The third installment of the famous Soul Caliber series. The previous game (Soul Caliber II) was released for the Playstation 2, X-Box, and GameCube, and each system had it's own "guest star" (the Playstation version had Hihatchi, the GameCube version had Link, and the X-Box version had Spawn...for some reason). Unlike the previous game, however, Soul Caliber III was released exclusively for the Playstation 2. Consequentially, the "guest star" trend had to be brought to an end. Soul Caliber III turned out to be a good game, but some players may find changes from Soul Caliber II that were disappointing (it sort of resembles Prince of Persia vs Prince of Persia 2 that way).

System: Playstation 2
Genre: RPG
Year made: 2006
Raw Score: 8/10

Story

This part I found a little disappointing. The game does a good job of picking up where Soul Caliber II left off, and the three new characters were fun, but the story just seems so...repetitive.

With every character it's the same deal: start journey, fight Zasalamel, continue journey, fight Zasalamel again, end journey. Now, you're probably thinking "but Jon, what in the world happens if I'm using Zasalamel? Surely Zasalamel can't be Zasalamel's reoccurring enemy!" Think again...

If you happen to be using Zasalamel it's the same thing, except the Zasalamel you fight is referred to as "Doppelganger Zasalamel." From what I can tell, the writers were too lazy to script Zasalamel a unique enemy, so the just put "doppelganger" in front of Zasalamel's Zasalamel boss, and called it a night.

This part really irritated me. Having Zasalamel fight Zasalamel like every other character, as opposed to giving him a unique enemy, suggests programmer/writer laziness to me. I'm not asking that they make another original character, just use one of the countless ones they already have. Put something in the script about how Zasalamel and, say...Yoshimitsu are mortal enemies, and then have Yoshimitsu be Zasalamel's reoccurring boss instead of Doppelganger Zasalamel. That would have been good enough for me.

Overall, most of the storylines are alright, but they are short. Soul Caliber II had a story-intense, large-scale single player mode, in addition to a classic single player arcade mode, but Soul Caliber III has only a very short story-intense mode ("Tales of Souls" mode). There are other single player modes, but they are not very story-intense. There is only so much you story you can convey with such a short single player run. Then again, I would have had no porblem with them making the single player mode longer...

One thing the story does do, is provide multiple endings for every character. The endings are usually - usually - good, but they don't quite make up for the repetitiveness of the overall story. Suffice to say, the story is a bit disappointing after the one in Soul Caliber II.

7/10
Gameplay
Alright, let's do this one more at a time, shall we?

I've pretty much covered "Tales of Souls" mode already. It is the game's single player, story-based mode. This mode has a very repetitive feel, since all of the characters basically do the same thing (start, fight Zasalamel, proceed, fight Zasalamel again, end). Also, the A.I. in this mode (computer-controlled characters that you fight against) can be quite irritating. Enemy characters block very frequently, are often equipped with high level weapons that surpass your current ones (particularly annoying when you first start playing, and are not yet able to afford many - if any - weapon upgrades), and can be very frustrating. Once you play for a while, and upgrade your weapons a few times, this becomes less of a problem. However, there is definitely going to be some frustration amongst people who are just getting started.

The second single player mode is "Soul Arena" mode. This mode has two different aspects; quick play and mission mode.

Quick Play: this is a sort of arcade mode, that allows you to play through a quick eight battles, ending with a fight against Abyss (also the final boss in "Tales of Souls" mode, unless you earn the right to fight Night Terror).

Mission Mode: the same deal as quick play mode, except that you have various objectives. For example, scorer mode will require you to gain a certain amount of points by damaging your enemy, rather than just needing to KO him. There are several missions like this, which are fun.

"Soul Arena" mode is not very story-intense, but it's not meant to be (you'd access "Tales of Souls" mode for that). It's just for light, arcade-ish play.

Next we have the third and final single player mode, "Chronicles of the Sword" mode. This takes the custom characters you create (see next section for more info), and places them in a strategy/RPG/fighting mode. This mode is pretty fun, but the custom characters themselves have some issues (again, see next section). As you use custom character types, they can gain learn new styles (I have a saint-type that just learned thief skills). However, there is one custom character type (can't remember what it's called, I think it's either assassin or weapon master) that can use pretty much any custom character style. Once you unlock that type, you may be less inclined to learn new skills by leveling up (like Orlandu, who almost makes things too easy in Final Fantasy Tactics).

And then there's versus mode. On this mode, of course, you can play against a friend.

First of all, I would like to point out that the "Team Battle" mode that was in Soul Caliber II has been removed. This will, I have no doubt, disappoint other Soul Caliber II fans, as it did me. The "World Competition" mode that replaces it is nifty. It allows you to form a tournament roster and play two at a time with several different friends (similar to a mode in Smash Bros: Melee). Personally, however, I'd rather have the "Team Battle."

You can also use custom characters (used for "Chronicles of the Sword" mode) in versus mode, but you may be disappointed to discover that each one is based off of a bonus character (saint-type is basically Hualin, thief-type is basically Chester, etc). I feel the custom characters would be a lot more fun if they had unique fighting styles (see below for more info).

Now, I would like to address versus mode's biggest flaw: the lack of weapon variations. As you play the game on single player, you earn money with which you can buy new weapons. These weapons have different strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities that can be used in battle.

In Soul Caliber II, the different weapon abilities worked in single and multiplayer mode. In Soul Caliber III, however, all of the weapons do the same thing, they just look different. In consequence, the multiplayer battle system is not nearly as customizable as it was in Soul Caliber II, and collecting weapons is pretty much pointless, unless you intend to do a lot of single player.

It was a big mistake to take the weapon variations out of versus mode. In Soul Caliber II the weapon abilities worked in versus mode - granted, some of the weapons were overly powerful, but they could have fixed that problem with some revised programming, they did not have to remove it. That is one of the most treasured features in Soul Caliber games.

Sadly, with the weapon variations missing from multiplayer mode, and the repetitive story and static character development damaging the gameplay and replay value of single player mode, the gameplay - although still fair - has lessened a great deal since Soul Caliber II.
7/10
Characters

The three new characters (five if you count Abyss and Olcadan) are fun to play and experiment with. Siegfried, from Soul Caliber I, also returns. Unfortunately, they come at the expense of Hihatchi, Necrid, Charade, Assassin, and Berserker. I mean, I can understand Link and Spawn being removed, since there is no GameCube or X-Box version of Soul Caliber III, but I think they could have spared Necrid, Charade, Assassin, and Berserker. I miss them...

In addition to these characters, there are an impressively large amount of bonus (versus mode only) characters. There are two ways to get these characters: 1) try to win them in single player by finding and defeating them, 2) play versus mode over and over until you just, inexplicably, get them. The fact that you just randomly get bonus characters by playing versus mode long enough may discourage single player play a bit. But, I have to admit, it is always exciting when I'm playing versus mode with some friends, and we suddenly have new characters to play with.

In addition, the game offers a 'create your own character' feature (custom characters). You can win new clothes, types, and weapon styles for custom characters in the same fashion that you win bonus characters. Creating your own characters is a lot of fun, but their fighting styles are not very unique. More specifically, every possible custom character is based off of a particular bonus character (the thief custom character is the same as Chester, the saint custom character is the same as Hualin, etc). I grant that giving all the custom character types unique fighting styles would require quite a bit of time and work, but, all the same, I wish they had gone the extra mile and done it. As much fun as I had making custom character, it was always disappointing to get a new bonus character, and then find out that he or she is the same as the custom character I was so proud of.

Also, I feel I should point out that some of the custom character types are just weird. The knight-type custom character jumps around like Taki for some reason, and the pirate-type is basically a ninja too (they should have made him a Certanves rip-off, at least that would have made sense). Overall it is a terrific and fun feature, but I feel they could ahve done a better job with it.

Now we come to the story. Because the overall story is so short and repetitive, I did not find myself as eager to find out more about how the characters fit into the story as I did while playing Soul Caliber II. The profiles and character bios that reveal the game's secrets are still present, but they have lost some of their edge. The character storylines are short, and all almost identical, which makes the characters feel very static. Some of the characters are interesting enough for you to hunt down their profiles and like despite the repetitive storyline, but certainly not all of them.

In conclusion: fair, but not quite on par with the characters in Soul Caliber II.

7/10
Battle System
The battle system in single player is pretty good.

Having so many weapons and characters to experiment with adds a great deal to the game. The fact that all of the weapons have different effects (different strengths and weaknesses), adds a great deal to the battle system. The A.I. is certainly frustrating at times, and the repetitive storyline can make "Tales of Souls" mode a bit boring at times, but it is good overall.

Now for versus mode.

Unlike single player mode, all of the weapons do the same thing on multiplayer (they just look different). In other words, when you select a character, you have several different weapons to choose from (all the ones that you have unlocked for that character). In single player, each of these weapons would have a different effect and different abilities. In versus mode, however, the all do the same thing. They just look different.

I was greatly disappointed by this. Having so many weapons that could do so many things in versus mode was my favorite part of Soul Caliber II's battle system. I imagine they took this feature out to make everything more balanced. In Soul Caliber II, some of the weapons (i.e. Mitsarugi's Damascus Sword) were unreasonably power, or gave a player too great of an advantage (i.e. Link's Butterfly Sword). However, I think they could have made things more balanced with some better programming, rather than just throwing it out. The whole point of Soul Caliber games is weapon-based combat, after all.

Well in short, the battle system in multiplayer mode is much less customizable and fun to use then the battle system in single player mode.

On the plus side, however, the graphics are good, most - most - of the characters look cool, and the controls are easy to get used to, after a bit of memorization (practice mode helps).
8/10
Replay Value
Let's start with single player.

You can get bonus characters and new custom character abilities just by playing versus mode over and over. You do not have to actually play through single player mode time and time again looking for them (although you can also get them that way). I believe there are a few characters that can only be unlocked in single player, but they are the minority.

You can also unlock weapons in the shop just by playing versus mode, but you need to play in single player to earn cash with which to buy them. So, if you're the type who prefers to play in versus mode, your only motive to venture into single player is to buy new weapons...which you do not need to do because all the weapons do the same thing in versus mode.

From a practical standpoint, there is not as much incentive to replay single player mode as there was in Soul Caliber II. Most of the rewards you get can be duplicated by hours of versus mode. Unless, of course, you are in the mood for arcade mode, or want to see the story.

Although the story is repetitive, the abundant amount of alternate endings (most characters have two possible endings) still manage to salvage a great deal of replay value from within single player mode. I played through single player mode quite a few times, so that we could see the a lot of the endings. Of course, you need a certain amount of patience to deal with the A.I.

Versus mode is still fun, and still highly addictive, but it is not as customizable without the weapon variations. My friends and I can spend hours playing versus mode over and over, but I often find myself missing the weapon variations, and Team Battle mode. Often I think that my friends and I would be playing Soul Caliber II for hours instead if I had a copy of it.
9/10
Graphics

The environments and scenery are well-designed, and rich in detail. The character motions are nice and fluid during combat. Also, the opening cinema is quite impressive.

Every now and then - and this could just be my shallowness talking, but still - I like the way some of the characters looked in Soul Caliber II better than how they look in Soul Caliber III. It's not the fact that Soul Caliber III has fewer costumes, I can live with that. It's the fact that some of the character just look a bit...not so much cartoony, but less intense.

Yoshimitu has two costumes. One makes him look like he has a squid on his face (an uglier version of Davy Jones), and the other one outfits him with a chicken mask. Taki looks considerably less ninja-ish. Maxi has what can only be described as a disco suit (granted, that was kind of funny). ...You know, stuff like that. Most of the characters are fine, but there are some that they could have done a better job designing.

Other than the occasional character design issue, however, Soul Caliber III's graphics are highly detailed, and very well done.

9/10
Sound
Now the sound is as good as it was in Soul Caliber II. The music is still good, sound effects are still good, and the voice acting is still good. No problem.
10/10
Overall
Above average overall, but you would tend to expect more from a Soul Caliber game.

It's a good game, but if you're looking for a nice arcade-style fighting game, you might be happier just buying Soul Caliber II (probably cheaper too). Anyway, I don't want to brush it off too much, because it is an above average fighting game. However, I can not help but feel that, with a few very minor changes, it could have been just as good - if not better - than Soul Caliber II.
8/10

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