Soul Calibur 6

[DragonKent17]

Following Tekken 7's success, Project Soul the team behind the Soul franchise return to make a new installament of the series which this time will take place before the fourth & fifth game with a 20 character roster
Confirmed returning characters:
-Mitsurugi
-Sophitia
-Nightmare
-Killik
-Xianghua
-Zasalamel

Newcomers
-Grøh

[Xero Kaiser]

Nightmare and Zasalamel.

I have everything I need.

[Carabas]

Still as stripperific as ever, it would seem...

[ChibaMariners]

Add Ivy to the list



Im glad they went with that design choice. Its Ivy all the way.

[Carabas]

Add Ivy to the list



Im glad they went with that design choice. Its Ivy all the way.

Oookay...

I'm not buying it over these kinds of designs.

[Starter Set]

Lol, what a vulgar outfit.

[ChibaMariners]

Its a reimagining of her SC 1 outfit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...naf/ivy1-b.jpg

[CraigTheCylon]

Don't all of her P1 outfits look like that? Just a collection of purple belts and thongs with assymetrical gold plate armguards?

Also your daily reminder that just because something is 'classic' doesn't mean it's good.

[Carabas]

Its a reimagining of her SC 1 outfit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...naf/ivy1-b.jpg

So it's a bad reimagining of a costume that was not that great to begin with?

[Xero Kaiser]

Still as stripperific as ever, it would seem...

As well it should be.

[Carabas]

As well it should be.

Why? They guys tend to be properly dressed.

[Immortal Weapon]

Why? They guys tend to be properly dressed.

There's this guy named Valdo.

[Xero Kaiser]

Why? They guys tend to be properly dressed.

[Immortal Weapon]

Also

[CraigTheCylon]

*sighs for 20 minutes without taking a break*

I really shouldn't have to explain this to anybody at this point, but here ya go: there is a wealth of difference between presenting a male* character in minimal clothing, and a female character in minimal clothing. In no small part owing to the fact that Soul Calibur and projects like it are headed up by men, who are generally considering what men like them (or boys like them, more likely) want out of a game.

So there is nothing at all sexual about Astaroth (sp?) bulldozing about in boots and a loincloth, partly because he's ugly as hell, but mostly because the focus isn't on his sexuality, it's on his power. It's all shrieks of rage and bulged biceps swinging about. He's not pausing to twerk for our fun, or practice his Attitude Magazine cover shoot poses. By comparison, Ivy is forever high-kicking and dramatically whirling around for maximum butt, her ever-expanding breasts flailing about like water balloons operating under lunar gravity, and some of her more stylized moves involve trampling or sitting on her opponent, in case the whip-sword wasn't enough of a BDSM tease.

They're both male fantasies, but Astaroth is one you're meant to occupy and partake in. To indulge the part of the male psyche that apparently super-duper wants to be Conan the Barbarian. Ivy, on the other hand, is simply meant to be ogled, like softcore porn you can push around. You're not meant to see yourself through her, just gawk at the titty show.

As for Voldo: nope, still doesn't count. Yes, he's embracing aspects of male sexuality, but in design and animation, everything about it is meant to inspire dread, not arousal. He is, essentially, a gay panic character. The fighting game equivalent of Classic Goldust. I feel like there's a whole other, probably also stressful conversation to be had about the thinking behind his conception, but for this post I'll just say that, again, Voldo's appearance has nothing to do with Ivy's.

And to be clear, no, Soul Calibur is not the only fighting game pulling crap like this (though Ivy is always going to get called on it because she sticks out like a sore thumb - whereas it's hard to summon more outrage than a rolling of the eyes when every single DOA woman winds up just as skimpy-lookin'), in fact I'd struggle to find one that doesn't. But this IS the 6th game in the series, a series which has been running for 20 damn years. I think that, by now, it's about time we start asking these questions.



* - Hell, it's only NOMINALLY male in these cases. Voldo, Asteroth and the wispy-haired Final Fantasy wannabe are inhuman grotesques by design.