Story:
Soul Calibur 2
is set 4 years after the end of Soul Calibur, which based on calculations
puts the game's story in the year 1591. The wave of slaughters that terrorized
Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his
followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the
restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Ostreinsburg Castle. But just
as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. After
an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent
the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a
result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the
Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.
The intense battle ended with the victory of
the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along
with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place.
Siegfried, recognizing his sins, set out on a journey of atonement. Still the
blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took
souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and
four years later the Azure Knight Nightmare returned.
Around those times various warriors came into
contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate
survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a
new journey, while Nightmare begins his rampage, seeking souls to restore Soul
Edge once again.
Time to learn how to guard
impact... it pays off.
Review:
Soul
Calibur 2 built upon the solid foundation of the epic Soul
Calibur, and in many ways managed to live upto the original smash
hit. Several new characters have joined the ranks, each proudly showing off
their own unique weapon style in unprecedented detail, and make the
overall experience even
more diverse and well-rounded. The new battlegrounds of SC2 are full of
detail
and are much more "open" (and realistic) this time around, unlike the classic
"water surrounded rings" of that past installments. The home versions also
feature the "Weapon
Master" mode based on PS1's Soul Blade
which is an entertaining play-through for single players.
Like it's predecessors, Soul
Calibur 2 stands out visually due to the expertly done "motion
capture" animation. The authentic and innovative weapon styles
are dead-on and really make the characters stand out....
The samurai, Mitsurugi, can look like
a true Japanese swordsman in the hands of a skilled player; while the giant axe-wielding
Astaroth, moves slowly but unleashes devastatingly gruesome attacks that
always make you cringe.
SC2's animation was no doubt at the top of it's class at the time of it's debut
(and still is pretty damn good to this day). On a side note, if you
ever get the chance to watch SC2 in "slow motion," you can actually appreciate the animation
in greater detail. Seriously, if you haven't watched a good
tournament-style match in slow motion, you're missing out on some ouch
factor!!!
Namco did an amazing job with the collision detection, and added those extra
animations to make sure those attacks and throws look painful (in a beautiful
way)!
Yunsung may look like
Hwang... but he has a completely new moveset.
Following the footsteps of some solid prequels, Soul Calibur
2 presents some of the most dynamic and solid 3D fighting gameplay of all
time. The "8-way-run," which allows players to quickly move in all directions,
is now faster and more fluid then in the original Soul Calibur. Guard Impacting (parrying) is
still one of the game's most dynamic and skill-demanding elements,
and the system feels noticeably smoother in this installment.
With the exception
of only a few moves, almost every offensive technique can be parried if
the defending player can "see the move coming" and taps "Guard + Forward"
or "Guard + Back" at the correct time. Whether you want to shift your opponents weight backward
or forward is an intense strategic element that is unique to the Soul
series, and really makes SC2's gameplay. The parrying feature not only balances the game, but it drastically separates the good players from the beginners (and the
button mashers)... and that's what makes a "great" fighting
game!!! Destroying noobs with style never gets old.
Ivy is back... with one of
the most amazing fighting styles ever seen.
The characters
of Soul Calibur 2 aren't only cool character designs visually, they're actually
some of the deepest fighters to date in terms of how they fight. Unlike some fighting game
characters out there, SC2's characters have incredibly complex movelists and take a lot
of time and skill to fully master. It's not all about
blocking and attacking in Soul Calibur 2, it's really about "mix
up" and tricking your opponent. You can "cancel" most standard
attacks
by tapping "block" right after the attack, and you can even mix up the timing of
the cancel. Certain special moves can also be canceled which and every character has a
good variety of cancels; making them even more dynamic fighters.
Like in the first Soul Calibur, characters have the ability
to change their "stance," which greatly alters their move-set for the moment.
This allows for a variety of transitions and gives characters the potential
to be used exactly how the player wants. For example, no two Ivy players
are alike... and no two Mitsurugi players are alike... SC2 really gives you the creativity
to create your own style of fighting, using your chosen character as your
base!
If you truly "learn" how to use a SC2 character (their moves/combos,
range, strengths, weaknesses, etc) you will feel completely "in control"
and confident with your character at all times, and possibly even be able to
play them in a variety
of styles. For example: Ryu from Street Fighter will always do the same
Hadokens, Shoryukens, and Hurricane kicks on top of his priority moves... but in
comparison, a Soul Calibur 2 character has about 20 times the abilities
and mix-ups of a Street Fighter character. Yeah, SC2's characters are that dynamic...
but you have to PRACTICE to get to that point. Becoming skilled at a game like Soul
Calibur 2 demands practice, and unlike in some fighting games (and video
games), spamming will
not work... GI (Guard Impact) that shit.
The Gamecube version's exclusive
character... Nintendo's own Link!!!
Along with
sleek menus, a handful of different modes, and the entertaining "Weapon
Master" mode, the home version of SC2 an awesome package, and even includes three bonus characters not
seen in the arcade version (Necrid, Assassin,
and Berserker). Console
exclusives: Heihachi (PS2), Spawn (Xbox), and Link
(Gamecube) were also much appreciated additions to the home versions (I personally love
using Heihachi, Tekken style FTW)!!!
Museum mode also returns from the prequel and includes all that you'd expect: High
quality artwork, Endings, Exhibition Theater (where you can view awesome character's
katas); and Character Profiles, where you can read each
characters full bio and even listen to every single phrase that
they say in the game (upwards of 100 different phrases, and in both languages).
SC2 also has some
excellent options, including the ability to toggle between English
and Japanese voices (which wasn't a 'staple' option at the time)! At the end of
the day, Soul Calibur 2 is a must have
for any fighting gamer; and is still one of the best fighting games of
all time.
Last Updated:
8/21/2010
Developer(s):
Namco
Publisher(s):
Namco
Designer(s):
Hiroaki
Yotoriyama
Platform(s):
Arcade,
Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox
Release Date(s):
July 30th 2002 (Arcade), March 27th 2003 (
PS2/GC/XB),
August 27th 2003 (
PS2/GC/XB)
Soul Calibur 2 is a superb game in both casual and high level
play. Every character can be used effectively and besides some cheap
guaranteed combos that top players can do, the game is balanced for the most part.
When SC2 first came out,
I was hoping for a few more new styles / characters. However, Namco did
re-define all of the returning characters' styles, nearly making them
seem completely new, so it's excusable. In my opinion, the stages could have also been designed
a tad better... some more "environmental interaction" wouldn't have
hurt, for instance.
Other nitpicks
I have: While the characters in SC2 speak a lot more than characters in
any other fighting game, the silly one-liners get kinda old... especially in
English (which is why I prefer playing it with Japanese dialogue). It always
bothered me that the characters always say the same thing during their intros / win poses
in the VS mode, but if you play through the 1-player Arcade mode with
a character they will have different win quote AND introduction pretty much after
EVERY battle.... Why didn't that awesomeness cross-over into the VS mode???
That small detail would have made the VS mode a lot less repetitive at times, but
that sure didn't stop me from playing the hell out of this game.
Seriously, my friends and I put countless
hours into this game.... Even well after Soul Calibur 3 was released
(which didn't quite live up to SC2 in my opinion). For your information, I'm a Mitsurugi,
Astaroth, and Ivy player. Mitsurugi & Astaroth translated fairly well to the
future
installments, but what in the hell did they do to Ivy?
Was she really "too good" in SC2? Did they have to change her that
much? *sigh* I will always have a special place in my heart for Soul Calibur 2 Ivy.
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
Namco did an amazing job with the collision detection, and added those extra
animations to make sure those attacks and throws look painful (in a beautiful
way)!
SC2 also has some
excellent options, including the ability to toggle between English
and Japanese voices (which wasn't a 'staple' option at the time)! At the end of
the day, Soul Calibur 2 is a must have
for any fighting gamer; and is still one of the best fighting games of
all time.
PS2/GC/XB),
August 27th 2003 (
PS2/GC/XB)
That small detail would have made the VS mode a lot less repetitive at times, but
that sure didn't stop me from playing the hell out of this game.
Was she really "too good" in SC2? Did they have to change her that
much? *sigh* I will always have a special place in my heart for Soul Calibur 2 Ivy.
~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
