Launch Station: Soul Calibur V

Final Fantasy is not the only big new release that lands on store shelves today.  After four years, Namco hopes write another successful chapter in the tale of souls and swords.  With the fighting genre on the rise, Namco's newest weapon-based fighting game, Soul Calibur V could not come at a better time.

Soul Calibur V takes place 17 years after the events of Soul Calibur IV.  This jump in time has allowed Namco to create a new batch of fighters to fight alongside returning fighters such as Ivy, Voldo and Siegfried.  While half of the roster is made up of newcomers, these new characters are related to characters found in previous Soul Calibur games.  Carrying on tradition, Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Assassin's Creed series is a guest fighter for this entry in the Soul Calibur series.  At least the assassin from Renaissance Italy fits more into the story and setting of the Soul Calibur series than the likes of Darth Vader, Yoda and Spawn (guest characters in past Soul Calibur games).  As with each new fighting game, developers effortlessly tweak features to make it the most balanced and satisfying fighting experience yet.  The same goes for Soul Calibur V as Namco has tweaked everything from super moves, now known as Brave and Critical Edge moves, to character creation to give both old and new players a reason to pick up this entry in the Soul Calibur franchise.

From what I have seen and read, Soul Calibur V seems like more of iteration than reboot in the Soul Calibur series even with the time jump.  New fighters seem more or less based off of fighters from previous entries in the series.  It could be another stellar entry in this great fighting series, but Namco really has not given fans like myself (who owns Soul Calibur II, III and IV) much incentive to pick up this new entry in the series when they can go back and play older entries in the series.