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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow |OT| The MercurySteam has Vanquished the Horrible Night
- Thread starter brandonh83
- Start date
brandonh83
Banned
RavenFox said:
Oh, what a twist.
Genesis Knight
Member
Unlockable costume? Or relic lol!
brandonh83
Banned
Sorry guys. I added a spoiler threat to my post.
brandonh83
Banned
burgerdog said:
yes well just go back and rewatch it with 24fps in mind and we'll see if you still sing the same tune.
brandonh83
Banned
burgerdog said:
But it is. And that's what matters.
brandonh83
Banned
Y2Kev said:
damn it, I already cancelled my pre-order.
Kabuki Waq
Member
how is the ps3 version in terms of graphics? 720p? AA?
SlasherJPC
Banned
Starting watching that video and promptly stopped... its to close now. lol
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Jtyettis said:
Their own proprietary one.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Eeee, just played through the demo. I really hope the framerate is a liiiittle bit better in the final build. I was actually feeling a little icky playing it. The combat is pretty damn God of War, but not *as* God of War as I was expecting, so that's good, and holy shit is everything beautiful. So damn beautiful. I really hope the final build runs just a little smoother. :/
brandonh83
Banned
Segata Sanshiro said:
Promising. I was hoping it wouldn't feel too much like GOW, so hopefully it brings in a few combat mechanics to help with the differentiation.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
Loved the demo more than I thought I would.
Funny to notice that the animated menus seem to run closer to 60fps :lol
Funny to notice that the animated menus seem to run closer to 60fps :lol
Odd, I didn't notice a low fps. I know there's a video to prove me wrong, but it just didn't feel like the fps was fluctuating from 18-24. The game pauses for a brief moment whenever you strike an enemy, sort of like god of war 3 when using the fists. Maybe that has something to do with it.
LabouredSubterfuge
Member
burgerdog said:
No that's not it, look at when the large lycanthrope bursts through the door. That's the worst offender.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
burgerdog said:
It seems to be a common (well, more common than one would think) misconception that when a game slows down on purpose that the framerate is changing. It's usually not. (Obviously, it could be by coincidence, but it's not by design.)
brandonh83
Banned
89%...
Wasn't that sure about the demo after my first play through, but I went through it a few more times and it finally clicked. The combat feels like less robust version of God of War, even down to the irritating button mashing QTEs, but I'm liking everything else. The presentation is excellent, and you can see Kojima's influences in the cutscenes.
brandonh83
Banned
btw guys, if any of you happen to find some high-res, newly released screens please direct me so I can put them in the OP.
Demo installing, eager to get my own impressions on here.
Demo installing, eager to get my own impressions on here.
Prime crotch
Banned
But games that aren't Castlevania and still built in the same way as Metroid are called MetroidVania, it's like MetroidVania became the name of the genre, that's what I don't get.linkboy said:
CCCCUUUUURRRAAAAAAAZYYYYY reviewsbrandonh83 said:
Demo is pretty good. Good production values/voicework. Gameplay is decent. It tries a little too hard to be God Of War though. The L2 + left stick for dodge is okay, but the right stick seems to not do anything. The camera is fixed, so why not have the right stick for dodge? The camera doesn't seem to be as "smart" as the GOW camera, as a few enemies got lost off screen. I don't know if the little stutter when you connect with enemies is intended or not, but I don't like it.
Prime crotch
Banned
GT's main contention is pacing which I understand and can ruin a cinematic action game like this Castlevania seems to be, but the general idea I got is of a flawed great game.[Nintex] said:
Shame about the lack of a 360 demo. Was really hoping to compare the two as it would definitely help me select the right version. That said, this does seem to be very solid on both platforms so either version should be good. If there is a minor advantage for either platform, however, I'd rather know up front.
Yeah, their complaints actually sound like positives to me. They wanted God of War, plain and simple.[Nintex] said:
Haeleos
Member
Demo Criticism... Mostly negative so far since a lot of what I did like is really obvious. Just wanted to write out my thoughts since it's still fresh. Still looking forward to next week (CE is preordered), but...
- L2 + left stick to dodge is going to take some getting used to. Would probably be better on 360 controller. The triggers on PS3 are terrible for something so important as dodging, and alas, like nearly every game this gen, no way to change the controls.
- There were times that I was obscured by the enemies and couldn't see what was going on since the camera was so zoomed out. I was subconsciously letting the monsters come to me because I could fight them closer to the camera.
- The enemies blend in with the background in both of the demo areas. (I think my eye sight just sucks, though).
- Really cheesey explosion of blood/corpse disappearing thing happens when you shoot them with the knives.
- Quick time events can burn in hell... just in general. Such a lazy design decision. Having to wait there for the circle to get into the small circle before you can finish a throw chops up the pace of the combat in a really horrid way. Why... WHY? Just throw him when I hit the fucking throw button!
- The horse sequence felt like a really unresponsive, tacked on pacing device (like the God of War and Gears of War mounted sequences, but way worse)... I wish developers didn't feel so forced into trying to mix things up when they just end up half assing it for the sake of pacing. All through that sequence, I just wanted to be back on the ground fighting things.
- The cuts during the cinematics were oddly placed and jarring, and sometimes the music playing over a scene didn't finish before it went to a loading screen. Some presentation issues like that.
Now some positive stuff...
- Really outstanding looking environments. I love the setting and the character design as well.
- The impacts and the basic attacks had a good feel to them (they did the God of War trick of slowing the game down for a couple frames each time you hit something).
- The 2D pencil drawn Gabriel in the move demonstrations is a completely awesome thing.
- I've seen both of these areas from videos and online, but I couldn't hear them that well... Patrick Stewart is doing his classic books on audiotape voice and I hope Robert Carlyle doesn't phone it in through the rest of the game, because he's awesome too.
- The artwork on the loading screens, on the PS3 interface before you enter the game and after the demo is :O. Really looking forward to the artbook with my CE.
- L2 + left stick to dodge is going to take some getting used to. Would probably be better on 360 controller. The triggers on PS3 are terrible for something so important as dodging, and alas, like nearly every game this gen, no way to change the controls.
- There were times that I was obscured by the enemies and couldn't see what was going on since the camera was so zoomed out. I was subconsciously letting the monsters come to me because I could fight them closer to the camera.
- The enemies blend in with the background in both of the demo areas. (I think my eye sight just sucks, though).
- Really cheesey explosion of blood/corpse disappearing thing happens when you shoot them with the knives.
- Quick time events can burn in hell... just in general. Such a lazy design decision. Having to wait there for the circle to get into the small circle before you can finish a throw chops up the pace of the combat in a really horrid way. Why... WHY? Just throw him when I hit the fucking throw button!
- The horse sequence felt like a really unresponsive, tacked on pacing device (like the God of War and Gears of War mounted sequences, but way worse)... I wish developers didn't feel so forced into trying to mix things up when they just end up half assing it for the sake of pacing. All through that sequence, I just wanted to be back on the ground fighting things.
- The cuts during the cinematics were oddly placed and jarring, and sometimes the music playing over a scene didn't finish before it went to a loading screen. Some presentation issues like that.
Now some positive stuff...
- Really outstanding looking environments. I love the setting and the character design as well.
- The impacts and the basic attacks had a good feel to them (they did the God of War trick of slowing the game down for a couple frames each time you hit something).
- The 2D pencil drawn Gabriel in the move demonstrations is a completely awesome thing.
- I've seen both of these areas from videos and online, but I couldn't hear them that well... Patrick Stewart is doing his classic books on audiotape voice and I hope Robert Carlyle doesn't phone it in through the rest of the game, because he's awesome too.
- The artwork on the loading screens, on the PS3 interface before you enter the game and after the demo is :O. Really looking forward to the artbook with my CE.
TheKaeptain
Banned
I need to make a UK account.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
I'm not a fan of QTE in general, and I think this demo handled it in the worst possible way. I don't feel like I got any feedback on whether or not I did it correctly.
That said, the art in the travel book at the end of the demo is pretty awesome. I wish that was the art on the regular US cover.
God dammit, you mouthbreathers! Why must you like CG covers more than beautiful painted art! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!
That said, the art in the travel book at the end of the demo is pretty awesome. I wish that was the art on the regular US cover.
God dammit, you mouthbreathers! Why must you like CG covers more than beautiful painted art! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!
Finished playing the demo twice, here are my impressions:
Graphics: Amazing! Love the art direction, love the graphics, and dig Gabriel's character design. Seems like Mercury steam did a great job with the graphics. I honestly didn't really notice the slowdown if there was any, but then again, I'm not a stickler for it unless it affects gameplay.
Sound: Love the orchestral sound of the music. I was expecting it to have more or an aggressive in your face type of sound but that wasn't the case. Voice acting is great too. Can't go wrong with Patrick Stewart narrating!
Gameplay: The base gameplay is similar to GOW in that you are a dude that hacks and slashes people.
It's nowhere near the copycat that something like Dante's Inferno was. I enjoyed the gameplay and think the game will be able to set itself apart as more than just a straight rip of God of War. Speaking of GOW, I probably would have preferred the dodge be on the R stick instead of L2+L stick.
Ultimately this was only a sampling of the gameplay so it's really hard to come up with a final opinion of it one way or another. My impressions of it though are positive.
Overall I enjoyed the demo. This is going to be a day one purchase for me. The demo definitely left me wanting more.
PS: The model of the horse they used was kind of silly. When I first saw him, I thought it was a unicorn and I was like WTF? LOL
PPS: I sent an email to Amazon about it and they said that although I missed the promotional period they were going to make an exception and knock off $20 off the price of the game once I put my order in. Not sure if it was because I'm an Amazon PRIME member or if this is their policy, but I thought that was pretty damn awesome of them.
Also, I took some video footage of me playing and I'll put up a link of it if anyone's interested. It's offscreen footage, but my phone's camera usually takes pretty good video.
Graphics: Amazing! Love the art direction, love the graphics, and dig Gabriel's character design. Seems like Mercury steam did a great job with the graphics. I honestly didn't really notice the slowdown if there was any, but then again, I'm not a stickler for it unless it affects gameplay.
Sound: Love the orchestral sound of the music. I was expecting it to have more or an aggressive in your face type of sound but that wasn't the case. Voice acting is great too. Can't go wrong with Patrick Stewart narrating!
Gameplay: The base gameplay is similar to GOW in that you are a dude that hacks and slashes people.
It's nowhere near the copycat that something like Dante's Inferno was. I enjoyed the gameplay and think the game will be able to set itself apart as more than just a straight rip of God of War. Speaking of GOW, I probably would have preferred the dodge be on the R stick instead of L2+L stick.Ultimately this was only a sampling of the gameplay so it's really hard to come up with a final opinion of it one way or another. My impressions of it though are positive.
Overall I enjoyed the demo. This is going to be a day one purchase for me. The demo definitely left me wanting more.
PS: The model of the horse they used was kind of silly. When I first saw him, I thought it was a unicorn and I was like WTF? LOL
PPS: I sent an email to Amazon about it and they said that although I missed the promotional period they were going to make an exception and knock off $20 off the price of the game once I put my order in. Not sure if it was because I'm an Amazon PRIME member or if this is their policy, but I thought that was pretty damn awesome of them.
Also, I took some video footage of me playing and I'll put up a link of it if anyone's interested. It's offscreen footage, but my phone's camera usually takes pretty good video.
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