Soul Calibur 4

[FuryFox]

Well, there is online play...(which is huge, IMO).

All people do is complain about fighting game single-player modes anyway, so I'm not sure why anyone would expect anything more than to practice and unlock stuff. I do like modes where you level, unlock stuff, and "progress" (typically, conquest or career-type modes) which SC4 lacks...the disjointed style leveling and skill assignment looked deep at first, but ended being easily discarded once you learn stats are based on equipment, the skills aren't interesting, and even the story characters are going to look retarded.

The breast bounce was just up and down in earlier SCs, if I recall, and now it's more motion-dependent. I'm not sure if the new graphics involved more clipping and geometry issues with the old bounce, or they just didn't want the bad press.

However, in terms of things to do, there's a ton of characters and online play. I guess I get a big kick out of learning characters, working out strategies, and testing them against people, and in that regard, SC4 is packed with content. I think they did a great job making they styles really distinct in 4...I mean, compare the mechanics of Ivy, Maxi, Talim, and Yun-Seong and you have some really divergent stuff. I'm still wrapping my head around Ivy's options...buffering in her whip state changes leads to some seriously nutty combos and setups. Also, no clone styles. Long-time complaints about the similarity of styles like Rock/Astaroth, Nightmare/Siegfried, Mitsu/Yoshi, Cassandra/Sophitia, Mina/Kilik have been addressed.

Granted every CaS you make is a clone, but I can barely wrap my head around 3-4 characters as it is...I mean yeah, I can go through and learn all the moves, see how a guy "works", but the timing and situational awareness online takes some time to develop per character. I find if I skip around too much my online game gets watered down; I appreciate that aspect of the game.

The Soul Gauge mechanics, armor-breaking, and the stage variety (although online douches seem only to pick the Cathedral) are other bonuses that add to pretty meaty fighter. The only thing that's left to prove is fighter balance...really hard to say from playing online, because even a tiny bit of latency changes each character's game. It feels balanced so far, although some characters seem less special than others (SeungMina compared to, say, Cervantes or Yoshimitsu). I guess that will depend on whether the game gets added to any major venues.

But anyway, SC4 - best SC yet IMO.

I hate the way moves track even if you step out of the plane.

Side-stepping is different from just 8way-running out of the way of things. 8way works pretty well at long range, but most everything will track it up a close. You need to sidestep things up close, although I agree it's less intuitive than say, Tekken or VF, it's to be expected given the nature of weapon fighting.

[Changeling]

Side-stepping is different from just 8way-running out of the way of things. 8way works pretty well at long range, but most everything will track it up a close. You need to sidestep things up close, although I agree it's less intuitive than say, Tekken or VF, it's to be expected given the nature of weapon fighting.

I don't know if its the 360's controller or what, but I tried side-stepping but it was definitely hit or miss. I play VF5 and have minimal probs with the controller and its side-step mechanic. I don't want to derail or bitch. The game looks great, the online play is pretty good and if you are used to SC3, I guess this game plays great.

On a side note, I got a VF5 stick for 360 but my daughter got ahold of it , dropped it and now it always goes to the right. Anything I can order to replace it ? Any help is appreciated.

[MechDeus]

On a side note, I got a VF5 stick for 360 but my daughter got ahold of it , dropped it and now it always goes to the right. Anything I can order to replace it ? Any help is appreciated.

Unprotected sex can get you a new one.

If you've used a solder gun you can probably pop open the case and see if a wire got messed up. They're pretty easy to fix.

[Changeling]

I see what you did there I guess it doesn't hurt to try. Hopefully its something simple lik a wire or something.

[MechDeus]

It might be the stick itself and in that case if you wanted to fix it you'd have to order a new one and resolder the four connections, but I don't have one of those controllers so I don't know how they're built and how feasible that is. On the bright side, if you did have to do that the stick you bought would probably be better than the one it has now.

[FuryFox]

On the topic of sticks, I bought the SC4 Hori stick, and was overall disappointed. It seemed to have trouble registering down (like, straight down, but the diagonals were fine what), and just didn't have a really solid feel. Plus, unless I'm standing with the stick at arcade height/angle, it's uncomfortable for my hands. Double-taps were smoother than with a pad, but not on the diagonals.

Anyway, took that back and just modded the 360 dpad. Sanded away the outer ring, and added a thin layer of plastic between dpad and the rubber membrane. Has nice snappiness to it now. I still wouldn't want to play any game with a heavy reliance on QCF/HCF motions though.

[Advocate]

Okay. I got the game. Fucking awesome.

Guess I'll go into detail.

I like how they toned down Raphael. I can still pull out my combos I made in SC2, but the one( ->, B, B, B) is now something I can't constantly do ... (hint: (->,B,B ... stop and do it again.)which is a good thing. I never played SC3, so I'm sorry if they did get rid of it. The stages are beautiful and the music is magnificent. I played against the apprentice in Arcade and wow man.

I did see clipping. When I won with Shiru and she was bent over her sword on the right was clipping. Not a big deal, but its like out of this masterpiece there is some flaws. Oh well.

I can't wait to play you guys online.

[arjue]

lol, just wait until you get into the create a soul, you'll see clipping galore.

This game really improves if you have some friends who get it. I actually got to play some competent Australians last night and it was a blast.

Is it just me or is Astaroth retardedly powerful?

[Advocate]

No he's retardedly powerful. Plus side is that he's slow as ever. So, if you have a quick character with medium damage moves. You can kick his ass.

[arjue]

forward + K my friend, forward + K.