GA reports:
''Namco has been making 3D fighters since the inception of the PS one. Gamers were first wowed by the Tekken series for its accessible game play; with deep enough fighting styles that would make any master of the series humble a rookie as well. Then we were introduced to Soul Edge/Soul Blade which many thought was a good, yet flawed weapons version of their first hit Tekken. It really wasn't until Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast (the original arcade still used PS one hardware) that gamers fell in love with characters such as Mitsurugi, Kilik, and Voldo…well maybe not so much Voldo…but you get the point. In Soul Calibur (Soulcalibur) the bar was raised as were the expectations for all 3D fighters to come. Namco has followed up the series with parts II and III, and while II was a fine fighter in it's own rights, it felt in the end like an extension to what the good folks at Namco basically perfected in part one. Soul Calibur III on the other hand was a critical and sales disappointment, and many felt the game let a lot of fans down with over the top moves, characters, and a ridiculously bland RTS story mode. I'd love to mention Soulcalibur Legends on the Wii right here, but it was a poor at best action title on the Wii, which really isn't fair to put it in the same category as the others. The only thing Legends did was make loyal fans wonder if Namco Bandai could ever bring this series not only back to its roots, but back to its glory.
We turn to the ever present 2008 where not only has Namco released a new version of Soulcalibur, but have issued it only on next-gen platforms. Now owners of the PS3 and Xbox 360 can soak in the SC love they've been yearning for. Of course, many fans wondered whether or not we would see another incarnation of part III when characters from the Star Wars franchise have poked their metaclorian noses into the mix. On one hand gamers could play as Darth Vader, Yoda, and Vader's apprentice. On the other hand, do these characters actually fit in the SC universe? More on that later…''
Assassin's Creed's Ezio and The Witcher's Geralt have been excellent guest characters in the Soul Calibur series.
Soul Calibur IV launched worldwide 15 years ago, bringing with it the best performance of the series to date.
Hell no. It was the start of the downfall (SCV) of the series. Huge downstep from the giant SCIII
Used to love this series, probably my favorite 3D fighter, perhaps together with the now also dead Dead or Alive (2-3-4), but as with so many games in the fighting genre, their short-term greed (season passes) has made me lose all interest, sadly …
Loved Number 2 and 3( loved all the solo modes like chronicle of the sword ) so was super hyped when 4 came out but the lack of single player content was disappointing. Still love soul calibur to this day though
2 was definitely the golden era of Soul Calibur for me. I was a bit conflicted about it at times because there were 3 different versions (I liked the PS2 version for controls, I liked playing as Spawn the most, and I thought the addition of Link was really awesome). Even so, the single player content was outstanding. Easily the most fun I've had with a fighting game, followed closely by Tekken 5's single player modes
From VG247: "Link suits the world of Soul Calibur. The elf-like little twink fit into the roster as well as any sword-wielding fantasy hero could – facing off against the likes of the machiavellian Frenchman Raphael, the inhuman hellspawn Astaroth, or the horny gimp Voldo, the Legend of Zelda guest character fits right in. Weaponry, aesthetic, move set… all of it gels with Soul Calibur’s camp high fantasy world – even when you’re pulling massive bombs out of God-knows-where and hurling them across the stage. It just fits.
You know what doesn’t fit, though? Lightsabers. No amount of sci-fi reasoning, magic, or blaming it on wizards can make Yoda, Darth Vader, and (eurgh) Starkiller fit in the war-torn European and Silk Road settings of Soul Calibur. It just doesn’t track. Why Bandai Namco decided to shoehorn the trio of characters into the fourth Soul Calibur game, then, remains a mystery; it’s damaging to both brands, it makes no sense canonically, and – more than anything else – it’s just all a bit tacky (or should that be Taki?)"
