Soul Calibur 5 Announced

After a long silence from Namco regarding the future of the series following the less than spectacular Soul Calibur IV, a surprise announcement dropped today about a sequel coming in 2012. Will the series go back to its roots or continue down its hokey, stripped down path as it has for the last 3 games? More images and info. after the jump!

Quite possibly the biggest selling point for Soul Calibur IV.

So yeah, by the time that Soul Calibur IV had come around, the biggest issue that people found to be excited about was the grossly disproportionate size of Ivy's breasts, which had somehow grown geometrically with every subsequent release. Also, the bizarre inclusion of Darth Vader, Yoda and the generic apprentice guy from the Force Unleashed with different versions. The game suffered from rehash-itis, with not much other than a graphic update for being the first next gen Soul Calibur game.

Soul Calibur IV Siegfried: Japan, I want answers.

People expected more. Classic characters were given bizzare changes without any explanation, including Siegfried having ice armor and an ice sword for no reason whatsoever. It felt like they had given up and just said f*** it to continuity, story and the legacy of the series. However, the new screenshots seem to promise a return to form somewhat. Lets take a look at the two concept art pieces Namco released for the sequel.

Soul Calibur V Siegfried: Much Better

Namco released this new version of Siegfried with no context, but it looks like they're trying to go back to the characters roots, which I can appreciate. No more ice sword and over the top nonsense..But before I get too excited, lets look at the next concept.

Soul Calibur V: This guy has a lynx fetish.

This is Patrocklos. Patrocklos? Seriously Namco?  I guess his parents hated him with a passion. There are signs of severe over the top here, but I'll stay cautiously optimistic. I hope Namco will attempt to innovate with this new title, rather than crank out another brainless sequel that will disappoint the SC community this time around. Take some notes from Capcom, see what Street Fighter IV did for them? We can only hope.