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Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 - |OT| - Dead and Loving It!

I

infinityBCRT

Member
nynt9 said:
Seriously, am I the only one seeing this here? This looks ridiculous. Is it because of some weird perspective effect? Does it look like this to those playing the game as well? (pic is screenshots I took from TB's WTF Is video)

OAdO6cC.jpg
Click to expand...

BTW thanks for ruining the modern day environments for all of us :(. I probably would've played the game without noticing these issues if I didn't see this.

But yeah seems like they had some play area size and/or camera issues which forced them to scale up the environments. I wouldn't be surprised if they made environments the same way they made them for LOS1, but then realized they needed more space because of the fully 3d camera.
 
S

Sithlord77

Banned
Will this be available digitally Day one on Friday in the UK XBL marketplace? I heard games take a few months before going digital for Xbox?
 
B

Bedlam

Member
infinityBCRT said:
Thief and LOS2 are just the start. Expect more of this as 2014 goes on.
Click to expand...
Back to excessive handholding and easy-as-shit games it is then. "Thanks," game reviewers.

Seriously, I actually do think that game reviewers and the way they work have actually contributed to the "casualization" of games during the last decade. They hardly really get into games, they are frustrated if games go on for too long because they got to play the next game etc.

I think more game reviews and reviewers should be called out on that. Too many games have received too low scores because of a game reviewer's inability to properly play a game for the reasons cited above. See Wonderful 101, for example. Hell, some game reviewers are even complaining about the latest Donkey Kong game's difficulty while that is precisely what many gamers enjoy. Many game reviewers sniffed at the Souls games for a long time and only after a big community made them a household name, some game reviewers decided to see what all the fuss is about and are finally discovering these games now (see the GB guys, for example). There definitely is a disconnect between large parts of the enthusiast press and actual hobby gamers.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
Yea I'm absolutely disliking this game and I loved the first one. Everything other than the combatis a severe downgrade from the first game. The way the narrative is structured and so far the narrative itself, the level design, the level art, and the god awful fucking stealth sections.

The modern segments have all been dog shit. Complete dog shit.

I'm getting a lot of DMC2 vibes.
 
Z

Zeth

Member
I'm stuck without enough Void power at the
Medusa
fight. I think I'm going to have to restart the whole section as I only have one item that refills it, and it doesn't last long enough. I suck too much to refill it from the boss.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Zeth said:
I'm stuck without enough Void power at the
Medusa
fight. I think I'm going to have to restart the whole section as I only have one item that refills it, and it doesn't last long enough. I suck too much to refill it from the boss.
Click to expand...

Refill it from the
tentacles at the back
.
 
B

Bor

Neo Member
Just got to the
Agreus
part and beat it on the second try(
I did not look at any walkthroughs or anything, i pretty much ran through and everytime he caught up to me i used mist form which confused him, so i could advance
. I cant believe someone needed 4 hours to beat it lol. Anyone else feel that the game is very easy? I'm new to these kind of games as a pc only guy, i only played the first lords of shadow and MGR, but this game on hard is almost no challenge. The window for synchronised blocks is huge and mist form takes care of unblockable attacks. Whatever, i'm having tonnes of fun. I hope the mediocre reviews don't hurt the sales too much !
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Yeah I'm on hard (or whatever the highest available difficulty is) and it's been pretty easy so far. Bosses I really enjoy fighting but not much in the way of challenge.
 
H

haikira

Member
Checked to see if there was PC performance thread, but there doesn't seem to be, so just going to ask here. Planning to jump into the game later, and was just wondering if there're any little PC tricks any of you guys would recommend for making the game look better?

Not to imply I think it'll look bad, as I thought the demo looked great, if maybe a little aliased, as I had trouble getting downsampling to work with it. But if I remember correctly, someone around here said the config could just be edited to whatever downsampled res you want.
 
A

Arkanius

Member
haikira said:
Checked to see if there was PC performance thread, but there doesn't seem to be, so just going to ask here. Planning to jump into the game later, and was just wondering if there're any little PC tricks any of you guys would recommend for making the game look better?

Not to imply I think it'll look bad, as I thought the demo looked great, if maybe a little aliased, as I had trouble getting downsampling to work with it. But if I remember correctly, someone around here said the config could just be edited to whatever downsampled res you want.
Click to expand...

Put Depth of Field in Medium. Not sure what they are doing with the DoF on hard but it makes everything crawl to an halt.
Other than that, the game is very light and looks amazing. Wizardry I say
 
M

Maffis

Member
Yeah not sure what's up with the perspective. It's like most things are scaled correctly, but then comes that chair that's like 3times the size of Gabriel. Not sure what's up with that. Maybe they made the areas too small so they just enlarged it to make it fit with a 3d-camera or something. It looks really out of place though.
 
S

Shmuely Bully

Member
BluWacky said:
Since the review talks about 720p they obviously weren't playing on PC where you can go up to 1080p. Ergo the comments clearly apply to the console version - and if the console version has poor loading times etc. then those are worth commenting on.
Click to expand...

I can't say anything about the 360 version, but for the PS3 at least (with installation - takes ~10 minutes) about the only time you'll see an actual loading screen is when you die.

There are a number of things (elevators, spilling blood or pulling levers to switch areas, going from the castle to the city, etc.) that are pretty clearly designed to hide loading times and can be a bit grating if you're doing them in rapid succession. Although that last bit is rarely required and a lot of what grates may just be having to watch him tear open his own wrist repeatedly: it's a bit unnerving.
 
V

Voror

Member
Indeed, I'd very much like to know the original ending as well. I simply won't read it till I beat the game though. If it is better than what we got than I have to wonder what Konami was thinking.
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
ZeroX03 said:
At the final stretch now. Will beat it tonight.
Source on that?
Click to expand...
Bergaron on the dungeon and other guy which has direct contact with member "Kingshango". Thet postef at different times so we can say it' certainly true. Not to mention their track record is good (now superior than CBOAT's lol)
nynt9 said:
What's the original ending? Perhaps you can PM me if you don't want to post it here?
Click to expand...
I can post it here with some edits. Don"t read if you haven't finished the game.
When Satan possesses Alucard, Gabril forces the combat cross inside him, killing his own son again, and the spirit of human Trevor Belmont is seen ascending to heaven smiling at his father; however, the Combat Cross was destroyed, thus letting Gabriel with no chance of ever reuniting with his family or die, Dracula starts screaming like a maniac on the ground and the brotherhood of light captures him (with him giving not resistence) and scenes are shown of them torturing him braveheart style for many centuries, tearing off limbs, cutting him with knives until the end of time while Gabriel never gets the peace he wants.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Ahasverus said:
Bergaron on the dungeon and other guy which has direct contact with member "Kingshango". Thet postef at different times so we can say it' certainly true. Not to mention their track record is good (now superior than CBOAT's lol)

I can post it here with some edits. Don"t read if you haven't finished the game.
When Satan possesses Alucard, Gabril forces the combat cross inside him, killing his own son again, and the spirit of human Trevor Belmont is seen ascending to heaven smiling at his father; however, the Combat Cross was destroyed, thus letting Gabriel with no chance of ever reuniting with his family or die, Dracula starts screaming like a maniac on the ground and the brotherhood of light captures him (with him giving not resistence) and scenes are shown of them torturing him braveheart style for many centuries, tearing off limbs, cutting him with knives until the end of time while Gabriel never gets the peace he wants.
Click to expand...

Just beat the game.

That ending. What? Dracula and Alucard live to uh, fight another sequel? Considering how fast and loose LoS1 played with plot twists, killing characters and the fantastic ending this was a really big disappointment. Konami shouldn't have meddled.

Also wondering on two plot points: why can the Vampire Killer kill Dracula? Other than Castlevania tradition, it seems the only reason is because it's Gandalfi's ultimate weapon and that's it. Secondly, as I understand Dracula's motives, he becomes the prince of darkness to keep Zobek and Satan at bay, making himself the dominant power, but the lesser of three evils so to speak. Then Alucard suggests the gambit, cue LoS2.

I prefer LoS1. I really would've just loved for this game to be LoS2 on steroids. But it's not a bad game, but the previous title was more to my preferences (static camera, levels, story). I love Metroidvania, but this game didn't need to try and replicate it. And modern stuff seemed pointless.
 
A

Arkanius

Member
How do I lock on into an enemy?
I remember being able to do it in the demo but can't find the bind to do it now. (X360 Pad on PC)
 
O

Ouroboros

Member
Just wanted to jot down some quick thoughts from my 5 hours of play time yesterday night:

Version : PC (Max settings)

I did not experience any bugs during my play time yesterday.

+ Great visuals. I'm 99% sure this will be ported to Ps4/Xbone by next year. Looks great on PC
+ Combat is great! Refined from LoS1.
+ A lot of teases (items you can get just yet...I want more!!)

- I hate games where you have all your powers then you lose them all. The story makes sense why Dracula would lose them but still...it's just a personal pet peeve.
- I ended up turning off the QTE's. While I don't mind them I feel like MS made them too fast to react to at some points.
- A little too much hand holding. Again, you can turn these off and I did. Thanks MS!

As for the stealth section...I'm wondering if the reviewers got a different build of the game. I've had no problems and unless there is one that is near impossible down the line maybe those reviewers should play some more MGS to level up their stealth game skills.

On an ending thought it goes to show you once again you shouldn't take a review at full weight. Also - Patrick Stewart.
 
M

Morue

Member
Ahasverus said:
I can post it here with some edits. Don"t read if you haven't finished the game.
When Satan possesses Alucard, Gabril forces the combat cross inside him, killing his own son again, and the spirit of human Trevor Belmont is seen ascending to heaven smiling at his father; however, the Combat Cross was destroyed, thus letting Gabriel with no chance of ever reuniting with his family or die, Dracula starts screaming like a maniac on the ground and the brotherhood of light captures him (with him giving not resistence) and scenes are shown of them torturing him braveheart style for many centuries, tearing off limbs, cutting him with knives until the end of time while Gabriel never gets the peace he wants.
Click to expand...

Woah, really?

Well, then I guess the ending we got is not so bad after all...
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
ZeroX03 said:
Also wondering on two plot points: why can the Vampire Killer kill Dracula? Other than Castlevania tradition, it seems the only reason is because it's Gandalfi's ultimate weapon and that's it. Secondly, as I understand Dracula's motives, he becomes the prince of darkness to keep Zobek and Satan at bay, making himself the dominant power, but the lesser of three evils so to speak. Then Alucard suggests the gambit, cue LoS2.
Click to expand...
Because every piece of the Vampire killer is the ultimate holy weapon. The chain is made with martyr's nails melted in holy water, the stake is made with the cross' wood, the central cross origin is a mystery.. the vampire killer is the holliest of holly things in the world.
And yeah those are
Dracula's motives. He's not that bad after all, he just hates the brotherhood.
hey_it's_that_dog said:
Are you trying to say those car pics you just posted of the 360 version don't show a ridiculously short Dracula next to a sedan? I know you love this game for some reason but come the fuck on.
Click to expand...
It's jarring, but it's not ridiculous. He is indeed a bit on the short side, but meh. I visit Arkham Origins when I want to see scaling artifacts.
Morue said:
Woah, really?

Well, then I guess the ending we got is not so bad after all...
Click to expand...

Yeah..
give the man a break jeez
 
D

Dinosur

Member
Put 3-4 hours into the PC version last night and loving it so far (
back to modern times after beating the gorgon boss
). Looks pretty and combat is a blast, so that's all I really wanted. Platforming is a bit goofy. I'd much rather have better designed ledge grab points than having that dumb yo-bats-jump-here nonsense. Unless some kind of gameplay mechanic drastically changes soon, I'm going to have to go ahead and say I don't agree with the review scores I've seen.

Please tell me there are more stealth parts later on and they weren't really complaining about that two room/two minute segment in the beginning (where it even tells you what to do).

edit: One non-spoiler screenshot

4hVWBZl.jpg
Click to expand...
 
batman2million

batman2million

Member
about 2 hours in and so far it's okay. The game doesn't seem like a castlevania that's for sure. The graphics are nice but the over art direction is off putting. The writing in the last one was OKAY but this is just awful.

All in all, it seems like an average game. I'm gonna finish it since I spent money on it.
 
D

Dascu

Member
After seeing the Gorgon sisters, I have completely changed opinion on MercurySteam making a new Silent Hill game.

Keep them the hell away from that franchise. This attempt at body horror was laughably bad and amateurish.
 
N

Net_Wrecker

Member
Reposting my question because more people are playing now, and I still can't get a bead on if I want to pick this up.

For fans of the first game who are playing or have already finished LoS2, what does the progression of the game feel like in comparison to the first? Above all, my biggest takeaway from LoS1 was that even in its slowest moments at the beginning, it felt like a classic adventure with forward moving momentum through location after location of beautiful backdrops. From the footage I've seen of LoS2, that pacing feels changed in favor of more exploratory based traversal and the environments don't seem as frequently nice looking. I can appreciate combat improvements and opening the game up a bit, but that's not really why I enjoyed the first title (nor did I fret about how "Castlevania" it was). What say you to a weirdo like me?
 
N

nynt9

Member
By the way, I played about three hours of this last night, got to the shop. It's a bit clunky, but it's also really fun and the art direction is great. The variety in gameplay is amusing, but some sections feel like the designers were on hallucinogenics, not necessarily in a bad way but in a weird way. Will post more impressions later tonight but it feels like a 8/10 or so to me.
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
Net_Wrecker said:
Reposting my question because more people are playing now, and I still can't get a bead on if I still want to pick this up.

For fans of the first game who are playing or have already finished LoS2, what does the progression of the game feel like in comparison to the first? Above all, my biggest takeaway from LoS1 was that even in its slowest moments at the beginning, it felt like a classic adventure with forward moving momentum through location after location of beautiful backdrops. From the footage I've seen of LoS2, that pacing feels changed in favor of more exploratory based traversal and the environments don't seem as frequently nice looking. I can appreciate combat improvements and opening the game up a bit, but that's not really why I enjoyed the first title (nor did I fret about how "Castlevania" it was). What say you to a weirdo like me?
Click to expand...
You are right about what this games is trying to do. If those were your motives for LoS1, I'd suggest waiting for a price drop.
 
S

Shmuely Bully

Member
Net_Wrecker said:
Reposting my question because more people are playing now, and I still can't get a bead on if I still want to pick this up.

For fans of the first game who are playing or have already finished LoS2, what does the progression of the game feel like in comparison to the first? Above all, my biggest takeaway from LoS1 was that even in its slowest moments at the beginning, it felt like a classic adventure with forward moving momentum through location after location of beautiful backdrops. From the footage I've seen of LoS2, that pacing feels changed in favor of more exploratory based traversal and the environments don't seem as frequently nice looking. I can appreciate combat improvements and opening the game up a bit, but that's not really why I enjoyed the first title (nor did I fret about how "Castlevania" it was). What say you to a weirdo like me?
Click to expand...

It differs as far as that goes, but overall the game feels less slow, but less epic.

EDIT: Should note I'm 4-5 hours in and that the intro was very much an exception to my epic comment.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
Vasilisk said:
A good friend of mine ordered the game for my birthday, and I'm waiting the game to arrive next week. In general the situation with this game and the stealth sections comments reminds me of the reviews and the complains about the free fall sections of Killzone Shadow Fall. Two sections of 2 minutes of duration in a 8 hour game, that were fairly easy if you tried to play the game with a very tiny bit of care, and it seemed that game was pure trash because of it -_-.
Click to expand...

God yes

I work with a dude who quit watching Breaking Bad cause of the fly episode..... like the ONLY bad episode in the entire series, not to mention it's several seasons in
 
S

Shadow2222

Member
AgentOtaku said:
God yes

I work with a dude who quit watching Breaking Bad cause of the fly episode..... like the ONLY bad episode in the entire series, not to mention it's several seasons in
Click to expand...

Not to get off-topic, but that was possibly the best episode of television I've ever seen. It was such a great look at Walt and Jesse without outside forces influencing them.

Back to Castlevania: I'm so tempted to buy the game on Steam right now, but I don't really have the funds at the moment. I'm currently playing through LoS1 again at the moment, and loving everything past Chapter 2 as much as I did the first time around.
 
S

SlasherJPC

Banned
The interesting thing about this title is that the flow and feeling of the game definitely changed with the open world design. I don't think for the worse either. Though in that essence, the game probably doesn't feel aa globe trotting, epic, around the world like the first one was able to do. That being said I think the stuff going back and forth between modern time and the Castle is handled just fine and gives a great contrast to each other. I will have a lot to say about the game in my video review, that's for sure. Nothing strikes me as terrible either. Sure the stealth segments from a certain standpoint seem odd. "Yo I'm Dracula, let me hide" but other then that they are simple, easy, and really not all that hard. This gameplay will push the limits with people, their patience and frustration though. I can tell that already.

I'm still really early, but I hear that even people that dislike this game say it gets better the second half, so if I'm already enjoy the game this much, don't see how it will shit the bed in my eyes. Also this doesn't really have to be mentioned but the combat is great. I do feel that the parrying is less forgiving this time then in the original, seeing as I was just playing that through the last few weeks. Maybe it's just me. I'm also playing on the hardest difficulty that was available at the start.
 
S

spoonztt

Member
I may have missed this, but is there any way to go back to specific parts of the game that you've beaten already like in LOS1 where you could go back to specific chapters ?
 
F

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
One of the most interesting and telling experiences I had concerning game reviewers/journalists was at the E3 before the PS3 launched. I was at the demo booth playing the Heavenly Sword demo, and I beat the demo, and the guy manning the booth was like, "Wow, you're the first person to beat the demo all day!"

It was just a five minute combat demo in the arena, and E3 is generally attended by journalists that are supposed to be enthusiast press. Niw, not all game journalists suck at gaming, obviously, but that experience really colored the way I absorbed gaming coverage/reviews. I mean, I had sworn off game reviews years before that experience at E3, but it still bugged me, that people that claim to eat and breathe games can't complete a five minute demo. Also, I love Heavenly Sword, and I thought the demo was a lot of fun.

I haven't picked up LoS2 yet, because of my game budget this month, and I'm kind of hoping a PS4 version will be announced, but mostly I just can't afford it right now.
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
spoonztt said:
I may have missed this, but is there any way to go back to specific parts of the game that you've beaten already like in LOS1 where you could go back to specific chapters ?
Click to expand...
Not especific story parts, no. You can backtrack at any moment.
There is a thing caled "Kleidos Challenges" which are unlocked by collectibles and the lastset of them seem to be the Boss fights.
 
D

doniewhalberg

Member
Played a few hours more. I am enjoying the game, once you're after the first few hours of overbearing tutorials, it flows a bit better. Any time the story takes me to the castle, I feel the game seems 10 times better. What's with the score in this? I loved the score in the first game, in this everything is very quiet and tepid, I barely even notice the music. I liked going through some of the city on the way back to the science facility. For all the talk of moving to a more exploration based experience though, it really does just feel like the last game. The *city* bits are basically just the same as when you were wondering through a forest in the first game, still very linear. It could as well still be chapters. I agree that they should have stuck with a fixed camera, the game is still super linear and I liked the shots they picked out in the first game.
 
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