Soul Calibur II (Japanese version)

[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. :D

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.

[Beretta55]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i envy you! you get to play this game! before it release's in the state's. im going to go in my room to cry now:(
jk
:laugh:
but seriously i cant wait to play this game. im going to get the GC version of course (link!) i cant wait to play as Hwaong in this game. he was my favirote character next to maxi and kilik in soul caliber. or is he not in this one? i hope he is.
but im going to get this game as soon as it release's. but when i do my money will be gone so...........yeah. but again i envy you!.......*cries*
:laugh:

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by Beretta55

but seriously i cant wait to play this game. im going to get the GC version of course (link!) i cant wait to play as Hwaong in this game. he was my favirote character next to maxi and kilik in soul caliber. or is he not in this one? i hope he is.

I'm not sure if Hwoarng (I must find out how to spell his name! :laugh: ) is in SC2. He might be one of the hidden characters...I have to find out. :P

[Infernal Mass]

i like this game already and haven't even played it yet.


DigiMortal
- thanks for the review Meryl.

[Vic Viper]

awesome. :)

thanks for the review.;)

[Infernal Mass]

Meryl is kewl. > :cool: <

But too bad she didn't buy me a copy...that would've been even 10% kewlR.

DigiMortal
- :D *bling*

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by DigiMortal

Meryl is kewl. > :cool: <

But too bad she didn't buy me a copy...that would've been even 10% kewlR.

DigiMortal
- :D *bling*

Send me $76.00 and I'll get it for ya. :laugh: (Seriously, it is sold for $76.00...maybe because it's an import in the US...so they raised the price a bit).

Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad my review helped a little. ^_^

However, there are some things I have to change in my review:

Cassandra isn't Sophitia's daughter, she's actually the younger sister. Sorry for any confusion...^^;;;

I believe there are some new moves for the old characters (Mitsurugi, Taki, etc.) because I tried Practice Mode with Ivy and found out some cool new Throw moves. :D

I think I've found out who the hidden characters are and Beretta, to answer your question, Hworang doesn't seem to be one. Sorry, man. :(

[Beretta55]

Originally posted by merylsilverburg

Send me $76.00 and I'll get it for ya. :laugh: (Seriously, it is sold for $76.00...maybe because it's an import in the US...so they raised the price a bit).

Thanks for the compliment and I'm glad my review helped a little. ^_^

However, there are some things I have to change in my review:

Cassandra isn't Sophitia's daughter, she's actually the younger sister. Sorry for any confusion...^^;;;

I believe there are some new moves for the old characters (Mitsurugi, Taki, etc.) because I tried Practice Mode with Ivy and found out some cool new Throw moves. :D

I think I've found out who the hidden characters are and Beretta, to answer your question, Hworang doesn't seem to be one. Sorry, man. :(
Ah dang.........oh well i still at least have maxi and kilik to use:D but this game im going to get. i would get it import.......if i could speak japanese:laugh:

[Grayfox]

Is cassandra going to have the same moves as Sophitia or some of the same? I am going to get the ps2 version and was going to use the guy with the nunchucks( cuase there really cool)

[MakgSnake]

Although I really enjoyed Soul Edge...... I am not too excited about this game that much.

I just bought a DreamCast few days back for $29.99 (CND), thats $19.99 (US)...... for the first part of this game. I can't find it yet. And one place has it "Microplay" and they are selling it for $69.99 (Pre owned). I actually hate microplay, so I avoid buying stuff from there.....

but I will buy this game anyway.....GameCube version most probably......only if the game uses the anolog stick. If not, then I would have to go with the PS2 version.

[Azuma_Ninja]

I can't wait for this game!!! I've started playing sould calibur for my dreamcast again That game still rocks!! Anyways I'm thinking of getting #2 for the x-box, I think spawn is the coolest bonus character, with link coming in a close second. I really feel ps2 owners got a big shaft for getting Heihachi as the secret character, my point being that this is a weapon based combat and he fight's with his fists doesn't he? This is a big dillema for me because I feel that the ps2 controller would be the best for this game. X-box shouldn't be too bad but I can't imagine a fighting game using the GC's controller.

Anyone's who's familiar with the soul blade/sould edge series who's your fav character? Mine's Mitsurugi, he's always been my fav since soul blade. I liked Li Long too(the guy maxi replaced), I just don't see why everyone from sould blade was put in sould calibur except for Li Long, IMO he's 10x cooler than maxi.

[synicalgohan91]

maxi being worse than li long is a very true statment. i would have to say that my favorite character ever since soul blade has be hwang.

[Mercury Shadow]

Thanks for the great information, Meryl! I can't wait to buy the US version, even though I could get either the Xbox, GC, or PS2 version at my local game store... that's too much hassle to mod for one game :)

I'll probably end up buying the Gamecube version for Link :D

[dan da man]

Ive seen alot of this game now (Japanese Versio) and it just looks avarge, the fighting system does'nt impress me, maybe because I have'nt played it, but the sound, graphics, and some gameplay is a 10/10.

[Berserker]

Just saw the game on dutch tele, friggin' awesome it's a shame I don't have a x-box cause it looks like that spawn character is gonna own.

[Grayfox]

hey they should of put in Dante from Devil May Cry he's at least 10 times cooler than the old guy from tekken 4 .

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by Grayfox

hey they should of put in Dante from Devil May Cry he's at least 10 times cooler than the old guy from tekken 4 .

Unfortunately, Dante is a character created by Capcom, not Namco, which is why he isn't in the game. :(

Originally posted by Grayfox

Is cassandra going to have the same moves as Sophitia or some of the same?

From the look of things, it seems that Cassandra has a few different moves, but mostly it's the same as Sophitia's. I know it's stupid for me not being able to tell, but since the technique/moves names are in Japanese, I can't really practice them out and truly see if they're different. I'm sorry for the lack of information on this...when the game comes out for the US/Europe and there are some mistakes in anything I said in my review, I apologize in advance for any confusion I've caused.

[Frozen]

All I can say is try all three versions before you buy your copy (well, that statement varies depending in which consoles do you own)

I was very excited about Heihachi being in this game, but when I actually played it and saw him in there, I wasn't impressed at all, it was just the same old Heihachi with exagerated moves. (I'm not saying he wasn't cool, he just did not impress me at all) But then I played the GameCube version and... Link was so awsome... they did a great job with him. Also, the loading times in GC are much faster than in PS2. Now I still haven' played the X Box version but I've heard that Spawn is awsome.

If you don't care about the "exclusive" character I recommend the GC version over the PS2 one, since teh grahpics are somewhat nicer and the loading time is much faster. And the GC controller worked PERFECTLY in this game, it wasn't a problem at all to fight with it.

Thanks for the review Meryl-chan. :)

[Azuma_Ninja]

I can't wait to use Spawn. I think he would be just awesome to use but Link would follow in a close behind.

[Vic Viper]

since i only have one console, im stuck with old fart heihachi:roll:

[Azuma_Ninja]

Does heihachi actually have weapons, or does he still use his fists for weapons?

[Vic Viper]

Originally posted by Azuma_Ninja

Does heihachi actually have weapons, or does he still use his fists for weapons?

nope, no weapons for the old hag.

[Azuma_Ninja]

originally posted by Vic Viper

nope, no weapons for the old hag.

Wow that's got to suck. The game is a weapon based fighting game and he doesn't even have weapons(not counting his fists).:boo: Hey Vic don't worry about it at least you've got the playstation controller going for you, I pity the peeps playing with the GC controller.

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by Azuma_Ninja

Wow that's got to suck. The game is a weapon based fighting game and he doesn't even have weapons(not counting his fists).:boo:

Heh, that's what makes him so "special" I guess. :laugh:
From what Frozen said, I wouldn't mind picking up the GC version, to try out Link. :D

[Azuma_Ninja]

Yeah GC def has a good character(Link). It's just the controller that keeps me from buying it for that system. I hope Spawn is fun to play with, I'm kinda wondering were they got the idea to use him from?

[Grayfox]

I need help Soul Caliber 2 is still 3 months away and I need the time to go by faster. I played the original soul caliber but i dont have a dreamcast. Its gonna be great

[Azuma_Ninja]

I'm glad I still have a dreamcast. I love playing Soul Calibur. What a great game for a great system:laugh:

[Vic Viper]

When Namco's Soul Calibur II was released in Japan, many eager fans snatched up the import versions. Not only is it the follow-up to the outstanding Soul Calibur for Sega's Dreamcast, but each release had a console-specific character: Link on the Gamecube, Tekken's Heihachi on the PS2, and Todd Macfarlane's Spawn on the Xbox.

Fans who salivated at the possibility of waging combat as Link, Heihachi, and Spawn, and bought the import Soul Calibur II may have had the chance to play the game a few months early, but it appears that gamers who have waited for the US release will have the last laugh, as Namco has announced that the US versions of Soul Calibur II will have three more characters: Rock, Hwang, and Lizardman.

The return of these classic characters and the now-playable Lizardman add to what is already looking to be one of the most popular fighting games of the year. These characters are reported as being available in all versions of the game, with Link, Heihachi, and Spawn still being console-specific. The game is set for an August 26 release here in the states, so that's just enough time to break out your Dreamcast and hone your Soul Calibur skills. Get cracking!

link (http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1056537956,38959,)

:)

[Azuma_Ninja]

thanks for the news Vic. Lizardman:laugh:........now there was a character. Still I wish they'd bring back Li Long from Soul Blade:heh:

[Beretta55]

oh yeah! Hwang is back! he is by far my fave soul caliber character even more then maxi. but this is awesome news i cant wait to play this game:D

[merylsilverburg]

Originally posted by Vic Viper

Fans who salivated at the possibility of waging combat as Link, Heihachi, and Spawn, and bought the import Soul Calibur II may have had the chance to play the game a few months early, but it appears that gamers who have waited for the US release will have the last laugh, as Namco has announced that the US versions of Soul Calibur II will have three more characters: Rock, Hwang, and Lizardman.

That's great news! :cool: I'm glad they decided to bring back/add those 3 characters....at least it's a little more than just the hidden ones. :happy: Thanks for the info, Vic! :D

[omni vengeance]

I played the demo for Soul Caliber 2 at Wally World today...it was tight, but the only playable characters were Cassandra and that Nightmare dude...it was pretty fun, I'll admit. Can't wait to buy it.

[Frozen]

I think that mix between Nightmare and Sigfried that produced the new Nightmare is just orgasmic. I now they're both the same guy, I'm just talking about the mix between the apparels :D

To Azuma Ninja or anyone who's complaining about the GC controller: have you ACTUALLY played this particular game in GameCube? I used to think that the game would suck using that controller, but you know what, I did not have a single problem with the controller in this game. It worked just perfectly, so all I can say is, try all versions before you buy one (if you have the priviledge of having all three consoles, that is)

And I agree about Heihachi, it really disappointed me to see him without weapons, I was hoping he would have some Iron arm or something like that. He does not suck, though, I just think they could have done something much better with him.

[Azuma_Ninja]

Originally posted by Frozen

To Azuma Ninja or anyone who's complaining about the GC controller: have you ACTUALLY played this particular game in GameCube? I used to think that the game would suck using that controller, but you know what, I did not have a single problem with the controller in this game. It worked just perfectly, so all I can say is, try all versions before you buy one (if you have the priviledge of having all three consoles, that is)

No I haven't played with the GC controller because the game isn't out yet. Yes I have all 3 consoles but I'm picking it up for the X-Box because I think Spawn is the better secret character.