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[SkylineRKR]

I've been religiously playing this game for the last week. Let me tell you its fucking A and beats many modern fighters to hell.

Soul Calibur 3 was an odd one. After SC2 was multiplatform and found an audience with Nintendo fans, SC3 was PS2 exclusive. Which was seen as curious at the time. And I think it therefore wasn't as popular as the 2nd game. Reviews and gamers were kind of cold on it. The game had no arcade release either, and yeah it probably hurts the balance.

I bought it in 2005, about 20 years ago, and I really liked it but I thought 2 was better. But right now i'm not so sure. Because SC3 feels and looks really, really good.

First of all its a PS2 classic, so its graphically boosted. The graphics and colors really pop. The game has native widescreen and weird DD support too (only the intro video is DD 5.1, the game proper is in Pro Logic II). And you can switch between NTSC and PAL versions (I didn't and even in EU means you're in NTSC by default). Saves likely aren't compatible, and I've unlocked a shit ton already so w/e. But its said the PAL revision is better. And there is rewind, which you'll LOVE if you want to find Night Terror because the AI here is absolutely brutal and some paths require no losses. Idk why, but this is the hardest SC of them all. Its not entirely cheap; the AI can be juggled or countered, sometimes fucks up... but in general it punishes slow recoveries and bashing. I feel it actually makes you better, or more careful with your inputs.

But there is a lot to like. The content. This is pre-monetization. All characters, outfits, items are unlocked by playing. Looking at you T8. And there is a TON to unlock. SC3 also still had tits. Looking at you Item shop merchant.

Tales of Souls for example, is one of the best story modes in fighters. Its not bloated, and its different for each character. What I hate are those modern stories, picking chars for you and ignoring 80% of others. Looking at you again T8. You'll beat them once, and thats it. ToS though? You might unlock nothing new, or a whole bunch if you pick other routes. You might even find Night Terror if you pick all the 'correct' choices. Or fight a giant Greek Statue down the line. I've been rinsing this mode, also cheating with rewind. And I found fights and even bonus chars I didn't 20 years ago (like this invincible guy, Keres, who can only be counter hit.. not sure I ever saw him before). You can unlock 7 main fighters, who also have a storyline etc. But another dozen of bonus chars which don't have a story and profile but are seriously cool. Like, Hwang and Li-Long from Soul Edge. And Raphael's sister Amy. Along with the shop girls. You can buy extra weapons with some having the Edge and Calibur variants to unlock further in. This game acknowledges SE/SB more than the previous few ones. Tales of Souls is a little bit more like Edge Master mode. And the character endings.. the interactive endings from SE/SB are back. You can alter their outcome by QTE.

Mission mode is very fun too, with some gimmicky challenges like Tag the bomb.

And then I barely touched Chronicles of the Sword until yesterday. Its a fucking RTS where you need to use your CaS (without pronouns and shits). And its actually fun as hell.

Its on PS+ Premium. Give it a chance. The game rules.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I hated the QTEs in the arcade mode. Really hurt the game, arcade is supposed to be the no-no sense mode.
Pity, because otherwise the game is spectacular and has a ton of content. But that was just a stupid decision.

 

[Punished Miku]

Going to have to actually hook up my PS5 and buy this. Only $10. Cheaper than I expected honestly.

It was radically unbalanced and a huge step down from part 2. You could tell immediately that it had no arcade run or balance tweaks like they normally did back then before hitting console. But it's still a fun game and has a super fun single player mode. Some of the create a character movesets are hilariously unbalanced.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

My mates and I used to play Soul Calibur IV all the time. We had a piece of paper up on the wall with a tally chart of all the wins / losses between us. Great times.

 

[Sticks]

Barely remember any of it. Didnt my boys Nightmare and Asteroth have some gay outfits?

 

[Dr. Suchong]

Definitely my favourite Soul Calibur.
I remember being shocked about how good it was.
Unfortunately there was some sort of bug that corrupted your save file, so I reluctantly had to put it to one side.
I wonder if that glitch is still present?
Incredible amount of stuff to unlock.

 

[Sticks]

Bought it and dowloaded VI again which I still need to finish lol. 5 is the only one I never played I think

 

[Oberstein]

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

It was somewhat of a downgrade from how great Soul Calibur 2 was... which is the epitome of the series... Also, it didn't have any special guests... And if I remember correctly, many people didn't choose to play it because it had a strange bug that erased your PS2 memory card.

 

[onQ123]

How good PS2 games look on PS5 has been overlooked

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

How good PS2 games look on PS5 has been overlooked

I played Tomb Raider Anniversary last week and i'm really impressed at how great it looked on my TV tbh.

 

[Sportler]

Most beautiful PS2 game. It plays great and has tons of unlockables.

 

[Skifi28]

Going to have to actually hook up my PS5 and buy this.

How the mighty have fallen.

 

[Punished Miku]

How the mighty have fallen.

I played Astro Bot on it. I wanted to hook up Wii U for a bit.

Most of the time I'm not using it, but I'm a big Soul Calibur fan. As I've always told everyone, I got a PS5 first this gen in 2020. It's just extremely rare I'm actually compelled to use the thing.

 

[Naked Lunch]

My memory of this game on PS2 is that it had some kind of save glitch that wiped your entire memory card. Brutal.
Cool game otherwise though.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I doubt the save glitch is still there. It had to do with actual memorycards, and CotS not being your first save on that device. I've played other PS2 games on PS5, nothing happened.

And you can make save states for PS2 classics from within the emulator menu anyway.

One thing I forgot to mention, is the Galaga THX splash screen.

Its glorious.

And with a proper remaster it would be 100% gone.

I hated the QTEs in the arcade mode. Really hurt the game, arcade is supposed to be the no-no sense mode.
Pity, because otherwise the game is spectacular and has a ton of content. But that was just a stupid decision.

Yeah those repetitive scenes like the rolling gear sucks ass. B/c you can't skip any scene. But the endings are neat easter eggs. And the rewind is, after TR:A, a godsend. Its just beautiful. You receive a cheap shot vs Olcadan and miss out on Night Terror? Rewind! This way you can actually train GI mid fight, because you can rewind the incoming blow and find the correct timing as well as punisher. Its such a great emulator feature.

The true Arcade mode though, could be argued is Quick Play. 8 stages with Abyss at the end.

 

[Sticks]

I wish these games had trophies lol

 

[onQ123]

I played Tomb Raider Anniversary last week and i'm really impressed at how great it looked on my TV tbh.

I noticed it when I played Sly Cooper it was kinda crazy to me that a old PS2 game somehow looked perfectly fine .

Usually going back to 3D games from pass generations is weird but PS2 classics seems to have a SNES / Sega Genesis games on new hardware type of charm.

 

[Generic]

I'm playing it a lot.

 

[Bondo]

Really miss this series. Wish we had a new entry.
I go through phases annually of going back and enjoying SC.

 

[keefged4]

The game has retro achievements too, so no reason to buy the PS5 version if you are part of the master race - https://retroachievements.org/game/3060

Adding this to the never ending list of games to emulate, I never got around to playing it much back in the day

EDIT - Wait does the PS5 version really not have trophies? That's really poor if so.

 

[TGO]

The newest version of the PS2 emulator on playstation really helps, games actually look fantastic now, and yeah when we say games aren't like they used to be....case in point.
They need to update the older ones

 

[SkylineRKR]

The newest version of the PS2 emulator on playstation really helps, games actually look fantastic now, and yeah when we say games aren't like they used to be....case in point.
They need to update the older ones

For sure it isn't nostalgia. this year my most played game was FFT according to wrapped. I beat TR:A a few weeks back, the ps2 classic. It was great. Now i am hooked to SC3, which sure as hell is more fun than T8.

Those classic games are simply better, more engaging and not tainted. With some enhancements, like these emulators offer, is enough to put them above modern slop. Can't wait for the next PS2 classic. I hope for something like Valkyrie Profile 2, Ace Combat Zero or maybe finally update existing stuff like Ape Escape 2 and Rogue Galaxy.

I wish these games had trophies lol

TR:A has and this game doesn't.

So its up to the publisher?

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

The newest version of the PS2 emulator on playstation really helps, games actually look fantastic now, and yeah when we say games aren't like they used to be....case in point.
They need to update the older ones

I really hope PS6 is the gen where we get everything in the same place, including native PS3 games. Imagine this level of emulation for games like Resistance, Killzone 2, etc.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Most beautiful PS2 game. It

Its Okami... And Valkyrie profile 2 Silmeria

 

[NeverYouMind]

And you can switch between NTSC and PAL versions (I didn't and even in EU means you're in NTSC by default). Saves likely aren't compatible, and I've unlocked a shit ton already so w/e. But its said the PAL revision is better. And there is rewind, which you'll LOVE if you want to find Night Terror because the AI here is absolutely brutal and some paths require no losses.

Cool.

The game had no arcade release either, and yeah it probably hurts the balance.

That is false. The arcade release followed console release so the PS2 version left variable cancel as a competitively busted glitch without a patch (until a collaborative fan patch was published on 8wayrun forums). The Japanese and European versions did get some balance changes.

And then I barely touched Chronicles of the Sword until yesterday. Its a fucking RTS where you need to use your CaS (without pronouns and shits). And its actually fun as hell.

Make sure to switch your units to cavalry and have them group attack fortifications to expedite the missions. Only downside to cavalry is they suck at auto combat against independent units but manually engaging in battle covers that single weakness.

I hated the QTEs in the arcade mode. Really hurt the game, arcade is supposed to be the no-no sense mode.
Pity, because otherwise the game is spectacular and has a ton of content. But that was just a stupid decision.

Classic arcade ladder is available as Quick Play in Soul Arena.

P.S. The fan Arcade Edition mod version is arguably the best version but emulation features are quite nice here.

 

[Icymanipulator]

I enjoyed it back in the day, shame there's no online.

 

[Sportler]

Its Okami... And Valkyrie profile 2 Silmera

It's difficult to compare them because these two are very individual.

 

[mpgeist]

Can anyone confirm that the game ending glitch is gone? It got me on the original game and completely killed my motivation to try it again.

 

[struggler_guts]

I have many a memory of my brother rocking my shit in these games, somehow they are fond memories lol

I do remember being seriously impressed with the story mode at the time and character creator

 

[polybius80]

I had the memory card glitch but I remember there were versions among iso files, I think it was fixed, but as was back in the day if you want the fixed version you had to buy the game again just making sure you buy a more recent print, the game is excellent a step above SC2 in my opinion, I liked the character creator, and new characters, but some people hated the lack of guest characters I preffer no guest characters in SC games as they break the lore in my opinion and are OP most of the time(I am looking at you 2B!)

 

[Xaeroxcore666]

It's difficult to compare them because these two are very individual.

I see these videos and think, Is Soul Calibur 3 the best looking PS2 3D fighting game?

At least art wise it has no rival on the console!

 

[Punished Miku]

I see these videos and think, Is Soul Calibur 3 the best looking PS2 3D fighting game?

At least art wise it has no rival on the console!

I thought it was a downgrade from 2, personally.

 

[Gitaroo]

I see these videos and think, Is Soul Calibur 3 the best looking PS2 3D fighting game?

At least art wise it has no rival on the console!

easily top 5 technical wizardry on PS2 imo, when playing on PS2 with the visual, 480p, true wide screen and dolby pro logic 2. Like the kind of thing team ninja would pull on OG xbox. Wish they can use the engine to make a full blown action game like team ninja with ninja gaiden.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

I hated the QTEs in the arcade mode. Really hurt the game, arcade is supposed to be the no-no sense mode.
Pity, because otherwise the game is spectacular and has a ton of content. But that was just a stupid decision.

SC3 has a very basic traditional arcade mode by the way, outside of the story mode you're talking about, it's called quick play in Soul Arena (8 fights; 6 random, "rival" character, and the boss, Abyss). I've seen a lot of people not know Quick Play is arcade mode and never tried it because who the hell calls arcade mode quick play?

 

[SkylineRKR]

About SC2 v SC3.. I thought character models of SC2 looked better or at least used more polys. But SC3 had the better overall visuals. I remember being amazed by the effects in stages such as Lost Cathedral, Lava temple, Romania and Toledo.

But this PS5 emulation does look very good despite not being radically boosted, which often says enough.

And the content is quite crazy. I counted 26 stages. With some having variants on top. Likely THE best stages in the franchise. Each character has a bunch of weapons, though the unlocking of ultimate weapons just require a replay of ToS after beating it before and purchasing the 3 new weapons. Some joke weapons are very cool too, and often unlocked by beating Hard mode Missions with Great ranking.

I found out about having to spend 250k in the item shop for more missions to be available to buy. I like how content is drip feeded here. Some you unlock in ToS, others by completing the content, and some you need to purchase.

That is without factoring in CotS, which also unlocks bonus characters. And World Competition, which is likely overlooked but would've been awesome with online leaderboards and ghosts.

That is false. The arcade release followed console release so the PS2 version left variable cancel as a competitively busted glitch without a patch (until a collaborative fan patch was published on 8wayrun forums). The Japanese and European versions did get some balance changes.



Make sure to switch your units to cavalry and have them group attack fortifications to expedite the missions. Only downside to cavalry is they suck at auto combat against independent units but manually engaging in battle covers that single weakness.


Classic arcade ladder is available as Quick Play in Soul Arena.

P.S. The fan Arcade Edition mod version is arguably the best version but emulation features are quite nice here.

Sounds efficient! I found out about the classes, I made a balanced team but figured you can fight manually anyway... esp with rewind there shouldn't be an issue lol.

I had the memory card glitch but I remember there were versions among iso files, I think it was fixed, but as was back in the day if you want the fixed version you had to buy the game again just making sure you buy a more recent print, the game is excellent a step above SC2 in my opinion, I liked the character creator, and new characters, but some people hated the lack of guest characters I preffer no guest characters in SC games as they break the lore in my opinion and are OP most of the time(I am looking at you 2B!)

There def is more to do. Weapon master in SC2 gets kind of boring. Halfway through after beating countless of boring survival fights you've unlocked every char, besides the Beserker, Assassin and Lizard Man characters which were NPC for that mode and not fleshed out (the former were based on Hwang and Rock). Besides only added as bonus characters in the overseas versions and you can pretty much solely use them in VS.

Necrid was trash.

Hei, Spawn and even Link... I didn't care.

SC2 is one of my fave 3D games of all time, but SC3 is very close or even equally good. 3 surely is better in terms of SP content.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Cassandra and Sophitia in Dancing Statue (Hard) mission in Soul Arena are ruthless even with rewind. I am starting to wonder how I beat these originally.

 

[TGO]

Art style like this I really miss

 

[NeverYouMind]

Art style like this I really miss

Probably the peak of the series in that regard. Every subsequent entry features more barren stages and overdesigned/bulky costumes.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

The superior PAL version never dies! The PAL version stands out thanks to balance improvements and the inclusion of the Japanese '2.00' patch. It has also received graphical enhancements and native widescreen support.

I've been playing it on my PS Portal for days now and I'm having a blast!

 

[NeverYouMind]

The superior PAL version never dies! The PAL version stands out thanks to balance improvements and the inclusion of the Japanese '2.00' patch. It has also received graphical enhancements and native widescreen support.

The high fidelity progressive mode visuals and widescreen were also in the NTSC version.

 

[TGO]

The high fidelity progressive mode visuals and widescreen were also in the NTSC version.

Gameplay Balance: The PAL version incorporated many balance changes that nerfed some of the more "broken" or overpowered elements and infinite combos present in the NTSC release.
Specific overpowered character moves were toned down (e.g., certain guaranteed combos for Sophitia and Xianghua were removed).
This resulted in a more balanced roster, making more characters viable for competitive play.
Bugs and Glitches: The PAL version addressed several bugs, most notably the infamous save file corruption glitch associated with the "Chronicles of the Sword" mode, although the issue was usually tied to deleting data rather than standard saving.
Performance: Traditionally, PAL versions of older games ran at 50Hz, resulting in a slower framerate compared to the 60Hz NTSC versions. However later PAL releases included a PAL60 mode that match the performance of the NTSC version while maintaining a higher resolution, better colour depth and less colour banding, as of December 2025 the PlayStation Classics version, allow players to choose between the NTSC or PAL versions and run them optimally in progressive high resolutions, making the more balanced PAL version the preferred choice.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I'm tempted to revisit this one. I didn't love the game at the time, but I think its more because it's pretty different than what I expected. I know there's a ton of content, most of which I never bothered with.

I always wished we'd get the arcade version released on console at some point, but alas.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I'm tempted to revisit this one. I didn't love the game at the time, but I think its more because it's pretty different than what I expected. I know there's a ton of content, most of which I never bothered with.

I always wished we'd get the arcade version released on console at some point, but alas.

SoulCalibur III: Definitive Edition for PS2 [RELEASE v1.20]

Disclaimer: This project and Thread was originally created and posted by TopazTK, not me. ZephixX here, my role in the Soulcalibur III community is to preserve, recover, and re-share all known (and sometimes lost) information about the game and its modding scene. I’m not the creator, but more...

8wayrun.com

this is worth checking out

 

[NeverYouMind]

Performance: Traditionally, PAL versions of older games ran at 50Hz, resulting in a slower framerate compared to the 60Hz NTSC versions. However later PAL releases included a PAL60 mode that match the performance of the NTSC version while maintaining a higher resolution, better colour depth and less colour banding, as of December 2025 the PlayStation Classics version, allow players to choose between the NTSC or PAL versions and run them optimally in progressive high resolutions, making the more balanced PAL version the preferred choice.

I have played both at 60 Hz on the same PS2 and CRT setup and I literally could not tell them apart. This was done in progressive mode on an LED as well without any discernable difference.

Bugs and Glitches: The PAL version addressed several bugs, most notably the infamous save file corruption glitch associated with the "Chronicles of the Sword" mode, although the issue was usually tied to deleting data rather than standard saving.

People have experienced the save corruption on the PAL release. Only thing that prevented it in both versions is making Soul Calibur III the first save on the memory card.

 

[TGO]

I have played both at 60 Hz on the same PS2 and CRT setup and I literally could not tell them apart. This was done in progressive mode on an LED as well without any discernable difference.

That's because they're barely any difference, if at all.
The only other difference is under the hood which isn't going to be noticeable unless your looking for it under certain circumstances, it's a .001 update that was there simply because of the later release.
But if you come across some of those things, you know it was fix in the other release.

 

[Generic]

Gameplay Balance: The PAL version incorporated many balance changes that nerfed some of the more "broken" or overpowered elements and infinite combos present in the NTSC release.
Specific overpowered character moves were toned down (e.g., certain guaranteed combos for Sophitia and Xianghua were removed).
This resulted in a more balanced roster, making more characters viable for competitive play.
Bugs and Glitches: The PAL version addressed several bugs, most notably the infamous save file corruption glitch associated with the "Chronicles of the Sword" mode, although the issue was usually tied to deleting data rather than standard saving.
Performance: Traditionally, PAL versions of older games ran at 50Hz, resulting in a slower framerate compared to the 60Hz NTSC versions. However later PAL releases included a PAL60 mode that match the performance of the NTSC version while maintaining a higher resolution, better colour depth and less colour banding, as of December 2025 the PlayStation Classics version, allow players to choose between the NTSC or PAL versions and run them optimally in progressive high resolutions, making the more balanced PAL version the preferred choice.

I tries both version and noticed the PAL has less jaggies (better resolution?)

Are the gameplay improvements that better?

 

[TGO]

I tries both version and noticed the PAL has less jaggies (better resolution?)

Are the gameplay improvements that better?

That depends, you can run into the problems against AI or another human player could take advantage of them against you or vice versa, some of the bugs were fixed but NeverYouMind says the save glitch still persist in the PAL version

 

[wvnative]

I enjoyed it back in the day, shame there's no online.

You can fake it with an online friend with share play

 

[Skifi28]

You can fake it with an online friend with share play

I'll get my wife then, she's used to faking it.