Soul Calibur V Collector’s Edition
Soul Calibur V released in Europe in February of 2012. A collector’s edition was released as well. This collector’s edition comes in a rather large case that is made to look like a book. Inside are quite a few items.
First let’s take a look at the book itself. There’s a paper sleeve around it with the logo and an artwork – this is actually the same as the regular box art – and some information on the back.
With the paper sleeve removed, the front of the book shows a fake leather cover with golden ornaments, and the game’s logo in the center. The sides are made to look like yellowed pages, and has some ridges to better convey this idea.
The cover of the book can be folded open, revealing the contents of the box. At the inside of the cover is a space with a bonus dvd in it, containing a making of. The inner sides of the box are coated with a red cloth. There is also a red ribbon, meant to easily pull out the contents.
As for the contents: first of all we have the game itself. Also included is a code that lets you download two new costumes for character creation mode: Dark Knight and White Knight.
The case also comes with an extra disc, which holds the official soundtrack of the game.
Then there is a hardcover art book containing character profiles, and a ‘signed’ art card, depicting Patroklos. There is also a piece of paper which is made to look like a medieval envelope, complete with red sigil.
On the other side of the ‘envelope’ you will find a letter from the developers, thanking you for buying the collector’s edition and explaining how much dedication they put into making this game.
In all honestly, this collector’s edition is a bit of a let down. All of the physical contents are somewhat disappointing, and could have been more than they are: the ‘parchment letter’ which is nothing more than a piece of paper with a simple print on it, the ‘signed’ art card – as if there is no difference between a fake, printed autograph and a real one – and most of all the art book, which is rather small and of poor quality. Believe it or not, but I had to glue mine together because it was falling apart. All it has are some character descriptions and a few drawings – the bare basics of what you might expect. But to be fair, I’ve seen worse art books, and at least it has a hard cover.
The one thing that did meet my expectations was the box itself, it looks very nice and sturdy. It’s easily the best thing about this collector’s edition.
Having said this, I would not recommend this version unless you can get it for a low price – which was the case for me. I don’t regret getting it simply because it was quite cheap, and, like I said, the box looks very nice. Still, it’s disappointing to see publishers not taking these collector’s editions more seriously. I have seen worse collector’s editions, but I have certainly seen better ones as well.