Zero Punctuation: Soul Calibur IV

ZodiacBraves

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Jun 26, 2008
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All Soul Calibur games, as far as I know, have cameo characters.

* Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series (Soulcalibur II; PS2 version)
* Link from The Legend of Zelda series (Soulcalibur II; GameCube version)
* Spawn from the Todd McFarlane comic of the same name (Soulcalibur II; Xbox version only)

* Gilgamesh from the Tower of Druaga game (Can be created as a Custom Character in Soulcalibur III by wearing certain items including the Hyper Helm, and using the "Sword & Shield" discipline while equipping Excalibur)
* KOS-MOS from the Xenosaga series (Can be created as a Custom Character in Soulcalibur III after unlocking and purchasing all the Type X items from the Armor Shop)

* Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia (Soulcalibur Legends)

* Darth Vader from Star Wars (Soulcalibur IV; represents the PS3 version)
* Yoda from Star Wars (Soulcalibur IV; represents the Xbox 360 version)
* The Apprentice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Soul Calibur IV) [8]
My biggest disappointment with the cameo characters in this game was the fact that i thought they could have chosen a lot better custom characters than Jedi. At least with the other cameos they could have kind of made sense in the game. You could expect Link to have a fairly equal chance against any other character in a match, same thing with Spawn and Heihachi.

I for one found believe that including Jedi in a game one of two things happen.
1. They have to make Jedi weak (this is what normally happens because the fact that light sabers should be able to overpower most of the weapons in any fighting game)
2. Make them overpowered because that's what Jedi are supposed to be.

It was ironic after playing the game that I felt that they did both. They felt weak for Jedi, but were more powerful than most characters to the point of basically being cheap.

My last thought about it is they didn't really give us a choice of a special character to choose from. Yes if you have both consoles you could choose between Vader or Yoda, but in SC2 if you had at least two of the three consoles you could at least choose a different character from a completely different series.
 

aesir

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Jun 11, 2008
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FILTHGRINDER:

i would try emailing yahtzee, and asking him if he has them. i would be surprised if he didnt write out the review on some word processing doc. in the medal of honor review it actually shows a screen shot of it written out now that i think about it. word of advice tho, if you email him or PM him on the message board id make your subject title very clear, cause im sure he just got spammed with 100 emails in the last hour. so as to sift thru them and actually get to yours.
 

wadark

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Dec 22, 2007
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I have yet to play a fighting game with a good plot...DoA, not even close; Soul Calibur, the same; SSB Brawl, good game but seriously, what the hell?

Fighting games have always seemed like nothing more than niche appeal to me. And that niche consists entirely of people who can memorize move sets in a heartbeat and have the reaction times of a fly. Neither of which am I, and therefore I find fighting games to be crap. Can't follow the story so single player is out, and can't block or counter to save my life so I'm screwed in multiplayer. Game - single player - multiplayer = no game.

Seriously though, Mortal Kombat vs. DC...where have I heard this before...oh right, Marvel vs. Capcom. This oughta be a laugh.
 

SomeBritishDude

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Nov 1, 2007
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Haha, once I saw it was a fighting game I knew it was going to have its balls eaten alive. Good episode Yahtzee
 

Shinkada

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Mar 4, 2008
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I like Soul Calibur/er but I can't defend it.

I can defend the general fighting genre, though.

They're only just behind FPS games when it comes to a pure match of skill, so those who like actual competition are the ones most drawn to it. Soul Calibur isn't the best example because it is probably the single most button-masher happy fighting game in the entire world, but there IS a certain skill level you can get to where you wouldn't lose to a button masher.

In your case it would be the person who knows that throws can be broken by pressing the right button, and I'm pretty sure you can still Guard Impact them.

Or someone who is using someone like Kilik who has a very fast and low move while on the ground.

Anyway, my point is, you've probably beaten everyone you've come up against with button mashing because Australia sucks for gamers, and the few 'good' gamers it DOES have are just weeaboos who know all the cookiecutter combos and strategies from looking them up off message boards.

My argument can be summed up thusly: If you can find a copy of Guilty Gear and beat me in it, I will get a megaphone and personally announce at a Japanese arcade that fighting games are shit, then rip off my shirt to bare my chest to all incoming sharp objects.

Anyway. Your point is valid for someone who isn't a fighting game fan and you're as funny as always so I can't hold shit against you.
 

shirin238

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Aug 19, 2008
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Pretty funny review. Best part was the picture when he was going to try hard mode.
And agreed, compared to SC3 this storyline is a joke.
 

Klendt

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Aug 20, 2008
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Paul The Best post=6.69063.648952 said:
Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Street Fighter III Third Strike and Street Fighter Alpha 3. Don't bother w/ any other fighting game unless you just want eye candy.
This man brings up an interesting point. Well, to be specific, he doesn't bring it up, but there's an undercurrent there. The purpose of the fighting game genre is competitive gaming. PERIOD. While it remains to be seen if it actually *can* be done, trying to crowbar more features in there other than a basic framework for an elaborate battle of wits and skill, and diverse yet balanced (this is where SC has trouble, and always has, because diversity and gameplay balance loathe each other with the fury of a thousand suns,) cast of characters to exist within that system simply hasn't worked throughout the years.
On a different note, this review has shown me something pretty clearly. Yahzee knows or cares fuck all about competetive gaming (and by proxy fighting games), and is no longer reviewing games he even has a passing interest in. I suspect executive meddling.
 

CaptainCrunch

Imp-imation Department
Jul 21, 2008
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Miniges post=6.69063.648946 said:
I learned long ago, Noon on wendesdays is Yahtzee time. Also, DC v MK. This is news to me.
For everybody interested in what time ZP goes up, it's noon EST (USA).

For people interested in DC v MK, we have more video for you:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/e3-2008/164-Escape-TV-MK-v-DCU-This-is-Vegas
 

ZodiacBraves

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Jun 26, 2008
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Shinkada post=6.69063.649014 said:
I like Soul Calibur/er but I can't defend it.

I can defend the general fighting genre, though.

They're only just behind FPS games when it comes to a pure match of skill, so those who like actual competition are the ones most drawn to it.
Are you kidding me? Fighting games are pretty far away from games of pure matches of skill
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Hrrm.... It's like Yahtzee just doesn't like games anymore. Why are the Escapist giving him games he doesn't actually like to review? It's hardly a testament to literature any more than giving Jeremy Clarkson a Caravan, or Jeremy Paxman a copy of Scottish poetry.

And the shitty music is still there.
 

oJon

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Jul 12, 2008
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JuJuTheDinosaur post=6.69063.648908 said:
Your INDIVIDUALS, speak for yourselves dammit!
*chorus*: YES WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS!

yay for Life of brian
 

keyton777

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Aug 14, 2008
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frankly the story line in ANY fighting game has stopped me from playing it, soul whatever you spell it, is probably one of the few that i willingly play nowadays, then i figure screw it and find another game to play....like call of duty 4...............bye
 

billyboy0321

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Aug 20, 2008
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Well, I liked the original Soul Blade, and had fun with my brother's copy of SC3. I have little love for games that get all pumped up on the graphics steroids and have no original gameplay or stories. It's developer arrogance and game companies greed that turns our games into pig swill.

I agree with Yahtzee in his core beliefs in what games should be. I think he has started to become less laugh out loud funny, and more commentary-ish on the way the VG system is falling so far below par, and we as consumers keep snatching it up like it was gold.

I've been all over some low key games lately, and I'd rather play Earthbound or any other original game from the early days of games, but then, I'm just an older guy who has no love for new regurgitation of the same old stuff, time and time again.

Just my two bits... still love the shows, just not what they used to be.
 

absinthe21

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May 4, 2008
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Guys, has anyone else noticed that in this and the last couple of episodes Yahtzee has been running out of breath towards the end of his sentences?
 

Stabby Joe

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Jul 30, 2008
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See! Thank you Yahtzee! I wasn't the only one who found myself winning by using the throw attacks constantly... not to mention broken combos you can use to easly beat Arcade mode, I mean this was the first Soul game I played (save for the DLC on XBL blah blah) and yet I managed to rank 15th in the whole world because of it!

Oh and thank you for not reviewing the Star Wars characters, I know they're crap... its basically common knowledge! Meh, atleast they were better previous guests like than Link who is less menacing than Yoda for crying out loud and Hei- etc etc from Tekken because since we have Yoshimitsu already in the original line-up the Tekken wow factor is lost on him. And Spawn? Whats that got to do with the Xbox? I mean Master Chief would have made more sense (which is still little given we know how it played out in DOA4... also badly given it wasn't even him). But then again they were more balanced than the SW characters...

Whatever though... great review as usual...
 

Meneguzzi

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Apr 22, 2007
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absinthe21 post=6.69063.649045 said:
Guys, has anyone else noticed that in this and the last couple of episodes Yahtzee has been running out of breath towards the end of his sentences?
Are you gonna pull a "Dr. House" now and tell him he's got some crazy heart condition and needs immediate attention? :)