Support NeoGAF

[Gazel Ministry]

Just got done trying the demo. The game is gorgeous! Combat is okay, serviceable to say the least. At least it has a dodge and counter/guard mechanic. I really, really can't wait to pick my copy up on Tuesday!!!

 

[brandonh83]

It's probably the best looking Konami game ever made. Simply stunning graphics. Amazing that a shitty team from Spain got this kind of budget or even has this kind of talent. Jericho is a fugly mess of a game. This is like top 5 of the generation.

did the framerate hinder your combat or stop you from executing attacks as well as you could have had the game been 71fps?

 

[Y2Kev]

Jericho looked decent on PC and did feature great motion blur as well. It was nowhere near this inspired. Amazing that this totally blows away everything else in Konami's stable.

What doesn't look good on PC? Dead rising 2 lul

did the framerate hinder your combat or stop you from executing attacks as well as you could have had the game been 71fps?

No. I definitely noticed it was slow in a spot or two but the low end of the average is definitely from the cutscene stuff.

I WANT THIS GAME OMGGG

 

[metareferential]

This is like top 5 of the generation.

Wow.

Now I need to try that demo. And preorder the game.

I'm a graphic whore confirmed!

 

[burgerdog]

What other high-profile games has Konami released this gen? Other than MGS4, I have no idea what else they have released on HD consoles.

 

[neojubei]

Rising team better deliver. :lol

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Y2Kev]

What other high-profile games has Konami released this gen? Other than MGS4, I have no idea what else they have released on HD consoles.

Silent Hill Homecoming.

LUCHA LIBRE: HEROES DEL RING

 

[jett]

the graphics are PHENOMENAL and the art is incredible. god, the book moving at 60 fps should demonstrate to everyone why 60 fps is the bestest

You can see some scenes running at 60fps in this trailer:

http://gamersyde.com/news_e3_castlevania_lords_of_shadow_trailer-9563_en.html

This trailer made me think the game was gonna run at 60fps. :| Probably taken from a PC build or something.

 

[Despera]

Silent Hill Homecoming.

LUCHA LIBRE: HEROES DEL RING

Don't forget Otomedius Excellent :lol

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

As I said earlier in this thread about Jericho. With all its faults, I saw the talent that Mercury Steam had in the game. It was just limited and restricted by the game's budget and mediocre story/concept.

I thought it was better than most low-budgeted games, like a amazing comic book penciler that teamed up with a bad writer, colorist, and inker for a independent comic book, if that makes sense.

 

[Grecco]

What other high-profile games has Konami released this gen? Other than MGS4, I have no idea what else they have released on HD consoles.

Rock Revolution?


(I got nothing)

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

And Winning 11.

Come to think of it, Konami hasn't released many console games this gen at all.

 

[Solune]

OMG That was AWESOME

fantastic combat. when you hit an enemy, you really feel lt. it's like BAM. launching the wolves into the air and then taking on three at once in the air is great when they all en dwith a blood splatter and gabriel comes crashing down to the ground with a guillotine.

the framerate in the non-interactive stuff is crap, but there is nice animation variation.

the graphics are PHENOMENAL and the art is incredible. god, the book moving at 60 fps should demonstrate to everyone why 60 fps is the bestest

sound mix is superb. day -1.

HYPE HYPE HYPE. Notice how Y2Kev DOESN'T mention ANYWHERE about this not feeling like a Castlevania game?

 

[Teknoman]

oh someone gave a game you're anticipating a less than ideal score, here we go with pages and pages bitching about the score with no real viable critique of why the reviews themselves are bad. This is why reviews are so awful, people. Because fans like the ones in this topic don't bother themselves to read, they get their dick in a twist the second a game they want isn't scored exactly the way they wanted.

What's wrong with people pointing out its less than stellar combat system or the abysmal framerate and docking the game accordingly? What's wrong with expecting a Castlevania game to be a little Castlevania-y?

In any event, 7.5 isn't even a BAD score, so seriously fucking christ.

It don't matter to me - I canceled my order after I read about the framerate - but it's so irritating every major game that comes out this is the order of things. Fanboy whining about the score (probably only .2 off the score they think the game should have) meanwhile none of the fanboys have played the game and none of them really have any ground to refute a damn thing.

Is the retail framerate that bad, or is it a drop here and there? As long as the framerate seems like a solid 30 most of the time, i'm good. Its not hyper fast action or anything. If its near 60, even better.

Eh hate to hear that then. Choices, choices.



Is this what someone was talkng about earlier from the PS3 demo?




Weird they left it the same.

Theres no small instant killable enemies in the E3 demo (well you can explode wolves with daggers, but no instant kill throw).

 

[Y2Kev]

I thought it felt just like Castlevania actually. I mean, I've played pretty much every CV game. The rainy town reminds me of Cordoba Town in Curse of Darkness or the horse stables in SCIV (though not so much the town on fire in Rondo, too dark), and riding on the horse through the woods reminds me a ton of SotN.

I don't know what the rest of the game is like, but "Castlevania in name only" is strange to me. It just needs to feel all gothic and have bats n shii

 

[TheKaeptain]

Still downloading. My internet has been sucking this past week.

At least I get to catch up with Glee while waiting...

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

I thought it felt just like Castlevania actually. I mean, I've played pretty much every CV game. The rainy town reminds me of Cordoba Town in Curse of Darkness or the horse stables in SCIV (though not so much the town on fire in Rondo, too dark), and riding on the horse through the woods reminds me a ton of SotN.

I don't know what the rest of the game is like, but "Castlevania in name only" is strange to me. It just needs to feel all gothic and have bats n shii

I know Mercury Steam said they heavily used the first Castlevania game and I think Castlevania IV as their inspiration.

Maybe IGN and Gamespot meant that it's not SotN enough!

 

[truly101]

Its okay to buy a game that gets a 7.5 and enjoy it. I've done it several times.

 

[Y2Kev]

I know Mercury Steam heavily used the first Castlevania game and I think Castlevania IV as their inspiration.

Maybe IGN and Gamespot meant that it's not SotN enough!

Well in gameplay or in art...cause it's kinda a nice mix between Behemoth Belmont and Kojima Belmont. I mean it's closer to SotN that Portrait of Ruin's art was.

 

[FrankT]

But does it have that soundtrack. Now that is Castlevania then, bats and all.

 

[Chojin]

::can't stop laughing::

 

[Teknoman]

I thought it felt just like Castlevania actually. I mean, I've played pretty much every CV game. The rainy town reminds me of Cordoba Town in Curse of Darkness or the horse stables in SCIV (though not so much the town on fire in Rondo, too dark), and riding on the horse through the woods reminds me a ton of SotN.

I don't know what the rest of the game is like, but "Castlevania in name only" is strange to me. It just needs to feel all gothic and have bats n shii

Thank you. Looking forward to seeing flying heads in the clockwork tower later on.

EDIT: And yeah, got shades of CV map progression after the demo.

Mind you in the retail version, seems like alot of stuff happens before this point, so you'll have a few different moves + shadow/light magic skills to use (looking at the same scene in the review videos).

I cant wait to hear more tracks, since I cant get the main trailer theme out of my head.

 

[razorman]

Is the cutscene when Gabriel wakes up in the forest in the morning real time?! It looks so beautiful.

 

[brandonh83]

I cant wait to hear more tracks, since I cant get the main trailer theme out of my head.

Gabriel has a beautiful, memorable theme.

Maybe IGN and Gamespot meant that it's not SotN enough!

I know you posted that in a joking manner, but you really shouldn't have.

 

[Solune]

I thought it felt just like Castlevania actually. I mean, I've played pretty much every CV game. The rainy town reminds me of Cordoba Town in Curse of Darkness or the horse stables in SCIV (though not so much the town on fire in Rondo, too dark), and riding on the horse through the woods reminds me a ton of SotN.

I don't know what the rest of the game is like, but "Castlevania in name only" is strange to me. It just needs to feel all gothic and have bats n shii

That's exactly how I feel. I don't know where people have these predisposed notions of how Castlevania should be. I won't make an extremely tl;dr post but some people just can't be pleased about a 3D castlevania and honestly I'd be surprised if they could do a better job. For me, you play as a Belmont you have a freaking whip, it's no Vampire Killer but the Combat Cross sure as hell gets the job done.

 

[truly101]

::can't stop laughing::

Its fucking Shannon Doherty. She's to blame for the 7.5, she fucks up everything she touches.

 

[Teknoman]

That's exactly how I feel. I don't know where people have these predisposed notions of how Castlevania should be. I won't make an extremely tl;dr post but some people just can't be pleased about a 3D castlevania and honestly I'd be surprised if they could do a better job. For me, you play as a Belmont you have a freaking whip, it's no Vampire Killer but the Combat Cross sure as hell gets the job done.

By the end of the game I bet we get to change the hilt/whip and it becomes Vampire Killer, especially since it lets you move the cursor to either section in the menu.

Also i'm thinking those chupacabra = fleamen.

 

[x3sphere]

Does the soundtrack for this contain any arrangements from previous CV titles? I sure hope at least Vampire Killer is in there.

 

[Diebuster]

Good god this game looks amazing. I really liked the demo, but I can see the camera getting problematic later on, I hope it's not too big of an issue.

 

[RavenFox]

Of note: the PS3 version supports 7.1 audio. Definitely worth noting. Game sounds quite amazing, in fact.

That's like the norm on PS3 these days. F1 2010 supports EGO 3D 7.1 [HDMI 1.3 spec]

 

[SublimeO12]

i just pulled the trigger on the LE from amazon. Anyone know if the game supports switching the VO to japanese?

 

[brandonh83]

That's exactly how I feel. I don't know where people have these predisposed notions of how Castlevania should be. I won't make an extremely tl;dr post but some people just can't be pleased about a 3D castlevania and honestly I'd be surprised if they could do a better job. For me, you play as a Belmont you have a freaking whip, it's no Vampire Killer but the Combat Cross sure as hell gets the job done.

There have been plenty of Castlevania games, but the original started it all, and the original consisted of a Belmont character progressing from level to level in environments and fighting enemies and bosses inspired by popular horror mythos. That's it. You move forward, strike enemies down with a whip, get knocked repeatedly into holes by ravens and medusa heads and so forth, all against the backdrop of gothic horror environments.

I absolutely fail to see how Lords of Shadow is soooo different from that basic premise aside from it being in 3D and potentially without being repeatedly knocked back into holes. The series has had plenty of changes over the years and while Shadow brings in some of the subtle RPG elements like hit points and a few other things, I would say the game is closer in spirit and style to the original NES games than the Metroidvanias were. No, I'm not suddenly dissing on the Metroidvanias in favor of defending this game; I love those games with a passion. I'm just saying that if you want to argue change, the Metroidvanias arguably changed more about CV formula than Shadow looks to.

Does the soundtrack for this contain any arrangements from previous CV titles? I sure hope at least Vampire Killer is in there.

Read the OP. Actually I'll save you some time: yes. Vampire Killer is in the game.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

::can't stop laughing::

They misspelled boobs, it seems.

 

[Teknoman]

Does the soundtrack for this contain any arrangements from previous CV titles? I sure hope at least Vampire Killer is in there.

That and the Waterfall area theme from CV IV are supposed to be in at some point.

 

[brandonh83]

That and the Waterfall area theme from CV IV are supposed to be in at some point.

There are probably going to be other very subtle hints of other tracks too, I know that when I play the game my ears are going to be extremely attentive.

 

[Kittonwy]

The demo looked great, great production values all around, the basic attacks they've got right, not quite on the blocks or the grabs, but combat is more than serviceable and fun enough, definitely liked it more than the Enslaved demo which I thought was dogshit in terms of gameplay.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

Of note: the PS3 version supports 7.1 audio. Definitely worth noting. Game sounds quite amazing, in fact.

Ohhhhhhh, baby!

 

[brandonh83]

The demo looked great, great production values all around, the basic attacks they've got right, not quite on the blocks or the grabs, but combat is more than serviceable, definitely liked it more than the Enslaved demo which I thought was dogshit in terms of gameplay.

heh, yeah, something about Enslaved felt very "automatic" but I'm hoping the final product is better. I liked that demo but I really don't like the way the main character looks. just a very off-putting design. anyway, glad you liked the demo! I was honestly expecting otherwise :lol

 

[Simo]

i just pulled the trigger on the LE from amazon. Anyone know if the game supports switching the VO to japanese?

It doesn't. Euro/US version was completed before the Japanese VO was cast which is why Japan doesn't get the game until December.

 

[metareferential]

Pre-ordered the game, 30 £ is an incredible deal, if we consider that in stores I'll end up paying double that price where I live.

Still need to play the demo xD

 

[Teknoman]

There are probably going to be other very subtle hints of other tracks too, I know that when I play the game my ears are going to be extremely attentive.

Heres hoping the classic themes actually play during stage areas, and not just subtle hints during cutscenes.

 

[JohngPR]

What about Dracula's Curse or Rondo of Blood? Or even Bloodlines, which is preferred by the odd few.

No, I wrote off a lot of series after 1-2 iterations when I was a kid. :lol

I planned to get SOTN when it was on sale on PSN but the sale ended before I got the chance.

 

[rockman zx]

Love the demo minus the total absence of AA and WTF, why they choose L2 to block?, nothing makes more sense and feels more comfortable than L1 to block, like in Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I hope we can change the button configuration on the retail version.

 

[Teknoman]

No, I wrote off a lot of series after 1-2 iterations when I was a kid. :lol

I planned to get SOTN when it was on sale on PSN but the sale ended before I got the chance.

You need to play III, IV, Rondo, and Symphony of the Night at least.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I wish I knew what to do about that framerate. If the final game is like the demo, it's going to make me sick to play it. On the other hand, most of you guys didn't have any trouble with it, so it's not like you can tell me if the final game is okay.

Oh well, I'm buying it either way, because it's Castlevania, but I really wish publishers would release demos that are more indicative of the final product. They're not really very useful if they're several months old.

 

[Flavius]

As I said earlier in this thread about Jericho. With all its faults, I saw the talent that Mercury Steam had in the game. It was just limited and restricted by the game's budget and mediocre story/concept.

I thought it was better than most low-budgeted games, like a amazing comic book penciler that teamed up with a bad writer, colorist, and inker for a independent comic book, if that makes sense.

What if?...Rob Liefeld had Scott Williams murdered and convinced Jim Lee to let Rob ink his work?

Sorry for the OOD reference...haven't followed comics since the early 90's crash (but I still dig your analogy).

 

[Vrakanox]

You need to play III, IV, Rondo, and Symphony of the Night at least.

This. SotN is a must for any gamer but that's just like my opinion man.

 

[To Far Away Times]

This. SotN is a must for any gamer but that's just like my opinion man.

You might as well hand in your gamer card if you haven't played SotN. You can reclaim it after you clear the inverted castle.

 

[Keikoku]

Rondo of blood is a terrible game.

 

[Teknoman]

I wish I knew what to do about that framerate. If the final game is like the demo, it's going to make me sick to play it. On the other hand, most of you guys didn't have any trouble with it, so it's not like you can tell me if the final game is okay.

Oh well, I'm buying it either way, because it's Castlevania, but I really wish publishers would release demos that are more indicative of the final product. They're not really very useful if they're several months old.

Well the retail version is supposed to be alot better albeit with some drops here and there. But yeah, dunno why they thought it would be a good idea to release the E3 version of the demo...especially since I think theres been a few demo builds since then.