ShockingAlberto
Member
Just finished the game. I'll be reading through the thread itself while I write this, so forgive me if things sound familiar.
Lords of Shadow is a game that, in every facet of its story, insists on showing the player the power of dualities. Life and death, light and dark, Heaven and Hell. Perhaps unintended, though, is how the game mechanics and design exemplify this as well.
The game is bad, then it isn't, then it's bad again, then fine.
The camera works fine, then it doesn't, and gets you killed.
The platforming is serviceable, until it's not, and prevents you from getting to parts of the game that are not frustrating.
The battle system is fun, until it becomes clear it offers you nothing beyond the original few hours. Then it's up to the enemies, who are hit and miss at best.
The game is stunning with 60 FPS teases, which show a stark comparison to the dodgy framerate of the rest of the game.
But, despite this, I finished the game. If you asked me now, I couldn't properly tell you why, I can only really answer in vagaries. I think, and this is a credit to the game, that it was always on the cusp of something better. There are flashes of brilliance, usually but not limited to environmental design, but some boss fights and even regular levels showed inspiration that isn't seen very often in action games like this.
And that might be what makes this game such a disappointment. It feels like those moments are few and far between and the rest of the game is packed with so much filler that I was honestly shocked someone did not reign the developers in. If their goal was to create a long game, something that stands apart from Devil May Cry and Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden on the back of length and value, then they succeeded. The game is plenty long. If their goal was to do that and also pace it well, then they have failed in ways that I don't even have words for.
If I were trying to nail down what one complaint I would levy against the game, were I only allotted one, the aforementioned filler would be forefront in my mind. It's like eating a huge, great looking sandwich and taking a big bite, only to find out most of it is styrofoam. But man, that sauce almost makes that styrofoam taste good.
The filler ultimately gives rise to many of the game's problems. I tired of Gabriel's fighting style after a while and was made acutely aware of why the other modern action games give you multiple weapons to play around with. It's not enough to have a solid base mechanic, not over 20 hours of fighting enemies the same basic way.
Without the filler, we wouldn't have to be exposed to some of the game's more egregious sins of platforming. Earlier in the thread, I expressed discontent with the Clocktower, a level where you go in to a falling death animation by getting too close to a gear. Were the platforming left simple to getting from battle to battle and not, as it seems, a focal point for a level to pad for space.
But death isn't the worst thing in Castlevania, as the game does checkpoint generously and intelligently. Except when it doesn't. More than once I have been stymied by getting stuck in fights with enclosed spaces and dying only to have the checkpoint return me to minutes before. So I have to go out of my way to collect a scroll again, to grab those holy waters again, to jump back to the place where I insert the key and then use the new path to make another jump and then die again because I'm out of magic and the camera angles suck. Really, you couldn't just checkpoint me after I put the key in?
If you're like me, then you just felt a shiver run up your spine when I mentioned the camera. It is...competent. Usually. I have nothing against a fixed camera, I feel like it can be properly used to provide cinematic angles and still facilitate the gameplay without hindering it. Lords of Shadow misses the mark on the last part. Fairly often, I felt like the camera was fighting against me, which is more the worry when there are also swordmasters fighting against me. Sometimes it would be out too far, sometimes it would obscure views (in Carmilla's castle, a dead brotherhood corpse that reveals a puzzle setup is nearly impossible to see with the way the camera is framed), one time it literally zoomed out of the room when I got too close to the wall and I could only see myself fight through the window. And here again, Lords of Shadow teaches me something I didn't know. Fixed camera can be good, but you need people with experience and talent deciding on how it works or the whole thing just falls apart. Tokyo EAD I'd trust with it, Mercury Steam I wouldn't.
Then there's the writing. I don't look for oscar-quality in my video games, but if you're going to attempt it, at least try and make it good. By the end of the game, I found Zebak's journal entries hilarious and the dialogue embarrassing. Embarrassing for the developers, embarrassing for the voice actors (poor Patrick Stewart, you can actually hear him struggling to take it seriously), embarrassing for me sitting there watching it. I don't buy that the game is as tongue-in-cheek as other Castlevania games, because if it is, it does that badly, too.
As long as I'm picking on things, I want to mention the music. The soundtrack is great. Like, I individually like almost every song. The problem (and there is a problem) comes from a lot of it being incredibly inappropriate. Angelic choirs when just standing around, Lord of the Rings-esque swells when you're repeatedly dying on a stupid platform. The soundtrack is well made, but it doesn't fit the game.
There are so many more things I can, and want to, mention about this game, but at a certain point it just feels like I'm beating up on it (though this is not to say I won't talk about them later).
I do want to address one thing for full disclosure, but I want to make sure you, being whoever has made it this far, understand that it is not why I am disappointed in this game, it is only one of many disappointing asides.
I knew this was not going to be a traditional Castlevania game, but I am still left sore by how few of the buttons it hit for me in that area. I didn't need it to be SotN in 3D - in fact, such a thing sounds honestly objectionable. But the story left me wanting the lighthearted tropes of previous games, the music left me missing the soundtracks I've come to expect, the platforming really made me miss games that aren't bad at it.
Lords of Shadow is...a good game. At least enough of the time to make it through. But it's not great. It is the consequence of putting a big budget behind a lack of game design talent or experience or both. Maybe a sequel would fair better, maybe it wouldn't. But even though I say this is a good game, make no mistake, I still consider it one of the bigger disappointments this generation.
Mercury Steam played the greatest role in this story. I hope they do better next time.
Lords of Shadow is a game that, in every facet of its story, insists on showing the player the power of dualities. Life and death, light and dark, Heaven and Hell. Perhaps unintended, though, is how the game mechanics and design exemplify this as well.
The game is bad, then it isn't, then it's bad again, then fine.
The camera works fine, then it doesn't, and gets you killed.
The platforming is serviceable, until it's not, and prevents you from getting to parts of the game that are not frustrating.
The battle system is fun, until it becomes clear it offers you nothing beyond the original few hours. Then it's up to the enemies, who are hit and miss at best.
The game is stunning with 60 FPS teases, which show a stark comparison to the dodgy framerate of the rest of the game.
But, despite this, I finished the game. If you asked me now, I couldn't properly tell you why, I can only really answer in vagaries. I think, and this is a credit to the game, that it was always on the cusp of something better. There are flashes of brilliance, usually but not limited to environmental design, but some boss fights and even regular levels showed inspiration that isn't seen very often in action games like this.
And that might be what makes this game such a disappointment. It feels like those moments are few and far between and the rest of the game is packed with so much filler that I was honestly shocked someone did not reign the developers in. If their goal was to create a long game, something that stands apart from Devil May Cry and Bayonetta and Ninja Gaiden on the back of length and value, then they succeeded. The game is plenty long. If their goal was to do that and also pace it well, then they have failed in ways that I don't even have words for.
If I were trying to nail down what one complaint I would levy against the game, were I only allotted one, the aforementioned filler would be forefront in my mind. It's like eating a huge, great looking sandwich and taking a big bite, only to find out most of it is styrofoam. But man, that sauce almost makes that styrofoam taste good.
The filler ultimately gives rise to many of the game's problems. I tired of Gabriel's fighting style after a while and was made acutely aware of why the other modern action games give you multiple weapons to play around with. It's not enough to have a solid base mechanic, not over 20 hours of fighting enemies the same basic way.
Without the filler, we wouldn't have to be exposed to some of the game's more egregious sins of platforming. Earlier in the thread, I expressed discontent with the Clocktower, a level where you go in to a falling death animation by getting too close to a gear. Were the platforming left simple to getting from battle to battle and not, as it seems, a focal point for a level to pad for space.
But death isn't the worst thing in Castlevania, as the game does checkpoint generously and intelligently. Except when it doesn't. More than once I have been stymied by getting stuck in fights with enclosed spaces and dying only to have the checkpoint return me to minutes before. So I have to go out of my way to collect a scroll again, to grab those holy waters again, to jump back to the place where I insert the key and then use the new path to make another jump and then die again because I'm out of magic and the camera angles suck. Really, you couldn't just checkpoint me after I put the key in?
If you're like me, then you just felt a shiver run up your spine when I mentioned the camera. It is...competent. Usually. I have nothing against a fixed camera, I feel like it can be properly used to provide cinematic angles and still facilitate the gameplay without hindering it. Lords of Shadow misses the mark on the last part. Fairly often, I felt like the camera was fighting against me, which is more the worry when there are also swordmasters fighting against me. Sometimes it would be out too far, sometimes it would obscure views (in Carmilla's castle, a dead brotherhood corpse that reveals a puzzle setup is nearly impossible to see with the way the camera is framed), one time it literally zoomed out of the room when I got too close to the wall and I could only see myself fight through the window. And here again, Lords of Shadow teaches me something I didn't know. Fixed camera can be good, but you need people with experience and talent deciding on how it works or the whole thing just falls apart. Tokyo EAD I'd trust with it, Mercury Steam I wouldn't.
Then there's the writing. I don't look for oscar-quality in my video games, but if you're going to attempt it, at least try and make it good. By the end of the game, I found Zebak's journal entries hilarious and the dialogue embarrassing. Embarrassing for the developers, embarrassing for the voice actors (poor Patrick Stewart, you can actually hear him struggling to take it seriously), embarrassing for me sitting there watching it. I don't buy that the game is as tongue-in-cheek as other Castlevania games, because if it is, it does that badly, too.
As long as I'm picking on things, I want to mention the music. The soundtrack is great. Like, I individually like almost every song. The problem (and there is a problem) comes from a lot of it being incredibly inappropriate. Angelic choirs when just standing around, Lord of the Rings-esque swells when you're repeatedly dying on a stupid platform. The soundtrack is well made, but it doesn't fit the game.
There are so many more things I can, and want to, mention about this game, but at a certain point it just feels like I'm beating up on it (though this is not to say I won't talk about them later).
I do want to address one thing for full disclosure, but I want to make sure you, being whoever has made it this far, understand that it is not why I am disappointed in this game, it is only one of many disappointing asides.
I knew this was not going to be a traditional Castlevania game, but I am still left sore by how few of the buttons it hit for me in that area. I didn't need it to be SotN in 3D - in fact, such a thing sounds honestly objectionable. But the story left me wanting the lighthearted tropes of previous games, the music left me missing the soundtracks I've come to expect, the platforming really made me miss games that aren't bad at it.
Lords of Shadow is...a good game. At least enough of the time to make it through. But it's not great. It is the consequence of putting a big budget behind a lack of game design talent or experience or both. Maybe a sequel would fair better, maybe it wouldn't. But even though I say this is a good game, make no mistake, I still consider it one of the bigger disappointments this generation.
Mercury Steam played the greatest role in this story. I hope they do better next time.
