Welcome to the Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 - Official Neogaf Thread.
Release dates:
NA February 25, 2014
EU February 28, 2014
UK February 28, 2014
Platfforms:
Xbox 360 (retail, XBLA)
PlayStation 3 (retail, PSN)
PC (Steam) - PC retail is Europe exclusive
Steam version available for pre-load friday 21, 10AM PST.
Live unlock: february 25th, 10AM PST
Minimum
- CPU: 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- VGA: Direct X9 compatible video card 512Mb Ram
- DirectX: 9
- OS: Windows XP – Service Pack 3
- HDD: 15 GB of free space
Recommended
- CPU: Quad Core CPU
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- VGA: Direct X11 compatible video card with 2048Mb Ram
- DirectX: 11
- OS: Windows 7 +
- HDD: 15GB of free space
The Lords of Shadow series, comprised of Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2 is a modern reimagining of the classic Castlevania franchise which originated in 1986 on the Famicom. This new direction focuses in the main antagonist of the saga, Dracula, telling his story from the very beginning to the end, filled with the mysteries of him and his world, a tale of tragedy, redemption and treachery.
Next up, we'll make a trip through the story of each game of the trilogy.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 is an action adventure game. Players will take control of Lords of Shadow's protagonist Gabriel Belmont, who now has taken on the moniker of "Dracul", as the game's main protagonist. He will traverse both his own castle and a modern day city, while battling both the Brotherhood of Light and the forces of Satan. The game features a non-sandbox Open World (think: Zelda, Darksiders).
The combat system is based on the previous game. Gabriel's Combat Cross has been replaced with a new weapon called the "Shadow Whip". However, combos are still strung together with strong direct attacks, and lighter attacks with more range. Dracula can collect blood from the enemies he fights. He can channel it into "Void" and "Chaos". When the former is activated, Dracula's weapon will switch to the Void Sword. This weapon allows him to regain health when enemies are struck with it. Chaos switches Dracula's weapon to a pair of claws that will help him break through enemy defenses. ] This system is highly reminiscent of how Light Magic and Shadow Magic were put to use in the previous Lords of Shadow. Each weapon also has its own skills, such as void sword having 35 exclusive combos available, instead of being limited to the whip and switching between weapons mid-combo is possible. Additionally using a combo repeatedly will allow Dracula to master that combo, and once mastered its power can be siphoned into the weapon itself, making it more powerful, granting extra abilities and increased damage.
Other powers Dracula at his disposal are controlling enemies and turn into mist in order to get past unseen or enter certain areas. Secondary weapons also return in the form of Relics, such as the Seal of Alastor-which unlocks all of Dracula's skills for a short period of time; the Stolas' Clock, which functions similar to the Stopwatch of classic Castlevania, and the Dragon Form, which is akin to the Dark Crystal of the first Lords of Shadow.
The game will have the following editions:
- Dracula's Tomb:
Limited to just 30,000 units across Europe, is the game, four 10cm miniature figurines designed by comic book artist Neil Googe (Judge Dredd, Wildcats), an A4 hardcover art book and an exclusive steelbook. In the UK the Dracula's Tomb Premium Edition is exclusive to GAME.
- Steelbook edition
This includes an exclusive image of Dracula, the alternate Premium Dracula suit, a Dark Dracula costume, and the Relic Rune pack, which adds relic items to your inventory. Apparently Zavvi exclusive. Not much info around.
- Gamestop/Amazon US Preorder
Includes the alternate Armored Dracula suit and a Dark Dracula costume
- Worldwide PSN edition
Includes Mirror of Fate free if preordered.
- Belmont Special Edition
- Videogamer France: 17/20
- Gameinformer: 6/10
- Edge: 4/10
- HobbyConsolas (Spain): 95/10
- Peelaja (Finland): 9/10
- Power Unlimited (Denmark - Made by Gaffer SpainKiller): 8/10
- PC Guru (Hungary - Made by Gaffer Hitoshi): 85%
- Jeux Video: 17/20
- Gry Online (Poland): 9.2/10 - http://www.gry-online.pl/S016.asp?ID=19269
More coming soon, of course.
Release dates:
NA February 25, 2014
EU February 28, 2014
UK February 28, 2014
Platfforms:
Xbox 360 (retail, XBLA)
PlayStation 3 (retail, PSN)
PC (Steam) - PC retail is Europe exclusive
Steam version available for pre-load friday 21, 10AM PST.
Live unlock: february 25th, 10AM PST
Minimum
- CPU: 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- VGA: Direct X9 compatible video card 512Mb Ram
- DirectX: 9
- OS: Windows XP – Service Pack 3
- HDD: 15 GB of free space
Recommended
- CPU: Quad Core CPU
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- VGA: Direct X11 compatible video card with 2048Mb Ram
- DirectX: 11
- OS: Windows 7 +
- HDD: 15GB of free space
The Lords of Shadow series, comprised of Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2 is a modern reimagining of the classic Castlevania franchise which originated in 1986 on the Famicom. This new direction focuses in the main antagonist of the saga, Dracula, telling his story from the very beginning to the end, filled with the mysteries of him and his world, a tale of tragedy, redemption and treachery.
Next up, we'll make a trip through the story of each game of the trilogy.
Wikipedia said:Release date:
- October 8th 2010 (PS3), (Xbox360)
- August 27th 2013 (PC)
LORDS OF SHADOW - COLLECTION avaliable in all three platfforms. Includes the main game, two add-ons and Mirror of Fate
It's the year 1075, the world lies in darkness, a strange spell has separated the heavens from the earth and the most vile creatures roam the world. The principal suspects of this act are the Lords of Shadow, a trio of immortal beings each one with its own race of abominations. The three of them, The Lord of the Lycans, the Lord of the Vampires and the Lord of the Dead have been fighted for centuries, still, no one has emerged victorious. Gabriel Belmont is sent by his order, the Brotherhood of Light to the Lake of Oblivion, where his deceased wife, Marie, tells him that Spirits who founded the Brotherhood said that the Lords of Shadow's power will save the world. Gabriel meets a man from the Brotherhood called Zobek, who states that a prophecy has been kept a secret by a select few, which tells of a pure-hearted warrior who will claim the Lords of Shadow's power to overcome evil. Zobek says that he and Gabriel must enter the lands of the Dark Lords in order to unite the Heavens with the world again, and that with this Gabriel can bring Marie back from the dead. Gabriel defeats the werewolf Cornell (Richard Ridings) and the vampire Carmilla (Sally Knyvette) for the first two pieces of the God Mask on his journey, while learning that they were once two of the three founding members of the Order who fought the spawns of Satan in God's favor until they transformed into the Spirits, with power only second to God's. After they ascended to the Heavens, they left behind their dark sides, who were known as the Lords of Shadow.
Gabriel departs for the Land of the Necromancers for the last part of the mask. There, Zobek appears before Gabriel with the Devil Mask over his face, and divulges that he is the Lord of the Necromancers and that he grew tired of the Lords of Shadow dividing the power amongst the three of them. Orchestrating the events of the story, he searched Hell for this power until an evil force entered him and expanded his knowledge of the dark arts, which allowed him to cast the spell that separated the Earth from the Heavens so that the Spirits would contact the Brotherhood. Zobek discloses he used the Devil Mask on Gabriel to kill Marie and that all he needed was for Gabriel to restore the power of the Spirits to avoid suspicion from them. Satan (Jason Isaacs) emerges and takes the God Mask from Zobek, revealing himself as the mastermind who gave Zobek his powers so that Satan could have revenge on God and return to the Heavens. Gabriel confronts Satan and defeats him, releasing souls of the deceased from limbo.Gabriel discovers the God Mask cannot bring Marie back and that it only allows him to see through God's eyes. Marie tells him he has been given a new life to redeem himself before she departs with the God Mask.
The story is expanded in two DLC packs titled Reverie and Resurrection. Reverie has Gabriel returning to Carmilla's castle to contain an ancient evil, the Forgotten One, with the help of Carmilla's daughter Laura (Grace Vance), who is also a playable character that assists Gabriel in some sequences of the DLC. Before entering a portal into the Forgotten One's prison, Laura tells Gabriel he cannot enter it in his mortal form and dies after she has Gabriel drink her blood to use its powers to enter. During Resurrection, the Forgotten One aspires to destroy the humans' world, but he is defeated by Gabriel who claims his power for himself. Corrupted by the Forgotten One's power, Gabriel destroys his Combat Cross and leaves through the portal.
In a post-credits scene after the main game's ending, Zobek is seen alive during modern times, and has uncovered Gabriel living as a vampire called Dracula. Zobek mentions the acolytes of Satan are preparing for his return and that they must stop him before he takes revenge on both of them. Before Gabriel disappears, Zobek tells him he will free him of his immortality if he helps him
Castlevania wiki said:Release date:
- March 5/8th 2013 (Nintendo 3DS)
- October 25/27/29th 2013 (XBLA, PSN, Lords of Shadow 1 Collection)
Simon Belmont awakes in a forest after a terrible nightmare in which his mother, Sypha, is killed by monsters near Dracula's castle. He then rides his horse through a village infested by zombies and arrives at Dracula's castle. Near an underground entrance awaits the Lost Soul, which shows Simon, through the shard of the mirror that he carries, that his father Trevor's Combat Cross still lies within the castle. Simon explores the castle in order to recover it, with the guidance of the Lost Soul.
In the Theatre, Simon is trapped and forced to fight an endless stream of the enigmatic Toy Maker's Macabre Puppets. He is rescued by a mysterious figure, who runs away before Simon can speak to him.
Simon later recovers the combat cross, which is taken from him by a Necromancer, who claims that it must recover the weapon for his master, Zobek. Simon defeats the Necromancer and claims the cross, allowing him to progress further into the castle.
At the top of the castle's highest tower, Simon encounters the Succubus, who tries, and fails, to seduce Simon, and kills her. As her false world collapses, Simon finds himself in the Throne Room, facing Dracula himself. Before they can battle, however, Alucard enters.
The game switches to Alucard's perspective, taking place earlier. Alucard awakens, emerging from a tomb, and, not remembering his past, is shown his fate by the Lost Soul through the Mirror of Fate. Alucard vows to destroy the one who did this to him, his father, Dracula. Along the way to the highest tower of the castle, Alucard encounters the Daemon Lord, who has been rebuilt with mechanical parts, and is defeated by him and thrown off into the tower, into the lower areas of the castle. He makes his way up the castle, and realizes, with dismay, that Simon is in the castle. He saves Simon twice, fleeing from him the first time and speaking with him the second time, unaware that an amused Dracula is watching from above.
After fleeing from Simon once more, Alucard faces the Daemon Lord again, and finally kills him. He goes onward to face Dracula, and encounters him in the Throne Room, interrupting the conversation between Simon and Dracula. Alucard and Simon battle Dracula, and manage to defeat and seemingly kill him, though Alucard remarks that Dracula's death was atypical of a vampire. Simon returns his piece of the Mirror of Fate to the Lost Soul, after Alucard tells him that the mirror only manipulated him, and that it did not belong to Simon or his father. Simon inquires Alucard's identity, but he refuses to tell him the truth.
Years before the events of Simon's journey, in his house, Simon's father, Trevor looks desperate while his wife, Sypha, tries to help him. His son, Simon, plays with the Combat Cross, but his mother asks him to stop. Trevor then stand up and decide to go confront his father, who became Dracula. After hugging his wife and telling her to leave to the mountains if he was not to come back, Trevor gives Simon a necklace that is made of a piece of a magical mirror. He then arrives to Dracula's castle to kill Dracula.
He encounters the Lost Soul within the castle. The Lost Soul, claiming to know all, attempts to warn Trevor that he will not succeed in his mission, but wishing to hear no more from the Lost Soul, he attacks it, breaking a portion of its face with his combat cross and rendering it unable to speak, explaining its silence in Simon and Alucard's journeys.
In the castle's Belfry, Trevor is forced to flee from a tumbling, massive bell after it is cut from its restraints by hunchbacks. He manages to escape it, but falls into the pit created by the bell's descent. While Trevor is unconscious, the Lost Soul gives him a mysterious cube, which turns out to be the key to unlocking the door to an old temple inhabited by witches.
In the temple, the witches use their magic to free the Daemon Lord, who had been imprisoned years earlier by Gabriel. Trevor fights the Daemon Lord, and manages to defeat him, slicing its hands off and cutting it in half. Thinking he is victorious, Trevor walks away, while an amused Toy Maker looks onwards, and soon after resurrects the Daemon Lord.
Trevor finally encounters Dracula, and uses the balance between Light Magic and Dark Magic to gain the upper hand. Despite this, Dracula still manages to defeat him, stabbing him in the chest with his own combat cross. The dying Trevor claims that he pities Dracula, who accepted his fate while Trevor fought against it, and informs him that he is Dracula's son. Startled, and with Trevor's claim confirmed by the mirror, a dismayed Dracula attempts to revive his son by turning him into a vampire, but with the effort seemingly failed, Dracula stands above his son's grave, marked "Alucard".
Back in the present, after the conclusion of Simon and Alucard's journeys, Alucard searches through his grave, Carmilla and Dracula's old throne room to find something. Alucard recovers the stake of Gabriel's old combat cross, which broke off during his battle with Carmilla, shortly before the castle begins to collapse. Alucard transforms into a bat and manages to escape, while Simon watches the castle collapse from the forest, and bids Alucard farewell.
Taking place after the events of Mirror of Fate, Dracula, devoid of the ability to die, is reborn once more, this time after facing a great siege of his Casle by the Brotherhood of Light, he's put to sleep for one thousand years.
Dracula wakes up in modern times, weak and semi amnesiac, where his old foe Zobek finds him and offers him a deal: Help with stoping Satan's return in exchange of an end to his eternal torment.
Voiced by: Robert Carlyle
Born as Gabriel Belmont, the holiest of warriors on earth; after being decieved by his own brotherhood and the Lord of the Dead, Zobek, to reclaim the power of the Lords of Shadow and impede Satan's first arrival on earth, he became a vampire by neccessity to face the powerful demon that lied inside the Bernhard Castle released by Carmilla's death. After absorbing that demon's power he became the most powerful vampire on earth, and took the name Dracul; however, the brotherhood calls him Dracula as, for them, he's the "son" of Satan.
Voiced by: Jason Isaacs
The King of all Angels. Castaway of heaven and weak, he has always used other people for his machinations. When the Lords of Shadow were created he saw in the ambitious Zobek, the Lord of the Dead the perfect target for his plans; giving him knowledge and power beyond this world, he used it to get the three pieces of the God Mask that resided inside the three Lords of Shadow; that strange artifact with unknown power was needed for him to return to heaven and, according to him, reign over the universe as God's equal, or something more. Gabriel Belmont was granted divine power to return him to hell, and his sole prescence as Dracul was enough for no one to attempt bringing Satan back, but now with the Dragon missing, he's preparing his return, and he wants his revenge from the mortal which took his desires from him.
Voiced by: Sir Patrick Stewart
One of the Lords of Shadow, entities born from the dark part of the soul of the founders of the Brotherhood of Light after ascending to heaven in pure spiritual form. Zobek is the Lord of the Dead, it's ambitious and deciever; after (unknowingly) being planted the idea of getting the God Mask to achieve great power by Satan, he used Gabriel Belmont to kill his two dark sieblings and get their parts of the mask. Zobek posed many years as an elder legendary member of the brotherhood. Zobek concealed his identity by misleading the brotherhood to think the Lord of the Dead was one of his necromancers, to fool them even more, he gave his piece of the mask to him, which lived at the top of the Land of the Dead, his reign, built over the dead bones of a prehistoric Dracolich. After getting the mask from Gabriel and revealing himself, he was incinerated by Satan as he was not needed anymore. Needless to say, the Lord of the Dead can't stay in that state much time and he kept living amongst the living, being a highly succesful bussiness man in modern times.
Voiced by: Richard Madden
Born Trevor Belmont, he mortally faced his father by request of the Brotherhood. Guided by the Mirror of Fate he went to the castle and tried to kill Dracula, however, his destiny was die at his father's hands. In his agony, he showed his father through the mirror how he was born in secret to him (as the Brotherhood knew he was the only hope to kill Dracul). In remorse, Gabriel gave his own blood to his unnamed child, but after he didn't wake up, he buried him in the Castle keep under the name Alucard, as he was opposed to him (Ed note: Lucard apparently sounded bad). Alucard woke up as a vampire 27 years later, and then saw how the mirror had this planned to him, knowing that such artefact was bringer of doom, he told his son, Simon Belmont, who returned to avenge the deathy of his father and mother, to get rid of a piece of the mirror he wore. After putting his father to rest along his son, Alucard said farewell to him. Time later his father resurrected due to his curse and he aided in a brotherhood siege to the castle, this time armed with a sword made with the broken tip of the Vampire Killer. Alucard's whereabouts are unknown in the modern times.
Voiced by: Sally Knivette
One of the founding members of the Brotherhood of Light. The Lord of Shadow remaining by her, Carmilla Lord of the Vampires was killed by Gabriel Belmont in his quest for the God Mask, however, her human self appears to Dracul. Her motives are unknown. In life, she was very loving and cared for life over everything else, she despised Dr. Frankenstein's experiments on living beings. This love became hate and leeching to her dark side, becoming a vampire who fed on the life of the living.
Voiced by: Anthony Howell
The last surviving member of the Belmont Clan. With his family in ruin, his blood damned and nothing to lose, Victor hunts for his ancestor in another quest to avenge the honor of his bloodline. However, he knows that every one of those have resulted in futility.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 is an action adventure game. Players will take control of Lords of Shadow's protagonist Gabriel Belmont, who now has taken on the moniker of "Dracul", as the game's main protagonist. He will traverse both his own castle and a modern day city, while battling both the Brotherhood of Light and the forces of Satan. The game features a non-sandbox Open World (think: Zelda, Darksiders).
The combat system is based on the previous game. Gabriel's Combat Cross has been replaced with a new weapon called the "Shadow Whip". However, combos are still strung together with strong direct attacks, and lighter attacks with more range. Dracula can collect blood from the enemies he fights. He can channel it into "Void" and "Chaos". When the former is activated, Dracula's weapon will switch to the Void Sword. This weapon allows him to regain health when enemies are struck with it. Chaos switches Dracula's weapon to a pair of claws that will help him break through enemy defenses. ] This system is highly reminiscent of how Light Magic and Shadow Magic were put to use in the previous Lords of Shadow. Each weapon also has its own skills, such as void sword having 35 exclusive combos available, instead of being limited to the whip and switching between weapons mid-combo is possible. Additionally using a combo repeatedly will allow Dracula to master that combo, and once mastered its power can be siphoned into the weapon itself, making it more powerful, granting extra abilities and increased damage.
Other powers Dracula at his disposal are controlling enemies and turn into mist in order to get past unseen or enter certain areas. Secondary weapons also return in the form of Relics, such as the Seal of Alastor-which unlocks all of Dracula's skills for a short period of time; the Stolas' Clock, which functions similar to the Stopwatch of classic Castlevania, and the Dragon Form, which is akin to the Dark Crystal of the first Lords of Shadow.
The game will have the following editions:
- Dracula's Tomb:
Limited to just 30,000 units across Europe, is the game, four 10cm miniature figurines designed by comic book artist Neil Googe (Judge Dredd, Wildcats), an A4 hardcover art book and an exclusive steelbook. In the UK the Dracula's Tomb Premium Edition is exclusive to GAME.
- Steelbook edition
This includes an exclusive image of Dracula, the alternate Premium Dracula suit, a Dark Dracula costume, and the Relic Rune pack, which adds relic items to your inventory. Apparently Zavvi exclusive. Not much info around.
- Gamestop/Amazon US Preorder
Includes the alternate Armored Dracula suit and a Dark Dracula costume
- Worldwide PSN edition
Includes Mirror of Fate free if preordered.
- Belmont Special Edition
Includes limited box and art book.
- Videogamer France: 17/20
- Gameinformer: 6/10
- Edge: 4/10
- HobbyConsolas (Spain): 95/10
- Peelaja (Finland): 9/10
- Power Unlimited (Denmark - Made by Gaffer SpainKiller): 8/10
- PC Guru (Hungary - Made by Gaffer Hitoshi): 85%
- Jeux Video: 17/20
- Gry Online (Poland): 9.2/10 - http://www.gry-online.pl/S016.asp?ID=19269
More coming soon, of course.