Soul Calibur 6 announcement proves that the soul still burns

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It took half a decade, but the next numbered installment in the long-running Soul Calibur franchise (or SoulCalibur, without the space, if you're being nitpicky) is coming in 2018. Taking a moment at The Game Awards 2017, Bandai Namco presented the world exclusive reveal trailer for SoulCalibur 6, which you can see below:

It looks like the sequel will stay true to the series' roots, featuring stunning locales, overdramatic narration that barely makes any sense, and tight controls. It also looks like this entry might have a bit more visual flair than previous games, as we can see new effects and the camera occasionally slows down and/or zooms in dramatically. That could just be effects for the trailer, though.

Unfortunately for fans of SoulCalibur lore, there don't seem to be many hints about what's happened since SoulCalibur 5. There appears to be a new fighter wielding a double-bladed weapon which vaguely resembles the titular, legendary sword, but the tease of this mysterious character was so brief it's hard to say much about them.

Whoever they are, it looks like they balance good guy-looking gear and bad guy-looking gear. Notice the pristine silver gauntlet holding the weapon, while their other gauntlet looks more spiked and wicked-looking. The weapon also has a bit of a dual nature, with one blade silver and gold, and the other a deep purple and silver.

SoulCalibur has also become known as a series for cameos. Ezio from Assassin's Creed showed up in SoulCalibur 5, Darth Vader and Yoda were playable in SoulCalibur 4, and SoulCalibur 3 had a different fighter for each of the major consoles: Link on GameCube, Heihachi Mishima on PS2, and Spawn on Xbox. Any bets on a guest character for number six?

Sam Prell
Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.