As I write this there is a Soul Calibur review 3 spaces below this one, so I'm going to do this a different way. I'm going to do nothing but compare SC4 to other games, epecially previous Soul Caliburs, which is in and of itself a bad way to review, but we'll see how it turns out in the end.
Features of SC4:
Button Masher Friendliness: Soul Calibur 4 > Smash Brothers and < Soul Calibur 2
Graphics (read jiggling) : SC4 > everything
Voice acting: SC4 Baiten Kaitos (not hard to do)
Smoothness of gameplay: SC4 > any recent Mortal Kombat game but < Tekken 3, which was the high point of fighting games as we know them.
Online fighting: SC4 > Smash Brothers but < Fairway Solitaire (those leaderboards are quite the exciting thing to fight for
Single Player Mode: SC4 > SC3 but < SC2 (adventure mode was amazing in that)
Character customization: SC4 =/= anything. I really don't know how to rank this because I haven't decided if I like it yet or not. For now let's just say it's deep but maybe too deep.
Create a character: SC4 > World of Warcraft (so few options) but < WWF Smackdown 2.
Other notable improvements: Unlocking every character is simple and can be done in under 20 minutes (except for apprentace, I still haven't found him), Ivy's costume is amazing in the sense that I am amazed that it stays on, destroyable equipment is a huge plus: nothing gets to your opponent more when they are suddenly topless or hatless, Kilik and Rahpael now take skill to use, Nightmare is no longer a total powerhouse, Yunsung does not suck anymore, destructible walls in some stages, Null Ring-out A (it does exactly what it sounds like it does).
Notable steps backward: Yoda hearkens back to the days of Link in terms being a cheap jerk, Astaroth can never sound as badass as he did in SC2 so why don't they just use that voice track (the same can be said for Nightmare/Seigfried and Cervantes), Ivy is even harder to figure out moves for but is even more ridiculously overpowered when you do, online play favors faster characters, Nintendo gets the shaft by having Soul Calibur Legends instead of SC4.
overall: Q for quality
Features of SC4:
Button Masher Friendliness: Soul Calibur 4 > Smash Brothers and < Soul Calibur 2
Graphics (read jiggling) : SC4 > everything
Voice acting: SC4 Baiten Kaitos (not hard to do)
Smoothness of gameplay: SC4 > any recent Mortal Kombat game but < Tekken 3, which was the high point of fighting games as we know them.
Online fighting: SC4 > Smash Brothers but < Fairway Solitaire (those leaderboards are quite the exciting thing to fight for
Single Player Mode: SC4 > SC3 but < SC2 (adventure mode was amazing in that)
Character customization: SC4 =/= anything. I really don't know how to rank this because I haven't decided if I like it yet or not. For now let's just say it's deep but maybe too deep.
Create a character: SC4 > World of Warcraft (so few options) but < WWF Smackdown 2.
Other notable improvements: Unlocking every character is simple and can be done in under 20 minutes (except for apprentace, I still haven't found him), Ivy's costume is amazing in the sense that I am amazed that it stays on, destroyable equipment is a huge plus: nothing gets to your opponent more when they are suddenly topless or hatless, Kilik and Rahpael now take skill to use, Nightmare is no longer a total powerhouse, Yunsung does not suck anymore, destructible walls in some stages, Null Ring-out A (it does exactly what it sounds like it does).
Notable steps backward: Yoda hearkens back to the days of Link in terms being a cheap jerk, Astaroth can never sound as badass as he did in SC2 so why don't they just use that voice track (the same can be said for Nightmare/Seigfried and Cervantes), Ivy is even harder to figure out moves for but is even more ridiculously overpowered when you do, online play favors faster characters, Nintendo gets the shaft by having Soul Calibur Legends instead of SC4.
overall: Q for quality
