I like Soul Calibur. It might not be the best fighting series but it’s one I enjoy. It’s just a shame that apart from some sparkly “new” characters, Soul Calibur V isn’t as fun as I expected it to be.
The new campaign mode took me just under 2 hours to complete and it wasn’t nearly as good as I was expecting. It’s a real shame because I genuinely thought they were going to try replicate what Mortal Kombat did with its campaign mode.
The other problem is that the new characters aren’t really “new”. My new favourite character, Leixia, is a rehash of Xianghua. You also have Pyrrha who is pretty much Cassandra and Natsu is Taki. It’s nice to see a fresh face but I’d rather have a larger character roster with new move sets than re-branding old characters. I miss Sophitia 
There’s a rather hardcore mode which I can’t really get my head around. I’m going to give it another bash with Leixia now I’ve gotten used to using her now but I doubt I’ll get very far.
Anyway, here are some replays of myself Martin Gaston and David Scammell playing Soul Calibur V. We’re all a bit rubbish apart from the awesome parry followed by a critical edge by Gaston. The bastard! As you can see, I’m a Leixia whore.
I did learn one thing though that .. well… MIND BLOWN.
This wonderful package arrived the other day. It’s Resident Evil: Revelations boxed with the new Circle Pad Pro. You’d think it’d be simple using a circle pad pro but for some reason it really wasn’t. There are already a few problems reported with the circle pad. One major one is that no-one seems to be able to calibrate it. I’ve tried and it fails on each attempt.
The circle pad didn’t work until I activated it via the control options in Revelations and that took a few tries. Basically don’t panic when it doesn’t work straight out of the box. You’re going to have to fuck around with it for a while.
It looks a lot bigger than it feels – ahem – and it’s actually pretty comfortable to use when you’re not having to worry too much about the triggers. If you have small hands like me then switching back and forth from the buttons on the 3DS to the analogue stick might prove a bit tricky. I’ve died a few times in Revelations because I couldn’t quickly switch between those controls like I can on a Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. Nothing practise can’t fix!
It makes a huge difference play wise. I can control the movement much easier, running around and shooting is a lot more accurate and generally more comfortable to play.
I’d defiantly get your hands on with one before committing to buy. They are HUGE and well.. not very pretty. Luckily there is a tiny slot if you’re a weirdo like me and have a bunch of danglies hanging off the console. Make sure to thread that through first before slotting the console in or it can get a bit tricky.
I’m happy with it though. Nice piece of kit that should really have been on the console in the start. A lot of you will probably wait out for the slim version of the 3DS which I’m sure will have the circle pad attached. Wait.. now I’m not exactly sure how they’ll slim the size….
Now the embargo has lifted I can finally talk about Final Fantasy XIII-2. I’ve finished the game three times now and I’m still looking forward to starting fresh when my special edition version pops through the post. There’s something really addictive about this game and I’m looking forward to what fans of the series think of it.
Initially I thought I was going to dislike it. The story isn’t as strong as it could have been and Serah and Noel’s constant can-do attitude doesn’t always come out right. The concept is interesting though and I enjoyed plodding along the main story arc for 30 hours.
It’s much more expanded than XIII and there’s plenty of chance to deviate from the main path and explore the timeline. There’s so much more freedom and you can easily spend hours away discovering new areas, side-quests, fragments and monsters. You’re also free to level up without the restrictions XIII had with its crystarium system. So if you want to power-level for several hours at the start of the game you can.
It’s nice to see a return of several characters even if it’s not on the way you’d want them to. Noel and Serah are your main party members and it remains that way throughout the entirety of the game. Your third member if taken up by a monster and you’ll sometimes get an NPC coming in as a 4th member. You still only have control over Noel and Serah though, which is refreshing seeing that if your leader goes down you can switch to the other and revive them.
I’ve done a lot of work with XIII-2 recently. I’ve been working with IGN on the walkthrough which should be going live upon the games release. I also did some in-house work with Square Enix last which was exciting. Being one of the first journalists to play and finish the game is quite an achievement.
There’s a lot more I’d like to talk about but the NDA has forbidden some interesting choices from being spoken about prior to the games release. Most of them are spoiler heavy but a few bits I’d like to discuss further. Once the games out I’ll do another blog post. But if you’re a fan of XIII and want to play with a much improved paradigm system and open world then XIII-2 will be right up your street.
Well fuck. Q4 2012 is looking to be a sexy time. Not only are we getting Tomb Raider and a new Call of Duty instalment but we’ve also got RESIDENT EVIL 6 on its way. I’m literally having a spasm from all the excitement. Literally.
You can keep up with all the excitement via their twitter feed and facebook group.
It has been ten years since the incident at Raccoon City and the President of the United States has decided to reveal the truth behind what took place. Raccoon City survivor and personal friend of the President, Leon S. Kennedy, arrives to find the President transformed beyond recognition by a bioterrorist attack. Leon is forced to make the hardest decision he has ever made.
At the same, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance Member, Chris Redfield arrives in China, itself under threat of a bioterrorist attack.
Though I’m surprised. I swear they said the next Resident Evil game was going to shy away from the previous story and characters but some series regulars are in there. I’m sure we’ll start hearing more about it over the next few months.
