Why would anyone join the Brotherhood of Light? Wherever you go in the world, there is guaranteed to be some dead members just lying around. :lol
Just beat Ch. 11. The
SOTC-esque
battle at the end was suitably epic.
Also, a lot easier than the other two since there weren't any random arms reaching to knock you off if you weren't in a predetermined safe zone. Take away that annoying crap but keep infinite grip and it's just a bit tedious.
doing the first phase without using any magic. The second phase becomes cake if you have enough magic.
Then again, I'm playing on the normal difficulty.
It's helpful to know that you don't need to finish a level after you pick up a gem or a weapon upgrade. Just change to another level. Your progress in the level (health gained or lost, magic gained or lost) will revert back to what it was before you entered that level, but you'll still have the upgrade. Same goes for dying after getting a gem or weapon upgrade.
Ugh having a rough time with some normal enemies. Chapter X/Maybe 11? I can't remember:
Those coffin things on that island where you have to get the last piece to move the titan so you can get closer to the center arena...yea, fighting 3 of those in a tight ass space is no fucking fun. Doesn't help that I only have a quarter health and no god damn magic. Awesome!
Just finished the game, massive spoilers below, don't read unless you've finished the game. Just my impressions(rant).
Satan as the last boss fight, really? I could tell they were setting up Gabriel to become Dracula but then they switched it to a modern setting as well, so much fucking with the Castlevania story. I was so happy with the game up until that final boss fight and the ending. I kinda want to pretend those didn't happen, really disappointed with how they handled the games two decades worth of history even though it's not canon. Making a Belmont into Dracula was really disappointing as well as the modern twist.
First of all, Satan suddenly being the final boss is utter nonsense. He has never been represented as a villain in any CV game. I get the fallen angel theme with the Lords of Shadow that's been going on, but come on. And you actually beat him? Gabriel Belmont beats the devil himself? Nonsense. Should've kept Zobek/Death as the final boss instead of having a bizarre twist like that. Then the post-credits cutscene. Now, Gabriel becoming Dracula isn't such a drastic twist. LoI and AoS dealt with similar themes. It's the change that I don't get. At the end of the game, it seemed as if he had come to peace with Marie's death. Next time you see him he's suddenly Nosferatu himself without any explanation why or how. Oh, and the man who made him kill his wife and who was supposedly killed by Satan himself suddenly shows up again? The ending sets up for a "Castlevania" game in modern times with Dracula as the protagonist and Satan as the antagonist. I'm sorry, but that's threading away from the series' canon way too much.
The games have always been about vampire hunters versus Dracula, usually with the game set inside Dracula's castle. The name of the series itself, Castlevania/Akumajou Dracula (Demon Castle Dracula) implies this. I don't mind reboots or re-imaginings but this is just not being true to the very title of your game itself.
So:
- The general gameplay isn't quite like the old 2D ones (the combos and separation combat/platforming/puzzle rooms is more akin to the IGAvanias).
- A lot of the enemies and bosses are not like their classic counterparts but are just general medieval fantasy.
- That aside, it's missing a lot of series' staples like medusa heads, bone-throwing skeletons, axe knights, etc.
- 2/3rds of the game take place in areas that have nothing to do with vampires or a castle.
- Main villain has nothing to do with Dracula. In fact, Dracula is technically not even present in the game and Zobek/Death isn't anything like the usual representation. You don't even fight him.
- The story, in my opinion, is rather terrible. Though it's a shame because if they had just changed a few things (don't introduce Satan, drop the last cutscene), it would've been OK. Patrick Stewart's monologues and ramblings could've been shortened a bit though.
- And as said above, it sets up for a sequel that has even LESS to do with Castlevania. It's ballsy though and I do like them for that.
I think MercurySteam went a little bit too far. They've thrown several elements of what I consider "essential Castlevania" out of the window. That said, I do wish they get another shot. Improve your engine, try to work on the platforming/combat, fix up the framerate and camera and design your puzzles a little bit better. For the next game they might be better off explaining why/how Gabriel turned into Dracula and have him fight a Belmont, instead of going with the modern Dracula versus Satan approach.
I just started Chapter 3. I was really hyped for this, but I'm beginning to get disappointed. Maybe someone can help me, but I feel like there is a lag between the time you press a button and when the action actually occurs in the game. This makes it where you have to predict every thing. For example, if I want to jump on spot X, I need to press the jump button a split second before I get there. This particularly becomes a problem when you're trying to time your blocks right to go into slow motion. Am I doing something wrong or is there a trick to getting the combat down?
Yeah, difficulty is no joke. I got frustrated with the chapter 3 boss and bumped it down to easy just to clear it. Figure I'll go back later on Knight for everything in an attempt to redeem myself for being lame there.
Mostly enjoying the game. Still doesn't feel or remind me of Castlevania very much (stopped at the beginning of chapter 4), but it's fun when it isn't frustrating (the parts where you have to explore the stages, to this point, are often very annoying). I dig the combat. Framerate is all over the place (sometimes amazingly smooth and sometimes the opposite) but the graphics as a whole are very impressive.
My music bugged out at one point and I turned on some old school CV music I had on the PS3 already, and while it certainly didn't fit the tone it did make it a lot more exciting and fun for a short time. Will definitely be doing that when I go back looking for secrets and items I missed, and on harder difficulties.
doing the first phase without using any magic. The second phase becomes cake if you have enough magic.
Then again, I'm playing on the normal difficulty.
It's helpful to know that you don't need to finish a level after you pick up a gem or a weapon upgrade. Just change to another level. Your progress in the level (health gained or lost, magic gained or lost) will revert back to what it was before you entered that level, but you'll still have the upgrade. Same goes for dying after getting a gem or weapon upgrade.
I found it a great decision. In GoW, I nearly never block, only dodge. Why? Because you have two radically different control (shoulder button, right analog) with a similar objective (avoid being hitted). So in the end you use only one. Dodge, because it avoid all the attacks, even the specials.
With L2 to block, and then analog, I alternate between block and dodge. I block to prevent the attack and, then, if I see that the attack is special, i simple "move", keeping L2 pressed.
I found it a great decision. In GoW, I nearly never block, only dodge. Why? Because you have two radically different control (shoulder button, right analog) with a similar objective (avoid being hitted). So in the end you use only one. Dodge, because it avoid all the attacks, even the specials.
With L2 to block, and then analog, I alternate between block and dodge. I block to prevent the attack and, then, if I see that the attack is special, i simple "move", keeping L2 pressed.
But that's my problem, during fights ik keep moving, thus keep pressing the left stick in a direction, and when I want to block I have to let go of the left stick because otherwise I would roll.
I'm really tempted to get this game but I need suggestions.
I loved the metroidvanias, I hated the 3D iterations up to know.
I'd rather get it if it's exploration focused rather than combat focused (GoW style).
Should I get it?
I'm really tempted to get this game but I need suggestions.
I loved the metroidvanias, I hated the 3D iterations up to know.
I'd rather get it if it's exploration focused rather than combat focused (GoW style).
Should I get it?
I'm not sure if it's accurate or not but I felt the game was either a 50/50 split between combat and exploration or 60/40 split in favor of exploration. You're definitely not fighting as often as something like Bayonetta.
It's how Ninja Gaiden works. I think it's a great system as well since if allows you to be defensive while immediately dodging when necessary. You also get to keep your thumbs on the face buttons.
Dunno.. an orange symbol comes up every time it auto-saves. If you weren't far enough into the stage you'd have to start from the beginning but the saves are pretty frequent, at least every couple of minutes.
Unless you quit out to load an earlier stage? If you leave the stage from the world map you lose all progress in it.
Ledsen said:
It's not combat focused at all, it's mostly running in a straight line that sometimes splits in two. Basically it's back to the series roots.
I think you guys are underplaying it. It sounds like he really, really doesn't like 3D combat and there's plenty of it in LoS and it ain't easy, either. It's not wall-to-wall Ninja Gaiden action, but if you don't like it that's at least half the game out the window. Metroidvania and LoS combat have nothing in common, at all. I think he should probably rent first.
I'm really tempted to get this game but I need suggestions.
I loved the metroidvanias, I hated the 3D iterations up to know.
I'd rather get it if it's exploration focused rather than combat focused (GoW style).
Should I get it?
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I liked GoW 3 a lot, I just don't want to play another GoW in disguise.
I cherish the day I'll play a 3D castlevania with the same complexity and feeling of the Metroidvanias.
Dunno.. an orange symbol comes up every time it auto-saves. If you weren't far enough into the stage you'd have to start from the beginning but the saves are pretty frequent, at least every couple of minutes.
Unless you quit out to load an earlier stage? If you leave the stage from the world map you lose all progress in it.
I think you guys are underplaying it. It sounds like he really, really doesn't like 3D combat and there's plenty of it in LoS and it ain't easy, either. It's not wall-to-wall Ninja Gaiden action, but if you don't like it that's at least half the game out the window. Metroidvania and LoS combat have nothing in common, at all. I think he should probably rent first.
Just finished Chapter 3 this morning and went to do some back tracking. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game.
- On one hand, the graphics are amazing but I feel they're held back by the shaky camera and erratic framerate.
- I also feel like the camera is zoomed out too far for a lot of combat. This makes it hard to see when an enemy is attacking especially when you take into consideration a lot of them can hit you from a distance. It makes it difficult to build up your attack meter.
- The controls aren't as responsive as I'd like. I see now why companies like Nintendo or Team Ninja build their games around the controls. In this case it seems like they were tacked on after the fact. There seems to be a delay whenever you press a button so you have to predict what enemies are going to do and then press your buttons a split second ahead of time. This makes it really hard to pull of synchronized blocks.
- Some of the voice acting is irritating, particularly when you're being told what to do or when a boss won't shut up and keeps repeating the same lines over and over. This is exasperated by often having to repeat fights over and over until you figure out how to defeat them. I guess repetition in general is a bit much in some sections.
- The way you collect orbs to replenish your magic is lame. Why can you run over sub-weapons to restore them automatically but not magic? It seems unnecessary and breaks the gameplay during fight sequences. I'd rather them just give you one big magic meter and divide it between the two variations.
- On a more positive note, I'm liking the way you level up. It seems like you keep getting more and more powerful. I wasn't expecting some of the upgrades I've gotten and I like the way they encourage you to backtrack and defeat enemies to buy new upgrades. Too bad the combat feels off or else it would have been a lot more rewarding.
- The game has a lot more adventure elements than I was expecting. It also has a lot of fantasy in it which traditionally hasn't been in Castlevania games, but I'm enjoying it for what it is.
- There are some nods to other Castlevania games.
So far Renaldo Gandolfi (Lament of Innocence) and Cornell (Legacy of Darkness) come to mind if only in name/reference.
I'm enjoying the game, but I find there's a lot of trial and error that's unnecessary mainly because of controls. Some of the constant camera panning not only cause you to change directions (which really sucks in the middle of a boss fight) but is also nausea inducing for me. Thank goodness the game is divided up into several small chunks. Despite the problems I still want to keep going because it does have some charm to it. I can see why people would be put off that it pulls alot of ideas from 3 Sony games - God of War, Uncharted and Shadow of the Colossus. I does seem to be a bit overkill, because so far the best parts of the game for me are leveling up and unlocking new items. This is what makes it unique to other games so hopefully they put more focus on that in the future. I'd like to see a game like this again with the combat and platforming a little more thought out as well as a better framerate and camera. I've only scratched the surface on the game, but I get the feeling these problems aren't going away, you just have to deal with them. Hopefully they fix them next time.
The combat controls more like NG than GoW. They're pretty much exactly like NG actually. There's also dead soldiers all around the levels that have story clues or extra items to help you on your journey. It plays more like NG but looks more like GoW.
I'm really enjoying this, but feel that the game can't make up it's mind about whether it wants to tell you how to do everything, or if it wants you to use visual clues and figure it out on your own. One example; there was a bossfight early on where the game brings up a message telling you that you should dodge, yet when that sequence comes around again there's no cue - I was waiting for it to come up "press l2 + direction" again, so instead I just got swatted, but if it hadn't bothered to indicate that I should dodge in the first place I probably would've been paying more attention to the visual clues that indicate the boss is about to strike and figured out when to dodge on my own. As you progress, the boss attempts to squash you and you have to perform a sideways jump while gripping a ledge, yet the game this time decides not to inform you. Then there's a section where you have to scale around and when the boss tries to shake you off hold r2 to maintain your grip - at this point I decided to ignore the message and use the boss's movements to indicate when I should grip, but quickly discovered that no matter how much the boss thrashed about, the only time I could potentially lose my grip was when the 'hold r2' message was displayed on screen. So yeah, awesome game - just wish they'd pick whether they want to tell me how to do everything, or leave me to my own devices.
Dunno.. an orange symbol comes up every time it auto-saves. If you weren't far enough into the stage you'd have to start from the beginning but the saves are pretty frequent, at least every couple of minutes.
Unless you quit out to load an earlier stage? If you leave the stage from the world map you lose all progress in it.
I think you guys are underplaying it. It sounds like he really, really doesn't like 3D combat and there's plenty of it in LoS and it ain't easy, either. It's not wall-to-wall Ninja Gaiden action, but if you don't like it that's at least half the game out the window. Metroidvania and LoS combat have nothing in common, at all. I think he should probably rent first.
I thought that the saving "checkpoints" mid level do not start you off there if you quit, but it's only saving your position for restarting from checkpoint. I dunno, I've been playing levels all the way to the end for fear of losing my in-level progress. Would be great if I actually don't have to do that.
