Soul Calibur V

[Kiarax]

http://fr.twitch.tv/kayane_fr
Pyrrha = Godlike! Ivy seems to be ridiculous in this build too.

[Insanecyclone]

Bug during ce causes start to show up

[Xno Kappa]

Ivy's tits are just retarded at this point lol.

Spoiler: show

[warc]

I'm hoping for an Assassin's Creed 3 character.

areyouawizard.jpeg

http://www.shadowloo.com/rumor/rumor...o-soul-calibur

edit: this is only a rumor, not confirmed.

[Tyrath]

That would be pretty awesome if it's true.

[Tobi]

Nightmare, Raphael, and Leixia reveal, plus some screens of the new stages as well

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/20...soulcalibur-v/

[Xno Kappa]

I know lolstory and everything, but how does Nightmare still have Soul Edge as his default character design?

[Insanecyclone]

Might be that way to avoid spoilers or something.

[Insanecyclone]

GT TV just showed the Ezio trailer. Was awesome.

[Kiarax]

GT TV just showed the Ezio trailer. Was awesome.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ex...calibur/722737

[-Zer0-]

Welp, I'm sold. Take my money, Namco.

[Kaelan?]

I don't normally care about SC, but he's got a pretty damn awesome character theme

[Insanecyclone]

yt ver

[Tyrath]

Ugh, pre-order bonuses. Hate.

Loving Ezio though.

[Insanecyclone]

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/21...soulcalibur-v/


Why Namco Bandai Picked Ezio For Soulcalibur V

Seeing Ezio revealed as the guest character during a Soulcalibur V event earlier this week was a surprise. While Ezio fits into the world better than characters with lightsabers, Namco Bandai has not worked with Ubisoft before. They could have pulled in a Capcom character maybe even a hero from Dark Souls since they’re working closely with From Software. Why Ezio and why Ubisoft?



"One of the key focuses of our business when I joined the company is how do we Westernize our portfolio and make it broader," Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing, said to Siliconera. "We wanted to bring in a character that works in the Western world. When you look at where Ubisoft is, especially with Ezio, it brings us in the Western market and gets everyone excited about the game."



"More importantly, the fighting style is so unique it’s a perfect fit in the Soulcalibur world, which is why we went to seek out Ubisoft," Choi added. "We have an opportunity to expand in the Western market, vice-versa for them they can get their character in the Eastern market. For both of us, it’s a win-win situation."



Ezio is a multi-weapon character. He has a Roman longsword, crossbow, stiletto, a concealed gun, and his hidden blade.

[Insanecyclone]

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/21...ectors-editon/


Soulcalibur V Arrives On January 31, In A Book If You Get The Collector’s Editon

Namco Bandai set January 31, 2012 as the release date for Soulcalibur V in North America and February 3rd in Europe. Retailers will get two versions a standalone game and a book bound collector’s edition.


The collector’s edition includes Soulcalibur V for either PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, the game’s soundtrack, a making of Soulcalibur V DVD, hardbound art book, artwork, a letter from the Project Soul staff, and special character creation items packed in a book.



Dark Knight and Paladin armor are exclusive to the collector’s edition.

http://www.destructoid.com/assassin-...v-214198.phtml


Assassin's Creed's Ezio a 'natural fit' for Soulcalibur V

Let the official announcement commence: Ezio Auditore da Firenze, of Assassin’s Creed fame, is Soulcalibur V’s special guest character. Some of you may have already seen a screen that was leaked -- thanks to (I can only assume) a fellow “journalist” of the highest, moralistic integrity -- but didn't convey just how well the master assassin fits into the world of Soulcalibur that a good old-fashioned written preview can do.

I’ll save my diatribe on embargoes and videogame journalism for a later date because frankly I’d rather share my recent hands-on time with Ezio in Soulcalibur V. With that said, now that the proverbial cat is officially out of the bag, the question I’m sure many have been wondering can finally be answered: How does Ezio stack up amongst Soulcalibur's cast of eclectic characters?

Simply put, the Italian stallion is a beast. While the full roster has not been completely revealed, he holds his own respectively amongst those who are playable. He’s quick, strong, balanced and most importantly prepared for every situation. Then again, he is the master assassin and having an answer for any odds he might face is kind of his thing.

Not since Link, in Soul Calibur II, has a character had such a wide range of options. At Ezio’s disposal are his Roman longsword, stiletto, crossbow, hidden gun, and hidden blade; making him Soulcalibur V’s most resourceful combatant.

“One thing the team really wanted to play with is the fact that Ezio has so many different weapons,” explained brand manager of Soulcalibur Dennis Le. “In Soulcalibur all the characters basically have one weapon … The team wanted that challenge of really implementing him, getting a lot of the same cool moves and attacks to really get that feeling of Ezio into Soulcalibur.”

Depending on the situation Ezio can be played as either a long or short-ranged character. His crossbow can be fired across the length of the screen, but it’s easily avoidable by players familiar with the eight-way run system. It’s blockable, but can hit high or low to help mix things up. Thankfully, it doesn’t feel as cheap as Link’s bow did. Where I found the crossbow most useful though was when paired with certain combos. For example, double tapping forward, followed by vertical strike and then kick has Ezio perform a sword strike followed by a lightning quick crossbow shot.

His other projectile, the hidden gun, is by far his most intricate weapon. It’s slow, highly telegraphed, and hard to connect with. But if your prey is foolish enough to stand in its way is a guaranteed strike as it’s one of Ezio’s unblockable attacks. Success with this weapon generally came on accident for me, unless I was executing Ezio’s Critical Edge attack, in which ever part of the assassin’s deadly repertoire is implemented.

In similar fashion to Hilde, Ezio’s two swords offer him a strong mid-range game. His assassin’s blade on the other hand -- no pun intended -- gives him that in your face tactic similar to Taki or Natsu, albeit minus the speed for which these ladies are known. Having such a multitude of weapons makes him a perfect character for players of many styles. He’s a culmination of many of the series past and present warriors, but at the same time feels very fresh.

“The team wanted to do a very balanced character with Ezio,” says Le. “Which gives him a bit of speed, but also some strong power attacks.”

With five staples of his arsenal ready to use at a moment’s notice, I found my time playing as one of gaming’s newest iconic characters quite enjoyable. I’ve been a fan of Namco’s weapon-based fighter way before the Calibur days and have had my fun playing with the myriad guest characters that have graced the series, but regardless of how cool some of them have been, none have felt as home as Ezio.

The decision to bring Ezion into the roster was no small undertaking for the folks at Namco. I had known for some time that Soulcalibur V’s special guest character was going to fit well into the series, so naturally thoughts of Jack Sparrow or perhaps Ned Stark -- of Game of Thrones fame -- going tête-à-tête with the likes of Mitsurugi and crossed my mind. But seeing Ubisoft’s poster boy, as elated as I am, caught me off-guard considering Namco’s recent love affair with Capcom.

“The development team was looking at kinds of brands that we wanted to partner with for Soulcalibur V,” explained Le. ”It’s a mix of wanting to bring a notable gaming brand back as the guest for Soulcalibur V and looking at what characters really fit in the world of Soulcalibur and would make sense. With Assassin’s Creed and Ezio it was almost too natural of a fit. There are a lot of similarities between the time of Assassin’s Creed and Soulcalibur V and we thought that Ezio as the character, as the master assassin, would be a great character to face off against a lot of the heroes and characters we have in Soulcalibur.”

How Ezio comes to be in the world of Soulcalibur is still a mystery that Namco was not ready to share, but I have my speculations. One thing for sure, it sounds like that the collaboration with Ubisoft has brought forth a more cognitive narrative connecting the two -- something that couldn’t really be said about Soulcalibur IV’s Star Wars ensemble.

“In the timing when he comes in there is actually a block of time in Ezio’s life, his timeline, where it’s not documented,” shares Le. “That is the time when he was brought into the Soulcalibur world.”

Whether it is from a glitch in the Animus or perhaps a side effect from using the piece of Eden that brings Ezio into the thick of things, fans of both Assassin’s Creed and Soulcalibur have much to be excited for. To think we still don’t even know about roughly half the cast, character creation, downloadable content, and whatever RPG-esque mode the game is sure to incorporate. Hopefully Namco sheds the light soon, as January 31 has never seemed farther away.

[AoE]

Not really hype for Ezio but he does make a lot more damn sense than all the other bonus characters.

[aru]

Ezio's a good choice but a Dark Souls character or two would have been pretty sweet.

[Tobi]

Soulcalibur V Hands-On With Ezio, Leixia, Natsu, Viola, Patroklos, And Zwei

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/21...klos-and-zwei/

At a Soulcalibur V event I got to sit down and play a new build with all of the characters Namco Bandai announced so far. Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the guest character from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series, was the first fighter I tried.

Ezio keeps his weapons hidden and only draws his blades to attack. He’s a close range character who can change weapons during combos. One of his long range tools is his crossbow, which you can use to shoot enemies from far away. Bolts fly fast, but have limited horizontal range. It’s relatively easy to dodge these with a quickstep motion. I found I could trick other players by shooting low bolts, which would require players to guard while kneeling. Once Ezio gets up close he can chain one move into the next with ease, including finishing with a crossbow bolt. That’s actually what he does for his critical edge. "Full Synchronization" starts with overhead slices and ends with a slow motion crossbow bolt.

Critical Edges changed since Soulcalibur V, they’re more like super attacks from other fighting games. Each player has a Soul Gauge and using a Critical Edge drains one full meter. The Soul Gauge refills when you take and deal damage. Also as a comeback move of sorts, if you lose two matches in a row your character will glow red, charge up, and gain one Soul Gauge meter. Most of the Soul Gauge commands are similar to Street Fighter with rolls and pressing three buttons at the same time. The default controls also assign all three buttons to R2/RT. Ezio’s "Full Synchronization", for example, is QCF –> QCF –> R2. Characters also have a Brave Edge move, which takes up half of a Soul Gauge bar. You can use this mid-combo by pressing all three buttons during select attacks, like Hilde’s "Red Storm" (forward, forward, triangle + R2). Quickstep may be the most important move because you can dodge vertical attacks by double tapping up or down.

After I got the hang of Ezio, I tried Leixia out. She’s Xianghua’s teenage daughter and has a similar dance-like fighting style with circular motions. She doesn’t have all of her mother’s moves, though. The attack where Xianghua alternates with upwards and downwards stabs wasn’t in the build. I found Leixia to be most effective when quickstepping. After dodging an opponent’s vertical strike I could chain a bunch of horizontal attacks. Her Critical Edge, "River of Stars" starts with a flurry of sword strikes and ends with her making a cute pose.

Pyrrah fights pretty much like her mother, Sophitia, right down to her flip kick. She can launch enemies with a sword uppercut and hit enemies rolling on the ground with a quick stab. Patroklos, Pyrrah’s younger brother, has a different fighting style. He’s more aggressive, a bit faster, and I think he has a longer reach too. One amusing move to use was a speedy toe stab, which could cancel attacks from slower characters like Astaroth.

Natsu, Taki’s disciple, is probably the most agile newcomer. Like her master, she can leap over enemies and surprise them. Natsu has some kicking combos, but she’s just as effective with her two short swords. You can do a basic combo with two horizontal slashes and a vertical attack that ends with a thwack on the head. She can also launch enemies in the air with an explosion just like Taki and one of those moves is an unblockable. Once airborne, Natsu can finish them off with an Izuna Drop. Natsu also has a move that can confuse enemies where she flickers above them and on the ground before making a strike. Her Critical Edge, "Great Curse of Arahabaki" shoots vertical shockwaves in two directions. You can combo into this or hit enemies at a distance.

I’m not sure I got a good feel with Z.W.E.I. This new character has a sword with a cross-like handle, but he holds it like a tonfa. Z.W.E.I. also has a werewolf buddy that can pop out if you extend an a combo the werewolf, E.I.N., will deal the finishing blow. E.I.N.’s uppercut is useful as a linker since it lifts an enemy in the air. E.I.N.’s other moves sends players flying backwards out of combo continuing range. "Werewolf Confess," Z.W.E.I.’s Critical Edge calls E.I.N. out who grabs an enemy and slams them to the ground with a pile driver.

On the other hand, I got the hang of Viola. She has two weapons, a Freddy Kruger-like claw and a magic orb (a la Rose). When her orb is "equipped" Viola has a little more range, but in general she’s a very up close fighter. I said "equipped" because Viola can change stances and release the orb. It stays on the battlefield and you can call it back at anytime, usually hitting the enemy in the process. This move can distract an opponent and make them block or sidestep. The orb can hit either middle or low, if you want to play more mind games. The low orb strike tripped players up during matches. You can also use it to hit enemies knocked on the ground after finishing a combo.

"Arcanum Azrael," Viola’s Critical Edge, creates a radius of blue energy that sucks an enemy in. While they’re caught in the attack, Viola is free to strike them with combos. "Arcanum Azrael" launches wherever your orb is. If your orb is far away for your opponent it will completely miss, but I imagine clever players will use this like a trap.

Soulcalibur V comes out for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 31. Europe gets the game the same week on February 3.

[Insanecyclone]