Soulcalibur III

Soulcalibur III (ソウルキャリバーIII, SōruKyaribā Surī) is a fighting game produced by Namco as a sequel to Soulcalibur II and the fourth installment in the Soul series. It was originally released exclusively for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. An improved arcade version, Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition, was released in 2006.

Gameplay

The game includes new modes such as Tales of Souls, an interactive story-driven mode comparable to Edge Master Mode from Soul Edge; Character Creation, in which players can create custom characters from 13 total occupations, with multiple weapons and fighting styles; and Chronicles of the Sword, a real-time-play mode that allows players to take their created souls through adventures of their own. The game also has the largest character roster — 24 characters playable in Tales of Souls mode and an additional 18 playable in all other modes — and largest battle stage selection in Soul series history.

The Character Creation Mode allows the player to choose from several classes, clothing and armor, and physical features. Most of the classes can use up to five disciplines, three of which are unique, and two of which are "Soul of ..." disciplines: an exact replica of a main story character's moves. The created fighter's personality can be altered, which influences their quotes and their actions during battle. However, the personality is chosen by the equipment the character wears, and not directly by the player.

Soulcalibur V

Soulcalibur V (ソウルキャリバーV, SōruKyaribā Faibu) is a fighting game developed and released by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. The sixth main installment in Namco's Soul series of fighting games, Soulcalibur V is the follow-up to Soulcalibur IV and retains the weapon-based combat that characterizes the series but follows a new character, Patroklos, who aims to rid his sister of a curse brought upon her by an ancient weapon. The game was positively received but was often criticized for the removal of many iconic characters from the earlier games in the series and its lackluster story mode.

Gameplay

Like the previous games in the series, Soulcalibur V is a weapon-based fighting game. Players use high and low vertical and horizontal attacks to damage opposing player characters and can block incoming attacks or parry enemies' moves to gain a tactical advantage. The game features a tweaked "Critical Edge" system, allowing players to fill up a meter and unleash powerful special attacks.

Soulcalibur II

Soulcalibur II (ソウルキャリバーII, Sōrukyaribā Tsū) is a 2002 video game developed by Project Soul and published by Namco and the third installment in the Soul series of weapon-based fighting games. It was originally released for the arcades, before being ported to the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox in 2003. The game's plot revolves around an assortment of characters, each with the goal of either destroying Soul Edge or obtaining it to achieve personal goals. Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II had improvements in graphics and the game system and introduced several new and guest characters.

The game was a major critical and commercial success. Its high-definition port, titled Soulcalibur II HD Online, was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.

Gameplay

Key game system improvements include an easier "step" and "avoid" systems, arena walls (rather than ring-out ability on all sides) and wall-specific moves, a three-step Soul Charge system, a clash system that is used when two attacks would hit each other resulting in a white flash, Guard Break attacks which put a blocking player into a post guard-impact state, just frame moves awarding additional hits to players who could time their command inputs well, and a revised Guard Impact system that removed height-based Impact moves and instead used a more unified system (high and mid attacks are countered using Repels, mid and low attacks are countered using Parries).