SoulCalibur III

"The Azure Knight was gone, the cursed blade defeated, but Siegfried rose to battle once more."

It's not often I give a game a 10. Usually 10's go to remarkable games that have you impressed in every direction, outstanding games that leave you in awe, addictive games which keep you playing. Soul Caliber 3 is every one of those rolled up into a shiny package, served on a platter made of platinum. In most all areas, Soul Caliber delivers entertainment worthy of a King.

The previous Soul Caliber (2) leaves off with Siegfried plunging the spirit sword Soul Caliber through the eye of the cursed sword, Soul Edge. The Soul Caliber damages the blade, and seals it's power. In recent times, Siegfried's past comes to haunt him. The image of the Azure Knight he once was comes to mind.
The mammoth of a hand he previous had returns to mind. The memories of a past life haunt him. He clashes swords with those who previously hunted him, and after every opponent he faces, his mind is racked with guilt. The soul Caliber's restraint weakening on the cursed sword, Siegfried sets out once more to find a way to destroy the Soul Edge.

The story.

The main story of the game takes place in a “Tales of Souls”, where the actual game play takes place through an interactive adventure. Upon entering this mode, the story of the character is read to you, and you begin that character's journey. Each character's story is different, as they live different lives, encounter different people, and explore different locales. After battles you will some times be given a choice of where to head next after defeating one foe. Different paths lead you to different enemies, the chances for different bonuses, and the final climactic battle in which the characters will wind up at the Lost Cathedral… or even somewhere else.

Ditching the whole concept of “defeat 8 characters, kill the boss and grab an ending”, Soul Caliber lets the player choose where they want to go. Each option opens up another branch, another locale where the characters haven't gone before. You may set out as Siegfried (yes he's my favorite character) and take an entirely different branch in paths than if you choose another option. The story is presented to you on a map background the whole while, constantly immersing the player into the Soul Caliber 3 world, while allowing them to choose what they want to do next. Each mode emphasizes each player's journey in the world of Soul Caliber, and each character has endings unlike any other. The experience is amazing, and in order to see all of the events available, you'll need to finish the Tales of Souls with one character numerous times.

It's an experience like no other fighting game gives you. Clashing swords with heroes, obtaining bonuses, and feeling the sense of accomplishment when you discover a path to a great bonus you never even knew existed. Yes, they are out there, and yes, it will take you a long time to discover everything for a single character. Bonus characters, bonus battles, different endings, and the greatest feeling is the feeling of accomplishment after taking down the final opponent and seeing the “Features Unlocked” screen pop up. Not only is the story fantastic, but it's delivery and pacing is greater than any other game at the time.

The media.

Art is the manipulation of media in order to express insight into or the potential of a subject mater (the media may be verbal, musical, or visual). That said, the sounds, music, and voices of this game speak it's art louder than words, it's achievement in both presentation and exposition enough to fill volumes. Upon starting the Tales of Souls mode, the soft sound of violins massage your eardrums. A dramatic score to say the least as the story opens. Through battles, different locations and avenues present different scores, each one fitting the mold of the “feel” to perfection. Clashes of might in the Lost Cathedral, the metronomic mechanics of the clock tower, the heat of the barren regions. Each piece of music reflects the mood and mold to a clear, well-spoken merit. The entire atmosphere of the story mode changes as the character experiences more and more tales. It begins with a triumphant march as the character embarks, changes to eerie mix of the triumphant beat as the character progresses, and the story intensifies, and finally ends with the despairing sound of harmony and pipes within the Lost Cathedral, or dramatic beat upon entering the labyrinth.
Finally, after completing the story mode, the credits roll with a burst of trumpets, a fanfare extraordinaire, and leaves you, yet again, in awe.

The sound of swords clashing and armor chiming, the pounding and heat of battle are experienced through the sounds of war. Delivering a guard impact, shoving your opponent to the side, brings a sound of satisfaction as you lay your opponent up for the next attack. The weapon combat is expressed with vivid emotion and intensity. The voice work of every character is dynamic, none left without credit to doing a great job. Zasalamel's deep, authoritative voice. Siegfried's lower, powerful tone. Each voice actor (even those available as the Character Creation voices) perform their job to the best of their extend, and the result is nothing short of satisfying.

If the sounds and music weren't enough to have keep you going, the visual appeal of the title outshines those of most all current games. The Greek architectures, the giant statues and the flowing stream across the sanctuary to the gods located in the temple in the clouds, said to have been constructed by the god Hesphaestus himself. The Lost Cathedral containing all forms of European Architecture blended with a stream of constantly pure, flowing water. An underground Buddha Shrine located at Hoko Temple, created using twisted spiritual methods, the bizarre looking Great Buddha made from the iron of weapons taken from the peasants from Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Each environment is magical, each locale beautiful, and all of them create a complex, flowing battlefield within the Soul Caliber universe.

Features.

With that said, Soul Caliber 3 is a sign that Namco loves their fans. There's plenty to do, plenty to unlock. The arena missions will keep you playing just to unlock that next little token of entertainment, as well as grab a little gold to snatch a new weapon available at the shops. The shops in the game are made up of the Item Shop, the Weapon Shop, and the Armor Shop. The Item shop grants you a bonus mode, or weapon demonstrations from different characters, or even the extra character illustration you've been looking for. The Weapon shop contains well varied items for all of the different characters. Some are longer than others, some are shorter. Some weapons grant you the ability to knock back your opponent further, while another weapon gives you a little health after each blow landed. It's a toss up between choosing to purchase Taki that new Dagger set she's had on her Christmas list for ages, or getting a Warrior created character an extra Sword.

The armor shop contains loads of items available for purchase for your created characters. Mustaches to scars, Viking helmets to samurai should pads, the shop has most everything fantasy you could think of, as well as a bonus suit available for fulfilling certain requirements. Over the course of playing the extra game, Chronicles of the Sword (mention in a little while), you will unlock more and more armor and weapons, all available for purchase. There's also plenty more hair styles than first available which require you fulfilling certain conditions. Ultimately, the shops expand an already great experience as you're able to power up the main characters, as well as create existing characters who are customized enough to be as good as the main stars. For once a “create a character” feature that doesn't have you create a character who would be killed by one of the main stars in two hits!

The create a character feature starts off shallow. You'll have to choose gender and class, and then you'll have a little to work with. Where's all the weapons and armors, you ask? They come in droves. After playing through the main game, grabbing gold, purchasing items or playing through Chronicles of the Sword, you'll be able to create characters that range from the common cleric, to the beautiful Mai Shiranui, as well as many other characters that, when you imagine them, you can create them. There's only a few games which have more customized features nowadays, but when it comes down to it, this system can be as deep or shallow as you'd want it to.

Not only do the created characters look good, they play well. Each character type and weapon style has a unique move set. From the disappearing acts of the ninja to the powerful blows of the Barbarian or Warrior Knight, each class offers a unique move set separate of the main characters. That's right. You won't be playing a character who is just another Mitsurugi. Your character type and weapon style has its own class completely separate from main characters. Not only are they distinct, but they're good. Like I said before, Soul Caliber 3 created characters actually stand a chance in combat against the main characters. There's nothing quite like taking a ninja character you created and bashing Raphael into the ground.

Chronicles of the Sword.

Another unique feature this game offers is a completely separate mode which exists in it's own format while, at the same time, utilizing the battle engine native to the framework of the game. Chronicles of the Sword plays out as a Real Time Strategy game. The story is experienced through different “missions”, or “Chronicles” in which you guide your heroes out into battle. The presentation is this: you have your characters who can be composed of different types (infantry, cavalry, knights, or bandits) who move around the field. Your object is to fulfill the mission conditions, whether it be to occupy strongholds or to protect other characters.

While not quite capturing the greatness of modern RTS, CotS plays well on it's own. Create yourself a character, and embrace the story of the mode. Each chronicle scores you a ton of gold, and puts a smile on your face when you discover that you've unlocked a new item or weapon, or when you discover a new set of material available for character creation.

Granted it's not the greatest form of RTS entertainment, it's still fun nonetheless. The feeling of taking over a stronghold or engaging an enemy in one-on-one battle hoping that, just maybe, you'll be able to score some perfect wins against a fleet of opponents and gain more gold at the end. While being an adequate title for moderately entertaining game play, you'll at least want to play it a couple times to unlock the amazing features available for the created characters.

And now you know why Namco loves us.

I'm honest, Namco is really onto something. They put a ton of work into their Soul Caliber games, and move it into the realm of greatness. I have a theory: The people at Namco dedicate the greatest programmers and other staff members to work on their Soul Caliber series, as opposed to their Tekken series, or any other series for that matter. They've managed to do something no other fighter is capable of: give us a game which is as deep story wise, as beautiful sight wise, and as majesty music wise as the game play itself. Every time you complete the ToS main story mode you'll be thrilled with the large amount of Gold you'll receive, or with the new events you discovered, of the different tasks you accomplished, or of the different features you unlock.

There's plenty features here. Unlockable characters, bonus characters, special weapons, new armors and items, new features and game modes, and plenty more. Just when you think you've seen it all, you realize, more and more, that you've just barely scratched the surface of this wonderful gem. I've played Soul Blade for the PSone, I skipped Soul Caliber (1), but played Soul Caliber 2. Soul Caliber 3 brings the best of Soul Blade's multi-path story mode and fuses it with the game play of Soul Caliber 2. Not only does it fuse the two together, but it one-ups both games to an outlandish extent.

While creating this review for this incredible game, I realized something. There's no possible way I can honestly grade this title a 9. The title deserves every single, sparkling number it receives. I cannot find any flaw big enough to take away any one point. Even CotS is entertaining despite it's drawbacks, but the drawbacks are so menial and don't take away at all from the original experience. Ultimately, the best word for this game is this: Perfect. In all areas, by all measures, and through all means, Soul Caliber 3 is a joy, and is worthy of any fighting game fan's collection, and should, in the future, be used as a mold by which to measure all weapon combat Fighting Games.

The Good:
+ Game play
+ Visuals
+ Music
+ Sound and Voices
+ Excellent story mode
+ Excellent variety in all features
+ Entertaining new modes constantly being unlocked
+ Tons of replay value

The Bad:
- No serious drawbacks, other than CotS being moderately okay… but really that's not a drawback

The Perfect:

+ SC3

"The Azure Knight was gone, the cursed blade defeated, but Siegfried rose to battle once more."

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/06