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Soul Calibur II is a fighting game in the Soul series. It was developed and published by Namco.

Soul Calibur is the name of the holy sword, created to battle the evil sword Soul Edge, which the games' story-lines revolve around.

Compared to Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur II boasts improved graphics and introduces new characters, stages, and music. With respect to game mechanics, the two games are very similar, with Soul Calibur II generally considered an updated version of Soul Calibur.

Key game engine improvements include:

  • More powerful "step" and "avoid" systems, which made evading vertical attacks noticeably easier.
  • Arena walls, rather than ring-out ability on all sides, and subsequent wall-specific moves.
  • A three-step Soul Charge system.
  • A clash system, one that is used when two attacks would hit each other resulting in a white flash and no damage to either opponent.

Overview

Media reviews of Soul Calibur II were overwhelmingly favorable, with the game immediately hailed by many reviewers as the best fighting game in existence, even surpassing its immediate rival Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, which had been released during the same month. *

In general, Soul Calibur II's appeal is formidable, but as time went on, many fans became frustrated by some of the engine's mechanics. Most of these issues concern how defensive the gameplay is. For example, a common complaint involves the overly powerful nature of the "step". By "step-guarding", a player can sidestep (to avoid vertical attacks) and immediately block (to counter horizontal attacks), rendering them practically invulnerable. Another common complaint is the "2-guard", a technique that allows players to block during times in which they logically should not be able to do, such as after having an attack deflected by a "Guard Impact".

Another common complaint involved the gross simplification of the Soul series' most prominent feature: the Guard Impact, which deflects an opponent's attack, leaving them open to counterattack. Rather than require a rotation of the joystick or d-pad along with the guard to perform the Guard Impact, Guard Impacts were made easily accessible by simply pressing Guard and either forward or back (depending on the altitude of the incoming attack and hence the appropriate parry). This criticism became so prominent that Namco subsequently restored the Guard Impact system to its original state in Soul Calibur III, as well as expanding on its nature with the "Just Impact".

Prologue

The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Osthreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was to start, 3 young men assaulted the castle. In a matter of time the clan was defeated and Nightmare stood in front of the youngs wielding the Sacred Trinity. After an intense battle Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge moved the youngs into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.

The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords along with the azure Nightmare were sucked in a void and expelled in another place. Siegfried Schtauffe, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, restored his mind. Recognizing his sins, he set on a journey of attonement. Still the blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and 4 years later the Azure Nightmare returned.

Around those times various warriors came into contact of the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a new journey, while Nightmare starts his rampage once again, seeking souls to restore Soul Edge once again...

New characters

New Soul characters introduced in Soul Calibur II :

Raphael and Talim's playing styles are entirely unique, while Cassandra and Yun-seong's are derived from established characters Sophitia and Hwang, respectively. Charade, like his predecessors Edge Master and Inferno, switches his style to match existing characters' movelists with each individual round of fighting. Each of the home versions also included Necrid, who was not included in the arcade version of Soul Calibur II. Necrid, like Spawn, was personally designed by comic book artist Todd McFarlane. It is also notable that each of the three home console versions had unique characters exclusive to that version:

Rounding out the characters were returning fighters Seung Mi Na and Sophitia from both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Also, the North American and European versions of the game contained three limited-play characters loosely based on characters from Soul Calibur:

  • Assassin (generic thug, with a movelist derived from Hwang) - Dao
  • Berserker (generic thug, with a movelist derived from Rock) - Double-Edged Axe
  • Lizardman (generic lizardman from the army created by the cult order, Fygul Cestemus, in Soul Calibur) - Sword and Shield

From the Soul Calibur character roster, the ones that did not return for Soul Calibur II as characters themselves were Hwang Seong-gyeong, Nathaniel "Rock" Adams, Lizardman (as the lizardman in the game is not the same one as in Soul Calibur), Siegfried Schtauffen, because he is now Nightmare, and Edge Master. Inferno is in the game, only this time, he is not a playable character.

Modes and Features

Modes and other features added to the Home Versions:
  • Soul Calibur II presented the normal modes from most fighting games: Arcade (Consisting on 7 random battles, the 7th being a Destined Battle against a set character, then the Boss battle against Inferno), VS Battle (2P player mode), Team Battle Mode (similar to arcade, but with teams of 2-3 characters and without cutscenes or endings), Time Attack (fight against the clock to gain records), Survival Battle and Training Mode. There is also Extra versions of these modes, intented to allow the use of the Extra Weapons.
  • A feature returned from Soul Edge is the inclusion of Extra Weapons. Instead of Soul Edge's system of different stats, this one is based on power %, defense % and special abilities (drains energy, pass through defense, etc). Each character got 12 different weapons, from the standard (basic) weapons for 1P and 2P to the powerful Ultimate Weapon. Also each one was granted a Soul Edge version of their arms and a Joke Weapon, weapons with bad stats and effect, and with unique, and funny, hit sounds. Each weapon is given a backstory in the Weapon Gallery.
  • The Arcade version has a unique mode called Conquest Mode. Conquest Mode allows the player to fight enemies and gain experience points, allowing it to increase the level of the selected player.
  • Weapon Master Mode takes the core system from Conquest Mode and expands upon it. This mode, made in a similar fashion to Soul Edge's Edge Master Mode, presents an history set in an alternate world, while the player moves in a map divided in "regions" (named after stars) and fight enemies to gain experience points (and raise the "rank" of the character) and money (which could be later used to bought weapons, art, costumes and videos). The mode counts with 10 normal chapters, 4 sub-chapters and 2 extra-chapters as well as Extra-Missions (alternate version of normal missions). The plot of the mode puts the player into the role of a swordsman searching Soul Edge, which suddenly is faced against a powerful mad knight named Veral, who searches Soul Edge for his own desires.
  • As in Soul Calibur, there is a Museum, containing character artwork, various videos (like Arcade Intro or WMM intro and Ending) and Weapon Exhibition (or katas). There is also the Profile Viewer (to see character's stories) and Battle Theather (to see CPU vs CPU battles).
  • Like before, some characters are granted with 3rd costumes, purchased in Weapon Master Mode. Out of the 25 selectable characters, only 12 were granted a 3rd costume: Astaroth, Cassandra, Ivy, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Seong Mi-na, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Voldo and Xianghua. It should also be noted that Link has four costumes (exactly like the ones that he has in the Four Swords Adventures), and Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman has 6 different costumes (3 color edits of their 2 standard costumes).

Trivia

  • Based on calculations based on a timeline released on the Soul Archive website, Soul Calibur II happens in the year 1591.
  • The arcade version went through 4 different upgrades/versions, labeled with the letters A, B, C and D.
  • Soul Calibur II is the first game on the series to refer to Destined Battle, despite being present in Soul Calibur. The battle all were set on the Ostrheinsburg Chapel (Nightmare's stage), unlike Soul Calibur where each Destined Battle had a different stage. They were also reciprocal for both characters, save 4 exceptions (Sophitia's, Seong Mi-na's, Necrid's and the Guest Characters').
  • Even if Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman cannot be unlocked in the Japanese version, they can be used in one Weapon Master Mission.
  • Soul Calibur II also introduced "Stage Variations", meaning some stages counted with alternative forms, like different-shaped rings or Cage/No-cage variations.
  • Many believed that the Arcade Mode didn't have any storyline, except for the end.
  • The GameCube version of Soul Calibur II was more popular than its PlayStation 2 and Xbox counterparts (copies sold through December 2003: 500,685 vs. 447,138 and 320,991 respectively); many attribute this to Link’s inclusion as a GameCube-exclusive character. *

Awards

Images

Box art

Image:Soul Calibur 2 - Front - PS2 - NTSC.jpg|Box Art for PlayStation 2 version of Soul Calibur II. Image:Soul Calibur 2 - Front - Gamecube - NTSC.jpg|Box Art for GameCube version of Soul Calibur II. Image:Soul Calibur 2 - Front - Xbox - NTSC.jpg|Box Art for Xbox version of Soul Calibur II.

External links

2002 arcade games | 2003 computer and video games | Arcade games | GameCube games | PlayStation 2 games | Xbox games

Soul Calibur II | Soul Calibur II | Soul Calibur II | ソウルキャリバーII | Soul Calibur II

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Soul Calibur II".

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