I'll admit right off the bat that Soul Calibur V is far from a bad game. It's very nice graphically, and the fluidity of the gameplay is excellent. I'd give it a 6.6/10 if I was writing on behalf of IGN and reviewing the game, but I'm not reviewing the game for IGN or any other organisation, and I'm not going to go Angry Video Game Nerd on this game either (by the way AVGN and Cinemassacre are fantastic and hilarious and a great service to teach us not to play terrible games, accessories etc. Check it out!).
What I will do is spew out my opinion of what is wrong with Soul Calibur V, and how the series can improve for the next instalment, if there is to be another instalment that isn't a free to play, pay to win, micro-transaction heavy piece of donkey turd the size of Italy! (Seriously its bad and so is Tekken Revolution because both games require payment upfront to open up characters, stages and so on that should be already there in the game ready to play!)
Personal note: I despise games where micros-transactions are necessary to get the most of the game. In some games it is tolerable because it is merely an option to overcome levelling up or earning experience the old fashioned way (though that says a lot about the laziness of gamers who pay to access shortcuts). DLC can be good if utilised correctly, but it can easily be used as a lazy business initiative to earn a few £ or $ by offering additional weapons and costumes that aren't necessary like in Final Fantasy XIII-2 for instance. The system in Tekken Revolution however is just like in other games of this nature where characters like Nina Williams and the many others require a token like payment or direct payments of each character via the PlayStation Store. Games like these are inexcusable in my opinion. Want a great Tekken game which won't cost an arm and a leg? Get Tekken Tag Tournament 2, seriously its tremendous and you can do everything and more in TTT2 which you may otherwise pay for in Tekken Revolution.
Anyway, Soul Calibur V isn't bad though compare it to Soul Calibur IV (which is my favourite in the series), it is VERY HOLLOW. You can create your own fighters in V like you can in III and IV, but unlike III and V; you can use your created characters in the campaign/story mode (in Soul Calibur III you don't have a choice, you HAVE TO). In IV you can use your created fighters in Arcade mode, Training, Multiplayer, Online, and Tower of Lost Souls mode. Plus the garments, accessories and weapons you equip on fighters affect HP, Attack, Defence, and have values which can allow you to equip abilities like Invisible and Soul Gauge Vamp which can be used in most modes to aid your quest, or achieve achievements/trophies. In V however, created fighters are merely for multiplayer online and offline and there is a lack of initiative for creating a fighter in the first place. There are no attribute features or abilities to choose for the created fighter like there is in IV. What you create is for visual purposes and preference only, there is no substance which is a shame because there is tellingly a good empathise put into the creation mode.
The actual fighting and swordplay in V is as solid as it is in IV, in fact I'd say in V it is silky smooth and leaves IV trailing falling behind. But again even in the core experience of Soul Calibur V there is telling hollowness. Garments and weapons are merely visual and have no real difference which means you can't have extra HP or greater Defence value in a fight. In IV garments will eventually break off depending on how much the specific part of the opponent is head (i.e. if you strike for the head, the equipment like a hat will break under the force). In V the garments will break, but all at once and almost only when a powerful attack finishes off the opponent for the KO. Its not really a big deal but it lacks purpose in V like it does IV. Critical finishes are back but are nowhere near as satisfying or dynamic, or easy to pull of as they were in IV. In terms of difficulty, V can give you a real challenge in the form of Legendary Souls mode; but in order to unlock Legendary Souls mode you have to complete the Story mode which is truly terrible and baffling. Even if you get past the terrible Story mode, the difficulty settings can practically make you want to punch a hole through your TV with your fist, it is barbaric and with no attributes or abilities to help you, it is cruel to say the least. I actually managed to clear Arcade mode on the hardest setting but it honestly took me the time of 95'56'76 to do it. Maybe I'm not very good at Soul Calibur V but if it takes over 20 minutes to beat just one fighter on a harder setting then I could be infuriating myself over nothing while something else is happening like playing with a friend in Grand Theft Auto V, or the dinner is burning and you forget because you are so bloody pissed off by the opponent fighter on the screen.
The main roster of fighters are tolerable, but I really miss the variety and significance from the characters in previous instalments like Taki, Seong Mi-na, Yun-Seong, and Zasalamel to name a few. There are veteran fighters like Ivy, Voldo, and Nightmare and so on, but the new cast are mostly replacements for previous fighters like Natsu adopts Taki's fighting style and place in Soul Calibur V. These fighter changes and replacements wouldn't be so bad if there was a bigger roster of UNIQUE FIGHTERS and stories behind the new characters, but none of those desires are there to shield us from the disappointment. There are three, yes 3 characters that borrow and use the fighting styles of other fighters, 2 of which are new to the series and are rubbish, but the third one is none other then Kilik, who by the way is the same Kilik from the first Soul Calibur game. WHAT THE HELL?! Does the game explain why Kilik has become yet another mimic? NO it doesn't. Does it give back stories of the roster of fighters? NO, not even text on the screen like there was in Soul Calibur IV! Forget about viewing the fighters endings because there aren't any! Don't you think we would've like to have known more about the fighters, especially our favourite characters, or seen what happens if the said fighter gets his or hers hands on Soul Calibur or Soul Edge?! F*** YES!! But no there's no details other than V is set 17 years after IV and the little clues the game offers for you to work everything out. Seriously I had to look up the fighters on the internet to get the stories behind the new and old characters. How else am I (SPOILER ALERT) to realise that Kilik and Xianghua had an illegal affair and the daughter of Xianghua; Lexia has a estranged relative known as Xiba who always thinks about food? Patroklos has an additional form like his sister Pyrrha, why? Because later in the Story mode Patroklos becomes Alpha Patroklos, uses a similar fighting style to Setsuka, and becomes a cliché saviour after being such a snobbish arrogant moron in his original form. Pyrrha and her Omega form are far more playable and relatable, but other new characters like Z.W.E.I. and Viola are utterly forgettable and wasteful. Ezio from Assassins Creed is an interesting newcomer but pales in comparison to previous guest fighters like Link, Heihachi, Yoda and Darth Vader. Frankly the roster problems in V outweigh the terribleness of the Story mode.
Yes you heard me right, the roster is worse than the terribleness of the Story mode in Soul Calibur V. The reason I say that is because you only need to attempt the Story mode once and forget about its terribleness as soon as its over, whereas the roster problem is more central to Soul Calibur V. Where do I start with the Story mode...? Honestly I wish I had never explored what little and meaninglessness there is with the Story mode. But I had to for the achievements and to unlock Legendary Souls mode so I can unlock Algol who by the way has been stripped of his significance from IV. The core story of Story mode should've been a CG Movie like Blood Vengeance, and then buried next to Saddam Hussein! Patroklos is just terrible from start to finish and actually gets worse when he becomes Alpha Patroklos. Throughout the 20 chapters of Story mode, you are buried alive by atrocious attitude and stupidity of Patroklos battling what he says are "Malfested", a term Namco want you to fall in love with by having it said so many, many times (5 minutes of the cut scenes in Soul Calibur V's Story mode on YouTube will have you wanting to nuke the person who came up with the term "Malfested"!). The supporting cast are anything but; they serve as figures giving us unnecessary dialogue, and 2 of them cannot be played or used during Story mode, they are Viola and Siegfried. Yes Siegfried, the badass wielding SoulCalibur and constant thorn in Nightmare's and Soul Edge's path is nothing more than an opponent and dialogue! Tira aids Pyrrha and serves Nightmare, and in typical cliché fashion good overcomes bad...(yawn). The Story mode is playable and serves as the means of unlocking a good percentage of the game's unlockable material, but as soon as its over you will stay clear of it, and as soon as you do that you'll realise just how wasteful all the effort of making Soul Calibur V is.
If more empathise was made on the rest of Soul Calibur V and less on the Story mode, it would have been a better game full stop. Instead as a whole Soul Calibur V is nothing more then an "okay" fighting game "malfested" in its attempt to be different. There are plenty of reviews out there that will provide greater detail and alternative games instead of Soul Calibur V. Fortunately I was wise enough to still have Soul Calibur III and IV in my collection to go back to when I got fed up with V, and even what I purchased V, it only cost me £5.03 via the Xbox Live Gold promotion. For those who feel or felt similar to me in regards to V, I feel bad for those who brought this game when its was first released at full price.
So, how can the Soul series redeem itself for its 6th main instalment? Here's an idea: Call the next Soul Calibur main instalment "Soul Calibur VI: Paradox of Destiny" and come up with a main antagonist influenced by Soul Edge to alter the events of time before Siegfried shatters Soul Edge as seen in the intro of Soul Calibur V, 17 years before the events of V. Similar to Algol in IV or Zasalamel in III, the said antagonist requires the combined power of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge to gain complete control and alter his/hers fate which would be chronological in the time after Siegfried shattered Soul Edge 17 years prior to V. Without the combined power of both swords, the said antagonist is stuck in limbo and if he fails then the timeline goes unaltered; the antagonist dies and chronologically the series will resume until it reaches the events in V. This way the classic fighters from previous instalments can continue in their timeline after IV before the next generation featured in V. Wanting to destroy Soul Edge and atone for his sins; Siegfried can serve as the main protagonist once more, with more allies like Sophitia who desperately want to free her children Patroklos and Pyrrha from the wrath and consumption of Soul Edge. Nightmare would be clashing with Siegfried in order to shatter Soul Calibur and infill the world in darkness. Tira would serve Soul Edge in order to continue feeding off potential hosts. Raphael and Amy may seek to use the 2 swords to form a permanent stoppage of time so that their own world will last for an eternity. Other characters may continue with their desires to acquire one or the other swords for their own needs.
I have no ideas for who could be guest characters in VI, though the possibilities are in the many I'm sure. As long as gameplay evolves fluidly and graphically superior and reintroduces features like the abilities and attributes present in IV and stage conditions such as the sand and ice stages present in II, then there shouldn't be any complaints. Perhaps a tag team function should be implemented to create a fresh gameplay experience for the Soul series as seen in Dead Or Alive and Tekken Tag Tournament. I assume the creation suite, Arcade mode and Online multiplayer will feature in VI. Potentially these suggestions aren't farfetched and doable and could restore some faith in the Soul series after the lacklustre Soul Calibur V.
What do you think? If you have a suggestion or wish to express your thoughts then please do whichever way you deem effective. Feedback will help mould future instalments of the games we love to play. Soul Calibur VI is as good as inevitable, what it becomes however could depend on how much creative input comes from us gamers, so speak out and look forward to more sword wielding melee in the near future.
Until next time, see ya!
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