Soul Calibur II (NGC version)

I've put about 1.5 hours into this and I'm just going to post some impressions, Devil_Gans may be able to corroborate this info with the PS2 version:

-Contrary to some belief, SC2 will save on your U.S. memory card
-Menus are in English; narrator is in English, voices are in Japanese; Weapons Master is in Japanese (meaning I have to wait for a FAQ on this to even attempt it, ); And there are no English subtitles
-Astaroth causes a little less damage than in SC1, Ivy causes more damage than in SC1
-Yunsung's A+G throw has WAY too much priority
-The GC controller works almost perfectly with this game; the default mapping is A=Horizontal Slash Y=Vertical Slash, X=Kick, B,L,R=Block, Z=ABK, C-Stick= A+K, A+G, B+K, B+G that corresponds to Up, Left, Right, Down
-Link is available from the start and he handles a little differently than the other fighters, his C-Stick moves cause him to either use a bomb, use his bow, or use his boomerang, the fourth A+G combo is a throw
-Music is superb
-Graphics are superb
-Stages are superb
-Inferno still isn't much of challenge, instead of two wins, you only have to win once, except that twice during the fight he powers up and switches fighting styles.

Thats all I can think of for now, I'm sure some of you will have questions.

<small>[ March 28, 2003, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Buro Destruct ]</small>

I also have it, but can you explain more about the save system. It seams that when i power on the game my save is not there.

Well, make sure you turn on auto-save. Then to manually save your game in the Options screen, press Y (NOT START, Y) on the screen thats a sea of Japanese text with the word "Start" being the only English one. When you're presented with the "choice" screen, where theres two pieces of text spaced under a sentence, the game defaults to the "Cancel" option, which is the longer piece of text, the smaller piece of text is the "Ok", so select that.

Does Link automatically aim his arrows at you or it doesn't? I was wondering if you have to aim it manually or not?

Um...Yes it does save on a US memory card...but it reformats it to Japanese...check your saves on the card...

My card was not reformatted, all my saves are still there.

And Link does auto aim to the extent of vertical movement, he will aim up at a jumping character, but not if they sidestep.

<small>[ March 29, 2003, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: Buro Destruct ]</small>

Heh, i am sure the GC version is also an arcade perfect port.BTW, how was link?
Is he too powerful like Heihachi is or is he well balanced?

Devil_Gans:
Heh, i am sure the GC version is also an arcade perfect port.BTW, how was link?
Is he too powerful like Heihachi is or is he well balanced?

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Link is pretty powerful, although he does have a bit of a learning curve, since he technically has 4 weapons at once, and it takes a little work getting him to switch between them quickly. I.E. -If you manage to successfully use a bomb (the computer usually sidesteps or jumps), it totally disrupts the flow of the fight, since it sends them flying a good 30 feet into the air (at least you can fire your bow at them during this time)

I have also come to the conclusion that throws in general have too much priority. I have cancelled a lot of moves with a throw, even charged up and unblockable moves.

I played it breifly on Friday night. So far it seems great but I have to wait to get my own copy. Link is really cool though too bad you cant choose the blue outfit.

MilkManX:
I played it breifly on Friday night. So far it seems great but I have to wait to get my own copy. Link is really cool though too bad you cant choose the blue outfit.

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The blue tunic is one of the few secret outfits for Link and to get it, you have to play the weapon master mode but I do not know how far in that mode you have to be in order to get it.

Hmmm...I'm still debating on buying this game (and which version) since I've played it a bit in arcades and to me it doesn't feel as balanced as Soul Calibur 1 for some of the reasons already mentioned here. Part of the reason SC1 is probably my favorite 3D fighter ever is because the game had a lot of variety and felt balanced, something SC2 seems to lack for me. But then again, I haven't played a LOT of the game yet so I could be wrong. :o

Maybe I'll just buy the JP Gamecube version now and wait for the USA PS2 version.