Soul Calibur V

[Bloody_Inferno]

Been ignoring the fighting game threads lately. Damn Xenoblade.

Here's the cinematic trailer:



Full on in-depth preview (lots of new gameplay footage and Character Creation exclusive fighting styles):





EDIT: So far confirmed characters:

Sigfried
Patroklos (new: son of Sophitia)
Natsu (new: Taki's apprentice)
Zwei (new, his fighting style apparently is the most obvious example of all the mechanical changes in this game)
Phyrra (new: sister of Patroklos/daughter of Sophitia)
Hilde
Mitsurugi
Ivy
Maxi (in response to some previous posts... )
Astaroth
Voldo
Tira
Viola (new, connected with Zwei, resembles Amy)
Raphael
Nightmare
Cervantes
Yoshimitsu
Dampierre (new)
Leixia (daughter of Xianghua)
Xiba (new, seems based between Kilik and Son Wukong/Goku)
Aeon Calcos (Lizardman with a name )
Ezio Auditore da Firenze (how's that for a guest character? )

So basically some of the old cast have been replaced by their descendants/successors so it's almost not all too different. But of course the gameplay/mechanics can only determine the full change.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

More footage of characters.



And some DLC characters:

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Ok so I finally got my grubby hands on this game, and much like SCIII onwards, the mechanics gets a massive overhaul yet again. This time the changes are even more drastic than previous games. Veteran players will have to relearn this game again.

Soul Gauge meter: basically a super bar (2 full bars), and the meter has it's fair uses.

Brave Edges are altered variants of normal attacks. More strength, speed, hits etc at the cost of half a bar of the Soul Guage.

Guard Impact/Parry has changed dramatically. You need half a bar of the Soul Guage to perform one, and the input is now back+A+B+K, hence you can parry in only one single direction. Some characters still have moves that Guard Impact without meter. Still, no more constant parrying like the previous 2 games. Having said all that....

Just Guard: Garou Mark of the Wolves started it all. Capcom and Sammy/Arc Systems have adapted it on some games (CvS2 and Guilty Gear/Blazblue respectively), so naturally it makes it here. Block at the moment the opponent lands an attack, leading to rewards such as overriding all properties like unblockables, break attacks etc.

Critical Edge: a unique flashy super really. Consumes 1 bar of the Soul Gauge.

Quick Step/Sidesteping opens up for a few different 8 way run attacks. Faster than before and great for avoiding verticals, though there's a telegraph white streak that's visible when this is done so the enemy can follow up with a horizontal if his/her reflexes are quick enough.



With all the above said and done, it does feel vastly different. Though I didn't care for it initially, I'll probably be more interested in the Character Creation than actually playing the game.

EDIT: Also Story Mode was a little too brief for my liking (like SCIV), but it did open up Legendary Souls, which I haven't played through yet.

 

[Vicissitude27]

 

[Severance]

Some answer me one question Is zalsalamel in scv. Cause I raped so hard with him in 4.

 

[ShadowFactoryX]

I forgot to mention my story about this game...

So i pre-ordered it, going on the assumption that (somehow) it would be better thatn IV (and (IV kicked major arse)

got it on the day of release, played it for two hours..
and was so abhorrently repulsed at how bad and different it was that I took it back next day, traded it in, and took at $27 dollar loss.
Project Soul? how about Project Suck? i cant believe they took all the best things about IV and threw them away instantly.

Graphics? no better or worse. "Fighting Gameplay" minorly improved. Character Creation? cheesy, uninspiring, bland.
I'm most upset they took away all the special abilities you could get by spending the trait points.

Now its just about making hot babes with huge jugs, and repetitive fighting.

UGH

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Ok, after extreme reluctancy to peel myself away from Xenoblade, I've played this a little more extensively, and I'll have to say that there is only one word that sums up my early impression of this game: Disappointing.

I actually don't mind the constant changes in mechanics per every sequel. This game in particular seems more akin to an old school (2D) fighting games of yore. That's all well and good, and while I miss the constand parrying that was possible in previous games, I can do without it here. And I don't mind certain characters not appearing and/or being replaced with succesors. I've played enough Street Fighter games to get used to that...

My main gripe is the fact that, a lot of the extra features from the previous games, in particular, SCIII, have all but long gone. Story mode here took less than an hour for me, and because of it's fixed character layout, the idea of playing through each character story mode is gone, which kinda sucks for aficionados for fighting game plots and loophoes like myself. 1 player arcade mode serves little purpose really. I loved the gaiden quest mode in SCIII, but even that was gone in SCIV, which was such a shame. Even the story mode in III was better layed out with various pathways that lead to various rewards and consequences and multiple endings. At least IV retained an individual storyline for each character, even if it was a little short and linear.

The Create a Soul stuff has always been my favorite feature from SCIII onwards. It's cool that it's even more open for customising and even patterns and details are added. Though because of the lack of options, hence lack of insentive to unlock all the little extras buried deep within the COS menu.

I guess my complaints are all geared towards the lack of single player options overall. Having said all that, it seems that Namco are gearing this game more towards the competitive play. The mechanics seem to have been adjusted to please the more hardcore tournament playing community, and I'm quite curious to see how this fairs. The Soul series seems to cop a bit of flak when it comes to tournaments, but here's hoping this game could change that.

Also I guess it's only been a few days of playing too so it's too soon for me to be this judgemental. That and the DLC stuff I haven't noted yet. Speaking of which, Dampierre is now DLC avaiable.

Some answer me one question Is zalsalamel in scv. Cause I raped so hard with him in 4.

Nope.