December 26th, 2007
Soul Calibur Legends is amazing. It stands out in the hack-and-slash genre, a genre weighted down by un-original ideas and bland game play. The game starts off simply. You play as Sigfried at first, and pull the evil Soul Edge out of the floor of a ship. Que zombie skeletons. The game shows you what to do, from moving to attacks, and when you get to the top of the ship, the purple pirate captain attacks you, as the first boss. A fairly easy fight, but a good increase for the learning curve.As you get on with the game, you get to have a two player party, and press two buttons (I use B and C or B and Z) and you switch between them (and it does it automatically when they die). As you pass on, you gain more partners, including enemies sometimes, until you have different characters better suited for different levels. And what’s Soul Calibur without obvious cameos? Some of them are from older games (like the guy from Tekken) and some newcomers (Lloyd Irving). The in-game cut scenes are surprisingly stunning for the Wii, and the major beginning cut scene mixes 3-D animation and graphic-novel style art, is beautiful. The game is quite simple to play. Slash up or down for vertical attacks, left and right for horizontal attacks, and forward for slash attacks. Though the jump button is actually told to you (B), the game does a damn good job explaining the controls. The second character you have access to is Ivy, and the B button is essential for her strongest normal attack (A jump, a whip hooking with kaleidescope, and then a stomp). There are no frame rate issues when the action gets heavier, but there are some points where the game looks reminiscent of the Dreamcast (the barriers and other non-interactive objects). The Special move system is great. Just slash two or three enemies into the great beyond and then press the C button and unleash a powerful attack. It’s my favorite way to do an attack because it’s simply fun to watch. There are different ones for different attacks, find which you like best. :3
The cameras I have a problem with. They are, point and bluntly, handicapped, and you have no control over them. Are we really back on the PSOne?
Speaking of the controls, they are phenomenal. My only qualm with the controls is the nunchuck. In order to do a quick dash or side dash, you need to move the controller forward, backward, or side to side. It’s not very effective. In fact it’s counter effective. And the dash attacks with it are not only useless but hard to use. Another thing I’m unsure about. How does the slash of a sword puts out a fire? Uhm… work time fun?
One more thing. Can we get different victory phrases? I’m tired of “You can’t stop me.” And “You won’t stand in my way.”
Score: 80
Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 7.0
Overall Replay Value: Moderately Elevated
Plays like: Onimusha and Soul Calibur combined.
Better than: Dynasty Heros, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, etc.
On par with: Most future sword fighting games for the Wii for the Wii
Learning Curve: Short and Shallow
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