Lets take a trip back in time, shall we? Or at least humor me as I do.
1999, and the Dreamcast is obliviously chugging away on top as it touts its next gen graphics and pretty lineup of games that to this day still deserve props, all exclusive to the Dreamcast as well which included: The last decent game featuring Sonic The Hedgehog, Resident Evil Code: Veronica (which became the CVX port for PS2) and of coarse, SoulCalibur (Xbox Live notwithstanding). SC took a bold change of direction in fighting games, focusing on weapon based combat. The idea to me was so novel, that I couldn?t help but like it, and made it a mission to eventually track down its Playstation predecessor. It also caused me a dilemma of ?Is it spelled ?Calibur? or ?Caliber??? and ?Is it ?Soul Calibur? or just 1 word??
SoulCalibur II arrived and I acquired a copy for my PS2 (since the Dreamcast ship had long been sunk at this point) and it impressed me?which was impressive enough since this time I demanded to be impressed. Of coarse there were the issues of balance or lack there of between fighters, but I ignored them since at this point I was so well educated in Siegfried/Nightmare?s fighting style I could easily rebalance things when facing Raphael?s fucking-cheap-ass-style or an opposing player?s relentless button mashing with Maxi. The game overall remains one of my favorites, and I played it often, even after getting SoulCalibur III (not saying SC3 wasn?t good enough, just saying I wasn?t ready to stop playing SC2 just because its sequel had arrived).
So SoulCalibur III came out, and just in time too, because I had begun my journey into higher learning which gave me a whole new crop of opponents to play on a regular basis (even if most of them would rather line up to button mash with Super Smash Bros.) At this point I figured I couldn?t be any more impressed by the established features of the SC series?and I wasn?t. But the entertainment levels I reached with SC3 were still on impressive levels because of character creation mode (where I could engineer a match up of Jesus Christ vs. Chuck Norris or Ash Williams vs. Hitler), and Chronicles of the Sword (which offered a nice story RPG feel).
So enough beating around the bush?.SoulCalibur IV
The 1st thing I noticed was the actual Soul Calibur sword. It looked like crap. Seriously, it looked like someone glued pieces of broken glass together and gave it a handle. Soul Edge itself meanwhile wasn?t so pretty, but I could live with it (it was an improvement over its SC3 design at least). While I?m on design, a lot of the character redesigns are just sad. Astaroths look is a little hard to accept and his axe is just garbage. This applies to the male redesigns?the female designs seem to have had a lot more thought put into them (most people will play as Sophitia just to look at her. I did.) It also seems that with the exception of Ivy, the makers of the series have finally stopped concentrating of increasing the bra size of each character and are now concentrating on how to show off each woman?s breasts more. Seong Mi-Na is just an updraft away from disaster while Sophitias get up looks like it?ll fall off if she makes any sudden moves?and lets not mention what Ivy?s trying to pass as clothing?
Speaking of characters?Fuck Yoda. I?m reviewing this with the 360 version and I despise playing as or against Yoda. I either feel cheap for playing a character that cannot be thrown or attacked certain ways or I?m frustrated playing against him for the before mentioned reasons. The Apprentice was more fun and easier to deal with?but the fact of the matter is: I couldn?t care less about the Star Wars theme. The console exclusive characters from SC2 were a good idea (and with the exception of Heihachi, they were decent characters) because playing Link on the Nintendo version would make it more of a hit, but not so much for Xbox, who?d rather play as Spawn.
But the Apprentice? I feel SC4 was used as a marketing campaign for the upcoming game due to his inclusion and the inclusion of a video talking about the game. Anyway-I?ll be downloading Vader 1st chance I get. But why make anything exclusive if the other console can just download it anyway? Is it to make PS3 fans happy that they can play as Vader alone for that little while before the rest of us go to Xbox market?
The addition of Hilde is a nice touch with her short/long range weapons. Something about her screams ?Lesbian!? to me, but maybe that?s because she?s not flaunting her chest like a downstate hooker, so I?ll let it slide. There?s also a small collection of minor characters that either backup regular characters in story mode, or face you alone right before the tower of doom. What?s wrong with facing a regular character at this point, or making them regular for the series like Hilde?
Game play is a bit linear and when I say linear, I mean get ready for every story mode to send you to Nightmare?s castle, then to the top of the tower of doom. SC3s ?story mode? was better for 3 reasons 1) there was no wall of slllllllooooooooowwwwwww moving text to read at the get go (some of which are longer than this review). 2) it wasn?t quite as linear, giving the player some sort of choice as to where they want to go next, even if it always brought you to the same damn church. 3) It didn?t take under 5 minutes to beat. Story Mode should not be quicker than Arcade Mode. That should be a law. Story Mode should be more intuitive than this.
Create A Character. Its not so much better than SC3s character creation, but that?s not a bad thing. I feel my selection for each character is more limited but that?s balanced by certain items boosting my characters abilities, which is a nice touch. It more or less entertains me the same as it did in SC3 and I still can get lost for a good hour perfecting the look of my fighter. My biggest gripe about it is your fictional fighter must mirror another characters abilities. Gone is the Grieve Edge fighting style along with the Saint style that let you fight with a pencil that grew into a big ass staff. Now its ?Will you fight just like Siegfried or rather just like Talim??
Critical Finish. Adding a little Star Wars to the mix not enough? Add some Mortal Kombat! Nah. I don?t really think it?s a Mortal Kombat rip, but admit it: the thought crossed your mind too. Two of the biggest problems with the fighting interface of this franchise are opponents blocking and all the throwing. While little seems to be done about curbing the throwing issue (Ill get to that) Critical Finish seems to be the answer to the guarding problem.
Now, the original game, Soul Edge/Blade remains one of my favorite PS1 games (out of a whopping list of 6 games). They introduced a concept I though should have been a mainstay for the entire series-Weapon Destruction. If you guard too much, your weapon is destroyed and you?re left to fight with your fists for the rest of the battle (which lasts about a good 5 seconds since your unarmed ass is all but history). It didn?t mean you were done since you could still punch and kick your opponent, but the guy with the sword shouldn?t have much to worry about. It was excellent incentive to concentrate on offence and not just stand there holding down the guard button.
Critical Finish works kinda the same way, but it turns into a 1 punch KO, giving each character a short cut scene showing them finishing off their opponent. Some of them are decent, some retarded, and some utterly dumb. It?s hard to get to the point where you can use Critical Finish. The only way I could CF an opponent is if I was aiming to do it from the start of the fight. You can?t just decide halfway through that you wanna CF your opponent, because it takes forever to lower the gauge and they?ll usually die before you get close enough. Critical Finish seems like a nice touch but your opponent is usually down to their last millimeter of health anyway, so it just becomes a more flamboyant way of just throwing them to win.
Speaking of throwing
Yeah, by now I?ve seen the ZP review of this game too. Any and all challenges can be overcome by just holding down the throw button. I never had to rely on throwing until SC3. Like I said, I was well educated enough using Siegfried/Nightmare that there was no challenge I couldn?t beat. By the end of SC2, I could speed run Arcade Mode with Kilik and Mitsurugi as well, all without needing that all important throw button.
My love affair with the throw button happened in SC3, especially when facing Setsuka. It became an easier way of dealing with enemies that did nothing but guard all my attacks (as if they were fucking psychic) and took me out with bull shit attacks (especially Setsukas attack that gave me a ring out every fucking time.
SC4 seems to have eased up on the guarding and it IS possible to win each fight with 1 or less throws. Though I?ve done 0 throws with only Siegfried, so going in without throwing at all does take skill?like I?ve-been-playing-with-this-character-since-SC1 type of skill.
The only blemish in the throwing strategy is a skill addition some characters may have that MIGHT cancel out your throw attempt?though if you keep at, you?ll still get in enough throws?
While I?m at it, I?ll also gripe about how the final boss has a ?nullify ring out? skill. I understand it?s suppose to be tough, and just ringing out your opponent is always a cheap strategy, but why not just make it a caged in area at the top of the tower of doom. SC2 had the best final boss arena, because there wasn?t a ring to ring out on. It went on forever, which meant the winner would be decided by whoever could KO the other guy. The prospect of a ring out was never offered for either side, which is how it should be. Anyway?
My biggest problem overall however has to be that shop/rewards system. All the previous games had a whole ?You?ve unlocked this!? and had a separate shop to buy additional shit. SC4 instead has ?You?ve unlocked this?which you now have to buy in the shop!? It?s not much of an argument but hear me out when I say you get a certain feeling of accomplishment when you unlock a special item. You can?t copy that feeling when you unlock the ability to buy something in the shop. It adds an unnecessary step, especially since after going through Story Mode 6 times in 30 minutes and you?ll be able to afford anything anyway. I know you can strait up unlock stuff in the tower mode, but its still not the same.
All this being said, SoulCalibur 4 is still a very good game. Its ?Holy hell, its over already?? style Story Mode means that someone even with the heaviest case of ADD can play this game and see it through to the end. However, none of my complaints of this game carry quite enough weight to keep anyone from at least trying it and I keep finding myself playing it often.
Perhaps if one doesn?t look at it from a hardcore standpoint?
I?m not saying SC4 is for casual gamers, God no. Casual Gamers would hate half the roster. Ivy for example needs to be in the hands of a competent SC gamer in order to be effective, or else she gets her ass dominated. So no, SC4 is not for casual gamers. SC4 isn?t meant to be played for hours and hours either. It?s a sit down and play game. Nothing to keep track of, just sit down and fight. Want a challenge? Fuck around with ?Climb the/Go down the tower mode? if you want to mix things up.
While Critical Finish seems like a questionable addition, one addition I absolutely adore is: Press a button and you switch fighters (if available). This allows a bit of strategy or just allows you to mix things up a bit. It does nothing to detract from the game, and you don?t have to bother with it if you don?t want to.
?Shut up. I liked it.
I had the joy of playing some complete strangers the other night when someone broke out their PS3 and I finally got a taste of Vader. What was there to expect? Many cheap wins were had by throwers, button mashers claimed victory over anyone who tried strategy (though strangely enough there weren?t any all-I-do-is-throw vs. all-I-do-is-button-mash) and of coarse I was unstoppable with Siegfried. So if you want a real challenge, screw playing Story Mode on Hard, try to beat a thrower in Vs Mode instead.
So what the hell am I trying to say here?
SC4 has a lot of minor flaws, and may not be forgiving for beginners, but its still a very good game. Granted, being the 5th installment of a series, it carries the responsibility of having to be fucking awesome, of which case it falls short.
Verdict: Its probably not going to entice a new crop of fans, but its worth a rent. If you?re into the whole character customization/creation thing you should buy it, because by time you finally get tired of everything the customization mode has to offer, you?ll probably have rented it a good dozen times anyway.
1999, and the Dreamcast is obliviously chugging away on top as it touts its next gen graphics and pretty lineup of games that to this day still deserve props, all exclusive to the Dreamcast as well which included: The last decent game featuring Sonic The Hedgehog, Resident Evil Code: Veronica (which became the CVX port for PS2) and of coarse, SoulCalibur (Xbox Live notwithstanding). SC took a bold change of direction in fighting games, focusing on weapon based combat. The idea to me was so novel, that I couldn?t help but like it, and made it a mission to eventually track down its Playstation predecessor. It also caused me a dilemma of ?Is it spelled ?Calibur? or ?Caliber??? and ?Is it ?Soul Calibur? or just 1 word??
SoulCalibur II arrived and I acquired a copy for my PS2 (since the Dreamcast ship had long been sunk at this point) and it impressed me?which was impressive enough since this time I demanded to be impressed. Of coarse there were the issues of balance or lack there of between fighters, but I ignored them since at this point I was so well educated in Siegfried/Nightmare?s fighting style I could easily rebalance things when facing Raphael?s fucking-cheap-ass-style or an opposing player?s relentless button mashing with Maxi. The game overall remains one of my favorites, and I played it often, even after getting SoulCalibur III (not saying SC3 wasn?t good enough, just saying I wasn?t ready to stop playing SC2 just because its sequel had arrived).
So SoulCalibur III came out, and just in time too, because I had begun my journey into higher learning which gave me a whole new crop of opponents to play on a regular basis (even if most of them would rather line up to button mash with Super Smash Bros.) At this point I figured I couldn?t be any more impressed by the established features of the SC series?and I wasn?t. But the entertainment levels I reached with SC3 were still on impressive levels because of character creation mode (where I could engineer a match up of Jesus Christ vs. Chuck Norris or Ash Williams vs. Hitler), and Chronicles of the Sword (which offered a nice story RPG feel).
So enough beating around the bush?.SoulCalibur IV
The 1st thing I noticed was the actual Soul Calibur sword. It looked like crap. Seriously, it looked like someone glued pieces of broken glass together and gave it a handle. Soul Edge itself meanwhile wasn?t so pretty, but I could live with it (it was an improvement over its SC3 design at least). While I?m on design, a lot of the character redesigns are just sad. Astaroths look is a little hard to accept and his axe is just garbage. This applies to the male redesigns?the female designs seem to have had a lot more thought put into them (most people will play as Sophitia just to look at her. I did.) It also seems that with the exception of Ivy, the makers of the series have finally stopped concentrating of increasing the bra size of each character and are now concentrating on how to show off each woman?s breasts more. Seong Mi-Na is just an updraft away from disaster while Sophitias get up looks like it?ll fall off if she makes any sudden moves?and lets not mention what Ivy?s trying to pass as clothing?
Speaking of characters?Fuck Yoda. I?m reviewing this with the 360 version and I despise playing as or against Yoda. I either feel cheap for playing a character that cannot be thrown or attacked certain ways or I?m frustrated playing against him for the before mentioned reasons. The Apprentice was more fun and easier to deal with?but the fact of the matter is: I couldn?t care less about the Star Wars theme. The console exclusive characters from SC2 were a good idea (and with the exception of Heihachi, they were decent characters) because playing Link on the Nintendo version would make it more of a hit, but not so much for Xbox, who?d rather play as Spawn.
But the Apprentice? I feel SC4 was used as a marketing campaign for the upcoming game due to his inclusion and the inclusion of a video talking about the game. Anyway-I?ll be downloading Vader 1st chance I get. But why make anything exclusive if the other console can just download it anyway? Is it to make PS3 fans happy that they can play as Vader alone for that little while before the rest of us go to Xbox market?
The addition of Hilde is a nice touch with her short/long range weapons. Something about her screams ?Lesbian!? to me, but maybe that?s because she?s not flaunting her chest like a downstate hooker, so I?ll let it slide. There?s also a small collection of minor characters that either backup regular characters in story mode, or face you alone right before the tower of doom. What?s wrong with facing a regular character at this point, or making them regular for the series like Hilde?
Game play is a bit linear and when I say linear, I mean get ready for every story mode to send you to Nightmare?s castle, then to the top of the tower of doom. SC3s ?story mode? was better for 3 reasons 1) there was no wall of slllllllooooooooowwwwwww moving text to read at the get go (some of which are longer than this review). 2) it wasn?t quite as linear, giving the player some sort of choice as to where they want to go next, even if it always brought you to the same damn church. 3) It didn?t take under 5 minutes to beat. Story Mode should not be quicker than Arcade Mode. That should be a law. Story Mode should be more intuitive than this.
Create A Character. Its not so much better than SC3s character creation, but that?s not a bad thing. I feel my selection for each character is more limited but that?s balanced by certain items boosting my characters abilities, which is a nice touch. It more or less entertains me the same as it did in SC3 and I still can get lost for a good hour perfecting the look of my fighter. My biggest gripe about it is your fictional fighter must mirror another characters abilities. Gone is the Grieve Edge fighting style along with the Saint style that let you fight with a pencil that grew into a big ass staff. Now its ?Will you fight just like Siegfried or rather just like Talim??
Critical Finish. Adding a little Star Wars to the mix not enough? Add some Mortal Kombat! Nah. I don?t really think it?s a Mortal Kombat rip, but admit it: the thought crossed your mind too. Two of the biggest problems with the fighting interface of this franchise are opponents blocking and all the throwing. While little seems to be done about curbing the throwing issue (Ill get to that) Critical Finish seems to be the answer to the guarding problem.
Now, the original game, Soul Edge/Blade remains one of my favorite PS1 games (out of a whopping list of 6 games). They introduced a concept I though should have been a mainstay for the entire series-Weapon Destruction. If you guard too much, your weapon is destroyed and you?re left to fight with your fists for the rest of the battle (which lasts about a good 5 seconds since your unarmed ass is all but history). It didn?t mean you were done since you could still punch and kick your opponent, but the guy with the sword shouldn?t have much to worry about. It was excellent incentive to concentrate on offence and not just stand there holding down the guard button.
Critical Finish works kinda the same way, but it turns into a 1 punch KO, giving each character a short cut scene showing them finishing off their opponent. Some of them are decent, some retarded, and some utterly dumb. It?s hard to get to the point where you can use Critical Finish. The only way I could CF an opponent is if I was aiming to do it from the start of the fight. You can?t just decide halfway through that you wanna CF your opponent, because it takes forever to lower the gauge and they?ll usually die before you get close enough. Critical Finish seems like a nice touch but your opponent is usually down to their last millimeter of health anyway, so it just becomes a more flamboyant way of just throwing them to win.
Speaking of throwing
Yeah, by now I?ve seen the ZP review of this game too. Any and all challenges can be overcome by just holding down the throw button. I never had to rely on throwing until SC3. Like I said, I was well educated enough using Siegfried/Nightmare that there was no challenge I couldn?t beat. By the end of SC2, I could speed run Arcade Mode with Kilik and Mitsurugi as well, all without needing that all important throw button.
My love affair with the throw button happened in SC3, especially when facing Setsuka. It became an easier way of dealing with enemies that did nothing but guard all my attacks (as if they were fucking psychic) and took me out with bull shit attacks (especially Setsukas attack that gave me a ring out every fucking time.
SC4 seems to have eased up on the guarding and it IS possible to win each fight with 1 or less throws. Though I?ve done 0 throws with only Siegfried, so going in without throwing at all does take skill?like I?ve-been-playing-with-this-character-since-SC1 type of skill.
The only blemish in the throwing strategy is a skill addition some characters may have that MIGHT cancel out your throw attempt?though if you keep at, you?ll still get in enough throws?
While I?m at it, I?ll also gripe about how the final boss has a ?nullify ring out? skill. I understand it?s suppose to be tough, and just ringing out your opponent is always a cheap strategy, but why not just make it a caged in area at the top of the tower of doom. SC2 had the best final boss arena, because there wasn?t a ring to ring out on. It went on forever, which meant the winner would be decided by whoever could KO the other guy. The prospect of a ring out was never offered for either side, which is how it should be. Anyway?
My biggest problem overall however has to be that shop/rewards system. All the previous games had a whole ?You?ve unlocked this!? and had a separate shop to buy additional shit. SC4 instead has ?You?ve unlocked this?which you now have to buy in the shop!? It?s not much of an argument but hear me out when I say you get a certain feeling of accomplishment when you unlock a special item. You can?t copy that feeling when you unlock the ability to buy something in the shop. It adds an unnecessary step, especially since after going through Story Mode 6 times in 30 minutes and you?ll be able to afford anything anyway. I know you can strait up unlock stuff in the tower mode, but its still not the same.
All this being said, SoulCalibur 4 is still a very good game. Its ?Holy hell, its over already?? style Story Mode means that someone even with the heaviest case of ADD can play this game and see it through to the end. However, none of my complaints of this game carry quite enough weight to keep anyone from at least trying it and I keep finding myself playing it often.
Perhaps if one doesn?t look at it from a hardcore standpoint?
I?m not saying SC4 is for casual gamers, God no. Casual Gamers would hate half the roster. Ivy for example needs to be in the hands of a competent SC gamer in order to be effective, or else she gets her ass dominated. So no, SC4 is not for casual gamers. SC4 isn?t meant to be played for hours and hours either. It?s a sit down and play game. Nothing to keep track of, just sit down and fight. Want a challenge? Fuck around with ?Climb the/Go down the tower mode? if you want to mix things up.
While Critical Finish seems like a questionable addition, one addition I absolutely adore is: Press a button and you switch fighters (if available). This allows a bit of strategy or just allows you to mix things up a bit. It does nothing to detract from the game, and you don?t have to bother with it if you don?t want to.
?Shut up. I liked it.
I had the joy of playing some complete strangers the other night when someone broke out their PS3 and I finally got a taste of Vader. What was there to expect? Many cheap wins were had by throwers, button mashers claimed victory over anyone who tried strategy (though strangely enough there weren?t any all-I-do-is-throw vs. all-I-do-is-button-mash) and of coarse I was unstoppable with Siegfried. So if you want a real challenge, screw playing Story Mode on Hard, try to beat a thrower in Vs Mode instead.
So what the hell am I trying to say here?
SC4 has a lot of minor flaws, and may not be forgiving for beginners, but its still a very good game. Granted, being the 5th installment of a series, it carries the responsibility of having to be fucking awesome, of which case it falls short.
Verdict: Its probably not going to entice a new crop of fans, but its worth a rent. If you?re into the whole character customization/creation thing you should buy it, because by time you finally get tired of everything the customization mode has to offer, you?ll probably have rented it a good dozen times anyway.
