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[Y2Kev]

If I had to describe it, I would say it is a good game with a lot of heart that makes a lot of silly mistakes.

If you can't take a bad framerate or you hate GoW then just don't play it.

 

[semiconscious]

If I had to describe it, I would say it is a good game with a lot of heart that makes a lot of silly mistakes.

If you can't take a bad framerate or you hate GoW then just don't play it.

just finished chapter 7, &, speaking as a god of war hater, i'd disagree - tho i'm kinda tiring of the combat, i'm finding the game, & especially the environments, a lot more interesting than gow...

&, of course, not having to weather kratos' endless temper tantrums's always a huge plus ...

 

[jett]

just finished chapter 7, &, speaking as a god of war hater, i'd disagree - tho i'm kinda tiring of the combat, i'm finding the game, & especially the environments, a lot more interesting than gow...

&, of course, not having to weather kratos' endless temper tantrums's always a huge plus ...

On the other side, we have to weather Patrick Stewart's narrations.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

On the other side, we have to weather Patrick Stewart's narrations.

I can't believe they made this sentence possible.

It's like making Brian Blessed sound boring.

 

[semiconscious]

On the other side, we have to weather Patrick Stewart's narrations.

touche!... big time ...

 

[oldschoolpinball]

one thing i cant get over is the tooltips that seem to popup every minute

 

[jett]

I can't believe they made this sentence possible.

It's like making Brian Blessed sound boring.

I blame either the original writer of the English translator for most of the awfulness. Most of the time it seems like Zobek is after some Belmont cock.

 

[Ridley327]

I blame either the original writer of the English translator for most of the awfulness. Most of the time it seems like Zobek is after some Belmont cock.

This is surprisingly not without precedent.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

You make it sound like Japanese companies make decisions based on what sells in America and not...the country they actually live in.

I don't know if you're joking or not.

 

[boutrosinit]

Very much disagree. Starting on hard forces you to learn how to play the combat system.

I have not played it on normal, so I cannot argue against this.

However, just did a piece of Chapter 3 and it's a considerable improvement over the last chapter.

And I still recommend you hold off on the trials until way later. That poison + 10 kills one ain't worth the stress till you got more health bar.

Oh... and as for combat, just realised how useful the 'Hold L + press Jump' in mid-air is, when immediately followed by a sideways roll to avoid high attacked from bosses. Definitely a great idea I missed from other games. Though my memory tells me DMC4 had it...?

 

[boutrosinit]

The Tower of Evermore IIRC. I like CoD. I thought the combat was good and I like stealing itmes/leveling up. I also liked the teleports they put in the game. They improved on LoI a lot, but the level design while better still wasn't as good as it could have been and the story was pretty bad. The only thing it had to offer was the time travel sub-plot.

Good memory.

I enjoyed CoD. I think I preferred it to Lament as well, though I can't imagine it would hold up nowadays. I definitely don't remember it as well as you. I do recall enjoying the design structure considerably more than I did Lament's which was like a very nut-less attempt at a Metroidvania in 3D.

Ever play Chaos Legion? Now *that* is an under-rated PS2-era slasher I'd go back to. Very unique ideas. Slow start, but very carefully considered level and overall game design.

 

[Saint Francis]

I'm Stuck!

Spoiler

I'm stuck outside the Castle in the Mountain Fortress. (just beat the Ogre, but before the Witch boss, I guess). It says 'maybe you can smash through this door', can't figure out how.
I tried turning on the dark energy and nothing I did worked, is there a special move I need to do? If so I'd appreciate some guidance. PS3 version here for any button specific answers

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'm Stuck!

Spoiler

I'm stuck outside the Castle in the Mountain Fortress. (just beat the Ogre, but before the Witch boss, I guess). It says 'maybe you can smash through this door', can't figure out how.
I tried turning on the dark energy and nothing I did worked, is there a special move I need to do? If so I'd appreciate some guidance. PS3 version here for any button specific answers

Should be the same as you did before

Spoiler

you turn on dark magic, hold L2 to charge and then push in the direction you want to dash to break something

 

[Saint Francis]

Thanks! I forgot about holding L2

 

[thetrin]

I don't know if you're joking or not.

What, you think all Japanese publishers actually know how to market to the US?

Is THAT why Monster Hunter releases on the pap and wii?

 

[Belfast]

Wow.

Boss design for boss 2. You have GOT to be fucking kidding me.

I may have made a mistake starting this out on hard difficulty, but damn. Stomping the ground + giant rocks I CANNOT SEE because when there's too many your screen is cloaked in smoke, and your view is tilted upward.

I seriously want to punch the designer in the face right now. Very hard. With a rock. Seems like he had a very CINEMATIC > PRACTICAL NEEDS OF PLAYER agenda.

*controller throw*

Edit : Figured it out. Wow. Very shitty trial and error solution to get the battle 'started'. I thought I had to climb it when it leg stomps. Pretty much most of what I've had to solve is trial and error and / or luck. Damn. I hope they learn from this and 'fix' this if they are indeed doing the follow up.

Dude, what? The girl is basically telling you the whole time "Don't get close!"

 

[boutrosinit]

Dude, what? The girl is basically telling you the whole time "Don't get close!"

That don't mean 'run away until he stomps then script-event throws a rock at you'.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Just finished Chapter 2. The environment for the Stone Titan is phenomenal. I hope there are more areas like that later on. That fight, while very epic, was too derivative of Wander and the Colossus.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Thanks! I forgot about holding L2

No problem.

 

[EternalGamer]

That don't mean 'run away until he stomps then script-event throws a rock at you'.

When you run back she tells you about grabbing the rock too.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

When you run back she tells you about grabbing the rock too.

But you don't know where to stand to trigger him throwing the rock is what he's saying. If you actually run back when she tells you to in the beginning you'll be too far back and it won't start the sequence of him throwing.

 

[dimb]

Dude, what? The girl is basically telling you the whole time "Don't get close!"

Why would anyone defend this boss? Even far out of its distance it took like 5 minutes to get it to stomp/throw a rock. Such garbage.

I turned on enemy health bars. It seemed like anti-immersion stuff but combat is so much easier when you know which enemies are lowest on health. Really digging on the combat in this game.

 

[Skullkid]

Damn, just got to the last fight and hit that error (on PS3).

I was able to boot my game back up and it seems to allow me to continue off... if I get to the intro to the stage (the usual Stewart monologue) that means my data still good right?

I've got a backup in the middle of chapter 10 and if I can back this one up to another mem stick that would be cool, but I'd like to know if the latter is safe at this point or if the error comes back later.

You should be good. I got the error too, and just quit and reloaded. I clocked another 10 hours replaying the levels and getting the jewels I missed and my save has been fine. I did finally back it up today just in case.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Why would anyone defend this boss? Even far out of its distance it took like 5 minutes to get it to stomp/throw a rock. Such garbage.

I've played the boss three times and it never behaved that way. Not saying the game logic didn't break for you, but is it so hard to accept different people actually had different experiences?

 

[MadOdorMachine]

What, you think all Japanese publishers actually know how to market to the US?

Is THAT why Monster Hunter releases on the pap and wii?

Castlevania has typically been more popular in the west which is one of the reasons they went with a western dev for LoS. Obviously they're having problems understanding the markets in the west or they wouldn't have wasted money on a game like Castlevania Judgement and why Iga was removed from the console games.

 

[john tv]

Just finished Chapter 2. The environment for the Stone Titan is phenomenal. I hope there are more areas like that later on. That fight, while very epic, was too derivative of Wander and the Colossus.

That's one thing this game doesn't have in its favor -- pretty much everything in it is derivative (even the music -- sounds like the dude listened to Halo and Shadow of the Colossus and then made a mix tape). Best thing going for it is its graphics (beautiful art everywhere) and animation, and the combat (though combat has a lot of problems too, but Gabriel at least controls well and is versatile). Lots of big, gaping design issues tho, disappointing story (IMO), and failure to ever really capture anything that made Castlevania great hold it back.

I've had a night to sleep on it, and I think in the end my EGM score would've been a 7.5, not an 8.0.

 

[jett]

I've had a night to sleep on it, and I think in the end my EGM score would've been a 7.5, not an 8.0.

According to EGM that would put it on par with DMC3.

 

[LiK]

That's one thing this game doesn't have in its favor -- pretty much everything in it is derivative (even the music -- sounds like the dude listened to Halo and Shadow of the Colossus and then made a mix tape). Best thing going for it is its graphics (beautiful art everywhere) and animation, and the combat (though combat has a lot of problems too, but Gabriel at least controls well and is versatile). Lots of big, gaping design issues tho, disappointing story (IMO), and failure to ever really capture anything that made Castlevania great hold it back.

I've had a night to sleep on it, and I think in the end my EGM score would've been a 7.5, not an 8.0.

you beat it? i missed your post about it. sorry to hear that it wasn't as great for you as it was for me.

 

[brandonh83]

DLC come on guys let's get to it, I am becoming impatient yesterday.

 

[Canova]

The game has high production value, but gosh the gameplay mechanic is so unpolished. almost amateur-ish.

Konami should not be asking this developer to make the sequel. for action game they should stick with Japanese developers

 

[TGO]

I'm so grateful the people in this thread didn't make Castlevania Lords Of Shadow, cuz Gabriel would have a thing against candles & only three moves, whip forward, whip up, whip down, all in glorious 3D :lol
sorry to but people saying it ain't Castlevania, it's a GoW Clone don't know what they talking, Castlevania is a GoW/DMC type game cuz that how it translates into 3D, how else would you do Castlevania?
just be glad MS made one that stands up against the best in the genre, unlike the low budget 3D Castlevania's we've had since SOTN.
I ain't touch a Castlevania in years because they was really wasn't any good, Konami has now restored my faith in the future of the series with Lords Of Shadow.

 

[SixStringPsycho]

DLC come on guys let's get to it, I am becoming impatient yesterday.

Has something been confirmed? IF so I "might" keep my copy

 

[Vrakanox]

The game has high production value, but gosh the gameplay mechanic is so unpolished. almost amateur-ish.

Konami should not be asking this developer to make the sequel. for action game they should stick with Japanese developers

yup.

 

[LiK]

Konami should not be asking this developer to make the sequel. for action game they should stick with Japanese developers

nah

 

[Dascu]

Game sure is divisive.

Yet another thing it has in common with the IGAvanias.

 

[Sidzed2]

The game has high production value, but gosh the gameplay mechanic is so unpolished. almost amateur-ish.

Konami should not be asking this developer to make the sequel. for action game they should stick with Japanese developers

Yeah, they should definitely stick with a Japanese developer for a sequel. That way, the follow-up can have an idiotic save system, unwieldy menus with ugly font and a plethora of useless items, a 'boss rush gauntlet' right before the endgame, and a slew of characters with effeminate anime affectations.

Um, or Konami could just have Mercurysteam develop an amazing sequel which builds on their already terrific game and irons out the few rough edges.

 

[Feindflug]

The game has high production value, but gosh the gameplay mechanic is so unpolished. almost amateur-ish.

Konami should not be asking this developer to make the sequel. for action game they should stick with Japanese developers

WTF? there is a lot of hate here for this game..I'm in Chapter VI and I really love this game thus far - what are those big problems, unpolished/amateur-ish mechanics people are talking about? All I've seen thus far is a beautiful game with great atmosphere, very good music, variety and a really good battle system for what it is - of course I'm not comparing this to pure action games like DMC, Bayonetta and NG but more to games like Darksiders & GoW.

The only cons are the low frame-rate and the sometimes clunky camera...maybe if this game was a console exclusive it would get so much more praise and suddenly all these problems wouldn't matter.

 

[nelsonroyale]

WTF? there is a lot of hate here for this game..I'm in Chapter VI and I really love this game thus far - what are those big problems, unpolished/amateur-ish mechanics people are talking about? All I've seen thus far is a beautiful game with great atmosphere, very good music, variety and a really good battle system for what it is - of course I'm not comparing this to pure action games like DMC, Bayonetta and NG but more to games like Darksiders & GoW.

The only cons are the low frame-rate and the sometimes clunky camera...maybe if this game was a console exclusive it would get so much more praise and suddenly all these problems wouldn't matter.

Platforming and some of the puzzle mechanics are a little hairbrained...and the blocking rolling on the same button makes zero sense...it is definitely rough in places, but to say this makes the game a poor one is pretty inaccurate to my mind. I am actually enjoying the story and atmosphere more than any of the other action games. Spectacle certainly isn't up to GoW and neither are the graphics, but it is still a beautiful and epic game.

 

[Feindflug]

Platforming and some of the puzzle mechanics are a little hairbrained...and the blocking rolling on the same button makes zero sense...it is definitely rough in places, but to say this makes the game a poor one is pretty inaccurate to my mind. I am actually enjoying the story and atmosphere more than any of the other action games. Spectacle certainly isn't up to GoW and neither are the graphics, but it is still a beautiful and epic game.

I haven't seen many puzzles to comment yet but the platforming works fine and is definitely a nice break between the battles..about the combat the controls are just fine, there are a lot of combos, I certainly don't have any problem with the blocking/countering and rolling and the Light & Shadow magic mechanic is great if used right...plus you also have the extras,secondary items/weapons like

Spoiler

fairies, daggers and the summons

which can also turn a difficult encounter to a fairly easy and managable when used right.

Also the art-direction and enemy designs/environments are simply awesome with a lot of variety making this an amazing looking game. Maybe it's just me but generally I really love this game thus far and have no complaints with the game except as I said earlier the clunky camera at times and the low frame-rate - everything else just comes together so nicely.

 

[Korey]

Some thoughts (just finished Chapter 3):

- One of the most visually stunning games I've played...the art direction (3D and 2D) is top notch. The presentation of everything, like the book, the menus, cutscenes, etc. is very polished.

- However, does it seem to anyone else that this game is using the wrong engine? The visuals are hampered by a low framerate and everything looks really pixely, grainy, jagged for some reason. I just dream of the day that this game can be on a 100% smooth engine so it can look the way I think it's meant to. I'm not very knowledgeable about the technical aspect of games so I'll just leave it at that.

- The platforming is ok, but seems really arbitrary at times. What you can do is completely context sensitive to what the game wants you to. For example, you'll be hanging off a rope with nowhere to go and you'll be like...wtf am I supposed to do here, and after five minutes you'll figure out that you can kick off from the wall and jump to a ledge behind you. But in 74.2% of other situations where you're hanging from a rope, you can't kick off from the wall. Same with swinging horizontally from a rope, speed jumping along a ledge, etc.

- Medium difficulty seems to be tuned a little too difficult on certain fights.

- I don't like the non-linearity of the levels. Sometimes I don't know if the way I'm going is the main way or a secret/side way so I'll go pretty far one direction, but then second guess myself and double back in case I missed an upgrade. I guess this is pretty cool for people who want to play multiple times or get 100% though.

- There are some game mechanics that just seem weird or unclear to me. Mainly the light/shadow bars. You can charge them both at the same time, but are they absorbed to both 100%? Or 50/50? Or if you only click left stick does it go 100/0? When you use one power, the other power also gets used up? When you charge the bars at a fountain, why does it make a second layer?

- Had some problems with the camera switching to the opposite view as you're running to the next area (so that you run towards the camera instead of away from it). It keeps the scenery interesting but is disorienting sometimes.

- Voice acting is very good. Writing is good. None of the dialogue has been cheesy. The chapter intros are nice. Just very high production values all around.

I am enjoying myself, and it seems like this game is a pretty decent length.

 

[TGO]

Has something been confirmed? IF so I "might" keep my copy

2 DLC Packs
At Konami's press conference yesterday, Dave revealed that two DLC packs for the game are planned. I asked him to elaborate on this a bit, and while he couldn't say much yet, he did say that they will both feature new areas and new enemies; it sounds as if they'll be more of side-quests for the main game. "I don't want to give people the wrong impression -- the core game absolutely has an ending," he stressed. "The first first DLC pack probably won't be as large as the second one, though, just because we'll be working on that one right away.

source: 1up

 

[Canova]

WTF? there is a lot of hate here for this game..I'm in Chapter VI and I really love this game thus far - what are those big problems, unpolished/amateur-ish mechanics people are talking about? All I've seen thus far is a beautiful game with great atmosphere, very good music, variety and a really good battle system for what it is - of course I'm not comparing this to pure action games like DMC, Bayonetta and NG but more to games like Darksiders & GoW.

The only cons are the low frame-rate and the sometimes clunky camera...maybe if this game was a console exclusive it would get so much more praise and suddenly all these problems wouldn't matter.

As I've said the game has exceptional production values, that includes; content/game length, beautiful and expansive level designs, amazing cutscenes, etc.

but in term game mechanics, and that includes; camera, platforming, battle, this game is poor.

And I stand by my statement, for action games, Western developers are still nowhere near Japanese developers (see DMC/DMC3, NGB/NG2, Bayonetta, Demon's Souls, etc) they got the action mechanic nailed to perfection. The character movements, fight, jump, roll, etc, all have the feeling of impact, weight/gravity and momentum to them.

for example just take a look at the way Gabriel jumps, there's no impact or momentum feeling when he hits the ground. Keep pressing the jump button and he just moves up and down, no impact feeling whatsoever when he lands. There's should be a recovery frame, when he lands, with both of his knees bended to lessen the impact, just how normal people would jump/land.

This developer can't even nail basic stuff like that

 

[Dever]

for example just take a look at the way Gabriel jumps, there's no impact or momentum feeling when he hits the ground. Keep pressing the jump button and he just moves up and down, no impact feeling whatsoever when he lands. There's should be a recovery frame, when he lands, with both of his knees bended to lessen the impact, just how normal people would jump/land.

This developer can't even nail basic stuff like that

Uh... He does do that. Overall I feel the game does a very good job of giving his movements that 'oomph'. The attack animations and the sounds the whip makes are really good.

 

[infinityBCRT]

I wonder if everyone is saying "this is not Castlevania" or "this doesn't feel like Castlevania" is because Konami originally announced it without the Castlevania name. It was always supposed to be a Castlevania game.

I'm on the first level of Chapter 3. Loving the game so far. I think the framerate hasn't been an issue in gameplay (there was one cutscene which was awful earlier in the game). The controls are pretty tight. Traversal has not been a problem at ALL for me. And if you ever die during traversing the environment, you'll be loading back instantly to where you were before dying.

I like the camera. Its very dramatic while still being functional. If you're wondering why the camera is pointing a certain way, its probably because thats the way you are supposed to go. Sure there are hidden paths which are intentionally put out of the way, but I don't mind that because those paths aren't required. There one level in Chapter 2 where there are some paths that the camera is not directing you towards that you *have* to go towards to continue on, but I didn't mind it due to the context of that level, and I didn't really get stuck there. It actually gave an opportunity to have a little bit of exploration in what is a mostly linear experience.

The music and voice acting is pretty good. The combat is awesome. The fighting system is pretty detailed but its not too hard either compared to something like Ninja Gaiden. I found myself chaining together so many different moves in a satisfying way. The controller vibration helps give a satisfying feeling when you connect with enemies. I think the vibration in this game is some of the best use of vibration I've noticed in a long time (I pity those playing this on a SixAxis).

The environments are also gorgeous. Its like they took the best parts of Shadow of the Colossus (boss fights,

Spoiler

so far, the evolution of Gabriel is also following the evolution of your character in SOTC and so far theres been 2 times where theres imagery which is totally reminiscent of SOTC

), Uncharted 2 (graphics, the gorgeous vistas of the environments), and Prince of Persia/God of War (the combat system-- and in fact, I think Castlevania does a better job than either of those games because theres more depth to the system and you need to use that depth to succeed against different enemies).

 

[MarshMellow96]

Ok so I'm at the dark dungeon (Chapter 2 part VI) and I'm at a part where I need to jump from a rappel position. The only way to line Gabriel up to kick-jump off is if I press down, only this causes him to let go and die. How on earth do you jump across?

EDIT: nevermind, I forgot that you had to press X to jump off..

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I'm just kind of curious Segata. If they managed to improve everything you dislike about LoS in a sequel, would you call it a good game or would it be a good Castlevania game?

I don't know? I'd have to play it to say for sure. If all they did was fix the numerous gameplay and technical annoyances, then it probably still wouldn't be a Castlevania game to me, but of course Konami gets to decide that whether I like it or not.

As far as LoS goes, I don't want to give too much away, but this is a reboot. Forget everything you know about the series and just go with it. I think it's worth it to play until the end to wrap up the story. After completing the game I want to play another one by MS. It's a different take on the series, but I like what they started. It's more adventure oriented and oddly enough, resembles the N64 games closest imo. In a lot of ways, it's what the N64 games should have been as far as gameplay is concerned. Character design and environments are another story, but I did like some of what MS redesigned.

After I made the decision to bail out, I partook of the spoilers. I dunno, seems very silly and Kojima-esque to me.

As for IGA, yes, his stuff was getting tiresome, and especially with regards to the 3d games, a fresh take was absolutely needed. But a tiresome xerox of a great game that fails to try anything ambitious and just plays it safe is still better for me than a heartbreakingly-close-to-great game that collapses under the weight of a bunch of stupid shit that should have been picked up by pretty much anyone looking at the game at any point.

Lords of Shadows is a really deep disappointment for me. Because I really did think I was wrong about being so down about it, and I really did start to love it, but ultimately, it's just not (for me) a terribly good game on the whole. It's all a bunch of little shit, though, so I will be... watching the next one, at least. And probably with a fairer eye than I treated this one pre-release. As I said, I think these guys *can* make a AAA game now.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I wonder if everyone is saying "this is not Castlevania" or "this doesn't feel like Castlevania" is because Konami originally announced it without the Castlevania name. It was always supposed to be a Castlevania game.

Or...the gameplay in Lords of Shadow doesn't feel like or remind me of any Castlevania I've ever played...not even any of the 3D ones released for N64, PS2 and XBOX.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

WTF? there is a lot of hate here for this game..I'm in Chapter VI and I really love this game thus far - what are those big problems, unpolished/amateur-ish mechanics people are talking about? All I've seen thus far is a beautiful game with great atmosphere, very good music, variety and a really good battle system for what it is - of course I'm not comparing this to pure action games like DMC, Bayonetta and NG but more to games like Darksiders & GoW.

The only cons are the low frame-rate and the sometimes clunky camera...maybe if this game was a console exclusive it would get so much more praise and suddenly all these problems wouldn't matter.

The hell are you talking about? The game is getting a lot of love.

And beyond the framerate and camera you've got:

-Titan Battles

-some hand holdy inconsistent platforming

-some badly designed enemies

-invisible walls getting in the way

-controls becoming unresponsive here and there

 

[nelsonroyale]

Uncharted 2 (graphics, the gorgeous vistas of the environments),

Yeah, not seeing how this game has Uncharted 2 level graphics...it does look stunning, and the art is great...but technically it has quite a lot of problems...U2 has few if any

 

[TGO]

@canova
Gamesradar said it has the best dynamic camera they've seen in a game, combat is also fluid & very deep & platforming thats as good as Uncharted, if not better.
Maybe the problem is something other then the game, hence why some don't have a problem & some do?