SoulCalibur V for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

I like this game because character customization is off of the chain. I created all Final Fantasy and Dynasty Warriors characters off of their collection and it was awesome. The story did suck and only being able to see only a few characters story sucks because I did not follow Soul Calibur in the past and do not know what is going on. Graphics are spendid and controls are easy to catch on to not like Street Fighter x Tekken in which I hate. Overall not bad of a game.

The fifth installment in the Soul Series was very much a mixed bag. I will start off by listing the negative, and then the positive aspects:
1. The single player mode is incredibly empty, leaving you with no genuine reward for playing offline. The story mode puts you through the central story, attempting to sloppily introduce you to the new roster of characters with no proper details or explanations. The arcade mode is even worse, offering no character intros or outros as in previous iterations of the Soulcalibur franchise, leaving me scratching my head, and wondering why I bothered. The online play has seen drastic improvements, but that is no excuse for an offline player to have to suffer a lackluster experience. On top of this the new characters introduced have very little background, and as a replacement for the previous roster, leave A LOT to be desired.
2. As previously stated the online mode is very polished and stable, making online play the most common mode a player will pick. Graphically as usual the game looks beautiful which is expected of Soulcalibur. The music is well-done, and the gameplay is rock-solid. The offline challenge mode is one of the few enjoyable items for a single player, enjoying the various and exotic designs for custom characters. The character creation mode is also very well done, not only allowing you to create your own uniquely designed fighters, but to also customize the pre-established roster of fighters in a variety of inventive ways.
After looking deep into my heart of hearts, I will say that the game succeeds in roughly two-thirds of it's execution: the aesthetics and gameplay, but the last third, story and characters, it falls flat. This may seem minor, but the story and characters have been a major part of separating Soulcalibur, from most other fighters. I recommend this as a weekend rental, but if you're looking for a keeper, I suggest going back to Soulcaibur IV.
I give this game about 5 out of 10.