Okay, so I bought Soul Calibur III the other day, and it really got me thinking. I had similar thoughts to these while playing through SCII, and now they are especially grating on me with the changes of SCIII.
SCIII introduces a vast amount of RPG elements, even moreso than its predecessors. So much so that they dominate the game. A huuuge variety of weapons and armor for your characters, actual shops at which to purchase them, a story mode that, though totally sh*tty in the grander part of its execution, at least makes an attempt when compared to that of any other game in the genre… The game is loaded, absolutely filled to overflowing, with various RPG elements.
So, this just keeps fueling my hopes.
In the same vein that a series of shooter titles could be transformed into a unique and classic RPG (obviously, I refer to Panzer Dragoon Saga), I believe that the developers of the Soul Calibur series are more than capable of a similar feat.
In all honestly, it seems very likely to me. The RPG elements are somewhat unpolished in SCIII, but are numerous: this leads me to believe that with these elments, they quite possibly could have been “testing the waters”, so to speak. Getting themselves acclimated to the idea before tackling the task proper.
They also had a bit of a strategy mode, character creation, etc, etc. All of these elements seem to me as though they may very well be thinking about it, but wanted to try it out in limitation first.
Honestly, if they did this, I would freak out in the best possible way. Honestly, the “storyline” of Soul Calibur is well-suited to the realm of an RPG. Obviously, as a fighting game, the story is told absolutely pathetically so far, but if you actually just go into the Museum mode and read the profile for Siegfried, well… His story alone is the stuff of RPG legend, rife with incredible drama and twists, and if paid proper attention (say, the attention that a quality RPG would require) it could trounce nearly anything else out there.
And if the SC-team needed help in making the transition, it’s not as though Namco lacks RPG-talent (Tales teams and Monolith, anyone?).
So overall, I think it would be the best possible direction of the series. The series has been gaining an ever-increasing number of RPG elements, the storyline is greatly-suited to an RPG universe, it already has phenomenal art design and music… the reasons are numerous. Not to mention that the Tales series has gotten RPG fans more used to a fighter-styled system of play.
I think it would be the best possible idea, and I hope that the SC series can follow in the footsteps of the PD series!
What do you all think?
Also, off of the topic of the SC series, what series’ would you like to see “shifting genres”, from their current into another?
I’ll throw this one out there: a true Castlevania RPG. Please Konami, please. There’s another series that could quite possibly be an absolute classic in RPG from, if paid proper attention and given the right amount of care.