The Latest HD Remake Is...Soul Calibur II

I used to play this so insanely much. I probably still have it laying around somewhere.

My brother and I were huge Soul Edge / Blade fans in the arcade and on the playstation, so I was pretty invested in the series when soul caliber came out. One of the main things that made the Soul Series such a huge deal on the Playstation was that it was one of the first fighting games to have an elaborate story mode that took the player outside of a basic tournament setup. ... and then came Soul Calibur 2 which took the story line in a bizarre direction, had a vastly inferior Edge Master mode over the previous games and attempted to make up for it by including completely non-sequiter characters like Link and Spawn.

And it wasn't even the inclusion of the characters that bothered me. If you just got to lay as link as a laugh, then, whatever. Cool even. But those characters got the front of the box and all the promotion. It was like they were ashamed of the actual game or something.

@jazgalaxy: and your saying Yoda didn't make sense in a Soul Calibur game... O.k. maybe it was just a bit of a joke, but I kinda enjoyed seeing the little alien jump around Soul Calibur characters. Between Star Wars characters and the enormous size boobs of Ivy I think Soul Calibur 4 seem to have pleased alot of fans ;)

As stupid as the guest characters can be they never make enough of a effort with the story presentation in these games to make me really care about the guest ruining it. Think about it how many games do you beat just to be given a scroll that you have to read to know what happens with your character?! Sure I don't have anything against books but I kind of expect a nice video at the end of the game, anytime I beat a Soul Calibur game I always feel like they rushed it just because there are no ending videos...

Probably using the profits just to fund all of those Tekken endings.

Yep. I remember being amazed at how sharp it looked. I got the game right around the time we got our first HDTV. I hardly even cared that the game wasn't widescreen, probably because widescreen wasn't yet the status quo.

Fun fact: The original Xbox version supported 720p, albeit at 4:3.

Based on what I've read and heard about the two games, that's not really an objective observation.

@snail: the fighting engine in SCIII was shit compared to SCII

When I first heard this news, I was reeeeeeeeally excited. Now that I've had some time to cool on it, I think that maybe I played entirely too much SCII to enjoy an HD remake of it >_>

The only thing more pointless than this HD remake is me commenting on it.

@spudbug:

A character's body frame is only part of their design, and aside from her chest being large the rest of her look has been fairly consistent throughout the series. While a bit strange, it gives the general idea of "ninja character".

Besides, her breasts (and Ivy's for that matter) shouldn't count out characters like Raphael, Talim, Yun-seong and the then renditions of older characters having looks that weren't over-designed. Essentially what I meant by "self-restraint" is to compare Siegfried from Soul Calibur to his design in Soul Calibur 4.

Though keep in mind, I'm not saying later character designs are objective bad, I just find them confusing, unappealing and over-designed.

I remember borrowing this from a friend just to see how Link in the Gamecube version played.

Necrid?

@panelhopper said:

What was wrong with SC3? There were more characters, less characters that felt like clones, and some slight changes/improvements to combat. Sure they added disposable game modes and the such, but you didn't actually have to play those.\

I know it didn't have Link, but wasn't that pretty much the only downside when compared to the previous iteration in the series?

I'm glad this was announced, this is easily the best in the series. Raphael, Talim and Cassandra were great additions to the cast, but when Tira the Gothic Hula Hoop fighter was introduced in 3 you knew things weren't going well. It was easy to get into a smooth rhythm with your fighting style in both Soul Calibur 1 & 2 - but further entries tried to integrate Tekken's more technical style of fighting and I don't think that ever worked to the game's benefit. This isn't just for nostalgia it's for anyone that wants to see what makes this series great :)

I love SC2 as much as the next person but, let's be honest, the game was not a good competitive fighter. SC5, despite its shortcomings, is by far the best competitive fighter in the series.

I loved this game so much when it came out I bought it for 2 separate consoles (long story) and beat the story line thing in it both times.

Great game. I lost interest in the series when they dumbed down Nightmare, though. Everyone said he's OP in this one, but I loved playing him. It felt incredibly fluid if you knew the moves. Could transition from one stance to the next like nothing. It was amazing and was the best fighting game I played up to that point.

Actually, I think this was the last fighting game I played.

It doesn't look all that nice give it supposed to appear on PS3 late in the cycle. This just seems like a cash in, and Namco needs a cash in because they need to put everyone else on PS4 development. This is what fourth string development looks like when there is nobody left to made a game fo this year.

This game and Ace Combat Infinity just prove Namco is struggling to make PS3 games while making PS4 games. They can't seemingly do both without just remaking older games for PS3.

Oh hey check that out, Ivy's boobs totally don't scare me in this one.

Why does this exist?

thanks guys for letting me know that Talim is not in SCV b/c i was about to buy that game ($20 seemed like an okay deal for it) but now i am not. :')

i will probably get this game, though. so there's that. i'm no fighting game whiz--i don't think i even qualify for the decent category--but man was this game fun. and i didn't even fap over link's inclusion. besides talim i was a xianghua fan for the most part.

My interest in this is fully dependent on being able to play as Spawn.

I'm no fighting game aficionado, but I loved the heck out of this game! (as well as the original Dreamcast title)

Gotta agree with the comments from people excited to see Talim again, she was one of the main characters I played, along with Nightmare (back before they changed his moves in some of the sequels).

Probably some generic character version named Brink or Zeldude. Anyway who cares about that, what about Spawn, will Spawn be in the game........guys...........guys?!

OG Nightmare and Raphael. His SCII moveset is just fantastic.

@lobstervendetta said:

I agree. Sure, Voldo has always been ridiculous, and the jugs on most of the female characters older than 15 would be utterly ridiculous if not for the fact that DOA exists, but still, Cassandra, Talim, Raphael, and Yun-seong are all pretty legit characters.

Tira and Amy are the beginning of the end for Soul Calibur character designs, and Angol Fear is basically a stripper (though yes yes, Ivy has been a stripper for years).

I guess across the board, Tekken is just about the only 3D fighter where the female character designs haven't become a complete joke.

Great game. Weak graphical upgrade though, shame.

Yes, now I can go back and play Talim! Soul Calibur V really dropped the ball for me by not including Talim in their roster.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Evo 2014 fan vote, and RIP MK9.

Can't wait to beat my way through Weapon Master all over again. Also FUCKING OG NIGHTMARE MOVELIST, THANK GOD. That fucking killed me when I found out they took his movelist and gave half to Siegfried and half to SCIV Nightmare. Like, that by itself was enough to make me hate the game, and it's only one line item on the list of atrocities they committed.

Throw your hands up if you're sick of HD re-releases

I played this on the Gamecube, and I love Zelda, but Link in this game was dumb and I never played as him.

these posts make me sad, its like saying soul calibur 1 and soul blade were pointless because like they didnt have link.

@shades846 said:

Hm... because it's considered for most of the fans the best installment? Because the version of Soul Calibur on Xbox Live lacks many features, most importantly: online play?

Link was cool and all but Soul Calibur II is much more than just him.

Yes, missing from SCV was the main reason why I didn't get it. And notice how many times she's shown in this trailer.

SCII is pretty much the only fighting game I've ever gotten into and enjoyed (though I haven't played a majority of fighting games, to be honest). I'll definitely pick this up.

so i wonder what happens with those licences on Spawn and Link.....

Anyone saying no link no sale is a casual and I don't respect them, but hey, whatever. Also, this is the best soul calibur game but... meh.

Spawn was a really fun character to play. Did you play him? I wonder....because I could not give a shit about Link after playing all three versions.

Man I wanted Soul Calibur 3 to get an HD remake if only to get my Chronicles of the Sword on. Still it will be nice to have 2 in HD.

I still own this one on the original xbox, and I may even have a PS2 version in some Namco pack with Tekken Tag. After being so let down that they cut mission mode from the Original's remake, I think I'll pass. The soul can still burn in my older machines.

@spudbug said:

@lobstervendetta: Erm, you seem to forget taki's balloon chest from soul calibur 2. This series always had ridiculous designs for the females.

Whining about weapon master mode seems silly as the main feature of this is being able to play this excellent fighting game online.

and with modern fight sticks.

How is this design any more ridiculous than say, Voldo? Cause of nipples or what?

Wear a patch and pretend Raphael is wearing a tunic.

A TALE OF SOULS AND SWORDS...ETERNALLY RETOLD.

I mean, damn does Namco want to own my wallet like Atlus does...and they're making good cases for it too.

One of the last Fighters I played seriously (long practice, frame data studying, tournament appearnaces), but 2G killed it just as I was searching for something new.

I know this sounds ridiculous but, no Link, no sale. I seriously think he was a fun addition to the cast and is one of the main reasons why I still keep going back to the Gamecube version of the game.

Pretty much the best SC game. I like the guest characters and all but it's all about Assassin!