History VideoGame / SoulcaliburV

''Soulcalibur V'' is the sixth main installment of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', released on January 31, 2012 for the [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames seventh-gen consoles]] UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360.

Intended to be the first game in the series with a "canon" story-mode, the game is [[TimeSkip set seventeen years after]] the events of ''Soulcalibur IV'', and features a cast of [[LegacyCharacter newcomers]] as well as a handful of returning favourites. It follows the misadventures of Patroklos Alexander and Pyrrha Alexandra -- the son and daughter of the [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome late]] Sophitia Alexandra, as they find themselves unwitting pawns in the clash between the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Unfortunately, the game was released in a [[ObviousBeta unfinished state]] with only ¼ of the planned story mode finished, resulting in only a small number of finished cutscenes and the rest of the narrative being told through storyboards. A significant amount of DLC was released in the form of music from past games and costume parts for the game's robust Create-a-Soul system. This, coupled with the overall lack of features and many popular characters being excluded from the roster, resulted in an overall negative reception from fans.

** Patroklos being encased in a crystal prison by Soul Calibur after he subdues Pyrrha parallels Daigo being [[AndIMustScream trapped while conscious]] within Tiga's crystal-like core after the Ultra gets petrified by Gatanozoa, only to be freed thanks to the hopes and resolve of Pyrrha herself and Rena, along with the children cheering on for Tiga, respectively.

* AllThereInTheManual: The ''New Legends of Project Soul'' databook contains a significant amount of information on the ''Soul'' series as a whole -- and what occurred between ''IV'' and ''V'' in particular -- that is unmentioned in-game, including hints at what the incomplete story mode might have been.

* BustChart: Daishi Odashima, lead designer for ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur V]]'', released a bust chart on Website/{{Twitter}} for ''Soulcalibur IV'', with all the female characters are lined in profile by their breasts and displaying their bust sizes. It was updated to include the ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' female characters and included in the ''New Legends of Project Soul'' art and databook.

* MenGetOldWomenGetReplaced: A fairly gratuitous offender. While most of the male characters survived the seventeen-year TimeSkip, most of the female characters have been killed off or otherwise retired, replaced by {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, younger relatives or students. Of these remaining characters, only Mitsurugi (46), Hilde (35), Voldo (67!), Siegfried (40) and [[spoiler:Amy aka. Viola (32)]] have aged naturally during this time, and the rest have various Soul Edge-related excuses for becoming TheAgeless (Ivy for example would be 49 chronologically, but her profile lists her age as "stopped at 32"). Most confusingly is Cervantes, who apparently returned to a younger age by [[GrandTheftMe transferring to a new body]] sometime before the events of ''V''... a body that [[ContrivedCoincidence just so happens]] to look like his original body at a younger stage (this could be [[{{Handwave}} very charitably explained]] as TransformationOfThePossessed, but it's still confusing as the games never once hinted he was able to do this). This approach was panned as the worst of both possible worlds, as the game largely didn't have the bravery and commitment to introduce fresh new faces detached from the characters they replaced or depict exciting aged versions of fan favourites.

* JerkAss: Patroklos. To such an unlikeable degree, that many people cite him as one of the major flaws of V's narrative. He's irritatingly arrogant, painfully gullible, and will gleefully kill anyone that even looks like a malfested. Certainly doesn't help that he remains remarkably [[StaticCharacter static]] for a main protagonist that players are supposed to root for.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Sophitia died after ''IV'', and was used as a martyr to provide {{Angst}} for Patroklos and Pyrrha. [[spoiler:This was then revisited in ''VI'', where it's established by the original Cassandra to her ''VI'' counterpart that her death must be prevented from happening so the events of ''V'' can be undone.]]

* Jerkass: Patroklos. To such an unlikeable degree, that many people cite him as one of the major flaws of V's narrative. He's irritatingly arrogant, painfully gullible, and will gleefully kill anyone that even looks like a malfested. Certainly doesn't help that he remains remarkably [[StaticCharacter static]] for a main protagonist that players are supposed to root for.

** It is unknown what happened to Amy [[note]] It was conformed in VI that Viola is actually Amy but doesn't have any memories of her past self or even Raphael, her adoptive father.[[/note]] , Talim, or Zasalamel.

** It is unknown what happened to Amy, Talim, or Zasalamel.

* DummiedOut: Daishi Odashima, the game's director, [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/26/train2game-news-soulcalibur-v-story-mode-one-fourth-of-planned-size-each-character-was-to-have-own-story/ reported]] that ''SCV''[='s=] Story Mode was supposed to be ''4 times bigger'' than that of the released product, and each character would've had their own chronicle instead of just focusing on Patroklos and Pyrrha; time constraints and lack of staff caused his plans to go up in flames.. They even had fully voiced lines ready for the extensive Story Mode that, in the end, weren't used. ''VI'' ended up fulfilling Odashima's plans for a much larger story mode, but under different direction.

* BigBadEnsemble: ''Soulcalibur V'' has three separate entities competing for the title of main villain. [[EvilChancellor Graf Dumas]] -- [[LegacyCharacter the new Nightmare]], [[DragonAscendant Tira]], and [[KnightTemplar Elysium]] -- the living incarnation of [[LightIsNotGood Soul Calibur]]. The former uses politics, manipulation, and the power of [[ArtifactOfDoom Soul Edge]] with the goal to TakeOverTheWorld using his army of malfested slaves. The second wishes to resurrect the old Nightmare by using Pyrrha as a vessel, viewing the current one as a [[ReplacementScrappy fraud]], so she can reign chaos just as the original Nightmare did. The latter wishes to destroy Soul Edge and bring absolute peace to the world -- [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans regardless of the consequences]]. Behind the scenes is [[AGodAmI Algol]], who serves as the GreaterScopeVillain overall. How this all would've come together is unclear, due to the fact that [[CutShort only 1/4 of the story made the final cut of the game]] and [[VideoGame/SoulCaliburVI the next game]] [[ContinuityReboot goes back to SoulCalibur to alter events of the timeline]].