Fighting Games Friday: The Bandai Namco Trio

I’ve made several Fighting Games Friday posts in the past where I highlighted news from several different games, either upcoming titles or those receiving updates. But those have all been for games from different publishers.

This week is unique, as all three games featured in this post are from Bandai Namco. It was enough to make anyone think they held some kind of press event, or made several announcements during a fighting game tournament. Instead, it shows how large a force they’ve become in the fighting game world, with their last two titles being some of the best-selling games in the genre in recent memory.

The biggest news was for the upcoming Soulcalibur VI, with an announcement that was enjoyable despite it not being surprising. Guest characters have been a nigh-constant for the Soulcalibur franchise since Soulcalibur II, which released with three guest characters across all platforms. The PS2 version came with Tekken’s Heihachi, though word has it that Namco planned on including Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife at one point. The Xbox version had Spawn, but biggest of all, the Gamecube version included The Legend of Zelda’s Link. While Soulcalibur III didn’t have a guest, rumors suggested Devil May Cry’s Dante was planned.

As for other examples: The PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Soulcalibur IV included Darth Vader and Yoda, respectively, while the PSP Broken Destiny version had Kratos from God of War. Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio joining Soulcalibur V was the most fitting guest for the franchise up until this point, though SCV took place in the 17th century while the Ezio games occurred during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Now, the Soulcalibur series is getting an even more fitting character for SCVI: Geralt of Rivia from CD Project Red’s The Witcher series.

As mentioned before: The announcement wasn’t entirely surprising, because of course this knowledge leaked before it was official. In fairness to the sites that posted it, the developers of the Witcher series were seemingly so excited about this that they clearly had trouble keeping it to themselves, as their hints weren’t that subtle. But unlike, say, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, at least screens or video didn’t leak in advance, so seeing him in action was a complete surprise, especially so far away from the fall 2018 release and before many other non-guest characters could be revealed.

Geralt’s made it into the game’s world through a time portal, and is looking for a way back to his own universe. The Soulcalibur development team has implemented his style and techniques from the Witcher series, while some of his more powerful ones have been attached to mechanics like the “Soul Charge” and “Critical Edge.” His style isn’t too dissimilar from other Soulcalibur characters, which should make him easier to balance than previous guest characters — some of which were a little too good. Geralt will come with “Kaer Morhen” stage, which will include a remix of the “Hunt or Be Hunted” battle theme, both of which originate from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The developers are still far from finished with revealing characters for the game, but it was nice of them to show Geralt so soon, even though it’s possible the leak forced their hand.

Meanwhile, there’s another guest character coming to a Bandai Namco fighter sooner than Geralt. Final Fantasy XV protagonist Noctis Lucis Caelum was announced as the newest face for Tekken 7 late last year. He’s following Street Fighter’s Akuma and Fatal Fury/King of Fighters’ Geese Howard, but Noctis was a bigger surprise than both of them considering he doesn’t originate from a fighting game. In fact, given how he relies on the usage of several weapons, he’d actually be a better fit in Soulcalibur VI. But the Tekken team appears to have done a good job making Noctis fit in with Tekken’s style, as shown in the newest trailer.

Bandai Namco confirmed that he’ll be available in the game on March 20th, this coming Tuesday. He’ll come alongside the “Hammerhead” stage, which features the other party members and Cindy Aurum in the background. Additionally, he’ll have two music themes, the “Stand Your Ground” and “Apocalypsis Noctis Remix,” and five outfits based on those from FFXV. It’s clear the team has gone all out here, and hopefully they’ve done a good job balancing him.

Bardock and Broly were announced as the first DLC characters for Dragon Ball FighterZ a few weeks ago, and short previews for both came alongside the news. A longer preview of Broly released this week, though it’s still incredibly short and little can be taken from it. I’m not understanding the point of this, considering this is a DLC character for a game already on the market, and not a sneak peek at an entire new game. A Bardock one should follow soon, and hopefully a release date for both.

Also, a new update released today, which provided a few additions and fixes. The “Rematch” option has been increased from two to three matches for Ranked and Casual Matches, while Ring Matches (aka lobbies) will have improved matchmaking. The latter issue has been well documented since the game’s launch, so it’s nice that they’re finally fixing this. The patch also fixed several bugs, though some could harm characters that needed the help, like Captain Ginyu and Nappa. It also added the Z-Union feature, where players can join fanclubs for their favorite characters for rewards. Leaving lobbies is also easier now. These fixes were targeted at further streamlining the experience but a bigger update should be coming soon.

This was a great week for Bandai Namco, and a rare occasion outside press events, conventions, and tournaments. I’m also glad they gave me enough news for a substantial post, but that’s beside the point. Expect the company to remain a force in the fighting game world for the foreseeable future.