Castlevania Dungeon Forums

The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => Hardcore Gaming 101 => Topic started by: Rodriguezjr on August 02, 2008, 08:53:38 PM

Title: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Rodriguezjr on August 02, 2008, 08:53:38 PM
Well, it's out. After a few days with the PS3 version, I'm liking it better than III. I also like Vader and The Apprentice in this game, they both are good characters. I'm also enjoying the Character Creation, so far I made Aang from the Avatar, Ike from Fire Emblem, Lui Kang from Mortal Kombat, and Ganondorf. Anyone here has this game as well?
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: impulse on August 02, 2008, 09:31:55 PM
In Reply To #1


Yup, bought it on a whim (never played sc before). So far I'm having a blast with the online play, and yeah the character creation is awsome.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Oralox on August 02, 2008, 09:33:31 PM
In Reply To #1

The best Cas I made from that game was Gwonam from the faces of evil.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 02, 2008, 11:05:35 PM
I played it all night at a friend's house. Haven't purchased yet.

It seems Mission Mode is getting worse and worse. What started as a full-fledged adventure on the original Soul Blade, complete with fleshed-out text story, now exists only as a mere shell of itself. Just floors in an implied tower with little to guide you but a menu. And you walk down the tower and it's just survival mode .... D:

The 5-round story mode doesn't impress either; especially when it's a ride in the park on the "normal" setting. Algol is perhaps the biggest pussy of the lot when it comes to SC villans; I earned perfect rounds on him 8 times outta 10. I guess you get what you earn though, because the endings are also some of the worst I've seen, despite that they look good. They build up your hopes with a setup and then -- BAM! -- nothing but a fucking retarded black screen with a pathetic resolution in text. Considering that you only have to beat this mode once to unlock about half the characters... it seems like Namco was aiming to make this one easier.

True HARD mode and the later floors of Tower of Souls can literally kick your ass, but with the tower, that's cuz the odds are against you: pitting you with one other fighter against like 7 or more. Arcade take a lot more patience too.

I also don't like how stripped down the illustration section is now.

Where it shines is it's other presentation aspects. This is by far the most gorgeous fighter in existence. The way the engine renders the hair is especially impressive. But add to that the specular reflections on every metallic object and the true-to-life animation of cloth and the impressive facial details... what a visual treat. The score is solid SC stuff too, but I haven't heard anything particularly catchy yet.

The character creation is that much better than last time. I didn't have enough unlocked to really go wild with it, but I did manage to create Evil Ken, Joker's girl from Batman TAS and my very own, Princess Autumn. I also striiped Seung Mina of all her clothes and gave her something more dark in design. And unlike MK Armageddon on XBOX, Namco doesn't seem to limit the drive's capabilities here, and you can make as many characters as your HD can hold. The fact that you can now fully edit existing characters is just the icing on the cake. You'll never be bored with character outfits... that's for DAMN sure.

I didn't get to try the online.

From what I've played the game deserves the high "B" it's mostly received. The Star Wars additions actually fit better than I thought they would and Yoda in particular looks amazing. Ppl say he's broke but I haven't noticed it that way (maybe I just need to play him more or play against him more in general). But too much has been stripped or dumb down since last time. The character creator is where it's at and at least it has an integral part with the rest of the modes now. I still wish you could completely overhaul the skillsets though.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Clara E. Leet on August 03, 2008, 03:21:33 AM
I think the character creation and visuals are the highlights of the game. Otherwise, the introduction of online play kinda knocked the single player options down a few notches.

Anyone else having problems with online lag with SC4??
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: le052383 on August 03, 2008, 03:40:23 AM
my brother and I createda  pimp character and used that one handed slap staff as his weapon; that staff is begging to be equipped by a pimp
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 03, 2008, 08:23:12 AM
Stabbing them gets you more.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Xain on August 03, 2008, 09:46:40 AM
The one thing i don't like about the Character Creator mode is the lack of a tutorial. You get all these stats and stuff flung at you not knowing what they are and what they do. Then after its all said in done you get scolded for making an awesome looking character that's to strong to get out the door. Sheesh...there should have been a help menu or something.

I think its a shame that the story and mission modes are so lack luster. SCII had a great mission mode on par with that of the first. Also they had a missed opportunity with their new story mode. It should have been longer...reasons for the character being in a certain place should have been explained via story...Character recruitment should be voluntary and have the ability to alter your story path. (Raphael's story have me the idea for this.) That would have been perfect and worth while...but no...we get butt endings that make Raphael look like a fucking idiot instead of SC's new big bad guy (which he should be) and clone characters who's great character designs are now waisted. (it would have been awesome if Shura fought like Lloyd for Tales of Symphonia....and then make the character parts for Lloyd available in character customization.)

Lastly, since they already broke the tech bearer with the SW characters they should have when for broke and made KOS-MOS a new character with a fighting style similar to Necrids. (i.e. multiple weapons...you can say angol does that but he makes inferno weep so no mention for him)

Oh wait...did i mention i like this game.

I hate to add on more but i have to get this off my chest: they once again fucked with Raphael. They took away some of the awesome air juggles i did with him. At least they gave him some other moves that i can work with. I also have to learn Ivy all over again but that's a good thing. the fact that she can switch her mode nearly mid combo is fucking awesome. that opens many possibilities..she also has a great new rising launcher in sword/hybrid mode and her sword mode is now more appealing to me.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 03, 2008, 05:38:47 PM
Is there character balance fixed from Sc3?  That is my main concern.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Oralox on August 03, 2008, 05:44:09 PM
In Reply To #9

They got rid of the extra CaS classes and just left you with the original character classes. So now my Gwonam can only use Kilik's style only.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 03, 2008, 05:46:30 PM
In Reply To #10
No no, i mean the character balance.  In sc3 it was all over the place.  Is this fixed?  It really made me hate Sc3, while SB,SC, and SC2 are some of my favorite games.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 03, 2008, 06:20:40 PM
In Reply To #10
No no, i mean the character balance.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 03, 2008, 06:23:25 PM
In Reply To #12
Tira, Setsuka, and Talim were the worst.  the game makers even ackowledged how bad it was.  That's why when they made the arcade version they did a complete overhaul on the character balance.  Virtually staring over from scratch. 
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 03, 2008, 06:43:11 PM
Hmmm... well I never noticed problems with them.

Setsuka is hard to use, and Tira didn't seem any more cheap than, say, Maxi.

And I like Talim :3 she's one of my faves now.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 03, 2008, 06:45:10 PM
...so far I made Aang from the Avatar, ...

How did you do the arrow on his head? Or what did you do to fake it?
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Omegasigma on August 03, 2008, 07:41:11 PM
once again i made Lord Dracula, :p, and darth vader will be a download for the 360 version which i have, and yoda to be donwloadable for ps3
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 03, 2008, 08:43:01 PM
once again i made Lord Dracula, :p, and darth vader will be a download for the 360 version which i have, and yoda to be donwloadable for ps3

Really? I haven't heard of this d/l yet.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 03, 2008, 09:07:34 PM
In Reply To #17
I heard about it.  it's the reason why in both games there is a blank spot between the two Jedi characters.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: le052383 on August 03, 2008, 09:23:58 PM
from what is said in the forums and have experienced myself, the Kilk users seems to be the worst since they spam like two moves over and over again.

Since I have the ps sc4, I am not sure if Yoda is broken, but a lot of ppl on gamefaqs says he is
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: impulse on August 03, 2008, 11:03:37 PM
In Reply To #19

I'd say Yoda is pretty bad, he's so small many normal attacks just pass over his head, and yeah he can't be thrown. Not alot of people use him though.

Kilik annoys the hell out of me, but I wouldn't really say theres anything wrong with him balance wise.

Astaroth and Cervantes give me a big headache though, they might have needed to be toned down abit imo.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 03, 2008, 11:49:49 PM
In Reply To #20
Cervantes has always been super powered, so nothing new.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Slayer on August 04, 2008, 12:38:11 AM
I've made an oldschool style Simon Belmont (design on original CV's cart).  However, only Ivy has a whip like thing, and giving my bulky, Arnold-like creation the animations of the most sexually suggestive female character in the game is pretty hilarious.
Also, Alec, Vader in the Ps3 version doesn't seem overpowered.  Really, the worst case of an overpowered character I encountered in the game was The Apprentice, and admittedly, he is extremely overpowered.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Clara E. Leet on August 04, 2008, 03:32:30 AM
Fucking hell, the Apprentice is a helluva beast. Fighting him in arcade mode is the closest I've come to throwing my controller in years.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: crisis on August 04, 2008, 03:36:32 AM
I can't wait to get this game.

I'm coming for you, Clara..
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 04, 2008, 03:45:02 AM
I am getting the game the day I step foot back on American soil.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 04, 2008, 05:13:53 AM
Oh so THAT's what the space is for. I thought in the back of my mind it was possible that's what it was for but then I'm like why would they claim these characters exclusive to either version and then go back on it.

But I didn't take onlne distribution into consideration.

I still say $60 is too much for most games, so I usually wait for either a used one or a price drop.

Also Seung Mina>>>>>>>>>>Kilik :P

Good to know I can play Darth Vader someday too.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: le052383 on August 04, 2008, 05:24:23 AM
Fucking hell, the Apprentice is a helluva beast. Fighting him in arcade mode is the closest I've come to throwing my controller in years.

l feel ya since I spent 13 f'ing minutes tryin to beat that ucker with Vader just to get the character on my roster.  Dude is cheap! 

Odd that I spend a minute kicking vader's ass with apprentice/starkiller.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 04, 2008, 05:29:42 AM
I beat the apprentice fairly easy with Yoda in Arcade.

I had no problems.

Apprentice is pretty fun to play though. I just don't like his generic, Ashton Kutcher look.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: le052383 on August 04, 2008, 07:49:26 AM
I beat the apprentice fairly easy with Yoda in Arcade.

I had no problems.

Apprentice is pretty fun to play though. I just don't like his generic, Ashton Kutcher look.

l heard that starkiller is modelled after the guy who does the motion capture and voice for the unleash game.

I think I have a tough time with him as Vader since Vader is tall and isn't quick as I believe Yoda is; that and his moves aren't as fluid as the other sw characters in the game
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Xain on August 04, 2008, 11:03:43 PM
yes...The Apprentice is a beast. Its funny how he pretty much outshines the final boss in every way.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 04, 2008, 11:15:08 PM
In Reply To #30

Algol? He's a total waste of space.

... well... ok his throne chair move is kinda "lol"
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: impulse on August 08, 2008, 07:45:46 PM
In Reply To #31

Algol's ok as a boss, he's just underwhelming after the pain which is the Apprentice. As a character though he's pretty efffective, and his moves look awsome to boot.

I've been playing alot ranked online though and like 60% of the high level players play as Cervantes and spam the same moves over and over. It pissed me of so much at first, still does, but atleast I've learnt how to counter it... somewhat. (In case youre wondering what the remaining 40% is, it's mainly Kilik).

But still, awsome game.

Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 08, 2008, 08:25:21 PM
So you'd say Cervantes is broken?
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Xain on August 08, 2008, 08:45:30 PM
I actually see a lot of astaroth's(sp?) spamming the same 3 moves. Had to show them what a Raphael does to spammers.

Kilik is a fucking bitch to fight though..i've always had a hard time with him.

Also, Cervantes's isn't broken...hes just too cool for this game. lol. I hope they have a revamped costume of his P1 soul caliber appearance for DL in the future.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 08, 2008, 08:58:23 PM
In Reply To #34

Dude, have you USED the character creator yet?

Just make the costume yourself.

Wasn't his p1 outfit just a pirate oufit anyway?

And also, I still like Seung Mina better than Kilik.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: le052383 on August 09, 2008, 03:02:54 AM
a lot of newbies pick Cervantes (although I fought a lot of users who picks Shura) so that they can do that flying move over and over again.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Omegasigma on August 10, 2008, 12:50:38 AM
In Reply To #23

clara i busted my controller and rebuilt it, with some electrical tape
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 10, 2008, 03:33:00 AM
So when can either system expect to d/l the other Star Wars character they're missing?
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Omegasigma on August 10, 2008, 09:37:25 AM
likely not for a while since i'm sure each console wants their character to be exlusive for a bit longer
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 10, 2008, 06:11:35 PM
But see it really didn't make sense to call them exclusive in the first place. It's kinda false advertising that way.

Of course that's exactly what they meant to do.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 10, 2008, 07:55:21 PM
In Reply To #40
It's RE4 all over again.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: shelverton. on August 10, 2008, 10:01:31 PM

Aight, so I started playing tonight. The Story Mode is too short and really easy, but I'm going through them all just to unlock some characters. I also got my ass handed to me in Arcade Mode by that Apprentice guy. :( He's kinda tough, isn't he? I gave up after three tries. Gonna try again tomorrow.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 10, 2008, 10:08:58 PM
In Reply To #42

Use Yoda, if you have him in your version.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: ChibiMaddiChan on August 11, 2008, 05:23:55 PM
I'm surprised everyone is having a hard time with the Apprentice. I beat him on my second try.  Though I suppose since he does seem harder than any of the bosses, I can see the issue with him. (Out of the four, he's the only one that actually killed me.)  And I agree, Angol is a waste of time.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: shelverton. on August 12, 2008, 02:56:42 PM
In Reply To #43

I have both versions, but I've only really been playing the PS3 version so far. And I did beat the Apprentice after a while, so I'm good now  :D
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: DoctaMario on August 12, 2008, 06:51:57 PM
Man, I REALLY want to play this game! I saw some guys playing it on this huge tv in Circuit City and it looks positively awesome! Playing online would be fun too, as I'm actually good at SC as opposed to just about any other game I've ever played online.

AS for spamming, you've ALWAYS been able to spam in SC games. Most characters have a couple of good moves that, if you learn them and chain them together you can beat almost anyone unless they actually have some level of technique.

I miss my copy of SCIII right now.  :-[
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 12, 2008, 07:16:55 PM
In Reply To #43

I have both versions, but I've only really been playing the PS3 version so far. And I did beat the Apprentice after a while, so I'm good now
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 12, 2008, 07:17:37 PM

I miss my copy of SCIII right now.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Alexc2808 on August 12, 2008, 08:22:54 PM
In Reply To #48
Probably destroyed itself out of shame.

And shelverton, why did you get both? O_O
Yoda and Vader are both going to be downloadable for the consoles they are not on initially.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 12, 2008, 08:50:16 PM
SC 3 is GEWD!

You shut up :P
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: DoctaMario on August 13, 2008, 01:01:03 PM
In Reply To #48

I left it back in NY when I moved (I'm down in Atlanta.) I might go out and get another copy of it today though. I think i saw one in the $9.99 bin at GameStop and I've been jonesing to play it.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: shelverton. on August 13, 2008, 06:04:42 PM
And shelverton, why did you get both? O_O
Yoda and Vader are both going to be downloadable for the consoles they are not on initially.

I review games occasionally for a newspaper in Sweden, so I got both versions for free  :D
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 13, 2008, 06:39:37 PM
I review games occasionally for a newspaper in Sweden, so I got both versions for free
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: SymboliC on August 20, 2008, 04:02:52 AM

No offense to 360 players, but the PS3 version was really downsized in favor of "both versions being balanced with each other". SC3 had tons of extras, options, even seiyuu/voice acting tests, and the character customization had separate layers for belts and stuff...

...but all we get from SC4 now is just... a normal SC, with HD graphics. Story mode sucks, the tower is not really that good...and man...Darth Vader should be a customizable character. (The Apprentice is lame, Luke should've been added)
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 20, 2008, 06:06:02 AM
...Luke should've been added)

NO SIR!

We get enough nauseating whining coming from Tira as it is.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: paletteswapmonster on August 20, 2008, 06:43:17 PM
In Reply To #55

But Tira is awesome.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Omegasigma on August 20, 2008, 06:43:56 PM
you do know in sound settings the game can be played in full japanese or english
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 20, 2008, 09:31:51 PM
you do know in sound settings the game can be played in full japanese or english

Lol Japanese Luke Skywalker would be awesome.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Xain on August 23, 2008, 03:31:34 PM
Its a shame that the single player sucks...i just don't like that feeling that i need to on online to enjoy the game. They should have done a quest mode like SC2...that was awesome. Hey even the story attached to each mission was written better than the story mode in SC4..and it had nothing to do with the characters. Speaking of that mode its a shame that there is like zilch for weapons in this game. Every character has like 5 weapons a soul/ultimate weapon then a joke weapon. didn't SC2 have like 12 or so weapons each character?

Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: A n t r a x x on August 23, 2008, 07:28:59 PM
In Reply To #59

They prolly had to take some out to balance things.
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Jago on September 13, 2008, 02:03:02 PM
Hey I have SC4 for Playstation 3. :D :P

Add me my online ID is Jago_420
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Omegasigma on November 02, 2008, 01:56:33 AM
for 360 owners, darth vader is avalable
Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Rugal on November 02, 2008, 01:21:23 PM
I'm not paying $5 to download that little green buger. I'm happy wrecking everyone with Algol, and The Apprentice.

Title: Re: Soul Calibur IV
Post by: Super Waffle on November 03, 2008, 01:26:50 AM
How can anybody bash the game that has Kitty Talim?

Kitty Talim.