It's astonishing to imagine Soul Calibur IV right in the palm of your hand, but here it is!
For those few poor souls out there not in the know, Soul Calibur is Namco's other flagship fighting series (Tekken being the other). It differs from most fighting games in that it is a fully 3D weapons based fighter with characters of all archetypes represented. Samurai, assassins, fencers, and many others are gathered for an all out fighting extravaganza to battle for the Soul Edge sword in order to either control it or destroy it. Broken Destiny marks the debut of the series on a handheld device and Sony's PSP handles the job beautifully. There is a huge roster of playable characters, most notably including Kratos from the God of War series. The Star Wars exclusives to Soul Calibur IV are absent, for better or worse.
What impresses most about this game is how close it is to its console cousin. Most of the stages have also made the jump from console to handheld and the level of detail in visuals is astounding. While the PSP does not pack the power punch of the PS3 or the Xbox 360, you'll be very impressed with how great everything looks. Each character looks incredible and the lighting in each stage is sure to please anyone's eye. Everyone has different costumes to choose from and they can also be altered to fit your own personal style. The colors are vibrant and everything animates beautifully. This is easily one of the prettiest PSP games ever.
The audio matches the video in that the music and voices you loved are all here as well. Vocals can be switched between the English or Japanese option and they both sound great. Kratos sounds just as he did in God of War (provided that you choose the English option) and the music matches the stages from Soul Calibur IV. Clinks and clanks of weapons clashing all sound familiar if you've followed the Soul Calibur series throughout the years which only makes this game feel like a real Soul Calibur title. Even the announcer between stages is brought back in fine form.
There are a few modes to choose from; each a variation on a similar theme. The Quick Match option allows you to pick your character and fight another one at a time. The Gauntlet is more of a tutorial to teach you how to control your character and how to execute moves and combos. It is long and gets progressively more difficult. A silly story has been thrown in for good measure but the purpose of The Gauntlet is to teach you how to play the game. The next mode is Trials which has three difficulty settings based on either attack or defense as a focus or there is an "Endless Trial" option. This is more of a survival mode where you fight until you lose. Versus is ad-hoc fighting (no online, sorry) and then there is the Creation mode. Here you can create your own character or edit the appearance of an existing character. It's surprising to see this mode included and it certainly is welcome; however any armor or items that you add to your character does not change their stats as was the case in Soul Calibur IV. This is both a blessing and a curse in that it's nice that all the characters are on a level playing field but it's sad you can't build your ultimate character to wipe the floor with the computer or your buddies in multiplayer. Training mode is also included but it is a rather moot point with the inclusion of the Gauntlet. Options give you control over button configuration, sound, and memory stick saves. One welcome addition is the ability to utilize Data Install. This allows you to download data directly from the game to your memory stick in order to drastically reduce load times. More and more games are including this for the PSP and it makes a big difference.
Sadly, what is missing is the standard Arcade mode where you compete through the game's character roster and ultimately beat the boss character at the end. As online is not available, it would have been nice to have an Arcade mode to give a better sense of accomplishment in single player competition. Without these modes and with the inability to change your character's stats in Creation mode, Broken Destiny can feel just a little lacking in the extras department. With so much attention given to the game, it feels wrong to complain about such trivialities. But still, these points are definitely missed and are worth mentioning about an otherwise amazing game.
While the absence of online play, a few extras, and an Arcade mode are disappointing, there is no reason for any PSP owner and/or fighting game aficionado to ignore this title. The sheer quality of everything included is a huge selling point; not to mention the ability to play as God of War's Kratos. Even with the technical limitations of the PSP when compared to this generation's consoles, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny never feels like a scaled down version of a better game. There is a lot to love here as this game is every bit on par with what you can play at home in beauty, style, and in pure fighting joy. It's astonishing to imagine Soul Calibur IV right in the palm of your hand, but here it is!