He’s such a great fit for the game that Ezio should have been in a ”long, long time ago!” New Edge Meter features ”really healthy” for the series.
”You’re managing all these different things: Your life bar, your opponents’ life bar, and now your Critical Edge meter,” said Namco Bandai Games’ community manager.
”You can divvy it up however you want: you can rush in and use half your bar to perform a Brave Edge attack, or save it up for one Critical Edge finisher.”
”Everything that affects the Edge Meter is completely dependent on the player: The Guard Impact, Brave Edge, and Critical Edge all take away from it.”
The Namco team have changed the tempo of Soulcalibur with this fifth instalment and want to test players more; parrying attacks is no longer as easy.
”The more you play SCV, the more you’ll understand how to use Guard Impact and Just Guard. When you use Just Guard, you just tap block right before you get hit and you’ll parry the attack and you can interrupt your opponent,” they continued.
”The Guard Impact is more intended for somebody who’s newer to Soulcalibur.”
”It’s the same concept, and you get guaranteed damage but it costs a bit of your Edge Meter. I think Guard Impact will help newcomers will work like a stepping stone to get them into the world of Just Guard.” Soulcalibur V comes with a great character creator too.
”You’re able to adjust a ton of new variables, including the size of your character’s limbs, physical height, voice, and gender. But those are just the base configurations in SCV.”
”You can layer details on your character, and even completely change the appearance of items you’ve earned. You can really make your character your own. Even if you and your buddy both used “Pants Type B,” there’s absolutely no way that your pants will look alike.” Phew - the last thing the community needs is a pants fashion faux pas.
”The character creator is a great way to reach new fans, too, players who want to expand their creative mindset. According to the development team, we’ve increased the character creation options by 130% percent,” added Namco’s Rich Bantegui.
Ubisoft’s Ezio Auditore leads the special guest star ensemble this time around. ”As far as the story goes, we haven’t revealed anything yet. In terms of his fighting style, his flow, and his weapons, Ezio fits in perfectly.” I’m sure it’ll involve a ‘Piece of Eden’ somehow.
”Ezio should’ve been in this series a long, long time ago! In general, I think that guest characters have taken a bit longer to evolve in terms of gameplay; Darth Vader and Yoda took a little more time for players to master in a competitive setting.”
”I don’t think you’ll see that with Ezio. He’s straightforward. You’ll be able to hop right into it, and he’s got one of the easier Brave Edges. And hey, he’s got a crossbow. You can’t beat that!” Check out the Ezio Auditore gameplay teaser below.
Soulcalibur V releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 January 31st in the US, February 3rd in Europe. Are you looking forward to the brawlers return early next year?
