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**Darwock** · 02-11-2005, 13:40

This looks absolutely stunning, and I've not seen any trace of the slowdown which SC2 suffered from on some of it's busier stages, and yet the background action here is significantly greater. There's all kinds of **** going on in most stages (like the entire building you are fighting in being on fire!) and yet during normal combat I've never noticed it slowing down. I say 'normal combat' because there's a move used by the final boss which will bring the PS2 to it's knees, but it's very brief.

Unfortunately I'll never be able to give my opinions on how the new characters fare in versus mode, cos none of my mates play fighters. Setsuka is a pain in the arse to play against though, she seems to have some seriously powerful combos with absolutely no warning they are coming. Trying to defeat her on stage 9 of 'tale of souls' mode with another new character Tira was *extremely* frustrating. Zasalamel reminds me of Astaroth but i've not used him much.

It feels like a bit of a bloater in terms of other modes, not at all convinced by the 'strategy' mode or the custom characters.. unfortunately I haven't been able to find a simple arcade mode either. It seems to have been replaced by 'tale of souls' which tells the character's story.

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 08:57

Woohoo! It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long Long Li-Long Li-Long Li-Long Li-Long Li time!

Li Long is back in it, after 10 years! One of my favourite characters (I never liked that Maxi geezer) so I really hope he's unlockable. I fought him on one of the random 'defend yourself' battles on 'tale of souls' mode, but he appeared to have superhuman levels of health. Perhaps it was like back in Soul Blade and he could only be damaged while in the air or something? Anyway if he needs to be unlocked by defeating him I'll be miffed cos you don't appear to have any control over those random battles.

**eastyy** · 03-11-2005, 09:01

Do the characters who have come from soul calibur 2 have many extra moves?

Also what gameplay changes are there?

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 09:08

I played SC2 to completion but then I never really went back to it so I'm not all that au-fait with how the characters have changed, but from Mitsurugi it's clear that they have definitely been tweaked. Seung Mina feels more like 'Soul Blade' Seung Mina than a Kilik clone as well, so I suspect her moves have been beefed up. Yoshimitsu feels a lot handier too. The key change is that the guard impact/repel has reverted to how it was in the original Soul Calibur (separate inputs required for high/low attacks). To be honest the fighting on the whole feels more like the original than SC2, which can only be good. I'm not really the person to talk in-depth about a fighter, but since this thread was denied to us (for some reason?) it seems all the gurus are discussing this elsewhere.

**Dogg Thang** · 03-11-2005, 09:12

My copy of this just arrived so I have barely got started on it but it already looks like many of the SC2 characters have new moves. I'm a bit of a button masher when it comes to SC so it would be tough for me to tell you what they are. There is something a little different here - is it me or is the flow and move timing a little more like SC1 than SC2?

The graphics are stunning. I have the GC version of SC2 so expected a step down with the PS2 but I'm not seeing it at all - it really looks amazing. Like SC2 though, I think the direction the designs are going in aren't as good as they were back in SC1 but that's just personal preference.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had trouble finding Arcade mode, Darwock. I have to say that even at this early stage I'm not sure the multiple modes is a good idea. It's a fighter and that should be the meat of it. I will want to unlock the other characters but I don't want to have to rack up 50 hours in various modes to do it.

**eastyy** · 03-11-2005, 09:16

Soul calibur 1 and 2 the masters modes had some of the most frustrating matches i have ever seen is that the same here?

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 09:16

Originally posted by Dogg Thang

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had trouble finding Arcade mode, Darwock. I have to say that even at this early stage I'm not sure the multiple modes is a good idea.

I think I found it actually - Soul Arena->Quick Play. This gives you successive 2 round battles against random opponents on random stages... once it's all unlocked I suspect this will be where I spend all my time. Although, for a game with so many single player modes... where's the high-score board??? That sort of removes one of the purposes of replaying it if you're billy no-mates like me.

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 09:20

Originally posted by eastyy

Soul calibur 1 and 2 the masters modes had some of the most frustrating matches i have ever seen is that the same here?

I've only really played tale of souls where you can't select difficulty, but some of the later fights are EXTREMELY frustrating (for example, hula-hoop Tira versus instant-death Setsuka). To the point where I'd be hitting start in the middle of the round trying to skip the cutscenes which hadn't even started showing yet - my defeat was so inevitable it just became automatic.

**eastyy** · 03-11-2005, 09:23

Oh dear that does not sound good

Is there much incentive to go throught these hard missions? like extra characters/weapons etc

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 09:28

There are unlockables up the wazoo. Extra characters/weapons/custom parts/gallery items/new modes.. you name it.

**FelixofMars** · 03-11-2005, 09:28

I know I am asking for a flaming, but I hope they bring it out on the other consoles. either that or I will have to buy another PS2 pad, that and I will stop having to use it as a DVD player

**venom743** · 03-11-2005, 09:34

The game's AI has been beefed up significantly to stop button mashers which is a good thing. You have to learn this game to get the most out of it. If you're getting beaten, that means you need more practice. The difficulty is SPOT ON and is a welcome challenge.

Setsuka's an expert's character, VERY lethal.

**Dogg Thang** · 03-11-2005, 09:35

Have you tried the Character Creation mode, Darwock? They really seem to be selling it on that - most of the (very small) instruction manual seems to cover character creation. Nothing about the main characters or move lists or anything.

**Darwock** · 03-11-2005, 09:39

Originally posted by venom743

The game's AI has been beefed up significantly to stop button mashers which is a good thing. You have to learn this game to get the most out of it. If you're getting beaten, that means you need more practice. The difficulty is SPOT ON and is a welcome challenge.

Setsuka's an expert's character, VERY lethal.

Agreed, I'm no expert but I do believe the reason I struggled so much in that Tira vs Setsuka fight is because I was using one brand new character against another character I had no experience of fighting. I never found it anywhere near as frustrating using my regulars (although still very challenging).

And fighting Setsuka showed what she was capable of, but I doubt I'll ever be good enough to dish out the ass-whoopings that the AI was giving me with her.

Originally posted by Dogg Thang

Have you tried the Character Creation mode, Darwock?

yeah but I've only mucked around with it, I haven't bought many of the custom parts yet so my options seemed quite limited. But there are hundreds of parts to be bought. Jassi Singh needs to get on this thread and show off his Rock Lee!

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