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!