Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny

Broken Destiny is based on Soulcalibur IV , with characters wearing the same costumes they wore in the full console title, and many of the same arenas reappearing. Unlike SCIV, Darth Vader, Yoda, and the Apprentice will not appear. Instead there will be a new character named Dampierre, and a new guest character, Kratos from the God of War series. These new characters, coupled with returning characters from SCIV, make for a total of 28 playable combatants. Broken Destiny also introduces some new and refined modes made from the ground up to be more compatible with the portable nature of the game.

Returning Characters

There are a total of 26 returning characters, comprised of:

Algol

Due to his immense power, Algo was able to wield the Soul Edge without being corrupted by its dark influence. He used this newfound power to spread peace across the different lands. His son Arcturus, however, was jealous of Algol's power, and attempted to steal Soul Edge for himself. Weaker than his father, Arcturus was quickly corrupted by the touch of Soul Edge. In order to put his son's soul to rest, Algol had no choice but to try to take the sword back. Algol killed his own son to save him from the dark influence of Soul Edge. After killing his son, Algol attempted to form Soul Calibur. He was successful at forming the mystical sword, but he died during the process. Over the years his energy has remained dormant, slowly building a new vessel in which to live. Finally, Algol was reborn in this form.

Amy

Amy grew up a poor orphan living on the streets of Rouen. Her parents died from the plague while she was still young. Weak and without home or family, she wandered the streets in a desperate haze until one day a fugitive named Raphael stumbled upon her. With the guards in hot pursuit of Raphael, Amy used her knowledge of the streets to hide him until the guards left. In return, Raphael took Amy into his home as his own daughter.

Astaroth

Astaroth was created by the God of War, Ares, in order to obtain Soul Edge for him. Astaroth soon found the blade, but had to battle Sophitia for possession of it. By the time the battle was over, the blade was scarred and scratched. Deciding that Ares would not want the sword in such a tattered condition, he came across Nightmare, who wanted to collect souls in order to restore the blade to its full power. Deciding that having the blade fully restored would be to both their benefits, Astaroth agreed to help. After killing countless victims, the sword was finally ready to be presented to Ares. But just as Astaroth was about to betray Nightmare and claim the blade for himself, Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi stormed Nightmare's base and attacked, killing Astaroth. Years later, he was revived by Ares to again hunt down the mythical blade.

Cassandra

Cassandra's primary motivation in the Soulcalibur games is to protect her sister, Sophitia. As her sister quests for Soul Edge, Cassandra is always behind her, trying to catch up and help out. Finally, when Soul Edge is created, Cassandra sets out on a quest to destroy the blade before its dark influence can touch anyone else. In Broken Destiny's Gauntlet mode, Cassandra is on a quest to help Hilde find the six items which can help cure Hilde's ailing father.

Cervantes

Cervantes's father was a great sailor who was killed in a devastating attack. Emotionally broken because of his father's death, Cervantes became a notorious pirate. In Broken Destiny, his soul is required as one of the six ingredients needed by Hilde and Cassandra in order to cure the sickness that plagues Hilde's father.

Hilde

Hilde was born the daughter of the King of Wolfkrone, a fictional German kingdom. As a young girl, she watched as her father, once a gentle and kind man, slowly lost his sanity to the influence of the Evil Seed, a dark magic. Finally, the King was deemed to mad to reign and was sentenced to live the rest of his life isolated from the world in an underground chamber. As the next in line for the throne, Hilde was thrust upon the throne at a young age. Despite her youth, she was determined and clever, and managed to defend the kingdom from enemy attack. Soon, however, she learned that the evil Soul Edge was steadily gaining power and casting a dark influence against the land. She gathered an army and set out to destroy it. In Broken Destiny, comedic light is cast on her father's illness, as she sets out with Cassandra to obtain six ingredients which will cure his disease.

Ivy

Ivy was left abandoned by her father, Cervantes, at the doorstep of the Valentines, a Royal family. The Count and Countess adopted and raised her, but were cruelly taken before their time by Soul Edge. The Count was driven to madness and depravity by his pursuit of the legendary weapon, and he died in his search. The Countess soon grew ill and died as well, leaving Ivy as the only surviving member of the Valentine family. She chose to carry on her father's search for Soul Edge.

Kilik

Kilik was driven to madness by the Evil Seed and murdered many of the monks who he lived with in the temple. His sister rushed to stop his rampage and bring him back to sanity. In his madness, he killed his sister as she tried to stop him. The Edge Master found Kilik's unconscious body in the temple and took him under his wing.

Lizardman

Lizardman was originally Aeon Calcos, a human warrior. Originally from Sparta, he was given a mission by Hephaestus to destroy Soul Edge. Midway through his journey, however, he became lost in a massive desert and collapsed unconcious in the sand. He awoke in a desert village. The citizens there had found him lying in the desert and rescued him, taking him in and providing him with food and shelter. His intents to repay the villagers for their kindness were cut short, as suddenly the Evil Seed rained down upon the village, infecting him with a blind rage. Possesed by the Evil Seed, Aeon went on a murderous rampage through the village, murderingall of its inhabitants and falling into unconciousness afterwards. An evil cult caught wind of this rampage and captured him in his vulnerable state. They performed horrible experiments on him, transforming him into a lizardman in an attempt to unlock his full powers. Thus, Aeon became the first lizardman, but he was far from the last abomination that the cult would create. Over time, Aeon grew to dominate the other lizardmen, leading them on violent rampages across the land. He now searches for Soul Edge in hopes of finding the soul that he believes he has lost.

Maxi

Maxi and his father were sailors and traders, transporting their goods across the sea. They were official state employees, however, and were bound to the state. Because of their sworn loyalty to the state, they could never leave to trade with other countries. Maxi always yearned to see the rest of the world, and after his father died, he set out on the open seas as a pirate with his mentor and friends, including Kilik and Xianghua. One day their ship came under attack by a band of golems and lizardmen led by Astaroth. Swearing revenge, they repaired their ship, said prayers for the deceased, and followed Astaroth back to his base. Maxi found his hulking foe and emerged victorious in a battle to the death.

Mitsurugi

One of Soulcalibur's most iconic characters, Mitsurugi joined up with the samurai after seeing him homeland razed by bandits. Word quickly spread of his prowess with a sword; soon, he had become somewhat of an urban legend. Despite his infamy, Mitsurugi only desired an opponent worthy of his skills. He went on to fight in every war that took place in Japan seeking out a strong opponent. When he finally found one, though, it came in an unexpected form. During the Battle of Nagashino, his forces were obliterated by a new innovation: the rifle. With his troops being murdered at long range, Mitsurugi had no way to fight back. He vowed to find an even more powerful weapon to crush the rifle. Thus, his search for Soul Edge began.

Nightmare

Nightmare was the alter-ego of Siegfried that came out when he was possessed by Soul Edge. Siegfried eventually managed to free himself from the blade's influence, but his bond with Nightmare was so strong at that point that the pure energy of Soul Edge created an entirely new being. Thus, the true Nightmare was born. Nightmare is ruthless in his pursuit of souls to power Soul Edge. He considers humans to be pathetic and worthy of the grisly deaths he bestows upon them.

Raphael

Raphael was a noble who grew up with the rapier in hand. His great skill was superseded only by his great coldness, which made him somewhat infamous amongst his friends. Still, his prowess with a rapier was enough to solidify his role in the top tier of nobles, and make his family proud. But when the Evil Seed struck and everyone around him was consumed by madness, Raphael had no choice but to defend himself against the nobles who had coddled him before. In self defense, he killed one of the nobles. When everyone returned to normal, they were outraged, as the man who Raphael had killed was one who had been a staunch supporter of his family. Raphael was chased from his hometown by his own family for daring to slay one of their greatest supporters.

Rock

Rock was so nicknamed because of his immense strength. His father won Soul Edge at an auction, but on the way home their ship was ransacked by Cervantes. His parents rushed to secure Soul Edge, but never returned. The ship sank into the ocean and Rock awoke on a beach. The natives of the island feared him, all except for one little boy, who was similarly orphaned. It was on this island that Rock trained to take revenge for the loss of his parents, and to obtain what once was his.

Seong Mi-na

Seong Mi-na grew up in Korea surrounded by weapons. Her prowess with blades was great, even surpassing that of her own father, but rarely could anyone look past her physical beauty to see the elegance with which she could wield a blade. This was spurred on by her father, who was trying to marry her out to a series of noble families. Mi-na's big break came when the Japanese began attacking Korea in greater force. As the Japanese forces attacked the coast, the Korean military and navy gathered their finest, including Mi-na's father, to form a strategy for repelling the invaders. During this meeting, she heard her father discussing Soul Edge with another man. Mi-na decided that if she couldn't get any respect from the men based purely on her combat skills, maybe they would respect her if she could bring back Soul Edge. She packed up her belongings and left the city.

Setsuka

As an orphaned child, Setsuka was ostracized by other children for her light, pale features. After being the target of so much hate and violence, she fled her hometown to go to Japan, where she was taken in by a bodyguard, not much older than her. Her adopter taught her the same martial arts that he used when protecting clients. As she grew older and more skilled, she was entrusted with important errands. One day, she returned from one of these errands to find her master gravely wounded. He died shortly thereafter, but not before imparting the name of the man who wounded him so badly: Mitsurugi. As her mentor died, she realized her true feelings for him; she loved him as more than a master or and adoptive family member, and she vowed to find Mitsurugi in order to take her revenge.

Siegfried

Siegfried is one of the most interesting and storied member of the Soulcalibur cast, having appeared in every game in the series as either the main protagonist or the main antagonist. This interesting duality is thanks to his alter ego, Nightmare, who searches for souls to power Soul Edge. His story is too long to recount in this brief space; those interested in reading more should head to his official wiki page.

Sophitia

Sophitia received her signature weapon, the Omega Sword, from Hephaestus and was sent by him on a mission to destroy Soul Edge. She was reluctant to accept the mission, as she was but a humble daughter of a local baker and had little experience in swordplay, but Hephaestus insisted that he had chosen her for a reason. She tracked down the sword and found it in the hands of Cervantes. She managed to destroy one of the twin blades, but her attack fractured the blade and sent shards flying everywhere, wounding her. As Cervantes was about to strike the finishing blow, Taki stepped in to save her. The two of them headed for Athens to find Sophitia's sister, Cassandra, and became fast friends on the way. In Athens, Sophitia attempted to return to a normal life, but it was not to be. She soon received an ominous vision of a deeply evil sword and, knowing it could only be Soul Edge, she set out to finish what she had started.

Taki

Taki is a ninja, spy, and demon hunter, and as such, she makes for a fast and formidable foe on the battlefield. Raised in Japan under the tutelage of the Fu-Ma clan of ninjas, she attained mastery of small blades early in her life. Things weren't always easy for Taki, though. She was orphaned as a child, eventually to be found by the ninja master Toki. It was under the tutelage of his ninjas that Taki learned how to harness the supernatural powers that lay dormant in her soul, and how to forge her own blades to better utilize this power.

Talim

Talim was the daughter of the head of a village in the Philippines, the residents of which could control the power of the wind. She was to be their last priestess, as their culture was rapidly changing for the modern. When the Evil Seed corrupted the world, Talim was knocked unconscious by the sheer malevolence of the power. Upon awakening, she left home. Years later, at 15 years of age, Talim met a man carrying a metal fragment, claiming it to be a charm. Talim knew better, though; she recognized the energy in the fragment from the Evil Seed. She took the fragment and set out to have it returned to whichever blade it had fallen from, hoping that by reuniting the fragment with its owner she might be able to still the evil energies that had been churning around it for years. It was only later that she realized that the fragment was from the evil blade Soul Edge, and that reuniting it could lead to disaster.

Tira

Very little concrete information is known about Tira's history. She was born and raised with the sole purpose of becoming a master assassin, and she has fulfilled that goal with alarming success. She works under an organization called Bird of Passage, who would form contracts with powerful politicians and world leaders to murder their enemies covertly. Tira began killing at a young age. Due to her repeated exposure to death at a young age, she became desensitized and eventually dependent on the act of killing. She needed to kill in order to feel; it stimulated her. When the Evil Seed was released, it corrupted the leader of the Bird of Passage, driving him insane. With its head cut off, the organization's body withered and died. It is here that Tira's history begins to become more clear. Alone and without a way to sustain herself, Tira found herself in the arms of an adoptive family. Adjusting to normal life proved impossible, though, and as she sat in the captivity of a normal home her fascination with Nightmare's massacres grew. She idolized him, in a perverse way. During an argument with her family, Tira brutally killed them all and set out to find Nightmare. She followed the trail of corpses, finding Nightmare and agreeing to become his servant.

Voldo

Voldo was the partner of an Italian weapons merchant, who led him on many searches for the world's most magnificent weapons. When the Italian Wars broke out, his master's weapons and fleets were destroyed. Taking his last ship out to battle, Voldo and his master searched for revenge. When his master was slain, Voldo was ordered to seek out those who were responsible for destroying his artifacts before taking the treasures and burying them, along with himself, with his master. Voldo took the possessions, but did not bury himself in the tomb as he was instructed to do. Instead, he chose to dwell in the tomb, guarding it from intruders. His staunch guardianship, along with his ghastly costume, grew to become a legend warding people off from the island filled with treasures.

Xianghua

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty engaged in a search for the Soul Edge, but was unsuccessful in his searches. Frustrated by the lack of results, he sent forth more troops to speed the search, Xianghua among them. They traveled in disguise as a roaming opera group, with Xianghua taking on the role of the main attraction. One night, frustrated with the lack of results and with her mother's dying plea for success fresh in her mind, Xianghua decided to break off with the group and set out on her own. It was then that she met up with Maxi and Kilik. She accompanied them in pursuit of Nightmare and Astaroth, not knowing that Kilik was the one who had killed her sister during his Evil Seed-induced rage. With their help, she tracked Astaroth and Nightmare down to their fortress, where her cohorts defeated the enemies. When the enemies were downed, a portal to the underworld was opened and Inferno arose. With nobody left to help her, Xianghua was left to battle the enemy by herself. Using her mother's keepsake sword, Xianghua felled her final enemy.

Yoshimitsu

Yoshimitsu belonged to a secretive clan deep in the heart of Japan. When a larger clan requested to join forces with Yoshimitsu's, he was sent in place of his ailing master to deliver a message of refusal. Upon delivering the refusal and returning to his village, Yoshimitsu found the town in flames and its people slaughtered. The rival clan had used Yoshimitsu's refusal as an excuse to invade and destroy their opposition. Yoshimitsu took up his sword and trekked out to take revenge against the clan which slaughtered his village. Before reaching the enemy clan, however, Yoshimitsu stumbled upon the remnants of one of Nightmare's slaughters. He realized that, if he were to commit such atrocity to his enemy's clan, he would be no better than Nightmare. Thus, he set out instead to find Nightmare and put his reign of terror to an end.

Yun-Seong

Yun-Seong was a headstrong fighter with his mind on fame. As a teenager, he tracked down his mentor and asked to be trained under him. He was rejected, however, and in this rejection, he realized that his goal shouldn't be to surpass his master, but to help his homeland of Korea. Thus, he set out to find the Sword of Salvation and bring peace to his country.

Zasalamel

Zasalamel was a guardian of Soul Calibur long before the other characters desired it. He was a part of an ancient tribe who were tasked with guarding the infamous blade. Displeased with the tribe's policy of never using the sword, Zasalamel tried to steal the blade for himself. He was discovered and kicked out of the tribe. He spent his time exiled from the tribe honing his magical skills, learning ancient and forbidden magics that would allow him to reincarnate exactly as he was now in his next life. Sure enough, he died, and was reborn in a body that would grow to be identical to the one he had in his previous life. He retained all of the knowledge and expertise from his past lives every time he reincarnated, eventually growing disenfranchised with life, death, and the world as a whole. His attempts at suicide only saw him being reborn again, so he set out to obtain Soul Edge. He killed himself with the blade, hoping its dark magics would break his own reincarnation spell, but to no avail. In his next life, he set out to again obtain Soul Calibur. The mythical blade was his last hope of destroying his soul and finding the peace of death.

New Characters

In addition to the 26 returning characters, 2 new characters make their Soulcalibur debut in Broken Destiny. They are:

Kratos

More on Kratos' backstory can be found here. He joined the Soulcalibur cast exclusively in Broken Destiny.

Dampierre

Dampierre was a skilled con artist. He performed all manner of elaborate cons in order to pay his way through life, until he eventually became famous. So famous, in fact, that it was no longer possible to con people because everyone would recognize him. With nowhere left to put his skills to use, he turned to dirty jobs like kidnapping and robbery. Then one day, he had an epiphany: if he could put his con skills to use in the battle against Soul Edge, he would no longer have to resort to dirty jobs.

Game Modes

Broken Destiny includes numerous modes, which perhaps makes its lack of a true Story mode stand out even more. Those modes included are:

• Quick Match: Quick match mode pits players against enemies created by the development team in the game's create-a-character suite. Each enemy is programmed to fight using a specific style/technique
• The Gauntlet: This mode replaces the traditional Story modes of Soucaliburs past. It consists of a handful of fights starring each character in sequence, ideally giving players a basic idea of how each character in the game functions, what their strengths and weaknesses are, etc. As The Gauntlet's story is far more comedic and lighthearted than the plots of previous Soulcalibur games, it has been declared non-canon by Namco Bandai
• Trials: This mode features three variants to test players' skills in a number of categories. The sub-categories consist of the Trial of Attack, the Trial of Defense, and the Endless Trial. The Trial of Attack is an offense-focused mode, granting players more points for chaining large numbers of attacks together. The Trial of Defense is the opposite; it grants points for counter-attacking the enemy's attacks. Finally, the Endless trial pits players against an infinite number of challengers. The higher the amount of enemies defeated before the player finally loses a match, the higher the score
• Training: A mode which allows players to hone their skills with any character without feat of loss in battle. The opposing AI can be given a number of properties to make for the ideal training conditions
• Versus: This mode allows players to compete against each other via the PSP's ad hoc wireless. No online multiplayer was present in this release
• Character Creation: Based on Soulcalibur IV's character creation systems, this mode allows players to create their own combatants using items gained in the other modes. New options for the sizing and positioning of items and accessories adds even more depth to the creation in this edition, although several features were lost in the transition from SCIV to Broken Destiny as well. Specifically, it is no longer possible to edit the musculature of the created character, and existing characters cannot be tweaked beyond simple color palette changes. New fantasy-themed accessories and features have also been added, such as elf ears, which add even more customization options

Stages

Many stages return from SCIV in Broken Destiny, and several new ones appear as well based on new characters Kratos and Dampierre. Many of the older stages have been modified in some small way, such as simple time of day changes (what was once a daytime level may now be a nighttime level,) music changes, or name changes. A few stages, including Phantom Pavilion, Ice Coffin of the Sleeping Ancient, and the Star Wars based stages, are not present in this game despite their presence in SCIV. The complete list of stages and the characters that go along with them is as follows:

• Challenge of the Gods (Kratos)
• Dark Capital Ostrheinsburg (Taki/Raphael/Amy)
• Egyptian Temple - Sand Cloud (Yun-seong)
• Grand Labyrinth - Corridor of Suspended Time (Zasalamel)
• Grand Shrine of Palgaea - Sea of Decay (Astaroth/Lizardman)
• Hall of the Warrior God (Kilik/Xianghua)
• Jyurakudai Villa - Twill Damask and Brocade (Setsuka/Mitsurugi/Yoshimitsu)
• Ostrheinsburg Castle Throne Room (Tira/Voldo)
• Sailor's Rest - Twilight (Seong Mi-na/Cervantes/Maxi)
• Sleeping Marsh (Talim/Rock)
• Thesmophoros Imperial Garden (Cassandra)
• Thesmophoros Imperial Garden - Sunset (Sophitia)
• Tower of Remembrance - Ancient Gate (Siegfried)
• Tower of Remembrance - Degradation (Algol)
• Tower of Remembrance - Omen (Nightmare)
• Tower of Remembrance - Spiral of Time (Ivy)
• Voiceless Volpe Bridge (Dampierre)
• Wolfkrone Monument (Hilde)

Reception

The game was generally well-received, garnering an average score of 80/100 on Metacritic. The most common complaint was the game's lack of online play in the Versus mode, a feature which most modern fighters emphasize heavily.