Soulcalibur Legends (Wii) Review
It’s not uncommon to see a major series get a side story specifically created for the Nintendo Wii. With the recent release of Soulcalibur IV for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, the team over at Project Soul also decided that the Wii shouldn’t be without its Soulcalibur action and as such decided to release an exclusive side story designed with the Wii’s motion controls in mind. That game is Soulcalibur Legends. For a third party Wii game, its pretty fun to play; and it’s the only Soulcalibur game where Ivy is actually easy to control!
Soulcalibur Legends takes place in the time period between (very little known) Soul Edge and the (much more well-known) Soulcalibur. The game primarily follows the story of Siegfried Schtauffen, the “poster boy” for the series who is pretty much Soulcalibur’s version of Darth Vader, except he lived after his descent into evil, and became a better person because of it. Upon finding the legendary cursed blade, Soul Edge, Siegfried has an encounter with Cervantes de Leon, a pirate who many fans of the series will know, and is subsequently tasked by the Holy Roman Empire to find the remaining shards of Soul Edge in order to defeat Barbaros of the Ottoman Empire. Although it’s not an overall interesting story, with several carbon copied characters being created for the series, it does do a lot for the series in illustrating the path that Siegfried took to become Nightmare. The game does a great job of foreshadowing the events to come, and fans of the series will feel accomplished knowing the details brought up.
In addition to Siegfried, several other characters make an appearance, with some even being playable. Nightmare, of course, makes an appearance towards the end of the game, with the aforementioned Cervantes appearing as a boss character also. Lizardman, Beserker and Assassin, who all made appearances in Soulcalibur II, also appear as generic enemy characters (similar to their appearance in the main series). Players will find themselves playing as Mitsurugi, Ivy Valentine (who is oddly showing less skin than in Soulcalibur 4), Sophitia Alexandra, Taki, a prototype Astaroth and of course Seigfried Schtauffen. Finally, Lloyd Irving, of the classic Tales of Symphonia, also appears as a guest playable character.
The first thing players will notice when playing Soulcalibur Legends for the first time is that the graphics are pretty good for a Wii game, and run at a fully fluid 60 frames per second, giving the game a very polished feel. The character models are all very faithful to the artwork presented, although they are notably toned down from even their Soulcalibur II appearances. The environments are all pretty bland, however, and they don’t differ much from being a square room with hardly any obstacles or landmarks in between. That being said, they facilitate the type of gameplay perfectly and almost every environment can easily be recognised as one of the arenas in the main series games. Typically, there are hardly any environments repeated and each of the environments is definitely varied. Cutscenes, although sparse, occur at a much lower frame rate and as such they lack the polish of the game when it’s being played in motion. All other cutscenes take the form of fully text dialogue between two character portraits, which although drawn very well, don’t fit the series artwork. Overall, the game is a mixed bag graphically, but is still delivers.
Soulcalibur Legends is perhaps the most different title in the series compared to the other games. Instead of being a one on one fighter, the game takes the form of an action adventure. Players require a nunchuk to play, with the nunchuk being used for movement, to activate a “hyper mode” and to block. Movement of the nunchuk itself will allow the controllable character to dodge in the direction the nunchuk is moved. Dodging just as an enemy attacks will allow the player to perform an edge impact, which is kind of like a counter move. All the rest of the attacks are performed by swinging the Wii remote, and let me tell you that this is one of the best 1:1 control methods that I’ve ever seen. Moving the Wiimote from the right makes your character swing his sword from the right. Using the Wiimote, up to five movements can be made. Vertical and horizontal slashes can be made from both directions possible, while a thrust move is also possible. Additionally, players can link these moves together to create combos and this is where the game really shines – the combat system is very deep for a game of this genre. Sometimes, however, the game can misinterpret movements; but with a little tinkering of the sensitivity options, the controls can be perfected.
Gameplay is pretty simplistic though, in that it purely consists of removing all enemies and progressing to the next room, with some pretty crude puzzles thrown in for good measure. The gameplay is fairly formulaic and the environments are pretty much the same as others but with new textures thrown in. The game allows players to undertake missions as they become available, but in the order they deem fit. Upon selecting a mission from a map, players will be briefed by Iska, a jester who is accompanying Siegfried, and then will choose two characters to take into the mission, whom can be swapped freely on the fly during gameplay. The biggest drawcard, and perhaps the element that makes Soulcalibur Legends the most enjoyable, is the ability to play through the game both co-operatively as well as competitively. It really makes the game so much more enjoyable but no doubt will lead many to wonder why their lounge room is filled with two Wiimote waving idiots.
The soundtrack for Soulcalibur Legends is orchestrated and very fitting for the series and the events that occur. The set pieces appropriately match the events that are occurring in the game, and as such further enhance the experience. The pieces are all varied enough because they don’t sound repetitive and you never really notice that either.
The only real problem with Soulcalibur Legends is that once it’s completed, there really isn’t a whole lot to do. Although alternate costumes can be unlocked, and there is also the ability to use all the characters in all the levels, even before they are recruited into the party. Outside of that though, there really isn’t a whole lot to do. With the main game lasting about ten hours, it’s still a pretty substantial game, especially when playing through it with a friend.
Soulcalibur Legends is a competent spin off which breaks free of the stereotype that all fighting franchises’ spin off titles are less than average. Soulcalibur Legends manages to tell the tragic story of a fallen soldier while still having gameplay that not only works well but also manages to take full advantage of the platform it’s been delivered on.
Well, until Wii MotionPlus, that is.
