What SoulCalibur means to YOU

Katsu

Katsu

[09] Warrior
This series has been going strong for over 20 years and has taken many forms in that time. While we can all acknowledge what we like about SoulCalibur could be different from other people, I think it's valuable to discuss in detail what these things are an why they resonate with us in order to gain a larger perspective of the fandom.

If only just to satiate my own curiosity, I want people to talk about not only what drew you to SoulCalibur, but what are the defining aspects of SoulCalibur to you, past or present. Your reasoning can be as simple, complex, or nonsensical as you'd like.
 
I suppose I should start first.
  • Weapon Exhibition. While admittedly just a fancy attract mode cutscene to attract people to arcade machines, I can't help but think that these short videos were instrumental to my enjoyment of early SoulCalibur games. The characters and their weapons are the center of what defines SoulCalibur, and this fact was reflected with not weapon demonstrations, but collecting weapons in single-player modes (complete with status effects) and the weapon biographies. Characters were expertly trained martial artists at the peak of human ability. The 1-2 punch of seeing them gone and adding more and more fantasy magic gimmicks, even to established characters makes me a bit anxious.
    I'm not anti-magic, mind you. Magic was always there, but it was either integrated into the character's moveset gracefully (Taki using Mekki-maru after SE), or it was reserved for inhuman/boss characters (Cervantes/Yoshimitsu/Inferno). And heck, ZWEI is my main ins SCV, a character whom I absolutely loathed the concept of his existence in a SoulCalibur game. I just wish there were more traditional weapon styles in the game like what SC3 did.
  • The stages. I've always been impressed how SoulCalibur blends fantasy and reality in its stage design. There's nary a bad stage in any of the games, and all of them "feel" like they could've existed despite being combat arenas. SC2 was the absolute peak of this implementation. With its uneven terrain and how the characters (attempt to) move in ways that avoid clipping with the environment. SC2 especially felt like the characters were occupying a physical place and they felt more lifelike because of it. However, what later games lacked in verisimilitude, were more than made up for with interesting, varied and flat-out breathtaking vistas.
  • Music. I'm pretty ignorant of musical theory, so you'll have to excuse my bumbling as I try to objectively explain something that is subjective in nature. To me, a fundamental aspect of what defines "Soul Calibur music" is how it is structured around arcade play.
    Typically, a song in SoulCalibur will frontload its catchiest and most intense parts, because it is what you, the player, will be hearing a majority of the time. However, there is always a point where the song nosedives into a more serene moment. The music slows down, most of the instruments fade away, and the song will slowly build back up in its intensity before the song loops. That "eye of the storm" moment of serenity is something I always attributed to combat fatigue. Not literal fatigue, but I mean metaphorically.
    With how an arcade fighting game is set up (FT2 as the standard, fast round clocks, obscenely high damage), it is rare to reach that point of the song in a real match unless the matches are long and intense. That quiet moment, to me, represents abstract concept of the characters in the game being exhausted and on the brink of defeat, where one clean strike will end the match. All of the bravado at the start of the fight crumbles away, revealing the human underneath, and the sheer willpower to continue fighting.
    I know how absurd this all sounds, but I cannot stress how, when I was young, the music always seemed to be timed for to be emotionally resonant with the on-screen fight that is happening and it left a lasting impression me even to this day.
 
MONEYMUFFINS said:
WHAT SOULCALIBUR MEANS TO ME IS: AA, BB, 2A, A_B+G, [G], 2_4_8 SLIDE G.
Click to expand...
When it comes to gameplay, I think of specific things.
8-way run. Heavy, singular strikes that eat 1/4 of a life bar. Parries/Repels in SC4. Variable guard pushback in SC2. Expansive movelists. Li Long & Soul Charge in SC3.
I guess I'd say mechanics that allow for "freedom of options" are the primary thing that comes to mind.
 
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