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Soul Calibur 2- general advice on truly getting better

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    Soul Calibur 2- general advice on truly getting better

    I realise most of you who have ordered Soul Calibur 2 should have it by now, and so I`m posting this thread as a sort of general guide as to how to truly get better at it...


    Pick your character

    This is something you want to do very carefully. Each character takes months of learning and training to utilise properly and naturally. Therefore, you don`t want to pick the `wrong` character and suddenly find that either your style doesn`t suit that particular character or find that you feel more drawn towards another.

    Please also consider that some characters are more than a little unconventional and might not suit your style of play. For example, a character like Voldo relies on unpredicatability, and is one of the harder characters to learn. In the hands of a master though, Voldo is a nasty bastard.

    Perhaps the hardest character to master is Maxi. Maxi is another of the unconventional characters simply becuase not only does he have little range, he isn`t particularly fast either, so learning to use him effectively is tough. Much as he looks spectacular, in all my time of playing I have never met a Maxi player I couldn`t kick ****less which makes me to feel that he is undoubtedly one of the weaker characters. Timing is crucial in the game, but even more crucial for the player who learns Maxi- as not only does he have little range, he isn`t particularly fast or unpredictable. Other characters are more suited to attacking rather defensive styles of play. For example, Talim`s `punchy` style of play relies on the player having an aggressive approach in a match.


    Practice everyday

    To get your character and his/her moves ingrained into my mind, you need to practice everyday or near enough everyday ideally. Don`t attempt to learn more than 2 or 3 moves each day- This is essential. Getting good at Soul Calibur requires a heavy understanding of your chosen characters move range and timing. Therefore, learning the timing and range of each move, as well as a natural understanding of when to use the move in a non-contrived fashion, is something that takes even veteran Soul Calibur players a considerable amount of time. Use training mode to view the move list, and practice a move on a non-moving opponent, first. Keep practicing and practicing that one move to further familiarise yourself with the move and its range. Then (still in training mode) make your opponent fight you and continuously practice your move. Doing this, will infuse the move into your mind and hands, and allow you to become familiar with the timing of the move. You will also begin to develop an understanding of when is best to use this move, which is will become increasingly developed the more you practice against human opponents. Repeat this whole process no more than twice in one day.


    Competition

    Make sure you have friends who are prepared to learn with you- It can`t be stressed how important this is. People who think they can get good at this game simply by playing by themselves are sorely mistaken. Because the computer AI does not completely mimic the nuances of a human player, you will have your arse handed to you if you come up against a skilled opponent. Learning off other people is simply the only way to truly learn this game. You will learn from your mistakes, improve your defensive skills, and just generally become a better all-round player through continued multiplayer.


    Vary your attacks

    Maintain a variety of not only up and down hits, but also throws. This is essential in a match if you are to keep your opponent guessing. Maintaing a variety of down and upper hits and popping in the odd throw for example can provide a mental connundrum for your opponent who is defending your attacks. Mix it up- Don`t become too reliant on certain moves either, otherwise your opponent will learn this, and exploit your over-reliance on this move.


    Defense

    Learning to recognise the moves of your opponents is essential if you aren`t to be heavily exposed to their attacks. Get used to changing between blocking up and down quickly. Don`t experiment with parries or green blocks for at least a good couple of months- Get the basics down first. Once you do want to practice these, set up training mode and have your opponent simply repeat the same move again and again. Carefully time your parry or green block to work out the timing of these. After some considerable practice, feel free to use these in matches, but use them when you are very confident your opponent is going to launch a particular attack. Be very careful about using them too much or against an opponent, whose game you are unfamiliar with. This is a recipe for disaster. A little more advanced and further down the line, practice blocking throws also by quickly tapping in very quick succession both your horizontal and vertical attacks.

    For those who like to parry, I`d very much advise against you not parrying too much- and if you don`t know your opponents game very well, don`t parry much at all. Parries are very easy to get wrong as you can easily misjudge the kind of attack your opponent makes. When expert players play against eachother for the first few times, very little parrying actually takes place. Parrying becomes much more effective and common between players who know eachothers game fairly well.


    What difficulty setting?

    As a novice you should start on normal or the difficulty setting below normal when playing the game. When you feel more confident and you feel you`ve learnt a fair few moves, start putting the difficulty setting up.

    Namco have made the AI in this game much better than both the arcade version of Cali 2 and the Cali 1. It mimics human opponents a lot better especially in ultra hard setting (which gives a very good and fairly realistic challenge to anyone who is good at the game). The hardest setting in the game extremely hard, shouldn`t be touched IMO, unless you want to really practice your parrying, as it gives an unrealistic challenge in that the AI opponents parry far more than any sensible human player and far too perfectly. If you can handle yourself fairly easily in ultra hard setting, i.e. beat the computer opponents much more often than they can beat you, you can consider yourself as fairly good at the game.

    Obviously it is impossible for Namco to mimic human AI completely, so naturally, the true test will be againt good human opponents.


    Questions

    This thread is open for anyone who has any questions about any of the points above or if anyone else has any questions about getting better at the game. I`m Saur or C (Mark) can answer some of your questions as well as myself.

    I haven`t gone into too much detail in some areas, so I`d expect there to be some questions from anyone interested in this thread.

    #2
    In fighting games there are lots of moves and combos however not all are useful. Up to you to pick the best setups and stick to them. Mix them up and keep your enemy guessing. Some moves are really ****ty and will only get you killed if you use them in 90% of situations.

    Comment


      #3
      Adrien

      Thats totally right- some moves are fairly useless- e.g. moves that are simply far too slow and/or moves that have little range.

      You should as a player try to judge which moves seem really useful and concentrate on learning them first.

      Comment


        #4
        Just as a general guide which SC2 characters would you consider to be the best? I appreciate what you mentioned above about picking the best one for you but there must be a general consensus about which ones have the best all-round strengths. From the limited time I've had with the game I find that I enjoy playing as characters like Sueng Mina and Kilik as I like the range that they offer.

        When I play the game in multiplayer I'm usually fairly confident of having a chance of winning. The exception to this is playing against the larger fighters like Nightmare and Astaroth. It seems like once you've taken a couple of hits from them the fight is more or less over as you've lost a big chunk of energy and you either revert to a desperate attack to try and finish the fight quickly (and end up getting killed).

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by goldbricker
          It seems like once you've taken a couple of hits from them the fight is more or less over as you've lost a big chunk of energy and you either revert to a desperate attack to try and finish the fight quickly (and end up getting killed).
          That is a mistake a lot of people make. They assume that just because they are pushing towards the last slither of life the round is over. Making desperation attacks is the worst thing you can do. You will leave yourself open to the most basic of attacks and WILL be finished off.

          However, be more considered with your fighting style and take full account of your positioning nd no round is lost until you lose that last bit of energy. A successful Guard Impact followed up with a neatstring of attacks can quickly turn a match around. Similarly take into account your position. A ring out is always an option.

          Comment


            #6
            Cassandra, Asataroth and Xianghua are top tier. Talim, Taki, Misturugi and Nightmare are mid tier. Yunsung is the worst character in the game.

            Comment


              #7
              To my disadvantage i've always used Kilik and would consider myself fairly apt with him. But i'd now like to master another character as well but i'm finding it very difficult, for example i'd like to learn how to use Mitsu' but his stlye is so completely different to Kiliks, i'm finding it tricky.

              Which charater to you guys use as your favourite and why?

              Comment


                #8
                Kilik is my character of choice, so alongside Lion from Evo, I'll be training up on these two. However, until my SCII Hori Stick arrives, I don't want to start playing silly as it sounds.

                I detest using the control-pad for a 3D-based fighter.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Yunsung is not the worst character in the game - i have started training up on him and he has quite a varied move-list and his use of kicks followed by quick slashing attacks makes him a formidable opponent up close

                  another character that is suited for longer range attacks due to the speed of his counters is Rapheal -- his B,B,B combo is ultra quick and can be used to keep an opponent on his toes

                  and don't forget Spawn - lots of peeps will give him a miss due to being a bonus character but he is the quickest of the 'big' characters with very good combos

                  camps

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Kilik seems to have lost a few moves from SC1 - hes still formidable in the right hands but his button bashing skills appear to be toned down

                    always a good thing

                    camps

                    Comment


                      #11
                      My brother is actually starting out with Maxi... oh well in at the deep end I guess

                      At least he is also looking at Kilik and Talim...

                      Currently trying out Link, Kilik and Astoroth to see where things go. Have to admit, you may not like him in there but Link is a decent well balanced fighter overall and actually not a bad choice to start off learning the game with...
                      Lie with passion and be forever damned...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        As I general point about getting better at fighting games, I would suggest looking at the various FAQS that are out there (see www.gamefaqs.com). A comprehensive movelist for every character (in game command lists never have every move) is a good starting point.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Excellent thread Tokuda-sensei! Any links/advice for those of us who don't have Japanese, with translations of the menu screens etc?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by camps
                            Yunsung is not the worst character in the game - i have started training up on him and he has quite a varied move-list and his use of kicks followed by quick slashing attacks makes him a formidable opponent up close

                            another character that is suited for longer range attacks due to the speed of his counters is Rapheal -- his B,B,B combo is ultra quick and can be used to keep an opponent on his toes

                            and don't forget Spawn - lots of peeps will give him a miss due to being a bonus character but he is the quickest of the 'big' characters with very good combos

                            camps
                            Yunsung is far inferior to Hwang and Raphael is also one of the worst characters in the game. He relies on pokes yet Yoshimitsu's are far more effective.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Pheeew... just been out to dinner for a few hours. Now where do I start....

                              Goldbricker- naaah- the heavy characters are no more intimidating than the other characters. It all depends on how good the player using the character is. If you worry about this- you`d be even more worried about facing up to Wolf and Jeffrey in VF4 Evo who take off ****loads with certain moves.

                              TommyG- I`m a Mitsu player- not sure why I started with him in the first place. Just I felt I liked him more than any of the other characters and he does look ****ing cool.

                              Yunsung- The juries still out for me on how good/bad he is- I`m sceptical hes as bad as Adrien thinks he is because I`ve already played some pretty lethal Yunsung players here.

                              The Boatman- Translations for the movelists are totally and utterly unnecessary. If you go to the training mode (which is where you should be learning all your moves) there is a move list. Click a certain button on each move and the computer will demonstrate it for you. Click off the menu and then try out the move yourself. As for the other menus- not sure mate to be honest. I can read hirangana and katakana myself, so its pretty easy for me to work out menu options. I`m not kidding but as a general rule for gamers who like their Japanese games its more than an excellent idea to learn these (especially katakana). It doesn`t actually take that long (took me 3 hours to learn how to read it) and will help you no end to navigate the menus of most Japanese games.

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