Soul Calibur IV

[Big D]

Okay, you people have your little Vader/Yoda Thread, now this Game deserves a real thread.

IGN: Soulcalibur IV Preview

So far, the Character Designs and artwork are beautiful, and it's fun that they introduced destructible environments. (Mostly this seems just for show so far, like bark on trees breaking, cracks in the floor, not sure if it will go farther than visuals.)

Here are some of my favorite screen shots so far.

IGN: Soulcalibur IV Image - They seem to be keeping with the Ivy loosing clothes trend.

IGN: Soulcalibur IV Image - While not a big Raphael Fan, this new design in him is stunning.

IGN: Soulcalibur IV Image
Nightmare simply looks like a demon Hellspawn.

And of course Mitsurugi on the main page is also amazing.

That useless website doesn't want me to look at the pictures. It prefers to show me ads.

:Edit: Finally figured out how to make it co-operate.[q=Kentarou]Ivy is, well, still pretty... but couldn't they have kept her, like, smooth beyond all reason? And the entirety of her body the exact same shade, with no imperfections? I don't want to look at a human woman dressed like that. It's fugly.[/q]Personally, I'm glad to have characters with 'realistic' imperfections. I just wish they'd given Ivy realistic clothing too. Her outfits would be absolutely impractical, and unsafe to fight in, as well as breaching a slew of sumptuary and decency laws...

But for the most part, the new designs look pretty interesting. They've even made a few attempts to draw influence from real 16th century designs, which is a plus. Hilde's armour, for instance, reminds of the some of the ornate 'parade armour' that was worn for show, or sometimes for tournaments, later on. Tira's outfit gives the vague impression that she mugged a small Landsknecht and stole half his clothes...
Most of the armour is completely silly, which is understandable; but it'd be nice if a game company could occasionally employ someone who understands how and why real-life armour worked the way it did.


Eventually, I'll own a PS3. Soul Calibur IV is already a must-buy, for me.