I'm a big fan of fighting games, but Soulcalibur has always been one of those franchises that I can appreciate from the standpoint of being a top quality game, but yet my prowess is generally so poor at it that I rarely spend much time with the game after I've bought it. I was surprised then to find Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny at my doorstep, but even more surprised that I was enjoying it more as a handheld offering than any of its past games on any past next-gen system.

Dampierre

The game features a total of 29 characters, ranging from original offerings to brand-new characters. You'll find old school regulars like Voldo, Ivy, Nightmare, and Taki, but there are also a few of the most recently introduced characters, such as Tira, Amy, and Zasalamel. The game even features two new characters that join the Soulcalibur team: original creation Dampierre and God of War's very own Kratos. Dampierre is a kooky Frenchman who wields hidden blades and features a loose and silly fighting style most similar to that of Voldo. Dampierre is a decent character, but does take some time to get good with. Kratos, meanwhile, is a beast and seemingly manages to kick my butt any time I go up against him. Kratos feels a little awkward as a character joining the Soulcalibur franchise, as he feels like just as much a cash-in as characters like Spawn and Link that have come before. Kratos, however, is a more natural fit than say Yoda and Darth Vader, so at least that silliness is behind the franchise it seems.

For those unfamiliar with the fighting style of the franchise, it's basically a pseudo-3D fighting game, where you can move forward and backwards into and out of the neutral ground, though most fighting still boils down to what appears to be a typical 2D fighter. Instead of having the natural flow and fluidity of some more recent games like Street Fighter 4, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is more focused on the idea of blocking and picking the right opportunity to attack. The game reminds me of a more complex version of Paper/Rock/Scissors, as there's always a counter that will work best for a situation. If a player is blocking high it's time to go low. If they're swinging with a horizontal attack you move and parry one way, but if it's a vertical attack you move another way. Soulcalibur has always had one of the steepest learning curves, so don't be surprised when you find yourself constantly failing and getting your butt handed to you.

Kratos

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is essentially Soulcalibur 4, though with less single-player modes and more modes focused on quick bursts of gameplay. The game doesn't feature the typical idea of a story mode, but instead delivers The Gauntlet, which has you taking on the role of your favorite character as they go out on an adventure to help another character. The writing of The Gauntlet is pretty funny, but not even that's enough to keep me invested for long. My main problem with The Gauntlet is that it's basically nothing more than an extended tutorial. The game's idea of "missions" is to sidestep and follow-up with an attack, so most "missions" take just a few miniscule seconds.

The game starts faring better when you move to Trials. The best way to describe Trials is to take the game's regular Arcade mode, takeaway the story, add in a Score Attack system, and then voila! Players pick one of three trials, pick their character, and then fight a series of opponents as they appear. You're not only rewarded points for winning, but how you win too. As you nail more damaging moves you get more and more points, but if you fail to land a hit then you'll actually have points deducted.

Beyond those two modes, the rest are pretty standard: you've got Quick Match (you manually pick your NPC opponent based on their win/loss stats), Training (practice your moves), and then Versus (the game's Ad-Hoc only multiplayer). It sucks that the game's multiplayer is Ad-Hoc only, but hey, what are you going to do? Well, I guess you could always try making friends…

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny also features a character creation system, which has been the norm for this franchise for the past few games. You basically create your own personal characters by taking an existing character's fighting style and putting a new code of paint on them by way of hairstyles and clothing options. You can further tweak characters by adjusting the color of their clothing, brightening or darkening it up, and by choosing the sound files you want them to speak and adjusting their cadence to reflect the vocal sound you want them to have. Ultimately you're still playing as the regular characters, but still it feels somewhat special to win with your own creation. The game's also banking on the fact that it hopes you like creating your own characters, as most of the unlockables in the game are new costume pieces for you to use in the mode.

Taki

In regards to the technical aspects of the game, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is a beast. You wouldn't think the PSP system could perform something as intricate and typically gorgeous as the characters and gameplay of the Soulcalibur series, but the PSP is admirably up to the test and astounds me with how great the game looks. No, it isn't as crisp and round as its next-gen console brothers and sisters, but if you squint you'd swear you're almost holding one of those exact copies of the game; effects dazzle and characters feature excellent animations. The game isn't as strong when it comes to the sound work, but it does a pretty good job. The vocal work is a little laughable at times, but at least the game features actual line readings. Meanwhile, the background music and sound effects all sound superb.

I've never been a real fan of Soulcalibur up until now, but I do think Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is the game to finally convert me. I don't know what it is, but something about this version just clicked for me. Perhaps it's the button layout of the PSP. Perhaps it's the fact that it's a big time fighting game franchise that I can put in my pocket and take wherever I want. Then again, perhaps it's a bit of all these things, and it's overall just a very good game. The game has some limitations when it comes to the variety of modes, but when you break it down to actual gameplay mechanics and the fighting system it brings to the table, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny more than makes up for most of its shortcomings.

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