sorry but I can’t do the story or pics till’ I get my game back on monday

Was I the only person who missed the memo of “new Soulcalibur for PSP”? I was walking in a WalMart at 2 in the morning cause I was bored and I stumbled upon this gem of a game for a system that’s riddled with failure. Yes, Namco Bandai and Project Soul have produced Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny as an exclusive for the PlayStation Portable. For those who are not familiar with Soulcalibur, it is a one-on-one fighting game where the player chooses one of several characters who all wield different weapons ranging from a giant sword to a pair of nun-chucks. It’s a standard fighting game with a life bar and two players can face off against one another.

The Soul Calibur is one of the better fighting games in my opinion and I’ve been a huge fan of the seires until Namco kinda messed things up with 4. Despite the fact that 4 had Darth Vader in it, the game was a big let down from three. The story was uninteresting. The character creation was also poor with the addition of stats, which often left you characters looking stupid, rather than ridiculous and funny. I also miss Link from the Legend of Zelda when he appeared in Soulcalibur 2.

But the new Broken Destiny is really what 4 missed. While the game is small (give it a break, its on the PSP) it has a lot to it. Kratos from God of War has shown up to for no other reason except that he is jus that cool. There is also a new player named Dampierre who has a sweet mustache. The character creation is expansive and amusing, although it is a bit time consuming. There are 3 game modes, along with the usual Training and Versus modes. I’ll give a quick rundown.

Before I do that though, I think I need to make a quick note about how great this game looks.  For a portable game, this thing looks amazing.  They sound track is also a keeper, so you a clearly hear Kratos growl his usual hate filled catch phrases at his opponents.  Excellent work there Project Soul.

Quick Match

Very similar to Conquest Mode in Soulcalibur 2 arcade, the player is given a list of AI players with their titles and stats, and choose who to fight. The Players who have defeted the AI player with a unique title can wear that title under their name during Versus mode.

The Gauntlet

It’s a sort of tutorial mode for Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, but is ment to be the main story line. It does have similar story telling features much like Soulcalibur 2’s Weapon Master mode. The players is often given low health and required to guard or perform attacks within a short window of opening of the AI controlled opponent. There are altogether 34 chapters in The Gauntlet, with 2 to 4 sub missions in each of the stages and the difficulty curb goes bouncing around like an ADHD child who ate to many pixie sticks. Unlike other installments, The Gauntlet’s storyline and dialogue are comical on purpose. Characters often use puns, non-sequitors and wit throughout the mode.

Trials

Consisting of 3 portions, Trial of Attack, Trial of Defense and Endless Trials. All the Trials are round based battle much like arcade mode from other games. Trial of Attack rewards score according to how well a player can chain their attacks while Trial of Defense rewards score according to how well a player guard and counter attacks. Endless Trials is just a survival mode.

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny has received better reviews than would be expected from a PSP game. IGN gave it a 8.0 out of 10 (there is a link to how they rate games on their site if you are curious) and have a few nice things to say including that the game “preserves the Soulcalibur tradition beautifully and recreates the weapon-based combat exclusively for Sony’s PSP”. Here’s the link for the review, if you want a second opinion on the game. IGN: Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is one of few games that restore my hope that the PSP was more than just a bad attempt by Sony. If you are a fan of the Soulcalibur series or of fighting games in general, then I fully suggest buying Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny. While it may only be interesting for a few weeks at one time, it’s also the type of game that you can pick up at any time and be entertained for an hour or two.

Nom : Ivy (Isabella Valentine)
Age : 32 ans
Lieu de Naissance : Londres (Empire Britannique)
Taille : 179cm
Poids : 58kg
Date de Naissance : 10 Décembre
Goupe Sanguin : Inconnu
Style de Combat : (Arme)     Epée serpent
Nom de l’arme : Valentine (Ivy Blade)
Discipline de combat : Autodidacte
Famille : Parents adoptifs : décédés, père : Cervantes de Leon, mère : inconnue (décédée)

Horizontaux

• , (25) et ,+(54):

Safe, un léger avantage en block pour Ivy. Si K touche on obtient un stun (destunnable). Facilement esquivable en se baissant. Alterner avec  la deuxième version pour contrer les adversaires qui se baissent.

• (10):

Interrupteur, bonne portée, +8 en hit.

• (10):

Un low lent qui launche en counter.

Verticaux

• (24):

Un Mid safe qui détruit la Soul Gauge (10 dans la garde suffisent), à utiliser à Max Range.

• (25):

Launcher classique.

• (25):

Coup de fouet rapprochant l’adversaire, si le deuxième coups touche en counter l’adversaire tournoie sur lui même avec des dégâts supplémentaires. Safe.

• , (39):

A utiliser en juggle ou en okizième. Maintenir sur le deuxième pour rendre le coups safe (merci Requiem!).

• (33):

Ivy tournoie à droite et steppe pas mal de coups. Maintenir B si on veut passer en stance (conseillé).

• , +(33):

Safe et rapide, éloigne l’adversaire. Durant un Stun adverse, met l’adverse à terre pour SW 214K garanti.

Coups de pied

• (26):

A utiliser en juggle. A part ca, il est rapide, TC, ring-out en counter et safe. Un must.

Pression simultanée

• +, (30) et +,+:

Si arrêt à +, Ivy reste baissée. Dans le cas où touche, enchaîner avec , (timing sévère). Anti-step, après +,+ on peut Ring-out de loin si suivi de WP +->+-.

• + (41):

Choppe-coups, ne pas utiliser en poking à mi-distance car facilement steppable et punissable. Bon dommages sur la Soul Gauge.

• + (85):

Coups imparable, ce kakato-otoshi est lent et ultra steppable. Touche les adversaires au sol.

• + de dos:

Juggle du pauvre après ws ?

8 WAY-RUN

• (30):

Un vertical rapide et qui fait mal, anti-step. C’est un HIGH.

• :

Antistep avec une bonne portée, TC(?), mid et safe: excellent

• , (21,23):

Ne s’enchaîne pas en neutral hit, mais garantit de bons dommages en counter (47). Faire gaffe après car l’adversaire reste debout après être touché. Unsafe.

• (28):

Guard Break. Le coups touche aussi un adversaire à terre.

• ,bourrer :

Encore un coups pour casser la Soul Gauge, -3 seulement sur la garde.

• , (19,16 total 35 + juggle):

Un coups très unsafe mais qui garantit un combo en counter.

• (30):

Un kick (high) rapide qui fait très mal, ring out et avec une bonne recovery. Si l’adversaire est touché en juggle par ce coups (ex après en counter) , enchaîner avec , .

• (30):

Un coup de pied retourné Mid, peut toucher un adversaire qui confond le début de l’animation avec SW 22K. Très esthétique en plus.

Horizontaux

• (24):

Utilité: stunner l’adversaire (neutral ou counter). Il fait plus mal que 6B (hold).

• (19):

Un high très rapide(i13) qui stun l’adversaire en counter. Faible allonge…

Verticaux

• (hold) (16):

Interrupteur i14, stun destunnable en counter pour mind game.

• (24):

Ne launche qu’en counter (rebond). Sur la garde, place l’adversaire en full crouch, et Ivy à -3 seulement. Okizième et casse bien la Soul Gauge.

• FC (22):

Un low bien pute, rapide, safe et qui détruit la Soul Gauge. Avec une bonne allonge en prime!

• (19):

Après ce coups, faire WS B (mid) ou FC B (low)

• (26):

Un low lent qui fait mal. A utiliser en okizième?

• WS (29):

Ring out, combo, punition de choppes…

• JUMP (14):

Un mid qui selon la distance devient un low (malgré ce qui est écrit dans le mode training), et évite les lows.

Coups de pied

• (18):

Coup de la pointe des pieds, en juggle permet de maintenir l’adversaire en l’air (air contrôlable).

• (11)

En counter, met l’adversaire par terre pour un nouvel écrasement garanti.

• (19):

Interrupteur i13, selon bcps son meilleur interrupteur en SW. En counter, permet de placer un mind game CS/mid/low

Pression simultanée

• + (57 à 99):

En chargeant le coup devient imparable,  un mid puissant qui touche les steps de gauche et met la pression. Lent.

• + (33):

Un low plus lent que .

• + (35):

Un mid qui touche également l’adversaire à terre (le coups devient alors un low). Seul 1 touche au corps à corps. 3B+K ne sort qu’au corps à corps, imparable high.

• +(5) (Ivy Lick):

En juggle exclusivement.

• + (43):

Même effet que + en Coiled si ça touche au corps à corps , sinon met à terre.

8 WAY-RUN

• (31):

A viser en counter pour obtenir le stun counter.

• (28):

Launcher qui casse bien la Soul Gauge.

• (14):

Balayette qui arrache la barre à cause de garanti derrière, semi-invisible.

• :

Une charge d’épaule TC, utile contre les 8WAY-RUN adverses pour toucher en counter, et comboter derrière.

Un de mes coups préféré depuis Soul III, à utiliser à mi-distance.  Casse bien la Soul Gauge et quasi-safe. A utiliser en whiff punish également.

Choppes

• Criminal Symphony +:

Choppe à 100 de domage en JF, avec 5 frames pour dechopper.

Horizontaux

• ,

Peut être utilisé en poke du fait de son allonge à Max Range. Ne pas en abuser.

• ,

Un coup qui fait assez mal, unsafe sur le dernier hit si l’adversaire s’est baissé. En juggle si on veut que tous les coups passent il faut que l’adversaire soit de la hauteur de la sainte poitrine d’Ivy.

Verticaux

Un high avec une allonge monstrueuse et qui casse bien la Soul Gauge.  Steppable donc à utiliser de loin.

• (+)

Le dernier coup est Guard Break. Ne surtout pas utiliser de près car le coups ne touche pas.

Ressemble au SW 1B avec deux Mid Special en plus. Le ３eme hit stun, permettant d’enchaîner avec 22B.

• WS ,

Coup-choppe. Enchainer l’adversaire rebondi avec 6A,A par exemple.

Pieds

Pareil que Coiled, donc .

Pression simultanée

• +

Il y a un guard impact sur le début du coups alors qu’Ivy tourne sur elle même. A mi-distance on perd un hit.

• +

Touche à mi-distance, en okizième. Plus trop utile depuis le patch..

• +,

Gard impact pendant la rotation. Regarder si l’adversaire a le réflexe de gard-impacter le deuxième hit.

8WAY-RUN

Un bon anti-step. Rapproche l’adversaire en le mettant de dos. On peut faire  22A,4 hold pour augmenter les dommages.

Le pendant de 22A version low. Quand même bien lent.

L’adversaire touché rebondit haut, permettant un juggle.

• +

Le 3eme hit est Guard Break. Si le premier hit whiffe, préparez vous à souffrir… On peut l’enchainer après 22B si l’adversaire tech-roll pas. Pour ceux qui tech-roll, mettez leur un bon coups de pied.

Choppes

• Summon Suffering +:

pas de just frame.

• (hit)

Un inbloquable High.

• ,,

Il y a une version just frame :B,6B,4B,6B,4B.

• ou

Identique à SW 66K, avec des dommages un peu plus importants. Apres K Ivy reste en SE, apres 66K elle passe en SW.

• +

Inbloquable High.

• +

Identique à Whip 11A.

COILED

→, 57
,→(hold)→,, 59
,→ 59
,→→ 66
,→→[ou  smash]           	68[71]
,→→ 74

SWORD

(hold)→→+ 51
(hold)→→ 56
(hold)→→ 73
(hold)→→→(hold)→+ 64
→ si n'air-contrôle pas →+ 41
→→+ 59
→→, 76
→→→→→...  (sur le mur)
→ 65
→→ 84

WHIP

→+ 89
→, 64 	(timing lent)
 → 50

SE

Sur le mur:

→→,, 62  (  wall stun→ stun counter→ ,,)

Le reste des combos: J’ai la flemme de les taper et puis bon de toute façon y a que moi qui visite cette page, donc direction le guide de Requiem si vous voulez des vrais combos, pas comme les mythos que j’ai postés!

No matter how much I love Bandai-Namco and their Soul series of games, seeing Talim fight always makes me feel really disappointed in them. Now, I don’t know how well-researched the other Soulcalibur characters are, or if their fighting styles are really styles rooted in the cultures of the countries they’re from. But Talim’s just…wow.

Don’t get me wrong, I like her well enough (though not enough to actually use her in the game), and I do think she’s cute. It’s just that it really annoys me that her fighting style and her costumes are so very un-Filipino.

Well, okay, some of her costumes may look a teensy bit like some of the costumes of the pre-Hispanic cultural minorities in the country, but come on. In Soulcalibur IV and Broken Destiny she looks more like something that would pop out of a magic lamp or a belly dancer from a faux-Arabian bar than a proper tribal Filipina.

That aside, I am still glad that they didn’t make her wear a  baro’t saya or any other Spanish-influenced costumes. While the baro’t saya is the alleged “national costume” for Filipinas, it’s still distinctly Spanish.

Talim’s fighting style is like a bastardized version of our local martial arts (Arnis, Kali, or Eskrima). …oh wait, I take that back. I barely see any trace of them in her moves, and even the move names are hilarious. Sure, Double Abaniko is an actual term in Arnis, but Spinning Hiwa and Tuhod Slicer? That’s just sad.

What’s even sadder is that another fighting game, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, actually showed characters using Filipino martial arts properly (Quan Chi using Eskrima, Sonya Blade using Kali). Goes to show that it isn’t so hard to go out and research Filipino martial arts thoroughly.

Let’s move on to Talim’s weapons. Her weapons are tonfa, for fuck’s sake. Tonfa were popular in Japan and may have originated in China, or in another Southeast Asian nation (Indonesia), but not in the Philippines. If they wanted to do it right, they would have given her dual arnis sticks. Or, if they insisted on having blades on her weapons, they should’ve given her dual bolo/itak or kris.

And I’m not the only Filipino who feels annoyed with Talim’s fighting style. Check this Filipino Martial Arts Forum post, wherein the poster refers to Talim as “that annoying Soulcalibur character”.

Come to think of it, Talim is no longer specified as Filipina in the games; the Philippines was only specifically mentioned when she debuted in Soulcalibur II. Maybe Bandai-Namco realized their mistake in labeling her Filipino, and thus opted to just say that she’s from somewhere in “Southeast Asia” in the games that came out after SCII. Too little, too late. They never should have tried to put in a Filipino character into the game in the first place if they had no intention of doing the proper research. Filipino characters rarely appear in video games, and it’s just disheartening to see that one of the most prominent ones is badly researched.

I just started playing this game on the day I posted this, and I thought I’d give writing a mini-FAQ (instead of a review or walkthrough) about it a shot. It’s a bit muddled-up right now, so I might reorganize it later on. I’ll try to keep updating this as much as I can as I continue playing!

Last updated November 2, 2009

—

Content

1. What is Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny?
2. What modes/features does the game have?
3. What are Honors and how do I earn them?
4. Who are the playable characters?
5. Who is Dampierre?
6. Where are the Star Wars characters?
7. So what’s the “story” in this game?
8. There are words underneath my opponent’s name during battle. What are they for?
9. You keep mentioning phrases like “Guard Impact” and “Guaranteed Hit”. What are those?
10. Can you teach me how to use *insert character’s name here*?

—

1. What is Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny?

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is a fighting game developed by Bandai-Namco for the PSP. It’s a sort of sequel to Soulcalibur IV, since the events depicted in the game are said to have occurred after Siegfried defeats Nightmare and seals off the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge.

That doesn’t mean you have to have played Soulcalibur IV to enjoy this game though. I never even tried it, and here we are with this FAQ. There are also lots of in-game features that help new players as they play the game, like the tutorials in The Gauntlet and the information in the Game Manual.

2. What modes/features does the game have?

Here’s a list of the different features/modes you can find in the game’s menu:

Game Manual
Pressing the Square button while viewing the game’s menu will take you to the Game Manual. This contains overviews of the game’s features, terms, and other things. It pretty much covers every aspect of the game. Here’s a list of chapters the Game Manual has (minus the Preface):

1. Travel the journey in THE GAUNTLET!
2. Test your skills in TRIALS!
3. Soulcalibur Basics
4. Jump into battle with QUICK MATCH!
5. Enter the battlefield in VERSUS!
6. Let your creativity flow in CREATION!
7. Master your quest for victory in TRAINING!
8. Review your skills in RECORDS!
9. Move every which way with 8-Way Run
10. Stop your enemies with Horizontal Attacks
11. Down your enemies with Vertical Attacks
12. Guard attacks when you’re at a Disadvantage
13. About Soul Gauge
14. Finish off your enemies with Critical Finish
15. Throws and Throw Escapes
16. [Chapter 16 is missing, for some reason]
17. About Stun Recover
18. Turn the tables with Guard Impact
19. Get back into action with Ukemi
20. Avoid Pursuers with Aerial Control
21. Wall Staggers and Wall Combos
22. Take out your opponent with Ring Out
23. Attacks to gain the Advantage
24. How to handle being in the Disadvantage
25. Master quick attacks
26. Dominate the match with Combos
27. Don’t overlook Guaranteed Hits
28. [This chapter's missing too]
29. Bare all with Active Purge
30. Master Interruptions!

Quick Match
Allows players to engage in quick versus battles against CPU-controlled “ghost” characters. You must win a total of three rounds before you’re declared the victor of the match.

You gain titles from defeating opponents in this mode, and you can display a title of your choice when you play against another player in Versus mode. There are 200 Titles in total, including “Beauty”, “Sacred Fire of the Red Lotus”, “Breaker”, and “Master of Charm”.

The Gauntlet
A story-driven mode wherein you engage in battles that require you to do specific things, such as Guarding and Attacking at specific moments during the match. It’s divided into chapters with varying numbers of missions for each chapter.

The Gauntlet also serves as a sort of Tutorial, as it teaches you how and when to do things like Guard Impact, Stun Recovery, and so on.

Trials
In Trials, you earn points for your overall score by doing things like successfully damaging your opponent, delivering counterattacks after blocking, and so on. You fight against “ghost” characters, but you get to battle regular There are three types of “trials” you can undergo:

• Trial of Attack: Your score is primarily based on how much damage you deal to your opponent. Composed of five battles against regular Soulcalibur characters, with the final stage always being battle against Siegfried.
• Trial of Defense: Your score is primarily based on your defense and counterattack skills, like Guard Impact and Interrupt. Composed of eight battles against regular Soulcalibur characters. While the characters you’ll battle in the first five stages vary (except for Stage 3, where you will always battle Dampierre) , you will fight Kratos, Nightmare or Siegfried, and Algol in the last three stages.
• Endless Trial: A combination of the above Trials, and you’ll keep getting thrown into battles until you lose. Unlike Attack and Defense Trials, you battle “ghost” characters here, and only get to fight regular Soulcalibur characters every five battles.

Versus
This mode allows you to battle other players via Ad Hoc.

Creation
Allows you to create up to sixteen custom characters, but customization options are limited compared to Soulcalibur IV. You will be able to choose your custom character’s fighting style from the fighting styles of the regular characters (you can use any except Algol’s and Kratos’ fighting styles, which don’t even appear in the options). Pressing Square while hovering over a character while selecting a style will show you a description of that character’s fighting style.

You can also alter the colors of regular characters’ costumes in this mode. Sadly that’s all you can do with the regular characters, unlike in Soulcalibur IV where you can change their hairstyle and everything.

Winning battles in Quick Battle, Trials, and The Gauntlet will unlock more equipment and items for your created characters.

Training
You can practice for battle in this mode. You can set a variety of options for the character you choose to be your training dummy, like adjusting his/her behavior and difficulty, setting his/her Soul Gauge to red, or removing his/her breakable armor.

Records
Displays records of the “Honors” you’ve earned through battles, Battle Records (your scores in Trials modes, your Quick Match records, and your progress in The Gauntlet).

Options
Adjust your game settings like Controls, Subtitles, Voiceover language, and so on here. The game includes Japanese and English voice overs, as well as English subtitles.

3. What are Honors and how do I earn them?

“Honors” are achievements you acquire through doing certain things, like playing The Gauntlet for the first time, creating your first custom character, executing specific moves in battle, and so on. Pressing X while an unachieved Honor is selected will show you what you need to do to unlock it. There are 50 Honors in total.

Unlocking Honors also unlocks Dampierre’s journal entries, in case you’re interested in more of his shenanigans.

4. Who are the playable characters?

Here’s a list of playable characters and their weapons in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny:

• Yoshimitsu ( Katana x2)
• Setsuka (Iai Sword Hidden in an Umbrella)
• Voldo (Jamadhar x2)
• Cassandra (Short Sword and Small Shield)
• Lizardman (Single-Handed Ax and Small Shield)
• Taki (Ninja Sword x2)
• Mitsurugi (Katana)
• Algol (Assimilated Soul Calibur and Soul Edge)
• Sophitia (Short Sword and Small Shield)
• Tira (Ring Blade)
• Siegfried (Zweihänder)
• Hilde (Sword and Lance)
• Dampierre (Hidden Dagger)
• Kratos (Double Chained Blades)
• Nightmare (Zweihänder)
• Xianghua (Chinese Sword)
• Maxi (Nunchuk)
• Raphael (English Sword Rapier)
• Astaroth (Giant Ax)
• Yun-Seong (Chinese Sword)
• Kilik (Rod)
• Ivy (Snake Sword)
• Amy (English Sword Rapier)
• Rock (Giant Mace)
• Talim (Elbow Blade x2)
• Seong Mi-na (Zanbatou)
• Cervantes (Longsword and Pistol Sword)
• Zasalamel (Death Scythe)

5. Who is Dampierre?

Dampierre is a new character specifically created for Broken Destiny. He has this huge-ass mustache that he seems to love to pinch, and he fights using hidden daggers. He’s a really funny character; even his battle moves are hilarious. He can sneeze on his opponents, smack his opponent repeatedly until he recoils because his arm’s starting to hurt, and – get this – one of his throws involves bending his opponent over and spanking his/her ass like a mother punishing a disobedient child. It’s fun playing as him (or against him) just to see the craziness he does.

6. Where are the Star Wars characters?

Unfortunately, they aren’t included in this game. This game does include a guest character though: Kratos, the main character in the God of War series. His moves are pretty cool when you’re using him, but if you’re fighting against him, his chain blades – combined with him swinging around on them and flying around with his wings – can be really frustrating.

7. So what’s the “story” in this game?

Here’s the intro for the first chapter of The Gauntlet:

We near the end of the 16th century, and the curtain has fallen over the battle for the two swords.

The final showdown between Siegfried and Nightmare atop the wicked city in Ostrheinsburg is over, but the ancient Hero King Algol has been secretly revived.

Yet somewhere, lost among history, a fresh wind blows. A lone warrior hones [his/her] skills in the mountains!

It is none other than you, for this is your tale.

WARNING: This story is based on obscure fables and does not accurately represent the Soulcalibur history!

In The Gauntlet, you’ll eventually end up traveling with Hilde and Cassandra through your journey as they travel the world to gather ingredients for a cure for Hilde’s father, who has apparently fallen ill because of Soul Edge. No serious dramu here though; the situations presented and the characters’ dialogue are quite light-hearted and comical, and are shown through funny manga-ish illustrations that will surely entertain you.

8. There are words beneath my opponent’s name during battle. What are they for?

Opponents have some descriptions beneath their name during battle. These indicate what type of playing style they utilize. Here are a few examples that I’ve encountered so far and some tips on how to beat them:

• Guard-centric: Characters that focus on Guarding and not much else. They’re pretty easy to beat, but watch out for their Guaranteed Hits (hits that are normally blockable will become an unblockable Guaranteed Hit if delivered after a successful Guard) when they successfully block your attacks.
• Violence: Aggressive attackers that use a lot of skills that cause you to get stunned. Your best bet is to dodge these attacks and interrupt them, or recover from the stun by quickly pressing your directional buttons.
• Escape-centric: Focuses on escaping your attacks by moving aside or back, crouching, and so on. Just get in there and smack them good.
• Close Combat: Uses a lot of short range attacks and combos. Keep them at a distance and/or block and counterattack their moves.
• Legend: Applies only to regular Soulcalibur characters in Endless Trial mode, and to Algol in Trial of Defense mode. Can be hard to beat depending on your skills and playing style.
• Impact: Focuses on Guard Impacting your attacks, and counterattacking. I don’t have a lot of advice to offer against Impacters since I’m really weak against them, but I do manage to win when I notice openings in their defense (i.e. I attack low when I see them doing a Standing Guard, etcetera).
• Use Run: Uses 8-way Run a lot, but unlike the Escape-centrics, they do offense too. Horizontal attacks will help you here.
• Amateur: Pretty much waits around for you to attack, so…try not to be too hard on them. And don’t underestimate them too much either, they do try to stick in some combo chains from time to time.
• Trainee: Seem to be unfamiliar with combos (unlike the Amateur), as they use one-hit moves a lot. They tend to use the same move repeatedly too, and they Guard a lot.
• Rampage: Crazier than the Violence characters. They like to rush at you and use lots of high damage attacks that knock you down or stun you. Ukemi and Stun Recovery will help you here, but be careful when you Ukemi as the opponent might hit you with a Mid/Low attack just as you’re getting up. Rampage characters don’t Guard a lot, so you can beat them easily if you dodge/block and counter their attacks.
• Guard Break/Guard Break Only: Like to use Unblockable Attacks that break your Guard and put you at a Disadvantage. They often do this right after doing a blockable combo, so your best bet is to Interrupt them (block their attacks and watch for that split-second opening as they move into an Unblockable attack) as much as possible.
• Jokester: Only encountered this one once, so I’m not actually sure what a Jokester’s deal is. The Jokester I battled seemed to like Jumping a lot, and he Active Purged even though his Soul Gauge was still full.

9. You keep mentioning phrases like “Guard Impact” and “Guaranteed Hit”. What are those?

Here’s a list of all those strange in-game terms and their basic definitions. I won’t go into full detail about them, as you can learn more about them by playing the Gauntlet mode of the game (it provides tutorials for just about every aspect of the game). Some things are just easier to understand if you get around to actually doing them!

• 8-Way Run: The Soul series of games has a feature called “8-Way Run”, which just means that your character is able to run in 8 different directions: the four basic directions (Up, Down, Left, Right) and four diagonal directions (Up-Right, Up-Left, Down-Right, Down-Left). You can perform these movements using your directional buttons or your analog stick.
• Guard: Pressing the Guard button (X) will allow you to block your opponent’s attacks.
• Advantage/Disadvantage: When you block attacks from opponents, it will either put you at an Advantage or Disadvantage. When you’re in the Advantage, you will be able to execute Guaranteed Hits using Quick Attacks, which are able of interrupting your opponent’s next move. You can gain an Advantage by successfully executing certain attacks against your opponent, executing attacks that make your opponent stagger while he/she guarding, or by successfully blocking your opponent’s attack/s. If you are at a Disadvantage, however, you will be prone to your opponent’s Guaranteed Hits/Quick Attacks. You will be put at a Disadvantage if your opponent lands certain attacks on you, if your opponent makes you stagger while you’re guarding, or if your opponent successfully blocks your attack/s.
• Quick Attack: Swift, low-impact attacks/attack combos, like A + A and B + B or K. These are great for interrupting opponents’ attacks.
• Interrupt: You can “interrupt” your opponents’ attacks by hitting them while they’re in the middle of a combo or about to strike with an Unblockable Attack. Interrupting requires careful timing (you have to wait for a delay in your opponent’s strikes before you butt in) and can be done using Guard Impact or Quick Attacks.
• Guard Impact: Guard Impacts basically “repel” an enemy’s attacks. To do a Guard Impact, watch your opponent’s movement and press Guard (X) + a directional button (Left or Right if Impacting a Low/High attack, Diagonal Left or Diagonal Right for Low attacks). Depending on which directional button/s you press, you will either force the opponent backward in the direction of your impact (opposite of the direction he/she strikes), or cause them to stumble forward in the direction of their attacks. This will give you an opening to do a counter attack.
• Guaranteed Hit: If you manage to strike back at an opponent right after Guarding their attacks, your hit will be an unblockable Guaranteed Hit.
• Insert: Inserts are a subtype of Guaranteed Hit, and can be performed right after an opponent’s attack misses you completely. You can use the 8-Way Run, Crouching Guard, and so on to avoid your opponent’s attacks and do an Insert.
• Unblockable Attack: A powerful attack that will break your Guard and stun you. These take a while to “charge” (you will notice some energy/electrical effects around your opponent when he/she is about to do an Unblockable Attack), so dodge it or interrupt the attack as swiftly as possible.
• Recoverable Stun/Stun Recovery: Recoverable Stun refers to stunned states that you can recover from by rapidly pressing any directional button (doing this is referred to as Stun Recovery).
• Ukemi: When your opponent manages to knock you down, you can get up swiftly by pressing Guard (X) and a directional button simultaneously. This is what’s referred to as “Ukemi”.
• Soul Gauge: The Soul Gauge is that orb you see beside your and your opponent’s life bars. The Soul Gauge slowly “breaks” every time you or your opponent blocks an attack. It starts out colored blue, then it turns green, and then red as it gets closer to breaking. If your Soul Gauge is broken, your armor will break (for example, if you were blocking mostly mid attacks, the armor around your torso will break) you will be in a Soul Crush state.
• Soul Crush: When the Soul Gauge is broken, the character will be in a Soul Crush state, meaning that they will take more damage from attacks and will be susceptible to a Critical Finish.
• Critical Finish: Remember the “Fatality” moves in Mortal Kombat? Critical Finish is something like that; a devastating special move used to knock your opponent out in one blow. This is done using by pressing A + B + K when any one of the following conditions is met: 1) Your opponent’s Soul Gauge is flashing red 2) Your opponent is in a Soul Crush state or 3) You get your opponent into a Soul Crush state when the first strike of your Critical Finish hits.
• Active Purge: Pressing Down Down Down A+B+K will remove your armor all at once. It restores your Soul Gauge (thereby reducing the risk of being hit with a Critical Finish), but lowering your defense significantly.

10. Can you teach me how to use *insert character’s name here*?

Um…no, not really. I only use Seong Mi-na, Cassandra, and Siegfried, so I’m not much of an expert with regard to other characters’ moves, combos, and strategies. You can take a look over at the Soulcalibur IV (PS3) section section of GameFAQs to see if they have any walkthroughs for the character you’re looking for.

And for those looking for walkthroughs for Siegfried (he doesn’t have any in GameFAQs’ Soulcalibur IV section), you can take a look at the Siegfried walkthroughs in the Soulcalibur III section because his moveset in III is pretty much the same as his moveset in IV. Seong Mi-na’s moveset in III is pretty much the same as in IV too, but some of her moves’ names changed in IV. I’m not sure if the other characters’ movesets changed or not, since Mi-na and Siegfried were the only characters I seriously used in III.

You can also save yourself all the trouble from searching for these things online by making use of the game’s Training mode, since you can view all the characters’ move lists there.

—

That’s it for this FAQ for now!

NAMCO BANDAI Games announces the NAMCO SOUNDS™ music label for iTunes

New Label to Offer a Catalogue of Music from the Company’s Vast Library of Games

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (September 2, 2009) – Leading video games developer and publisher NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., today announced the launch of NAMCO SOUNDS™, an exclusive iTunes music label offering re-mastered soundtracks from the company’s own catalogue of games. In partnership with BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD, this marks NAMCO BANDAI Games’ debut into the North American music distribution market with plans to create and offer new content for global distribution.

To inaugurate this launch, NAMCO SOUNDS has released tracks from PAC-MAN®, Xevious®, and SOULCALIBUR® SUITE – THE RESONANCE OF SOULS AND SWORDS. Subsequent releases from games past and present will be available on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.

Only available through NAMCO SOUNDS on Apples iTunes, SOULCALIBUR SUITE – THE RESONANCE OF SOULS AND SWORDS is a special soundtrack that commemorates the September 1 release of SOULCALIBUR: Broken Destiny for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Performed by the Australia-based Eminence Symphony Orchestra which is renowned for their work in anime and videogames, this soundtrack was an intercontinental feat as directions were given from Tokyo with the performance, conducting and recording taking place in Sydney simultaneously.

Single tracks from PAC-MAN, Xevious, and SOULCALIBUR SUITE – THE RESONANCE OF SOULS AND SWORDS retail for $.99 with the entire album available for $2.97 or $2.99 respectively.

###

About NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. is a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer based in Santa Clara, CA. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises including the PAC-MAN®, SOULCALIBUR®, and Tekken® brands. For more information about NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc., and our products log onto http://www.namcobandaigames.com/.

PAC-MAN®, Xevious®, SOULCALIBUR®, SOULCALIBUR®: Broken Destiny™ and NAMCO SOUNDS™ are copyrights, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.

“PlayStation”, “PS” Family logo and “PSP” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Internet connection and Memory Stick® Duo may be required. Player responsible for Wi-Fi fees.

Press Release © 2009 NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.

According to IGN, Dissidia Final Fantasy and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny are going to be released soon! Dissidia will be released by August 25. Soulcalibur will be released September 1.

I have the demo of the US version of Dissidia. As many of you may know, the Japanese version of the game has long since been released. It’s taken a while to translate the game into good ole’ English. But it’s finally here. Almost. The demo is excellent and gives you plenty of content to mess around with to get familiar with the mechanics. So far I haven’t found a single game to match up to Tekken: Dark Resurrection. Dissidia, I’m hoping, will finally be able to match or surpass Tekken in terms of gameplay, story, and longevity.

SoulCalibur is also in my dreams of surpassing Tekken. Tekken, in my opinion, was the single most well polished fighting game on the PSP system. I’m hoping that SoulCalibur does everything Tekken did right and better. More importantly, Kratos is in it ^_^.

Post your thoughts about the potential of these two games. Leave in the comments section which game you think will be better.

Ivy vs Siegfried – Part 1

Ivy vs Siegfried – Part 2

Lizardman vs Sophitia – Part 1

Lizardman vs Sophitia – Part 2

Raphael vs Cassandra

Seong Mi-Na vs Taki

Setsuka vs Mitsurugi

por maxi

Sim, Kratos vai estar presente em Soulcalibur Broken Destiny. Fiquem com o vídeo a seguir, que também mostra como ficou o bigodudo Dampierre.

Just last week I blew nearly Php 1000 to get the mainboard on my PSP replaced…around nine months ago, I accidentally dropped my unit on the floor of the smoking lounge in the office where I used to work in. Initially, there seemed to be no problem with my unit’s performance…until the past couple of weeks, when after having fully charged my unit, after barely an hour of continuous play, the low-battery signal would flash on-screen. I would then turn it on, only to have that same pesky low-batt reminder.

I had it sent to several repair shops…then I decided to take my chances and get my PSP-1000’s motherboard changed.

So far so good…however, one of my cards seems to have a trojan which is preventing me from backing up my saved files (especially for Phantasy Star Portable – I already have a level-65 character there)

Meanwhile, even as I deliberate over getting myself a Nintendo DSi within the year (only to be sidetracked when I saw my nephew’s brand-spankin’- new PS3 *Aw, shit, gotta have that!!!!*)

I hear that the following games are already headed for the PSP within this year:

SoulCalibur:  Broken Destiny (Fall 2009)

SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny PSP trailer

I have played already this one on the Xbox 360 and couldn’t help but fall in love with all that customizability (a la Tekken: Dark Resurrection – also from the good folks at Namco Bandai).  Even while the PSP port will not feature Darth Vader or Yoda – the bonus characters added to the Xbox 360 and Wii versions of this game, I still look forward to playing these characters:

Ivy Valentine

Hilde

All the more reason why I wait with bated breath for this to drop…

Tekken 6 (Fall 2009)

Interview with Namco Bandai developer Katsuhiro Harada regarding what to expect for the upcoming PSP port of Tekken 6.  Suffice to start, the following new characters will be joining in an ever-growing family that includes these hotties:

Zafina

She’s a guardian of an ancient Egyptian tomb.  Her crouching stance and cat-like moves draw comparisons to Christie Monteiro

Bob

Don’t let that mall-cop uniform fool y’all – underneath all that blubber lies the spirit of a free-style karate practitioner.

I just hope that it has backward compatibilty – any of your characters from Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection could be uploaded to their equivalents in this version.

Rock Band Unplugged (June 2009)

GameSpot video preview of Rock Band: Unplugged for the PSP.

Looks tough – believe me.

Little Big Planet (latter half of 2009?)

Yup, still the PS3 version, but that should give you an idea as to how this critically-acclaimed game should play.

Also expected by the last half of 2009 are English-language versions of Monster Hunter Freedom 2G and Dissidia: Final Fantasy.   I’m sticking with my Japanese version of MHF2G (w/ English-language patch)…I hear most of the blood will be taken out in the version to be released as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.  There will also be a new Silent Hill game as well as ports of Army of Two and Assassin’s Creed (scaled, of course, for the PSP)

Meanwhile, I am still enjoying Phantasy Star: Portable on that console (my primary character’s stats – level 67)  while I am off to a good start with Resistance: Retribution (love the newbie-friendly aiming system and great replay value).

PSP gaming

This year PSP has had several game announcements, and there have been numerous rumors for PSP2. Takken 6 and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny have been announced for PSP recently! These two games are going to be part of the PSP’s 2009 arsenal, which also includes: Little Big Planet, Motorstorm, Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite, Patapon 2, Dante’s Inferno, Final Fantasy Dissidea, and you get my point.

Over the past couple of years, PSP basically had four popular games in their line-up: Crisir Core, God of War: Chins of Olympus, Patapon, and now Resistance Retribution. I wonder why DS has been crushing PSP’s heart? PSP seems to have great games coming in the future, but can Sony convince people to buy PSP with top-notch games like they are trying to do with PS3?

Here is a Takken 6 trailer for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Avec Soulcalibur, Tekken fait partie de ces jeux qui nous ont mis une claque sur la première PlayStation avec des présentations de ouf. Le sixième épisode de cette série culte étant prévu avant la fin 2009, de nombreux trailers filtrent sur le net, et je dois avouer que je suis un peu déçu. J’ai l’impression qu’on est bien loin de ce que peuvent proposer les consoles nouvelle génération, et que le jeu n’exploite pas à fond toutes les capacités de la X-Box 360 et de la PS3. En attendant de voir ce que ça donne sur mon LCD pour me faire un avis plus ferme.