Support NeoGAF

[Violater]

The only items you cannot get in your first play through are capacity upgrades to your secondary weapons. All the gems can be had in your first go, confession due to my lack of time to play games I used a walk through to find them all.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

"OMG it's imitating SotC what trash this game suckssss"

I'm pretty sure the people who don't like it say so because it's a BAD ripoff of SOTC(see, I underlined it for emphasis).

Nice strawman though.

I'm making a Paladin run on the game and actually enjoying the challenge now that I'm powered up and know how to play well. But the hitbox thing is just perverse and much like the framerate problem, makes me believe Mercurysteam just wasn't done. Konami wanted this out for Christmas instead of say, March 2011.

Animations not matching hit boxes would be something ticketed out by QA testing on the first pass, but it is like they didn't have time to fix it.

Well yeah. I can see this happening. It's still a problem though.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

The first Titan trial is done. 12 seconds to spare, not that bad once you get the hang of things. Still according to my trophies I've only completed the trials for chp 1, 3 and 12. I keep forgetting how much of this game there is.

 

[thetrin]

Wow. Nearing the end of Chapter 1 (Ice Titan) and wow, what a game. Loving every second of it so far. I love the SotC feel of this boss fight.

Man, if you like that, get ready to get your mind blown and your socks blown off at the same time.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Is there any particular point in the game at which it DOES make a lot of sense to backtrack? Any particular powerup that REALLY opens everything up?

By the time I had all the powers I needed such that I could get all of the missed powerups, I had no desire at all to get them because they were completely unnecessary. I also didn't like many aspects of the game, though, so going back through some of those levels would have been a chore. If that's not the case for you, then you'll probably have fun "backtracking" but the rewards are still pretty insubstantial.

 

[Henchmen21]

Okay...the opening shot of 7-1 is one of the most beautiful things I've seen in games in a loooong time.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

I'm glad to see someone actually likes the SotC style bosses rather than sneering that "OMG it's imitating SotC what trash this game suckssss". I enjoyed the SotC battles myself for what they were. Also didn't think they were hard or frustrating outside of bearing in mind the game's hitbox problem.

I don't think they're bad because they're copying SotC. Who cares, SotC didn't do giant monsters first and it won't be the last to do them.

I think they're bad because they're incredibly tedious, the checkpoints were designed by a crazy person, and involve more waiting than is actually fun in a boss fight.

 

[badcrumble]

Oh my god the level design and the combat and the platforming in this game are so bad.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Oh my god the level design and the combat and the platforming in this game are so bad.

The level design are BAD...... !?

 

[badcrumble]

The level design are BAD...... !?

The environmental art is truly lovely, but the actual layouts of the levels and the camera angles designed to help you navigate them are pretty bad.

 

[Henchmen21]

Wow...Outer Wall...just wow (in a good way)

edit: Never mind. Finally got to the next one.

 

[WickedLaharl]

is it february yet? :'(

 

[The Praiseworthy]

The environmental art is truly lovely, but the actual layouts of the levels and the camera angles designed to help you navigate them are pretty bad.

Believe it or not... I love the camera in this game, I understand why others might hate it... But for me it's so pretty and shows the beauty of the levels art.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Believe it or not... I love the camera in this game, I understand why others might hate it... But for me it's so pretty and shows the beauty of the levels art.

The camera placement in any given shot wasn't usually a problem for me. It was the cuts between camera angles that were almost always disorienting and really disrupted the sense of the overall space. The problems are all the more noticeable when compared to the very similar but somehow vastly superior camerawork in God of War.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

The camera placement in any given shot wasn't usually a problem for me. It was the cuts between camera angles that were almost always disorienting and really disrupted the sense of the overall space. The problems are all the more noticeable when compared to the very similar but somehow vastly superior camerawork in God of War.

In this I have to agree.

 

[Henchmen21]

Well, just defeated my second Lord of Shadow (actually I've completed chapter 9 too but I didn't post till now). Is it me or does

Spoiler

Gabriel stepping into the mirror

remind anyone of "The Neverending Story"?

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

Well, I just beat this. That last level REALLY made it glaringly obvious the deficiencies and strengths that the game had. The platforming sucks. Let me grab all ledges or grab no ledges guys, come on. Or at least all ledges that seem to be grab-able. Combat wasn't that bad. I think it was just lacking in enemy variety. We had easy enemies, hard enemies, and bosses. The two bosses at the end totally salvaged my opinion of the game.

And then the story itself.

Spoiler

Gabriel doesn't get enough characterization. Zobeck says a bunch of stuff about him while chapters are loading, but other than that there really isn't much. It seemed kinda odd that Satan just offed Zobeck and then could not as easily off Gabriel. It felt like, in general, the game was going to be something else then Kojima came in and went 'We need more Castlevania in this!' Especially the after the credits. There was no indication that THAT was where the story was going, and there isn't any indication as to why he became Dracula. But I suppose DLC will cover that.

In the end it all just feels like backstory for the next game. Which I'm glad they're doing.

And the Vampire Castle was the best part.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

At Chapter 3 now... loving every minute of this game, can't believe I was planning on skipping it :\

The level designs and the music are so beautiful that they make me feel want to cry :_:

 

[Henchmen21]

Well I just won. Didn't see that ending coming though.

Spoiler

Satan and those damn rings were tough

.

Best game I've played in a long while. Bring on the DLC

 

[Leatherface]

played the demo of this the other night and was really impressed. Worthy of a purchase?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

played the demo of this the other night and was really impressed. Worthy of a purchase?

Most people really dig it, so if you liked the demo, chances are you'd love the game.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

played the demo of this the other night and was really impressed. Worthy of a purchase?

I wasn't impressed by the demo.. i downloaded it and deleted it 3 times, but when I purchased the game i was blown away within 1 hour only.

So if you are already impressed by the demo.. you are going to love the game.

 

[MoxManiac]

I'm glad to see someone actually likes the SotC style bosses rather than sneering that "OMG it's imitating SotC what trash this game suckssss". I enjoyed the SotC battles myself for what they were. Also didn't think they were hard or frustrating outside of bearing in mind the game's hitbox problem.

I didn't have a problem with them ripping off SotC, I had a problem with them doing it badly. The SotC boss fights were so terribly implemented.

 

[Violater]

What do we foresee the DLC being in terms of length and price?

 

[Henchmen21]

What do we foresee the DLC being in terms of length and price?

Who knows. This game itself was longer than most games these days so length of the DLC is up in the air.

Price (assuming Konami doesn't overprice it like I heard they did with HOD) will obviously depend on how much they put into it.

 

[Mifune]

Yeah, I just played the 360 demo last night. Had a blast with it, despite the fact that I kept dying. Sweeping visuals, music.

Which leaves one question: PS3 or 360?

Yes, I know that there is an entire thread devoted to this exact question, but reading it is like walking through a fucking minefield. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sydle]

Yeah, I just played the 360 demo last night. Had a blast with it, despite the fact that I kept dying. Sweeping visuals, music.

Which leaves one question: PS3 or 360?

Yes, I know that there is an entire thread devoted to this exact question, but reading it is like walking through a fucking minefield. So any help would be greatly appreciated.

Go with the PS3 version -- slightly better framerate performance and it's on one disk.

 

[Leatherface]

I wasn't impressed by the demo.. i downloaded it and deleted it 3 times, but when I purchased the game i was blown away within 1 hour only.

So if you are already impressed by the demo.. you are going to love the game.

good to hear. I will get this.

 

[Mifune]

Go with the PS3 version -- slightly better framerate performance and it's on one disk.

Exactly the type of answer I was looking for. Thank you.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I didn't have a problem with them ripping off SotC, I had a problem with them doing it badly. The SotC boss fights were so terribly implemented.

The only one I'd describe as outright terrible was the 2nd one. The 1st and 3rd were really just very superficial fascimiles of SotC, lacking any of that game's organic design and grace but serviceable as a small part of game with its focus elsewhere.

The 2nd was a mess, having replayed it last night for the trial. It didn't really add anything from the first other than tedious fluff that got in the way of getting down to business. Firstly you've got that annoying pyschic bint yabbering away the whole time without actually telling you anything useful. Then to even start the fight you've got to wait for the titan to throw a rock, which sometimes would take ages to initiate. Then once you've thrown it you think 'great I can get on with things' but no they take you to a cutscene just as you're about to get into it. Then you get control back and after a long tedious buildup you can finally start climbing it. So you climb and then you grapple to another ledge, then you climb some more and you eventually make it to the first weak spot, god knows how long after you first started the chapter. You break the weak spot (and possible get knocked off if you don't read the cues right and shift before her hand gets there). You grapple to the hand and you think 'well that's one down, just a few mor.......' another pointless cutscene. Back off the cutscene and the titan does the longest trying to shake you off sequence and you just keep thinking 'are they ever going to actually just let me finish this'....

 

[Noisepurge]

I didn't like the LE. At all. It was pretty terrible. For anal people who like to stack their games side by side on a shelf, it was a nightmare. The actual packaging is nothing to write home about either. An incomplete soundtrack, a half-assed art book, and so on. Even I, a big Castlevania fan and fan of this game, didn't find any value whatsoever in the LE.

I love my copy because of this:

 

[Grisby]

^ Didn't that only come out overseas? I really wanted that edition to come to NA but alas. Instead I was going to pick up the LE over here but I thought it would be ultimately disappointing and after reading some of the LE impressions I think I was in the right.

 

[Henchmen21]

Nevermind. Figured it out.

 

[brandonh83]

I love my copy because of this:

Please don't remind me. I'm still pissed that the U.S. didn't get that.

 

[Henchmen21]

Anyone know of a quick way to restock on dark crystals? I'm doing the Stone Titan trial and I know you have to use one to make it possible to complete in time. Sanctuary Entrance gives you one at first but then you lose it at the end of the level. Bear in mind that I've got the 360 version and don't really want to switch discs at the moment.

 

[-Winnie-]

Anyone know of a quick way to restock on dark crystals? I'm doing the Stone Titan trial and I know you have to use one to make it possible to complete in time. Sanctuary Entrance gives you one at first but then you lose it at the end of the level. Bear in mind that I've got the 360 version and don't really want to switch discs at the moment.

I don't think it's the best way, but I just replayed the puzzle in one of the last chapters (before the crematorium, I believe) which gives you a dark crystal.

 

[soldat7]

I really like the game, but I sorta want to break my controller at times. So many cheap deaths, poor checkpoints (Stone Titan!!!!), and lousy hit detection. And who thought it would be a good idea to put block and dodge on the same button? Good grief.

The combat engine seems a step below God of War and a couple of steps below Bayonetta, despite my distaste for that game. I'm still loving LoS , despite its flaws.

 

[hamchan]

Finished chapter IX, loving it so far. They're making a sequel to this yeah?

^ doesn't Ninja gaiden have block and dodge on the same button? I like it much more than right stick dodging.

 

[Finaika]

^ doesn't Ninja gaiden have block and dodge on the same button? I like it much more than right stick dodging.

Yeah Ninja Gaiden also have block + dodge on the same button. I have no problems at all with it.

 

[ArachosiA 78]

The difference is that Ninja Gaiden is a fuckawesome game. This is just a huge disgrace to the Castlevania legacy.

 

[AppleMIX]

The difference is that Ninja Gaiden is a fuckawesome game. This is just a huge disgrace to the Castlevania legacy.

Apparently Castlevania 64, Lament of Innocent, Harmony of Despair, Judgement and Curse of Darkness don't exist anymore.

Castlevania was "disgraced" long before this game hit.

 

[Finaika]

The difference is that Ninja Gaiden is a fuckawesome game. This is just a huge disgrace to the Castlevania legacy.

No it isn't.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

The only one I'd describe as outright terrible was the 2nd one. The 1st and 3rd were really just very superficial fascimiles of SotC, lacking any of that game's organic design and grace but serviceable as a small part of game with its focus elsewhere.

The 2nd was a mess, having replayed it last night for the trial. It didn't really add anything from the first other than tedious fluff that got in the way of getting down to business. Firstly you've got that annoying pyschic bint yabbering away the whole time without actually telling you anything useful. Then to even start the fight you've got to wait for the titan to throw a rock, which sometimes would take ages to initiate. Then once you've thrown it you think 'great I can get on with things' but no they take you to a cutscene just as you're about to get into it. Then you get control back and after a long tedious buildup you can finally start climbing it. So you climb and then you grapple to another ledge, then you climb some more and you eventually make it to the first weak spot, god knows how long after you first started the chapter. You break the weak spot (and possible get knocked off if you don't read the cues right and shift before her hand gets there). You grapple to the hand and you think 'well that's one down, just a few mor.......' another pointless cutscene. Back off the cutscene and the titan does the longest trying to shake you off sequence and you just keep thinking 'are they ever going to actually just let me finish this'....

I agree with your assessment of the 2nd Titan, though I really disliked them all. The 3rd one was especially galling because it had so much potential to be an amazing level/setpiece but the actual mechanics of traversing its body were unbelievably repetitive and unimaginative.

 

[ArachosiA 78]

No it isn't.

Well, I can't argue with that.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Oddly enough, I played God of War 3 /after/ I played Lords of Shadow. As far as combat systems go, I think LoS is much more sophisticated than GoW3 which is good at feeling flowing, but is really pretty shallow.

The damned hitbox issue on some enemies and bosses hurts LoS but when the combat system is working right, it's damn impressive for a western/european developed game. The low framerate also hurts the combat feeling smooth. Mechanically though, I do think it's a much better and more strategic system than God of War.

One thing LoS lifts from God of War but does a lot better is the idea of focus attacks versus crowd control. Crowd control is really dynamic and a ton of fun, and the combat flows really well to mix up what you have to be paying attention to. Plus it actually does have more complex and sophisticated combos and more ways to deal with a given enemy, IMHO.

It's not Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden, but it's a step up from Kratos.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

The difference is that Ninja Gaiden is a fuckawesome game. This is just a huge disgrace to the Castlevania legacy.

Wrong... LoS is so f**cking epic more than any other 3D Castlevania game and sure more epic than NG games.

 

[hamchan]

Watching the credits roll down the screen. The end was both epic and cheesy. Pretty darn good game, liked it more than GoW3.

Robert Carlyle was Gabriel wtf.

 

[jett]

Oddly enough, I played God of War 3 /after/ I played Lords of Shadow. As far as combat systems go, I think LoS is much more sophisticated than GoW3 which is good at feeling flowing, but is really pretty shallow.

The damned hitbox issue on some enemies and bosses hurts LoS but when the combat system is working right, it's damn impressive for a western/european developed game. The low framerate also hurts the combat feeling smooth. Mechanically though, I do think it's a much better and more strategic system than God of War.

One thing LoS lifts from God of War but does a lot better is the idea of focus attacks versus crowd control. Crowd control is really dynamic and a ton of fun, and the combat flows really well to mix up what you have to be paying attention to. Plus it actually does have more complex and sophisticated combos and more ways to deal with a given enemy, IMHO.

It's not Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden, but it's a step up from Kratos.

Definitely, they definitely got something interesting going on in the combat department. Too bad the framerate is a complete disaster, the sequel must run at 60fps. And no more gamebreaking moves like uber light move, plz.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

And no more gamebreaking moves like uber light move, plz.

You mean holy water, right?

 

[Henchmen21]

Well about to start my Cornell Trial. This should be fun

edit: I forgot how good the music in the first half of the battle is.