Bandai Namco has released a character breakdown video for Geralt in Soulcalibur VI featuring commentary from producer CD Projekt RED‘s Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz.
Here is the full transcript from Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz:
Geralt is a witcher, a member of a cast of professional monster slayers, monster hunters, a master swordsman, a spinner, roller, an acrobat with superhuman strength, speed and reflexes. He’s also a bit of an alchemist with potions, blade oils and his bombs and also a minor or lesser mage with his witcher signs.
Signs are spells devised specifically for use in combat providing the kind of effects that stand to support Geralt’s fighting style because when Geralt fights precision is the thing, he’s not a scrappy brawler. He’s like a scalpel in combat.
Our role was making sure that Geralt in Soulcalibur VI moves, feels and plays like Geralt from The Witcher 3. However since movement, timing, play-perspective and general responsiveness are very different in the fighting game, we had to go back to the drawing board and reinvent the way Geralt behaves in certain situations.
We started with defining the center of the gravity. This is important because Geralt is very steady, he never makes any unnecessary movements. When he fights, he’s always confident, very focused on here and now. We even asked the original motion capture actor to supervise motion capture recordings for Geralt in Soulcalibur.
Soulcaliburhas been known for featuring iconic characters from other games so we were ecstatic about the possibility of adding Geralt to the pantheon as well. Plus this is the very first appearance of Geralt outside of the Witcher games. The biggest challenge was to introduce him to players who are not familiar with The Witcher to show them who he is, what he does for a living and what sort of tools he uses.
We wanted fans of The Witcher franchise to be able to have fun while playing with their favorite monster slayer, just in a different setting. We wanted and we needed to bring the full Geralt to Soulcalibur VI. Not just the master swordsman and the alchemist and the minor mage, but also that grumpy guy with his mumbled battle barks, that character with his acid sarcasm.
Not least because Geralt’s romp into the world of Soulcalibur VI could be considered as an extension of the interdimensional travel he did in The Witcher 3. On one leg, he encountered sandworms on a sand covered planet, on another, he might well have encountered Mitsurugi and Sophitia. I think, we’ve done a really good job, recreating the Witcher fighting styles in Soulcalibur VI.
Most importantly, we wanted to deliver something that would expand both universes in a meaningful way so gamers who are into The Witcher and the fighting community would both be left satisfied. I can’t wait for gamers all around the world to get their hands on the game. It’s going to be great!
Soulcalibur VI is due out for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam in 2018.
Watch the character breakdown below.