I haven’t exactly played this enough for a full review, But I still wanted to do a quick post about it.

I’m not exactly the biggest Soul Calibur fan, and I haven’t enjoyed a Soul Calibur game just as much as Soul Calibur 2 on the gamecube. Maybe the series just felt stale afterwards, or maybe I just wasn’t really into it anyways.

So, and I’ll be quick on this, here are my impressions of the PSP version of Soul Calibur!

Developer: Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco Games
Date of Release: September 1, 2009
Platforms: PSP

Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Looks and sounds
The game uses the same graphical style as previous SC games. It’s set in a fantasy world with magic and swords and shields and stuff. It still looks really good, even on the PSP. The characters are very well done, their animations are nice, and they look just like the PS3 versions. They have a lower polygon count and lower-res textures(of course), but they still look quite close to their console counterparts.

Sound-wise… well I frankly paid no attention to it. There’s still the weird narator saying non-sensical stuff before each battle, and the voice acting is the same quality as in SC4. Sounds the same as usual I guess.

The presentation is really good, and for a PSP game to look that close to the console versions it’s quite nice. There’s some graphic glitches here and there, with clipping and such, but nothing big.

Gameplay
The gameplay… well it’s exactly like in Soul Calibur 4. The same controls, same combos, seemingly the same gameplay engine, it has the armor-breaking element (though I don’t think it has the cinematic finishers).

It’s basically a stripped-down version of SC4. There’s fewer modes, the create a character mode is far from being as deep (there’s no stats on different clothes, and different weapons don’t have different effects), no arcade mode, no story mode. If anything, it’s a big tutorial for SC4.

You have Quick Match, Trials and Gauntlet. Gauntlet is pretty much a tutorial, starting you with beginner stuff and then easing you in the rest of the gameplay by gradually teaching more moves and combos and techniques. Trials is basically arcade mode but with a minor twist. If you choose Trial of Attack, you have to be agressive and you get points for big combos(5 fights in a row). Trial of Defense is similar, but it encourages defense(duh) and counter-attacking(8 fights in a row). Endless trial is a Survival Mode. Quick Match is just a quick match! Choose a character, choose your opponent and fight. There’s also a Versus mode, which is Local only.

I barely touched the new characters, but I found that Kratos was bland and nothing really special(just like in his own games, surprising), and Dampierre was a more gay version of Voldo(different attacks and all, but a similar style).

Overall
It’s not as deep as SC4 and cuts many of the features from it. But the basic gameplay is still intact. It’s also pretty good for beginners with the Gauntlet maode which shows you everything you need to know. Basically, I’ll agree with everyone saying this game iss a big training mode for Soul Calibur 4 which you can bring anywhere with you.

I’m not a huge fan of Soul Calibur, so this didn’t really appeal to me, but for any fan of Soul Calibur who wants to practice on the go, it’s a fine buy.

Pros/Cons
Pros
- Great presentation
- Same gameplay as the console versions
- Good for practice

Cons
- LOTS of stuff cut from the console versions
- Character creation is now only for the looks, since the equipment has no effect anymore
- Kratos

The Save Factor
Well, I can’t find much reason to spend more than $20 on this unless you’re a big SC fan. The starting price of $40 is a bit too high.

jobocan Games, Handheld, impressions, psp, Random