The WhatsNext verdict
SoulCalibur II is essential for anyone who wants a weapon fighter with exceptional feel, serious competitive depth, and outstanding couch multiplayer. It remains one of the easiest great fighting games to pick up and one of the hardest to truly master.
What it does best
Weapon-based combat with effortless impact and flow
A fighting system that rewards years of mastery
A fighting game everyone in the room can enjoy
Weapon Master turns practice into a rewarding adventure
What might put you off
A conservative sequel to an already legendary original
Some single-player unlocks and challenge fights can feel grindy
The setup
What you are walking into
SoulCalibur II is the third installment in the Soul series and continues the tradition of his predecessors with improved graphics, new characters and new levels. A majority of the action takes place in Weapon Master mode where you have to choose a character and travel a set map to fight the many other warriors through different levels and challenges. Console ports were released, including guest characters from other franchises. The Arcade version has a unique mode called "Conquest Mode". This mode, which uses a name and password system to save data, allows the player to select one army among four. The player then fights against enemies in a series of eight 1-round battles, win or lose (the first seven are based on the player's rank, and the eighth is chosen by the player – this can only be interrupted by a Versus challenger.) After each round, the player earns EXP and can be promoted, and the game also rates the player in four categories: Soul, Power, Wisdom and Skill. The game also keeps track of which moves the player knows and uses most often. After the eight battles, territory control is updated and the player has the option to fight a bonus round against their character played by the AI.
Where it lives
Genre
Vibe
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