Waypoints: The Soul Just Started Burning

Adam LaMosca never understood the appeal of fighting games, until he spent some time with Soulcalibur IV's oversexed dominatrix, Ivy.

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I've always been a sucker for fighting games. They are one of overlooked genres that actually demonstrate a players skill and ability. Though there is some grind involved, the fact of the matter is once you've mastered the controls, you're basically on par with everyone else. From there on it's only your natural abilities that determines how good you can be.

Where the latest Dear or Alive installment really didn't do anything for me, the people behind Soul Calibur 4 seem to have done things just about right. I'm a sucker for customization and the unlocking of equipment is what actually made me wanna play the single player part.

With all the different stats and skills you can obtain, I'm quite amazed at how well balanced it all is.

I'm just wishing Yoda were throwable. Cheap little muppet! Good thing I got the PS3 version instead, I won't have to worry about him until the inevitable Yoda/Vader unlock DLC.

I had always had an off and on relationship with fighting games. I used to be really into Street Fighter Alpha 2 and The Last Blade 2, but my interest eventually waned, mostly cause I had no one to play against.
After that I just avoided the genre for along time. The new 3d fighters didn't really grab me, and I had a lot of issues with how they had overloaded them with movelists over a 100 moves long and slowed everything down.
When I got introduced to Guilty Gear XX #Reload, I discovered a game that took the 2d fighter and pumped it full of steroids. I just couldn't stop playing it, the technicality and raw speed had hooked me, and while at first I felt overwhelmed (screw you I-No, seriously), I found myself getting more and more intimate with the game's nuances. When a friend of mine discovered a mod of the PC version of GGXX#Reload that allowed for online play, it opened up a whole new world for me. Now I could hone my skills against other people and start going beyond just learning to beat the AI.
Beating Insane difficulty I-No shortly after without resorting to Instant Killing her was one of my best gaming moments ever.
As my love for Guilty Gear XX grew, I found myself appreciating and being able to understand some other games in my library. Devil May Cry 3 was now more than just "lol hack and slash." I was addicted to learning its deeper gameplay, learning to jump cancel, to whore Trickster Style, etc.
I picked up a copy of Soul Calibre 3 on a whim. I had long gave the series a pass just because it was "Just another 3-d fighter," but I found a game much more akin to The Last Blade 2 (which was made by the same guys who did Guilty Gear) in both speed and flow. It was remarkably simple to pick up and get into, and I was honestly quite surprised and taken aback with how well you can do with just some basic moves under your belt. I was able to sit down and enjoy playing it without that "holy fuck look at all those moves" feeling that games like Tekken and Dead or Alive gave me.

I'm definitely looking forward to picking up Soul Calibur 4 when I get home on Thursday and having had my eyes opened, may give some of the other 3d fighters a more honest try.

Now to get my hands on an X-Arcade pad :D

"Beating Insane difficulty I-No shortly after without resorting to Instant Killing her was one of my best gaming moments ever."

*laugh and point* Nah, not really. When I reached her the first time I gave up after a while, and quit every time I got to her for a while. Eventually I decided that I can't be beaten by the bloody computer I think I fought and lost and fought and lost like 13 times in a row before finally winning.

Eventually I discovered how to win really easily (with Baiken, my character of choice, anyway), and I haven't lost since ^^ GG is one of the few games were the computer is an actual challenge without having a bunch of cheap bonuses like auto-guard or twice the damage and health.

Mr.LaMosca, the most recent version of Guilty Gear XX should be your next purchase ^^ (or whatever version is available to you).

unangbangkay:
I'm just wishing Yoda were throwable. Cheap little muppet! Good thing I got the PS3 version instead, I won't have to worry about him until the inevitable Yoda/Vader unlock DLC.

That would be the frustrating moment, but Tower of Lost Souls ascend, floor 20, takes the cake for me. Any help there would be appreciated, seriously...

ferrarimanf355:

unangbangkay:
I'm just wishing Yoda were throwable. Cheap little muppet! Good thing I got the PS3 version instead, I won't have to worry about him until the inevitable Yoda/Vader unlock DLC.

That would be the frustrating moment, but Tower of Lost Souls ascend, floor 20, takes the cake for me. Any help there would be appreciated, seriously...

Okay, here's a hint: try for ring-outs : ) (Yoshimitsu you can beat the normal way though. His AI is pretty bad)

Dectilon:
"Beating Insane difficulty I-No shortly after without resorting to Instant Killing her was one of my best gaming moments ever."

*laugh and point* Nah, not really. When I reached her the first time I gave up after a while, and quit every time I got to her for a while. Eventually I decided that I can't be beaten by the bloody computer I think I fought and lost and fought and lost like 13 times in a row before finally winning.

Eventually I discovered how to win really easily (with Baiken, my character of choice, anyway), and I haven't lost since ^^ GG is one of the few games were the computer is an actual challenge without having a bunch of cheap bonuses like auto-guard or twice the damage and health.

Mr.LaMosca, the most recent version of Guilty Gear XX should be your next purchase ^^ (or whatever version is available to you).

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core is easily obtainable, but the lack of online play is kind of a downer. It's a damn shame that they're not doing a Guilty Gear X3 (not any time soon at least), hopefully BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is going to be a worthy successor.
Oh and Testament ftw :D

wow thanks for giving the site a balanced perspective on soul caliber as opposed to yahtzees narrow viewpoint. i love that game for the technical feel and the use of weapons differentiates it. i felt sc3 was better than four, for its well developed single player, but soul caliber is still the only 3d fighter i play and next to smash, the only fighter 2d or 3d. thanks adam for your insightful article