I loved Soul Calibur IV. It was fun, I loved its character creation and getting to play as Darth Vader and Starkiller (Yoda was annoying) made this game for me. So when they announced that my favorite Italian Assassin was going to make a guest appearance in the next one, this game was an instant buy for me. But how does it hold up to it's predecessor, especially since the series have been pressured to reinvent the fighting genre for quite some time.
The Good-Some new characters are really fun
-best looking Soul Calibur game to date
-critical edges are fun and easy to use
-character creation is more advanced yet still addicting
The Bad-most new characters aren't actually "new"
-music is boring and uninspiring
-nothing much has changed gameplay wise
-story mode is terrible
-nightmare is still broken and cheap
The Ugly- Voice acting is absolutely atrocious
-Any bot set on normal difficulty or higher will destroy you no matter what
StoryIn the last game each character had their own story mode. Albeit there was no real story, it was fun just to go around and beat up people as a different character. In this game, Namco Bandai tried to add a real story and make it more interesting. And it was a terrible idea.
The story takes place 27 years after the events of Soul Calibur 4, where the son of Sophitia, Patrokalos is searching for his long lost twin sister. However on his journey he discovers the malfested, people who became under the influence of soul edge and is sworn to serve nightmare, or something like that (they didn't explain that part at all) For most part of the story it would be told through drawings and audio instead of using those amazing graphics to make some cutscenes, which made it really boring to watch and lost interest of the story 5 minutes in.
What was even worse were the characters, Patrokalos and his sister Pyrahh were the main focal points of the story and both had the same personality, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they both weren't a stereotypical, depressed whiner like most Japanese game protagonists. Hell pretty much every character in the story was annoying and predictable except for Siegfried who actually got out of his emo phrase from the last game. It was a bold step for them to change up the story but ultimately failed from being an even remotely fun experience, luckily the story mode will only last you 30 grueling minutes.
Story: FGraphicsA good redeeming quality about this game is it's amazing graphics. It had some amazing shading and lighting textures that really made it pop out yet still able to discern whats going on in the game.
While the last game had some really boring looking stages, this game had some really good ones. For example there is one stage that takes place in an empty wasteland, and while there wont be any extra action going on in YOUR fight, one of the settings places a whole battle field around you, filled with undead warriors and giant beasts that make it a real visual treat. Or even when the stage takes place at night there's a beautiful dead silence on the ground but the sky is filled with dark clouds and a blinding moonlight, real amazing work.
The character models are a definite grey-area in this game. The models for the games main characters are all really nice looking and also get a unique alternate costume this time, but the character creation options are pretty much the exact same as the ones from SCIV. Also some customization options wont fit you character, meaning there's an item called the "thieves belt" that will go around your characters body like its one of Saturn's rings instead of automatically fitting onto their shape. However one good addition they added is that you can change the pattern of your characters equipment and even add decals, tattoos, makeup and scars onto your character, making them a little more personal to you.
You can make some crazy creations in this game.
The series never had anything substantial when it came to the sound department in my opinion, and sadly that still stays true to this day. None of the games music was truly outstanding or memorable at least. Even the Assassin's Creed song they remixed for the game was nowhere near as good as the original piece. Same goes for the sound effects, while they fit into the game well, nothing popped out for me, and nothing made a real impact when getting a well time counter attack.
The one thing worse than the uninspiring music is the absolutely terrible voice acting. The worst offender is the voice options for character creation. While there's a lot more to choose from, they all sound terrible and are equally as cheesy as the lines they spew. The only good acting are Ezio and Siegfried who both have the same voice actor, no surprise there. Not everyone has a bad voice in this game, but there is still no acting done in here that is certainly worth while and having really cheesy one-liners that we already haven't heard before doesn't help.
Sound: DGameplayWhile not much has actually changed in the formula, Soul Calibur still remains unique with its use of actual weapons in its game. And luckily Namco has also brought some newcomers who are truly unique and fun to use. Ezio, Z.W.E.I., Viola and Patrokalos Alpha (a secondary move set he uses) are actually new fighters to the series and are all fresh. Ezio is definitely a treat to play as even though most of his moves are based off being used as a counter attack despite having low-priority, a lack of a decent sized move-pool and his crossbow being a little bit over-powered. Sadly some other "new" characters are nothing more than bland imitations of their mentors and don't bring anything new to the table, heck even most of the unlockable characters are nothing new (except for one) and that's pretty disappointing.
Just so...awesome
There are also a lack of any new game modes that change up the formula, you get your basic story, arcade, versus, and online. There's a new "quick-match" mode that lets you play bots of other people's creation from all around the world but even that is not very fun, mainly because when you increase the difficulty level past easy the bots will get a perfect k.o. on you many times and even on some occasions will spam the same move over and over when you're on the ground, which got really, REALLY frustrating to the point I wanted to throw my Xbox out the window.
If you've played online matches in Soul Calibur IV, the connection to the servers were really bad and most people would resort to using Kilik and spam the same move throughout the whole game, no joke. Fortunately there was no such problem playing online in this game. The game ran smoothly with no lag-spikes or input delay and everyone I played a match with use a different character and showed actual skill while fighting. A saving grace for the game since most online fighting games you will see the cheapest group of people on the planet.
Gameplay: B-ReplayIn an attempt to keep you playing, the only way to get more items for character creation is by leveling up which can only be done be playing the game. However since the game is still fun when bots aren't auto spamming and has a really good online connection for multiplayer. And even with limited items, there are tons of customization items that will keep you busy.
Replay: C+A lackluster story, unimaginative set of game modes, boring music, lack of a decent number of new characters (clones don't count in my book) and the most broken bot system really made it hard to truly enjoy this game and left a lot to be desired. And playing pretty much the same way it has been for the last several years doesn't help either. However with it's great customization, smooth multiplayer and still being a fun game I'm sure you'll still find something to keep you playing. If you're a long-time fan or even still enjoy the games system and customization you'll definitely want to check this game out, however if you were hoping for something new to the franchise, you'll be greatly disappointed.
Final Grade: C-
I'm only here for the man in the hood.
