I can't believe nobody's talking about anything but character changes. Here's some important shit:
I see NO game sharing. Unlike Tekken, you can't play multiplayer using only one disc.
Losing all your armor is still full-on naked time: so expect to see much, much more nudity by the end of a match. It just becomes necessary for one player or both to use the armor purge to avoid the on-hit CF moves, and then we're all doing the no pants dance.
Dampierre 1p with no Armor = no hat, no coat, no vest. Just the striped onesie. Kratos, like Star Wars, does not display armor damage.
All the Algol changes make him more fun for everyone. Teleport throw escapes, more benefits to GI'ing bubbles, and an awesome flying dive bomb for A+B+K. Many of the new A+B+K moves are very entertaining.
No more G+A+B+K for traditional CF's. Instead, just hit your A+B+K macro (default is R) during a soul crush, and you'll go past your A+B+K move, straight into the CF like you used to, without needing a G input.
A+B+K can earn a CF when blocked with a flashing soul gauge, but it doesn't always. Still trying to figure out the exact dynamics of that. It may be that you have to hit A+B+K again after it hits.
Every single move Dampierre has is hilarious.
Every honor (known to some as achievements) has a piece of story attached to it. Most if not all of this seems to be about Dampierre. It looks like he has a long story to be unlocked by getting every honor in the game.
Sometimes the story mode (Not the real title of the mode. I forget what it is.) is legitimately subtle and funny. Some of the cartoon panels are very entertaining. We should try to get them as forum avatars. There is a message when you start story mode that tells you explicitly that it's not canonical, but loosely based on the real story. It seems to be an interactive continuation of the SCIV Omake. Here that is, by the way, if you're interested in how these funny characterizations of Cassandra and Hilde got started:
Part 1,
Part 2. (Beware of flagrantly wrong technical facts on the other side of those links.)
I heard somebody say that Nightmare looks bad when soul charged. I disagree, but he does look different and odd. All of his textures become metallic like the secret costumes in SC1, and it really exposes how few polygons he has on PSP.
I can't figure out how or if I can make custom costumes for the proper characters. It looks like it's back to custom costumes for custom characters, and custom colors for proper characters like in SC3. That was not at all the impression I got from early reports. So, some 1p costume items are now available for customs, but I see no way to make a version of Talim or Hilde that start the match without their hats. Maybe it's a capability that has to be unlocked? I'm not optimistic on that.
The new stages are great, but there are also some unchanged SCIV stages, and I can't tell if they were there all along, or if I'm unlocking stuff. Love those new stages, though. Seriously.
The game keeps track of your win-loss record forever, and shows it off regularly. I predict this will make some people much less willing to face stronger opponents for fear of hurting their record, just like in bullshit online play. I'm already ashamed of my record, and it'll only get worse as I furnish my PSP for tournaments.
Totally expectable: just like most PSP games, this game does not run in full screen when connected to a TV. It's centered inside of huge black bars on all sides, because it outputs pixels at a 1:1 ratio, and the native resolution is less than that of an HDTV. Might it look better on a 4:3 SDTV? It's possible. I wish I could check, but I don't have an SDTV with component jacks handy right now, and I don't own a PSP composite cable such as would be compatible with most SDTVs.
It's very admirable the way this game tries to teach noobs the essential Soul Calibur skills. I think they've done a great job, and we might see some good new players bubble up from this lesson.
I love it. I'm having a blast. I want to call in sick to work and just sit on my couch clearing the cute little story mode.
