[GameStart 2018] An interview with SOULCALIBUR VI Producer – Motohiro Okubo

The launch date of SOULCALIBUR VI is getting closer, and we can’t wait for October 19 to arrive. During TGS 2018, we met the producer, Motohiro Okubo to get him answered some of our questions. While during the recent GameStart 2018, we are really lucky to meet him again for another interview. This time, he is telling us more details and future plans of the game, so check them out below!

First of all, we asked for some comments on the possibilities to port SOULCALIBUR VI to Nintendo Switch (NS). Motohiro Okubo says that although NS is a great platform to have the game, they would like to focus on optimizing the game and developing the DLCs for now. There might be plans to bring the game to NS in the future, however there will be a lot of work (eg: testing the compatibility) so he couldn’t promise us anything yet.

When asked about the biggest challenge while developing the game, Motohiro Okubo says that it is really challenging to figure out the goal and direction, as he would want to make it clear on how to achieve that goal. The team would consider what is best for the fans and what the fans want the most. Although the team has decided a goal before they start a project, they often lost their direction when the production starts. As a game director, the most challenging part for him is to make sure that everyone is on the same track.

Motohiro Okubo also gives out some details about the origin of Azwel, the new character in SOULCALIBUR VI. When he is designing a new character, he would consider about the character’s battle style. Whether it is something new? What is the most effective way the new character can use his/her unique weapon? He wants to create a unique battle style that could smoothly change the weapon from A to B. They did it, and that is how Azwel is born.

We wondered why SOULCALIBUR VI has set its timeframe back to the beginning of SOULCALIBUR series, Motohiro Okubo explains that it is the best timeframe to combine the story of Soulcalibur and Soul Edge. The story of the first Soulcalibur was a bit messy, so this time he wants to express the story of Soul and Sword better. Fans who are new to the series can easily understand the story as well.

While developing the game, Motohiro Okubo noticed that the fans love the story and worldview so the team has put more focus on it. At the same time, they poured their focus on improving the battle mechanism – especially on the smooth sword-waving effects and the effects when the sword collides. Fans have been telling them that this is the SOULCALIBUR they wanted!

In addition, the biggest difference between Tekken 7 and SOULCALIBUR VI is that when playing Tekken 7, you will need to face an opponent in order to truly enjoy the realistic fighting experience. While in SOULCALIBUR VI, you can feel the quality of your weapons even if you are swinging your swords or weapons all alone.

If you are going to add more new elements to SOULCALIBUR VI, how would it be? Motohiro Okubo thinks that the story and battle are the most important aspects for now, but he personally wants to further improve the PvP experience or add more game modes. He will always listen to the feedback from the fans too. They have a plan for VR mode as well, but they can’t promise us anything yet.

On the thoughts of creating a Southeast Asian character, Motohiro Okubo knows that there are a lot of fans from Singapore (Southeast Asia) supporting them, but they would like to focus on optimizing the game first. They know that the fans love to see new characters and they are working their best on it.

On character customization (Create-A-Soul mode), players are allowed to use every characters’ combat style except Inferno’s. The combat style from Geralt, the guest character for the game is available for customization too (a first time in the series)! However, you can’t edit your custom character’s battle style after you have done creating your character.

Motohiro Okudo confirms that there will be new characters coming with the Season Pass, but he can’t reveal any details of it yet. The long-time enemies will get their special in-game dialogue on encounter, and Motohiro Okudo encourages us to explore the special dialogues (by playing using the different character combinations)!

For post-launch content, we asked that whether players can get special costumes by joining the special activities. Motohiro Okudo says that he wouldn’t want to do so, as he doesn’t want to left out the players who couldn’t manage to participate in those activities. He would rather launch these special costumes in the form of DLCs.

About the story, Motohiro Okudo tells us that there is only a version of ending for the game. However during the story mode, you can choose to develop your story towards a good or bad direction. You can even complete the good version of the story, then experience the bad version again. According to Motohiro Okudo, your journey doesn’t end with the completion of story mode!

Last but not least, Motohiro Okudo would like to apologize to the fans for taking such a long time (6 years) to develop SOULCALIBUR VI. The team has developed SOULCALIBUR VI under the theme of “What is SOULCALIBUR”, so they have put in a lot of effort in order to create a new SOULCALIBUR title that players and fans will be satisfied with.

SOULCALIBUR VI will launch on October 19. As we mentioned earlier, your feedbacks are very important to the team so if you have any opinions while playing the game, feel free to leave a comment under Bandai Namco SEA’s Twitter to let Motohiro Okudo (and the team) know!

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These are all the information we got from the interview with Motohiro Okudo! Did you learn more about the game now? Leave us a comment and tell us!