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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow |OT| The MercurySteam has Vanquished the Horrible Night

Riposte

Member
The biggest problem with LoS is that after the second lord, it replaces the awesome enemies with stupid weak ones that try to beat you through sheer numbers. I mean the boss fights are still good, but they really shot themselves in the foot by having the game peak early like that. I can understanding thinking the game ran too long because of that. To be honest though, LoS feels like a game that came with DLC installed. Which is cool. I mean stuff like Raven Queen and the witch? Think about it. That stuff makes TOO much sense as (day one, gamestop) DLC. It is like they canceled their plans at the last second.

If anything needed to be cut, it is everything before you obtain light magic mode. And maybe some of the wall climbing. Then we can just sell those "side" chapters as DLC. That's a good thing, right?

EDIT: Preorder at Gamestop™ now and get access to the exclusive "Music Box" stage!
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
I picked up the PS3 SKU at Gamestop for $20.

Wow. It is really, really good so far. I've put in about 3 hours. The demo didn't do it justice.

I wrote it off as a crappy God of War clone... and although it does share quite a few similarities, it's definitely achieved a different sort of feel.

And I'm sick to death of God of War and it's clones.

It looks amazing as well...
 

yencid

Member
I just beat this game earlier today and while i liked it there where a lot of things that made me not enjoy the game as much as i should. Lot of things that irked/annoyed me.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
I just started completing all the trials in the game. I beat it back when it launched with all the upgrades and decided to revisit it again. I must say, I forgot how good this game is. The one thing I hope they get rid of in a sequel is the shaky camera. It annoys me to no end. Aside from that, it's a great adventure game even if the story was a bit of a let down. All in all, I'm looking forward to a sequel and plan on downloading both the side quests eventually. It's hard to complain when the game is so much fun to play though.
 
FINALLY finished this up, such a great game, right up there with God of War for me, one of my fav this gen. How long is Reverie, if its a good three hours ill get it.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Maybe I'm just weird, but I kinda liked the first two acts of the game. Granted, I thought the game got better, but I liked the beginning. More people hated it than I thought.
 

Fantasmo

Member
Y2Kev said:
Maybe I'm just weird, but I kinda liked the first two acts of the game. Granted, I thought the game got better, but I liked the beginning. More people hated it than I thought.

Me too. I thought the slow buildup and different locales were adventure-y in ways other Castlevanias never were and it felt like it fit the universe.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Y2Kev said:
Maybe I'm just weird, but I kinda liked the first two acts of the game. Granted, I thought the game got better, but I liked the beginning. More people hated it than I thought.

*high five*

Loved this game from beginning to end.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I'm just playing it again and it's so goddamn good looking. The art is probably the best I've seen in game in a while. Chapter 4's castle is so amazing....the detail in the rocks and such.
 

george_us

Member
Relix said:
*high five*

Loved this game from beginning to end.
Add another here. Loved this game to bits from beginning to end.

I played it again this weekend and I'm just stunned at how good this game looks.

junkster said:
Wish it had MLAA instead of MSAA on PS3. Imagine this with a smooth framerate? Droooool..
It is smooth! A smooth 20 FPS.:lol:
 

JudgeN

Member
george_us said:
Add another here. Loved this game to bits from beginning to end.

I played it again this weekend and I'm just stunned at how good this game looks.


It is smooth! A smooth 25 FPS.:lol:

Fixed for the PS3 version :)

This game is incredible, it is almost perfect except for the FPS. At the vampire lord castle and already would love to see a sequel with a lock 30 FPS and some AA.

Best Castlevania Ive played in god knows how long.
 

Haint

Member
Every time this thread rises from the back pages grave, I click feverishly suspecting the 360 DLC must have come out. I leave with my head held low every time.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Reallink said:
Every time this thread rises from the back pages grave, I click feverishly suspecting the 360 DLC must have come out. I leave with my head held low every time.

Wait... Reverie still isn't out for 360? Daaaamn....
 

Sagitario

Member
I really liked the game.

Music composition and arrangement is excellent (but too short and repetitive IMO).

The game art/environment/textures are freaking gorgeous. Seriously, every area is beautifuly designed... If only the framerate was better [it didn't really bother me].

I was doing the trials on Paladin, but I got to the point where I wasn't having fun anymore (still finished like half of them).

I was going for the Platinum just because, but the developers added Chapter XIII and I'm not buying it, so I don't see the point :p
 

Vitten

Member
Got the platinum the other day and I was fairly entertained thoughout my 35 hours with this game.

Not much to add to what's already been said by many here; overall it's a nice enough game but it could have been much better. For one, I did not like the short segmented level structure, made the game feel very fractured and lacking cohesion.
The game does look very nice at times, especially the castle parts. Some of the later areas were a bit of a letdown.
The story wasn't anything special (seen and heard it all before ) and Picard's constant blabbering about Gabriel's degradation was getting very tiresome certainly because there's no reflection of this in the game. The final ending cutscene was a nice surprise.

I absolutely hated the 'Press R3 - L3' mechanic to suck in the neutral orbs. Completely destroyed the flow of combat and I often lost my focus becuase I got hit while stopping to collect the orbs. The 'suck range' ( yeah... ) was also way too small.
Also way too much filler moves, they give you all these combo's but you hardly need any of them. And air juggles were also frustrating because enniems could knock you out of the air way too easily without any way of avoiding this.

Music was so-so. Mostly generic orchestra-dramatic-choir stuff that could be used for every fantasy game this generation.. Wish they went for the more gothic/melodic tunes the series is know for so well, would have helped to give the game a much higher Castlevania feel which it didn't really have.
 
Sagitario said:
I really liked the game.

Music composition and arrangement is excellent (but too short and repetitive IMO).

The game art/environment/textures are freaking gorgeous. Seriously, every area is beautifuly designed... If only the framerate was better [it didn't really bother me].

I was doing the trials on Paladin, but I got to the point where I wasn't having fun anymore (still finished like half of them).

I was going for the Platinum just because, but the developers added Chapter XIII and I'm not buying it, so I don't see the point :p

Completing Chapter XIII is not required for the platinum trophy. Everything about trials / etc only applies to 1-12
 

Sagitario

Member
And air juggles were also frustrating because enniems could knock you out of the air way too easily without any way of avoiding this.

I agree, that's one of the things I didn't like about the combat/movement/controls.
Plus:
- I hated the stomp move of the enemies: it made damage when it shouldn't have done it. I understand interrupting/breaking the combo, but if the enemy didn't touch you, why did it take HP from Gabriel?
- The hit detection of enemies attack: sometimes they didn't even touch you (I am looking at you, Cornell).
- Gabriel controls/movement weren't very tight: you could tell in the platforming sections, the Music Box and Clock Tower made this very evident.
- The platforming paths were very linear. You couldn't jump to a spot if the developer didn't want you to specifically jump to that place/corner/tile/edge (plus, lots of invisible walls). I don't mind linearity at all, but here it bothered me a little (platforming-wise).
- Double tapping the joystick to run, and what's worse, you could only run for a few seconds.

I hope Mercury Steam fix those for the sequel.

cpp_is_king said:
Completing Chapter XIII is not required for the platinum trophy. Everything about trials / etc only applies to 1-12

Oh... really? That's great... maybe I will try going for it after all... I guess I could do a few levels per week so it doesn't take the fun away again :p
 

daffy

Banned
Well, I finally got around to playing the majority of this game. It was fairly average for me, and some of the puzzles at the end
Land of the Dead
were very frustrating so I ended up unlocking those solutions.

I didn't manage to beat it manually due to my PS3 taking a cold shower and melting itself away (not yet YLOD, but dead all the same), so I watched the ending on YouTube. Wow, that was amazing! Good ending, too bad the game didn't quite live up to it.

I wasn't exactly planning on downloading the DLC so no harm done there, but I really didn't like the way they kept the story out of the gameplay, it was slightly confusing at the beginning for me because of it. The last big boss, the
dragon thing with all the ribs that you had to climb
was just tedious to me, no real challenge was required.

OH and the worst thing about this game was the HOLD DOWN R2 TO HANG ON every 5 seconds, what a classic idea :p And the guy that steals your shit, come on son. Best thing about the game was the combat for sure, the most fun I had with the game and the huge bosses didn't compare. Graphics were consistently amazing, so that's another high point.

All in all, a somewhat fun game, but really not anything to write mom about. Average gameplay, potential story kept hidden most of the time, don't care about these characters emotionally etc. If there is a sequel, which I hope there is because
Gabrula looks fucking badass !!! :D
I'd love to play it.

I expected more, but I am content with what I got. The sequel has a lot a potential if they can top themselves and don't just stick to the same concepts.
 

Vitten

Member
Definately Ultimate light, makes you nearly immortal and sorta brakes the game.

Shadow isn't bad either as it kills bosses fast but the aim and charge mechanic takes some getting used to and he doesn't always go where you want him to go.
 

ShinAmano

Member
Finished the game. Loved the game...cant wait to play the DLC and hopefully sequels. Playing through on the hard difficulty now and picking up challenges as I can.
 
Finally bought this, and put about 2 hours into it so far, and I'm enjoying it. The graphics and art direction are GORGEOUS, the variety of environments and situations are cool, and the combat is like a more strategic yet "snappier" GoW, lots of upgrades, good replay value with how hidden items and level select are approached, great cutscenes, good voice acting (for the most part), seems to be pretty lengthy which is a Godsend these days, etc. etc.

Not everything is all good though:

- The camera is pretty meh in comparison to God Of War which does the "directed camera" thing pretty perfectly. It's always moving, rarely gets close even when there's no need for it to be zoomed out, and oftentimes abruptly switches to directly opposite angles after rounding a corner.

- I hate the "Press ____ to absorb orbs" thing, and they're already hitting me over the head with it. Pretty dumb design. Just let them go to me automatically.

- Block + Dodge on the same button is kind of annoying because I rarely get a chance to actually block. Rolling seems better suited for most situations anyway so w/e, but still, the right stick is sitting there not doing anything.

- Enemy "tell" signs for incoming attacks are WAY too easy to miss especially compared to Bayonetta which is 10x more fast paced and filled to the brim with effects everywhere yet much better at pointing out that "Hey, it's time to dodge." Maybe I'll get used to it with more playtime, but it's not like I'm not a huge fan of this type of action combat, so I feel it's more the game than me.

- Air combat seems a bit pointless so far due to the above complaint. Too easy to get hurt trying to juggle.

- Many of the longer combos seem pointless as well, also because of the above complaint. Bayonetta solved this by letting you continue your combo after a successful dodge (Doge Offset). More devs need to look to that game for combat tips.

- Invisible walls everywhere, many times in places where they don't need to be. I've rarely felt more "enclosed" in a game of this type before.

- There's a bit of jank in regards to platforming. Not climbing and swinging, but more on the jumping end of the equation. I've missed several cliff ledges, or have had difficulty grabbing hand holds already just because the game decided to screw me over.

- A bit too segmented in regards to level select. I understand what they were going for, but the epic feel they're attempting doesn't completely mesh with the old school end chapter screens, and "chunks" of gameplay in between. There's a better way to do this.

- Music is meh so far. Very "start and stop" and typical orchestral pieces with nothing catchy/potentially series defining like GOW.

Still though, like I said, I'm having fun. Hopefully my overall impressions remain positive by the end.
 

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
What's up with this game? I've been checking both Play.com and webhallen.com and they don't seem to have any new copies of Castlevania. Bummer. I wanted a God of War-y hack-and-slash but I can't seem to find this new. Did it go out of print, or something? (For the PS3, the Xbox360 version seems to be everywhere.)
 
Hated this game at first play. Game shot from a 6 to an 8 in a matter of hours. Hope it keeps climbing like that! Just got to the Dark Dungeon now, and I'm soooooo glad I kept playing. Very cool experience so far, and I have such a long way to go!

Kinoki: Dunno, got mine at Target.

Edit: What would a post be without some bitching? - ie., forgot to mention, I hate how your character doesn't make any sound when he walks, invisible walls are out of control, camera's a bit janky with the "DIFFERENT VIEW! HA!" out of nowhere, and I don't care for the game's physics when not in combat.

Other than that, though ... :p
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
kinoki said:
What's up with this game? I've been checking both Play.com and webhallen.com and they don't seem to have any new copies of Castlevania. Bummer. I wanted a God of War-y hack-and-slash but I can't seem to find this new. Did it go out of print, or something? (For the PS3, the Xbox360 version seems to be everywhere.)

PS3 players need a SP fix. =P!
 

bengraven

Member
Edit: Nvm, we had to restart the entire level - it was a glitch.


Shockingly awesome game, btw. And I don't even like God of War style games.
 

Wallachia

Member
NEOPARADIGM said:
Hated this game at first play. Game shot from a 6 to an 8 in a matter of hours. Hope it keeps climbing like that! Just got to the Dark Dungeon now, and I'm soooooo glad I kept playing. Very cool experience so far, and I have such a long way to go!

Kinoki: Dunno, got mine at Target.

Edit: What would a post be without some bitching? - ie., forgot to mention, I hate how your character doesn't make any sound when he walks, invisible walls are out of control, camera's a bit janky with the "DIFFERENT VIEW! HA!" out of nowhere, and I don't care for the game's physics when not in combat.

Other than that, though ... :p

How far are you NOW? The game gets incrediby amazing and deep at certain points :)
 
The DLC doesn't have the same high production values, but it does give some storyline insight and it adds a number of new puzzles. The next DLC is a lot more promising.
 

Haint

Member
Victrix said:
How's the DLC? I'm hungering for more Castlevania action

It's horrible. Poorly designed, 1-2 hours long, and the story is spoiled by the DLC's trailer--so just watch that and you'll be able to deduce exactly what's going on for free.
 

aparisi2274

Member
Reallink said:
It's horrible. Poorly designed, 1-2 hours long, and the story is spoiled by the DLC's trailer--so just watch that and you'll be able to deduce exactly what's going on for free.

Doesn't the trailer pretty much explain that to finish the DLC and beat the boss, you'll need to
become one of them (vampire)
which would explain the ending of the main game....
 

Grisby

Member
So I didn't really get a chance to contribute when the game came out and I recently replayed it over the week.

Such a beautiful game. I wanted to take a screenshot from almost every angle the camera presented me. I think besides the graphics it also has to to with the depth of everything (castles in the distance, birds far off, just debris everywhere). The image quality is so sharp and fantastic too.

The gameplay is great and I enjoyed the whole light/dark mechanic. Puzzles were a nice break and the platforming although loose never deterred from my enjoyment. I felt like each sub weapon was pretty unique and that there were a lot of combo moves you could invest your time in.

Story wise I enjoyed how crazy biblical it got at the end. Gabriel is a pretty likable protagonist too and it seems MS has big plans for the series going forward. The environments told a lot of stories themselves, which I really enjoyed.

Lastly, the music was phenomenal. Thats all I have to say. Just great stuff. I left the chapter select screen sitting there to long way too many times

There are a lot of issues. Some stuff doesn't hold up as it did back in October. Patrick Stewart needed a lot of guidance on his readings. The story while fun, deserved better storytelling and not a vomit info dump at the end.The game could have flowed better with combat and puzzles. It did feel like it was MercurySteams first attempt at an action game (well, it is).

However, no game that year gave me such a feeling of adventure and dark atmosphere. A lot of love went into it from the title book opening to the hand drawings showing Gabriel's moves. A very long and well worth taking journey. Congrats MercurySteam.

On another note I want that DLC pretty badly. I'm glad the PS store is down or else I would have bought it last night after I finished. I say that because for $10 it doesn't sound like a whole lot. I'm usually fine with that but the price has to be lower. Oh well, I'm a pretty big fan and I might do it anyway.
 
About 13 1/3 hours in, about to start 8-2.

Wow.

I still have a number of issues holding this one back from true greatness, but this is one fine game right here. First of all, the graphics, art, and environments are absolutely BEAUTIFUL. This is a GREAT looking game. Production values are pretty high across the board. The sense of scale, and pure variety of locales are also pretty crazy. I love Gabriel's moveset, and most of the enemies are really fun to fight. The boss fights are really good. I like how the game breaks up the combat with platforming and puzzles as well. The fact that I'm 13 hours in and still have ~4 chapters is always a plus. Very meaty game.

I can forgive the pretty average camera, and some janky platforming controls because this is definitely about the sum of its parts which is pretty good so far.
 

Zeal

Banned
Siliconera
by CastlevaniaLOS
>> New post: Battle The Forgotten One In Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow Next Week http://bit.ly/mSaWk9
David Cox Twitter
http://twitter.com/castlevanialos

New Screens of Resurrection DLC
http://vegivo.com/2011/06/02/new-screens-and-art-for-castlevanialords-of-shadow-resurrection-dlc/

TheForgottenOne.jpg


Resurrection next week, baby.
 
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