Thoughts/Comments/Wishes/Concerns

[NeverTheOne]

I have to admit that I'm starting this thread in order to collect all of you guys' thoughts/feelings about the latest installment in the series...because I'm too lazy to read through the 100+ pages of threads and replies. ^_^'

I remember being stoked beyond stoked when I found out that there was going to be a fifth installment in the Soul Calibur series. I was a bit upset - a few years back - when SCIV was going to supposedly be the last title in the franchise. V was a glimmer of hope for me, as it promised a new "stage in history" for the story as well as new faces to introduce into the mythology. Promises...but what about the delivery?

As for the "story": Overall it was lacking. Yes, we see the children of Sophitia having come of age and taking their places in the mythos of the Soul swords...but the delivery was botched. The comicbook-esque segways just didn't do the job of keeping what little feeling there was for the story going. At this point in the lifespan of our current generation of consoles, I would have expected a fully animated story line to follow. Then, there's the OBVIOUS lack of character-specific stories to play through. This pretty much leaves us with just accepting the fact that the returning characters are still viable contestants in the Tale of Souls.

As for the characters: Do we REALLY need all of the freaking Edge Masters in this game?!? lol I was excited to see Kilik return...only to have my soul crushed by seeing him wielding Voldo's claws. WTF?! I do fancy Viola, however. It's nice to see a truly unique character being dropped into the fold that isn't some freakshow like Charade was back in III. Most of the children/students of the past characters aren't that bad really, but I would have loved to have seen more of their masters return.

I would have liked to see an older Talim make an appearance, as well as a return of Seung-Mina. Amy could have very well been brought back, as she is a "vampire" in the likes of Raphael. There could have been a new Yun Seong character as well. I also have to admit that I would like to have seen Setsuka, Cassandra/Sophitia make a return as well. According to what I read here on IGN a while ago...I guess Namco said that Taki will return?? I am glad to see that Rock was gone, as I've never been a fan of the brutish characters like he and Astaroth.

As for the gameplay: I do have to say that SCV feels more fluid than IV by far. I found it a lot easier to pick-up and play the new characters this time around than I did all of the guest characters back in IV.

What do you all have to say?

 

[Piles_of_Gore]

Thoughts: I love the addition of the meter system and the additional depth it brings. For example, it's cool being able to do things like give Astaroth's bull-rush move armor and an additional hit, or using his side-step B move as a launcher into a nasty mid-air throw. The fighting is fluid and fun, but the tracking seems pretty wonky at times (sometimes I think it's almost literally impossible to sidestep some moves...even when you think you're timing it perfectly). But Guard Impact is largely neglected because it wasn't incorporated nearly as well as it could have been.

Wishes: Nothing, really. Just the standard tweaking that fighting games go through for balance purposes. Although I'm not even sure if that's necessary because...

Concerns: The online community seems to be rapidly shrinking already, even though this game has been out for approximately only 1 month. It's disheartening to see an entire continent within the Global Colleseo have exactly 0 people playing the game. It kinda forces everybody to hover in either the LA or the NY lobbies...which is misleading because I would go to the LA lobby since it's geographically the closest to me so I expect solid connections...but then I end up playing some turd in Florida anyway, lol. For people like me, who play fighting games for the multiplayer and cannot give a **** about single-player content, it's rather frustrating.

EDIT: This game is already so dead that I'll be surprised if anybody even reads this, lol.

 

[skippylikes69]

Im pretty sure Amy is Viola, as Amy is missing, and Viola wears her costume and has similar features and is of similar height.

 

[InMyOwnImage]

Online is very unstable, I find. Out of the last 12 matches I've played, they've all been dropped due to connection issues.

The CPU is rather broken. They fall into abusing combos too easily.

The combat is solid. I was Guard Impacts were easier, and the Soul Gauge is rather useless with the removal of Critical Finishes.

It would be good if they released DLC of old characters. Like an "Ancestor Pack" to give you Taki, Xianghua, etc. They'd just have to be re-vamped or else they'd be clones of Natsu and the others.

 

[Piles_of_Gore]

Online is very unstable, I find. Out of the last 12 matches I've played, they've all been dropped due to connection issues.

The CPU is rather broken. They fall into abusing combos too easily.

The combat is solid. I was Guard Impacts were easier, and the Soul Gauge is rather useless with the removal of Critical Finishes.

It would be good if they released DLC of old characters. Like an "Ancestor Pack" to give you Taki, Xianghua, etc. They'd just have to be re-vamped or else they'd be clones of Natsu and the others.

Connection issues are partially to blame on the lack of online opponents. Last night I played against 2 dudes from Australia...in the New York lobby...and I was in the New York lobby because every other lobby was dead (I live on the West coast), lol.

I have to disagree with your comment about the Soul Gauge though. Brave Edge attacks aren't worthless at all. For example, one of Astaroth's most damaging combos comes from a Brave Edge setup. Also, using the Brave Edge version of his bull rush attack grants you an additional hit and super armor that will absorb a hit without interrupting his attack animation.

 

[InMyOwnImage]

Online is very unstable, I find. Out of the last 12 matches I've played, they've all been dropped due to connection issues.

The CPU is rather broken. They fall into abusing combos too easily.

The combat is solid. I was Guard Impacts were easier, and the Soul Gauge is rather useless with the removal of Critical Finishes.

It would be good if they released DLC of old characters. Like an "Ancestor Pack" to give you Taki, Xianghua, etc. They'd just have to be re-vamped or else they'd be clones of Natsu and the others.

Connection issues are partially to blame on the lack of online opponents. Last night I played against 2 dudes from Australia...in the New York lobby...and I was in the New York lobby because every other lobby was dead (I live on the West coast), lol.

I have to disagree with your comment about the Soul Gauge though. Brave Edge attacks aren't worthless at all. For example, one of Astaroth's most damaging combos comes from a Brave Edge setup. Also, using the Brave Edge version of his bull rush attack grants you an additional hit and super armor that will absorb a hit without interrupting his attack animation.

I agree Brave Edges are worthwhile. I'm talking about building an opponents meter up and "shattering them" like you would in IV to set up your Critical Finish. In V, the screen goes blue and they are stunned for a second or two.

 

[jakob997]

Thoughts: I really like the game. The story was lacking, but so is any fighter's. The graphics were sharp (besides the usual clipping), the fighting system was improved, the roster was satisfying (besides all the Edge Masters), and the Character creation was outstanding. I like it much better than Soulcalibur IV, which I still found to be great. Ezio was a great guest character.

Wishes: As outstanding as Character Creation was, I was annoyed yet again by the fact I can't use overlapping equipment. I don't care if it's realistic, it makes me feel held back. Other minor gripes include no letters for stickers and the fact under-armor/underwear can't really be colored red. If Namco fixed all this and continued to add more stuff to it, then Creation would be unstoppable.

Concerns: That we won't be given any legitimate DLC anytime soon, if at all. The bits of armor they've given us suck, especially for two bucks a pop. Make Dampierre available to everyone, and bring back some older members like Zasalamel, who's supposed to be immortal (I think) and didn't get a replacement character.

 

[NeverTheOne]

I suppose my two biggest issues would have been the lack of character-specific stories and the lack/mish-mash of old characters. The character specific stories from 4 were short, but good. There were even cross-overs from different view points like with Maxi, Kilik, and Xianghua. In any fighting game worth its spit, I've always found the stories/endings enjoyable.

I would have to agree with InMyOwnImage with the idea of an "Ancestors" DLC pack (for example). It's not really so much that I miss a lot of the old characters that they cut (I do, though), but it's also a matter of realizing that we only got 20+ characters to choose from. They seem fleshed-out, so that's perhaps why NamcoBandai chose so few. Yet when you look at the rosters of other big contending fighters that are out now, you will see that most of them have easily 30+ characters to use.

Do you think there's a possibility of Nam-Ban releasing a new "Super" version of SC5 like all the re-hashes of SFIV or the re-release of MK?

 

[InMyOwnImage]

Do you think there's a possibility of Nam-Ban releasing a new "Super" version of SC5 like all the re-hashes of SFIV or the re-release of MK?

I hope not. But, you never know. It would suck for people who bought this one if they released a new version with more characters and whatnot.

 

[NeverTheOne]

I totally agree with you on that. I never bought a copy of SFIV because of the stupidity of releasing like 3 different versions of the game within like 6 months of the original. Still...being as how I've been such a fan of the SC series, I just might be interested enough in buying an upgraded version especially if it meant a "fuller" version of the game.

I also miss extra modes in the SC series. I *loved* SC3's Chronicles of the Sword.

 

[NeverTheOne]

Piles of Gore: It's sad, but true it seems...the reception of the 5th installment in the SC series has been horrible.

Thoughts: I love the addition of the meter system and the additional depth it brings. For example, it's cool being able to do things like give Astaroth's bull-rush move armor and an additional hit, or using his side-step B move as a launcher into a nasty mid-air throw. The fighting is fluid and fun, but the tracking seems pretty wonky at times (sometimes I think it's almost literally impossible to sidestep some moves...even when you think you're timing it perfectly). But Guard Impact is largely neglected because it wasn't incorporated nearly as well as it could have been.

Wishes: Nothing, really. Just the standard tweaking that fighting games go through for balance purposes. Although I'm not even sure if that's necessary because...

Concerns: The online community seems to be rapidly shrinking already, even though this game has been out for approximately only 1 month. It's disheartening to see an entire continent within the Global Colleseo have exactly 0 people playing the game. It kinda forces everybody to hover in either the LA or the NY lobbies...which is misleading because I would go to the LA lobby since it's geographically the closest to me so I expect solid connections...but then I end up playing some turd in Florida anyway, lol. For people like me, who play fighting games for the multiplayer and cannot give a **** about single-player content, it's rather frustrating.

EDIT: This game is already so dead that I'll be surprised if anybody even reads this, lol.

Yeah...the reception of this game was complete trash. The arguements against the game stand on solid ground though. I can't deny that this title feels rushed beyond anything else that I've played recently...which is sad, because the Soul Calibur series needed to have a more fleshed-out re-introduction in the fighting genre if it was to have any hope of staying a contender.

 

[jakob997]

@ NeverTheOne

I don't think they'll release a new version of Soulcalibur V. If they released a new edition of Soulcalibur V-- for now, let's call it "Mega Soulcalibur V" for whatever reason-- I can't imagine too many people that they could add outside of Zasalamel and maybe Rock who would be unique enough. Adding only a couple of characters in a new addition would just be stupid, and instead Namco should resort to DLC (and I'm still waiting for Dampierre, btw). Other than that, all they could really add is some new stages and Creation equipment, which still isn't much to go on when compared to, say, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The Soulcalibur series isn't big enough, and doesn't have enough new stuff to offer, at least in my eyes.

 

[InMyOwnImage]

@ NeverTheOne

I don't think they'll release a new version of Soulcalibur V. If they released a new edition of Soulcalibur V-- for now, let's call it "Mega Soulcalibur V" for whatever reason-- I can't imagine too many people that they could add outside of Zasalamel and maybe Rock who would be unique enough. Adding only a couple of characters in a new addition would just be stupid, and instead Namco should resort to DLC (and I'm still waiting for Dampierre, btw). Other than that, all they could really add is some new stages and Creation equipment, which still isn't much to go on when compared to, say, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The Soulcalibur series isn't big enough, and doesn't have enough new stuff to offer, at least in my eyes.

I believe Dampierre is also available.

 

[NeverTheOne]

@ NeverTheOne

I don't think they'll release a new version of Soulcalibur V. If they released a new edition of Soulcalibur V-- for now, let's call it "Mega Soulcalibur V" for whatever reason-- I can't imagine too many people that they could add outside of Zasalamel and maybe Rock who would be unique enough. Adding only a couple of characters in a new addition would just be stupid, and instead Namco should resort to DLC (and I'm still waiting for Dampierre, btw). Other than that, all they could really add is some new stages and Creation equipment, which still isn't much to go on when compared to, say, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The Soulcalibur series isn't big enough, and doesn't have enough new stuff to offer, at least in my eyes.

Dampierre has been available since February 28th, friend. =)

The 2 other things I was trying to emphasize by bringing up a "Super" edition were: 1. Character-specific stories/endings like from previous games. 2. New/better game modes like Chronicles of the Sword from SC2.

 

[jakob997]

@ NeverTheOne

I don't think they'll release a new version of Soulcalibur V. If they released a new edition of Soulcalibur V-- for now, let's call it "Mega Soulcalibur V" for whatever reason-- I can't imagine too many people that they could add outside of Zasalamel and maybe Rock who would be unique enough. Adding only a couple of characters in a new addition would just be stupid, and instead Namco should resort to DLC (and I'm still waiting for Dampierre, btw). Other than that, all they could really add is some new stages and Creation equipment, which still isn't much to go on when compared to, say, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The Soulcalibur series isn't big enough, and doesn't have enough new stuff to offer, at least in my eyes.

Dampierre has been available since February 28th, friend. =)

The 2 other things I was trying to emphasize by bringing up a "Super" edition were: 1. Character-specific stories/endings like from previous games. 2. New/better game modes like Chronicles of the Sword from SC2.

Yeah, I got Dampierre finally, lol. Don't really like him much. Anyway, more game modes would be ideal, but do you really see character specific endings as a possibility? They'd be awesome, but I doubt they would put them in because they'd be a big part of the overall big picture and you'd think they would've put that in the standard edition. More so, if character-specific stories were made, they'd have to explain why Kilik, Edge Master, Maxi, Voldo, and several other returning cast members haven't aged a day within the past seventeen years, which would suck for them because you can tell it's because they rushed the game out. And really, even the characters that DID age, like Mitsurugi and Hilde (if she even aged at all) barely look any older. It's pretty obvious Namco was like "Hey, how about we just make Mitsurugi's hair messy and tell everyone he's in his fifties because of it." Laziness, my friend, laziness.