Chance Hale
Member
The framerate is horrendous even with 3D off so I keep it cranked up all the way
Best use of it on the system yet in my opinion, honestly don't think the game looks half as good with it off.
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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate |OT|
- Thread starter Y2Kev
- Start date
The framerate is horrendous even with 3D off so I keep it cranked up all the way
Best use of it on the system yet in my opinion, honestly don't think the game looks half as good with it off.Herb Alpert
Banned
Seriously they programmed it with their feet?!?
I mean, I like the game, but, beside the framerate issues, there is a big problem : the game regularly crashes, forcing the console to shut down and reboot. During a boss fight it is quite annoying...
New thing just happened : a big old freeze. I had to force shut down the 3DS.
Hey Mercury steam, where is quality control guy?!?
I mean, I like the game, but, beside the framerate issues, there is a big problem : the game regularly crashes, forcing the console to shut down and reboot. During a boss fight it is quite annoying...
New thing just happened : a big old freeze. I had to force shut down the 3DS.
Hey Mercury steam, where is quality control guy?!?
dreamer3kx
Member
Really, I havent seen this problem or anyone else mention it, never crashed here.
The Wraith
Member
My game never crashed either, I bought it off the e-shop so I dont know if that makes a difference or not.
Finished it last night on accident. I had been playing it in 10 minute increments before bed and was going to crank through it on the weekend. Man, what a letdown:
I agree with Boojoh, music was a disappointment. It was nice, but all sad with no excitement. I actually was expecting classic Castlevania songs but I think that was LOS that had them and I am confusing an old post.
I know they were going for something different than the DS games, but I preferred everything about the older games. The music, graphics, controls, collectables, map, game length, bosses, challenge. I hope for another Metroidvania game to come, though I don't expect one.
I thought act three was the mid part of the game, with five acts total.
The final boss fight was really short and easier than most of the other bosses in the game, at least on default difficulty. I would expect Dracula to at least transform once.
I never felt like I was actually inside the main castle (this is probably my fault). Everything was mines or tunnels or towers. I think my lack of realization that I was actually in the top of the castle helped add to the surprise ending.
The (non 100%) cut-scene was confusing because of the mouth not moving thing. I couldn't tell if it was Trevor or Gabriel talking until he coughed. The rest of the game had gestures to help.
When I saw the credits, I was convinced I had done something wrong (like SOTN's 100%: halfway done)
The final boss fight was really short and easier than most of the other bosses in the game, at least on default difficulty. I would expect Dracula to at least transform once.
I never felt like I was actually inside the main castle (this is probably my fault). Everything was mines or tunnels or towers. I think my lack of realization that I was actually in the top of the castle helped add to the surprise ending.
The (non 100%) cut-scene was confusing because of the mouth not moving thing. I couldn't tell if it was Trevor or Gabriel talking until he coughed. The rest of the game had gestures to help.
When I saw the credits, I was convinced I had done something wrong (like SOTN's 100%: halfway done)
I agree with Boojoh, music was a disappointment. It was nice, but all sad with no excitement. I actually was expecting classic Castlevania songs but I think that was LOS that had them and I am confusing an old post.
I know they were going for something different than the DS games, but I preferred everything about the older games. The music, graphics, controls, collectables, map, game length, bosses, challenge. I hope for another Metroidvania game to come, though I don't expect one.
robotzombie
Member
My game crashed once, thought it was super weird but luckily I guess it is something with the game and not my system.
Anyway, is there any reason to aim for 100%? Anything special unlock?
Also, I just got into Act III, how much left of the game do I have?
Anyway, is there any reason to aim for 100%? Anything special unlock?
Also, I just got into Act III, how much left of the game do I have?
Also, is there anything after Act III/Trevor? Do you get to play as Gabriel at all? For some reason I remember when this game was first announced they were saying there were four playable characters...
Chance Hale
Member
Does the start of the game not count? And from what I understand you get a special cutscene upon 100% completion.
robotzombie
Member
Oh haha, I guess so, I totally forgot about that...
dreamer3kx
Member
Just finished this up, have to say I really enjoyed it, bump up my score early score up to 8.
Around 10 hrs, 84%, ill gun for 100% in the next couple of days.
Around 10 hrs, 84%, ill gun for 100% in the next couple of days.
Gabriel was kind of cheesy in the end
I have beaten the game and never had it crash once.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
OK finally got out, just started. First impressions: mercury stream again crushes it in the art style and graphics dept. MoF rivals if not surpasses Resident Evil Rev for best graphics on a Nintendo handheld. And I'm glad the sluggishness is largely gone from the last time I went hands on with the title
Same here. End questions:
that was it, against Dracula? No demonic form? And you don't fight the toy maker in this game? Cool qte fight with the daemon, but feel cheated that I didn't get to have a real 'part 1' fight with him.
In regards to the
Toy Maker
I actually enjoyed the game, but the little things added up to be an annoyance. I didn't care for the QTEs at all, though some of them were done well... it's just unfortunate that the rest of them were typical God of War style mash-button-to-open chest type things. The frame rate didn't bother me much, but I know some people won't be able to take it, especially if the 3D is turned on. Also, was there anything about the personification of the mirror that was explained in LoS and the expansions? I was happy when
... what a smug bastard
At any rate, I wrote a review about it for our site but I don't want to spam my review on here, so I'll ask politely if people are interested in reading it.
Trevor smashed the mask
At any rate, I wrote a review about it for our site but I don't want to spam my review on here, so I'll ask politely if people are interested in reading it.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
An hour in, definitely better than I was expecting! I wonder if this game is getting any love? I'd hope so, so few big exclusives like this these days
campfireweekend
Member
Incitemaybe
Member
Just beat it with 86% completion. I enjoyed my time with it clocking on around 9 hours.
If this was priced at 20$ it'd be a great buy. I see people have mostly gone over my general concerns in the thread so I won't rehash but I would recommend waiting for it to drop in price.
If this was priced at 20$ it'd be a great buy. I see people have mostly gone over my general concerns in the thread so I won't rehash but I would recommend waiting for it to drop in price.
I beat it, 78%, need to go back and track all that I miss.
Funny thing, I was eager to continue the game everyday. Not the same with LoS, I just tried to go back to continue where I left (just after the first Golem)... I couldn't get myself to play for more than 15 minutes.
I hope LoS 2 is just as alluring as this one. I mean, LoS is the first Castlevania I have left unfinished since... Castlevania.
Funny thing, I was eager to continue the game everyday. Not the same with LoS, I just tried to go back to continue where I left (just after the first Golem)... I couldn't get myself to play for more than 15 minutes.
I hope LoS 2 is just as alluring as this one. I mean, LoS is the first Castlevania I have left unfinished since... Castlevania.
The story is fairly predictable, especially if you're familiar with the original NES trilogy. It serves as a pretty good bridge between LoS1 and LoS2, but doesn't really stand too much on its own imo. There's only so much storytelling you can do in an 8 hour game...
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Most in this thread seem to enjoy it
Sales! But that's driven mostly by good word of mouth so people liking it is good too
Just finished the game gaf. It was a very nice experience overall. I enjoy the segmented chapters of each protagonist but the best part for me was Simon Belmond. Mercury Steam did a very good job respecting the "barbarian" look of the original character from the NES and Super Castlevania IV.
A side scroller with a very good battle system. The only thing that bothered me was the size of the character on screen it was too small for me to enjoy even on battles that the camera was zooming was not satisfying as the old castlevanias because of the scale of the levels and the details of the background the character "felt" insignificant on stage.
Well I will not post any spoilers for the story but
The reboot story is transitioning well and I cannot wait for lords of shadow 2.
A side scroller with a very good battle system. The only thing that bothered me was the size of the character on screen it was too small for me to enjoy even on battles that the camera was zooming was not satisfying as the old castlevanias because of the scale of the levels and the details of the background the character "felt" insignificant on stage.
Well I will not post any spoilers for the story but
The last battle with Gabriel and Trevor was the best I had in a castlevania game, the climax was awesome stabbing his own son and the minute he founds out that Trevor is his offspring he burst into tears and turned him so he can "live".
The reboot story is transitioning well and I cannot wait for lords of shadow 2.
Dude, you need to continue playing LoS, you haven't seen nothing yet really - it's the best character action game of this generation. And it's also a great Castlevania game (you haven't seen that part yet either). You're still in the early sections which are somewhat of a drag. It really picks up after chapter 3.
Finish it, thank me later.
Agreed. Chapter 4 and all the levels in the castle are awesome.
Most levels after the castle are great, too, in my opinion. I adore chapter 9, for example. The gravedigger and his chapter are also pretty awesome. Even the few not-so-great levels aren't exactly bad. The worst part of the game is probably chapter 2.
brandonh83
Banned
Yeah I liked it after the castle as well... in fact I thought it got even darker and more atmospheric. The tone of it really played well with what's going on with Gabriel's character arc.
Finally got around to trying the demo this week, and it really put me off. I understand that the Mercury Steam subseries is a breed apart from "normal" Castlevania games, but the basic gameplay just feels bad. Movement and combat are super clunky in this game, and the simple environments are still somehow a chore to traverse. There's also a really obvious lack of polish even in the first half hour of the game, which is not a good sign. Lots of dumb little things bother me, like glitchy cutscenes and obvious typos in the script. I also hate the QTEs during combat and for opening chests. Overall I'm just disappointed that this doesn't capture any sort of Castlevania feel. I knew not to expect Metroidvania, but I was hoping for something that could stand with the older Castlevania games. Unfortunately, this game isn't that either.
Oh well. It's not like there's a shortage of great 3DS games at the moment.
Oh well. It's not like there's a shortage of great 3DS games at the moment.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Did we play the same game? I'm three hours into MoF now and I couldn't disagree more. This game had really high production values for a handheld title, especially a non Nintendo one. The music is haunting and captivating, the graphics and 3d effect push the system, the level design gets increasingly more complex without becoming over burdening, an combat is very fast and focused. It's already better than a few of the previous handled games (which is super recycled by now anyway)
campfireweekend
Member
He played the demo, which really doesn't emphasize any of the points you brought up. Kinda sad really that the demo served to turn quite a few people off from this game
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Ah, I actually didn't try the demo. Is it just te beginning prologue? Yea I can see how that would be pretty misleading
The demo is absolutely terrible. I don't understand why they chose that particular area to showcase the game -- it makes the battles look more annoying and the plattforming even simpler than they actually are.
The framerate is also particulary bad in the demo...
However, I had no hopes for the game and I think the completw first third is very weak, but as soon as you enter the second act MoF really picks up. It still suffers from a lot of problems (like a checkpoint system that kills any challenge the game might have had to offer), but it's definitely a lot of fun to play if you give it the time to grow.
A good 7/10 in my book.
(Finished it to 100% after 12 hours btw -- getting to 100% is frustratingly easy, since there's nothing worth of value to discover...)
It's the beginning of the last act.
Herb Alpert
Banned
I beat it, 81%, 10 hours.
I enjoyed it, but didn't really LOVE it. Fighting was cool, platforming not that bad. The characters were good too, and there were some good choices in artistic direction.
What I disliked was the length of the game, 10 hours in hard mode is disappointing. The last fight versus Dracula too. The game misses a proper climax IMO. perhaps is it due to the fact that is a sort of gap filler between the 2 main games. And there was this SHOCKING NEWS by captain obvious at the end... But perhaps the 100% ending is worth it...
I am surprised that so few people encountered crashes and freeze during their playthough. Mine (retail) froze 1 time, I had to force shut down, and it crashed and reboot the console 5 times...
Bad luck I guess.
Now I don't regret my puchase at all, but I'm not sure I will reach the 100%. I may have some monsters to hunt.
I enjoyed it, but didn't really LOVE it. Fighting was cool, platforming not that bad. The characters were good too, and there were some good choices in artistic direction.
What I disliked was the length of the game, 10 hours in hard mode is disappointing. The last fight versus Dracula too. The game misses a proper climax IMO. perhaps is it due to the fact that is a sort of gap filler between the 2 main games. And there was this SHOCKING NEWS by captain obvious at the end... But perhaps the 100% ending is worth it...
I am surprised that so few people encountered crashes and freeze during their playthough. Mine (retail) froze 1 time, I had to force shut down, and it crashed and reboot the console 5 times...
Bad luck I guess.
Now I don't regret my puchase at all, but I'm not sure I will reach the 100%. I may have some monsters to hunt.
Finished the game and I haven't felt this way about a game in a long time... which I should preface my following thoughts by saying I don't exactly know how to feel.
What I mean by that is, Mirror of Fate is a bipolar game. Some parts are extraordinarily good; like, there were moments, more times than not, when I audibly said "Wow!" while playing through the games ~10 hour campaign. From the music to the story, to even combat and the graphics, there are parts of the game that makes this one of the best 3DS games to date. But then, on the other side of the coin, there are parts that are so extraordinarily underwhelming, that I couldn't believe I was playing the same game.
When the music isn't utterly fantastic (mostly during boss fights, or while playing during the games many set-pieces) it is subpar, blah and just uninspired. The story, while great in a man-the-lore-they're-setting-up-could-really-go-some-pretty-interesting-places, the way it's told is so far up its own ass, it makes the whole thing feel kind of hokey and just silly. The combat, again, while excellent overall sometimes feels too clunky and unresponsive, especially during moments when surrounded by multiple enemies and the art of the game, as well as the 3D effect, were fantastic and both gave life to the many locals you visit throughout the course of the game, but I personally thought the overall graphics (as in the polygons) were just plain ugly.
Mirror's of Fate is just so polarizing it's almost schizophrenic. That said, I definitely enjoyed my time with it. Don't know if I'd pay full price if I had to do it again, but I'd still easily recommend this game to anyone, especially someone who liked the original LoS more than a little bit. All I know is, I can't wait for LoS2.
Speaking of, Mirror's of Fate is to Lords of Shadows 2 as Chain of Memories was to Kindgom Hearts 2.
What I mean by that is, Mirror of Fate is a bipolar game. Some parts are extraordinarily good; like, there were moments, more times than not, when I audibly said "Wow!" while playing through the games ~10 hour campaign. From the music to the story, to even combat and the graphics, there are parts of the game that makes this one of the best 3DS games to date. But then, on the other side of the coin, there are parts that are so extraordinarily underwhelming, that I couldn't believe I was playing the same game.
When the music isn't utterly fantastic (mostly during boss fights, or while playing during the games many set-pieces) it is subpar, blah and just uninspired. The story, while great in a man-the-lore-they're-setting-up-could-really-go-some-pretty-interesting-places, the way it's told is so far up its own ass, it makes the whole thing feel kind of hokey and just silly. The combat, again, while excellent overall sometimes feels too clunky and unresponsive, especially during moments when surrounded by multiple enemies and the art of the game, as well as the 3D effect, were fantastic and both gave life to the many locals you visit throughout the course of the game, but I personally thought the overall graphics (as in the polygons) were just plain ugly.
Mirror's of Fate is just so polarizing it's almost schizophrenic. That said, I definitely enjoyed my time with it. Don't know if I'd pay full price if I had to do it again, but I'd still easily recommend this game to anyone, especially someone who liked the original LoS more than a little bit. All I know is, I can't wait for LoS2.
Speaking of, Mirror's of Fate is to Lords of Shadows 2 as Chain of Memories was to Kindgom Hearts 2.
Baconsammy
Banned
Finally beat the game. It's neither good nor bad imo. It's just kinda blahhhh. The highs are offset by some big lows. If I had to give it a score, I'd say the review average is about right. Low 7s. This isn't a game I'll ever feel compelled to play again.
eXistor
Member
Finished it earlier today. I liked it. Solid 7/10 game for me. It never really dropped below that nor did it ever rise much past that. Solid level design, solid controls. Not much to think about really: you kind of go through the game without really investing yourself too much in what's happening, nothing really leaves a mark, but it's not offensive in any way either.
A safe game. I could definitely recommend it to Castlevania fans, just for completions' sake, but I doubt this will ever be anyone's favorite entry in the series.
Mostly what I missed was real exploration and faster controls. I kind of hate the God of War-style combat ayway; it's so sluggish and floaty and doesn't really represent player-input, but it worked surprisingly well in 2D.
All in all a decent entry. But to be brutally honest, I hope this is it for the Mercury Steam produced Castlevania's after LoS2. They did some decent work (I doubt LoS 2 will alter my opinion much) but I don't feel like they really get Castlevania. The Metroid-likes were very different beasts from Classicvania, but they felt like they belonged to the same series. These feel like games with the Castlevania name slapped on it, but possessing none of the DNA of the older games, even if they do share similarities.
A safe game. I could definitely recommend it to Castlevania fans, just for completions' sake, but I doubt this will ever be anyone's favorite entry in the series.
Mostly what I missed was real exploration and faster controls. I kind of hate the God of War-style combat ayway; it's so sluggish and floaty and doesn't really represent player-input, but it worked surprisingly well in 2D.
All in all a decent entry. But to be brutally honest, I hope this is it for the Mercury Steam produced Castlevania's after LoS2. They did some decent work (I doubt LoS 2 will alter my opinion much) but I don't feel like they really get Castlevania. The Metroid-likes were very different beasts from Classicvania, but they felt like they belonged to the same series. These feel like games with the Castlevania name slapped on it, but possessing none of the DNA of the older games, even if they do share similarities.
BroggieDoge
Member
BB has the game on sale for $30 this week. Cashed in a $5 reward cert and ended up picking this up for $25. I originally wanted this at launch but all the bad impressions turned me off. Since then my urge to play has been really strong so I just went for it. Gonna play some tonight then post my impressions.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
To those who were ho hum on it, did you play with the 3D on? Just curious. I think it's stunning with 3D cranked, the depth is well implemented, everything looks smooth, and when enemies and objectives move from the back to the foreground, it makes the whole world feel more alive. Can't imagine playing it in 3D and complaining about the visuals
Well finished the game.
It was a decent experince overall. I wasn't as taken with the graphics as many are, I think it looks far worse then Resident Evil and Dream Drop Distance. That said, it's still a good looking game.
Thought the story was pure garbage, I didn't want to skip the cutscenes though, and the fact that even if I hated Alucard's intro and story, I still enjoyed playing as him and I actually really like how they worked Myst power.
For what it's worth I enjoyed it far more LoS (which I have gone through since MoF and I still wouldn't rate it above a 4.5) so there is that, and I would recommend it to people who want a nice little action game.
My big disappointment was Alucard doesn't look nearly as good in game as he does on the box, but eh no biggie. That and the game should be called LoS Launch, because 90 of the enemies out side of the bosses can be stunned and launched then can't do crap to you.
6.0/6.5 Overall for me.
It was a decent experince overall. I wasn't as taken with the graphics as many are, I think it looks far worse then Resident Evil and Dream Drop Distance. That said, it's still a good looking game.
Thought the story was pure garbage, I didn't want to skip the cutscenes though, and the fact that even if I hated Alucard's intro and story, I still enjoyed playing as him and I actually really like how they worked Myst power.
For what it's worth I enjoyed it far more LoS (which I have gone through since MoF and I still wouldn't rate it above a 4.5) so there is that, and I would recommend it to people who want a nice little action game.
My big disappointment was Alucard doesn't look nearly as good in game as he does on the box, but eh no biggie. That and the game should be called LoS Launch, because 90 of the enemies out side of the bosses can be stunned and launched then can't do crap to you.
6.0/6.5 Overall for me.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Well, from my perspective, this is now Castlevania. You have the old games, and they won't be anything less than the classics some of them are... but that is it, they are classics. Maybe outside of some HD remixes or whatnot, but the traditional series has gotten so stale and recycled... what MS did was take the esscence of that and modernized it. nearly perfectly, in my opinion. The series has become a decent seller - nothing astronomical, but given sales records, of say, SH, this is one of Konami's strongest now so I do hope they continue going in the direction they are, even if MS doesn't handle. Otherwise, they risk the franchise going back into irrelevancy.
Baconsammy
Banned
Tried with 3D on. On the XL it was just impossible to maintain the image and play the game at the same time. Ended up playing 2D only.
I was the same. Well I had regular 3DS, and honestly I found the 3DS just distracting. I had it on a few times, and it was okay but overall it wasn't worth it so I went full 2D after a few hours.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
can you walk me through that? I'm not being snippy, I'm just curious as to how you think the 3D was "distracting" - i couldn't imagine playing this game in 2D. it was designed perfectly for 3D, In a way that the castle rooms would just be plain, flat and uninspired in 2D.... but with 3D in, the columns pop, the statues loom over you with depth and a cool roundedness that adds weight to them, enemies crawl around the backgrounds, the outter castle walls give more of a vertigo feeling with them on, the water looks way deeper and has a breadth to it that makes it cooler to swim around. I don't know, it just looks so much better, I imagine it feels stilted and corridor-like with it off.
3D doesn't add that much in my opinion. The fight to keep it in perfect placement isn't worth what I view as very unimportant graphical touches. The level design and look was very shallow to me and it would need alot more then 3D to make it better.
A few areas in the game were nice, but overall I wasn't as taken with it as many in this thread seem to be.
Doublesith
Member
Totally agree with you. I thought the 3D looked fantastic, and I audibly gasped in a a few places at how cool it looked. I couldn't imagine playing it in 2D.
infinityBCRT
Member
Okay, as someone who had only played and liked Super Castlevania IV before LoS and really couldn't stand playing other Castlevania games, but loved LoS, I'm having a blast playing MoF.
I'm about 2 hours and 20 minutes in, I'm in the Library area (for the 2nd time), and I think I'm basically a little after where Vinny was during the Giantbomb Quick Look.
I love the music (especially the track that plays in the Library). The visuals look gorgeous in 3D. I love how it has the look of a 3D miniature diorama or something. I just did one of the secret things and that was pretty fun exploring and finding hidden areas. And I'm still enjoying the combat.
I played it almsot for an hour tonight and I didn't want to put it down, but I had to because I probably should go to bed now.
I'm about 2 hours and 20 minutes in, I'm in the Library area (for the 2nd time), and I think I'm basically a little after where Vinny was during the Giantbomb Quick Look.
I love the music (especially the track that plays in the Library). The visuals look gorgeous in 3D. I love how it has the look of a 3D miniature diorama or something. I just did one of the secret things and that was pretty fun exploring and finding hidden areas. And I'm still enjoying the combat.
I played it almsot for an hour tonight and I didn't want to put it down, but I had to because I probably should go to bed now.