Soul Calibur the weapon based fighter finally hits the PSP, so how does the game compare to it's console big brother? Read on to find out

Back when Square Enix announced this game I was skeptical since their try at a shooter was an abysmal Dirge of Cerberus. How would they do at a fighting game? At least in my opinion, pretty darn great!

When starting the game, the available Story at the start, the prologue starts off with the unnamed hero known as Warrior of Light coming to Cosmos`s rescue. After playing through what is basically a tutorial of the game, you are left to choose from the 10 Stories each character offers, you`ll only start with the heroes from their respective games. After clearing one of any story presented, you unlock Shade Impulse and take the fight to Chaos`s plane and to freedom.

~STORY~ [7/10]

The game`s story, in general, is subpar at best. Each character has lines from their respective games (or movies in Cloud`s sad case) which ends up being forced at times. The best story by far, in the game, was Tidus`s story. It felt like playing FFX al over again, which was a plus to me. The other stories feel forced, like if someone was forcing another to fight for the sake of fighting and tons of cheesy lines ranging from "Friendship owns all" to "My heart is stronger". The game is best enjoyed as the stories separate, not one in whole.

~VISUALS/GRAPHICS~ [10/10]

I`ll bite, for a PSP game, it looks damn good. Even better than Crisis Core in some level. Each character is presented with deadly accuracy as to their Art Designs and not necesarily game designs, for example, Terra`s game design was green haired, her art design was blond-ish. The Story itself is presented in a board game style, that mimic the current character`s stage/world. The stages are re-designed from the originals, while they all look fantastic, their designs, especially FF7`s, are awkward and meant to show off that your guy/gal can fly. SE is never one to phone in on graphics, and this is another proof of that.

~SOUND~ [10/10]

Perfect, simply perfect. From the amazing remixes SE did to each game`s memorable song, like FF7`s Boss Battle theme and the legendary One Winged Angel theme to Final Fantasy IX`s battle remix, amazing job by Square Enix. What surprised me the most, was the acting, the actors did a great job, Sephiroth`s evil, yet calm voice, Tidus`s hot willed attitude and Squall`s unending ego, a lot of lines are filled with emotion that screams good job!. The ones I didn`t like personally, were Cloud`s and Terra`s, Cloud sounds like a zombie and Terra sounds like a plushie doll when hit. Remember to wear earphones so you can listen to the awesome tracks in the game!

~GAMEPLAY~[8/10]

You start off with a set number of Brave Points. Those points are then used to damage your opponents. Hitting the Square button brings one of the character`s HP Attacks which deal damage according to the Brave you have. You gain brave by hitting the O button. In addition, by using Equipment and Leveling Up you can further customize you character, in addition, battle enhancers, or dubbed Summons can save you from a life or death situation. While in game, sometimes a white bell appears, this is the EX Core, by using them or picking up EX Force Orbs (obtainable by attacking opponent). While the EX Gauge is full, hitting R+Square puts you in EX Mode, an improved version of your character. Doing an HP attack while in EX Mode, will activate EX Burst, a finishing move that may deal massive damage to your opponent. The system works well, but the in game camera, especially in Pandemonium stage, is horrible, it won`t follow you or will get stuck when activating Pursuit Mode in closed spaces, which is a major problem and will lead to an uintentional loss. All in all, a very fun battle system that makes you come back for more. Multiplayer is limited to only Ad Hoc Mode, but is stable and rarely lags.

~REPLAY VALUE & CONTENT~[10/10]

The game has loads of content and extras to unlock. The PP Catalogue contains everything from voice data, to player Icons for your Friend Card, to unlockable Music Tracks and basically everything available in game. A game that easily may take 100+ Hours to 100% completion.

Overall

SCORE: [9.5/10] - Excellent-

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