Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

[Ryu]

Game these days have abandoned their roots. Resident Evil lost the zombies and the terror atmosphere, Devil May Cry has lost the cool loking Dante and gave us a Justin Bieber "Dante" and now Castlevania lost the adventure guy versus a prince of darkness in a Castle. I wonder why producers make those things...i mean, look at Mario, it's basically the same thing over and over, and Mario games are great. Changing the course does not mean a good game. As a user from the powerful videogames i want to see the old games turned into a powerful game whithout loosing it's origin. Just finished playing Enslaved...had more fun with it than with LOS.

lol @ Justin Bieber Dante. Speaking of DMC and keeping it relevant to Castlevania, I'm worried that Castlevania won't have a deep combat system that made DMC 3 and 4 stand out from GoW and the rest. People can have completely different fighting styles with their own unique custom combos (only DMC 3&4 have accomplished this) and make badass music vids on Youtube (which reminds me of combo vids from fighting games) and I kind of doubt you can do that in the new DMC. I haven't played Castlevania yet, but I'm assuming you won't be able to do that either which is what gave DMC replay value for me so now I'm thinking of just renting Castlevania and beating it. I still haven't decided for sure yet.

 

[Starkiller]

The last good RE game was 4. And even that kind of strayed from the formula too much, but I couldn't bring myself to buy 5 after playing the demo...in daylight with a partner by your side all the time? That's not RE.

 

[puppetm]

lol @ Justin Bieber Dante. Speaking of DMC and keeping it relevant to Castlevania, I'm worried that Castlevania won't have a deep combat system that made DMC 3 and 4 stand out from GoW and the rest. People can have completely different fighting styles with their own unique custom combos (only DMC 3&4 have accomplished this) and make badass music vids on Youtube (which reminds me of combo vids from fighting games) and I kind of doubt you can do that in the new DMC. I haven't played Castlevania yet, but I'm assuming you won't be able to do that either which is what gave DMC replay value for me so now I'm thinking of just renting Castlevania and beating it. I still haven't decided for sure yet.

Actually the combat is not very deep...pretty basic actually....Magic sucks too. Some enemies take forever to die. I believe that Castlevania is indeed worth a rental, but a purchase? No...

 

[plasmid303]

No way. God of War is it's own beast way different than DMC. Castlevania has been doing shoddy hack-n-slash games, no where near the caliber of the GOW series.

Well I don't see you doing this in the Enslaved thread because it's actually a really good game. The mod of his section warned me?

I'm fully aloud to voice my opinions on a game without getting yPlasmid and Wookis panties in a bunch.. I'm no kid wookie, make no mistake child.

God of War was influenced by past 3D action games, especially Devil May Cry. GoW's creator, David Jaffe, even admitted this. If not Devil May Cry, then Rygar, Ninja Gaiden, or Onimusha. I'm sick and tired of people comparing new action games to GoW by calling them 'clones' even though GoW itself is a product of mimicry.

You call wookie a child, but you're the only one acting like one. You made your point, time to move on. You haven't even played the full game yet you still linger here. What else do you possibly have to say?

Actually the combat is not very deep...pretty basic actually....Magic sucks too. Some enemies take forever to die. I believe that Castlevania is indeed worth a rental, but a purchase? No...

You're not going to get any deeper gameplay from Enslaved. I read from most of the reviews that it holds your hand throughout. But you can't compare either Enslaved or Castlevania's combat to games like Ninja Gaiden or DMC.

 

[puppetm]

The last good RE game was 4. And even that kind of strayed from the formula too much, but I couldn't bring myself to buy 5 after playing the demo...in daylight with a partner by your side all the time? That's not RE.

The last good RE game was RE 0 in my opinion...3 sucks and 4 was another game with Resident Evil logo on it's cover. That's why i have a wii, so that i can play RE remake and Zero, wich is pretty great too. 5 was so ridiculous, i mean just look at Chris...totaly out of context. As a action game, i like it, as a RE, no way...

 

[puppetm]

God of War was influenced by past 3D action games, especially Devil May Cry. GoW's creator, David Jaffe, even admitted this. If not Devil May Cry, then Rygar, Ninja Gaiden, or Onimusha. I'm sick and tired of people comparing new action games to GoW by calling them 'clones' even though GoW itself is a product of mimicry.

You call wookie a child, but you're the only one acting like one. You made your point, time to move on. You haven't even played the full game yet you still linger here. What else do you possibly have to say?



You're not going to get any deeper gameplay from Enslaved. I read from most of the reviews that it holds your hand throughout. But you can't compare either Enslaved or Castlevania's combat to games like Ninja Gaiden or DMC.

Indeed, Enlasved is basic too, but that's diferent, Enslaved is focused more in platforming than combat. LOS otherwise is supposed to be more combat. But that's not a actually issue in LOS...

 

[hairlesswookiee]

God of War was influenced by past 3D action games, especially Devil May Cry. GoW's creator, David Jaffe, even admitted this. If not Devil May Cry, then Rygar, Ninja Gaiden, or Onimusha. I'm sick and tired of people comparing new action games to GoW by calling them 'clones' even though GoW itself is a product of mimicry.

Ding Ding. Wow, I miss Rygar and Onimusha.

 

[plasmid303]

I just read that using the Konami Code in Lords of Shadow unlocks a menu full of cheats.

Ding Ding. Wow, I miss Rygar and Onimusha.

Me too! They need to reboot one or the other.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

The Onimusha CGI intro is what sold me on a PS2. It looked so beautiful and made Sasuke look like a freaking badass.

 

[Starkiller]

God of War was influenced by past 3D action games, especially Devil May Cry. GoW's creator, David Jaffe, even admitted this. If not Devil May Cry, then Rygar, Ninja Gaiden, or Onimusha. I'm sick and tired of people comparing new action games to GoW by calling them 'clones' even though GoW itself is a product of mimicry.

You call wookie a child, but you're the only one acting like one. You made your point, time to move on. You haven't even played the full game yet you still linger here. What else do you possibly have to say?

Umm, in case you haven't noticed all the new action games aka clones of GoW totally rip it off to a T. They follow the formula so close they have no identity on their own. Yes it's true the creator of GoW may have been influenced by past action game, what game in a genre isn't inspired by what came before it? But the point is almost every action game released since 2005's original God of War has stuck so closely to that formula they set, they can't even stand on their own two feet. It's embarassing really.

Stop dwelling in mine and wookies business, he called me a kid I can call him a child.

The last good RE game was RE 0 in my opinion...3 sucks and 4 was another game with Resident Evil logo on it's cover. That's why i have a wii, so that i can play RE remake and Zero, wich is pretty great too. 5 was so ridiculous, i mean just look at Chris...totaly out of context. As a action game, i like it, as a RE, no way...

4 was amazing, it may have been different but by the time it came out the regular RE formula was going stale...the controls needed a rehaul, because they were really cumbersome and characters controlled like tanks.

 

[plasmid303]

The Onimusha CGI intro is what sold me on a PS2. It looked so beautiful and made Sasuke look like a freaking badass.

Needs an HD collection.

Got to play Lords of Shadow a bit tonight. I'm surprised by the mission structure. The demo only gave a small taste of it, but it moves faster than I had anticipated...except for moments when I got a bit lost and stuck in an area. Im enjoying it so far though.

 

[Biojex]

Needs an HD collection.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Needs an HD collection.

Got to play Lords of Shadow a bit tonight. I'm surprised by the mission structure. The demo only gave a small taste of it, but it moves faster than I had anticipated...except for moments when I got a bit lost and stuck in an area. Im enjoying it so far though.

Yes it certainly does. I've played them all except for the last one to come out. I bought the PS2 Onimusha essentials set and still have the Xbox Genma version. I'm anticipating the Enterbay Sasuke figure like a crack addict waiting for a fix.

Yeah I read there's quite a bit of exploration in it. A lot of my friend's reactions are great with the only problem being the quirky camera that likes to whip around in the middle of a fight. Other than that the soundtrack is supposed to fantastic as well.

From my understanding the other game only has about 8-10 hours for a playthrough with not much incentive of replay. With Castlevania I'm willing to bet the game time is more than that, and the ability to play as Snake is worth replaying again just for that.

 

[cr0w]

Boy, there's a whole lot of stupid up in here.

First off, the demo is parts of 2 levels from 1 chapter in a game that contains 47 levels and 12 chapters. Combat at the beginning of the game, which the demo is from, is very basic and God of War-ish. Once you get into Chapter 3 and on, the combat opens up and you start unlocking more combos, moves and tactics and, with the two magic styles, even more combat options. The system is simple, yet deceptively deep. You also have to vary your attacks and avoid button-mashing, because you will get your ass kicked if you're not playing on Easy. Different battles require different approaches based on the enemies you're fighting, and there's a lot of strategy involved during fights thanks to the light/shadow magic and focus systems.

Now, this may shock you, so I recommend you sit down. Ready? During the journey you end up at a massive castle full of vampires and monsters that you have to explore, solve puzzles in, and fight a Vampire Lord at the end of. Shocking, I know, but the way people are acting you'd think they had forgotten that the early Castlevanias didn't involve a journey across varied environments with the castle being the ultimate destination instead of the entire game.

The bottom line here is the people judging the game based on the demo are wrong. This is not an opinion, this is a fact. The first 2 chapters are a glorified tutorial, and it's not until Chapter 3 that the game really gets going. Play the full game before you spout off and call it a rip-off and generic. Otherwise you look like an honest to goodness moron. But it's already too late for some of you.

Oh, also...the game, despite what the demo and many videos will make you believe, isn't exactly combat-focused. I'd say it's 50% combat, 50% platforming/puzzle solving. There's a TON more platforming than I had anticipated. It really feels like a 3D Super Castlevania IV, which many of you have probably never heard of since you're convinced the series was born in 1997.

 

[Vader AL]

 

[cr0w]

That guy was wrong and dumb.

 

[Vader AL]

That guy was wrong and dumb.

Well played.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

Boy, there's a whole lot of stupid up in here.

First off, the demo is parts of 2 levels from 1 chapter in a game that contains 47 levels and 12 chapters. Combat at the beginning of the game, which the demo is from, is very basic and God of War-ish. Once you get into Chapter 3 and on, the combat opens up and you start unlocking more combos, moves and tactics and, with the two magic styles, even more combat options. The system is simple, yet deceptively deep. You also have to vary your attacks and avoid button-mashing, because you will get your ass kicked if you're not playing on Easy. Different battles require different approaches based on the enemies you're fighting, and there's a lot of strategy involved during fights thanks to the light/shadow magic and focus systems.

Now, this may shock you, so I recommend you sit down. Ready? During the journey you end up at a massive castle full of vampires and monsters that you have to explore, solve puzzles in, and fight a Vampire Lord at the end of. Shocking, I know, but the way people are acting you'd think they had forgotten that the early Castlevanias didn't involve a journey across varied environments with the castle being the ultimate destination instead of the entire game.

The bottom line here is the people judging the game based on the demo are wrong. This is not an opinion, this is a fact. The first 2 chapters are a glorified tutorial, and it's not until Chapter 3 that the game really gets going. Play the full game before you spout off and call it a rip-off and generic. Otherwise you look like an honest to goodness moron. But it's already too late for some of you.

Oh, also...the game, despite what the demo and many videos will make you believe, isn't exactly combat-focused. I'd say it's 50% combat, 50% platforming/puzzle solving. There's a TON more platforming than I had anticipated. It really feels like a 3D Super Castlevania IV, which many of you have probably never heard of since you're convinced the series was born in 1997.

Good news.

 

[puppetm]

Boy, there's a whole lot of stupid up in here.

First off, the demo is parts of 2 levels from 1 chapter in a game that contains 47 levels and 12 chapters. Combat at the beginning of the game, which the demo is from, is very basic and God of War-ish. Once you get into Chapter 3 and on, the combat opens up and you start unlocking more combos, moves and tactics and, with the two magic styles, even more combat options. The system is simple, yet deceptively deep. You also have to vary your attacks and avoid button-mashing, because you will get your ass kicked if you're not playing on Easy. Different battles require different approaches based on the enemies you're fighting, and there's a lot of strategy involved during fights thanks to the light/shadow magic and focus systems.

Now, this may shock you, so I recommend you sit down. Ready? During the journey you end up at a massive castle full of vampires and monsters that you have to explore, solve puzzles in, and fight a Vampire Lord at the end of. Shocking, I know, but the way people are acting you'd think they had forgotten that the early Castlevanias didn't involve a journey across varied environments with the castle being the ultimate destination instead of the entire game.

The bottom line here is the people judging the game based on the demo are wrong. This is not an opinion, this is a fact. The first 2 chapters are a glorified tutorial, and it's not until Chapter 3 that the game really gets going. Play the full game before you spout off and call it a rip-off and generic. Otherwise you look like an honest to goodness moron. But it's already too late for some of you.

Oh, also...the game, despite what the demo and many videos will make you believe, isn't exactly combat-focused. I'd say it's 50% combat, 50% platforming/puzzle solving. There's a TON more platforming than I had anticipated. It really feels like a 3D Super Castlevania IV, which many of you have probably never heard of since you're convinced the series was born in 1997.

But you have to agree that the castle chapter end up pretty fast and that the vampire lord is not actually who we all hoped to be. It's the most awesome part in the game and it should ended there like all Castlevania have done it. But after the castle chapter you get the Land of the Dead chapter, and that's where castlevania stop being castlevania and became a random adventure game, especially when we see who the actual boss of the game is. But after some thoughts i reckon that this is indeed a Castlevania game. Its like a reboot in the series, not a cannon, not a cronological game, but a rebooted Castlevania. Playing that way i say it's a good yet curious start. Like Gametrailers said, it leaves you wondering where the franchise will go from now on...especially after seing the end...

 

[MooMooEgg]

ugh... please try to use spoiler tags or avoid talking about any "twists" so early after the game's release. I don't mind things like "the last boss was ridiculously awesome/crappy," but I hate it when people reveal story information like the post above. Not all of us can get to the end of a game in 2-3 days. >_<

I'm only up to chapter 2 so far (I only have about an hour or two worth of video game time a night nowadays), and while the framerate is not so great (PS3 version, which is supposed to be better than the 360 version by 5-10 fps), I'm really liking it so far. The game is pretty hard, but not ludicrously unforgiving, and I can't wait to unlock more moves to deepn the combat system.

I read that the game runs better a bit after chapter 3, but I hope a patch is released to somehow fix the framerate and have it run consistently at 30 fps.