Monday, April 21, 2008

The Soul Still Burns

In this week's "Gaming Treasures" is the Soul Edge / Calibur series.

Timeline:
Soul Edge (origins)
Soul Calibur - Aftermath
Soul Calibur II - The War has begun
Soul Calibur III - SC 2.5
Soul Calibur IV - SC 3

Now a fellow fan may began to ask, "hey wait, but it goes this way". There is no denying it, that this series is kind of difficult to gather. But it really did begin with the PSX entry.

Soul Edge - A campaign of 8 warriors strive to defend their lands, until a sword of unknown power taints everything sacred. Some live, some die, and leave a legacy. *Cervantes is the main villain

Soul Calibur - Generations later, new warriors take up the fight; where others left off. The war has begun across Europe & Asia, only one will stand defiant. Thus the multitude of new faces, and a few familiars from the first venture.
-Character Elements
New faces join the fight, and legends return. However more of the these faces relate to one another. Many of them work together to protect their lands, before a huge war takes their people apart. Very few stand defiant and win, while others stand alone to take back what is rightfully there's.

-Conquest campaign
Each fighter has their own legacy, with weapon in hand; going across the globe to find the swords. Even though with a campaign, it still doesn't clarify whom actually obtain the true sword. (since the sword is already attained to everyone) But Siegfried is the actual wielder of Soul Edge, due to its corruption of him.


Soul Calibur II - Few years after the first battle, the sword has gained its powers (thus splitting into more pieces).
-Character elements
Siegfried has fought the sword at the end of SC, now awakening his true spirit. (thus him and the enigma of the sword split = Nightmare is its own entity). Maxi returns from the dead? Ivy's soul is now attached to her sword forever. Killik is cleansed from his staff, and joins Xianghua to defend her homeland. Cassandra defends her family, and takes the mantle for her sister.

-Tales of the Sword II
Actually a revamped version of SCI's extra campaign. In addition, each weapon has more different characteristics than the original. It begs to even question, what is the true weapon?
Also depending on your character of choice, their rival will be unique.

Soul Calibur III - (director's cut?)
Only set a few months after II, the war has begun; the lands are in turmoil. Nightmare now is its own entity, taking other warriors at the helm; not for souls but conquest. Siegfried & his alliances form together to take back their homelands once and for all.
(only one problem.. is this a prelude of 4?)

- Elements
*Since this is only a few months later, nothing's too different. The only exception are a few additional characters.

- Tales of the Sword III
A more advanced campaign, new tweaks; same design. Except it has more of the Tekken limits to balance out the game as if you're playing online? (SC III was going to be online, but the dev team admitted they weren't quite ready yet)

Soul Calibur IV (Final War)
During the final battle, more friends & foes unite one last time. That about sums it up..
- Elements
New faces, old friends (and some characters with less clothing)
Weapon damage, and some new minor tweaks

- Tales of the Lightsaber IV (er i mean sword)
Online! But will it change the in-game campaign?

- Weapons of Choice
The most defining part of the Soul series is the multitude of weapons. Depending on whom you play, you are given options by their fighting style / def / off/ and spirit. No matter whom joins this roster, everyone is connected in some way or another. In addition, many of the weapons have a firm root in history; adding a bit of novelty.

- How will Soul Calibur define next gen?
1) Finally going online
2) Why limit guest characters to a console?
3) More characters? the roster is over 30+
4) Bigger campaign? Maybe take on friends to influence gameplay?
5) Will finally add some closure (hopefully)

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