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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Soulcalibur II. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Soulcalibur Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
| Soulcalibur II | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Designer(s) | Hiroaki Yotoriyama Masaki Hoshino (HD Online) |
| Picture format | 1080p (HDTV) (HD Online) 720p (HDTV) (Xbox) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Platform(s) | Namco System 246 GameCube PlayStation 2 Xbox PlayStation 3 (HD Online) Xbox 360 (HD Online) Nintendo Switch 2 (Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics) |
| Released | Arcade July 10, 2002[1] Consoles JP March 27, 2003 NA August 27, 2003 EU September 26, 2003 HD Online November 20, 2013 Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics (Nintendo Switch 2) June 5, 2025 |
| Genre(s) | Fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Input methods | 8-way joystick, 6 buttons (arcade) DualShock Controller (PS2) Gamecube Controller (GCN) XBOX Controller (Xbox) Joy-Con 2 (NS2) Joy-Con (NS2) Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller (NS2) Nintendo Switch Pro Controller (NS2) |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Namco System 246 |
| Previous Soulcalibur |
Next Soulcalibur III |
Soulcalibur II (ソウルキャリバーII Sourukyaribā Tsū?) is a 2002 arcade fighting game developed and published by Namco and the third installment in the Soul series. Soul Calibur is the name of the holy sword, created to battle the evil sword Soul Edge, which the game's storyline revolves around. Compared to Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II boasts improved graphics, and it introduces new characters, stages and music. It is also the first game in the series to include guest characters from different franchises, namely Link, Heihachi Mishima, and Spawn, as seen in its home releases on the Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, and Xbox released in 2003, respectively.
Gameplay[]
Modes and features[]
Modes and other features added to Soulcalibur II:
- The home console versions of Soulcalibur II feature a unique character, Necrid, who does not appear in the arcade version nor in any subsequent games.
- Soulcalibur II includes the same modes of play as most fighting games: Arcade, Versus Battle, Team Battle (similar to Arcade, but with teams of up to 3 characters and without cutscenes or endings), Versus Team Battle (with teams of up to 8 characters), Time Attack (where the player has to race against the clock to set records), Survival and Practice. There are also "Extra" versions of these modes, intended to allow the use of Extra Weapons and unlockable stages. A point worth mentioning is that the 7th battle in Arcade Mode is called a "Destined Battle", which is a predefined battle that never changes. Each character has one according to their story, and all Destined Battles are shared by groups of two characters (for example, Mitsurugi→Taki and Taki→Mitsurugi) with the exceptions of the home console-exclusive characters.
- A returning feature from Soul Blade that was absent from the first Soulcalibur is the inclusion of Extra Weapons. Instead of the many stats used in Soul Blade, this one uses only three stats: attack, defense and special abilities (such as draining energy, passing through defense, etc.). Each character has 12 different weapons, from the standard (basic) weapons for 1P and 2P to the powerful "Ultimate Weapon". Also, each character is granted a Soul Edge version of their weapon, as well as a "Joke Weapon" with bad stats and effects, and with unique and funny hit sounds. Each weapon is given a backstory in the "Weapon Gallery".
- The Arcade version has a unique mode called "Conquest Mode". This mode, which uses a name and password system to save data, allows the player to select one army among four. The player then fights against enemies in a series of eight 1-round battles, win or lose (the first seven are based on the player's rank, and the eighth is chosen by the player – this can only be interrupted by a Versus challenger.) After each round, the player earns EXP and can be promoted, and the game also rates the player in four categories: Soul, Power, Wisdom and Skill. The game also keeps track of which moves the player knows and uses most often. After the eight battles, territory control is updated and the player has the option to fight a bonus round against their character played by the AI.
- "Weapon Master Mode", made in a similar fashion to Soul Blade's "Edge Master Mode" and Soulcalibur's "Mission Mode", takes the core system from "Conquest Mode" and expands upon it. It introduces a story set in an alternate world, in which the player moves in a map divided into "regions" (named after stars) and fights enemies to gain experience points (which raise the "rank" of the character) and money (which can be used to buy weapons, art, costumes and videos). The mode has 10 normal chapters, four sub-chapters and two extra-chapters as well as Extra-Missions (alternate versions of normal missions). The player endorses the role of a swordsman (or swordswoman) searching for Soul Edge, who is confronted by a powerful, mad knight named Veral (using the likeness of Nightmare), seeking Soul Edge for his own desires.
- As in Soulcalibur, there is a "Museum" containing character artwork and various videos (like the Arcade Mode's intro or the Weapon Master Mode's intro and Ending) and an "Exhibition Theater" (where "katas" can be viewed). There is also a "Profile Viewer" (to read about character's stories) and a "Battle Theater" (to watch CPU vs CPU battles).
- Like before, some characters possess a third costume, which is purchased in Weapon Master Mode. Out of the 19 non-guest characters that are playable in all modes, 12 of them are granted a third costume: Astaroth, Cassandra, Ivy, Mitsurugi, Nightmare, Raphael, Seong Mi-na, Sophitia, Taki, Talim, Voldo and Xianghua.
- The GameCube version's guest character Link has four costumes based on The Legend of Zelda series (green, red, blue and lavender; the same as in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64) while Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman each have six different costumes (three color edits of their two standard costumes).
- It is the first game in the Soul series to feature the option to choose between Japanese and English voices.
Story[]
The game is set in the year 1590 AD, four years after the events of Soulcalibur.
The wave of slaughters that terrorized Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the restoration ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Osthreinsburg Castle. But just as the ceremony was about to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. In a matter of time, the cult was defeated, and Nightmare stood in front of the young warriors while wielding Soul Edge. After an intense battle, Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.
The intense battle ended with the victory of the holy sword, but when the vortex of Inferno collapsed, both swords along with the Azure Knight Nightmare were sucked into the void and expelled to another place. Siegfried Schtauffen, who was until a moment before the Azure Knight, reclaimed his own mind. Recognizing his sins, he set on a journey of atonement. Still, the blade held a strong bond, and every night, it took control of his body and absorbed souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and four years later the Azure Knight returned.
Around those times, various warriors came into contact with the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate survival. After its defeat, the fragments began causing chaos and evil to grow in the world. Driven by the need to either possess or destroy the evil sword, each warrior embarks on a new journey, while Nightmare starts his rampage anew, seeking souls to gain the power to restore Soul Edge once again...
Characters[]
Gamecube ver. Character Select
A number of new characters are introduced in Soulcalibur II, along with most of the characters from the previous game. Raphael and Talim's playing styles are entirely unique, while Cassandra and Yun-seong's are derived from established characters Sophitia and Hwang, respectively. Charade, like its predecessors Edge Master and Inferno, switches its style to those of random existing characters with each individual round of fighting. All three home console versions also include Necrid, who was not included in the arcade version. Necrid, like Spawn, was personally designed by comic book artist Todd McFarlane. Characters in bold must be unlocked.
Returning Characters[]
| Character | Weapon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Astaroth |
Giant Ax Kulutues |
— |
 Cervantes de Leon |
Soul Edge (Long sword type) & Pistol Sword Soul Edge & Nirvana |
— |
 Isabella "Ivy" Valentine |
Snake Sword Valentine (Ivy Blade) |
— |
 Kilik |
Rod Kali-Yuga |
— |
 Maxi |
Nunchaku Soryuju |
— |
 Heishiro Mitsurugi |
Katana Shishi-Oh |
— |
 Nightmare (Siegfried Schtauffen) |
Soul Edge (Zweihander Type) Soul Edge |
— |
 Seung Mina |
Zanbatou Scarlet Thunder |
Home console-exclusive |
 Sophitia Alexandra |
Short Sword & Small Shield Omega Sword & Elk Shield |
Home console-exclusive |
 Taki |
Ninja Sword × 2 Rekki-Maru & Mekki-Maru |
— |
 Voldo |
Katar × 2 Manas & Ayus |
— |
 Chai Xianghua |
Chinese Sword No Name |
— |
 Yoshimitsu |
Katana Yoshimitsu |
— |
New Characters[]
| Character | Weapon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Cassandra Alexandra |
Short Sword & Small Shield Weapon Omega Sword & Nemea Shield |
— |
 Charade |
Charade Charade |
— |
 Necrid |
Enigma Maleficus |
Home console-exclusive |
 Raphael Sorel |
English Sword Rapier Flambert |
The protagonist[2] |
 Talim |
Elbow Blade × 2 Syi Sarika & Loka Luha |
— |
 Hong Yunsung |
Chinese Sword White Storm |
— |
Guest Characters[]
| Character | Weapon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Heihachi Mishima |
His Body Kiaiissen |
Guest Character from the Tekken franchise. Only playable on the Playstation 2 version and in HD Online. |
 Spawn |
Cape transformed into an ax Agony |
Guest Character from the Spawn franchise. Only playable on the Xbox version and in HD Online. |
 Link |
Sword & Shield Master Sword and Hylian Shield |
Guest Character from The Legend of Zelda franchise. Only playable on the GameCube version. |
Other Characters[]
The North American and PAL home console versions also contain three unlockable characters loosely based on characters from Soulcalibur. These are considered bonus characters and, as such, do not have any Extra Weapons. They can only be selected in Versus Battle Mode, Team Battle Mode, Versus Team Battle Mode and Practice Mode, along with the "Extra" versions of these modes, as well as in Battle Theater. They are also playable during certain portions of Weapon Master Mode in all regional home console versions of the game:
| Character | Weapon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Assassin |
Chinese Sword Assassin Blade |
His moveset is a mixture of Hwang and Yun-seong's. Only playable in the US and PAL home console versions, and HD Online. |
 Berserker |
Battle Ax Great Ax |
His moveset is a mixture of Rock and Astaroth's. Only playable in the US and PAL home console versions, and HD Online. |
 Lizardman |
Short Sword & Small Shield Gyulkus Weapon |
His moveset is a mixture of Aeon and Cassandra's. Only playable in the US and PAL home console versions, and HD Online. |
Action Replay Characters[]
| Character | Notes |
|---|---|
 Inferno |
— |
| Q.Takagi | Has Cassandra's model, Mitsurugi's moves and Kilik's weapon model. Q.Takagi takes up Spawn's character slot and thus can only be played on the Gamecube and Playstation 2 versions of the game |
| Wovama | Has Cassandra's model, Nightmare's moves and Astaroth's weapon model. Wovama uses Link's character slot and thus can only be played on Xbox and Playstation 2 versions of the game. |
From the Soulcalibur character roster, the ones that do not return for Soulcalibur II as characters themselves are Hwang Seong-gyeong, Rock, Lizardman (as the lizardmen in this game are not Aeon Calcos, who became the first such monster), Siegfried Schtauffen and Edge Master (when playing in Weapon Master mode, Edge Master's name can be referenced in the character classes while leveling up, such as "Iron Edgemaster", "Bronze Edgemaster", etc.). Inferno is the game's main boss, but is no longer a playable character. While Siegfried himself is not playable as a separate character, he makes an appearance as the third costume of his wicked alter-ego, Nightmare.
Stages[]
Console-exclusive stages
Soulcalibur II HD Online[]
A high-definition version of the game, titled Soulcalibur II HD Online, was released digitally for the PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network and for the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live in North America and Europe on November 19 and 20, 2013, respectively, and in Japan on February 20, 2014. It includes all game modes from the original releases, as well as support for online-only gameplay via PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game include Heihachi and Spawn; however, Link is missing due to copyright reasons, as he is owned by Nintendo.
Reception[]
Soulcalibur II was rated the 18th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Powers Top 200 Games list.[3] Media reviews of Soulcalibur II were favorable, as the game earned over 91% for all versions on Gamerankings.com, and the game sold well commercially. It has also earned a 9.2/10 from IGN.
The game also did well in the competitive gaming scene, both in the US and abroad, where it was featured in many tournaments for years after it came out. The game was particularly noted for its balance, as many different characters placed in top levels in tournaments.
After repeated high-level play, however, criticisms arose, most notably in some potentially game-breaking bugs which were found, including the 2G bug (which allowed players to block immediately after being Guard Impacted) and G-Step (which allowed players to sidestep vertical attacks and immediately cancel their sidestep, allowing for instant punishment). Many moves in Soulcalibur II are also safe (meaning that if they are guarded, their user will recover to a neutral state before the opponent can retaliate), and characters such as Astaroth benefit more from the Guard Impact system than others. Also, certain characters such as Xianghua and Ivy have many unfair advantages over most of the cast.
Game Rankings currently scores it 90.6% for the PlayStation 2, 92.9% for the GameCube and 90.8% for the Xbox.
Awards[]
- E3 2003 Game Critics Awards: Best Fighting Game
- X-Play - 10th best GameCube game of all time
- Screwattack.com - 8th best GameCube game
Also, Soulcalibur II is often cited as one of the best fighting games of all time. The Gamecube version received the highest reviews. Its overall score for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Gamecube is 9.2 out of 10.
Ports[]
Soulcalibur II was ported to the Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. Each of these home console versions has a unique character exclusive to that version:
- Heihachi Mishima (from the Tekken game series; appears in the PlayStation 2 and HD Online versions) - Gauntlets.
- Link (from The Legend of Zelda series; appears in the GameCube version only) - Master Sword and Hylian Shield.
- Spawn (from Todd McFarlane's comic book series with the same name; appears in the Xbox and HD Online versions) - A massive axe formed from his cape.
The Nintendo GameCube version was confirmed in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct on April 2, 2025 to be included as part of the initial launch lineup for the Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics service for Nintendo Switch 2 (available at no additional cost to all Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members).
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Box Art[]
Artwork[]
Soulcalibur II HD Online[]
The Art Of SoulCalibur II[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- In order to streamline the playable roster of characters with derivative movesets and replace some of the veterans with younger successors, many of the characters who appeared in Soulcalibur, namely Hwang, Rock, Seong Mi-Na, Sophitia, and Siegfried (for story reasons he is a part of Nightmare) were omitted from the arcade version of Soulcalibur II. Seong Mi-Na (who shares similar moves to Kilik) and Sophitia (who was succeeded by her younger sister Cassandra) would return in the home console versions as unlockable characters with their moves from the previous game intact. Hwang (whose role as a Chinese Sword character was succeeded by Yun-seong) and Rock (a moveset derivative of Astaroth in the previous game) would have their styles adopted by the bonus characters Assassin and Berserker. Siegfried would return as a separate character in Soulcalibur III, alongside Rock and Hwang. Future entries starting with Soulcalibur III would also rectify the similarities in the character roster by making them as unique as possible, giving each playable character more diversity in their play style instead of sharing moves.
- This game marks Amy's first appearance, as she is seen in the game's opening sequence. She would make her debut as a playable character in Soulcalibur III.
- In the Japanese home console versions, Assassin, Berserker and Lizardman are only playable during certain portions of Weapon Master Mode, like in the other versions, but cannot be selected by the player in any other mode.
- Johan Dürer appears in the opening sequence of Weapon Master Mode.
- Algol also appears in the opening sequence of Weapon Master Mode. There is also a city in this mode named after him.
- Characters from previous games that do not form part of the roster, namely Hwang, Li Long, Arthur, Rock and Edge Master, appear in the opening sequence of Weapon Master Mode as well.
- The game is #29 in IGN's Top 100 PS2 games.
- The Link featured in this game is the iconic Hero of Time from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Soulcalibur II itself is the first, and so far only title where the character were to be featured in a true fighting game.
- In the North American and PAL home console versions, all three variations of the unlockable stage "Egyptian Crypt" have special properties in Extra Versus Battle Mode and Extra Versus Team Battle Mode: the "Sand" variation has a pool of quicksand covering most of the arena that makes characters sink and move more slowly when they stand still, the "Fire" variation has the arena surrounded by a ring of lava that inflicts damage to the characters by making them burst into flames when they stand on it for too long, and the "Ice" variation has a slippery surface that increases the characters' momentum when they move in one direction.
- Cassandra's weapons and third costume are the most expensive of all the characters.
- Although each home port of Soulcalibur II are successful in sales and reviews, the GameCube version is seen as a fan-favorite pick among the Soul series community, due to it exclusively featuring Link and finding him a particularly fitting character for the game's setting.
- Soulcalibur II was the first game in the series to be a sponsor of a wrestling event, namely WWE Unforgiven, back in September 2003.
- HD Online marks the first time two guest characters (Heihachi Mishima and Spawn) from two different franchises are playable in the same game.
- For reasons unknown, Japanese voices are not available in the English version of HD Online. The Japanese version does include both languages, however.
- The weapon shown on the boxart differs between consoles:
- The PlayStation 2 box art features Soul Calibur (Evil), and is colored blue.
- The GameCube box art features Soul Calibur, and is colored green.
- The Xbox box art features Soul Edge, and is colored red.
- From Feb. 20th 2014 to May 20th 2014, people who purchased Soulcalibur II HD from the Japanese PSN store received a 3-piece set to use in Soulcalibur: Lost Swords (applicable only for the Japanese version). This set includes:
- One AP recovery potion
- One continue ticket
- A female-only CAS item, a triangle bikini
- Soulcalibur II is set in the year 1590, four years after the events of Soulcalibur and seven years after the events of Soul Edge.
- It shares this date with Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV.
A billboard in Spawn: Armageddon with the Soulcalibur II logo.
- The Localisation Producer, Nao Higo, revealed on the 8-4 Play podcast that Square Enix's Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII was originally intended to be the guest character for the PlayStation 2 version, but the licensing deal fell through at the last moment, and was therefore replaced with Heihachi Mishima from Namco's own Tekken franchise, itself another fighting game series.[4]
- Subtitles in gameplay may vary depending on the language character voices are set to. If the voices are set to English, the subtitles will match exactly what the characters are saying. If the voices are set to Japanese, the subtitles will sometimes translate differently to adapt to said language.
- In the video game Spawn: Armageddon, the level Cause and Effect has billboards scattered around the stage that have both the Namco logo and the Soulcalibur II logo on them. Namco was the publisher of the game, and the Soulcalibur II team were mentioned in the game's credits with specific members even being listed.
The image from "The Haibane of Old Home", taken directly from the Xbox version's game files.
- Necrid was created as a result of Namco approaching Todd McFarlane so that his company could design a new character for them based off specific guidelines.[5][6][5][7] During the discussions, Namco would eventually ask for permission to add Spawn as a guest character for the Xbox version of the game.[5] The result of this collaboration would eventually lead to the development of Spawn's own game, Spawn: Armageddon.[8]
- Hidden amongst the game files is an image from the first volume of an unfinished dōjinshi made by Yoshitoshi Abe, "The Haibane of Old Home", which was later adapted into the 2002 anime "Haibane Renmei". Why this image is within the game files is unknown.
External links[]
- Soulcalibur Series Website (Archived link via Wayback Machine)
- Official Project Soul website (Archived link via Wayback Machine)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment Website (Japanese)
- Soulcalibur II HD Online Japanese Website (Archived link via Wayback Machine)
- Soulcalibur II Japanese Arcade Website (Archived via archive.today)
- Soulcalibur II English website
References[]
- ^ https://projectsoul.bn-ent.net/
- ^ Takahashi, Yoshinori [@masuooyama] (November 27, 2020). "Surprisingly, he's the protagonist of SC2. He is so outstanding in both talent and madness that worthy of being a vessel for the Evil Sword." (Tweet). Retrieved April 1, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "NP Top 200", Nintendo Power 200: 58–66, February 2006
- ^ 8-4 Play 10/6/2017: STEVE WOULD LIKE YOU TO PLAY IT LOUD "8-4 Play 10/6/2017: STEVE WOULD LIKE YOU TO PLAY IT LOUD". 8-4 (Podcast). June 10, 2017. Event occurs at 01:24:40. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c Gamespot Staff (January 22, 2003). "Todd McFarlane Q&A". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ "Hiroaki Yotoriyama Interview" (April 26, 2003). Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ "SPAWN OF MCFARLANE". Xbox Nation. No. 009. New York: Ziff Davis Media, Inc. 2003. p. 14. ISSN 1538-9723.
- ^ "SPAWN: ARMAGEDDON". Spawn.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2005. Retrieved January 31, 2025. "TME and Namco first crossed paths during development of SOULCALIBUR II when Namco approached Todd about creating a character for the game. Todd created a new character, Necrid, for SCII and also allowed them to use Spawn as a special character in the XBox version of the game. Realizing the potential with Spawn, the deal with Namco evolved into Spawn's own title."
| Soulcalibur II |
|---|
| Soulcalibur II (HD Online) • The Art of Soulcalibur II • Unlockables • Soulcalibur II Original Soundtrack • Weapon Master |
| Characters |
| Stages |
