What's up guys? I don't know if you have noticed, but we have a Soul Calibur V
Official Thread now. The game releases in US tomorrow and in PAL regions on 3/2/2012. But copies are already being sold early and that's how I got mine. Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know how good it is. I didn't want to make a new thread for this and I didn't want to post this in the SC V thread because I think only people who are already interested go there. Here are some thoughts on the game:
- Its really fast and controls are very responsive. Movement and sidestep speed is almost fast as Tekken. Tekken players who have good movement in that game can do pretty good in this game. My movement in Tekken is pretty bad so I wouldn't know.
- Its really easy to get into. Because of the new Supers and EX moves, you can do 30% damage just by doing a launcher into Super. You can get creative by doing Launcher -> 1 hit -> EX move to rejuggle X2 -> Super to get flashy (*Hint* *Hint* Street fighter players). Most standard combos only require you to do 3 moves in succession. They get longer if you get a counter hit.
- Things can get really deep when you add the Just Guards, tech traps, frame traps, etc. Combos change depending on where you are in the arena (ringout edge/wall). This isn't new info for Tekken/Soul Calibur players. What's new is that this game's Just Guard system is like parries like Third Strike, or Just Block in Blazblue. If you tap Guard in the 2 frame window when you're getting hit, you can make safe moves unsafe. This is going to be so hype when it happens in matches, but can be hard to pull off.
- The online suite is AMAZING. You can set your country in your player Card. It has all countries available, including UAE and Pakistan! This will help matchmaking greatly. There's also a global coliseum mode where you can join preset rooms and fight players in them. There's even a room for Dubai. That means that if there are more than 8 PG players playing, we can all join that room and challenge one another. Player lobbies hold upto 8 players. Not only is there spectator mode, but it plays in a window and there's a text chat and a kick option available to the host. Notice the 'UAE' icon below my ID in the following picture, even though my PSN ID is a US ID.
I had a 1 bar connection with a Dutch player and our match was smoother than a SSFIV 2 bar match and a Tekken 6 4 bar match. There was slight input delay but no slowdown or stutter during the match. The pro players in the US like Justin Wong, Arturo Sanchez, and Jaxel (8wayrun.com admin) say that the netcode is slightly better or as good as SSFIV. This could be because there are only a handful of people playing right now. I'll try it when more people play and will give my thought again, but early impressions are really positive.
As many of you know, I do most of my online gaming with PG members. I came to know a lot of you because of SSFIV sessions. That game was really fun, and online was as social as it was competitive. I feel like this game has the potential to do the same. I feel that all players - MK, SF, Tekken, SC or KOF will like something in this game. If you're bored of T6 or SF do check out this game. I think it can kickstart the subforum again. Buy it, or try it on a modded Xbox, but please don't ignore the game. Of course, 2 things make or break a fighting game - Balance and Online, and this game got one of them right (Online). I'll let better people than me decide how balanced it is after it officially comes out.