Castlevania - Lords of Shadow - Thoughts and impressions

[maxlords]

Anyone else frothing for this one?

I've been playing it and I'm midway through the first stage (don't ask how I got it, I just did). I'm playing it on hard and it's absolutely GRUELING! Totally and utterly unforgiving game

First things first though....the story is weird and not quite standard Castlevania at least so far. Same with the weapon...which is kind of a whip...kind of.

Mechanics - People keep comparing this one to God of War but the mechanics and finesse required in combat are IMO different enough that the comparison isn't really valid. There's a LOT of split second timing and really really fast enemies. But it's gratifying to have to work for it, unlike GoW and others like it. The camera is semi-fixed. It moves but you can't control it. It's weird in this era of total freedom in games but the game uses the angles to great advantage...makes it more dramatic and challenging IMO, but you DO get some enemies off screen!

Music - Pure Castlevania...absolutely haunting and beautiful. A total win!

Graphics - Again....BEAUTIFUL. It's not the best looking game I've EVER seen, but it's damned solid with a decent (but not stunning) framerate and good (but not stunning) textures. But it's the level design, the sheer creativity and originality that makes this one IMO. It's got so much ambiance that the above average graphics REALLY stand out as even better for it.

Replay value - This game is HUGE! I've been playing it for a few hours now and I've not seen near the end of level ONE...of TWELVE. Yeesh. That's mostly cause I keep getting slaughtered on Hard...but hey

Negatives - Honestly, you'll be mashing buttons like mad, but you'll actually USE combos. Other than tired thumbs....this is one great game so far! I can't see anything truly negative about it yet. The gameplay is solid, pacing is good, etc. It's NOT a side scrolling CV, but we didn't really expect that from Kojima anyway. It IS linear...but I think it makes it better than the mad backtracking of the Metroid-vanias.

Well worth grabbing people...go pick it up on Tuesday!

[megasdkirby]

I want the Limited Edition version, but for $80 I will wait. If it had the content found in games like Dead Rising 2 and Adam Wake, I would be all over this. But th extras pretty much suck and not worth the $80 price tag.

I will wait until it lowers to something more reasonable, like $50 or so.

[kupomogli]

I'd pick it up earlier if it was named Lords of Shadow instead of Castlevania Lords of Shadow. The developers stress how it's not in the same storyline as the rest of the Castlevania series so instead of shitting all over the series by creating an alternate universe, they could have easily left it as a new IP. Oh wait, it was going to be cancelled by Konami so they added Castlevania to the title.

By naming it a new IP it wouldn't be added to the already preexisting timeline before LoI where the Vampire Killer and Dracula originally made its appearance, or before CV3 where Trevor Belmont was the first to fight Dracula hundreds of years after LoI. Sure it's an alternate universe, but in a long running series an alternate universe will just end up confusing people.

If they have to really add Castlevania to the title. They should have just called it Castlevania: Lord of the Rings instead. Castlevania has always had a more realistic fantasy setting rather than the way out there fantasy setting with talking animals everywhere(in the trailers there have been three, a horse, dryad, some horned thing, and possibly a fourth if the goblins talk.

So yeah. I know I'm ranting about it and haven't played it. It looks really good, but I'm a huge Castlevania fan and it just didn't fit well with me as soon as the game took the Castlevania name just to make it still see a release. Regardless, I have a fairly large backlog so I'll pick on a sale or when it gets to $30 or less.

[maxlords]

I think you guys are being TOO judgemental. Series always have to evolve, and continuities can't ALWAYS be followed, especially with a series as friggin HUGE as Castlevania. It just can't be done forever.

And they don't need to be. A reinvention of a classic series is a GOOD thing sometimes. I'm a huge CV fan too, but I like this one! LoI was feces in a PS2 case and you know it. Same with Curse of Darkness. It's fun, the story seems decent, and it plays well. It keeps the ambiance of Castlevania. That's really all you can ask for reasonably!

As for the price...yeah, the LE was a bit pricey, but it did come with a soundtrack (which I'd have happily paid $15 for anyway) and a t-shirt if you preordered it (fairly nice one too). I don't feel gypped.

[megasdkirby]

As for the price...yeah, the LE was a bit pricey, but it did come with a soundtrack (which I'd have happily paid $15 for anyway) and a t-shirt if you preordered it (fairly nice one too). I don't feel gypped.

LE edition should have been at least $70, not $80. In other games, like Alan Wake, the buyer was treated with a fantastic array of items that made it worth the asking price. But to only get a soundtrack and an artbook feels like a rip, IMO.

I have no doubt that game might be excellent (can't really judge, since I haven't played it), but for $80 it should have come with a nice array of extras. Heck, the pre-order bonus to Portrait of Ruin seemed better and it was free! A shirt is nice, but it's not something everyone can enjoy.

Still, I would love to play this game, just hope for a slight price drop on the LE edition. Maybe Amazon will offer it as a super offer for $20 less.

[Snapple]

I understand that franchises evolve, but this game wasn't even a Castlevania game for most of its development cycle. I think it kind of shows in the final product, because it doesn't look like a Castlevania game to me.

I watched the Gametrailers review for the game, and while they praised a lot of stuff about the game, they also siad the puzzles were kinda bad, platforming segments were bad, and a lot of times they'd stick you in an open area with no real clue of where to go. This was exacerbated like the lack of a mini-map. They said the game was better when you were motioned along a linear path full of enemies.

[jbjabroni]

I'd pick it up earlier if it was named Lords of Shadow instead of Castlevania Lords of Shadow. The developers stress how it's not in the same storyline as the rest of the Castlevania series so instead of shitting all over the series by creating an alternate universe, they could have easily left it as a new IP. Oh wait, it was going to be cancelled by Konami so they added Castlevania to the title.

By naming it a new IP it wouldn't be added to the already preexisting timeline before LoI where the Vampire Killer and Dracula originally made its appearance, or before CV3 where Trevor Belmont was the first to fight Dracula hundreds of years after LoI. Sure it's an alternate universe, but in a long running series an alternate universe will just end up confusing people.

If they have to really add Castlevania to the title. They should have just called it Castlevania: Lord of the Rings instead. Castlevania has always had a more realistic fantasy setting rather than the way out there fantasy setting with talking animals everywhere(in the trailers there have been three, a horse, dryad, some horned thing, and possibly a fourth if the goblins talk.

So yeah. I know I'm ranting about it and haven't played it. It looks really good, but I'm a huge Castlevania fan and it just didn't fit well with me as soon as the game took the Castlevania name just to make it still see a release. Regardless, I have a fairly large backlog so I'll pick on a sale or when it gets to $30 or less.

This game isn't an alternate timeline,necessarily, just a reboot. while it was originally going to be a new IP, they did incorporate Castlevania elements into the game. If you have seen the ending to Lords of Shadow you would know the importance of this game although I will admit it makes the overall storyline about how Dracula came to be very confusing. Still a worthwhile game to play. If anything this game should be called Castle-Kratos.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

i got up to the part where you get to ride the giant spider in lycan country, and to be honest, the game is fun, but i have no real motivation to play it, this game so far feels like 1000 other games i've played b4 that have also done it better


supposedly the story picks up around 20 percent of the game, but i dont see me sticking around to find out, i havent even picked up the controller to play this since like late october/early november

[Dire 51]

I went into it with an open mind back when it came out. I left with a shrug. It's okay, but not my cup of tea. I've since sold it, hopefully to someone that will appreciate it more.