[merylsilverburg]

Hey everyone. I went out and bought the Japanese version of Soul Calibur 2 today and it's pretty great. There are some minor flaws, but hopefully they'll fix it for the US version (coming out in August, right?).

Graphics: They're nice...the enviroments are detailed: smoke, wind, lighting, dust, etc. The "Ring Out" concept is still in, but there are now some walls and half-closed enviroments which you can use to your advantage. Overall, it's like Soul Calibur, but much more improved.

Characters: I'm not sure if they'll change it for the US version, but the Japanese version had these following characters: (Already unlocked)
Talim: Young, cute Egyptian(?) girl using two small swords on each hand. Reminds me of Seung Mina..
Raphael Sorel: A French guy, who uses a fencing technique. Pretty slow character, might take some time to get used to.
Hong Yun Sung: Apparently Thailand (doesn't look like it!) and uses a fighting style similar to Hwaong(sp?) from Soul Blade and Soul Calibur.
Cassandra Alexandra: Yup, no more Sophitia (at least I don't think), but instead her daughter. She has all the similar moves like her mother...I see no changes except for a few different moves.
Heishiro Mitsurugi: The Japanese samurai is back with the Tenpu-Kosai-Ryu Kai fighting style....not too many changes from Soul Calibur. I see only a few new moves, but not much (I'll have to practice and see).
Taki: The swift female ninja with the Musou-Battou-Ryu fighting style..like Mitsurugi, not much changes.
Voldo: The flexible Italian man is here once again and still as quick as ever. Not many changes seen...
Nightmare: The Devil knight is still around and still has the Soul Blade sword...again, not much changes except for a bit increase in strength.
Astaroth: The Devil executioner and his large ax is also here...he seems a bit quicker than in Soul Calibur.
Ivy Valentine: She's back along with ther Ivy Blade...somehow she seems slower in the sequel than in Soul Calibur.
Kilik: Much older than in Soul Calibur, but his fighting style seems to have stayed the same with the exception of a few new throws.
Xianghua: Like Kilik, she's much older now and her fighting style seems to have changed a bit. She's now the second-fastest character in SC2, IMO.
Maxi: The Li-Long replacement is...back. O_o;;; The ones who've played SC would understand why I'm confused. Anyway, not much changes seen.
Necrid: Interesting new character. He looks like The Hulk in a very strange way...his fighting style is all of the characters...almost like Edge Master/Inferno from SC.
Heihachi: A great addition! He's quick (much, MUCH quicker than in Tekken) and he's quite powerful even without a weapon.

There are 5 more hidden characters and I've yet to discover a way to unlock them (since it's in Japanese and I'm having a hard time).

The disappointment in this game is that it seems to be a "sequel" but not really. It's seems more like a game for the PS2 owners who weren't able to play Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast. Which is why there seems to be lack of new moves for the older characters.

New Additions: You're able to buy weapons now! Like in Soul Calibur, the Weapon Mode has been improved and now, you earn gold and experience points each time you complete a Mission. There seems to be a lot of weapons to get for each character, so you'll be spending a lot of time on the map.

Other than these, the Arcade, VS, Survival, Time Attack, etc. are still there...along with an "Extra Room" where you can unlock extra modes (like "Extra Arcade" and "Extra Versus"...the only 2 I've unlocked so far). The Museum and Collection are also back...and the Profiles are back too...which you'll be able to check out character profiles, stages, voices as you unlock them.

The Flaws: Not very many, but the only problem I've found are some "glitching" errors...like if a character is getting knocked down near a wall, the foot would go in. Or if a character's upper part of the body is over the edge, the feet would sort of just fall straight through the arena floor. Hopefully some of these will be fixed for the US version.

That's about it. I'm having a hard time getting through "Weapon Mode" so I'll have to wait for the US version to check it out fully. It's a great game though and I hope my "little" review will help some people out.