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Hands on: Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny photo

The PSP has many fine portable brawlers, but the Soulcalibur series has not made the transition...until now. I had a chance to spend some quality time with Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny on the PSP at E3 this year, and I really liked what I saw.

Broken Destiny has many of the features you liked about its big brother, the console game Soulcalibur IV, tucked inside a little package.  Or at least it's supposed to. In our demo, there were only a handful of characters shown as playable. I'm told that a "huge roster" is coming up for the final version, and we know that some new characters, like God of War's Kratos, are coming. But as for this demo, there were only 9 or so characters, so I played with my go-to character, Mitsurugi. 

The first thing I noticed about Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is that it looks really good. Stunning, really. It actually compares very nicely to the console version Soulcalibur IV, if you can believe that. I was taken back at how sharp and crisp these characters looked on screen, and the flashy sparks and other effects you've come to know from the other series games are all here too. This title looks so good that I wouldn't be surprised if Sony uses it as a visual showcase for their PSP Go when it launches this fall.

This PSP title plays exactly like it does on the console. The movement, timing, and move sets were exactly the same for my favorite character, Mitsurugi. I spammed my same moves and chains to win against the CPU. The control was as tight as you'd expect for both the movement and the button commands. I'm glad to say that the experience has not been watered down for this portable version. I will say that the less raised buttons of the PSP Go made for a different feel at first, especially when trying to do the two-buttons-one-thumb thing, but it all worked out once I got used to it.

Namco Bandai says that there will be improvements to some parts of game play, with focus on fine tuning Soul Crushes and weapon breaking. I didn't get to check any of that out in my demo, but that's definitely good to hear, and something we'll look forward to trying out.

Broken Destiny has the Arcade mode, as usual, but there will also be a survival mode and a new PSP-specific solo mode. I only tried the Arcade mode, as some of the options were locked out. Versus play will come by way of ad-hoc wifi connection, and you'll still be able to create and customize your own character. 

Tight control, beautiful graphics, and portable fighting action? My soul is burning for this summer release. 

LAUNCH GALLERY (9 IMAGES)
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Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools. Meet the rest of the team



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18 comments | showing # 1 to 18
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Justice's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 17:24
Justice
The new Mad-Hatter character looks interesting, and as you said it looks really good. Glad to hear you like it, if the Solo mode is more like the story mode from SCII and III rather than IV, then this might be the game that makes me pick up my PSP again, since it's been gathering dust for over a year.
's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 17:34
Clint
Nice, I'm getting a PSP for Peace Walker so this is now right on my list of do wants as well. Second what justice said about the Solo mode hopes. SCIV's was just pitiful.
kefkaesque's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 17:47
kefkaesque
Whether or not I buy it entirely depends on two things.

1.) Does the story mode sucks massive balls like in 4
2.) Does it have team battle mode which almost every SC fan has wanted to return since SC2
Rockvillian's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 18:06
Rockvillian
Good old Soul Calibur. Always reminding me I don't own the right console (and now a handheld).
DaedHead8's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 18:06
DaedHead8
I'm totally stoked for this game. I've been wanting a good fighting game for the PSP for awhile now and I think this will do quite nicely.
Coltronathon5000's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 18:10
Coltronathon5000
Broken "Desitny"? more like DesTITny
Arch649's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 18:12
Arch649
Ans starring Uma Thurman apparently.
SephirothX's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 18:52
SephirothX
Glad someone's giving glory to the PSP graphics, and not saying they are glorified PS1 games...
ChronosWing's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 21:13
ChronosWing
@Seph

The point I was trying to make is the fact that you said because of the power of the PSP (which you said had better graphics than the WII), the PSP GO was worth $250, when in fact the PSP can't even achieve PS2 level graphics which spawned my Glorified PS1 games comment. If anything the PSP GO is worth $150 tops, for $250 people can just go ahead and purchase a WII, or hell purchase a PS2 and some games.
's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 21:53
Clint
@chrono
Neither of which are portable >.> If the Go is too pricy, just buy the regular. That's what I'm doing.
ChronosWing's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 22:00
ChronosWing
@SWPM

I have a 2000 and 1000, it has nothing to do with buying one. It has to do with Sony being greedy assholes thinking they can just charge whatever they feel like and people will eat it up, but it's not the case, most people are gonna see $250/no physical media and shrug it off in favor of getting something that is actually worth that kind of money.
's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/09/2009 22:11
Clint
@Chrono
Eh, if they can get away with charging that much, why not? There greedy sure, but most companies are, and if most people think $250 is too pricy, it'll fail and Sony will hopefully learn their lesson. I agree with you though in that I think it's a poor business decision. Time will tell though.

Anyways, yeah, Soul Calibur
Chronic Logic's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/10/2009 09:36
Chronic Logic
I feel like getting the game soley for Kratos.
BlackFreefall's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/10/2009 09:36
BlackFreefall
Will this be coming out in UMD or download?
BradleyTNO's Avatar - Comment posted on 06/15/2009 16:58
BradleyTNO
Not worried about the story. Just the fighting style.
davidvilla's Avatar - Comment posted on 08/13/2009 06:04
davidvilla
I feel like getting the game soley for Kratos.Online management degree | bachelor degree business | BBA degree
dualcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2009 22:42
dualcam
Importsant points to keep in mind: The experience has not been watered down for this portable version. I will say that the less raised buttons of the PSP Go made for a different feel at first. toyota prius
smihtv41721's Avatar - Comment posted on 04/21/2011 04:43
smihtv41721
I think we need to bring more ideas for this purpose. Involvement of young people can be handy in this regard. I am happy to find a good post here. Thank you
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