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Thread: Castlevania - Lords of Shadow - Thoughts and impressions

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    Alex (Level 15) maxlords's Avatar
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    Default Castlevania - Lords of Shadow - Thoughts and impressions

    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!
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    Kirby (Level 13) megasdkirby's Avatar
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    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.
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    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.
    Last edited by kupomogli; 10-03-2010 at 03:46 PM.
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    Alex (Level 15) maxlords's Avatar
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    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.
    scooterb: "I once shot a man in Catan, just to watch him die."

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    Quote Originally Posted by maxlords View Post
    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.
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    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.

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    Alex (Level 15) maxlords's Avatar
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    Well, I just finished the first Chapter, and parts of it do leave you a little lost as to where to go and other parts are extremely linear. I don't have much issue with the platforming but I don't care for the puzzles so far. I do like the learning curve for fighting enemies though.

    It's definitely a fun game, no question, flaws or no, and I don't really see that many flaws! The graphics, especially during cinemas, could still use a bit of a facelift tho.
    scooterb: "I once shot a man in Catan, just to watch him die."

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    Have been very excited about this for some time, but had not heard all of the history about development and this not being a "true" Castlevania game. That is a little frustrating, particularly since this may be the game that gets me to buy an XBOX, but if the game is really good and it "feels" like Castlevania, then it might be worth it anyway. Looks really good.

    I'll wait for more feedback before I make a decision.
    SO not the Drama.

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    Alex (Level 15) maxlords's Avatar
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    Well, I'm curious to find out what others think tomorrow but I LIKE it. The change reminds me of the Metroid facelift for Metroid Prime, but not QUITE as faithful to the original as that.
    scooterb: "I once shot a man in Catan, just to watch him die."

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    I played the rather short demo that was released on the UK PSN and enjoyed it for the most part. I put this on my Goozex request list since I'm not too eager to play it and don't mind waiting the few weeks it'll take for me to get it.

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    I've had a great time playing what I have of the game. I had the CE pre-ordered and yeah, it's pretty lackluster. I'm a CE whore these days so I had to get it.

    The physical packaging of the CE is pretty awesome though!

    Gameplay-wise, I'd have to agree with it sharing aspects from GoW, but I'm also getting a DMC vibe from it at the same time. I couldn't really ever get into GoW but I love the DMC series...maybe that's why. Either way, it's a really solid adventure game regardless of it being a re-vamped look at the Castlevania series.

    I picked it up to tide me over until FO:NV comes out and I'm really glad I did!

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    I just played the demo. It's cinematic as hell. I feel like I just got yanked out of the theater during the first act of a great movie. I will be adding this game to my collection VERY soon.

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    I'll wait for the collector's edition to drop. There are so many games coming out this month.

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    Konami announced DLC after release. I'm waiting for the GotY edition.
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    Default Castlevania - Lords of Shadow - Thoughts and impressions

    Quote Originally Posted by kupomogli View Post
    Konami announced DLC after release. I'm waiting for the GotY edition.
    Why do they always do this? Don't they realize not everyone's hooked up for online play nor want to be? Not that there's anything wrong with online if that's what your into. But seems like they do this with games all the time now. So someone not online feels jeeped because they by the game when it comes out and before you know it there's a GOTY edition with more stuff than the original.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kupomogli View Post
    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.
    Last edited by jbjabroni; 10-10-2010 at 04:47 PM.

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    Just played through the first chapter today. Fun game. Fighting feels similar to God of War and Ninja Gaiden to me. Only problem I have is the fact that its so linear, however I did miss a few things through some of the levels some how. Game play wise they didn't bring much of anything new compared to games like gow. The game looks amazing graphically. Definitely worth picking up.

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    FYI, if anyone is looking for the story of the game and wants to be totally SPOILED:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlev...f_Shadow#Story

    Read at caution, in fact if you are planning on playing this game I would suggest stay away from that page! If not you can catch up on the history of how this game came to be and how it could tie into the Castlevania timeline.
    Last edited by jbjabroni; 10-10-2010 at 04:45 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jbjabroni View Post
    Read at caution, in fact if you are planning on playing this game I would suggest stay away from that page! If not you can catch up on the history of how this game came to be and how it does tie into the Castlevania timeline.
    You clearly don't know "anything" about the Castlevania timeline do you? Let's not forget that the developer couldn't stress enough during most of their interviews that this is not tied in anyway with the regular Castlevania series.

    You should do some research on the CV timeline. Also learn to read what information you post. The wiki article you linked even states that the game isn't canon. Atleast the person who posted the wiki article did their research and doesn't go around misinforming people.
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    I'm still waiting for the demo to download so I can give this one a try. Even if I end up liking it I won't be picking it up anytime soon because theres way too many good games coming out this holiday season. And currently I'm still playing the first great holiday game--Halo Reach. But I will post my thoughts on the demo when I finally get around to playing it.
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