Yea, the animations are sync'd to the Japanese VO.
So, I threw all online reviews out the window and decided to sit down and try this game out.
7 hours later, I realize I lost track of time.
Okay, graphically, it's not too bad, it doesn't look awkward or anything, but perhaps not up to everyone's ridiculously high standards.
Gameplay? At first it seems pretty simple and boring. You just waggle your Wiimote and things die. If you keep that up, you won't beat the game. (DAMN YOU LLOYD! WHY ARE YOU SO HARD TO BEAT?!) Once you actually learn to play the game and not just waggle randomly it gets pretty fun and interesting. It's a hack n' slash so it never gets TOO deep, but it's thought out enough that you DO need to think about what you're doing later on. There's actually a lot of small mechanics that can be taken advantage of and if there's ever going to be a Soul Calibur Legends 2 they have ample opportunity to make it a must have game.
Sound? It's alright, weapons clang, music's in the background. Voice acting...English is bleh and desync'd from the animation. Japanese is on top of things and perfectly sync'd. No surprise hits or anything, it's just there to be there. (Although Tales of Symphonia's battle victory fanfare when Lloyd is in your party was a nice surprise.)
Let's see...
Story? It's alright, it's just starting to pick up. Your navigator/guide tries to talk about his/her past a lot but it's executed rather awkwardly and out of place at times. On top of that, s/he is a new character and doesn't fight so you don't feel much for him/her. I hear the ending is awesome though so I'm waiting for that.
Re-playability: Let's see here...all the missions you do give you a rank from (F?)D to S. You are also given a rank title such as "Diamond Knight" and so on. For those shooting to be perfect (Impossible with random waggling I might add), this is an easy way to keep track. There's also the "Party Mode" which consists of Co-op maps, Competitive maps, and Arena maps. I haven't actually tried these out yet so I can't fully comment. It looks like Arena mode allows you to duel another player. This can probably be quite interesting if both players actually play instead of button mash...erm, I mean waggle randomly.
TL;DR
Overall, not a bad game at all if you give it a chance and get to the point where random waggling won't work anymore. Kind of like playing SC1/2/3 where button mashing will get you through the first few matches but stop working after a while. Lots of reasons to replay the game depending on what you like. It might not be worth $50, but it might be worth your while to pick it up when the price drops, and it's definitely worth a blank DVD if you give it a chance. Not an outstanding start for a new franchise, but not at all as horrible as people claim it to be. If they decide to make Soul Calibur Legends 2 they can definitely make it a must have if they tighten up the formula and bring up the presentation a bit.