History YMMV / SoulcaliburVI

** Cassandra's Soul Chronicle came with quite possibly the most unexpected character yet, especially for those not privy to the lore. [[spoiler:It's Cassandra... from the ''[[AlternateSelf original]]'' timeline. It was established in the ''New Legends of Project Soul'' artbook from 2012 that Cassandra was trapped in Astral Chaos, but that had little effect on ''V'' itself (in fact, it was never mentioned in the game itself). The fact that ''VI'' is a ContinuityReboot made it seem this plot thread would be forgotten entirely. In actuality, the original Cassandra ends up being a massive ChekhovsGunman who serves to [[ArcWelding tie the timelines together]], with the former being a BadFuture that the latter must be saved from. Her role is essential in [[ForWantOfANail diverging from the timeline as we know it]] by informing her new timeline counterpart of what will happen and giving her the information to stop it, a twist not too many players would've seen coming in advance.]]

** This being a rebooted timeline, it's expected that at some point [[ForWantOfANail the series will seriously diverge from the original]]. ''How'' it does has led to all sorts of speculation and fics in the making. [[spoiler:This only intensified when neither Soul Chronicle nor Libra of Soul showed any significant changes to the narrative of ''Soulcalibur'', basically keeping the old status quo leading into ''II'' intact. That being said, Zasalamel sees a vision in his secret final chapter, possibly from his future self, which motivates him to keep on living ''before'' he loses his immortality at all -- possibly hinting at the divergence to come. Likewise, Cassandra's Soul Chronicle involves a meeting between the current Cassandra and her older self from the original timeline, with the latter explicitly alerting the former of future events yet to come--and how to avert them.]]

** Cassandra's trailer was quick to stir up fan discussion, as it appears to suggest that [[spoiler:this is the Cassandra from the ''[[AlternateSelf original]]'' timeline (who, according to [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]], was sucked into Astral Chaos after being defeated by Sophitia at some point in ''IV'')]]. When factored in with the above point about Zasalamel and speculation over ''VI''[='s=] debut trailer [[spoiler:seemingly framing the events of the past games as visions sent to Sophitia]], fans immediately began to question if [[spoiler:the casts and events of both timelines would physically intersect]]. [[spoiler:Cassandra does in fact meet the OT version of herself in Astral Chaos, which sets her up to [[ForWantOfANail heavily diverge the timeline as we know it]].]]

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: ''Soulcalibur VI'' had an uphill battle from the start, right up to just getting ''made''. After ''[[VideoGame/SoulcaliburV V]]'' underperformed and was hit with severe backlash, Namco didn't think the series was worth keeping around for anything more than mobile games and pachinko machines. The series had been out of the limelight for many years, to the point where many ''refused'' to believe the possibility that a ''Soulcalibur VI'' was anything more than a dream. When the game was announced to much fanfare, Motohiro Okubo stated that if ''VI'' didn't perform to expectations, that the series would be dead forever. Because of that, it was widely believed ''VI'' would be the last installment. When the game was released, it garnered widespread acclaim, but the sales initially seemed lower, making it look like it would be an AcclaimedFlop and a true FranchiseKiller, with a prominent narrative on message boards being that ''VI'' failed the series. However, it ended up outpacing ''V'' thanks to both physical sales and rising digital sales, and ended up selling over a million units after just a month. In 2019, Namco reported that the launch of the game was indeed successful, and their stock went up in part to it. The game got an easy ticket to [[UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity EVO 2019]] to the sheer ''delight'' of the fanbase, and it was there where Season 2 was announced. The fact that they got it greenlit is a testament to this, given that they didn't even know there would ''be'' a Season 2 at the time the game launched. What ''could'' have been a FranchiseKiller most likely ended up saving it entirely.

** [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] is a common character recreated in the CAS system, but he actually did make an appearance in the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable game ''Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny'', a somewhat watered-down port of ''IV''. Said game, of course, can be quite obscure compared to other games in the franchise.
** With [[Franchise/TheWitcher Geralt]] and [[VideoGame/NierAutomata 2B]] on the roster, it's thought that this is the first ''Soulcalibur'' to have two guests from different franchises playable simultaneously on the same system. Not quite. While ''Soulcalibur II'' initially segregated its guests to one per console, the ''HD Online'' port of the game for UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/Xbox360 did in fact bring together [[VideoGame/{{Tekken}} Heihachi]] and ComicBook/{{Spawn}} back in 2013. It can, however, lay claim to being the first with two ''externally owned'' guests, as Heihachi was already owned by Namco.

** Also, the online mode has seen several downgrades that have baffled fans. The most notable exclusion being Global Colosseo, one of the ''only'' points of complete unanimous praise towards ''V''. The mode, which was a hybrid of a social room where players could chat, meet up, make friends, and, of course, fight, in a massive lobby, was a unique innovation brought on by the game that alienated no one. It was also a perfect middle ground between the more serious Ranked and the more relaxed Casual. So for it be cut without so much as an explanation had even the staunchest of ''V'' anti-fans annoyed. Additionally, the ability to chat has also been neutered, as you can't freely speak via text in the Casual lobby. All you can do is choose between pre-selected words and sentences, which basically means a community cannot be formed in Casual. Casual lobbies in general suffer if you're playing on PC or UsefulNotes/XboxOne, as you can't actually search through room manually (though the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 version at least lets you search). All you can do is select whatever options available and hope it matches you in a room. This combined with a complete inability to talk and form communities means it can feel like forever just to even ''play'' a game, thus the vast majority of the online community only plays Ranked as the closest thing a "Quick Play" option there is. As an unfortunate side effect to it all, it seems this was anticipated by the creators, hence you can now play customs in Ranked seemingly to allow you show off your creations, which has become a ScrappyMechanic in general for a variety of reasons.

* EvilIsSexy:
** With this game being a rewind to the era of the original ''Soulcalibur'', we're back to having Ivy (initially) working alongside Nightmare instead of being a morally conflicted AntiHero. Not content with keeping Lady Isabella's appearance 100% identical to how it was in that game, Project Soul decided to retain Ivy's [[FanservicePack enhanced proportions]] from ''IV'' and ''V'' along with paring down her LeotardOfPower into something just as scanty as what she flaunted in ''IV''.
** Many agree that this game's interpretation of Tira is her sexiest design to date, with the bad girl-themed outfit and [[FanservicePack her enhanced assets compared to before]], and she's just as much of a DarkActionGirl as ever.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Quite a few people were disappointed to learn that Creator/RogerCraigSmith won't be reprising Siegfried due to union issues. Instead, Creator/KirkThornton takes over, and many feel [[VocalDissonance his performance is too nasally to fit Siegfried]]. Though few have any complaints in regards to Thornton's performance as Nightmare, however, there is some disappointment that the VA change means we won't get to hear what Smith's interpretation of Nightmare would be like.
** In a similar vein, there's the recasting of Talim from Creator/KateHiggins to Creator/KiraBuckland. While few find fault with Buckland's performance, it being a near-perfect mimicry of her predecessor's that fits Talim like a glove yet manages to sound distinct, later news that Higgins would still be lending her voice to the game--as Tira's new VA--but not reprising Talim despite a majority of the English voice cast that debuted in ''III'' returning for ''VI'' raised some eyebrows, especially considering that Higgins is one of the few [=VAs=] from ''III'' to have been part of every mainline installment since then (she also voiced Natsu in ''V'').
** A minor case with Creator/RayChase taking over from Ed Cunningham as Mitsurugi. On its own merit, there's nothing wrong with Chase's portrayal as Mitsurugi and he does capture his personality well. The only problem is that Chase sounds ''nothing'' like Cunningham's performance; Chase using a youthful and brash voice and Cunningham favoring a gruff and more experienced portrayal. It makes a rather jarring transition between games, especially if you're accustomed to Cunningham after he portrayed Mitsurugi in three consecutive games. (And this is to say nothing of the fact that, according to the series chronology, Chase's depiction of Mitsurugi is only about ''four'' years younger than Cunningham's in ''III'' and ''IV'', which can make the contrast seem seem greater still.)

** 5 years after her stint here, 2B would start a new stint as a GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasyVersus Rising'', where she gets to fight NamesTheSame yet another zweihander-wielding armored knight named Siegfried. Making this more hilarious is that her announcement came within months of Motohiro Okubo becoming the CEO of Cygames' American branch.

** 5 years after her stint here, 2B would start a new stint as a GuestFighter in ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasyVersus Rising'', where she gets to fight [[NamesTheSame yet another zweihander-wielding armored knight named Siegfried]]. Making this more hilarious is that her announcement came within months of Motohiro Okubo becoming the CEO of Cygames' American branch.

** 2B's alt. color [[note]]a black-and-white PaletteSwap[[/note]] gained quite the following online inspiring tons of fan art long after its reveal, with many preferring to use it over her default color. [[FanNickname Fans affectionately gave her the name]] [[JustForPun "2P."]]