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[Zaph]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4qWe60BVgE&feature=youtu.be&t=16m38s

Takes about ten minutes to tell the story since the others won't shut the fuck up and let him, but it's worth hearing. Drew is amazing.

Kiki Stockhammer (the former Video Toaster and now TriCaster lady) is in a band. They played a show in norcal and Drew went to meet her and talk TriCaster. He talked about it on this year's Tested Oktoberkast.

Tricaster lady's band Warp 11 - She Make it So (from the album Boldly Go Down on Me)

Thanks. I actually watched most of the Oktoberkast live, but dozed off a couple times. Looks like I only went and missed the best part!

 

[Messofanego]

Yup, you guys overhyped their hate. How is it undeserved if they bring up specific criticisms like bad camera, framerate issues, plodding story and then praise the art? If a game's not grabbing you in 3-4 hours, is it your fault or the game's?

And that statue part looked infuriating.

 

[Bedlam]

Yup, you guys overhyped their hate. How is it undeserved if they bring up specific criticisms like bad camera, framerate issues, plodding story and then praise the art? If a game's not grabbing you in 3-4 hours, is it your fault or the game's?

I don't think they even played it for that long. Brad beat the first boss which is about one hour into the game. I'm pretty sure Jeff didn't even touch the game and yet he hates on it.

Anyway, yes - the game is a slow starter but making an assessment of the story after playing the first hour of an 15-20 hour game is just ridiculous.

Remember what Brad said about his experience with DmC? He wasn't keen on playing the game but someone had to do a review. And on the last bombcast he acknowledged that for him the game got better as he played further. The same is true for LoS. The difference is that he was "forced" to play DmC, not LoS.

And that statue part looked infuriating.

It's actually totally trivial but Vinny forgot the controls.

 

[Messofanego]

I don't think they even played it for that long. Brad beat the first boss which is about one hour into the game. I'm pretty sure Jeff didn't even touch the game and yet he hates on it.

Anyway, yes - the game is a slow starter but making an assessment of the story after playing the first hour of an 15-20 hour game is just ridiculous.

Remember what Brad said about his experience with DmC? He wasn't keen on playing the game but someone had to do a review. And on the last bombcast he said that for him the game got better as he played further. The same is true for LoS. The difference is that he was "forced" to play DmC, not LoS.

Patrick played 4 hours, Brad played 3 hours. Where does Brad say he only got up to the first boss? Time stamp?

 

[Rapstah]

Brad has the "Chapter 1" achievement for Lords of Shadow, so he at least beat the boss you need to beat for that. Can't remember if that is the first boss of the game or not.

 

[Bedlam]

Patrick played 4 hours, Brad played 3 hours. Where does Brad say he only got up to the first boss? Time stamp?

My guess, based on Brad's XBL achievements. He defeated the first boss, maybe he played a bit into the second chapter after that. Patrick's XBL account doesn't list the game (maybe he played it on PS3).

 

[Messofanego]

I don't think achievement points should be used as a metric, I remember people using this against reviewers who gave some game a negative score and it didn't go so well. There are many reasons why achievements not track because of review copies, debug consoles, and other stuff that means their progress in the game wasn't displayed on their personal profile.

 

[Rapstah]

I don't think achievement points should be used as a metric, I remember people using this against reviewers who gave some game a negative score and it didn't go so well. There are many reasons why achievements not track because of review copies, debugs, and other stuff that means their progress in the game wasn't displayed on their personal profile.

Brad didn't review it. If you're going to assume he played the first chapter twice and then more on a review copy then go ahead, but that's ridiculous.

 

[derFeef]

You guys never said "I think I played that game for x hours" and be completely off? Happened to me many times - guess it's considered a crime or something.

 

[Recall]

Yup, you guys overhyped their hate. How is it undeserved if they bring up specific criticisms like bad camera, framerate issues, plodding story and then praise the art? If a game's not grabbing you in 3-4 hours, is it your fault or the game's?

And that statue part looked infuriating.

I think I find it very amusing that the Giantbomb crew can say anything and people instantly have no hesitation in believing it. The Giantbomb guys are not always correct.

For example Patrick said the ending was paid DLC for Lord of Shadows. It was not. Their opinions are not fact, they are simply opinions.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I'm not up to date on any of this drama, but it's nice that Vinny is giving LoS a try. I'm no Castlevania fan (somehow missed out of the series and need to get around to it), but LoS is one of my favourite action games.

 

[WrenchNinja]

LoS I feel is pretty interesting as far as action games go. At first glance it seems like a God of War knock off, but the combat system is paced around you constantly parrying, being on the defense, to obtain more of those orbs that let you go into the light form which gives you health regeneration and augmented combos and powers, and the shadow form which augments your strength alternatively. Balancing between the two forms is pretty key, and not really mastering the parrying will always have you at low health in areas which sort of makes a lot of the scenarios super tense.

Its too bad that the framerate screws up some boss fights and knocks the parry timing out of whack.

 

[Messofanego]

I think I find it very amusing that the Giantbomb crew can say anything and people instantly have no hesitation in believing it. The Giantbomb guys are not always correct.

For example Patrick said the ending was paid DLC for Lord of Shadows. It was not. Their opinions are not fact, they are simply opinions.

I think you just contradicted yourself there. Their opinions aren't correct according to you, but they're not facts, right? And Brad corrected him there.

 

[LiK]

Yup, you guys overhyped their hate. How is it undeserved if they bring up specific criticisms like bad camera, framerate issues, plodding story and then praise the art? If a game's not grabbing you in 3-4 hours, is it your fault or the game's?

And that statue part looked infuriating.

We didn't overhype anything. You overhyped our hate yourself.

Patrick and Brad were extremely dismissive about it in general even tho they hardly played it. Vinny was the light in the heart of darkness.

 

[Rapstah]

I think you just contradicted yourself there. Their opinions aren't correct according to you, but they're not facts, right? And Brad corrected him there.

They can be wrong without it being their opinion. He never says they're "wrong about their opinion" because no one would ever say that.

 

[DaBuddaDa]

I can't wait for LoS 2 to come out and see how this thread reacts!

 

[LiK]

I can't wait for LoS 2 to come out and see how this thread reacts!

Hope it motivates Vinny to finish LoS so he can do the QL for LoS2.

 

[Jokab]

We didn't overhype anything. You overhyped our hate yourself.

Patrick and Brad were extremely dismissive about it in general even tho they hardly played it. Vinny was the light in the heart of darkness.

I'd say playing around 4 hours is enough to get a general impression of a game's quality. If the story was ridiculous after 4 hours it's a safe assessment that it's not going to be good after 10 or 15 hours either.

As for the other issues: does the game not have framerate issues? Does it not have a shitty camera? These are issues of which you can obviously get a good impression, even in very little playing time. I have not played the game, so you tell me.

Furthermore, they praised certain aspects of it, such as the art and the voice acting. I'd say they were pointing out the game's flaws, not entirely dismissing it as the worst game ever. What went down on the stream was just their opinion, not a full-blown review.

 

[LiK]

I'd say playing around 4 hours is enough to get a general impression of a game's quality. If the story was ridiculous after 4 hours it's a safe assessment that it's not going to be good after 10 or 15 hours either.

As for the other issues: does the game not have framerate issues? Does it not have a shitty camera? These are issues of which you can obviously get a good impression, even in very little playing time. I have not played the game, so you tell me.

Furthermore, they praised certain aspects of it, such as the art and the voice acting. I'd say they were pointing out the game's flaws, not entirely dismissing it as the worst game ever. What went down on the stream was just their opinion, not a full-blown review.

Not true, once you get to Chapter 3 where most or all the basic mechanics were taught, the game is incredible. If you played it you will understand. Sure, the tutorial takes its sweet ass time which was a detriment and probably why they didn't get to the good stuff. I would compare it to the 3D Zelda game tutorials. It's a flaw of the game's level design but not the reason why they should hate the game in general. I hope Vinny can make some progress and show them the wicked boss battles. So epic and fun.

 

[GolazoDan]

Patrick and Brad were extremely dismissive about it in general even tho they hardly played it. Vinny was the light in the heart of darkness.

This. Even when Vinny introduced it at the start they both simultaneously reacted with "UGH" like it's a black mark on video games or something.

Lord of Shadows, fine game. Prince of Persia 2008, terrible game. These are my disagreements with the Giant Bomb dudes. Aside from Vinny, he's never wrong.

 

[Messofanego]

Not true, once you get to Chapter 3 where most or all the basic mechanics were taught, the game is incredible. If you played it you will understand. Sure, the tutorial takes its sweet ass time which was a detriment and probably why they didn't get to the good stuff. I would compare it to the 3D Zelda game tutorials. It's a flaw of the game's level design but not the reason why they should hate the game in general. I hope Vinny can make some progress and show them the wicked boss battles. So epic and fun.

Does the framerate and camera get fixed in Chapter 3 and onwards? Is the only good part the boss battles? You're not making the game that much appealing.

 

[LiK]

Does the framerate and camera get fixed in Chapter 3 and onwards? Is the only good part the boss battles? You're not making the game that much appealing.

framerate on 360 is a hit or miss. it's playable until the final chapter where it can go pretty bad in a few sections. but i had no real issues with 90% of the game. the PS3 has way less framerate issues so you should play that one if you haven't.

the game mixes it up as you progress. there's puzzles and very cool interesting characters as well as other types of objectives. it's not just a straight up action game.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I still want it to come out on computer :/

 

[darkressurection]

My only problem that I really had with LoS was that it was way too fucking long, I think my playthrough took 20 hours if I am not mistaken. Other than that I really liked it, played on PS3 and I don't remember the camera being that bad or any real massive framerate issues.

 

[SteveWinwood]

My only problem that I really had with LoS was that it was way too fucking long, I think my playthrough took 20 hours if I am not mistaken. Other than that I really liked it, played on PS3 and I don't remember the camera being that bad or any real massive framerate issues.

It's only too long if you get bored.

It just being 20 hours long tells us nothing.

 

[LiK]

My only problem that I really had with LoS was that it was way too fucking long, I think my playthrough took 20 hours if I am not mistaken. Other than that I really liked it, played on PS3 and I don't remember the camera being that bad or any real massive framerate issues.

it's a long beefy game but i wouldn't hold that against it. it has so many locations and enemy types.

 

[darkressurection]

There were certainly parts that felt like filler that if they had taken them out would have helped the flow of the game pretty considerably (of course this is where you guys ask me what I felt was filler and I say "Well shit I played that game 2 years ago, I don't remember)

Parts of the game are truly breath taking though, especially when you are running along that chain (I think?) up to the castle. Just incredible set-pieces.

 

[Haunted]

My only problem that I really had with LoS was that it was way too fucking long, I think my playthrough took 20 hours if I am not mistaken. Other than that I really liked it, played on PS3 and I don't remember the camera being that bad or any real massive framerate issues.

A game being too long is only a valid criticism if the core gameplay isn't fun enough or if it's repetitive without variety. LoS is neither.

But Patrick is right - it's a real shame it never got its chance to shine on PC. Is the sequel getting a PC version at least?

 

[ArjanN]

A game being too long is only a valid criticism if the core gameplay isn't fun enough or if it's repetitive without variety. LoS is neither.

But Patrick is right - it's a real shame it never got its chance to shine on PC. Is the sequel getting a PC version at least?

The sequel is confirmed for PC, there's been some rumors the first game maybe as well.

 

[Bedlam]

The second chapter of the game is probably its weakest part. It's really not bad or anything but overly long, much of it feels like filler and should've been cut (spider caves, for example).

 

[Jintor]

For non-review purposes I think it's perfectly fine to play as much of the game as you can stomach before giving up on it

 

[Patrick Klepek]

haha jeez.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Answers From the Jar Czar - 01/18/2013

53:50. Jeff, you sly dog you.

 

[sixghost]

This might be bordering on creepy, but I was curious to see how much the GOTY lists of the people in this thread lined up with each other and GBs top 10. If you remove the crazy picks from GBs top 10 (ME3, Syndicate, ZombiU), most people in here seem to have similar taste. Lots of Sleeping Dogs,TWD, XCOM, FTL, Hotline Miami, Journey, Mark of the Ninja.

Green Scar: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46592819&postcount=1364
Jintor: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45593025&postcount=145
Felix Lighter: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46020345&postcount=942
LiK: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45728854&postcount=619
Dragonzord: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45688871&postcount=562
Dark Schala: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46585763&postcount=1347
Haunted: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45676116&postcount=551
Floiorum Viridum: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45773427&postcount=664
alr1ght: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45689752&postcount=565
Stevewinwood: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46640032&postcount=1524
Curufinwe: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46203069&postcount=1058
firehawk12: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45968121&postcount=857
hampster pampster: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46590017&postcount=1353
chickdigger802: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45983758&postcount=887
DaBuddaDa: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45708881&postcount=595
sixghost: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46639762&postcount=1523
Vire: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45652716&postcount=483
ultron87: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46640622&postcount=1531
Backfoggen: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45788449&postcount=679
Riposte: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46616203&postcount=1406

1. XCOM 2. The Walking Dead, 3. Far Cry 3, 4. Fez, 5. Journey, 6. Mark of the Ninja, 7. Syndicate, 8. Mass Effect 3, 9. ZombiU, 10. Sleeping Dogs

I just went down the "most posted" list, and stopped at 70 or 80ish. Deadline is in 7 or 8 hours if you still want to make one.

 

[Zero-Crescent]

My only problem that I really had with LoS was that it was way too fucking long, I think my playthrough took 20 hours if I am not mistaken. Other than that I really liked it, played on PS3 and I don't remember the camera being that bad or any real massive framerate issues.

It's not as much too long as it is poorly-paced, especially in the first half. The werewolf land stuff meanders in filler for far too long. The chupacabra segments were pretty annoying too; just more filler. The pacing improves when you get to the vampire land.

 

[Hot Coldman]

Well, those ARE the best games of the year.

My top pick is a far cry of the GB duders mindsets though, haha.

 

[darkressurection]

It's not as much too long as it is poorly-paced, especially in the first half. The werewolf land stuff meanders in filler for far too long. The chupacabra segments were pretty annoying too; just more filler. The pacing improves when you get to the vampire land.

Yeah that makes sense, I guess I should change my complaint from too long to poorly paced then. I still enjoyed it though and it would be nice for Patrick or Brad to give it another shot.

 

[WrenchNinja]

It's not as much too long as it is poorly-paced, especially in the first half. The werewolf land stuff meanders in filler for far too long. The chupacabra segments were pretty annoying too; just more filler. The pacing improves when you get to the vampire land.

And after that the pacing gets bad again when you have to go to the swamp and then the Necromancer's domain. They should have probably cut the werewolf and necromancer section in half, get rid of the titans, moved the necromancer section to middle, and have the game close off with the Castle. Course you'd have to change aspects of the story a bit especially with the necromancer, but there's a simple solution to that. For a game called Castlevania, having the middle section only involving the castle, while still the longest section of the game, is pretty lame.

 

[Alo81]

Far Cry 3 question.

I just got the wing suit and finished all of the radio towers. I hear the end game is trash.

Should I finish it?

 

[Jintor]

If you think you'll have fun. Personally it burns out by then.

 

[Felix Lighter]

That's interesting. Typically, I'd say my taste doesn't really match the GB crew's that closely but this year was an odd year. My top 2 would never make a GB top 10, though. (Maybe a Vinny, Drew, Dave top 10)

Riposte, Hampster Pampster, Curufinwe and Dark Schala seem to be furthest from GB game taste-wise.

 

[f0rk]

Far Cry 3 question.

I just got the wing suit and finished all of the radio towers. I hear the end game is trash.

Should I finish it?

Have you even been to the other island? You only go there once you get the wingsuit

 

[LiK]

i enjoyed XCOM but certainly not as much as them. Vinny choosing it as his #1 blew my mind.

 

[Kelas]

Far Cry 3 question.

I just got the wing suit and finished all of the radio towers. I hear the end game is trash.

Should I finish it?

I enjoyed all the missions up to the end, so I say keep playing. The ending itself is a bit silly, but the actual gameplay is fine.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Wonder if Fire Emblem is going to get any love this year as much as X-Com.

 

[Haunted]

The sequel is confirmed for PC, there's been some rumors the first game maybe as well.

That's awesome.

Not sure anyone is still interested in the first one at this point. Late ports of well-marketed multiplats rarely do well.

 

[Felix Lighter]

i enjoyed XCOM but certainly not as much as them. Vinny choosing it as his #1 blew my mind.

You just made me reconsider it's placement on my list. I think I put it a little higher than I should have.

 

[JPBrowncoat]

Wonder if Fire Emblem is going to get any love this year as much as X-Com.

Patrick tweeted that he was going to give it a shot with some help from Dave.

 

[NIN90]

Far Cry 3 question.

I just got the wing suit and finished all of the radio towers. I hear the end game is trash.

Should I finish it?

The last few missions (sans the last one) are in my opinion the best missions in the game. Some of them reminded me of playing Crysis.

 

[SteveWinwood]

i enjoyed XCOM but certainly not as much as them. Vinny choosing it as his #1 blew my mind.

I loved it, even though I didn't play it as much as I should have. I don't question it as my number 1 for one second.

Wonder if Fire Emblem is going to get any love this year as much as X-Com.

lol