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Soulcalibur V |OT| Go home and be a salary man!
- Thread starter ExMachina
- Start date
I think it's because this game is populated largely by the more serious folks, whereas SC4 was more casual.
It's not that "fluff is significantly more important than gameplay". It's that SC was like the one fighter casuals like me could enjoy on my own terms. I didn't have to do stupid things I don't like doing just to be able to compete with other players.
I'm enjoying the game well enough, but had I known the "fluff" would be this shallow, I would have waited for a significant price drop.
We already have a ton of competitive online fighters. Why does my SC experience have to be downgraded just so it can become yet another competitive online fighter?
Also, I like the new characters and stuff, but I prefer the slightly slower and not so offense-heavy battle system. Everything moves so fast now, I don't have time to think. This one just feels like it's pushing away the casuals for the sake of competitive play. And that makes me sad.
Sir Garbageman
Member
I could've sworn in SC4 that if your armor was broken then you take more damage from subsequent hits to that area. Maybe it carried over to this game? Could be wrong though.
BTW with all the talk about sales I really hope this game sells well. To be fair the single player mode is relatively barebones compared to SC4 (why the heck didn't they include a tower of souls mode!) but the gameplay feels much tighter and the netcode is vast improved. I really appreciate the streamlining of the characters movesets and the speed and pace of the combat.
Day 2 impressions but I'm already enjoying the game more than SC4, which I really enjoyed in and of itself.
You are right! I looked on the back of the game box and 720p is checked off. Now I remember why I never played it that way. At the time I had a 4:3 hdtv and it would only do 1080i/720p letterboxed. In addition to that, Soul Caliber II runs at 720p with black bars on the left and right side. So what it ended up doing was showing a small square on my 4:3 HDTV! Black bars all around! It's hard to explain.... but now with my proper widescreen 16:9, 58 inch HDTV it looks pretty damn good even though I still can't do anything of the black bars on the left and right.
I have to be adamant about Soul Caliber 3 looking like crap though. I think the only hope is some kind of emulator.
The Omega Man
Member
So I bought this day 1 and after playing it for a few days, I dunno, but for me the best gameplay is still found in Soul Calibur 2, the game has steadily gone downhill from there gameplay-wise, SC2 had it all well balanced cast, nice speed, parry, gi, it was easy to get into but had tons of dept as well.
Now this new SC5 feels they are all on speed-cocaine, flashing lights everywhere, special moves "ala capcom press these buttons and watch me do flashy stuff by myself while you don't do nothing", this new gi is shit, story-mode is laughably bad I've never been more annoyed at a character than now with this angsty teenager patroklos and I am forced to play that crap to unlock the full roster? no thanks.
I'd gladly pay for a online-enabled SC2 HD version using this new engine, funny how this series lost all sense of reality and completely forgot what its forte was, now its just a generic game that excels at nothing.
Now this new SC5 feels they are all on speed-cocaine, flashing lights everywhere, special moves "ala capcom press these buttons and watch me do flashy stuff by myself while you don't do nothing", this new gi is shit, story-mode is laughably bad I've never been more annoyed at a character than now with this angsty teenager patroklos and I am forced to play that crap to unlock the full roster? no thanks.
I'd gladly pay for a online-enabled SC2 HD version using this new engine, funny how this series lost all sense of reality and completely forgot what its forte was, now its just a generic game that excels at nothing.
This doesn't fix your other issues with the game but: You can unlock all the characters just through your player level. You don't need to do the story mode.
But I agree for the most part. There's too much Capcom in my SC this time around.
I'm still able to enjoy myself though.
I enjoyed playing 5 like I said previously but you are right about the gameplay getting crazy. Once I got knocked down it's like I have no fucking chance to do a goddamn thing. Going back to play part 2 I have much more of a chance and can actually play defensively.
I want to buy 4 now since I never did ( I rented 5) but I don't know what game it resembles the most in gameplay.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Not liking the changes is one thing, but this is really hyperbole. There's nothing generic about the game, and its use of meter for things like the brave edge concept is fresh and not simply "ex" moves from other fighting games.
It's still completely unique from every other major fighting game, with its own kind of combat flow and underlying logic.
The statement did seem hyperbolic, but I don't think s/he's completely wrong. This game really felt like SC losing its identity so it can appeal to the other fighting game fans.
Seems to me SC was the one game that casual fighting fans liked to play. It was easy to pick up and hard to master. I don't know how it will pick up more fans going this direction. Like I said I had fun playing it, but I don't think you will increase the audience going this direction.
just my guess.
I do no think that SCV has lost its identity or SC's identity by embracing change.
I think that with the five rounds, first to 3 ruleset, the guard break and the JG+GI+Critical Edge+Brave Edge options, this game IS the most well thought-of competitive game out there, just judging the systems.
In Marvel, there is but one round.
In SF, Ultras matter every single round - and while Super meter does matter like here, there is no Guard Break equivalent there. Also no parry.
SFIII:3s has the JG equivalent, but it has no Guard break, has kinda weaker throws for what it is worth, and there the meter management is perfectly broken by giving the cast a different requirement for performing Supers.
Tekken? No such management.
...This is a very, very solid foundation for a good fighting game. SC's main strength in my eyes were always the weapon variety. This SCV cast has taken a small setback so it can build a good foundation - it will be easier to reintroduce old characters better in a good system than to have a weaker system and more characters. Be it SCVI (unlikely in this gen, imho) or DLC characters (VERY likely, I hope so), this game IS ready for a long run.
I think that with the five rounds, first to 3 ruleset, the guard break and the JG+GI+Critical Edge+Brave Edge options, this game IS the most well thought-of competitive game out there, just judging the systems.
In Marvel, there is but one round.
In SF, Ultras matter every single round - and while Super meter does matter like here, there is no Guard Break equivalent there. Also no parry.
SFIII:3s has the JG equivalent, but it has no Guard break, has kinda weaker throws for what it is worth, and there the meter management is perfectly broken by giving the cast a different requirement for performing Supers.
Tekken? No such management.
...This is a very, very solid foundation for a good fighting game. SC's main strength in my eyes were always the weapon variety. This SCV cast has taken a small setback so it can build a good foundation - it will be easier to reintroduce old characters better in a good system than to have a weaker system and more characters. Be it SCVI (unlikely in this gen, imho) or DLC characters (VERY likely, I hope so), this game IS ready for a long run.
Oh I agree completely. I'm a casual fighting fan. I come to SC for the single player experience. While I am able to find things to enjoy this game, it's "not for me".
If they continue down this path, there will basically be no more fighting game for me.
We come to SC for different reasons I guess. So we'll just have to disagree.
I feel this is a weaker system. Too fast. Supers make me sad.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
YMMV, I guess. It's being my favorite game in the series, to me it just feels like the mechanics are finally being overhauled and updated after not really going anywhere for a couple of games.
This is the danger in truly updating the mechanics in a fighting game. People will get more upset than in some other genres.
Back when Super SF2 came out, a lot of people said it was just copying SNK games like Art of Fighting, because of the super meter. The same arguments went around - it wasn't really Street Fighter anymore, etc.
It's difficult to evolve a series without taking advantage of concepts other games innovate with. The fact that SCV has a meter and "super" combos doesn't make it generic to me, as the way it uses them has its own very distinct flavor.
I've read impressions from a number of people who never really got into SC but tried SCV because it's new and a big refresh of the series. The irony is many of them feel it's incredibly unique and stands out from other fighting games with a different logic behind its combat.
This is what got my attention when I picked it up for the first time. I could smell that this is one hell of a technical game, but in a new, thoughtful way.
That said, and in response to some other comments, I can see the problem for casual fighting game fans. The fundamental nature of SC is slower exchanges with single well-deployed attacks. Essentially, SC is kind of like Samurai Shodown in 3D, as far as fighting games go. This made the series easier for casual fans to pick up, even though it could go deep.
Too fast? Overall speed is speed is slower than SC1, 2 and 3. SC4 felt like everybody had on Siegfried's armor, so if that's your comparison it's the exception rather than the rule.
This is my favorite since 2, and I think I'll like it more than 2 in the long run.
I don't recall matches ending in 10-20 seconds in the older games.
Or losing half my health bar in a single combo.
Neither of those things have anything to do with speed of the game. And also, in the old games, you probably played your friends. You sound like a casual player. Online has allowed you run into people who know how to play.
Just my guess.
Edit: Sorry, that sounds condescending. It's not meant that way. Since SC3, combos have become longer and more involved thanks to the stun system.
Did you ever encounter a decent Mitsurugi or Nightmare in the old games? It literally took seconds to kill someone. I remember back in the days that 15-20 seconds was all it took if a first-second rushdown and the followup pressure went well.
Yup. I'm a super casual player. Part of my issue is that I feel I'm losing my casual fighting game just so the gaming community can have yet another competitive fighter.
Maybe I'm wording it wrong when I say "fast"? I don't know.
What I mean is that everything seems to be going at a pace that I can't keep up with. It's all a flash and it's over. In the older games, I felt like I had some time to make a tactical decision about what I'm going to do and how to counter my opponent. In this one, it feels like I just have to do some stuff and hope it hits because stuff comes too fast and too hard for me to react properly.
Nope. I played with friends and mostly single player.
I did a little bit of online in SC4.
This game is a lot flashier, but the moves as far as frames and speed are the similar to every single SC. You're just distracted by the flash. As far as combos, they've always been around. Ivy could do stupid stuff from her 33_99A in SC2, a safe move that stunned, allowed a launcher and follow-up.
I'd say, aside from a few characters, damage is about in line with SC3 and 4. Probably a bit more than SC2. Moves are faster than they were in 4, but not faster than 1-3. Also, you say community as if all fighting game communities are one. That's not the case.
It might be because 4 is my most recent experience. I absolutely loved that iteration.
I don't know. It just feels wrong.
But I guess I can't expect them to make a game just for me if there's more money on the other side.
Master Thespian
Member
That's thing, though. I think this game, more than any other in the series' history, is making people understand in a very tangible way just how good (bad) they are at the game.
-Online is strong, so you can't blame very many losses on lag.
-The computer reacts like a person who knows how to play the game would, and doesn't offer any special circumstances (poison, wind, back to back fights) to blame losses on.
-Passive offensive and defensive options have been weakened or removed, and active options on both offense *and* defense have be buffed. Now people actually have to use side step, ducks, jumps instead of squatting on the guard button all day and tossing in the occasional guard impact.
I won't say SCV is a perfect package or even close to it, but the things that matter when you actually play the core game (gameplay, graphics, sound) and modes that matter the most towards actually playing the core game (online, practice, quick mode) are the best the series has ever had.
Also, please do not just make this about the money. How should THEY know what you want? Fighting games are moving forward. The age of online allowed all developers to focus on what counts: and that is always the vs mode, the competitive aspect. They cannot stop with new iterations on the improvement/changes.
Your best choice of action is to keep enjoying the older episodes - there is nothing wrong with that.
I agree completely.
You have to constantly be thinking about your next move now, both offense and defense. I love that auto-gi's will gain prevalence, and I can't wait to see how JG is implemented in matches. I was practicing it a bit last night and it's not as hard as I thought, now that I'm used to the game.
Being, as I am, new not only to Soulcalibur but to 3D-fighters in general and thereby having no prior preferences and suchlike, I don't feel at all qualified to offer an opinion on this topic. I'm curious though, based mainly on your line "I come to SC for the single player experience." It seems pretty apparent that you're at least a little down on SCV (perhaps increasingly moreso as the days pass). You mentioned the above quote whilst commenting on the new gameplay systems - meters and gauges, 2xQCF-supers, etc - but is there an argument to be made that the reason you're feeling less than enthralled with this new game has more to do with the barebones single-player content, rather than the new mechanics? If SCV had the same systems, the same speed and characters, but had a whole range of lengthy single-player stuff to mess about in, do you think you'd still be as down on the new CEs and BEs and JGs and [insert two letters here]s? New systems, especially if you're used to different systems, take time to adapt to, obviously. So it seems fair to assume that, if the single-player content isn't engaging and attractive enough to keep someone playing long enough to let it sink in, that that might cause a loss of interest before the player got a good handle on the new buttons.
I guess I'm just wondering if it'd be fair to suggest that it might be the shallow single-player content which is irking you more and some of that frustration is being redirected at the new and unfamiliar.
Or something. I dunno.
There must be some motivation to fundamentally change the focus of your series.
I don't want to sound hostile, but all I can think about is why do I lose what I found unique about the series so the competitive crowd can have another game in their already large roster of competitive games.
But we're just going in circles now. And I don't want to keep whining and messing up the thread.
Yes, that is probably a fair assessment. It's probably the lack of single player that is making me go play online to get my "moneys worth". If I was able to keep it in single player, I'd probably just ignore all the stuff I don't like and be fine.
High level CPU might cause a problem, but in the older games, there was enough content that I could feel satisfied without touching "hard" difficulty.
In 4, I had a lot of fun with basically just the tower, story for every character (encouraging me to learn every character - even if it was a lot of scrolling text), and just playing dress up with the CaS.
Someone noted above this game is making me realize I'm bad or whatever. But I already know I'm bad. I never had illusions to being any good. And that's my problem. If I want to enjoy this game for as long as I enjoyed previous ones, I have to be good. Then I'm not really being casual anymore. I play a lot of games at the same time, so I don't have the time to dedicate to being good. SC used to let me have fun while being bad.
ShinobiFist
Banned
This. A lot of us VF players in NYC love the feel of this game. Reminds me of VF4. And I'm a heavy oki player, and this game does a good job at that. Yomi is key in this game. Just like VF, when I lose, I don't feel I lost to the character, but to the player. Looking forward on playing this game with the SC crew of the tri-state area at Final Round this year. Going mainly for Virtua Fighter 5 FS.
Heh, I guess that's a good way of putting it! I'm 100% sure I probably can't hang with most players online. But I have the same problem with shooters. The solution to those is play story mode or co-operative modes.
V story mode is pretty damn short. I think I beat it in 2hours or less.
It be cool if you could somehow do the old long adventure modes where you buy weapons and all that in a cooperative way. Like...do that mode with a tag team option. (just thinking).
Looking back Soul Caliber really was the best fighter for a solo experience. Most other games if you didn't have friends to play with you were pretty much hosed unless you wanted to play arcade modes infinitely.
Now that they are pushing online modes I guess there is really no time for single player. It's too bad really. Must be a pretty awesome time if you are good online though. Seems they have really worked hard on that aspect of the game..no doubt.
ShinobiFist
Banned
Yes..Move-list is not as long as before.
Speaking of I wish there was a good tutorial. I hate having to go through lists. Practice move, pause, go menu, move list, chose move, practice that move, repeat..etc. It sucks.
Really well. I've played about 50 matches on PSN and lost 3, about 25 matches on XBL and lost 3. I ran into a really mean Maxi on XBL. Whooped me pretty hard. The skill level in ranked matches is pretty low right now on both consoles.
I played a bunch vs. friends this weekend and Natsu is too much. I wasn't even using the air throw, since I found out that A+B splats them to the ground, then you get the ninja darts, into bomb, into mixups.
She's way good.
I'm going to start recording my matches and uploading them to youtube. Most of my matches are just people being steamrolled since they're not familiar with what characters can do.
Here's one, vs. some random guy. Random kicks > me, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXKX5Yoveak&list=UU-nwJUbXXHcTlNcFhy_9WoQ&index=1&feature=plcp
ShinobiFist
Banned
What they need to do is add a tog-gable hud with the move-list in training mode. Oh wait.....It does have that....
There needs to be a tutorial for training mode.
...seriously, lol. It's SO good, but it's kind of convoluted, so I think some might miss all that you can do.
English much? Yeah that means nothing to me. If I missed something maybe I'm stupid but it wasn't obvious to me. That equals FAIL in my book.
THere is a way to go through each move in the movelist in training mode. I don't know how off of the top of my head, but you can switch states to the movelist and scroll through each move.
I guess I must have missed it
Oh well already returned the game.Does 4 have a tutorial?
ShinobiFist
Banned
No.......The training in V is BOSS.I guess I must have missed it
Does 4 have a tutorial?
EDIT-And how did you miss it? That's the first thing you see when you hit training mode for the first time. Strange....
ME: OH SHIT I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY OUT THIS NATSU JF!
GAME: Wait, first you must read THIS WALL OF TEXT!
ME: WTF? This ain't no rpg. I ain't reading that mess. :mashmashmash:
I'm seriously confused by this and frequency's sentiments.
Who really buys a fighting game for it's "single player" content? It's roots have always been to play multiplayer locally with your friends.
The fact that the online mode is so superb and almost lag-free (I can actually duck throws or sidestep verticals on reaction! In SC4, I couldn't even block a slow low attack like Siegfried's) means that I actually end up playing this game more when I'm alone. Whereas before, as soon as my friends got bored of SC4 and dropped it, I pretty much had to too, even though I still enjoyed the game. No one to play with and online being ass = game returned to shelf.
Project Soul focused on what they needed to do the most -- fix the core gameplay after the abominations that were SC3 and 4 and make online viable. If it lacked either of those, the game would've been dead after a month, regardless if it had a 20 hour single player campaign mode. Now, I can see this game lasting the rest of PS3/XBox's lifespan honestly.
ShinobiFist
Banned
LOL, that's what I did....
SiegfriedFM
Member
Wait a second. I assumed Dampierre would be in the Collector's Edition (PAL version) along with the costume pieces. Turns out he isn't.
So where the heck am I supposed to get him and why the heck are you selling a game with a character (proudly displayed in the artbook no less) that I can't get, Namco?
So where the heck am I supposed to get him and why the heck are you selling a game with a character (proudly displayed in the artbook no less) that I can't get, Namco?
sixteen-bit
Member
Dampierre is a preorder bonus in Europe. Did you get a download voucher with your game?
It's safe to assume he'll show up on the marketplace later on if you really want him.
Damn man, very nice. Doing fair (I suppose?) with Hilde so far, 100 wins and 38 losses. Most of those losses belonging to Mitsurugi, Pyrrha, and Leixia players.
Neuromancer
Member
I'm sure they'll sell him as DLC soon but as far as I know you could only get him with a Best Buy preorder.
Edit- oh PAL version, this was for the US
yeah I have no idea what I did...