Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 demo impressions thread

Some people just want to watch the internet burn. DMC doesn't deserve all of the hate at all. It has its issues (namely bosses), but it's a good action game. It's just not what the vocal minority screamed for, who in turn set forums ablaze with negativity. You'd think with all of the bitching that it was as bad as something like FFXIII. At least it mostly stayed true to its roots.
Indeed the internet is always on fire haha, but then again what I am saying is that reviews are a mixed bag, sure they have an effect but it is not constant, not always do the mass take the reviews for granted.

The "public" was wrong. DmC is great
That's my opinion when it comes to CV:LoS as well.
 
I'm playing DmC right now, about 3/4 through the game, and it's so ridiculously over-the-top and insane (in a good way) that I'm worried LoS2 is going to seem bland by comparison. I know people had issues with the bosses, but I think all three of them have been great. And every time that nu-metal kicks in I can't help but laugh, but it's somehow part of the game's... charm?
 
I'm playing DmC right now, about 3/4 through the game, and it's so ridiculously over-the-top and insane (in a good way) that I'm worried LoS2 is going to seem bland by comparison. I know people had issues with the bosses, but I think all three of them have been great. And every time that nu-metal kicks in I can't help but laugh, but it's somehow part of the game's... charm?

Strange. One of the things I dislike about DmC is how bland and muted it is compared to the rest of the series. It's probably the least 'over-the-top' action game out there. Like NT thought what the genre really needed was a layer of grit, realism and 'edgy' social commentary. As for the bosses, Bob Barbas is at least visually impressive and interesting but gameplay wise, the mechanics of all the games boss fights are Z-tier garbage.
 
I wonder why we're not seeing any new media, the toymaker boss fight was a step in the right direction, review be danged, i could see that part being fun.

The "public" was wrong. DmC is great

Then you have a subterranean bar for greatness..or you've just got terrible taste.. the public clearly wanted DMC and got babby's first action game, just admit you hated everything about what the actual good entries of the series, and DmC being pretty much the antithesis of the series it was based on is what you loved.

Let's not derail this thread though, there are countless threads by people with equally poor tastes championing NT's medicore title.
 
Then you have a subterranean bar for greatness..or you've just got terrible taste.. the public clearly wanted DMC and got babby's first action game, just admit you hated everything about what the actual good entries of the series, and DmC being pretty much the antithesis of the series it was based on is what you loved.

Let's not derail this thread though, there are countless threads by people with equally poor tastes championing NT's medicore title.

You sound upset
 
Wow, this game is not very demanding at all (at least judging by what's in the demo). It runs shockingly well on my comparatively weak 2011 laptop (GT 555M GPU), I get something like 50-60 fps at well above medium settings. Could probably go up to high settings and still get a solid 30 fps. Haven't tried the PS3 demo yet, but I think I'll be going PC with this one for sure.
 
I'm playing DmC right now, about 3/4 through the game, and it's so ridiculously over-the-top and insane (in a good way) that I'm worried LoS2 is going to seem bland by comparison. I know people had issues with the bosses, but I think all three of them have been great. And every time that nu-metal kicks in I can't help but laugh, but it's somehow part of the game's... charm?

Haha yeah. I actually just finished it for the first time a few weeks ago. I had no idea about the soundtrack, and when those tracks started playing, I thought it was both silly and pretty fucking awesome at the same time.

Then you have a subterranean bar for greatness..or you've just got terrible taste.. the public clearly wanted DMC and got babby's first action game, just admit you hated everything about what the actual good entries of the series, and DmC being pretty much the antithesis of the series it was based on is what you loved.

Let's not derail this thread though, there are countless threads by people with equally poor tastes championing NT's medicore title.

Did you actually play the first Devil May Cry when it was new? You may as well call that baby's first action game as well, because it was about on par in terms of difficulty. DMC never set out to be DMC3, it set out to be a game that introduced more people to the series. Playing the game on Nephilim and Son of Sparda felt about right anyway.
 
Mirror of Fate HD free if you preorder Lords of Shadow 2 on PSN
Konami giving away copies of $15 game if you preorder upcoming action game through PlayStation Network.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mirror-of-fate-hd-free-if-you-preorder-lords-of-shadow-2-on-psn/1100-6417757/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

Hmmm..no word on PC or Xbox360..

Did you actually play the first Devil May Cry when it was new? You may as well call that baby's first action game as well, because it was about on par in terms of difficulty. DMC never set out to be DMC3, it set out to be a game that introduced more people tothe series. Playing the game on Nephilim and Son of Sparda felt about right anyway.
I'm not sure why you think that would be a good thing if it were true..I've watched playthrough's from the same people who breezed through DmC get decimated by the first in the series..because its a more difficult game.
 
I can't take people who say things like this seriously. That's a pretty high standard right there.
I'm talking about youtubers, I'd played the game ages ago, some youtubers took the challenge of trying the FIRST dmc after beating DmC with hardly any deaths..and it was night and day, I can't take you seriously for forgetting how unforgiving that game could be in comparison to DmC.


Drop into a thread and have someone talking about "quality of taste", "my shit don't stank" syndrome. Really? Come on now.

do YOU really want to have this conversation? Why derrail the thread over a crap game?
 
do YOU really want to have this conversation? Why derrail the thread over a crap game?

That's the point of threads right? I'll just keep to topic though. :D Played the demo, loved it. Game is preordered and payed off for day 1! Regardless if my review request is fulfilled or not, I'll be getting it.
 
Some people just want to watch the internet burn. DMC doesn't deserve all of the hate at all.
Sorry, can't agree there. I am not even a fan of classic Devil May Cry, but I hated DmC with a passion. It represented everything that's wrong about gaming in one neat little package. I found zero redeeming values in that game, unlike in LoS.
 
Sorry, can't agree there. I am not even a fan of classic Devil May Cry, but I hated DmC with a passion. It represented everything that's wrong about gaming in one neat little package. I found zero redeeming values in that game, unlike in LoS.

No it didn't, unless you're fixating on the maturity level, or lack thereof.
 
Some people just want to watch the internet burn. DMC doesn't deserve all of the hate at all. It has its issues (namely bosses), but it's a good action game. It's just not what the vocal minority screamed for, who in turn set forums ablaze with negativity. You'd think with all of the bitching that it was as bad as something like FFXIII. At least it mostly stayed true to its roots.

You can't really claim they are a vocal minority when the sales from DmC dropped as much as they did from DMC4.

The majority did not want the reboot which is why it failed to reach sales expectations.
 
You can't really claim they are a vocal minority when the sales from DmC dropped as much as they did from DMC4.
The majority did not want the reboot which is why it failed to reach sales expectations.

The majority of the minority. Don't act like "the majority" of people that played the series posted anything about it. It had more to do with a) the very vocal minority bitching and spreading a lot of negativity in conjunction with b) Ninja Theory actually trying their best to goad people with jabs of their own which resulted in more A.

Then you had a bunch of people posting ridiculous 0-4 scores on Metacritic with multiple accounts, which is why the user scores are so drastically different than the average for the critics. Many of them also didn't even play the game.

I'm not sure why you bothered to even mention the difference in sales between DMC4 and DMC when DMC4 sold as much as it did out of the gate because of the success of DMC3 (much of which was from word of mouth). DMC on the other hand already had an uphill battle from the start, even before people actually had a chance to play it and form a valid opinion. It doesn't matter that it's not as good as Devil May Cry 1,3 or 4, it's still not as bad of an action game as the internet would try to make you believe--just because it's not what people screamed for.
 
There are a few very positive reviews from some european magazines

Video Gamer (french magazine) gave it a 17/20

Play Mania (spanish magazine) gave it 95/100

also a finnish games magazine called Pelaaja gave it a 9/10
 
It doesn't seem like Pelaaja has it online yet. But for comparison's sake they gave LoS 8/10 and LoSMoF 7/10. Different reviewers on both of those, I don't know if either of them wrote the LoS2 review.

It seems like continental Europe likes the game more than the rest of the world. :p




It's ridiculous that MoFHD isn't on Steam yet. Come on. Personally I'm not going to buy LoS2 until I get MoF out of the way.
 
It doesn't seem like Pelaaja has it online yet. But for comparison's sake they gave LoS 8/10 and LoSMoF 7/10. Different reviewers on both of those, I don't know if either of them wrote the LoS2 review.

It seems like continental Europe likes the game more than the rest of the world. :p




It's ridiculous that MoFHD isn't on Steam yet. Come on. Personally I'm not going to buy LoS2 until I get MoF out of the way.

Don't you mean 'merica ?!
 
New game footage showcasing the "stealth" and some platfforming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0iiUWsyvnkQ
Be warned, while the stealth does look unstellar, the guys playing are bad, like BAAAD, and you ask why there have to be visual cues to highlight the path, these guys can't see it even WITH them on. And don't get me started of the last plafforming section "oh, a timed falling floor section, let's run into the left wall, derp".

Still, you can make yourself an idea.
 
Why stealth?

Please someone tell me why they had to put stealth in a game like this?

Makes no sense to me at all.

Variety, supposedly. Still, according to the game director (Which got pissed off at me in twitter lol) the key is the mist form that everyone seems to forget, which makes Dracula invisible.
 
Why stealth?

Please someone tell me why they had to put stealth in a game like this?

Makes no sense to me at all.

I'm going to answer this from what I think is a developer point of view, Change of Pace, Did you get the chance to play Splinter Cell Blacklist ?!, if not then it is a Third Person Stealth game, but there is a mission where they put you in the shoes of another character in First Person View, It strips the game of all of its TPS mechanics, and I think the reason for that was to give you a chance of pace and break the same old same gameplay you have been doing for all previous missions, I didn't mind, It wasn't spectacular, but it served its purpose, yet not everyone was happy about it, alot hated it.

As for Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2, I think the same applies, though I can't judge till I try it myself.
 
I didn't feel this at all. Combat seemed really clunky (much like what I thought about the last game), and the maneuvers weren't smooth whatsoever. Played this on the PS3, so don't know how the other versions might stack up, but this was weak!
 
Still as awesome as ever, love it

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Sorry for the bad quality.
 
I'm still playing through the original(Chapter 5), and just played this demo. I'm loving the art style(Mercury Steam are superb at this), and the action is a lot of fun, but the platforming is mediocre. I won't be purchasing it until they get MoF on Steam(and I've played through it).

There are a few very positive reviews from some european magazines

Video Gamer (french magazine) gave it a 17/20

Play Mania (spanish magazine) gave it 95/100


also a finnish games magazine called Pelaaja gave it a 9/10

Southern Euros gotta represent!
 
The fact that they felt they had to put stealth into it because variety means they're not confident that their combat is interesting enough to be at the forefront the whole way through.
 
The fact that they felt they had to put stealth into it because variety means they're not confident that their combat is interesting enough to be at the forefront the whole way through.
Not necessarily. LOS had the warg riding stages, which used to add variety and change pacing.

I mean if what you say is true, then this also applies to the past Devil May Cry games, as they all tried putting in platforming segments to break up the action.
 
The fact that they felt they had to put stealth into it because variety means they're not confident that their combat is interesting enough to be at the forefront the whole way through.
Or it's one of those "palette cleansers" so many devs put into their games for the sake of variety, when frequently all they do is put the brakes on the flow and momentum of the experience. Maybe there's even a mounted turret section or two...
 
Or it's one of those "palette cleansers" so many devs put into their games for the sake of variety, when frequently all they do is put the brakes on the flow and momentum of the experience. Maybe there's even a mounted turret section or two...
There is a confirmed train section. Yay!
 
My main complaint with LoS 1 is that's it's overbearing in its hand-holding. The first 5 hours felt incredibly tedious, and the camera pans and hints are egregious. Absolutely no respect for player intelligence. I did quite enjoy the combat, so I wouldn't mind more of the same in that regard. I hope it's not so tuturialized - combine that with bad stealth sections and it could stink.
 
Not necessarily. LOS had the warg riding stages, which used to add variety and change pacing.

Wasn't that literally once, and at the start of the game?
Anyway, I could understand them maybe wanting to add in a stealth segment just to display another aspect of Dracula (or vampires in general) that doesn't typically get shown, but the implementation just sounds awful.

I already preordered the game for cheap a few days ago, and am not going bother reading any of the actual reviews until I've finished it. However, these higher scores from the European countries doesn't really mean a thing to me. Didn't they give higher scores all around for the first game too? It also seems like either those countries were given review copies earlier than most review sites over here, or they are just inflating for the home team.

My main complaint with LoS 1 is that's it's overbearing in its hand-holding. The first 5 hours felt incredibly tedious, and the camera pans and hints are egregious. Absolutely no respect for player intelligence. I did quite enjoy the combat, so I wouldn't mind more of the same in that regard. I hope it's not so tuturialized - combine that with bad stealth sections and it could stink.

I'm sorry to say, but some people actually do require a guide for the platforming. I had a friend of mine play the demo. This is a person who mostly just played all of the GoW games and Bayonetta for the action/adventure genre and who stopped playing Ninja Gaiden about a third of the way through. Anyway, I couldn't believe that he didn't automatically know where to go at the start of the first platforming section, and kept trying to jump up a part of the wall that was nowhere near the bats, as well as trying to jump across the pit in the floor. Then, after he was done with all of the climbing, he actually started running around all of the areas except for where he was actually supposed to go, and looked lost. I just thought he was screwing around, and that nobody could be that oblivious, but I actually had to tell him where to go.

But then when the camera zoomed in to the rivets for the second time, we both started laughing at how badly the game was trying to "remind" the player of what to do.
 
I already preordered the game for cheap a few days ago, and am not going bother reading any of the actual reviews until I've finished it. However, these higher scores from the European countries doesn't really mean a thing to me. Didn't they give higher scores all around for the first game too? It also seems like either those countries were given review copies earlier than most review sites over here, or they are just inflating for the home team.

Or maybe USA reviewers are too damn cynic or have the attention span of a potato.
 
Wasn't that literally once, and at the start of the game?
Anyway, I could understand them maybe wanting to add in a stealth segment just to display another aspect of Dracula (or vampires in general) that doesn't typically get shown, but the implementation just sounds awful.

I already preordered the game for cheap a few days ago, and am not going bother reading any of the actual reviews until I've finished it. However, these higher scores from the European countries doesn't really mean a thing to me. Didn't they give higher scores all around for the first game too? It also seems like either those countries were given review copies earlier than most review sites over here, or they are just inflating for the home team.



I'm sorry to say, but some people actually do require a guide for the platforming. I had a friend of mine play the demo. This is a person who mostly just played all of the GoW games and Bayonetta for the action/adventure genre and who stopped playing Ninja Gaiden about a third of the way through. Anyway, I couldn't believe that he didn't automatically know where to go at the start of the first platforming section, and kept trying to jump up a part of the wall that was nowhere near the bats, as well as trying to jump across the pit in the floor. Then, after he was done with all of the climbing, he actually started running around all of the areas except for where he was actually supposed to go, and looked lost. I just thought he was screwing around, and that nobody could be that oblivious, but I actually had to tell him where to go.

But then when the camera zoomed in to the rivets for the second time, we both started laughing at how badly the game was trying to "remind" the player of what to do.
There were some other stages were you ride monsters in LoS. It was a nice change of pace.
 
There were some other stages were you ride monsters in LoS. It was a nice change of pace.

I know, he just mentioned Wargs, and I remember that being once and then you also rode a Warthog, a Spider and a Troll (more than once). I just thought it was strange to comment about the Wargs as being a change of pace when the game just started.
 
Just finished the demo and wasn't super impressed. Partially because the combat was gimped (sort of the nature of a demo, so I can't be too critical of the gameplay because of it), but mostly because I'm not liking the setting and aesthetics too much. That was my big concern when the first gameplay vids started showing up, and the demo didn't help to diminish it.

I liked the huge variety of settings in LoS, from natural beauty to gothic architecture, but I'm starting to think LoS2 is all going to be bland industrial gloom. And the flying metal angel thing just seemed out of place. It seemed like it would be more fitting in Bioshock Infinite or something.

Not saying the game won't be good, and I'll surely play it, but I'm not sure if it's a day one buy for me anymore.
 
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