SOULCALIBUR: Broken Destiny preserves all the fierce battles and gorgeous visuals the series has been known for to create the most comprehensive fighting experience ever on a handheld system with highly responsive controls and balanced gameplay. Adding depth to the combat, an all new single player mode has been specifically crafted for the PSP system that not only challenges a player’s reflexes but also improves their fighting skills. Following in the footsteps of Soulcalibur IV, Critical Finish Moves return where opponents can be defeated with one spectacular attack. Furthermore, the game’s character customization feature has been outfitted with even more options than ever before for infinite possibilities to create an original fighter or customize a favorite warrior.

I have been playing Namco's famed fighter since Soul Blade on the Playstation and the original Soul Calibur on Dreamcast and own every iteration that has come out. Honestly overall I can say this is the weakest of the series. Do not take this the wrong way, there are a few of positive things to say about this release but there is just not enough to keep it out of the bargain bin.

First the graphics rival that of the PS2, which are really beautiful. Unfortunately a game needs more than pretty graphics to perform it's most important tasks: fun and playability. The graphics are comparable to the first and second Soul Calibur for fans of the series who have played them.

A big thing in recent years for the fighting genre is customization. I am a huge fan of the customization process, most of the games that I play have some form of customization in it. Dragon Age, Sims, Oblivion, Morrowind, Armored Core, etc. A nice thing about the customization in the PSP version of Soul Calibur is that most of the accessories are available from the beginning making it quick and easy to make a character or editing a character to your liking. Unfortunately it comes with one pitfall, it takes away from the player having a goal to obtain since there is a lack of modes which will be addressed later. It is nice that you do not have to go through a boring and time consuming tower as in Soul Calibur 4, but at the same time it takes away from rewards playing the game.

The AI is a mixed bag. It presents a challenge for players. As stated in one of the reviews they have a human like feel and adapt to your style of fighting. On the other end though it would be nice to have easy/medium/hard like in most games. When you fight in the quick battle mode though, you can tell which opponent will be easy due to their win/loss streak. When you fight there are characters with screen names to make it "feel" like they are real opponents. For those who have played previous titles in the series, names that are much like the opponents in edge master mode or the rpg/story mode in Soul Calibur 3.

Now we delve into the bad side of the game. There is a serious lack of playing modes. You have the gauntlet and quick battle, if you want to you could also include the versus player portion. Unfortunately for me I am constantly traveling and most people do not own a copy of Soul Calibur with the PSP. I found the gauntlet to be quite bothersome and boring, they have you go through what seems to be more like a tutorial of fighting and accomplishing tasks that are really not entertaining at all. An example would be blocking various attacks for a set amount of time, if you get hit you lose. I personally enjoyed the RPG mode in Soul Calibur 3 and felt that they could have taken that same approach in Soul Calibur 4 or this game.

I felt that in order to make this game truly great all they had to do was do what they have been doing over the past years. Throw in Arcade, Time Attack, and Survival modes (Extra Survival mode too if space allows). If you are a veteran Soul Calibur player, do not expect these modes to be present. Aside from that they have a new tutorial mode and practice mode remains alive and well.

One final feature that is lacking is the ability to change the number of rounds you fight in order to win. I have played 2 rounds in every other game, 3 is just time consuming and does not fit the normal formula and what I am accustomed too. It may be minor to some, but for my self it is rather annoying to drag a fight on for the extra round.

All in all, I will have to say that I am very disappointed in this game. This is not at all what I expected from a Soul Calibur title. I have read the Tekken reviews for the PSP and it seems like the game is very similar to the PS2 version, why couldn't they take the same or similar approach here? I understand that there is a lack of space on the PSP UMD, but they still could have made an excellent game. I got rid of my first PSP due to the lack of good titles, it is games such as this version of Soul Calibur that makes me consider getting rid of my current PSP.

I wish that I could have given this title a 3 star at the minimum, but there is much to be desired from this game. They skipped the usual formula and tried to do some new things that I felt just weren't up to par with the majority of previous releases in the series. I hope that what I have written in here will help you when/if purchasing this product. If you are diehard fan of the series who needs to own every title, go ahead and take the dive. I feel unless you are a very casual player, that this would not be worth your time and money.

Im a true fan of soulcalibur since soulcalibur 2 from last gen. so i am a pro at this weapons based fantasy fighter franchise.

Heres the Pro's and Con's from my Exp with the game overall.

Pro's:

+ First Portable SC game EVER created, its not on the DS its on PSP exclusively due to its shear graphical power, the DS is not capable of this kind of power, and even the PSP quite frankly shouldn't put out these beautiful high quality graphics. the character models are superb and after checking back to SC3's last gen PS2 exclusive SCIII i can say that Broken Destiny has the graphical edge, meaning PSP now has yet Another game that's graphically superior to the PS2, original Xbox and the gamecube ASWELL as the DS. the only gaming systems on the market with better graphics are the PS3 and Xbox 360. atleast with this game.

Also something i noticed right for the start continuing on the graphics subject, its overall art-style is basiclly SCIV's engine except toned down for PSP (by a noticeable amount since PS3 and Xbox 360 are HD console systems) however its still amazing.

One more thing to note aswell, the Stages you fight in, in SC: BD are VERY detailed, as a fan i thought SC4's stages were bland and underwhelming, namco's fault for being lazy there... however the stages available for BD are MUCH more detailed then the SC4 counter part, perhaps its because theres more color and more animation, i think the fact that the new Kratos stage and new France-Fantasy like stages really give that extra "wow" factor, also they brought back ALT stages from the old SC2 and SC3 days to some degree.

The graphics on the stages are noticeable lower compared to the HD consoles, however they just seem more impressive to me, one of the reasons why is because theres now Lightning, Rain, Thunder, floating spirit energy, shining moon and stars, setting sun, all animated and looks smooth, not much more to say, stages made a comeback in BD where it failed in SC4.

+ Characters, all of them SC4 appear except for the Star wars characters, that is Darth Vade, Yoda and The apprentice, to be honest that was once of the BEST things about BD, those characters didn't fit into the feeling of SC's atmosphere to begin with.

But as you may know while reading this review by now but i'll mention anyway since this is also a Major plus for BD, two new characters are exclusive to this SC ONLY ...

1. Kratos from the God of War Series from Sony (reinforces the Exclusive to PSP only) Combat Style: Violent, Fast With long range and winged aerial attacks sort of like Jin Kazuma from the Tekken Series except much more powerful and downright broken, hes perfect for the SC series but has way to much power in his favor, his Chained swinging attacks, fast stabs and Wings attacks are really strong.

2. Dampierre a new Original character to the SC series as a whole! the last one was Hildiegard from SCIV as original goes, which is why its hard to consider BD a spin-off even though it is, but whatever hes an awesome comic humour character, sort of like Yoshimitsu except more weird, perverted, and FUNNY! lol @ his diary entries. Combat Style: Strange, Quick, Stupid, moonwalker, Assassins Creed weapon user, hes actually a very strong character to use since his moves are weird and unpredictable and has high damage attacks and stun combos, his weakness is most likely his Range and Fall moves, his attack range is by far the worst in the game, close range fightern or nothing for him, and his "Falling down on purpose" moves can be a issue for some battles.

Other then those two, Character Creation also makes its epic return to the SC series, with the most clothing items EVER but with the sacrifice of no body style options available the only body types available are still good enough though, infact there more then fine enough, the body frames for men are slightly more husky in BD but with a fair amount of ripped muscle detail, more realistic details like vains, skin spots, and other things are gone though, while the body frames for women are just about right, not very "Babe" like at all, yet not to petie either, i'd say a lil above average overall for both men and women characters.

Character Creation is very important to me so thats why i reviewed it in detail, i use all my Created original characters more then all the main characters since im creative with the right tools, so for those of you also who has a creative hand this is aimed towards you!

+ Gameplay is almost exactly like SCIV which is a GREAT thing, with Few minor changes, these include...

1. Critical Finish button has two purposes now its been remade by a new Guard breaking Attack (Blue Lightning moves) for ALL characters, and it doubles as the Critical Finish move two-in one deal that should have been present in SC4 but wasn't, glad it appears in BD though! Also CF moves are MUCH easier to use in broken destiny then in SC4, another fixed gameplay issue that SC4 had is now gone in BD, you can now CF nearly every round if you want to.

2. Gameplay Balance, SOME moves that were over powered in SCIV are now fixed in SC: BD.... however new spamming powerful moves arise as a result, Talim, Yun Seong, KRATOS, Seigfried, Nightmare, Setsuka and Cervantes all have there own little ways of OVER-Powered spammable attacks now, Algols Bubble blaster attacks are nerfed but damn the tweaks made to other characters are CRAZY!

3. Combo's don't seem to make an "official" return but its sill there just doesn't show up in BD for some reason.

4. new animations for Guard impacts, blocks and counters are here. subtle but a true fan notices.

5. New Voices for Creatable characters, returned voices from SCIII to BD. making a grand total of 10 voices + ! AND alot more new cloths and options available for your artistic mind!

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Con's:

1. Not many, however the Game does lack a story mode and that brings this game down like the other reviewers have mentioned, normally thats no big deal because Fighting games are made for gameplay and the fun factor of it all, however unlike other fighters (SF, MVC, GG, etc...) SC games were always based on a semi-somewhat interesting and likable story line that could be considered movie or rpg like so with Broken Destiny taking a voiceless comic book type of story style really brings the whole thing down, if it was fully voiced then it would have been abit more interesting but they were to lazy to even to THAT. which is why i didn't give the overall score a 4 or higher, this solely brang the whole thing down as far as getting more info out of the SC universe.

Other then story...

2. Screen tearing, this doesn't happen often but when it does its VERY noticeable and very off putting. from my exp with the game it only happens in creating your own character mode not in actual gameplay.

3. Voice quotes are way over used for ALL characters. they should have added new things to say for this portable version. there is "SOME" new things like taunts and attack moves, but nothing amazing.

4. No online Versus Mode TRULY brings this game down in the replay value factor, instead it has local play which is basiclly useless. even if you have a bunch of friends or family with PSP's, chances are 1 of them will have this game, and thats being nice as it is.

5. Character Creation could have been much more finely tuned then what it actually is, its great but still many cloths are missing such as Zasalamels awesome White coat thing and Tira's emo-heart outfit thing are missing. aswell as no body features meaning no slimmer pretty boy characters (instead more muscle-based dudes with a semi bulky/slim body style) ... and the ladies can't have a petie (small body frame) or babe-ish figure (med body frame with large assets.) so average body options for both genders, just like what SC3 had except Broken Destiny's Creatable characters STILL look better then SC3, both in graphics and Art-Style. thats most likely due to using a former HD-Games engine though. and it shows.

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In Conclusion ... SC:BD could have been much more then what it is, but its the only portable SC game out there and being based mainly off SCIV with some slight but noticeable mixes of 3 and 2 also its a decent title, but for a fan of the series, its a let down. since the potential is there to be so much more but ultimately wasn't due to Namco being to lazy.

NO SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN.
What does this mean for the average player?
THERES NO CAMPAIGN TO START OR FINISH.
Meaning you could just play the game for five minutes and put it aside because THERES NOTHING TO DO.
Oh theres a "gauntlet" which basically teaches you how to play the game, but it states
at the start of the gauntlet that its not part of the Soul Calibur story.
Its like saying "ah this game doesn't matter really".

Pros
- You have Kratos
- The game looks good
- You have multiple characters and you can create characters of your own.

Cons
- You have Kratos, WHO HAS NO STORY AT ALL, he's just SHOWN UP and will HANG AROUND.
One of the most interesting story driven characters in gaming justs EXISTS in this game,
and fights people in quick matches.
- You have multiple characters AND NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.
Just Quick matches, thats all.

Considering how much effort clearly went into the game how hard would it have been to add
a movie for each character which you see after beating 8 random characters.

I'm a PSP devotee and especially love the system's fighting games. Additionally, I've owned every Soul Calibur game going way back to the Sega Dreamcast and have been a huge fan of the franchise as it has evolved over the years. So, combine my love of the PSP with my interest in Soul Calibur and, voila, you have one of the very best fighting games for the PSP.

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny is, essentially, the PSP version of the PS3's Soul Calibur 4, with a few differences. First and foremost, there are no Star Wars characters in this game; instead, two new characters are introduced - Kratos, from the God of War games, and Dampierre, a top-hatted, dagger-wielding Victorian thief. Additionally, as far as I can tell, the new "extra" characters introduced in SC4 (Angol Fear, Shura, etc.) are not present, though the rest of the cast is, including Algol, who is playable right off the bat.

The game's graphics are excellent, looking like top-notch PS2 graphics, and the music, sound effects, and controls are all that you could ask for - it seems to run on a similar engine to the Tekken games on the PSP, so if you're familiar with those, you'll have no trouble here.

The best things about this game are:
1) Character Creation Mode - in Character Creation Mode you can create your own fighter, based on the fighting style of one of the other cast-members, similar to previous PS2 and PS3 games. When you begin there is already a large selection of costume, hair, face, weapon and voice options, and more are unlocked as you play (no more saving up points to buy new items). You can even select the "Selection Screen" image for your character. These characters can be fully integrated into the rest of the game. While there aren't as many customizing options as SC4 (for instance, you can't customize the height or weight) it allows you to build wonderfully unique fighters.

2) Gauntlet Mode - This takes the place of any Story mode in the game, really. Here, you build up a win-loss record against regular cast members, altered versions of regular characters, and custom-made characters. As you go, you unlock more customization items and honors. This is a fun mode, and can be very challenging, and you'll find yourself playing it for hours.

The Bad about this game? Well...

1) No Story Mode! Sorry guys, but it just isn't here. Gauntlet and Survival mode allow you to fight opponents nonstop, but there is no plot, no endings, etc. Bummer.
2) Trials Mode! Ugh. This mode is basically a very, very, very long training mode where you learn how to pull off certain moves within a time limit. I played it once and got bored really fast. It is a complete waste of good memory.
3) No Extra Games. Granted, probably most of Broken Destiny's memory is spent on the quality graphics and sound, but I would have taken downgraded graphics in exchange for additional content. There are no extra games (remember "Chronicles of the Sword" in SC3?) and this does limit playability, especially if you don't have anyone to play against in Versus mode.

In all, a great game and a lot of fun, with superior graphics and sound, but longtime fans of the franchise may be upset by the lack of additional gameplay options.

NO STORY MODE

NO ONLINE MODE

NO CHARACTER BIOS

NO MOVIES

There is no depth in this game. i never got to play the soul calibur series as much but i thought this game could introduce me to it in a great way but i was wrong. the games mechanics is still good but it seems they did not put as much effort into this game as they should and i felt disrespected since they did not bother to put more into this game