Cloud Strife Was Almost A Guest Character In SOUL CALIBUR II
It brings me a certain amount of joy to bring you some news on the Soul Calibur series. Soul Blade (Soul Edge in other countries) was the first game I got with my PS1 in 1998, and I lived through the entire series. Very few tales sing to my heart as this story does, and in a way inspired many of the weapon enchantments found in my epic fantasy novels, the Celenic Earth Chronicles.
Well, localization producer for Soul Calibur II, Nao Higo, had a chat with 8-4 Play on their podcast. They discussed several topics, but one that I found most interesting was that Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII fame was meant to have been part SCII, destined for battle against the dark possessed character Nightmare.
He speaks at length about the game, but here is an excerpt of the Cloud Strife portion:
The deal fell through on that one - it was supposed to be someone else. I think it's been long enough. So, apparently, they were working out a deal with Cloud. It would have been incredible, [but] at the last minute it got canned.
Yes... that would have been incredible! Cloud vs Nightmare is almost, if not more, epic as the battles between Siegfried and Nightmare. It is such a pity that was stolen from us, and now that we know about it, it's even more upsetting. The inclusion of Heihachi feels rather dull in comparison now.
Perhaps, some IT or mod guys out there can make us a video of how that battle would have played out. Maybe a threesome with Cloud, Siegfried and Nightmare. What do you think?