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Wonderful PS2 exclusive fighter.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 31 / 35
Date: December 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

To begin with, theres a huge amount of unlockable content in this game. You will be unlocking new costumes, characters, weapons and things every single day you play... for weeks!
This is an awesome addition to fighting games, which i feel lose their replayability too quick.

The new content adds a lot to an already jam packed game.
Theres 30 characters to take through story mode and theres a giant strategy/fighting side game called chronicles of the sword. This side game took me 12 hours to get through. Thats a pretty decent chunk for a side game.

Theres also a decent amount of fun little games in the mode called Soul Arena though some of the games are a bit too difficult.

The thing that seems a little screwy in this game and is its biggest flaw is its AI. This game has no difficulty adjuster so the game is always locked in the same difficulty. The AI is extremely smart, or cheap, and can string together fast moves and reactions that a human opponent cant. Its extremely lame to lose 75% of your life bar to one string of cheap attacks by the computer.

But strangely, even though the computer AI is very good and cheap, there are some basic moves which the computer just cannot block. Want to beat the game without losing a single battle? Pick Sophitia and just keep pressing triangle.
Its very lame that the computer will block and dodge the most advanced tactics but cannot block the most basic move. Its funny to see the hidden final boss, Night Terror, get beat with the most basic attack in the game.

While this game is boatloads of fun and an awesome fighter, it still isnt without a few flaws because of its strange and unbalanced AI. And thats what makes it 4 stars, and not a perfect 5 in my books.

Great graphics and fun gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 48 / 67
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Soul Calibur III is the latest release in a great line of fighting games. The graphics are really impressive, and the character customization adds a great new dimension to fighting gameplay.

There are whole complex back-stories to all of the characters, developed over the game series. You can go into the 'museum' in this game to learn all about that, if you haven't been keeping up with the series. That will help you really understand the interactions between the characters. It's like being a part of a complex, epic story.

The graphics are simply gorgeous. There are pirate ships, where the floor moves and sways beneath you. There are elegant Chinese temples with mosaic tile floors and lovely mountains in the background. You've got renaissance mansions in flames, cages in grimy port towns, and much more. Each environment has moving elements to add to the realism.

The sounds are pretty traditional. Most of it is BASH - SMASH - YAAAAH! along with the background music, themed to match the environment. I do love this kind of background music far better than games that have rock music.

Gameplay itself has good and bad points. On the good side, there are a GREAT combinations you can learn for your character, so if you are diligent you can come up with awesome fighting sequences. You can learn which combos match well against your enemy's weaknesses and exploit them. On the other hand, if you're more the type that likes to button mash, you can have a fair amount of success with that, although you will get frustrated in the higher level battles.

The game is marked for teens, although it's far more tame than other fighting games I've seen. Many of the females *gasp* actually wear clothing. There really isn't any blood involved in the combat, although some parents argue that little tykes shouldn't see swinging swords and flails at all. There's no swearing.

That being said, the game is fairly challenging, and unlike the previous game, there's no way to set the difficulty up or down. If you play one on one you can adjust the difficulty so the younger person can have an easier time, but for regular gameplay you're stuck with "hard". I find this to be a shame. While experienced players will get along OK, it really would've been nice for new players to have an 'easy' option to go through the game in, to learn the game and have fun. They could always have upgraded through 'normal' and 'hard' later on.

With the customizeable characters and multitude of opponents, you can really replay this game for months without getting bored with it. There are always new combinations to learn and perfect. Well recommended!

Rating: 4.5/5

Entertaining

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

SCIII is a very entertaining action/fighting game. The variety of characters and their wide array of battle moves are impressive. Each of the characters possess weapons that have their own peculiarities and specialties. As a result, even though the settings are recycled over and over, you will still be able to fight repeatedly without getting bored. You can use different characters each time you play the game. My advise here is to become competent using one character before moving on to using another. The number of possible attack moves per character ensures that you will always have something to learn. To me, the best feature of this game is that you can also create your own characters and dress them up the way you would like to. The attacks available to your created characters will be determined by the type of weapon they carry.

The one aspect of the game that kept me from giving it a higher score is the fact that the battle program is inconsistent. I agree with some of the comments stating that this is a challenging game. However, there is nothing wrong with that. A challenging game is fun and you get a feeling of accomplishment when you finally make progress. But you do want the game to be consistent. You do want the game to challenge you and force you to master moves. However, the problem with this game is that this idea is applied inconsistently throughout the battles. To use a particular example, let's talk about Talim. I first used Siegfried to fight Talim. I was landing heavy blows, they were connecting, and my button presses were timed properly. Siegfried was executing his moves properly. I was "chaining" attack after attack. Talim was stunned and was taking a lot of punishment. Yet, she would not go down. And then Talim lands one kick and one swipe and the next thing you know, Siegfried was knocked out! I have beaten Talim numerous times, in different modes, using Siegfried, Raphael, Ivy, and my own character. During those many battles, I noticed the inconsistency. It seemed to me like the game responds slowly during some battles, like there was a built-in lag in the battle system. I noticed this when fighting against Talim and Sheong-Mina. My characters were moving and behaving like they were in slow-motion against them. However, they respond and react normally when playing other enemies. It's almost like the game developers chose them to be the favored characters and added a built-in disadvantage to your player. It really isn't the fact that the game is indeed challenging, it's the fact that you are automatically at an unfair disadvantage against these two characters.

I wanted to make sure that I have the right moves and that there was nothing that I was doing to handicap myself. I consulted an online guide. I also bought the Strategy Guide. Following the advice from those sources, I used the suggested moves to keep Talim from getting close. Again, the fact that my character became sluggish against Talim made this difficult. The strategy is sound. Keep a short range enemy at a distance, and use your superior "reach" to do damage. The lag between my commands and the system's response kept me from accomplishing my strategy.

This is a fun game. However, heed what some of the reviewers are saying about the battle system, or AI as one reviewer mentioned. There is that inconsistency, which is almost like a system "cheat". I have a feeling that this is what the other reviewers meant when they said that there is something wrong with the battle system. As much as I like the game, I find that one aspect to be a big negative.

The game allows you to create your own custom fighter. You can actually create a fighter that looks exactly like KOS-MOS (the main character from the Xenosaga RPG series) by using the Type X armor.

An instant classic!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: August 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

While it is hard to beat and very challenging at times, the game has so many features. Custom characters with unlockable features like face,armor,gloves,boots etc. New characters,new weapons, and Chronicles of the Sword which is very hard as you progress through the levels. The costumes are excellent and the challenges are great. This game actually impressed me, though in many ways it is better than the Dynasty Warriors games and puts Koei to shame. This will keep all of you playing for hours and keep you coming back for more. Get ready for the new Soul Calibur 3!

Excellent technically, but only for those who enjoy spending time practicing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: November 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've been a fan of this series ever since I went out to buy a Dreamcast for the sole purpose of playing the first Soul Calibur at home. When SC3 came out, I bought it as soon as I could without a second thought. Unfortunately, this was the first time I was disappointed with the series.

In many ways, Soul Calibur III continues the legacy of the previous titles while adding some innovative gameplay elements and a few new characters to the ever-expanding list. The single player story mode continues the ongoing storyline in a more dynamic fashion than in the past, and the Chronicles of the Sword battle-style mode is a refreshing addition to fighting games. The custom-made character option doesn't add huge variety to game play, but is a lot of fun to tinker with. In fact, I love every addition they've made to the game.

The disappointment stems from a single fact: I am not a hardcore fighting gamer, nor will I ever be. I simply don't have the time or inclination to practice long strings of moves and combos. The other thing that attracted me to the previous games was the scaling level of complexity that made it so I didn't have to. There was a lot of richness and complexity to the game play to play around with, but for those who didn't have the patience to master it there was still the option of playing at a low difficulty setting so as to enjoy the ongoing story and theme of the game. This richness and complexity hasn't gone anywhere - the hallmark style of play is still very similar to its predecessors.

Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, they decided to remove difficulty settings from the single player game modes entirely. Not only that, but the standard difficulty setting ends up falling quite a bit higher than what I like to play at. I have not had a single game session since buying it that did not end in bitter frustration at my inability to get anywhere with the late-stage CPU foes. The final fight for the story mode invariably reveals a CPU that can flawlessly pull off a half dozen hits with no chance of blocking or avoiding unless you manage to block the first hit with perfect timing.

I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who work perfectly well at this difficulty setting and enjoy the challenge of the new system. If you are not the type that likes spending time practicing moves and perfecting combos to plow through the game, though, I can't recommend SC3 at all. All of its technical achievements and interesting innovations can't make up for the fact that it's simply not fun for a casual gamer to play.

Seriously Namco, What Were You Thinking?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I knew something didn't seem right when I heard Soul Calibur 3 would be hitting stores in the Fall 2005. Soul Calibur 2 had just been released to consoles back in 2003, and this made Soul Calibur 3 seem like it just came out of nowhere. Games usually take anywhere from 4 or 5 years in production to be released to home systems. To put this in perspective, the original Soul Calibur was released on Dreamcast in September 1999, and Soul Calibur 2 did not hit home systems until August 2003. Now look at the time between Soul Calibur 2 and Soul Calibur 3. Two years at the most. I don't have to spell out how rushed this game feels. Now add to that the fact that the game wasn't even released in arcades. Part of the reason games come out in arcades a year or two before they do on system is so game companies can get feedback on how good the game is. Had this been the case, I think much of Soul Calibur 3 could have been fixed. Despite the looming feeling I had about the game, I picked it up on the day it was released, and then proceeded to dive right into what I hoped would still be an entertaining purchase. And while if you've never played a Soul Calibur game before, you might think this is one of the best fighting games around, for anyone who's a fan of the older games, this is probably the biggest dissapointment ever. There's a lot bugs in the game that hamper the overall feeling and gameplay, and as someone who has been playing the SC games since Soul Blade (Soul Edge in Arcades) back in 1997, I really felt a bit a resentment towards Soul Calibur and Namco for this release.

The Characters: Most all the characters from the previous games are here. However don't try to just pop the game in and dive right into to gameplay, because Namco has taken the characters apart. Favorites like Ivy and Nightmare have been totally neutered, while Mitsurugi and Kilik have been elevated to the top tier in the game. I've heard of games and series evolving, but with Soul Calibur 3, Namco hasn't evolved the game, they've taken it back light years. I can understand adding new moves and removing ones that weren't good from the last time, but taking away moves that were good and now adding moves that are bad is unforgivable. Many characters who had multiple stances (Ivy, Nightmare, Mitsurugi) have had all of them removed, in favor of a much simpler and straight forward game play. This amounts to more of less smashing buttons and non stop attacking, something which SC has never been about. Other characters are exactly the same as they have been since Soul Blade (that means you Rock and Sueng Mina) while others still remained relatively unbalanced from the last game (Yung Sueng). The new characters are fairly disappointing as well, and considering the the SC series hasn't really added any new characters since the original Soul Calibur (Cassandra, and Yung Sueng were just alternate versions of previous characters) it's very disappointing. The unbalanced characters are by far the biggest downfall of the game. When you pick up a new installment of a series you at least want things from the game to be familar to the way they were in the last one, but Soul Calibur 3 totally destroys anything the game had going in it's phenomenal second game.

The Gameplay: The controls are basically the same as the have always been. However something is very wrong with the frame rates in the game. This means that sometimes you will be holding guard, and you will be hit anyway because the game doesn't register you blocking. Forget Guard Impacting, it's relatively useless in this game, because you will only pull it off 1 out of every 1000 times you try it. This is also due to the frame rate. Another drawback of gameplay is downgrading the soul charge ability. Now if you soul charge, you cannot move around while doing so. This means your character becomes instantly vulnerable when you attempt to do this, because you're just sitting there charging up, while you're opponent has a field day. However even if you do completely finish a Soul Charge (once again maybe 1 out of 1000 times), there are very, very few moves from each character that will benefit from it. This comes from the lack of guard breaker moves that were included in SC3. As far as actual combat, the game has been dumbed down a lot. I'll tell you a secret, if you want to win every match you play, simply get on your opponent and continue to smash buttons and attack. In SC2 your opponent would simply guard impact your attack, or maybe throw you, but in SC3 because of the frame rate, their blocks will never work, so you will inevitably hit them, even if they are blocking! And don't worry about them guard impacting you, that doesn't work in this game! Also adding to the disappeal of the game is the fact that none of the stages have walls. Vintage Soul Blade here folks, just a big square that you and your opponent will be fighting on. This makes ring out victories incredibly and overwhelmingly present. Some of the core elements of the game have remained in tact, but overall the gameplay of the game has more than suffered.

The Graphics: This one isn't much a discussion because the graphics are excellent. Like any Soul Calibur game, the graphics have been drastically improved upon since the last installment. Namco really makes use of the PS2's hardware for SC3, and you can see that in the character designs and the environments.

The Modes/Overall Game: Aside from the usual Arcade and Vs modes, there's relatively nothing new about SC3. The team battle mode from the last game has been mystetiously removed, and the new added modes are nothing special, especially the rpg-esque mode. Even the weapon master mode in the original game was better than this. The create a player mode is also very contrived. I can understand how creating your own SC character may seem cool at first, but that is something that is so out of place in SC that it's not even funny. Not to mention you're basically taking moves from the existing SC roster and putting them into one character, it's more or less just creating Necrid from the last game, but with a different costume.

I wanted to like Soul Calibur 3, I really did, but there are just too many things about this game that don't match up to how amazing Soul Calibur 2 was. I could say this game feels rushed, but that should go unsaid. If you are a die hard fan I don't see how you could fully embrace this game, especially since it's such a step back from the last. If you're new to Soul Calibur, you probably don't understand my pain, but I would say play the original Soul Calibur and then Soul Calibur 2, and notice the difference. Then play SC2 and SC3 and notice the difference. This game just has a lot of flaws, and calling it perfect or amazing is far from the truth. If this game is indeed going to Xbox 360, I hope Namco cleans up this mess and fixes the problems. This is really hard, since Soul Calibur was one of my favorite game franchises. Unless you must, stick with Soul Calibur 2. You'll be much more pleased than dropping $50 on this.

Worst AI I have ever seen

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: November 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The game is pretty, and it's fun to play with friends, although some of the added gameplay dynamics are frustrating: namely that once you're on the ground, you can expect to get hit 6-7 more times before you can so much as regain your footing, and even then, you're on the defensive for the rest of the match.

The biggest problem with this game is that the single player, which you're practically forced to play if you ever want to unlock weapons/characters/armor, etc is awful.

The main reason is the computer AI. Enemies vary between being 100% flawless (all of your moves are blocked, if not guard impacted, all of your throws negated, even though there should only be a 50% chance of that if someone's even fast enough to attempt negating it), and being 100% worthless. It punishes you for even trying to fight, because immediately after the enemy blocks your attack, he immediately counters with a lightning fast move before you can block it (even moves that knock an enemy off balance don't protect you from this counter attack).

The enemy alternates between sitting completely still and not trying to block anything, to becoming completely impossible to harm at all; there is no in between. Skill is irrelevant, as I can beat computer opponents just as well with the character i've used since soul caliber 1 (which i consider myself quite skilled with) as with a new character who's moves I have no idea to enact (which I admit I am god awful with). This is because any hit you get off the computer is because it allowed you hit it. Tactics, switch moves, throwing off balance, fakeouts, etc do absolutely nothing against the computer. You're as likely to strike the computer with the most comnplicated and flawlessly executed maneuver in the history of fighting games as you are by closing your eyes and mashing the triangle button (try it, it works).

Second reason is massive load times. Trying to play through story mode makes you wait 15 seconds to load out of a battle into the map screen, 15 seconds to wait for the next text box, 15 seconds again to load into battle mode, and then it makes you watch every damn cinematic on the way though.

Chronicles of the sword seemed like an intersting new game, but once again suffers the same problems as the other single player modes, some of which are even worse here. Frequent loading saps any amount of inensity the game might hold, and the rediculous difficulty of the computer AI is magnified here. Everyone in this mode gets "levels" 1-60. You start at level 1ish, and fight opponents usually ranging from lv 7-60. Higher the levels, the more health/damage they have/do. Also, just to spice things up, battles frequently have an effect like "all the attacks the enemy makes are unblockable", or "any hits you make against the enemy don't slow him down". These benefits only occur for whoever controls the tower, and since 95% of it is you attacking towers, not defending, these benefits rarely if ever get applied to you.

With all of this complaining, you might wonder why I gave the game 3 stars. Remember, this is only the single player mode. Multiplayer is still relatively fun. It also suffers from load times (especially when picking characters and trying to see what they look like), and the problem with once you're on the floor you're pretty much a goner, but is otherwise loads of fun. Once you go through the root canal of single player to unlock the characters that is.

The best keeps getting better

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Soul Caliber 3 - Circa 2005

GOOD:
- Good/Tight controls
- Really balanced gameplay
- Lots of different and unique fighters
- Minutes to learn years to master gameplay
- Literally TONS content to unlock such as new Fighters, costume pieces, stages, and extra modes of play
- A 3D fighting game that really uses the 3D space (with eight way run)
- Three all new characters
- All returning characters from Soul Caliber 1 and 2 have their move sets/styles upgraded and slightly changed (in most case for the better)
- A nice upgrade over the original Soul Caliber 2, which to many gamers is considered classic
- Build your own unique characters
- Lots of different modes of play from an arcade type mode to the real time strategy mode
- Considered an Instant classic to many fans and many hardcore fighting fanatics

BAD:
- Some might say that not much has changed (gameplay wise) since Soul Caliber 2
- Have to unlock most of the game content like fighters, stages and items through many different modes of play, which takes time and skill (some people do not have either)
- Slight lagging in a few areas
- Loading is short but present and when buying items or checking out new content it can be annoying
- Saving the game (which happens often while trying to unlock new content) takes a bit of time also

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- Has medieval theme, both European and Chinese/Japanese
- Not traditional fighting game in the sense that there is no real combos and supers, or even projectile moves
- Game has built in quest type mode, where you pick a fighter and complete a number of challenges in a type of semi arcade mode (with story), the end result is you unlock more content and are a better player
- Fight with weapons, like a 3D Samurai Showdown type of game or a Tekken/Dead or Alive with weapons
- Build your own unique characters (pretty much costume only, you pick a pre-set fighting style) and fight with them in versus modes and Chronicles of the Sword mode, (Lots of the new items and costume parts should be unlock to really get a better selection of costume accessories, not much to pick at default)
- New different modes of play like Chronicles of the Sword mode you fight in a type of real time strategy game (using your custom character) which plays out like a tactic game when instead of turn based battling it's fighting game battling, then there is even a World Tour mode where you fight in mock tournaments
- Lots and lots of stuff to unlock from new fighters to new costume items for your custom character

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Soul Caliber 2
- Tekken 5
- Samurai Showdown

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This game is only for Sony's Playstation 2 unlike Soul Caliber 2 which was also for Xbox and Game Cube, note you can still get Soul Caliber 2 for a pretty cheap price and it's a also a great game
- This game came with a pretty lame demo disc, which in my opinion neither adds nor takes away anything from the entire over all experience of Soul Caliber 3, although it should be noted that this demo disc has all unlocked content for Tekken Tag, Tekken 4 and Xenosaga (the original)
- I am going wish that a version comes to Xbox-360, which would be cool :: Crossing Fingers Now ::

Soul Calibur still has that soul!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: October 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Soul Calibur 3, the first to be released exclusively to the Playstation 2, is a grand game. It has a few good upgrades, but one should note that they're not noticeable right off the bat. Three new characters, and some fine modes make it fun. Still, you can't deny the fact that if you've had a lot of enjoyment with Soul Calibur 2, you're virtually getting the same thing. This isn't neccesarily bad, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Soul Calibur does this very well, without the series dying like say... Dynasty Warriors does.

Soul Calibur 3 has a lot to live up to. Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast is said to be the greatest fighting game ever made, and the wide success of Soul Calibur 2, giving each console a unqiue character, made it so much more worthwhile. Soul Calibur 3, doesn't introduce much new, and so it's hard to rank it among the better ones. But again, the game is still pretty good.

The gameplay has remained unchanged. You have a wide variety of attacks. Horizontal and Vertical attacks, kicks and punches, grabs and throws. The stuff that made Soul Calibur good in the first place. You match up against a character and see who can beat who to a bloody pulp first. Usually a match will end by someone being KO'd, but they can also end by throwing someone out of the ring, executing a "Ring Out". As usual, it's funner to play against a friend rather than play against the computer.

The new characters introduced are actually not sucky. Most games that constantly throw in new characters tend to make them lack and not worthwhile, this is untrue of Soul Calibur 3. The new characters are actually unique and worthwhile to use, and even deadly to some extent.

There is no Arcade Mode in Soul Calibur 3, instead it's called "Quick Play", but it's disturbingly buried down low in the menu. It's really no different than if you were to choose Arcade Mode.

There are varying modes in Soul Calibur 3 besides Quick Play. The first one being the story mode, Tales of Souls. This sounds really cool, and it can be. It's nice to go through battling all the computer opponents, with your strongest character eventually making it to the final boss, but the story itself is rather weak. Between matches you usually have some sort of text to read and a cutscene to watch. You can't skip cutscenes though, and the text is rather boring. The time to load the next round though, is pretty long and you'll see that in the time it takes to load, go through the cutscenes and storyline, you could've had the next match over and done with.

Chonicles of the Sword, the other story mode, is not much better. Giving a tactical approach in your style of fighting, again with the cinematics and text storyline. The loading, again, takes time. Chronicles of the Sword takes a bit more time to load, however, and the text storyline is very uninteresting. Likewise, the load times are almost as long as the action itself can last.

One new nifty feature, however, is the ability to create your own fighter. Although, you're very restricted. You create a character with a weapon and stance and all that, but all you'll be doing is creating a reincarnate of a character that already exist. All the moves are actually given to your character based on what weapon you chose, and not really something you can control. Likewise, there's no online play in Soul Calibur 3, so if you create a character, you can't really show him off the world. You can show him to your friends, but that's about it.

Graphically, Soul Calibur 3 looks to be the most visually stunning of them all. However, case in point, while the characters look different, they take the same stance in battle that they've taken since the 1995 classic Soul Edge. Their victory stances are the same and old moves are the same. That's not to say there aren't new moves, because there are. And the new moves are worthwhile, and can drastically improve (or harm) your strategy. More moves that allow you to break your opponents guard. There aren't enough new moves however, and so a lot of it feels recycled. However, if blood makes you uncomfortable, you'll be happy to know Soul Calibur 3 doesn't use blood at all.

The sound is pretty good, though. You can choose between Japanese and English voices, and the voice overs are actually pretty good in English. The background music is great, and so are the sound effects. Everything from weapon clashes to grunts and groans shine in Soul Calibur 3.

However, the two big things still keep it from getting five stars. The fighting style feels too familiar to the previous games. It's too much like the previous Soul Calibur games and even Soul Edge. Die-hard fans will be instantly impressed, though. The other big thing that keeps it down is simply that there is no online play. Fighting games SHOULD have online play, especially with how some of them have drastically fallen.

For what it's worth though, the game is still good. The gameplay, while the same, is still top notch. The graphics are great, and so is the sound. The game truly does shine as being a great game to add to your library.

THE GOOD
+Excellent Gameplay
+Excellent Audio
+Fast paced action that never gets old
+New characters that don't suck
+A great roster of unique characters

THE BAD
-Load times in the game modes can be a pain
-No online play
-The custom fighter mode isn't as worthwhile as it should be
-You can't help but admit the gameplay is too recycled, even for a fighter game. This won't turn too many people away, but when characters have the same move, stances and victory dances they've had since 1995, a small change to this couldn't hurt. Some may not even notice the small tweaks in gameplay right off the bat.

The game is still worthwhile, and I'd say is worth the buy.

SO AWESOME!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! I liked Soul Calibur 2 and the one before that a lot as well but this one is definitely the best installment in the series. Hers's why:

Tales of Souls mode: This mode lets you play each character's story. There are actual cut scenes too. For some of them, you'll have to do specific commands at any given moment (the commands appear in the upper-right corner of the screen). Whether you do it or not, it will affect the outcome of your character's story. You also get to make choices for what your characters aim on doing or where they travel. The exciting about this mode is that you can play a character over and over again and get a different ending. It's very, very entertaining to watch characters interact with eachother.

Character Creation mode: Create your own character! You choose gender, then occupation, which affects what weapon your character will use, and customize their appearance. You can decide what their voice will be like, how good or evil they are (depending on what clothes you give them), and their name. For each category (head, chin, upper leg, arms, etc.) there are 20 items each for male and female. You will have to unlock most of these, but it's extremely fun nonetheless.

Chronicles of the Swords mode: This is where you create your own character and play them in an RPG-like fashion. You create a team by using your own created characters or a created character plus a couple pre-made ones. There are levels which need to be cleared. You can gain more items for character creation through this mode. It's very fun, but sometimes it takes a little long for the battles to load.

Soul Arena: Mini-games! Yes, mini-games. They include fighting a giant stone statue, which can stomp on you if you're not careful, battling other characters to gain coins, and much more. You get lots of money for the shopping mode with these.

VS mode: As good as it's always been.

Shopping mode: There are three shops you can buy from. The weapons shop (buy weapons for original and created characters), the items shop (character illustrations, weapons demo, etc.), and the armor shop (items for character creation mode). You get hoards of money from Tales of Souls, Chronicles of the Sword, Soul Arena, and just about everything else. So getting money won't be too hard.

Graphics, gameplay, and music: As solid as ever. The graphics have improved and so has the gameplay. Button-mashing is not as reliable as it used to be. The arenas are absolutely wonderful! They are now set in real-time simulation, so you can now see the flow of surrounding water and trees that actually sway. Some of them are moving (ex: raft flowing over water). The music is great! It's not the regular electric guitar music that you find in other fighting games. I don't have anything against electric guitars, by the way, but it tends to get boring after a while.

Soul Calibur 3 is worth every penny. It's fun to play both by yourself and with others. The new characters are all great, and the returning ones are all upgraded. Namco definitely went all-out on this one. There is a massive amount of content that you don't want to miss out on! So, here are my final words:

If you don't have this game, go out and buy it!

If you are a fighting game fan, and you don't have this game already, then why aren't you out buying it already??

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