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Lagaes Rex's Soul Calibur III (PS2)
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| [January 31, 2007 07:35:04 PM]
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Having played a little more of the story mode, and then experimenting with character creation and Chronicle of the Sword (the strategy/fighting hybrid), I’ve noticed a few things.
An important element in fighting games is something that I call “flow”. By flow, I mean how smooth the character’s movements are, both when interacting with other characters and when going from one attack to another. Fighting games with a good flow tend to be more enjoyable to watch and play. All of the Soul Calibur games have felt smooth and polished, although I personally find Soul Calibur II to be the best in the series in this regard. Flow is a difficult concept to explain and is even harder to quantify, but it is paramount to the success of a fighting game.
I didn’t get a chance to play very far in Chronicle of the Sword, but what I did play gave me the impression that this is a good idea that simply needs to be refined. The characters can only move along certain paths, which at first seems limiting but actually keeps the gameplay focuses, as there are enough routes to allow some choices. The biggest problem with the mode is lacks strategic depth. Yes, at the core it’s a fighting game, but I have yet to see a situation where it actually matters which character fights who. On a side note, allowing multiplayer in this mode would be a nice addition in future installations of the series.
The character creation mode is a very nice touch, and will hopefully be a model for other games in the genre (I know Mortal Kombat made a subpar attempt at it in the most recent installation). Options for a game are always good things. As far as I’m concerned, the more options a player has, the better (provided the interface is easy to use). I’m impressed with the options available to the player, but it feels a little…short. Granted, I have yet to unlock most of the stuff, so maybe that’s why I can’t implement all the ideas in my head. Nonetheless, more items to choose from would be a considerable improvement.
Naturally, since nothing like the character creation or Chronicle of the Sword has been attempted before, the first game is far from perfect. However, the potential is there, both for later games in the Soul Calibur series and for fighting games in general.
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| [January 31, 2007 06:05:34 PM]
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Having played and really enjoyed Soul Calibur and Soul Calibur II, I was curious to see how the third entry in the series fared.
Playing Soul Calibur III has caused me to notice something about the fighting game genre as a whole. It seems that fighting games are going to great lengths to be more than just a fighting game. Soul Calibur III really demonstrates this trend in the genre. In addition to a regular sparring mode and story mode, there is a hybrid strategy/fighting game mode (in which the player controls several characters on a tactical level, and then resolves conflict as would a typical fighting game), a character creator, and large amounts of unlockable content (such as accessories for the character creator, and concept artwork). Even the story mode has branches and little minigame challenges to add dimension to an otherwise typical mode.
Some people might complain about the genre straying from its roots with these new additions, but I think it opens up new possibilities for the genre, both from a design and a playing perspective.
So far I’ve only played the story mode. My next log will dive into some of the other features of the game.
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Lagaes Rex's Soul Calibur III (PS2)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 31 January, 2007
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