I’m baffled as to why Namco decided to present cutscenes in such a manner. The rest? Well, they’re these sketch-like storyboards which have full voiceover work and sound effects played while the camera pans across the images. But sometime during development Namco decided it would be a good idea to only utilize in-game cutscenes for a portion of them. This would be tolerable on its own with normal cutscenes. It’s a pretty tired storyline from the get go, and a lot of it is easily predictable. The single player campaign revolves around a few of the new characters, focusing mostly on Patroklos and his quest to rescue his sister, Pyyrha. SoulCalibur V definitely stumbles here when it comes to storytelling. For starters, Mortal Kombat showed the world that there was still plenty of life in that series, and also it also proved fighting games could have a coherent and enjoyable story in their single player campaigns. However, a lot has changed since SoulCalibur IV was gracing our screens. It feels a lot like SoulCalibur IV, which is good for fans. I suppose the same could be said for all fighting games with time limits and “Continue?” options after each lost match, but I think it’s the in-game voiceover work for each introduction of the selected stage that really helps draw you in and remember the good ol’ days in the arcade. Throughout all these years, it is amazing that the SoulCalibur series has never lost its sense of grandeur while simultaneously maintaining a genuine arcade quality that’s difficult to pinpoint. There is a wide range of arenas to choose from, and the audio is equally stunning. The fighting is tight, and the graphics soothe the eyes (yes, jiggling breasts are here too – though they are much less obvious in most outfits). So the final version of SoulCalibur has arrived, but is it the tour-de-force that the series deserves to go out on? Let’s find out.įor SoulCalibur fans, you will feel right at home here. Fast forward to 2011, and thanks to fan response and numerous online petition signatures, SoulCalibur V was announced, to be released the then-upcoming January. The way the Project Soul team spoke about the venerable fighter, it was going to be the last of the series, since rumors were abound that the team was defunct. SoulCalibur IV released during the hot summer of 2008.