Some
interesting and professional-looking Soul Calibur concept artwork
for Kilik, Nightmare, Sophitia and Natsu recently appeared online.
According to a reliable source of ours, this art was "leaked" by
Malaysian production company, Passion Republic, who has worked with AAA
developers over the years (working on games such as Mortal Kombat X
and Dark Souls 3). Keep in mind Bandai Namco hasn't confirmed a Soul
Calibur V sequel officially, so it's currently only speculation
that Passion Republic is actually working on a new Soul Calibur game.
In any case, take a look at the beautiful concept art below and continue reading for
our analysis.
[UPDATE]
When asked if this
artwork was for a new Soul Calibur, Passion Republic's president
stated that these artworks are "purely an internal effort" for
portfolio creation and not related to the official franchise. (But he
could be trying to keep any affiliation under wraps, since Bandai Namco hasn't
announced anything yet.)
Interestingly, several
of the character concepts are shown with different / alternate weapons.
Natsu in particular has 3 entirely different weapons: a katana, a double
ended katana, and dual wielding kodachi. If this concept art is indeed
official in any way, is this a hint that a possible "3 styles"
system similar to MK9/MKX will be included in Soul Calibur 6?
Lastly, here's the Ivy "teaser" posted on the official Soul
Calibur Facebook page.
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Guess who?!
...Really??? This
pretty much insults every fighting game player's intelligence... as this silhouette is clearly
a Pikachu. (Is this a hint at the Pokemon / Soul Calibur crossover
everyone has been waiting for.)
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Furthermore, TEKKEN
series producer Katsuhiro Harada has been asked countless times on Twitter
if a new Soul Calibur is in development, but he has neither
confirmed nor denied its existence.
However, Tokyo Game Show 2016 is coming up next month (Sept. 15-18), and
some are speculating that a new Soul Calibur could be a top secret
title from Bandai Namco.
In closing, take most of this news with a grain of salt for the time
being... but the
"rumor" of an upcoming Soul Calibur sequel still
burns.
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