Soul Calibur II Review

Wing of Faith · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:30 am Post subject: Soul Calibur II Review

I have kept you all waiting for this, and I apologize.
I've been quite busy with the baby, and haven't had much time to write.

So, without any ado whatsoever, I give you my long awaited review of Soul Calibur II.

Soul Calibur II has been called by some the greatest Fighting Game of its day. This isn’t too far from the truth. The game features exceptional gameplay, music, and its graphics remain top-notch on the consoles it was featured on. It’s hard for me to find anything bad to say about this game to keep this review from sounding fangirlish, but as I am a human being, I’m sure I’ll come up with something.

Soul Calibur II’s story is a somewhat unwarranted continuation of Soul Calibur’s. I say “unwarranted” because Soul Calibur had wrapped up perfectly; Nightmare was defeated, Siegfried had regained his sanity, everything turned out fine. Soul Calibur II wasn’t needed, but since it was made, I might as well quit quibbling and get on with the rest of my review.

Taking place 4 years after Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur II details (loosely) the re-possession of Siegfried by Soul Edge, and Nightmare’s quest to resurrect the cursed blade. Basically, it’s the EXACT SAME PLOT as Soul Calibur.

There are new characters to play: Charade, Talim, Raphael, Yun-Seoung, Necrid, Cassandra, and also the game features guest characters Heihachi (PS2 version), Spawn (Xbox version) and Link (Gamecube version). In addition, the North American, European, and Australian versions included Assassin (whose fighting style was based on Hwang from the previous games), Beserker (whose fighting style was based on Rock’s) and Lizardman, though this Lizardman is not Aeon Calcos, the Lizardman from Soul Calibur.

Gameplay is about what one would expect from a Soul Series game, with superb controls, splendid controls that vary in difficulty depending on what character you’re using; Nightmare is pretty much an all-experience-level character, but Ivy is definitely for a more advanced player. Combos play an important part in game play, and mastering higher difficulty combo attacks will increase your odds of winning at higher difficulty levels. Fortunately, one does not HAVE to master the higher level ones to enjoy the game. There are many attacks with decent power that are available to less experienced or more casual players, but many of these lack the visual pizzazz of the more advanced attacks; but still, you can at least win using them, even if they aren’t as flashy. Difficulty is adjustable, with easy mode being so easy a five year old could beat the game with little effort, and Ultra Hard mode being so hard attempting to beat the game here will have the game proceed to school you in the art of getting your ass kicked. Normal mode is exactly that- normal, Hard mode is a step up from Normal, and Very hard is a step up from Hard, and just underneath Ultra Hard.

The music is SPECTACULAR. Easily one of the best soundtracks ever heard on the Playstation 2 console. There’s not a weak track on this soundtrack, although Ordinary Pain is weaker than the rest of them. Also, on a side note, Eternal Struggle sounds like something out of Pirate of the Caribbean. No Turning Back is gorgeous, with perfectly arranged instrumentation that lends a certain sense of class, elegance, and nobility to its stage. Easily one of the best themes in the game is “If there was any other way”, one of the two destined battle themes. With a fast tempo and the usual artful arrangement and composition, this is one theme that can get you pumped up anytime, anywhere. I carry the whole soundtrack on my iPhone. It’s that good.

Character design is, as is most of the other content of the game, excellent. Nightmare returns with a very evil looking new suit of armor, and all the other returning characters have received a new outfit that is remarkably true to earlier incarnations. An interesting design is that of Charade. Floating Eyeball = Interesting.

There’s also a new story mode, “Weapon Master” mode, where Soul Calibur II barely attempts to create an original game within the actual game by taking the included characters, giving them incredibly cheesy MMOish avatar names, and trying to call it a new story. Honestly, the story and the mode itself are not half bad. However, the reason this is a low point is because this story mode is what the NORMAL GAME’S STORY MODE SHOULD HAVE BEEN, it just should have had actual Soul Calibur characters in it. This extra mode is what we should have been given in the default story mode in the first place; far more effort was put into this mode than any of the others, so why is this not the main mode? Regrettably, you’ll have to slog your way through this mode in order to unlock all the useful stuff, like weapons for your characters, and this also involves copious amounts of level grinding as well. Many of the “special stages” you’ll encounter in this mode are frustratingly hard, and bosses here are criminally difficult, as you can’t set a difficulty for weapon master.

If you’ve played Soul Calibur, I think you’ll find this game a worthy successor. It carries over everything that made Soul Calibur great, and while not particularly innovating, remains an excellent game to play. Weapon Master is a hit-and-miss addition, some of it’s good, but I find it pretty annoying overall.

Regardless, if you’re willing to grind your way through, or if you decide to cheat to unlock everything, you’ll find this a VERY good game.

I give Soul Calibur II a 8.6 out of 10.
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Warrior of the Dark Moon · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:52 am Post subject:

IT DESERVES NO LESS THAN A 9 OUT OF 10!
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Xian83 · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 12:10 am Post subject:

I

this game...

Esperenza Grace · Chieftain Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 161

I need to play through Weapon Master mode again...
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