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[LowParry]

A few more play throughs of the demo. Enemy AI is somewhere between GoW's lame standing around waiting till it's my turn, to NG ruthlessness. Though I was playing on Knight mode (Hard).

 

[brandonh83]

So much hypocrisy. They complain that it's not original enough, yet Symphony of the Night, one of the most herald installments, took Castlevania and turned it into Metroid with RPG elements-- it was very easy, stripped away the challenge, stripped away the level based gameplay and was something pretty different compared to the original NES titles. It was a great game and earned its existence within the franchise but going into SOTN after such installments like Bloodlines and Dracula X, whichever were the more recent before SOTN, SOTN didn't feel very Castlevania to me at all but it was still really great. Why can't this game have that effect, considering that even despite the bitching that it's not "Castlevania enough" most of the reviews acknowledge that it is a very good, lengthy, enjoyable game?

It's not Castlevania enough, but it's still damn good! Describes the Metroidvanias fair and well.

Dante's Inferno is a fun game, and a decent God of War clone. Castlevania will be no different in most people's eyes. I even like Rygar, so people like me enjoy this type of game usually.

It was decent in moments, but over the top for the sake of being over the top, combat didn't feel as good as it does in GOW, story was a putrid assault on the source material, was very short, gameplay was incredibly repetitive (despite having okay combat) and the level design was incredibly bland. I wouldn't say any of these things about anything I've seen from LOS yet.

 

[LowParry]

What does it mean by "not Castlevania enough"? The game's a reboot, not a rehash.

 

[RedAssedApe]

So much hypocrisy. They complain that it's not original enough, yet Symphony of the Night, one of the most herald installments, took Castlevania and turned it into Metroid with RPG elements-- it was very easy, stripped away the challenge, stripped away the level based gameplay and was something pretty different compared to the original NES titles. It was a great game and earned its existence within the franchise but going into SOTN after such installments like Bloodlines and Dracula X, whichever were the more recent before SOTN, SOTN didn't feel very Castlevania to me at all but it was still really great. Why can't this game have that effect, considering that even despite the bitching that it's not "Castlevania enough" most of the reviews acknowledge that it is a very good, lengthy, enjoyable game?

It's not Castlevania enough, but it's still damn good! Describes the Metroidvanias fair and well.

Makes you think that some of these reviewers never even played a pre-SOTN Castlevania doesn't it?

 

[RavenFox]

Just came from twitter with David Cox calling IGN out. Then I realize the reviews must be official and Brandon has posted them. Sure enough I was right. I told him not to worry about IGN GAF has his back.

 

[brandonh83]

Makes you think that some of these reviewers never even played a pre-SOTN Castlevania doesn't it?

I'm not saying they haven't, I'm just saying that they don't seem to know exactly what the fuck they're talking about. This series has seen changes but it's getting closer and closer to 30 years old so something has to give.

 

[NeoUltima]

Cox Twitter:

"Nice to see people seeing that IGN review for what it is... "

lol

 

[RedAssedApe]

Cox Twitter:

"Nice to see people seeing that IGN review for what it is... "

lol

Should have noted the Gamespot review as well. :lol

 

[Hydrargyrus]

From IGN:

That said, Lords of Shadow also has framerate issues on the Xbox 360. It can drop when the action heats up -- or just during a cut scene. During one cinematic moment the game was literally chugging at just a few frames per second. Gabriel has a useful instant-kill move he can inflict on weaker enemies, but the game freezes for a moment every time he uses it. The game runs more smoothly on the PlayStation 3.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1124315p2.html

 

[~Kinggi~]

Fuck, i preordered the 360 one with the 20$ game credit so now i cant fricken switch to the ps3 version since the credit got taken off. Plus my fricken prime membership expired so i would have to re-pay for shipping. ugh, luckily its just framerate though. If it was actual graphical features or resolution issues i would be more concerned. Im not a framerate hog, as long as it isnt horrible.

Also, all the big websites coming out and giving it 7's is really some bullshit. SInce the score seems consistent i guess ill have to reserve judgment for playing it myself. There must be some merit to what they say i guess, even though it saddens me

 

[HYDE]

It was decent in moments, but over the top for the sake of being over the top, combat didn't feel as good as it does in GOW, story was a putrid assault on the source material, was very short, gameplay was incredibly repetitive (despite having okay combat) and the level design was incredibly bland. I wouldn't say any of these things about anything I've seen from LOS yet.[/QUOTE]

Edit: this didn't paste right, I just didn't want to quote all of it.

I agree with all your points and hope you are right about LoS, because I look forward to playing it regardless of if it's like old school Castlevania or not.

I was wondering if the game has treasures to find, leveling, or other weapons besides the whip. Does anyone know? Is it comparable to certain titles?

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

I love Uncharted 2 and it's definitely my favorite game of this gen, but even I admit that it heavily borrows from other games as well, right?

Tomb-Raider/Prince of Persia platforming, Indiana Jones concept and storyline, Gears of War cover system and third person shooting, etc.

But the game is fantastic and reviewed as a good game. I don't see why Castlevania Lords of Shadow should be criticized for basically doing what every game does, which is, copy or borrow ideas and elements from other good games.

Like the above posts says, SotN is basically Metroid with Castlevania. It also has RPG elements. Isn't THIS also borrowing from other games?

Which is why I keep saying how much I hate reviews that heavily criticizes good games that may have borrowed ideas from other sources. Singularity and Darksiders come to mind.

 

[Grecco]

These "its not castlevania" enough reviews seem dumb as hell.

 

[Phenomic]

So much hypocrisy. They complain that it's not original enough, yet Symphony of the Night, one of the most herald installments, took Castlevania and turned it into Metroid with RPG elements-- it was very easy, stripped away the challenge, stripped away the level based gameplay and was something pretty different compared to the original NES titles. It was a great game and earned its existence within the franchise but going into SOTN after such installments like Bloodlines and Dracula X, whichever were the more recent before SOTN, SOTN didn't feel very Castlevania to me at all but it was still really great. Why can't this game have that effect, considering that even despite the bitching that it's not "Castlevania enough" most of the reviews acknowledge that it is a very good, lengthy, enjoyable game?

It's not Castlevania enough, but it's still damn good! Describes the Metroidvanias fair and well.

What really gets me is they say it's not original... but yet many of the reviews say that it's not similar enough and doesn't feel like Castlevania which means to me that it is indeed more original, almost like they are talking in circles.

Now given they are comparing it to God of War when they say original but where else could anyone see this series going in 3D. I hate stigma like this, it happened with Dante's Inferno also. Always seems in the game world today you can't make a game similar to another game because you are not "original". New ideas are great but what's the point of doing something new if no one else can improve on the formula without taking heat for it.

 

[amstradcpc]

IGN review...uh...7.5?

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1124296p1.html

Same as Gamespot. Criticized it for not being Castlevania enough and borrowing too much from other games. Says at the end that he'd rather play a 2D traditional Castlevania instead.

Says it has framerate issues.

Clearly Mercury steam ( and japanese companies in general ) spend very little money in reviews...
Only by this demo to give the game less than a 8.5 talks negative things about today´s reviews world...

By the way, i recommend Gamesradar to read a GREATLY MADE review.

Where was IGN when talking about F1 2010 bugs ? ouch...

 

[brandonh83]

What really gets me is they say it's not original... but yet many of the reviews say that it's not similar enough and doesn't feel like Castlevania which means to me that it is indeed more original, almost like they are talking in circles.

Sites like IGN and Gamespot are notorious for reviewing games based on how innovative they are. You always see them tossing that word out like they invented it. If you're not Halo or Call of Duty or Rock Band you better have your shit ready to change the industry.

 

[Zeal]

I have not seen this many hater-infested, bullshit reviews in forever. Gamespot was basically laughed at and now IGN drops the ball with their "not Castlevania enough" hypocrisy.

Whatever. DAY 1.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Dante's Inferno is a fun game, and a decent God of War clone. Castlevania will be no different in most people's eyes. I even like Rygar, so people like me enjoy this type of game usually.

Dantes Inferno annoyed me. You know why?

Because it was a bloody good idea, and it was a game that should have been fantastic. Great IP. Great team(Dead Space), great art(outstanding) - Good premise.

Templars, holy wars, demons and hell, cowbells and monk chanting.. yet Dantes Inferno had so many fucking problems.

Fucking green orbs dude. I want to gorge out my own eyes when I saw them there. It was pointless and uninspired(I hate that word) in The Force Unleashed, but DI just makes me angry. That game was pointless. QTEs, and badly presented story.. I hated how they mixed the in-game cut scenes(looked like a youtube video) mixed with the 2d sprites and the CGI. The story was all over the place, it never felt cool. way to soon, it struck you against the real meat of the game. there was no gradual experience here. If you played the first 2 hours you had played the end of the game. RPG elements were tacked on, enemies were stupid and it was unsatisfying to kill, which is weird because the gore was wild. It was just boring. Not even slightly disturbing or interesting. Just dull. Pulling of random combos.

No! God of War was much better, because it didnt have these really bad elements. Story, music and the combo system and use of QTE. mostly everything was pretty well done. If its true that the weakest link decide the chain, then it was the editors who fucking killed DI, because a lot of shit in that game shouldnt have made the cut.


I'm not a action snob. But Dantes Inferno should have been amazing. It was such wasted potential. Imagine how much more cool it would have been, had it been in the hands of the Bayonetta team. that serious/dramatic poem IP, had been tangled with by crazy japanese developers who could take it really, really far out there into Visitor Q/ichi the killer medieval fantasy land. It would be glorious!

 

[TheKaeptain]

So can well just take a Fuck off "Journos" position like I did?

 

[HYDE]

So can well just take a Fuck off "Journos" position like I did?

I miss being a kid, and just buying a game because of the cool cover or the gold cartridge.:lol
I guarantee this game is going to kick ass, based on the cover alone.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Sites like IGN and Gamespot are notorious for reviewing games based on how innovative they are. You always see them tossing that word out like they invented it. If you're not Halo or Call of Duty or Rock Band you better have your shit ready to change the industry.

And they heavily praise sequels, even though they basically don't do anything new. Like Bioshock 2. They admit it's basically Bioshock 1, but they give it a 9, well, IGN did.

If they were consistent in their reviews, I would think that even sequels should be criticized for lacking innovation or not doing something new to improve the original.

 

[Hydrargyrus]

Clearly Mercury steam ( and japanese companies in general ) spend very little money in reviews...
Only by this demo to give the game less than a 8.5 talks negative things about today´s reviews world...

By the way, i recommend Gamesradar to read a GREATLY MADE review.

Mercury Steam are a spanish studio, not japanese

 

[AndyMoogle]

I'm going to buy the game, but I doubt it's going to be much more than a 7.5 in my book. Though looking at that IGN review it sounds like it's a really good game, but somehow it still gets decent scores instead of great.

 

[amstradcpc]

I miss being a kid, and just buying a game because of the cool cover or the gold cartridge.:lol
I guarantee this game is going to kick ass, based on the cover alone.

I made my best videogame purchase that way: match day 2!.

 

[Kagari]

Fuck, i preordered the 360 one with the 20$ game credit so now i cant fricken switch to the ps3 version since the credit got taken off. Plus my fricken prime membership expired so i would have to re-pay for shipping. ugh, luckily its just framerate though. If it was actual graphical features or resolution issues i would be more concerned. Im not a framerate hog, as long as it isnt horrible.

Also, all the big websites coming out and giving it 7's is really some bullshit. SInce the score seems consistent i guess ill have to reserve judgment for playing it myself. There must be some merit to what they say i guess, even though it saddens me

Maybe if you complain to amazon they'll adjust it for you.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm going to buy the game, but I doubt it's going to be much more than a 7.5 in my book. Though looking at that IGN review it sounds like it's a really good game, but somehow it still gets decent scores instead of great.

It's getting more 8's and 9's than 7's.

 

[~Kinggi~]

I'm going to buy the game, but I doubt it's going to be much more than a 7.5 in my book. Though looking at that IGN review it sounds like it's a really good game, but somehow it still gets decent scores instead of great.

Thing is these reviews are probably gonna cost the game about 500k in sales copies. They have a lot of pull like that. If the 7's came from the other sites giving out 8 and 9's it wouldnt be nearly the same impact.

 

[amstradcpc]

Mercury Steam are a spanish studio, not japanese

yes, but Kojima and konami are the producers. Mercury steam is a poor studio. They didn´t even money hated spanish press ( two 9s and 8,8 as far as i have read ), don´t talk about making it with the majors. Konami and Kojima neither.

 

[AndyMoogle]

From IGN:



http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1124315p2.html

Hm, I should have gone with the PS3 version then I guess. Oh well, I prefer the 360 controller so I'll just have to endure a slightly worse framerate.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Thing is these reviews are probably gonna cost the game about 500k in sales copies. They have a lot of pull like that. If the 7's came from the other sites giving out 8 and 9's it wouldnt be nearly the same impact.

Yeah. I think Hydro Thunder Hurricane lost like 100k in sales just because of IGN's review.

It deceived me. But turns out the game is really fun and good and I love it.

I expect the same with Castlevania LoS.

And this is just my personal opinion, but I think I'll love Castlevania LoS more than God of War III.

 

[brandonh83]

Thing is these reviews are probably gonna cost the game about 500k in sales copies.

I would certainly hope not.

 

[sdornan]

Not sure whether to cancel my pre-order or not. Doesn't seem quite as good as the early magazine scores led me to believe.

I don't understand all the review hate. Not agreeing with an opinion expressed in a review doesn't make that review wrong.

The GameTrailers review seemed pretty fair to me: long but somewhat poorly paced, confusing in some sections, filled with many fantastic moments, but also derivative of many other games.

 

[FrankT]

Yea it's like 8 from Eurogamer and 8 from Edge I guess there is a bit of expectation from the big US reviews to be higher, but IGN, Gametrailers and Gamespot(arguably the big 3 US review sites) are all in that 7 range.

 

[~Kinggi~]

I would certainly hope not.

With all the games coming out late this year, i figure since great reviews can propel a game into multi-million territory, then having a decent review can also cancel preorders. This is especially gonna sting if the big 3 decide to give Enslaved better scores, since it comes out the same day.

 

[NeoUltima]

Fuck, i preordered the 360 one with the 20$ game credit so now i cant fricken switch to the ps3 version since the credit got taken off. Plus my fricken prime membership expired so i would have to re-pay for shipping. ugh, luckily its just framerate though. If it was actual graphical features or resolution issues i would be more concerned. Im not a framerate hog, as long as it isnt horrible.

Also, all the big websites coming out and giving it 7's is really some bullshit. SInce the score seems consistent i guess ill have to reserve judgment for playing it myself. There must be some merit to what they say i guess, even though it saddens me

Shoot Amazon an email. I'm sure they will let you switch to the ps3 version.

 

[brandonh83]

Not sure whether to cancel my pre-order or not. Doesn't seem quite as good as the early magazine score led me to believe.

Please don't tell me you preordered a game just because a few magazines gave it a good review and are now thinking of cancelling it now because a couple more outlets like IGN and Gamespot, who shouldn't entirely be relied on for a source of great opinion, scored it like a point lower.

Seriously, please reassure me that my assumptions are false.

 

[sdornan]

With all the games coming out late this year, i figure since great reviews can propel a game into multi-million territory, then having a decent review can also cancel preorders. This is especially gonna sting if the big 3 decide to give Enslaved better scores, since it comes out the same day.

This game was never going to do multi-million levels of sales.

Please don't tell me you preordered a game just because a few magazines gave it a good review and are now thinking of cancelling it now because a couple more outlets like IGN and Gamespot, who shouldn't entirely be relied on for a source of great opinion, scored it like a point lower.

Seriously, please reassure me that my assumptions are false.

I'm relying on people who have played a game that I have never played to tell me whether it's good or not. Is that hard to fathom?

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Yea it's like 8 from Eurogamer and 8 from Edge I guess there is a bit of expectation from the big US reviews to be higher, but IGN, Gametrailers and Gamespot(arguably the big 3 US review sites) are all in that 7 range.

Game Informer gave it a 9 and we still need to wait for 1up.

 

[FrankT]

With all the games coming out late this year, i figure since great reviews can propel a game into multi-million territory, then having a decent review can also cancel preorders. This is especially gonna sting if the big 3 decide to give Enslaved better scores, since it comes out the same day.

And I had totally forgot about that game.......thanks.


It's kind of like what I believe was the Ubisoft CEO saying there is no room for just good games anymore. There is some truth in that statement.

 

[ZeroRay]

The only things mentioned in reviews that concerns me is the amount of filler the game gives you and platform mechanics.

I'd much rather take an amazing 12 hour amazing journey than a 20 trudge where I'm only enjoying myself half the time.

As for the platforming, we'll see. The gametrailers clips didn't inspire much confidence.

 

[Pooya]

I would certainly hope not.

IGN and Gamespot are probably most popular gaming websites out there, their scores are kinda big deal.

 

[LowParry]

Game Informer gave it a 9 and we still need to wait for 1up.

Don't forget Giantbomb. I like their reviews.

 

[Thrakier]

Don't like the demo. Feels like an uninspired GOW clone without the same quality in gameplay and graphics (probably story as well). I love the Castlevania Franchsie, so I'm pretty disapointed.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

This game was never going to do multi-million levels of sales.

It makes me sad to admit it, but I don't think the game is going to sell in God of War levels even though I hope it does.

I just hope it at least sells more than Dante's Inferno. I'd be pretty bummed out if DI ends up more successful than LoS.

And usually Castlevania sells more in the west, but I think just because it's from Kojima and his influence, it may do well in Japan.

 

[Phenomic]

This game was never going to do multi-million levels of sales.



I'm relying on people who have played a game that I have never played to tell me whether it's good or not. Is that hard to fathom?

I think more so he's trying to say that you shouldn't let the opinions of a few big websites represent more to you then opinions of the smaller magazines.

 

[brandonh83]

IGN and Gamespot are probably most popular gaming websites out there, their scores are kinda big deal.

You mean you're telling me that there are people who seriously base their purchasing decisions on IGN or Gamespot? Perhaps I should take my faith in humanity down to a 7.5

 

[LowParry]

I'm relying on people who have played a game that I have never played to tell me whether it's good or not. Is that hard to fathom?

Tell ya what. Wait a week. See what GAF says, then go and make that purchase or not. Savvy?

 

[Square Triangle]

This game is a visual treat. Very impressed with the visuals. The voice acting and music is great, even if it's not sharing much or anything from the previous Castlevania games. I really think reviews expected this to BE Symphony in 3D, totally off on the concept.

 

[sdornan]

Tell ya what. Wait a week. See what GAF says, then go and make that purchase or not. Savvy?

Then I miss out on the $20 Amazon credit. I'm either getting it day one or down the road when it's $30.

 

[Phenomic]

Then I miss out on the $20 Amazon credit. I'm either getting it day one or down the road when it's $30.

Gotta give a plug for this because despite issues in stores they have been good to games for the past few months. Kmart has a 20 dollar gaming coupon when you buy the game as well. That special should run all week and I don't see everyone running out to buy the game there necessarily so I don't think you will find that they run out of copies. You can wait a few days and see the general opinion from GAF is and then buy it a few days later... given you have a local Kmart store.