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[polyh3dron]

Now Final Fantasy XIII, that is a game with shallow sound.

This? No way.

 

[eso76]

you can see jaggies and framerate drops

Oh, that's good to hear.

huh ?




(yes, i know it sounded different in its context)

 

[dark10x]

I don't think the cutscenes are real time. At the very least they use different models. The model for the woman in the cutscene is much better than her ghostly one in-game.

Most of the cutscenes in the demo were realtime.

The first part of the "sitting by the fire" cutscenes with the vision of his wife was a video and the very very end of the demo (when it transitions to a book) was also a video. The rest was realtime.

 

[FrankT]

I'd lose my store credit when switching to the PS3 version. I could live with a slightly worse framerate but this freezing issue is going to annoy me.

Someone with a Twitter account should ask David Cox if there's ever going to be a patch for the 360 version.

You mean the one mentioned in the IGN review because that is a design and for both although they don't make that clear;

The pause is a design choice when you hit an enemy on both versions.

Though I agree they should patch it up as I'm inclined to push it off otherwise. Though if the demo had come this week I could decide if it was bearable or not. Hate blind buying something like this.

Hmm perhaps there is hope yet;

David Cox Twitter;

@BillyBrushXBL - The games are identical. The 360 review code had some issues with frame rates but not major and they are not in the final

Suppose I'll keep my pre-order based on this and I hope it is true. Rather not give up that $20 anyways.

 

[Despera]

David Cox via Twitter:-

I don't have a problem with Gamespot. The reviewer, at least played the game.

I would look at all the reviews good and bad and read the actual content of what they all had to say. Disregard the IGN one...

I got no problem with low reviews. A review is after all someones opinion but that is not a review of our game from IGN.

I kinda agree with him. IGN's review was weak, regardless of the final score.

 

[linkboy]

I've got the 360 version preordered from amazon and im just going to keep it. Vastly prefer the 360 controller.

 

[f@luS]

tried the ps3 demo

enjoyable game, fighting system
it looks great

but a lot of aliasing and horrendous framerate for sucha game. Its 30fps? even less sometimes

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

You know, I really don't care for David Cox at all. Pretty much the reason I (and many others) got off on a bad foot with this game is because of some of the shit he said. I actually have to deliberately separate him and his attitudes from Mercurysteam in my mind so as not to punish those guys (who clearly worked their asses off, I still can't believe how fucking beautiful this game is) for the way he's gone about things.

 

[brandonh83]

You know, I really don't care for David Cox at all. Pretty much the reason I (and many others) got off on a bad foot with this game is because of some of the shit he said. I actually have to deliberately separate him and his attitudes from Mercurysteam in my mind so as not to punish those guys (who clearly worked their asses off, I still can't believe how fucking beautiful this game is) for the way he's gone about things.

What happened? I didn't really follow him from the get-go.

 

[Fortinbras]

You mean the one mentioned in the IGN review because that is a design and for both although they don't make that clear

You can see these freezes in the Gamespot video. I hope these issues got fixed in the final build.

 

[Dascu]

What happened? I didn't really follow him from the get-go.

I'm personally annoyed how he constantly says the series is "going back to the roots", whereas everything I've seen so far is much more in line with the IGAvania approach to the series.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm personally annoyed how he constantly says the series is "going back to the roots", whereas everything I've seen so far is much more in line with the IGAvania approach to the series.

Opinion incoming, but I personally disagree, at least at this point after playing the demo. I think he's 100% spot-on about the game going back to the roots. There are things like EXP earning which was prevalent in Metroidvania titles and there are additional elements like upgrading and magic and things of that sort-- but the way you progress through the game is much closer to the 2D level-based platformers, only in 3D.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

What happened? I didn't really follow him from the get-go.

He kind of came out swinging right away at the IGAvanias and the fans of the IGAvanias, which wasn't good, and he certainly backtracked on that. He's made tons of empty promises and he's just totally come off as a guy that'll say anything if it gets people to buy the game, whether it's true or not.

It's even more baffling now in hindsight, because the game clearly has plenty to be proud of without having to make shit up or talk down other games.

 

[wind_steaker]

tried the demo and it seems like a decent game but I think the fact that I am currently playing Bayonetta has put a bit of a dampener on the fighting system for me. Graphics are gorgeous and I'll probably pick it up when I can afford it though

 

[burgerdog]

Emailed amazon to change my order from 360 to ps3, last game I bought for it was GoW3 so I need to use it for something other than blu-rays and reach stays in my 360.

 

[brandonh83]

He kind of came out swinging right away at the IGAvanias and the fans of the IGAvanias, which wasn't good, and he certainly backtracked on that. He's made tons of empty promises and he's just totally come off as a guy that'll say anything if it gets people to buy the game, whether it's true or not.

It's even more baffling now in hindsight, because the game clearly has plenty to be proud of without having to make shit up or talk down other games.

Yeah no one should have to fling shit like that. I guess for me though I was tired of the Metroidvanias and wanted something else so despite his immaturity about it I was kind of on board with his attitude :lol

that's not to say that I don't want more Metroidvanias, they're fun and rewarding in their own way but I am really glad we're getting this game, which seems to be more in line with the core fundamentals of the NES titles. it still may not be some amazing platformer that I would have liked, but I don't find too many of the Castlevania games to be amazing platformers. the NES games were too unforgiving in that regard but Castlevania IV was a lot nicer and I found that one to be a really good platformer.

 

[Dascu]

Opinion incoming, but I personally disagree, at least at this point after playing the demo. I think he's 100% spot-on about the game going back to the roots. There are things like EXP earning which was prevalent in Metroidvania titles and there are additional elements like upgrading and magic and things of that sort-- but the way you progress through the game is much closer to the 2D level-based platformers, only in 3D.

I'll give you the linear level design, but the combat, focus on story, revisiting areas for upgrades, fancy magic moves, separation of platforming/combat (oh how I love how much hate IGA got for having flat rooms/hallways with just a bunch of enemies, and now the praise this game is getting)... It's also not particularly nice to insult and turn your back on the gamers who have been keeping the franchise afloat for the past decade.

I hate to come across as some IGA fanboy, but Dave Cox is spewing PR bullshit and it has apparently worked.


I'll also take this chance to advertise Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth on WiiWare. This is classic Castlevania.

 

[dark10x]

David Cox via Twitter:-

I kinda agree with him. IGN's review was weak, regardless of the final score.

Yeah, while I hate to agree with him, the IGN review was a joke.

Some of the comments were stated without any real indication as to why. Regarding the story, for instance, he simply stated "the story does not follow Castlevania canon and is nothing special". That's it. Really?

I also dislike how focused the reviewer is on Metroidvania. His opinion basically boils down to "Metroidvania = Castlevania and this is not Metroidvania". He claims that there is nothing Castlevania here, but in his mind only Metroidvania can be classified as a Castlevania title.

It's just a shoddy review with very little real content. He just rattles off a few features, presents his opinion with precious little detail (basically "I liked this" or "I did not like that"), and then slaps a score on it. There is really no information here worth reading.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

It bugs me because there was a clear route for having *all* the Castlevania fans behind this game, which it frankly deserves, but instead he ended up splitting the fans and creating this atmosphere where this game had to prove itself as a Castlevania, which led to the posture some reviewers are taking, which David is *now* complaining about.

 

[brandonh83]

I'll give you the linear level design, but the combat, focus on story, revisiting areas for upgrades, fancy magic moves, separation of platforming/combat (oh how I love how much hate IGA got for having flat rooms/hallways with just a bunch of enemies, and now the praise this game is getting)... It's also not particularly nice to insult and turn your back on the gamers who have been keeping the franchise afloat for the past decade.

I hate to come across as some IGA fanboy, but Dave Cox is spewing PR bullshit and it has apparently worked.

I'll give you that, absolutely. One thing though, Iga's titles had a lot of copy/paste level design (mainly talking about the 3D ones though it exists in the Metroids as well) and I'm not seeing much in the way of that here. You're right that enemy combat seems to occur strictly in flat rooms, but my beef with Iga's games were the downright repeating environments. If this happens here I will bust a nut but no reviews are mentioning anything like that.

 

[Blimblim]

I just watched Gamespot's dreadful looking snow gameplay video, and indeed it looks like the game freezes slightly when an enemy gets killed, just like in the recent Zelda games. Please please please someone tell me it's a bug in the 360 build, and not by design. I friggin' HATE these freezes in Zelda games, and I refuse to buy any more games with these. It's not in the PS3 demo, and I sure hope they didn't add this since then.
I know it's crazy to not buy a game for this, but something about these freezes pisses me off like no other. Go figure.

 

[DenogginizerOS]

I have never been able to get into the previous Castlevania games. Yeah, I know. Having said that, I am extremely interested in this game. I am not sure how many people out there are like me and couldn't care less about all this Metroidvania/GoW talking points, but I do think there are a lot of people who are interested in this game because of Kojima's influence, the voice-talent, the music, and the gameplay videos.

 

[Dascu]

I'll give you that, absolutely. One thing though, Iga's titles had a lot of copy/paste level design (mainly talking about the 3D ones though it exists in the Metroids as well) and I'm not seeing much in the way of that here. You're right that enemy combat seems to occur strictly in flat rooms, but my beef with Iga's games were the downright repeating environments. If this happens here I will bust a nut but no reviews are mentioning anything like that.

From what I've seen, MercurySteam has done an amazing job in creating the world. The castle structures in particular look magnificent.

 

[dark10x]

I'll give you that, absolutely. One thing though, Iga's titles had a lot of copy/paste level design (mainly talking about the 3D ones though it exists in the Metroids as well) and I'm not seeing much in the way of that here. You're right that enemy combat seems to occur strictly in flat rooms, but my beef with Iga's games were the downright repeating environments. If this happens here I will bust a nut but no reviews are mentioning anything like that.

That was my issue as well. It's not so bad in 2D where you move quickly through the worlds, but his 3D Castlevania titles were simply reduced to a series of simplistic, repetitive rooms.

The level design did not feel anything like a real place that could have existed. It was just a copy and paste job with little to no traversal to experience.

I did not HATE the 3D CV titles last gen, but they were definitely uninspired. Simply having beautiful scenery to move through while fighting adds a tremendous amount of enjoyment to the experience. You are moving through a world rather than fighting the same battles over and over again in rooms which were copy and pasted. Those PS2 games were basically designed in 2D.

 

[Prime crotch]

Apart from the horse section, which was too constricted, I quite liked the demo out of all the recent Japanese IPs being handed to western developers I think this one struck gold.

As for the God of War comparisons, God of War itself is a Castlevania 3D with a different mythology.

 

[ACE 1991]

Apart from the horse section, which was too constricted, I quite liked the demo out of all the recent Japanese IPs being handed to western developers I think this one struck gold.

As for the God of War comparisons, God of War itself is a Castlevania 3D with a different mythology.

Huh?

 

[brandonh83]

From what I've seen, MercurySteam has done an amazing job in creating the world. The castle structures in particular look magnificent.

Yep. Let's just hope it keeps the variety going. My biggest complaint about the past 3D Castlevanias (sans CV64, darling never had this problem) was, as mentioned, the copy/paste level design. It's really bad. Bad enough to not make me want to ever replay them. My own prerequisites about this game, then, were: if the game fixes the repetitive environments, feels close enough to Castlevania to me, and has a good combat system, I'm game. All of these points seem to have come very true, particularly with the level design.

 

[burgerdog]

I just watched Gamespot's dreadful looking snow gameplay video, and indeed it looks like the game freezes slightly when an enemy gets killed, just like in the recent Zelda games. Please please please someone tell me it's a bug in the 360 build, and not by design. I friggin' HATE these freezes in Zelda games, and I refuse to buy any more games with these. It's not in the PS3 demo, and I sure hope they didn't add this since then.
I know it's crazy to not buy a game for this, but something about these freezes pisses me off like no other. Go figure.

If you look closely the freeze only happens sometimes, not every single time you kill an enemy. Regardless, the simple fact that it happens, be it frequent or infrequent was enough for me to change to the ps3 version.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I'll give you that, absolutely. One thing though, Iga's titles had a lot of copy/paste level design (mainly talking about the 3D ones though it exists in the Metroids as well) and I'm not seeing much in the way of that here. You're right that enemy combat seems to occur strictly in flat rooms, but my beef with Iga's games were the downright repeating environments. If this happens here I will bust a nut but no reviews are mentioning anything like that.

G'heh, this expression doesn't mean what you think it does.

 

[burgerdog]

G'heh, this expression doesn't mean what you think it does.

:lol :lol

 

[brandonh83]

G'heh, this expression doesn't mean what you think it does.

I meant it in my own way. Plus I just woke up :lol

I literally meant bust somebody's balls. like with a hammer.

 

[Despera]

G'heh, this expression doesn't mean what you think it does.

I knew someone was gonna point that out eventually :lol

 

[FrankT]

If you look closely the freeze only happens sometimes, not every single time you kill an enemy. Regardless, the simple fact that it happens, be it frequent or infrequent was enough for me to change to the ps3 version.

Oh so something entirely different from what the PS3 demo impressions people were mentioning then? Need to watch this GS video. Well I hope David Cox is being straight when he said the framerate issues are fixed in the 360 retail release then.

 

[brandonh83]

Poor wording.

If Lords of Shadow has repetitive level design I will smash their balls with Thor's hammer!

 

[Tiduz]

called the store - no CE for now. all is vague. every store.

 

[Dascu]

I literally meant bust somebody's balls. like with a hammer.

 

[burgerdog]

Oh so something entirely different from what the PS3 demo impressions people were mentioning then? Need to watch this GS video. Well I hope David Cox is being straight when he said the framerate issues are fixed in the 360 retail release then.

Yeah, it freezes for almost an entire second, it's really weird.

 

[Prime crotch]

Huh?

More than DMC the bigger influence on God of War were the Castlevania series, and particularly Lament of Innocence; it just so happened that God of War was a much better game.

 

[zlatko]

So any word yet if there is a "better" version out of the PS3 and 360?

I'm going to rent this when it comes out, but I don't want to possibly enter a Bayonetta situation.

 

[gutter_trash]

I don't like it

stuff about this game feel off, the fixed camera doing 180 switches during mini-boss fights can be annoying on the orientation

the lighting bothers me a bit, having black enemies juxtaposed on to dark wood in a rainy setting.. sometimes I would go ''where did the baddy go?'' he is right there lol

the game does not feel like Castlevania to me, I will re-try the demo again to see if it is an aquired taste

count me on the fence

 

[brandonh83]

More than DMC the bigger influence on God of War were the Castlevania series, and particularly Lament of Innocence; it just so happened that God of War was a much better game.

Be careful.

btw in the Gamespot video of the Titan's Graveyard you can hear the waterfall music. it's extremely subtle but it's there. I don't know if that's THE remix or just a couple of notes incorporated into another track, but it's pretty unmistakable.

 

[FrankT]

So any word yet if there is a "better" version out of the PS3 and 360?

I'm going to rent this when it comes out, but I don't want to possibly enter a Bayonetta situation.

PS3 has the better framerate based on review build though David Cox says the 360 FR issues are not in the retail version.

I don't like it

stuff about this game feel off, the fixed camera doing 180 switches during mini-boss fights can be annoying on the orientation

the lighting bothers me a bit, having black enemies juxtaposed on to dark wood in a rainy setting.. sometimes I would go ''where did the baddy go?'' he is right there lol

the game does not feel like Castlevania to me, I will re-try the demo again to see if it is an aquired taste

count me on the fence

Camera seems to be coming up a lot. Is it really that a big of an issue? I hope it feels right.

 

[Prime crotch]

Be careful.

With?

It's in "Revelations", people!

 

[brandonh83]

With?

It's in "Revelations", people!

I tried that argument a while back. Having people evacuate their asses on your face is not pleasant.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

It's okay, I'm sleepy and high on Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. I won't bite any crotches tonight, least of all Prime's.

 

[scently]

I just played the demo and the "freeze" also happens in it though it is not frequent.

It is also important to mention that this freeze also happens in most of the previews I have seen.

 

[dark10x]

PS3 has the better framerate based on review build though David Cox says the 360 FR issues are not in the retail version.

Is it wrong to see that and assume that it can't be true? PS3 ports these days almost always run slower on PS3. To find the opposite is surprising especially when talking about such a graphically impressive title. This game looks good enough to the point where I'd believe it was made specifically as a single platform game. It's first party quality for sure.

I'd like to know how certain effects are achieved. The motion blur, for instance, interests me. Aside from a couple of Sony games (UC2 and GOW3) and Crysis, this is the best looking motion blur I've seen in any game to date. I'd like to know what it took for them to implement that. It made early footage seem pre-rendered so I was quite surprised to discover that all of that was realtime. I wonder if they are using the SPUs on PS3 to handle some of those tasks. I feel that such quality blur would kill the RSX.

 

[FrankT]

Is it wrong to see that and assume that it can't be true? PS3 ports these days almost always run slower on PS3. To find the opposite is surprising especially when talking about such a graphically impressive title. This game looks good enough to the point where I'd believe it was made specifically as a single platform game. It's first party quality for sure.

I'd like to know how certain effects are achieved. The motion blur, for instance, interests me. Aside from a couple of Sony games (UC2 and GOW3) and Crysis, this is the best looking motion blur I've seen in any game to date. I'd like to know what it took for them to implement that. It made early footage seem pre-rendered so I was quite surprised to discover that all of that was realtime. I wonder if they are using the SPUs on PS3 to handle some of those tasks. I feel that such quality blur would kill the RSX.

Well certain advantages with not porting of course. This is generally true this gen I'd say. Can't wait to see this thing on my 360 though if it this top 5 this gen title.

 

[forrest]

I'm a big fan of immersive action adventure games so all of the talk about is it or is it not Castlevania are moot points for me. I played Castlevania as a child up until Castlevania 64, IV remains my personal favorite. I've tried to play various later iterations including SOTN, the 3d ps2 titles and a couple on DS. For some reason or another I've found in hard to really get into the games long enough to finish them. I did get pretty far in SOTN and enjoyed it quite a bit, just never finished. I'll probably revisit at some point.

I really thought the demo was a poor example of what this game will offer in the end. I played the demo back to back and WOW at the production values! Everything was really top notch in my opinion with only a few niggles towards performance. I really enjoyed the combat and with the talk of 40 additional fighting moves compounded with light/dark magic, secondary weapons and upgrades, it sounds like it could get quite deep. Judging from the demo and especially the gameplay trailer I'd say this game is well worth the price of admission.

 

[burgerdog]

Is it wrong to see that and assume that it can't be true? PS3 ports these days almost always run slower on PS3. To find the opposite is surprising especially when talking about such a graphically impressive title. This game looks good enough to the point where I'd believe it was made specifically as a single platform game. It's first party quality for sure.

I'd like to know how certain effects are achieved. The motion blur, for instance, interests me. Aside from a couple of Sony games (UC2 and GOW3) and Crysis, this is the best looking motion blur I've seen in any game to date. I'd like to know what it took for them to implement that. It made early footage seem pre-rendered so I was quite surprised to discover that all of that was realtime. I wonder if they are using the SPUs on PS3 to handle some of those tasks. I feel that such quality blur would kill the RSX.

Booo, don't say that. I just got Amazon to change my order from 360 to ps3. If by some miracle the 360 version ends up being better I'm going to be pissed.