this is my experiece with SCV pointing the goods and the bads from my personal point of view. i realize it may have no impact or effect whatsoever to anyone, but this comes out of the passion and love for the game. perhaps there are people like me who takes some of their games, SC in particular, a little too serious.
- Story: dear Project-Soul, Story matters. it's true that Namco never were good at handling stories in their fighting games but, it's the story that added this extra depth and attachment each to his favorate character. Cervantes the ruthless pirate gone mad in his desperate pursuit to regain his former glory, Mitsurugi the brave fearless warrior in the longest journey to improve his skills and meet his match helping those on his way, Astaroth, Ivy, Seung-Mina, Hawrang, Taki, Raphael, everyone. some of us race to finish each new game to see the ever confusing ending of his favorite character because it fulfills a spot even if it doesn't have an impact on the gameplay. simple as they are, nontheless significant to many, it has been taken from us in SCV for no reason.
- Modes:
SinseiPo has fulfilled this section in full in his reply i thank him for it. what i can't understand is, why? why some of the most popular of these modes are not included.
i'm still unable to accept why they removed the "infinite time" in offline Vs.!
in our whole lives we always played our fighting games setting the timer to infinite because we love psyching, pressuring and testing ourselves knowing that the only way out is by winning or losing the match relying only on skill. the timer may be justified online but offline i want to have this right. how an incredibly stupid decision.
- Music: one of the things the Soul series been known for is its epic orchestrated scores, if anything to be said about V is that its music, with the exception of Maxi's and perhaps couple others, pale in comparison.
- Gameplay: i have no regrets for getting rid of the Critical Finish from SCIV, it was almost completely useless and most players who focuses on pulling out one ends up losing consentration and eventually lose the match. Brave Edge and Critical Edge are on the other hand a welcome addition or should i say, welcome return to Critical Edge, after all it was part of Soul Edge back in 1996. anyway, these two serves their purposes quite well and adds new depth to the challenge, i like it.
the combination of Speed and Combos implementation however, is a disaster. in the past the game was slower, not by much, just about enough to provide us the freedom to plan and excute our attacks with smooth and style. the series had various changes in speed pace, you had to link your moves faster and your attackes will hit faster but the core gamplay remained intact. you were still able to carefully plan your next attacks and most importantly is; you will know when you must back off from attacking and you could also predict when your opponent will do the same. it was a bit similar to a chess game to me.
SCV picked up the pace again, however; the introduction of some predetermined combos combined with the game's speed has brought woe to what i consider was a sublime and chess-like gameplay in SCIV. anyone who memorizes a set of moves or combos can spam them sending the mightiest of strategic veterans into oblivion within seconds. if you made more than 2 mistakes, you're out.
Simply put, SCV's new approach isn't about fair play and skill, it's about who unleashes the longest combo first while the other watch his health bar depleting in frustration and despair.
Project-Soul forces you to get into the mix but it's not my style, it's not why i loved this series. i'll stop here.
a note worth expressing; i'm not certain yet if the problem is the speed or the new game engine, but i'm leaning toward the engine.
little Suggestion:
who remembers Soul Edge vividly? do you guys remember the weapon loss? then you'll have to CQC your way through the remaining of the round. what about the weapons clash? that was truly awesome. all that came from Samurai Shodown to those who don't know.
when you used to lose your weapon in Samurai Shodown you'll feel panic and try hard to pick it up again, it's difficult to stand a chance without a weapon against a strong player. some players will allow you pick it up in show off of their honorable side, some out of pitty, some will just seize the chance. few hubris players would put down their weapons and try to humiliate the opponent winning without it. it was awesome and the competition was fierce with lots of heart.
if Project-Soul had to borrow new technics they could've borrowed from what made this series a success initially, reinvent it and build on it. i don't mean to turn the game into Tekken but i'm sure the idea can be implemented in ways that can add back the depth lost in the part progress part regress that SCV is.
thank you for reading and please accept my apology on this long post.
Sadly to myself, after IV, the Soul has stoped, frozen, maybe ended.. but one thing remains true, and that is; "The Legend Will Never Die".
peace.
