Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 demo impressions thread

I have a feeling this game underperforms pretty badly. Gut feeling. If it does, Konami is going to ditch this series like Capcom ditched Megaman. =x
 
Kintaro said:
I have a feeling this game underperforms pretty badly. Gut feeling. If it does, Konami is going to ditch this series like Capcom ditched Megaman. =x
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If Silent Hill is any indication...not necessarily!
We're going to end up wishing that they killed it.
 
Its sounding like the bosses are the only highpoint of this game, time will tell
I wish this game had a boss rush, i wish more more current gen games had boss rushes period!
 
Played through the demo which got me excited to go back and finish LoS1. Really solid game with amazing visuals and music. Consider me pumped for the sequel.
 
Fimbulvetr said:
You mean the Focus Meter and orb collection? If so, it's still there, just not until Gabriel loses his powers apparently.

The Void Sword and Chaos Claws are essentially the replacements for Light and Dark magic.
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Is the mechanic where you have to fight for focus orbs to refill the bars gone? I liked it in theory, but having to refill the bars and then having to press two different buttons to fill two bars (while not really impacting either one) felt really stupid. Still playing LOS now but the free camera in LOS2 is already making it feel much better already, especially with combat. It still feels a tad clumsy at times.

Are void sword/chaos claws simply going to refill due to inactivity then?
 
Sober said:
Is the mechanic where you have to fight for focus orbs to refill the bars gone? I liked it in theory, but having to refill the bars and then having to press two different buttons to fill two bars (while not really impacting either one) felt really stupid. Still playing LOS now but the free camera in LOS2 is already making it feel much better already, especially with combat. It still feels a tad clumsy at times.

Are void sword/chaos claws simply going to refill due to inactivity then?
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People have been saying that orbs were only inactive for the demo. Although I don't really understand why, unless it was just so that everyone could focus on checking out the new weapons without having to worry about meter management.

edit - just found this:

Dave Cox, Producer: The Void Sword and the Chaos Claws work very similar to the Light and Shadow magic in the previous game. Unlike the demo you player in E3, you have to fill the focus bar. You fill the focus bar by hitting enemies, doing damage, but not taking damage. When you become focused enemies drop blood and you can funnel blood into either your Void Sword or Chaos Claws. But, you cannot use the Void Sword or Chaos Claws if you are not focused, so you have to play well in order to use those weapons.
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swazzyswess said:
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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Yeah, kind of feeling the same way.

I'm not some Castlevania afficianado, having only played the first Lords of Shadow on PC, but what I liked about that game was the art, music and environments. WHat kept me going was the great variety in outdoor and indoor environments and I haven't seen much of that from LoS2 yet. The whole modern setting doesn't do much for me as I kind of prefer the pseudo fairy tale/fantasy/gothic setting they had going in the first game.

We'll see I guess, but it would be nice if you had some cool looking outdoor environments in LoS2 that aren't just city stuff.
 
Jibbajabbawockky said:
Yeah, kind of feeling the same way.

I'm not some Castlevania afficianado, having only played the first Lords of Shadow on PC, but what I liked about that game was the art, music and environments. WHat kept me going was the great variety in outdoor and indoor environments and I haven't seen much of that from LoS2 yet. The whole modern setting doesn't do much for me as I kind of prefer the pseudo fairy tale/fantasy/gothic setting they had going in the first game.

We'll see I guess, but it would be nice if you had some cool looking outdoor environments in LoS2 that aren't just city stuff.
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I've played SotN since, but yeah, I loved the variety of LoS, and enjoyed it knowing nothing of Castlevania. So I will say I also agree.
 
swazzyswess said:
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.
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I'm confused. Did you actually finish the first LoS? Because the first thing I thought when I saw the "flying metal angel thing" was just so how perfectly it fit.

It looked very much like it was related to Pan's design in some way. Probably the fact that both of them worked for God.
 
NoirVisage said:
Its sounding like the bosses are the only highpoint of this game, time will tell
I wish this game had a boss rush, i wish more more current gen games had boss rushes period!
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It probably will, if not on release then as DLC, I mean look at Mirror of Fate HD, It got a boss rush mode, so I have this feeling that LoS.2 will have one too, and personally I am wishing for an Arena Mode as well, similar to Darksiders 2 The Crucible.

Sober said:
Is the mechanic where you have to fight for focus orbs to refill the bars gone? I liked it in theory, but having to refill the bars and then having to press two different buttons to fill two bars (while not really impacting either one) felt really stupid. Still playing LOS now but the free camera in LOS2 is already making it feel much better already, especially with combat. It still feels a tad clumsy at times.

Are void sword/chaos claws simply going to refill due to inactivity then?
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No they aren't, in the opening of the game you are OverPowered, you are in top of your game, hence why you don't need to refill them.

Also the whole system is quite fun on Paladin difficulty, making strategic choices and all of that, I quite like it.
 
Sanctuary said:
People have been saying that orbs were only inactive for the demo. Although I don't really understand why, unless it was just so that everyone could focus on checking out the new weapons without having to worry about meter management.

edit - just found this:
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Aah, no wonder the healing of Void Sword was downright overpowered
 
Ahasverus said:
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.
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That was so painful to watch...these guys were bad no doubt about that but the constant hand holding/everything is fuckin' highlighted is so annoying. I thought and hoped that it was just that bad in the demo because it was the tutorial section but it looks like the whole game treats you like an idiot and don't get me started on the stupid stealth section...

The game looks unbelievably dull. :(
 
That's the first level in "whole Dracula" mode (after being the decayed one for 10 minutes) so it's technically another tutorial, and visual cues can be disabled in the menu.
 
TheFLYINGManga_Ka said:
Mirror of Fate should be on Steam by now.

Sucks there's no Vita version. :(
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I wanna try to downsample this game on PC, but the config in the game wont let me go above my native res. Is there a way I can bypass this?
 
Played the demo and it just really felt like GOW x 10 to me. The previous game didn't feel like that. I mean it was pretty much GOW but i dunno this feels like a complete GOW rip off.
 
I didn't really enjoy the platforming sections (it felt really forced, I'd rather jump around on floating platforms or something). The movement in general seemed like an afterthought when you're out of combat, and one of my favorite parts of the 2D castlevania games is running around the castle. They kind of fucked that part up in this one in my opinion.
 
kurbaan said:
Played the demo and it just really felt like GOW x 10 to me. The previous game didn't feel like that. I mean it was pretty much GOW but i dunno this feels like a complete GOW rip off.
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Most games of this type nowadays are GoW rip offs.

We have no GoW in sight, so I'll take a knock-off if its decent.
 
I went through the demo a couple days ago. I knew it after seeing gameplay. I knew it after seeing the voice acting roster. Now that I've played the game for myself, I know for a fact this game is gonna be BEAST.
 
BlackEyes said:
People complained about the void sword effect on the demo that u couldn't see when the enemies strike u back.. if u look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unQ50CiKNz8
seems like they removed these effects
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You are kinda right, nice attention to details.
Sanctuary said:
What are you talking about? Look at the date. But good job on posting a video that shows the orb mechanic at least.
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You know he is somewhat right, after going through the footage again I guess I get it now.

What we see in the demo/tutorial is the Fully Powered Void Sword, what we will start with is a weak Void Sword, Check his footage again and it will make sense, if not convinced then check this out The Void Sword Trailer, Weapons of Dracul Trailer & Spoiler Footage of a Boss Battle.

It is pretty clear they toned things down, but probably once we power The Void Sword up, things will become more hectic again. I think ?!
 
kurbaan said:
Played the demo and it just really felt like GOW x 10 to me. The previous game didn't feel like that. I mean it was pretty much GOW but i dunno this feels like a complete GOW rip off.
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I mostly agree with this, but not entirely. I said in a previous post that it's like MS just decided to throw their hands up at all of the GoW accusations with the first game that they apparently didn't like, and this time decided to just go all the way into GoW mode.

The "Titan" in the demo just made me think of Chronos a bit, and the melee weapons have a definite cestus feel about them, but I don't necessarily feel like that's a bad thing. The combat needed more variety anyway, but it's still not a "GoW clone". If it was, it would have a real dodge, and a better method of activating it. You also would actually be able to finish more than a three hit combo.

Samir Sedlar said:
You know he is somewhat right, after going through the footage again I guess I get it now.

What we see in the demo/tutorial is the Fully Powered Void Sword, what we will start with is a weak Void Sword, Check his footage again and it will make sense, if not convinced then check this out The Void Sword Trailer, Weapons of Dracul Trailer & Spoiler Footage of a Boss Battle.

It is pretty clear they toned things down, but probably once we power The Void Sword up, things will become more hectic again. I think ?!
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That might end up being the case, but even if it's true, that doesn't mean the effects were toned down. They might simply not start out like that, but eventually that's the end state (which might not even require unlocking all of the sword's abilities).
 
Sanctuary said:
That might end up being the case, but even if it's true, that doesn't mean the effects were toned down. They might simply not start out like that, but eventually that's the end state (which might not even require unlocking all of the sword's abilities).
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well only one way to find out, playing the game that is.
 
Regarding "change of pace," I'm playing through W101 and just did the chapter (4B?) where you
solo a level with Blue
. The game basically takes a breather without forcing new (disposable) mechanics on the player. That's how it should be done IMO. It coasts along on the basics, including its aesthetic qualities, without giving that "I dread doing this on the next play-through" vibe. Stealth, platforming, first-person shooting... These are things I can live without in my action games.
 
I made a thread about this, but it died in no time lol, so here it is

IGN posted this video detailing the different weapons of the Prince of Darkness, Dracula.

I didn't watch it all due to fear of spoilers, but there are all sort of information regarding skills, move sets, upgrades, ..........etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP3hvSe28ww

Only 6:9 days to go, and I seriously can't wait to get the game.
 
I've barely skimmed the thread, but I think I'm gonna have to veer away from the perceived norm and say my impressions of LoS2's demo are good.

I'm having slight "Devil May Cry syndrome" going on here. Only played DMC4 and DmC I admit though. I hated DMC4 and swiftly abandoned it after an hour due to: a) the camera and b) it just not gripping me (the gameplay wasn't fun). In contrast, DmC is one of my favourite releases of last year and possibly my favourite game of the genre (I've not played many to be completely honest). While LoS1 isn't as bad (bearing in mind this is just my opinion) as DMC4, I'm really disliking the fixed camera and it is feeling like a chore to continue playing (halfway through chapter 2 currently). I even put the difficulty on its easiest setting because I just couldn't be fucked earlier - I just want to get it over with. LoS2, on the other hand, feels so much like DmC it isn't even funny, which is actually a good thing. I just fucking loved DmC.

Looking forward to LoS2.
 
Samir Sedlar said:
Only 6:9 days to go.
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?

Is it being released somewhere next Saturday? Also, that format made me think of an aspect ratio.

spuckthew said:
DmC is one of my favourite releases of last year and possibly my favourite game of the genre (I've not played many to be completely honest). While LoS1 isn't as bad (bearing in mind this is just my opinion) as DMC4, I'm really disliking the fixed camera and it is feeling like a chore to continue playing (halfway through chapter 2 currently). I even put the difficulty on its easiest setting because I just couldn't be fucked earlier - I just want to get it over with. LoS2, on the other hand, feels so much like DmC it isn't even funny, which is actually a good thing. I just fucking loved DmC.
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Don't look now, but your favorite game has everything that's wrong with modern gaming. As far as DMC being a lot like LoS2; maybe somewhat with the combat, but the bosses are supposed to be a highlight in LoS2, where they weren't so hot in DMC. I'd also hold off comparing the two until you've finished LoS2, because the first LoS had major pacing issues, and the second is supposed to be similar in that regard, if not worse.
 
I just played the demo and I know get the "pixelated" complaint...
So uh, this is weird. Never seen this type of pixelation outside of poorly compressed videos. Is this just a demo thing? Cuz all of the detail in the background kinda turns into a flickering mess :(

Not a deal breaker but man, this is weird.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed the demo. Graphics, art, combat, voice acting, etc., all met my expectations. Platforming was a bit meh, but still better than the previous game, imo. Super hyped for retail!
 
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