SoulCalibur II
SoulCalibur II
Sorti le 10 juillet 2002 sur borne d'arcade, SoulCalibur II constitue le troisième volet de la série développée par Project Soul et éditée par Namco. Ce jeu de combat poursuit l'héritage de ses prédécesseurs en apportant des graphismes améliorés, de nouveaux personnages et de nouveaux décors. L'intrigue se situe quatre ans après les événements du premier opus : l'épée sacrée SoulCalibur a vaincu la maléfique Soul Edge, mais les éclats de cette dernière, dispersés à travers le monde, menacent à nouveau de plonger l'humanité dans les ténèbres, tandis que SoulCalibur a été perdue dans le néant.
L'expérience solo s'articule principalement autour du mode « Weapon Master », où le joueur choisit un combattant pour parcourir une carte parsemée de défis et d'affrontements. La version arcade propose quant à elle un « Conquest Mode » exclusif, fonctionnant par un système de nom et de mot de passe pour la sauvegarde. Ce mode invite à rejoindre l'une de quatre armées pour enchaîner huit combats en un seul round — les sept premiers basés sur le rang du joueur, le dernier étant choisi par ce dernier —, avec gain d'expérience, promotions et évaluation dans quatre catégories : Âme, Force, Sagesse et Habileté. Le système mémorise également les coups les plus utilisés, met à jour le contrôle territorial après la série et offre un round bonus contre une version IA de son propre personnage. Des adaptations sur consoles ont par la suite vu le jour, intégrant des personnages invités issus d'autres franchises.
La presse spécialisée a réservé un accueil très favorable au titre. Eurogamer l'a qualifié de « meilleur jeu de combat 3D jamais réalisé pour la grande majorité des joueurs », tandis que Nintendojo a salué un « gameplay hyper-intuitif », une réalisation audio-visuelle soignée et un style extrême en faisant « le plus grand jeu de combat traditionnel de tous les temps ». Du côté des joueurs, les retours sur Metacritic soulignent une expérience « phénoménale » sur GameCube, considérée comme un achat indispensable pour les amateurs du genre, certains y revenant encore des années plus tard. Le jeu affiche une note agrégée de 88,71. Compter environ trois heures et demie pour boucler l'histoire principale, et jusqu'à trente-cinq heures pour en venir à bout complètement.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« For the vast majority of the gaming world, this is quite easily the best 3D beat 'em up ever made. »
« Hyper-intuitive gameplay, well-produced audios and visuals, and an extreme sense of style make for the greatest traditional fighting game of all time. »
« I say this without hyperbole: Soul Calibur II is the best fighting game ever created. The game's beautiful graphics and fantastic control are exceeded only by its incredible character balance. [Oct 2003, p.136] »
« The absolute best fighting game available on the GameCube. »
« Of the three console-exclusive characters, Link requires the most finesse to stay competitive but not so much that younger players will get frustrated. »
« A noticeable step forward in the evolution of the genre. "Virtua Fighter 4" might hold the top spot among hand-to-hand fighters, but when it comes to weapons-based combat, Soul Calibur II is the undisputed champion. »
« There isn't a better 3-D, weapons-based fighting game on the market. »
« SCII is a rare thing. It has expertly designed fighting mechanics, a gorgeous graphical presentation, and a magnitude of features and play modes... The fighting still feels perfect. [Grade = A+ ; Sept 2003, p.48] »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Played it on my GameCube and it is phenomenal and a must buy for fighting fans »
« passa anos é continua um jogão da porra! sempre jogo na minha assinatura do gamecube pelo sw2. »
« This game is very well made and very fun to play, even if you are awful at the game. This game does a good job with teaching you the basics, but then it lets you experiment on your own to get better, which makes the game more satisfying. The main drawbacks to me is that weapon master mode is going to be where you unlock the most content. Which is fine, but most of the unlock criteria is difficult, and the CPUs can get perfect wins pretty easy in the post-game. Not to mention the weapons you get in this mode will not work in local VS matches, which is very unfortunate. It would have made the game a little more fun playing local matches. I do not recommend playing this game for 100%, you will have a rough time. Otherwise, give this a shot, as it is an amazing experience. Despite my comment about how difficult weapon master can get, it is satisfying to go through. »
« The version with Link is the best version! I don't want any argument here. Shame we don't see him making a guest appearance in later games. »
« Este juego es buenisimo, muy divertido y mas o menos facil de aprender y encima tienen a link. Super recomendado »
« There is a special reason Soul Calibur 2 is usually regarded as the best game in the entire series. Honestly the combat has always felt extremely tight and responsive, and thanks to the GameCubes controller doing different attacks feels extremely satisfying and can actually be pretty easy to pull off. Not to mention there are plenty of different game modes to do like arcade mode, and weapons Master which is kind of like a story mode where you can go across the map and do different battles with different win and loose conditions, That's also where you would buy new weapons for your characters to use and even the costumes and different goodies. The characters selection is also extremely memorable and good with characters like Ivy, Nightmare, yoshimitsu, and speaking of characters I believe out of the three original console releases the GameCube had the best deal when it came to exclusive guest characters. Link from The Legend of Zelda was an extremely good idea and he plays extremely well in the game, using all of his items from Ocarina of Time in battle was ingenious idea and he's honestly one of my favorite characters to play as to this day. Maybe if PlayStation Followed through and got cloud from Final Fantasy 7 in the PS2 version Things would have been really interesting. »
« Graphically this is an absolute masterpiece, I mean it still looks unbelievable in 2024. The gameplay is lacking however. I find these fighting games dull and repetitive. Yes there is a story mode, but it still just the same old fights. There are so many moves but you end up just repeating the ones that work, again and again. Not for me. »
« Hella fun. I could never get the practice in to fully enjoy it though. The 'Weapon Master' mode is very difficult however. This is one of the absolute champions of Gamecube fighting games, right up there with Melee. Boot this game up with friends and have a great time. »
