SoulCalibur Legends

"The Downfall"

The Soulcalibur series has always been great material to introduce RPG elements into a fighting game. The characters, the setting, and the story, all feel like they inspire to more than just a mere fighting game -- and that's what makes the series so enjoyable. It's more than "just" a fighting game. The map, the quests, the shops, and the customizable characters were all features that were implemented in previous installations. When the first details about Soulcalibur Legends were revealed, I thought the game would build upon these elements to create a RPG/fighting hybrid game that would be as epic as it gets. Instead, Legends turned out to be a simple hack 'n slash beat 'em up, not even an adventure game, let alone anything to do with an RPG. Much like the recent Wii game Dragon Blade (both games are immensely similar), Soulcalibur Legends makes the Wii look bad once again.

The story in Soulcalibur Legends is the same that can be found in the other games, but is expanded upon and explained more thoroughly. The anime-like drawings introducing the tale are very effective, giving a new and fresh look to the characters. The legend is that of Soul Edge, the evil sword meant to destroy the world, and Siegfried in his quest to save the world helped by the holy sword, Soul Calibur. Throughout the quest, the player gets to find out how Siegfried turned into Nightmare. A promising storyline, but unfortunately the cutscenes are very rare and the story advances very slowly. At the map screen, your characters will interact together with endless texts of speech to read, no voice-acting, only still character portraits. It wouldn't be so much of a bother if the dialogues were interesting, but most of time it just feels like reading a boring manga where you don't really get where all that talking is going.

At first, you'll only be able to play as Siegfried, but as the quest unfolds, new characters will join your team (Ivy, Astaroth, Sophitia, Taki, Mitsurugi and Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia). Other characters make appearances as bosses, but overall the cast of playable character is rather disappointing. From the world map, two locations will be available to you at once. For most areas, you may choose which character from the six you wish to play the level with. You can select two characters to play as, and may switch between the two at all times during a level. If one of your two characters has low health, it's a good idea to switch to the other. That works out great, but it's too bad the second character isn't AI controlled. If this character would follow you around and help you, it probably would make the experience more enjoyable. You're alone and facing hordes of enemies that keep on appearing with no end. Not always fun.

The way it plays out is quite simple. You'll recognize the levels from the Soulcalibur universe, so it's very refreshing to walk into stages from the other games and explore them freely in 3D. Well, it would be if the game didn't have a static and drab look. The stages are designed in a very boring fashion, with no spark of creativity or anything that would make them interesting to walk through. As it is, all stages are the exact same but in a different setting, may it be a large manor made of hundreds of similar looking hallways, or a temple made of hundreds of similar looking rooms. It's just so tedious to make your way through a level when everything looks dull. The gameplay doesn't help either, since all you do is slash enemies here and there, move out to the next area, and slash some more foes. Once in a while you'll battle a boss, then battle him again, and again, until the novelty wears off. All the missions are the exact same, and you'll be sent continuously to the same areas over and over, to fight more and more fiends (always the same ones), again. There is just no end to the monotony of this game. In between each level, your characters will talk, and talk, until you just can't take it anymore.

Soulcalibur Legends can't be described as an adventure game. There is no feeling of ever getting somewhere, obtaining something, or making progress. It's not a fighting game either, there are no moves, no special powers, no nothing. Once in a while you'll get a new weapon, and you can level them up by gathering items in the levels, but there are no shops like in the other entries. The only thing you do to fight your way through the enemies is wag the wiimote around, up, down, left, right, slash here and there, until your arm pleads you to stop. You walk through the endless halls that all look the same, defeat the foes that all look the same, re-beat the boss from the beginning, go through the same level again, then you realize you're loosing your time because you're not getting anywhere. I had some fun playing through the first few levels after getting used to the controls, the wiimote movements are pretty responsible for the most part and the lightest characters are great to play as, but it falls into monotony way too quickly. Had the developers added a few more different stages, more variety in the fighting and worked on the level design, or created a real adventure, the game would have had potential. But instead we got this. A fairly good looking and sounding game with no substance.

Soulcalibur Legends promised something great, with a new concept that would take the series one step ahead, but unfortunately, it turned into something we should pretend never existed, taking the series several steps back. I'm still uncertain what to think of it. It's bad, yet it's sort of fun. The repetitiveness really kills it, but it should satisfy players who are looking for something easy to pick up and play, that requires no thinking, just mindless slashing. If you're looking for something epic though, look somewhere else, and look far.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/08

Game Release: SoulCalibur Legends (US, 11/20/07)