Because Namco Gets My Obssessive Clothing Fetish

I forgot to mention that Tekken 6 has been announced for the Xbox as well as the PS3. So, one less PS3 exclusive there. Also, there's about as much custom creation in Tekken 6 as Soul Calibur IV, and possibly more so. Namco understands my need to play with ass kicking dolls and shiny graphics.

I swear, I'm getting an Xbox this holiday season. Possibly saving for an HDTV too. Otherwise I'll drive Tony bonkers by kicking him off the Xbox to character customize. I mean, look at the pretty!

All in all...

All in all, while fighting games are indeed very fun, the best games are still those with fleshed out characters (and hopefully a plot to go with them). While Namco tries its best to give their fighting games a story (and as odd and confusing as they can get at times...), in the end no one is playing them for the story. The graphics and styles are a lot of fun, though. Soul Calibur IV is still the best fighting game around, though. And I do love the characters (especially couples: Hilde/Sigfried, Xianghua/Kilik, and Seong Mi-na/Yun-Seong).

I'm looking forward to Too Human. Tony's afraid he's psyched himself out and that he's not heard any early reviews. I kinda wanted to smack him for it, but he's so darn cute...

More Character Nonsense

So even Tony has discovered the joy of character creation on Soul Calibur IV. He normally hates that stuff unless it's pretty much essential to the game (like in Mass Effect). The Tower of Souls challenges get cheaper as it goes on, and regular characters just aren't getting the job done. So not only can you choose abilities for custom and pre-existing characters (once you level style) but clothes come with abilities. And so...Tony started liking dressing people up. Especially Kilik and Mitsurugi (they're his best characters).

I just have fun messing around with hair and colors. And clothes. I made Ivy wear pants! We're trying to unlock more stuff in the Tower (and with achievements) so that other characters have cool looking stuff.

In other gaming news, Too Human comes out this Tuesday. Tony's practically chomping at the bit for this one. I'm excited because of Crispin Freeman's sexy voice (and yay RPG!). And after this launches, maybe Silicone Knights will actually start on a sequel to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. If we're lucky.

Soul Calibur IV And Random Thoughts

So, I've had a chance to play Soul Calibur IV some more, and while I love it to itty-bitty pieces, I do have a problem with it. It's slight, but still annoying.

Pantie shots are rampant. I can deal with jiggly lower back problems with nipples poking through. Sometimes that is actually a plus, if only to watch the physics engine animate them as Taki is getting her tight ass kicked. That pantie shots annoy the hell out of me at times, though. Especially on characters I like.

I realize many of the female characters' costumes were re-done to make them sexier. Personally, I like my women sexy. But there's a difference between sexy and slutty, and where they toe the line with a few characters they go seriously overboard with others (Ivy, I'm looking at you). Seong Mi-Na got a particularly bad makeover with her second costume (skimpy undies with nothing to cover them), and where this costume could have shined to become bad ass, it's just ass now. Literally. Her moves are less effective now as well. She got shafted on the costume and the moveset. That's rough.

There is nothing sexy about slutty dressing. You tend to take them less seriously as characters. I mean, who goes out like that and tries to fight? Nobody. Flashing skin = sexy and seductive. Showing everything = incredibly trashy. And distracting.

This would be fine if the men had more shirtless costumes and tighter pants. Seriously. That'd make up for a lot of it. More makeovers like Yun-Seong!

And while I'm at, more romance in the story endings. Or more of an ending, really. That'd be good. Favorite one is Xianghua's. Sooooo cute. Also, I'd like a million dollars. Just sayin'. It'd really help me out.

Six Degrees to...Star Wars. What Else?

So, in celebration of Soul Calibur IV and the retarded Star Wars characters found within I'm posting all the Darth Princess pictures I have. They make for nice backgrounds on a computer.







Really, I just felt like doing this.

A Taste of Soul Calibur IV

So, yesterday Tony got Soul Calibur IV and another Xbox controller and then we raced back to his place to pop it in. After a little confusion with the sync up of the new controller ("Why is the shiny new black one player two!? Here, you can be player two...") we sat down to immerse ourselves.

It. Was. Beautiful.

The graphics are stunning. Admittedly, nice stuff looks better on an HD tv, but *fangirl mode activated* ZOMG I WUV IT GIMME MORE *fangirl mode deactivated*. I literally almost salivated as I made Tony guinea pig story mode as Kilik (his best character). I had been obssessively looking for character pics on-line (Costume Get! was extremely helpful in aiding my fangirlism) for about six months now, but it was finally gratifying to see the character's alternates. I haven't seen all yet because we only played for two hours. So far I'm digging Tira's jester outfit (as well as her default), Talim is adorable (though her alternate is blonde for some strange reason, but hey, that's what the character editor is for...*evil cackle*), and Xianghua's costumes make up for her voice acting. And her cheapness. With which I totally owned Tony. That's okay though, he owned me when he was Kilik.

The control scheme is basically the same as on the PS2, but with the Xbox's bumper keys and triggers it makes pulling off some of the tougher moves easier. If you can remember what does what. The right-side buttons are the same (Y=A (upper attack), X=B(lower attack), A=Guard, B=Kick), the left analog stick is the 8-directions (moving in 3D, yay!). Right bumper is switch during the new tag-team mode (it's also in story-mode to save you in early stages) so that you can haul in a new character if the one you're using isn't working on your enemy. Left bumper is A+B+K+G. Right trigger seems to be a charge up, though of what I'm not sure (there's also a taunt that it does). Left trigger is A+B. Though if you're me, you basically hit A & B in any combination you can.

I'm dying to try out character creator and editing. So when I do I'll comment on that.

This game is worth the money AND the wait, so far. Of course, I'm a big fan of the series thus far, so I'm a bit biased. It's exciting, though. I almost couldn't sleep last night. I just love fighting games. Good for stress, y'know?