Has anybody played or bought this newest gem of a fighting game?
I got it this week. Let me tell you, I think this is going to hit the convention fighting game crowd just as strongly as the last one, if not even stronger.
The system itself hasn't changed much, but the
characters have in many cases been completely reworked. For instance, Talim has most of the same moves, but the way you enter button input has been shuffled around a lot, and her stances and the ways you can chain her moves together have been
totally revamped. It's a good thing.
All told, the game has 25 standard characters. There are other characters you can earn -- or create, by applying a move list template to a custom character -- but I highly suspect that SC3 tournaments will get into the habit of allowing only the standard 25.
~ Character spoilers after this point ~SC3 is like a "greatest hits" edition of Soul Calibur. Only the core characters from previous games are returning, but that includes nearly
all of the core characters. (And I'm not even mentioning the
newbonus characters; those come later)
SC3 has three new core characters (four, if you count the obligatory "random fighting style" character). Neither Link, nor Heihachi, Spawn, or Necrid have returned. However, look who has returned as standard characters (meaning, selectable in story mode):
SE - Sophitia, Seong Mi-na, Taki, Mitsurugi, Rock, Cervantes, Voldo, Siegfried
SC1 - Nightmare, Yoshimitsu, Maxi, Kilik, Xianghua, Astaroth, Lizardman, Ivy
SC2 - Talim, Raphael, Cassandra, Yung Seong
SC3 (new faces) - Setsuka, Tira, Zasalamel, Olcadan, Abyss
Additionally returning are
Hwang, and
Li Long. Yes, you heard it right, Li Long - the only mortal character ever to permanently "die" in the Soul series. Guess his death wasn't nearly as fatal as we thought.
...Unfortunately, both Li Long and Hwang as only selectable as "extra characters," and have no story mode to speak of. Poor Hwang... overshadowed by his beloved. Oh well: he still kicks serious ass.
In addition to Hwang and Li Long, there are a score of other "extra characters" who are new to the series but have no story to speak of. Rather, they appear in story mode, but have little to no explanation why they are there. These include - amusingly - the three maid-like shopkeepers who are otherwise only seen in the shop menus. Apparently they can fight as well as barter.
Some characters you can earn or create will have identical move lists. That considered, I have personally encountered about 39 different move lists. Only 24 of these belong to the "standard character" selection.
I think I'll cut off my summary about here. So, let me end with a question for those of you who've bought and/or played the game:
For argument's sake, which characters do YOU think should be allowed in convention tournaments?Personally, I think all "standard characters" should be fair game. Perhaps allow Hwang and Li Long as well. I don't want to play against custom characters, though, because their main advantage is probably going to be the unfamiliarity of their character models -- their movelists themselves are supposed to be slightly inferior.