Retro|Spective 119: Soul Calibur

[Neon Ignition]

History in Games:
1995 - Soul Edge
1998 - Soul Calibur
2002 - Soul Calibur II
2005 - Soul Calibur III
2007 - Soul Calibur Legends
2008 - Soul Calibur IV
2009 - Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny
2012 - Soul Calibur V
2013 - Soul Calibur II: HD Online
2014 - Soul Calibur: Lost Swords
2018 - Soul Calibur VI

Overview:
Like a tale of destiny, eternally retold, Soul Calibur has seen highs and lows throughout its 25 year life. The original game brought the origins of the series to the arcade and PS1 whilst the second game brought the critical acclaim and fan love with its better than arcade translation. The third game, Soul Calibur II, was the point of explosion for the series as it opened up to all platforms with bespoke characters for each before the next game knocked the legs out of the series by making it restricted to one system again. Since then the series descended into novelty guest characters and excessive customisation which at worst robbed it of its identity and at best made it a washed out bland incarnation of its better days. The most recent game was a redux of Calibur but still with elements of the latter entries as the series future now lies with a question mark over it after Namco rested its entire future on how SCVI performed.








Share your thoughts and memories of the Soul Calibur series

[Asura]

I'll have a lot to say about this one; unfortunately I'm short of time at the moment!

[Zaki]

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast was the only one I really got along with. The graphics blew my mind at the time! (actually, they still look amazing through VGA).

The best part is that anyone can pick it up and feel like a bad ass Mission Battle was so much fun too!

[vanpeebles]

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast was the only one I really got along with. The graphics blew my mind at the time! (actually, they still look amazing through VGA).

The best part is that anyone can pick it up and feel like a bad ass Mission Battle was so much fun too!

Same as Zaki!

[QualityChimp]

I only really like playing as Maxi (Priest) as he uses nunchaku.

[Cepp]

Soul Edge was fun but Soul Calibur was incredible. What a way to sell the Dreamcast that was! I put a lot of time into the arcade version as well despite it being a big jump down visually.

I also played the hell out of Soul Calibur 2 at the Namco Station in the Trafford Centre. IIRC it used a card system to save your progress, similar to Initial D. Never purchased the home version though and never played any of the newer games either.

[Brad]

Drramcast version and Arcade are the only ones I've played. What a game! I like playing as Elvis or the guy with the big stick.

[QualityChimp]

the guy with the big stick.

->Open Spoiler<-

[wakka]

Yeah, I only liked the first one. I'm really bad at fighting games, but I had tons of fun with it. I used to mostly play Sophitia. I really loved how 'positional' it was, the way you could dodge in 3D space and roll away and so on. The graphics were awesome too. That proper trademark crisp DC look.

[fuse]

I played a lot of Soul Blade/Edge in the day, first in the arcade and then later at home. Felt I had the hang of it, really enjoyed it vs where other 3D fighters were at the time, and gee, that intro CG...

Didn't have a DC at the time for Calibur, which then passed me by, and honestly I never really got back into the series despite owning most of them. I like to think I still have a reasonable low-level grasp of most fighting games, but then I also remember playing [MENTION=1651]Shoju[/MENTION] at... 5... I think(?)... and getting absolutely beasted

I feel it's got some of the most comprehensive movement options in a 3D fighter, and I'm sure guard impacts (or some variant of) are 1-frame nightmares, too. I don't find it as interesting as VF or Tekken, but I have a lot of respect for folks playing at a high level.

[DeathAdder]

I only like playing as Ivy. Not sure why.

[Baseley09]

There are the first 2 games and that's it. What beauties they are tho.

[Leon Retro]

I only like playing as Ivy. Not sure why.

Yeah, what's the attraction?

I loved Soul Edge on the PS1, such a stunning game at the time, which also played really well and had an awesome soundtrack. Easily my favourite fighting game for the system.

Then Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast blew me away. It really showed off the new tech and felt cutting edge in all areas. Also a joy to play, so I spent loads of time with it.

Then I bought SC2 for the Xbox and GameCube, which was pretty good, but there was something about the graphics that felt more bland next to the Dreamcast original.

After that, I went off the series. I haven't ever played SC3. I did play IV on the 360 and thought it was pretty nice. I might buy the latest game for the PS4.

[Neon Ignition]

This intro has a lot to answer for. It's one of the key parts of Soul Edge (never liked the Soul Blade name) that means that of all the games in the series it's the one I have the strongest sense of nostalgia for. At the time that it was released I much preferred it to Virtua Fighter or Tekken and I think a lot of it came down to the fluidity of the combat. I was completely ready for this series to become more elaborate like Tekken did.

Soul Calibur streamlined the experience instead though. It didn't matter in the end because the game was the franchise at its absolute peak, I played the hell out of it and like several others Maxi was the fighter of choice.

Soul Calibur II was okay. I think the trouble with SC2 was that it felt too similar to the previous game, like they'd just spruced it up a little, enough so to get it out on new platforms. Having played so much of SC1 my interest didn't hold as well with SC2 but one thing is key - Link was the best guest character and still is.

Soul Calibur III was a crushing disappointment. It's competent enough but it really signified the turning point for the series. It feels like Namco was wary of emulating Tekken with the increasingly OTT CG cutscenes and flashy dramatic effects etc so pared SC down. SC3 still feels like, ironically, the most soulless entry.

Soul Calibur IV... a hard one. If anything, other than being known as the Star Wars one, it felt like they'd aggressively pursued the casual market and the game just wasn't that fun to play anymore.

Soul Calibur V. I didn't mind how it played so much but it was really hard to like especially given how aggressively Namco pursued the customisation angle which utterly robbed the game of its identity making it feel like a fan made mugen mod. Ugly as sin and you could just feel the wheels coming off.

Soul Calibur VI was okay to be honest. Still someway off where the series needs to be but an okay course correction. If they do continue then they need to avoid the mistakes of the past. SC should veer towards high visuals with strong identity.

Never played the spin-offs thank god

[Leon Retro]

Soul Calibur II was okay. I think the trouble with SC2 was that it felt too similar to the previous game, like they'd just spruced it up a little, enough so to get it out on new platforms.

I also felt it wasn't special enough to really impress me after spending years enjoying SC1. I thought the visuals lacked vibrancy next to the Dreamcast original, and some of the stages felt a bit drab. It all felt very underwhelming, so I didn't play it much. It's why I look back on the series' and only have fond memories of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, because they were something truly special at the time.