I can't really describe how sad some of the character designs in Soul Calibur 6 make me. Soul Calibur 2 and 3 were the first fighting games that got me really interested in the game's universe and story. Every time I see Siegfried and Nightmare I am reminded of how I felt as a kid playing the game at a demo station in Best Buy. I remember how when SC4 came out I thought Hilde was the single coolest design for a female knight ever. Part of me is kind of glad she isn't in this game, they probably would give her massive boob armor or something equally dumb.
It is so strange to me how bad some fighting game franchises have gotten with the character designs for women. I have to think it is related to the rise of microtransactions and the whole "sex sells" mindset. I will have to say though, I think there is still hope for this genre.
I remember back in 2011 when MK 9 came out. The designs for every single woman was laughable. Balloon boobs, ridiculously flimsy costumes, and Jade pole danced with her staff as a victory pose. I really enjoyed the story mode, but the women were underserved even there. Hell, they had the gall to make an almost 200 floor challenge tower in that game, and the reward was a slightly more naked Mileena... ugh.
But amazingly, the studio has really started to turn around. In MKX not only did they make better designs for their female cast, they actually retroactively tried to fix the costumes for MK9. Sonya and Kitana both have alternate costumes that look like their MK9 costumes, but you know designed for humans and not sex dolls. Even Injustice 2 which had to adapt some comic book characters known for their fanservicy costumes, managed to be not too exploitative.
I guess my point is that if a studio most known for immature excess like Mortal Kombat can pull themselves back from pointless fanservice, maybe their is hope that franchises like Soul Calibur and Street Fighter can come back from this, that they don't have to cater to the otaku culture, and that there is value in developing and respecting their female cast.