a set of remasters with the first three games or so? It depends on what Bandai Namco thinks they can pull off. It should be noted that the seventh mainline entry, which came out in 2018, served as a sort of “reboot” for the franchise and took place within the original game’s timeline. So perhaps going back to that period would be too much of an ask for players—even those who haven’t played the original title before.
Then again, it’s fair to think that if they did a collection of the first 2-3 games and made them worthwhile, it could balance out and make a memorable experience. The second game is one of the franchise’s most beloved titles because they brought in “celebrity characters” to bolster the roster. Heihachi Mishima, Spawn, and Link were added, and they were the first of many characters to grace the game with their presence.
Only time will tell if the rumor pans out.
