Soul Calibur 2 Ps2 Gameplay

[Brigitta Martini]

Thereare total of seven main installments and various media spin-offs, including music albums and a series of manga books in the Soulcalibur series. The first game in the series, Soul Edge (or Soul Blade outside Japan), was released as an arcade game in 1995 and was later ported to consoles; the widespread success of its second main installment Soulcalibur in 1998 led to Soulcalibur becoming the name of the franchise, with all subsequent installments also using the name onwards. More recent games in the series have been released for consoles only and have evolved to include online playing modes.

The central motif of the series, set in a historical fantasy version of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, are mythical swords, the evil weapon called Soul Edge and the subsequent sword used to oppose this evil, Soul Calibur (parsed as two words, while the series' title is written as a single word). While it has developed during its various iterations, some of the characters and gameplay elements have remained consistent throughout the series.

Project Soul is the internal Namco development group responsible for the Soulcalibur franchise after the release of Soulcalibur II. Although the games are usually credited to Namco itself, the team established its name to draw attention to the group's combined accomplishments.[3]

All games in the series before Soulcalibur III were originally released as arcade games, and subsequently ported to home consoles. The ported versions are known for their extra features, including characters, weapons, costumes, art galleries, martial arts demonstrations and involved single-player modes, when compared to the original arcade versions. For example, Seung Han Myong (Romanized in later games as Seong Han-myeong) is not featured in the arcade version of Soul Edge and in home versions there is a role-playing-type mode titled "Edge Master" where the player can unlock various items including weapons for the default characters.

The first installment, titled Soul Edge, was released for arcade, and was later updated to Soul Edge Ver. II. This enhanced version was then ported to the PlayStation, where it was renamed Soul Blade outside Japan. Set in the late sixteenth century, the game follows nine warriors in a quest, each of whom has their own reasons for joining the quest but they all share a common goal: to obtain the legendary sword, called 'Soul Edge'. After appearing in arcade, the game was made available for PlayStation in 1996. Along with its soundtrack, it has been praised for being innovative yet traditional to the fighting genre of games.[4][5] With Versus (one-on-one battle mode), Survival (take on a gauntlet of opponents until the player is unable to continue), Time Attack, Team Battle (a selection of combatants will take on an opposing group, a victor is announced when the last remaining member of a team is defeated) and Training modes, the console port also saw the addition of Edge Master, a single-player mode in which the player would guide one of the ten main characters in a story-like manner while obtaining a variety of weapons for use.

2002's Soulcalibur II further improved and expanded on the Soulcalibur original, in both graphics and gameplay. Soulcalibur II was released in arcade format three years after the previous release in the series, and was subsequently ported to all three active sixth-generation consoles. This is the first game in the Soulcalibur series to feature characters from non-Namco media, such as Link from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda, playable on the GameCube. Featured on the PlayStation 2 version's roster is Heihachi Mishima of Tekken, while Image Comic's character Spawn was an addition for the Xbox version.

A high definition-optimized enhanced port of the game, entitled Soulcalibur II HD Online, was released in November 2013, and features revamped HD visuals, online play, and trophy/achievement support. It is a digital release and is available through Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade and Sony's PlayStation Network digital storefronts. Being based on the original PlayStation 2 and Xbox releases, both ports include the two guest characters (Heihachi Mishima and Spawn) who were originally exclusive to each platform.

Breaking with tradition, the PlayStation 2 version of Soulcalibur III was released in 2005 before an Arcade Edition was seen. It used a different graphics engine. Soulcalibur III contains a new single-player mode called "Tales of Souls", a story mode in which the player can make course-altering decisions. Arenas are more interactive, for example with rocks breaking if a character were to impact against them. Soulcalibur III is the first game in the series to feature a character creation system, and features a story mode called "Chronicles of the Sword" which is a mode with some strategic aspects for created characters. It is the only game in the Soulcalibur series to be THX approved.[7]

Released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the fourth installment of the series is the second game with no arcade release prior to the release of the home game, as well as being the first to take bouts online and the last game to conclude the 1590 A.D. trilogy. Soulcalibur IV introduces new gameplay mechanics into the series in the form of damage-absorbing armor (that can be shattered) and Critical Finishes (both tied to the new Soul Gauge). Like Soulcalibur II, the fourth game also included cameos from different media. The Star Wars character Darth Vader is a playable character on the PlayStation 3 version, while Yoda is for the Xbox 360 version. Each character was also available for download on the consoles in which they do not appear. Both versions of the game include the Apprentice character from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Like Soulcalibur III, the game includes a character creation system with various customizable parts, some of which have to be unlocked. These characters can be taken into online bouts, which in itself is a new addition to the series. However, unlike Soulcalibur III, the only available weapon disciplines are taken from the existing roster and there are no unique disciplines for created characters.

Released in 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Soulcalibur V is the sixth installment of the series and the second game to take bouts online, as well as the last installment to conclude the original timeline story. Like the other Soulcalibur series, this game features guest characters; in this case Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Assassin's Creed series and as well as the fighting style of Devil Jin from the Tekken series.

Soulcalibur VI was released in 2018. While the storyline takes place after the fifth game, it acts as a soft reboot, taking the series back to mostly reimagined after Soul Edge and eventually set in a new timeline. Like Tekken 7, it uses Unreal Engine 4, and features downloadable guests, while one guest character (Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series) acts as one of the base roster and plays a vital role on the storyline.

Released in 2007 for the Wii, Soulcalibur Legends is the series' first spin-off title. Departing from the usual fighting game genre, it is an action-adventure game with elements of hack and slash, in which the player controls one out of the game's seven playable characters through a level infested with enemies and defeats the boss in the end. It features competitive and cooperative gameplay in addition to the single-player mode. Soulcalibur Legends, although set between the events of Soul Edge and Soulcalibur, is non-canon to the series.

Released in 2009 for the Sony PSP, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is the first portable installment of the Soulcalibur series. It uses many of the features used in Soulcalibur IV, such as the soul crush, armor destruction, critical finishers, and Character Creation, and also brings in some new features such as new lighting effects for stages that correspond to different times of day, and the new Gauntlet Story mode. The game's features are similar to Soulcalibur IV, including its customization features, but it introduced a new character named Dampierre, a conman who wears twin blades on his wrists. In addition, Kratos from the God of War franchise appears as a guest character. Broken Destiny received very positive reviews.

Released in 2014, Soulcalibur: Lost Swords is a free-to-play video game distributed through the PlayStation Network.[8] It is a strictly single-player game based on Soulcalibur V in which the goal is for the player to collect loot, including raw materials and weapons, through battles in the new Quest Mode.

Initially trademarked by Bandai Namco in October 2013,[9][10][11] Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul was announced on Bandai Namco's Global Gamer's Day 2014 for the mobile phones, the first installment made specifically for the platform, this time iOS (the previous mobile game was an Android port of Soulcalibur).[12][13] Released on May 8, 2014, Unbreakable Soul is a card-based fighting game where players can pick different attack cards to strike enemies. Elemental system makes a return from Soulcalibur: Lost Swords; players can mix the cards with one of the five elements: fire, water, wind, light, and dark. There are over 200 weapons as well as more than 150 player avatars featured. The game's story revolves around Cassandra and Edge Master in their efforts to find the fragments of Soul Edge.[14] Unbreakable Soul received unfavorable reviews.[15]

All the games in the Soulcalibur series retain some specific features while others features vary from game to game. The basic button layout for the series launches two weapon attacks (horizontally and vertically aligned strikes), a kick button, and a guard button for blocking. Two features that have been kept in the series since its inception are the Guard Impact defense system and the Ring Out condition of victory.

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