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aceyo's Soul Calibur III (PS2)
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| [January 19, 2007 06:28:28 PM]
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As I was playing through the "Tales of the Soul" mode, I noticed more flaws in the game's design. First of all, this game has way too many unlocked features that I feel are useless(concept art, character backgrounds, weapons etc). I also noticed that every character has the same cut scenes where they act exactly the same but pitch different one liners. I feel this is very redundant, and lacks the creativity to put characters into different situations. The first time I saw the clock gear fall on my character I was kind of surprised and liked the little effect, but after seeing it 20 times with different characters, it gets old and annoying really fast. Since I already know whats going to happen, why does the game make me have to watch the cut scene all over again? Because I have to wait for the prompt to dodge it, otherwise I start the fight handicapped, and I think that is quite lame. I believe each character should have their own story and their own sets of cut scenes, because I think that is good game design.
Another thing I've noticed when battling the AI, is they are very vulnerable to a run and grapple at the beginning of the fight. For some reason, the computer does not push you off, and 80% of the time you can gain an advantage at the beginning of the fight. During the fight itself, they sometimes push you off grapples, but not at the beginning.
Also, another thing I've noticed is that for some reason the AI is extremely difficult to beat when you have to fight against Setsuka or Talim. I think this is due to the quick nature of their attacks, and their animations are hard to read to time guard impact properly. I usually resort to running at them and grappling, otherwise I'm usually in for an ass kicking. Which is another flaw in the game's design, I can win a lot by using this cheap strategy.
(On a side note, I just found out it was possible to ring out on Ivy's stage if you hit them over the ledge in the back)
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 31st, 2007 at 06:08:53.
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| [January 19, 2007 06:01:58 PM]
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Soul Calibur III is a 3D fighting game where each character has a unique weapon to battle with. Weapons ranging from your standard swords and rapiers, to scythes and quarter staffs. The game's design is very simple, either deplete your opponents health before he depletes yours, or knock him out of the ring. The fights are always 1 vs 1, and depending on what options you pick in the menu, have a time limit.
I am currently playing through the "Tales of Soul" mode with Raphael. Raphael is a favorite character for me due to his easily executed combos, and I love the animations of his fencing style of fighting. The graphics of this game are awesome, as well as the sound. Well, everything is great in the sound department except for the voice actors, but that's having minimal affect on my gameplay experience. The general character design is also excellent, as you have a large representation of different fighting styles and weapons from many countries. However, I do not have a fondness towards the "over the top characters" wielding huge axes and or having demonic appearances. I know the game's aim is not towards realism, but for some reason I just can't get into the likes of these characters.
Each character has a unique stage where they are either high in altitude or surrounded by lava or water. I suppose they design them this way to reward players for trying to go for ring knock outs. But every stage has a great feeling and sense of uniqueness representing the character. For instance, the Pirate Cervantes fights on a pirate ship, and the wealthy Ivy fights in a mansion. Each stage also adds a unique element to the fight, due to the radius of the arena. For instance, in Ivy's mansion you can't actually ring out, but in Yoshimitsu's lava arena it is very easy to ring out.
But what it all boils down to is not just the presentation, but the gameplay itself, and this is where I believe the game is really successful. The game is rewarding to different types of players, and is easy for a novice to get into. The guard impact system is my favorite aspect to the game's design. I love the fact that I can parry attacks then unleash my own combos. This appeals to me because I don't fall into the category of losing to button mashers or over using my defense. Instead, I'll give my opponent the chance to strike me, rely on my reflexes to block the attack, then unleash my own combo. However, if I fail in timing my block, I get in a world of hurt. This gamble is what makes the game exciting for me. There are basically 4 different types of attacks. Square and Triangle execute different types of attacks with the character's weapon, and circle is to execute a kick which is sometimes useful to use to stop characters from unleashing huge attacks, or powering up. X is your standard blocking mode, which cannot be broken unless hit by a powered up attack or by a grapple.
As I am playing through the "Tales of the Soul" mode with Raphael which I'll get into more detail later, I noticed a few flaws in the game's design which through me off. First of all, the way the story is presented is through windows of text and a cursor on the map. The text is rather uninteresting and not presented in a good fashion. After the first few lines of text, I became really uninterested in the story and started skipping it all. To give you little interactivity, the game sometimes prompts you to make a choice which ultimately leads you to always to the same place anyway.
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aceyo's Soul Calibur III (PS2)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 19 January, 2007
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