Kayane's Hands-on Impressions of SC5

Namco graciously invited Kayane to come to GamesCom to try out the build of Soul Calibur 5 that they brought with them, but was unable to share her impressions of the game until August 30th because of a media embargo that was in place. Now that the embargo is over, Kayane stayed up until 6AM her local time in France just to share with the community her impressions of the game.

Check Kayane's blog for the full details, and leave a comment with any questions that you may have for her.

 

i suggest everyone with a twitter account go berserk right now...staying classy of course.

maybe kayane got something very terribly wrong? i don't know. i'm afraid she didn't. they'll buff GI's properties in exchange most likely. and still, i'm not at all happy right now.

 

I been waiting for more details on how jG and GI work in this game. Now I can say that I really don't like that a system that has been a staple with this series now requiring meter to use and uses an input that's not the most intuitive to me.

And I always question the need of adding another defensive mechanic to the game when defense was already strong, especially since if you fail a jG, you'll just be guarding like normal. Soul Calibur doesn't need more defense. Remove jG, restore GI, let me GI throws and I'm happy.

 

Thank you so much Kayane!!

 

Restore GIs, let them build meter. Keep JG, make it drain meter.

 

I'm actually ok with the new GI, as a new mechanic.

For the cost of meter, you get a way out of mixups, though you can get baited and thrown/ maybe unblockable/delayed move . That's fair.

I'd rather see traditional GI's return in place of JG, which has so much potential for abuse/problems, in addition to being a mechanic that will be truly a barrier for some folks, and will make online/offline transition harder.

I'm not saying that because I'm opposed to changes, I'm saying that because I really don't think any good can come out of JG, that can't be done via intelligent design in other areas. It's screaming "tacked-on gimmick" to me more then "well thought-out change"

 

i dont like the changes to GI or that tira still loses life randomly and cant choose when to change personalities. other then that hmmm.

 

Just a demo guys. Voicing you don't like it is one thing, but no dramatic protests please.

 

I like ZWEI's design but i'm afraid he will become some infernal mix of SC4 Hilde and Algol.
His charges, if not tested through might result in new Doom Combos.
His EIN might become the next bubbles, but this time, mid hitting bubbles.

*shudders* i hope i'm wrong on that though.
Meter cost might mitigate EIN's effectiveness.

I also hope JGs don't become overpowered
Like other stuff with hard execution.
For example JF throws, which don't seem that overpowered at first, but when someone has the input down to the point of being able to spam it,
it becomes too strong. IMO.

And if JG makes GI useless, that would be bad.
Especially the more or less riskless part of JG.
Could also make too many moves too unsafe and useless on high level play = dumbing the game down.

 

i think it would be ok if they switch JGs and GIs imputs, and give the using of the Gauge to JG instead of GI, to the fact that JG seems to be more stronger and spammable tool than GI considering that if u succeed a JG u are allowed to inflict guaranteed damage, with almost no risk at all as it seems, in other hand GIs have a lot bigger risk and nothing is 100% guaranteed if u succeed one, i also agree with keeping the low parry 3G, i think it would be ok if 6G for Mid,High moves GIs/3G for Low GIs with no needing of any meter and 4RT, 1RT or 4G,1Gfor Just Guards with meter use.

Greetings

 

I didnt use the GI that much in gameplay anyway so its not a big deal imo. Although they better change the way Tira fights back more towards how she fights in SCIII. In that she didn't lose health, and she didn't have two different personalities that had their own movesets. Give her a moveset thats a mix of the two. The situation with EIN will hopefully get resolved as they further develop the game. Not be able to block because EIN can hit mid while ZWEI can hit low at the same time is a problem. Also with Tira, if they keep her two moods then the jolly mood should NOT be the one it reverts back two all the time. There should be a few moves at least that will change her mood.

 

I'm not a fan of the changes to GI either. I guess it might be really cool once I try it, but I agree with the guy who said it seemed more like a tacked on gimmick than something that was really well thought out and will improve gameplay. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now though.

I agree about Tira, she shouldn't be so random. Also she needs to look more like her concept art and less like Talim in the hoo-hahs department. ;)

Natsu sounds incredibly awesome. I'm going to love throwing out illusions and how that will ramp up the possibilities for mixups. Also really glad they finally gave a reason again for your opponent to block low when you go into PO.

Zwei sounds broken. I guess they feel every time that the way to show off their new character and get people excited and talking about them is to make them ridiculously overpowered. Kinda like Hilde, or Bob. Pyrrha and Pat also sound super-scrub-friendly, though not outright broken like Zwei. I expect to play at least a billion of them online.

 

Hey Kayane, thanks for the new information on your thoughts!~ :D
Although, the new GI/JG system seems very unusual.

Oh yeah, and I'm loving the input for GI... 4A+B+K...

How impractical are they trying to make this? The last thing I'm trying to do is press back when I intend to front-GI you.

Tbh, I really don't know what to say on this, but having a button on A+B+K will make it seem easier than it sounds.

Even though Xianghua isn't in this one, Leixia will come and conquer. >:D
Oh, Kayane, if you are somehow able to play as Leixia later on, tell us more about her, please.~

 

I think we'll be spending a lot more time with frame data from now on to find the best punishes from a Just Guard. I just wonder how much of an advantage there is to doing a Guard Impact, it's most likely more dangerous and it takes meter. But I'm liking Kayane's first impressions.

 

So, ZWEI is like Carl Clover?

 

Wajajajajaja, im going to win using lows only, no low GI, jejejejejeje, here comes Omega the Foot killer, SOUL CALIBUR 3RD STRYKE IT SHOULD BE CALLED LIKE THAT.

Yeah I was considering it. If there are no 1GI (my favorite) or 3GI, Wouldn't that reduce the mind-game as most people are going to attack low?

 

I'm concerned that the gameplay is going to end up being tentative tappy-tap based junk where people are always on the lookout for retribution like DOA. And hopefully the animation will change because right now it's the sole strange animation in an otherwise smooth game.

 

Yeah I was considering it. If there are no 1GI (my favorite) or 3GI, Wouldn't that reduce the mind-game as most people are going to attack low?

For gods sake read the blog. Its possible to JG lows, so no you cant spam lows. Is it that hard to understand? Why does everybody talk this low-spam nonsense?

 

Some people need to learn how to read.

"It is also possible to JG lows by doing 1G, too."

I dont know why people think they can spam lows when you can just Guard them and get into the same situation as it would have been with a regular GI.

But there are no risks to attacking low if you can't GI low. If I attack you and you're blocking low, so what, I know you're either going to get injured, or block and get pushed back. No skin off my nose!

 

Great writeup. Thanks Kayane -- glad to see good representatives of the community.

 

The biggest issue right now is GI and JG. The meter use should be reversed. JG pretty much allows you to go right through an attack so IMO it would make sense for that to require meter. That being used endlessly could be pretty dangerous. Applying pressure would be changed completely because you would have to avoid being JG. They implemented a guard break system but you can simply JG when your opponent is trying to break your guard. The only thing you could safely do is B B A A B. Any move that has follow up animation would be too dangerous to use against a smart opponent.

GI normally doesn't guarantee anything you can still be re-GI. And actually not being able to re-GI your opponent because you have no meter is pretty broken. You could basically guarantee a full combo just for doing a GI. As they are I think these two mechanics can be problematic. Reversed I think they make more sense.

Everything else sounds good IMO. ZWEI I'm assuming wont have unblockable setups with EIN. EIN's moves will likely end up being special mid to avoid problems. By doing that there's still great mixup potential just nothing guaranteed. The unchanged characters I think will have changes later.

The game will still be playable if GI cost meter and JG doesn't but I think it will have a negative impact on the overall gameplay. Not saving meter to GI will be stupid because you will be open to guaranteed combos. The whole point of a meter system is to make you pick and choose what to spend meter on. If you make one thing too important it defeats the purpose. And being able to JG endlessly could be truly problematic. So many moves could end up being useless. A JG can guarantee damage making it too much of a threat.