Why Soul Calibur? What makes it stand out?

JDub

JDub

Mmm. Pie.
I've played fighting games since the Nintendo days. I've never followed a series like Soul Calibur. The first time I played it was after being into Tekken for a bit. I wasn't familiar with it so I didn't think I liked it until I went back to Tekken. Tekken was slow and shallow in comparison. The dynamic Soul Calibur brought to fighting games seemed more genuine. I could finally stop combo whores cold! And the game seemed to have more to it than just block until there's an opening then try to pop off a bigger/more powerful combo than the opponent just did. I didn't know it, but from the moment I played it the first time I was hooked for life. The only other fighting game I've ever thought came close was DOA. So, I'm just curious...why do you play Soul Calibur?
 
Pretty much for the same reasons you stated. The fact that there's more than two dimensions to the game adds a lot to it.

But also for CAS, because I greatly enjoy putting my creativity to use.
 
jwdinkc said:
I've played fighting games since the Nintendo days. I've never followed a series like Soul Calibur. The first time I played it was after being into Tekken for a bit. I wasn't familiar with it so I didn't think I liked it until I went back to Tekken. Tekken was slow and shallow in comparison. The dynamic Soul Calibur brought to fighting games seemed more genuine. I could finally stop combo whores cold! And the game seemed to have more to it than just block until there's an opening then try to pop off a bigger/more powerful combo than the opponent just did. I didn't know it, but from the moment I played it the first time I was hooked for life. The only other fighting game I've ever thought came close was DOA. So, I'm just curious...why do you play Soul Calibur?
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Tekken turned into a juggle fest later in the series, I figured i would be happy with Tekken 5 but wasn't the case...he who juggles hardest wins. Its online play was lagged to f*ck as well, unpredictible at best.

I picked up SC4 on release and got frustrated as I wasn't great at if from the outset, it collected dust for about 6 months then I came back a little more determined. Looked at the tier lists and figured if i'm gonna do this ill do it properly. 3-4 years later and I always find if I start playing I can sit there for hours on end in ranking and always want just one more game!

SC5 has taken a bit of getting used to but ive already played close to 800 games online since it came out so looks like its going the same way. :)

As for DOA I was completely hooked on DOA2 but it never transferred to any of the sequels, maybe DOA5 will bring something that gets me interested in it again.
 
Why? For the game itself. Most of the characters is easy to learn. The second reason is the weapons.
Honestly - Very few fighting games have weapons, and they make a pretty good facilitation (But it depends, some people prefer something in the style of Tekken, but it doesn't mean that they don't find themselves in SC). And most important - something for which one can relieve a bad day =P There is nothing like kicking some ass in revenge for the unfair treatment at school ^^
 
The reason I like the Soul series is exactly how you described it pretty much, but with a few more details.

1) It is a weapon based fighting game.
2) It isn't just about landing large combos, juggling, or spamming special moves (Hadoken, Shoryuken, Ganryu's 1000 palm attack, etc)
3) It feels more like a duel.
4) There is much more strategy involved such as when to use an unblockable, when to mix in a grab, when to guard impact, etc.
5) The characters are memorable
6) The gameplay is just much more fun and intense than games like Tekken or Street fighter. Hell even looking at really bad players fighting each other is still entertaining. Also to me, Tekken feels too damn robotic.

The only other game that I feel comes close to the Soul series is, as you have stated, Dead or Alive. Well actually let me add another game. Samurai Shodow/Samurai Spirits is also just as great as Soul Calibur is.
 
Yeah, I forgot to mention that the weaponry was always a good selling point. I just remembered MK3,4 or 5 introduced weapons and when I tried it I laughed until I cried.
 
It all started in Sc3 when I saw Tira on the cover, I was never too into fighting games before that but she looked cool and I ended up playing it for quite some time all the while only using Tira.

Then Sc4 came out and I got it fairly close to it's release day, I didn't really care about game mechanics or frames or any of that serious stuff I just wanted to use Tira, near the end of it's run I did seriously think about going to offline tourneys but I just couldn't get myself hyped for them, after all I don't play this game to be good at it.

Then sc5 came out and by now my infatuation for Tira had become total and unwavering love. I brought the game on day of release, still not caring for the game play, balance or any of that serious stuff. So to me as long as she is in the series they can keep taking all my money.

And there you have it, my love love. Also why I play sc over the other games too.
 
acefrost said:
It all started in Sc3 when I saw Tira on the cover, I was never too into fighting games before that but she looked cool and I ended up playing it for quite some time all the while only using Tira.

Then Sc4 came out and I got it fairly close to it's release day, I didn't really care about game mechanics or frames or any of that serious stuff I just wanted to use Tira, near the end of it's run I did seriously think about going to offline tourneys but I just couldn't get myself hyped for them, after all I don't play this game to be good at it.

Then sc5 came out and by now my infatuation for Tira had become total and unwavering love. I brought the game on day of release, still not caring for the game play, balance or any of that serious stuff. So to me as long as she is in the series they can keep taking all my money.

And there you have it, my love love. Also why I play sc over the other games too.
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"Here kitty kitty"
You: HELL YEA! *Buys game*
XD
 
For me, it's because of the characters, the fighting engine, and the story (more so in the earlier Soul games up till 4).

I remember playing Soul Calibur 1 in the arcade when I was a kid. I remember using Ivy and I sucked so hard lol. Unfortunately, the arcade went out of business a few months after and I wasn't able to play the game (and we also didn't have a dreamcast at the time). Then a couple years later, we got the Nintendo Gamecube and bought Soul Calibur 2. Me, my bro, and our friends were hooked on the game. And that's where the love for the series totally blossomed.

The gameplay is just so fun. Very dynamic and it's fun coming up with strageties. The characters are really awesome, each have distinctive personalities, some better then others. And plus, there aren't many 3D weapon based fighters these days. The only one that remotely has them is Mortal Kombat and I'm not a huge fan of that series but it's okay. But yeah, that's pretty much why I love the series. :)
 
I never would've thought I'd actually get into Soul Calibur as much I do now. It started with me as a little youngster playing Soul Blade on the PS1 my grandparents bought for us. Hardest thing to play, but it was definitely fun. Then came seeing SC1 at the arcades and spazzing since they...were related, obviously. Then came finding out about SC3 from an issue of Game Informer. While I held out on buying it since I didn't have money, I found a copy of SC2 and played that to my heart's content. Then I finally got a copy of SC3 and played that to my heart's content. (I could never buy any weapons though, lol). And then SCIV was announced, and I patiently waited until Black Friday 2008 to go out and buy a PS3 as well as a copy of SCIV. Fast forward three years, and we're all patiently waiting for SCV to come out...

...and here we are now. :)
 
I was a Zelda kid, so I just wanted to play this 16 rated game with Link in it. Within a few days, I saw that there was a lot more in it than just Link. All of the characters were different and fun to use, there was a crap load of modes and the massive weapons master mode, and the game controlled so well. It was the only fighting game that I could actually understand because I always found Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat hard when I was a kid. After losing so many hours into it, I declared it better than Super Smash Bros. Melee, which I really love. Soul Calibur II was completely perfect in my eyes.

Even if the series continues to get as ridiculous as having Star Wars characters, I'll always love it for its fun and competitive gameplay.
 
I got tired of getting raped in Tekken Tag so I went over to the SC1 machine and rocked everyone there for the whole night. I was hooked on the fact that I didn't need to crap out 80% juggle combos just to be at scrub level after that I invested most of my money into that arcade via SC1/2.. although I admit I have since lost a lot of interest in SC since each new game becomes more and more like Tekken and less like SC. I will be a fan until the day SC truly becomes Tekken: Weapons Edition.
 
Nothing makes it stand out anymore. It used to have cool, fun, and interesting mechanics. Now it's just a decent fighter that borrows from too many other fighters (Tekken and Street Fighter mainly).
 
Harperlarp said:
Nothing makes it stand out anymore. It used to have cool, fun, and interesting mechanics. Now it's just a decent fighter that borrows from too many other fighters (Tekken and Street Fighter mainly).
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Aside from Devil Jin and the Critical Edges, elaborate on what is borrowed from Tekken and Street Fighter.
 
Ornate, true 3D motion and an awesome defense system (Guard Impacts) that, while disorienting, wasn't completely overpowered and a perceptive player could easily reverse it.

High speed chess indeed.
 
The overall way that they designed the characters and the game itself, the art is amazing (stages, characters, weapons) and the story behind it all is really quite interesting, and each character has his or her own feel when you play them.
I especially like the 8-way run system for actually dodging attacks and adding new attacks to a movelist. I also like how you can't just pick up soul calibur and be good, you have to practice, and it's a game that makes you want to practice. For instance my friend, who had never played soul calibur before, played a few moths ago, and I got her hooked because she picked up Cassandra (lol before 5 came out) and she's being obsessive about learning how to play her.

The only thing I really wish they didn't leave out in 5 would be the museum mode. It added a whole new level of depth for characters and the story behind SC and SE.
 
What makes Soul Calibur stand out amongst every other fighting game is that it is a weapons game done right and over the years it has improved and added more diversity and made us fall in love or loathe characters as if they were the people we meet in real life. The graphics are vibrant, grabs your attention, and does not let go until you remember it and the places you've seen in that game. Soul Calibur is the truth!
 
ShaolinTiger86 said:
What makes Soul Calibur stand out amongst every other fighting game is that it is a weapons game done right and over the years it has improved and added more diversity and made us fall in love or loathe characters as if they were the people we meet in real life. The graphics are vibrant, grabs your attention, and does not let go until you remember it and the places you've seen in that game. Soul Calibur is the truth!
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And so is Kali Yuga XD
 
boobs.

kidding, of course. But the Soul Calibur series has stood out in contrast to other fighting games were the exclusive characters they had on each platform back in the day.

It also plays differently. Sure, it's a three dimensional playing field, but theres also block as a button, which i found very interesting.

Each character had their own personality, and their own weapon, which made them unique.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the incredible visuals.
 
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