Soul Calibur V thoughts.

[Aurgelmir]

So been Playing some Soul Calibur 5 this weekend. And I must say I do enjoy the game, but I have some issues with it.

First off:

The Story mode is good... but doesn't involve enough of the new characters. What is the motivation of the new characters like Natsu, Xiba and Leixia?

Which brings me to the new characters:
A lot of people seems angry that they removed half of the old cast, and to an extent I agree. I miss my favorite character too (Cassandra), but I don't hate the idea.
Soul Claibur 4 sucked online because every second opponent you would meet was Kilik and spammed the one attack, which was easy to do, and hard to block. It made playing online boring as hell.
It seems to me Namco wants to focus more on t he Online experience, and to do that you need more balanced characters.

And I think they have achieved a much better balance in this game than in S.C.4... Untill they release all the old characters as DLC and we are back to square one.

PS: Kilik is in the game... just different, so hopefully he won't be a cheesefest DLC

 

[dimensional]

I would like to contribute my thoughts on the game but I am still waiting for delivery so not to happy as the weekends gone and I wont be able to have a proper session until next week now dammit.

I am not too bothered by the new cast members and rotating out of old ones as it changes things up a bit (even if some of the new characters styles look a bit familiar) and my three favourites Siegfried, Cervantes and Tira are all present and correct, I will only really miss Seung Mina and Sophitia anyhow.

As for the fighting obviously I have no idea but from all the comments it seems it has taken a step back to original Soul Calibur levels of greatness but I dont want to get my hopes too high, anyway back to waiting.

Bit dissapointed on the lack of a edge master type mode though.

Oh and I though SCIV sucked online because of the atrocious lag so hopefully V has fixed that.

 

[Aurgelmir]

As for the fighting obviously I have no idea but from all the comments it seems it has taken a step back to original Soul Calibur levels of greatness but I dont want to get my hopes too high, anyway back to waiting.

Bit dissapointed on the lack of a edge master type mode though.

Oh and I though SCIV sucked online because of the atrocious lag so hopefully V has fixed that.

Well the fighting feels just like it did in the previous game... not a lot of change there.

Edge Master type mode? (don't remember what that was)

Well you can search games based on how good the connection of the opponent is, so there is that, but I found that you have to wait quite long for the Ranked matches to find you a player. But it feels better now.

 

[Hummmy]

A friend and I spent like 2 hours trying to beat Kilik in the Legendary Souls mode.
He just spent the whole time dogging us and not letting us get up.

We finally beat him... Then got whooped by Nightmare. Lol.

Oh, and Viola for the win!

 

[StriderShinryu]

Hmm... not sure that I agree that the best way to balance your cast of fighters is to remove a bunch of them. The commonly held belief is that balancing is best done by making all of the weaker characters better, and by toning down the overpowered characters only when and where absolutely necessary.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Hmm... not sure that I agree that the best way to balance your cast of fighters is to remove a bunch of them. The commonly held belief is that balancing is best done by making all of the weaker characters better, and by toning down the overpowered characters only when and where absolutely necessary.

Well the issue with that belief is that you end up with what is called power kreeping, which means everyone will at one point be to powerful.

Problem isn't really that the characters themselves are to powerful, but that some moves they have are designed in such a way that that it is hard to counter, and leads to cheesy, not so dun game play. You could just remove said powers, but the result would be the same:
Fans would be angry that their character got changed, and no longer feels right.
So why not make a new character, and remove the problem?

It's not the first time new characters are introduced in fighters. But to the extent SC5 does it is a bit over the top imo.

That said I like the new characters, except Z.W.E.I. Can't get the hang of him...

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I'm not enjoying the fact that they removed Seung Mina. She was one of my favorites. I'm not entirely sure why she was removed, but I've never played SC IV. Last one I played was SC3, and that was a few years ago. It's taking me some getting used to, to get back into Mitsurugi(because he was my alltime favorite and I'm glad they didn't remove him as well), but a lot of these characters I see are pretty much replacements for old ones. Like Xiba and Leixa, they're pretty much replacements for Kilik and Xianghua. Pyrrha and Elysium feel like Sophitia and Cassandra replacements.

My only real complaint is that the story doesn't use even half the characters in the cast. You see Patroklos, Pyrrha, Z.W.E.I., Maxi, Voldo, Siegfried, Astaroth, Ivy, Nightmare, Leixa and Xiba. Where's Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Raphael, Hilde or Viola? What about Lizard Man? What about Ezio? None of them have any bit of story as far as SCV is concerned. They're just there as fighters for you to choose. Link had more of a story in SC2 than any of these characters received in SCV. They all feel like they're just...there.

 

[Aurgelmir]

I'm not enjoying the fact that they removed Seung Mina. She was one of my favorites. I'm not entirely sure why she was removed, but I've never played SC IV. Last one I played was SC3, and that was a few years ago. It's taking me some getting used to, to get back into Mitsurugi(because he was my alltime favorite and I'm glad they didn't remove him as well), but a lot of these characters I see are pretty much replacements for old ones. Like Xiba and Leixa, they're pretty much replacements for Kilik and Xianghua. Pyrrha and Elysium feel like Sophitia and Cassandra replacements.

My only real complaint is that the story doesn't use even half the characters in the cast. You see Patroklos, Pyrrha, Z.W.E.I., Maxi, Voldo, Siegfried, Astaroth, Ivy, Nightmare, Leixa and Xiba. Where's Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Raphael, Hilde or Viola? What about Lizard Man? What about Ezio? None of them have any bit of story as far as SCV is concerned. They're just there as fighters for you to choose. Link had more of a story in SC2 than any of these characters received in SCV. They all feel like they're just...there.

Elisium isnt a replacement for Sophitia/Cassandra, she is a sort of Edge Master/Inferno/Charade character, that use different styles.

 

[PotluckBrigand]

Yeah as far as the gameplay itself is concerned I think the game is great. I thought SC2-4 were somewhat annoying to play due to the guard breaks, since it made the game far more defensive than I wanted it to be. While SC5 certainly has cheesy fighters and some unbalanced moves, it all feels a little tighter than the previous entries, and I definitely like that it's not as easy to spam ring-outs. Of course, custom characters are always awesome (although I was heartbroken to see that you couldn't use Ezio's style for a custom guy).

As every review and most people have said, the Story Mode and story in general is... pretty awful. Patrokokolokoloros and his sister annoy me and cooler characters show up from time to time and I clutch desperately at the air and their retreating backs. "Wait! Come back! I want to be yooooooooooou!"

The lack of ANY framing for the new characters is also somewhat frustrating as you said. I still have no idea WHO the new people are or what their deal is. Maybe it will be explained later in Story Mode, but I'm not holding my breath.

In all, it's been a great game to play online and with friends, and I'm not sad I bought it, but the weak single player content is disappointing.

EDIT: I will also add, I love some of the new character outfits, especially Raphael's main outift and Nightmare's alternate one.

 

[Limecake]

I'm not enjoying the fact that they removed Seung Mina. She was one of my favorites.

Me too!I haven't even seen a character that plays like her (I guess Xiba but he seems more like Killik).

The story mode sucked! The two kids were polar opposites of each other (the guy's a dick and the girl is a cry baby) you only ever get to play as 3 characters (and I think Z.W.E.I is only for the one chapter) and I never really cared about them as characters. Say what you want about Nightmare and Segfried but at least they had story behind them.

They also took out the tower mode/adventure mode and replaced it with quick battles (fighting 200 different warriors) and Legendary souls (Boss rush) not that it's bad but I miss the custom abilities and stats of tower mode.

the addition of a 'player level' is pretty good, always giving you something to work towards. and creation mode seems a little more expansive but seems like it has less choices as far as equipment goes (I'm only level 23 at the moment).

Oh and screw Xbox Live! I've been called noob and gay in almost ever battle (for 'spamming') It's not my fault I can block the one attack you know and counter it with a high damaging kick. I'm not there to make my win look flashy, I'm there to win!

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I'm not enjoying the fact that they removed Seung Mina. She was one of my favorites. I'm not entirely sure why she was removed, but I've never played SC IV. Last one I played was SC3, and that was a few years ago. It's taking me some getting used to, to get back into Mitsurugi(because he was my alltime favorite and I'm glad they didn't remove him as well), but a lot of these characters I see are pretty much replacements for old ones. Like Xiba and Leixa, they're pretty much replacements for Kilik and Xianghua. Pyrrha and Elysium feel like Sophitia and Cassandra replacements.

My only real complaint is that the story doesn't use even half the characters in the cast. You see Patroklos, Pyrrha, Z.W.E.I., Maxi, Voldo, Siegfried, Astaroth, Ivy, Nightmare, Leixa and Xiba. Where's Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Raphael, Hilde or Viola? What about Lizard Man? What about Ezio? None of them have any bit of story as far as SCV is concerned. They're just there as fighters for you to choose. Link had more of a story in SC2 than any of these characters received in SCV. They all feel like they're just...there.

Elisium isnt a replacement for Sophitia/Cassandra, she is a sort of Edge Master/Inferno/Charade character, that use different styles.

I'd like to point out that I wasn't saying she was a replacement based solely on her fighting style. But also her Story Mode appearance.

Spoiler: Elysium spoilerz

Elysium felt like a replacement character by way of what she looked like. I'm aware she's the embodiment of Soul Calibur, but she took the form of Patroklos' mother, who just so happens to be, in fact, Sophitia. Oh, and she used a sword and shield(much like*cough* Sophitia) when you fought her in the story.

Pyrrha played and looked like Cassandra to me, whereas Leixa was like Xianghua, and Xiba was like Kilik.

I didn't base all this purely on how they fought, but also what they looked like.

I just hate how they lied about characters getting a story. How did cervantes get a new body? never explained. Doe Raphael find Amy? never told. Who is the mysterious Viola? Never explained, What happens when leixia goes looking for kilik? never told. So much potential for a brilliant story but instead we get a boring story with boring protagonists and thats the only story mode there. They focused everything on the online (which I don't play) I literally felt fucking cheated out of my money because they tricked us into thinking there would be a story for most (if not all) the characters. SC 3's story for each character was amazing, branching paths and unlockables, why can't they get that right again?

Also, I agree very much with this post. I felt very cheated out of my money, and SCV is in no possible way worth dropping 60 bucks on.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Pyrrha played and looked like Cassandra to me

As a long time Cassandra player I think she feels more like a combo of Her mother and Aunt. She has some moves from both, but lacks the happy go lucky feel ov her attacks that Cassandra had.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Hmm... not sure that I agree that the best way to balance your cast of fighters is to remove a bunch of them. The commonly held belief is that balancing is best done by making all of the weaker characters better, and by toning down the overpowered characters only when and where absolutely necessary.

Well the issue with that belief is that you end up with what is called power kreeping, which means everyone will at one point be to powerful.

Problem isn't really that the characters themselves are to powerful, but that some moves they have are designed in such a way that that it is hard to counter, and leads to cheesy, not so dun game play. You could just remove said powers, but the result would be the same:
Fans would be angry that their character got changed, and no longer feels right.
So why not make a new character, and remove the problem?

It's not the first time new characters are introduced in fighters. But to the extent SC5 does it is a bit over the top imo.

That said I like the new characters, except Z.W.E.I. Can't get the hang of him...

Being unable to control the balance of your cast without removing certain members is pretty poor game design. A soldily designed engine allows for powerful characters across the board. Take a look at a UMvC3 for instance. There are very few characters in that game that do need feel powerful and exciting to play, even given the huge roster and the need for consideration of team based mechanics. Almoat every character is strong enough to kill another character in one combo and it's, barring a few exceptions, one of the more balanced fighters out there these days.

You also have to consider the fact that online play is not the be all and end all of balance. In every fighter there are always going to be moves and strategies that will work better nnline due to always present lag but, when taken offline, are much easier to deal with. Amongst high level players in SC4, Kilik was maybe considered top tier, but he wasn't at all a definite lock for wins. In fact, there were two characters in the game that were actually on and off of ban lists for the game, and neither of them was Kilik.

 

[go-10]

I've been playing this game to death and overall I'm happy with my purchase still its faults shine through.
I can't help but think this game was rushed out to meet Q1 before SFxTekken dateline, the fighting mechanics are amazingly well done and online works like a charm but things like story mode feel rushed, its like they said "well we drew the story board for it lets just throw some narration in there and call it a day", Arcade mode was butchered and lack of overall unlockables is really disappointing. Thinking back to past games where we had galleries, weapon showcases, stores to buy CaS stuff, Chronicle mode, Challenge Tower, character intro and endings in Arcade mode. In a sense we could sum it all up to lack of content, after 2, 3, 4, and Broken Destiny I was expecting more content, hell I thought the fighting styles used for Link, Spawn, Necrid, Heiashi, Kratos, Yoda, Starkiller (Apprentice), Darth Vader, and all the characters that were removed would be included as special CaS styles but they don't even have plans to make it as DLC! Really this is like King of Fighters XII great fighting mechanics but the HUGE lack of content drag the overall game down, so either they release Soul Calibur V Broken Destiny or give us enough DLC to complete the game cuz if left as it is I don't see it lasting too long like the past 3 have

 

[Atmos Duality]

Viola is fuckings nuts; the shit I was able to pull off on my friends last night with her are akin to my old bullshit with Taki and Ivy combos back in SC2.
She's not broken, just technical. At least, I don't get the same vibe from her as I did from Mitsurugi in SC3.

But really, that was all I needed to say; Viola is fucking nuts.

 

[Baralak]

I agree, the lack of content in this game is awful. The fighting itself is fun, but there's just too little here to have more fun with. Most of the game just feels.... empty. There better be more DLC being pumped out to make up for this.

 

[Aurgelmir]

I've been playing this game to death and overall I'm happy with my purchase still its faults shine through.
I can't help but think this game was rushed out to meet Q1 before SFxTekken dateline, the fighting mechanics are amazingly well done and online works like a charm but things like story mode feel rushed, its like they said "well we drew the story board for it lets just throw some narration in there and call it a day", Arcade mode was butchered and lack of overall unlockables is really disappointing. Thinking back to past games where we had galleries, weapon showcases, stores to buy CaS stuff, Chronicle mode, Challenge Tower, character intro and endings in Arcade mode. In a sense we could sum it all up to lack of content, after 2, 3, 4, and Broken Destiny I was expecting more content, hell I thought the fighting styles used for Link, Spawn, Necrid, Heiashi, Kratos, Yoda, Starkiller (Apprentice), Darth Vader, and all the characters that were removed would be included as special CaS styles but they don't even have plans to make it as DLC! Really this is like King of Fighters XII great fighting mechanics but the HUGE lack of content drag the overall game down, so either they release Soul Calibur V Broken Destiny or give us enough DLC to complete the game cuz if left as it is I don't see it lasting too long like the past 3 have

I have to agree, but I felt the same about Soul Calibur 4.

I wish they could make a great fighter game like Soul Calibur 2 and 3, I spent probably a week doing new stuff in those games. Right now I am left with just fighting in Quickmatch or Legendary Souls, and it doesn't really give me the same satisfaction as the storymode of Soul2 did

 

[lapan]

I picked the game up myself now and can only say more of the same. The singleplayer modes are horribly cut and the storymode is just there to show of some of the new characters. The game feels really unfinished when compared to the earlier SC titles.

At least the CaS mode is a big improvement to SCIV.