Soul Calibur Legends

I have always been a fan of the Soul Games. When I was a kid I loved Soul Blade and have owned every game after that. So when I noticed Soulcalibur Legends at my local store, I snatched it up right away. As I played this game, I realized something. The Soul games are the best fighting games I have ever played, it just doesn't translate well to the adventure genre.

The control scheme for the Wii is pretty easy to use and the graphics are solid, the main gripe I have is the gameplay itself. This game is incredibly easy and the levels are extremely repetitive. The story moves along at a decent pace, it just really isn't that interesting. All that being said, play this game. I just wouldn't shell out 50 bucks for it. I haven't had any of my buddies over since I got the game so the multiplayer action might redeem SC: L, but it took me only a few hours of play to beat the Quest mode.

Legends is a good addition to the Soul mythos, I just can't recommend this game to anyone but a completionist.

Soul Calibur Legends follows the story of Siegfried, and expounds upon the story between the games Soul Blade and Soul Calibur. Along the way you meet several more characters from the Soul Calibur Universe.

Ultimately, how you view this game depends purely on your preferences. Soul Calibur Legends shares characters and a storyline from the Soul Calibur series - that's it.

Let me try it this way: if you like Streets of Rage or Final Fight (which I do), you'll probably like this game. If you liked Sword of the Berserk, you'll be extremely familiar with, and enjoy, this style of game. If you're a hardcore Soul Calibur fan yearning for a more in-depth back story than what the Soul Calibur series provides in character endings, you may or may not like this game. If you're looking purely for an in depth combat game for the Wii like... hmm, oh, the Soul Calibur series, you will not like this game. And as we see from previous reviews, this is generally the case.

As far as action games go, the story arc is fairly in-depth; though, compared to RPGs, the storyline is almost non existent. The game assumes you know these characters, so there's very, very little character development for playable characters. Sometimes irritatingly, we learn much too much about the NPCs.

Repetition is the hallmark of beat 'em ups. There's no getting around that, otherwise Final Fight would've been a five minute game. If you're not a fan of or cannot tolerate mindless repetition, steer clear. Where this game shines is the combat system, which is tailored beautifully for the Wii.

Instead of the repetitive button mashing, almost all fighting controls are done with the nunchuk and wii-mote. Quickly flicking the nunchuk will have you strafe and dash, and moving the wiimote will result in an attack.

Let me be clear: there isn't much else past this. The gamely relies solely on these mechanics for enjoyment. There's no alternate configuration, i.e. using the gamecube controller. Quite frankly, if that were the case, this game would be exceedingly dull.

Finally, you need a bit of patience as Siegfried is a bit of a slow character, so the true enjoyment of playing isn't with him but with faster characters unlocked later, such as Lloyd, Sophitia, and Taki.

The good: The combat is surprisingly satisfying, since there's a tactile element (duh) that other games of this genre lack. The storyline is interesting, in that it fills in some of the gaps in the Soul Calibur universe. If you remember the mission mode from the SC series, the missions are set up in the exact same fashion, and finishing a mission averages about 10 minutes - a good amount of time for 'get in, get out' casual playing.

The bad: Because there are a lot of enemies, you'll find yourself with the dreaded 'wii elbow'. I can't imagine playing this game for several hours straight, since fatigue does affect the gameplay. The missions are too repetitive (you'll find yourself in the same locations fairly frequently), and there are too many of them - this kind of genre almost requires the game span to be short, which this game is not.

The gist: the actual gameplay is where this game shines, but Namco dulled it by making too much of it. Thankfully, missions are short so you can play when you please, but don't expect to finish this game anytime soon. Four stars for gameplay, three stars overall for the game.

A spin-off to a successful franchise is almost never a good thing. The games are usually weaker than the main series and there's usually not as much effort put into them. There are a few exceptions but not many. Soul Calibur Legends is not an exception. In fact it may very well be one of the worst video game spin-offs to hit the scene in recent memory.

There's not much of a story here. You get to watch a cutscene take place and get an introduction as to what's going on, but from there the story becomes a confusing mess. It almost makes no sense. That aside, you'd think the gameplay would be something to admire but that may very well be the worst part about this game. There's really not much to it and sometimes it's just downright unfair.

You'll go into a level by selecting a character a two companions. You see some of your favorite Soul Calibur characters like Astorath, Sophitia and Taki. You'll even be able to play as Lloyd Irving of Tales of Symphonia fame. The controls aren't bad here. By swinging the Wii Remote you'll be able to do horizontal and vertical slashes. You'll use the Nunchuck to move your character around. You can also block attacks, perform charged attacks and strife around. The motion sensor controls of swinging the remote for sword swipes feels a little tacked on at times, though. It isn't that, which is annoying about the controls. What's annoying is that there is no challenge to the game whatsoever. If you simply swing the wii remote horizontally or vertically like a madman you'll have no problem fairing in combat.

You're also approached by the same enemies over and over again. This wouldn't really be a problem if there were a variety of them. It's basically the same three things over and over again. Worse than that, however, is the level design and camera. The levels are horrible in their design. There are traps that come from no where and sometimes the camera just doesn't work well enough. You may round a corner and the camera won't work out well enough for you to be able to see yourself before you take damage. Level designs are also boring and uninspired.

The game is reduced to being nothing more than a hack and slash. And it'll mostly consist of you swinging the wii remote in a craze. There's nothing challenging here at all. The level designs and gameplay as a whole are repetitive.

There's also a two player co-op mode, but that can't save the gameplay at all. There's even a versus, but you can use the same madman waving technique that you used in the actual adventure to do battle. In short, it's boring. If you really want to fight against a friend, it'd probably just be better to invest in one of the main series games.

Sadly, the graphics aren't stellar either. Much of the game is pretty ugly. Character models aren't so bad but everything is just downright ugly. Even by the Wii's standards it could be better. The voice acting isn't too bad, but the dialog and written script are absolutely horrible.

Even if you're a big Soul Calibur fan, Legends is not a worthwhile game at all. If you've never played Soul Calibur before, don't let this game be your first foray into the series. Pick up one of the games from the main series and pass this one by.