-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow |OT| The MercurySteam has Vanquished the Horrible Night
- Thread starter brandonh83
- Start date
Kyoufu said:
If you pass up on the title based on the initial 30 minutes of game play you are missing out on an great title. I was questioning if this game was going to keep my interest for the first couple of hours, but once I got to Chapter 3 all of my doubt was removed and the game really has opened up. I think they could have added more to the initial combat at the start, but once you get a few hours in and unlock some advanced moves the combat system really starts to become fun and rewarding.
Trust me just give the game some more time if you like the action adventure genre.
MarshMellow96
Member
This game is finally starting to try my patience. It's like the last parts are designed to piss you off. That music box was terrible considering how loose movement is, and
is just irritating (juggles, no start-ups etc). It's a shame because I've really enjoyed the so far, but the last few levels have just put it right back in my opinion. I definitely won't be going back for 1000/1000, that's for sure..
pan
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
Kyoufu said:
It would be stupid to give up so early. I was actually pretty annoyed with a lot of things in the game until about the 4th chapter, but it definitely gets better. There are still a million little annoying things about it, but it's worth sticking with it a bit longer.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
MarshMellow96 said:
It's relatively easy to just defend (parry) That Guy whom you reference. You can get up close and parry the hell out of him.
MarshMellow96
Member
Kaijima said:
Nice save
I know it's easy but it might've been nice to have an easier ride after the music box.. I'm still going to finish it but I can't see myself 100%-ing it!
Kyoufu said:
Actually, it doesn't matter if you succeed or fail at the horse part. You still get knocked off and have to fight enemies an equal number of times.
Also there is only one horse level and it's an order of magnitude worse than anything else in the game.
I said it before, but they really should have cut the ENTIRE first chapter from the game. I think it would have been much better received overall.
edit: the "boss after the musix box" was SO INCREDIBLY EASY. Nearly all of his attacks are hugely telegraphed and wide open for countering. That's all you have to do. Counter counter counter win. If you lose that fight you probably shouldn't play games anymore.
Huh, what's up with the level design in part 1 of chapter 10? I just can't believe Kojima played this game, came to the part where you have to turn right (although it totally appears that the road leads to a dead end) and said to himself "What an excellent puzzle idea worthy of Kojima approval".
How much left do I have? I just killed the (boss spoiler)
in chapter 6 or 7. The game is not bad, but does not captivate me nearly as much as let's say God of War 3. The uneven length of the chapters is a major annoyance; some early chapters are über-long, yet some later chapters are like 5 minutes long. The segmented feeling of the game is bothering me much more than anticipated.
Evil Butcher
Beat it last night at just under 20 hours. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it; definitely in my top 5 games of the year.
I wasn't drawn to this game because of the Castlevania name - the only game in the franchise I've ever finished is Symphony of the Night. I just wanted a fun, sprawling action/adventure game, and I was thoroughly pleased with what I got.
The amount of variety in environments, enemies and bosses was extremely impressive, especially considering the length of the game. There are games that are a third of the length of LoS, but still recycle locations and bosses. MercurySteam has some truly talented artists and animators - it was a treat taking in the aesthetic and atmosphere of each unique level; attacks feel powerful, characters have convincing weight and mass. Also, the sense of scale in many areas is incredible.
I know that many here felt the game became repetitive and dragged on too long, but I never felt that way. I was entertained and engaged from beginning to end.
Lords of Shadows is certainly not without its faults, but in the end I felt this was an incredibly fun and satisfying experience. I can't wait to see what MercurySteam does next.
I wasn't drawn to this game because of the Castlevania name - the only game in the franchise I've ever finished is Symphony of the Night. I just wanted a fun, sprawling action/adventure game, and I was thoroughly pleased with what I got.
The amount of variety in environments, enemies and bosses was extremely impressive, especially considering the length of the game. There are games that are a third of the length of LoS, but still recycle locations and bosses. MercurySteam has some truly talented artists and animators - it was a treat taking in the aesthetic and atmosphere of each unique level; attacks feel powerful, characters have convincing weight and mass. Also, the sense of scale in many areas is incredible.
I know that many here felt the game became repetitive and dragged on too long, but I never felt that way. I was entertained and engaged from beginning to end.
Lords of Shadows is certainly not without its faults, but in the end I felt this was an incredibly fun and satisfying experience. I can't wait to see what MercurySteam does next.
I'm curious if they will consider the pausing effect serious enough to patch it. I've only had it happen when killing large groups of enemies while others have had it happen other times too.
From what I've read about it, it seems to be tied to data being written to your profile. Enabling cheats seems to fix this, but then you can't play through the game all the way since saving is disabled.
I did do a test though to show the difference between the two.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ7XHacxSyg
From what I've read about it, it seems to be tied to data being written to your profile. Enabling cheats seems to fix this, but then you can't play through the game all the way since saving is disabled.
I did do a test though to show the difference between the two.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ7XHacxSyg
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
Stampy said:
There were a lot of minor issues I had with the game that lead me to wonder if it was seriously playtested at all.
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
LOL. Found a great way to cheese some points to unlock the super-pricey 25K moves.
On the butcher, right after you kill him and see the '1000' appear above his head and add to your score, go 'restart at last checkpoint'.
It will start you before the final hit. Jump, press X to trigger the flashing cleaver, press 'R', do the QTE. Rinse > repeat.
It will start you before the final hit. Jump, press X to trigger the flashing cleaver, press 'R', do the QTE. Rinse > repeat.
Falling is a shortcut actually. You don't get anything for beating the Wargs(except saving health). You still have to do the sections where you fall. The whole scene itself takes less than 5 mins.Kyoufu said:
Controls are fine as well. Never had a problem with it (playing the PS3 version) Even on the xbox 360 version I made it though chapter 1 and 2 before I decided to get the PS3 version instead. Never had a problem with the controls.
If you didn't quit the game you'd have found out you weren't redoing it, but had moved on to another section.
lucablight
Member
Are there any other online retailers who are selling the PS3 version at a similar price (17.99 pounds)to what Zavvi had before they sold out?
Pneophen said:
Well that's weird, I had the HDD's cache cleared and tried to play the game installed and from the disc and nothing worked...I guess it's something related to saving/achievements.
Mercury Steam is going to release a patch for the 360 version soon, hopefully they will fix this.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/113/1131050p1.html
Hydrargyrus
Member
I have ordered the PS3 version at 18 pounds. I don't know if I've done well, I did not like too much the demo... I hope that the game gets better in the rest of the game :lol :lol
lucablight
Member
Hydrargyrus said:
Where did you order from?
Sevket-Erhat
Member
Where is European CE?
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Just finished chapter 2. The
was pretty good, but goddamn the camera in this game is wonky.
Rock Titan
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
The fucking chess game was fun as hell, Vampire WarGame w/e it's called. I won first time with 1 piece left, but the next time for the trial to keep 3 pieces alive, holy shit I was like a War Time general moving pieces, setting up strategies, hella' hectic
Done 6 chapters so far, also did all of the trials for said 6 chapters, onto the next 6 then Paladin difficulty for platinum #56.
Sevket-Erhat
Member
I love the ending
Dear Sirs, may I whore for your attention?
PAL CE:
Boxart (big)
T-Shirt (was exclusive to the shop I ordered it from):
PAL CE:
Boxart (big)
T-Shirt (was exclusive to the shop I ordered it from):
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
Tyrant_Onion said:Dear Sirs, may I whore for your attention?
PAL CE:
Boxart (big)
T-Shirt (was exclusive to the shop I ordered it from):
That's a beaut'.
Also, just beat the game. I love the final twist, but honestly saw it a mile off... though not executed the way I thought it would be.
I did enjoy seeing it however, and can't wait to see how they handle it in the sequel.
Overall, I'm extremely pleased I read this thread, or I would've trashed this game due to my horrible Chapters 1 - 2 experiences.
Such a mixed bag of extremes in terms of quality. I adored the final battle, and the battle with
Pan
Some of the gem locations are REALLY stupid too. Had to walk in a counter-intuitive direction from the camera for some, and you wouldn't guess from staring at the parts of the environment you need to walk through to do so, no thanks to weird level design collision boxes. Not shockingly, these dumb placements are mainly in the first two chapters, and the game designers responsible for later levels were much more design-savvy.
Definitely recommended. Not a Castlevania game, but a great 'alt' Castlevania experience with an interesting take on the Canon.
Also, I had no idea that Gabriel was voiced by Robert Carlysle! I think my favorite voice actor was the one who voiced the final boss.
ArachosiA 78
Member
I finally beat this...and uh...I dunno. It was pretty good, but it truly is Castlevania in name only. I had some fairly high hopes for this when I heard that they were using Castlevania 4 as their bible (CV4 is my all time favorite game), but I saw very little of its influence in this game.
It's still pretty good, though. Not as good as God of War 3 or Ninja Gaiden 2 (I haven't played Bayonetta yet so I can't compare it to that yet), but worth playing. I liked the variety of environments, and some of the boss battles were outstanding. The music is pretty good, but it's not Castlevania and I felt like I heard the same 3 tracks over and over. The graphics are nicely detailed, but the lack of aliasing resulted in a shimmering effect which was distracting. The combat is pretty deep, especially with the magic system which mixes things up a bit, but it was hard to determine which attacks you could block and which ones you couldn't.
I'd give it a 7/10. And while I liked it for the most part, I really don't care about a sequel. Guess I'll just keep holding my breath for a true next-gen Castlevania to show up someday.
It's still pretty good, though. Not as good as God of War 3 or Ninja Gaiden 2 (I haven't played Bayonetta yet so I can't compare it to that yet), but worth playing. I liked the variety of environments, and some of the boss battles were outstanding. The music is pretty good, but it's not Castlevania and I felt like I heard the same 3 tracks over and over. The graphics are nicely detailed, but the lack of aliasing resulted in a shimmering effect which was distracting. The combat is pretty deep, especially with the magic system which mixes things up a bit, but it was hard to determine which attacks you could block and which ones you couldn't.
I'd give it a 7/10. And while I liked it for the most part, I really don't care about a sequel. Guess I'll just keep holding my breath for a true next-gen Castlevania to show up someday.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Woa this is a beautiful game. The art is jaw dropping at times. It's also hard as hell :lol
Maybe I just suck, but I certainly die fairly often.
Well, I must suck. I'm almost finished with Chapter 2, and I only found 1 damn weapon upgrade.
I can't even recall where the other ones were, I re-did 2 stages last night and still didn't have the ability needed to get them. Ugh.
Maybe I just suck, but I certainly die fairly often.
Well, I must suck. I'm almost finished with Chapter 2, and I only found 1 damn weapon upgrade.
I can't even recall where the other ones were, I re-did 2 stages last night and still didn't have the ability needed to get them. Ugh.
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
John Harker said:
Don't bother back tracking for a few chapters. The upgrade you need for some Chapter 1 upgrades ain't till waaaaaay later.
Finished it earlier today.
HOT DAMN.
I absolutely loved this game. Sure, it'd a tad derivative but it nowhere near on the same level as something like Darksiders.
It just oozed quality and is one of the best looking games I've ever played. Fun combat and puzzles and some excellent boss fights.
Oh and the ending was brilliant.
HOT DAMN.
I absolutely loved this game. Sure, it'd a tad derivative but it nowhere near on the same level as something like Darksiders.
It just oozed quality and is one of the best looking games I've ever played. Fun combat and puzzles and some excellent boss fights.
Oh and the ending was brilliant.
Noisepurge
Member
I just received my PAL CE and hot damn the mask is made of IRON (or similar substance) '
It looked very plastic-like in all the pictures and i assumed it was.
Really nice!
It looked very plastic-like in all the pictures and i assumed it was.
Really nice!
brandonh83
Banned
Damn. That is very nice. I'm actually thinking about trading in my U.S. CE. It kind of sucks apart from the superior cover art, the artbook sucks, the soundtrack is incomplete, and the box just doesn't fit well on my shelf. I got all the trophies and am really just waiting on the DLC so I'll likely just buy the regular game again when the DLC hits.
Kyoufu said:
I'm on level 8, and I'm having a good time with it, but it's nothing that has blown me away like it has for others or making me want to re-vsisit it later. It's a good experience (a fantatstic rental), but not up there with any of my faves. But that's how gow3 was for me.
I do hate having to use the triggers for blocking/parrying on a PS3 pad. It's totally killing some of the experience because they're so awkward to use (even w/ snap-on triggers) and don't feel precise. They should have at least given the option of switching the L1/R1 and L2/R2. Heck, that should be mandatory in every PS3 game.
Beat it last night..overall I enjoyed it, but felt like it could have used some major trimming. The game was just a little too long, with not a lot of difference in gameplay to spread it. I will say that the last 3 or 4 chapters had some incredible art direction.
Also despite reading that the ending was surprising, I was still really surprised. It came out of left field, unless I'm missing something?
Anyway, I'd definitely play a sequel to this..so make one please.
Also despite reading that the ending was surprising, I was still really surprised. It came out of left field, unless I'm missing something?
Anyway, I'd definitely play a sequel to this..so make one please.
Played the first chapter. Wellll... I'm with Jett here. The enemies are from LotR, camera is wobbly as fuck, visuals are a mixed bag, battle system is God of War and the Titan fight was the most blatant ripoff of SotC, Ive yet to see and I'm already sick of the soundtrack. Like no matter what happens in the game, there's this epic orchestra booming like there's no tomorrow.
There's a nice game underneath all this, but it needs a fuckload of polish to ever reach AAA hights (which they are aiming for sadly).
I'll give it a chance because I've heard it gets much better in chapter 3.
There's a nice game underneath all this, but it needs a fuckload of polish to ever reach AAA hights (which they are aiming for sadly).
I'll give it a chance because I've heard it gets much better in chapter 3.
-Winnie- said:
Yes the game was not that far from the quality of other AAA action games. But there's still a gap. The way the camera wobbles to the unfinished scenery in many parts. Framerate is quite unacceptable for an action game in some locations. Most of the time it's ok. Like said, the game is full of little imperfections that start to pile up.
Also the blatant copy paste parts are a bit too obvious.
Noisepurge
Member
I'm halfway through chapter 2 and the controls are killing me
I'm playing on Hard and the Troll fights for example are a pain trying to balance blocking, lightmagic, sucking the orbs, dodging and attacks...
Gathering the orbs is so inconsistent, sometimes i just need to click L3/R3 but sometimes it wont collect the orbs and i need to keep the button pressed longer. Really annoying since the trolls can kill me in like 2 hits.
Now i consider myself an enthusiast when it comes to action adventure games but somehow this game has the controls so confusing that i repeatedly press the wrong buttons when i need to block etc.
... i still like the game and can't wait to play more!
I'm playing on Hard and the Troll fights for example are a pain trying to balance blocking, lightmagic, sucking the orbs, dodging and attacks...
Gathering the orbs is so inconsistent, sometimes i just need to click L3/R3 but sometimes it wont collect the orbs and i need to keep the button pressed longer. Really annoying since the trolls can kill me in like 2 hits.
Now i consider myself an enthusiast when it comes to action adventure games but somehow this game has the controls so confusing that i repeatedly press the wrong buttons when i need to block etc.
... i still like the game and can't wait to play more!
zoukka said:
Wasn't that a deliberate design decision? I liked the subtle shaky cam, it wasn't exactly vomit-inducing and it kind of made the whole thing feel a little more "lively". Hard to put into words, so I apologise if I sound like I'm talking out my arse. :lol
I never noticed any unfinished scenery, and while yes, the framerate isn't spectacular for an action game, I never really found myself struggling with combat because of the framerate. (Although I did play on Warrior... going through Paladin now)
I do have to agree with the copy pasta though. It was really quite in your face, especially the titan battles.
But hey, the game does have its fair share of original ideas as well; I really liked the magic system and how it's used in some of the boss fights.
I finally finished this game earlier this week. Every time I started to feel the game was brilliant it would do something irritating to take itself down a notch. The art direction is easily my favorite part about the game. The combat was done pretty well. My biggest problem with it is that the timing for parrying felt really off. I'm fairly sure this is because the damaging part of the enemy attack animations is several frames too early in combination with a low framerate. I also was not a fan of the restrictive combat arenas and sometimes poor camera angles. And why did every large enemy in the game have the same ground pound move?
Overall, I thought it was a great game that could have used just a few more months in the oven. I'm looking forward to what MeSt does next.
Overall, I thought it was a great game that could have used just a few more months in the oven. I'm looking forward to what MeSt does next.
Scuba Steve
Member
Noisepurge said:
It's one button, how can you fault the game for that? It's not like the block is hopping to different buttons at random
Similar threads
- Poll
- x2