Calibur of Soul.

    This week we're talking Souls. For the record these aren't my usual cup of tea. Well since I don't drink tea they ain't my soda brand. So Soul Calibur 5.

    Story- While there is a story mode it is fairly obvious that it was never intended as the primary focus of the game. It follows after two of the characters available for use. Now that is ok many of the characters don't appear in game and I won't apologize for wishing that the story allowed use of every character in the game. It isn't really a big deal because the other elememts are in place but I think with a game like this they should have included more of a tutorial element within the story similar to how Dead or Alive 5 did.

    Character- Its a fighting game. The actual character of each individual isn't as important as their playstyle. SCV does a great job of giving the player a view of the important things to each character. Things like reach, speed, ease of use and power. Each character has a distinct and different style and move set. Every one of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. Fighting games typically have very static rosters with the character's not changing but with five. I noticed a few missing characters from the last SC that I played. Others are missing but only in a superficial fashion. For example the ninja Taki is gone but she is replaced by another one with functionally the same moves that Taki had.

    Gameplay- Its a 3d fighter. Which means that it operates under an 8 way movement system. Each character has their own moveset which is distinct. I have noticed some similarities between Nightmare and Siegfried's sets but that's it. all character's share the same input for their biggest attack and each one has different effect. The balance in the game feels very well done. There are a few moments where I've been frustrated with the game's AI on higher difficulty that's usually the way with these kinds of games. There is a system in place where a strong attack can knock armor off but I have no idea if it does anything to gameplay or not. I think it did in four but I have no idea.

    Odds and Sods- Well I'm not really an expert in the genre but it feels really balanced. I will admit that I find myself having a lot of entertainment value derived from the character creator despite it being a way to simply reskin existent characters.

In summation-Its a fun way to kill time. I wouldn't call it a perfect game but it is functional and as I said I have been enjoying it for all its faults if you like fighting games I'd give it a go.

Hambone out.