• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow |OT| The MercurySteam has Vanquished the Horrible Night

LaneDS said:
Is Castlevania even in the game? Will be a shame if the title is now meaningless

Uh Castlevania isn't an actual place within the Castlevania series. There's just Dracula's Castle.
 

MadOdorMachine

No additional functions
luka said:
People who are just dodging instead of countering are completely missing out on the most enjoyable and rewarding part of the combat system. :(
I'm trying to get it down, but it seems hit and miss for me. I don't know if it's the framerate causing it or just the way the game was designed, but there seems to be some latency when pressing L2 to block. It isn't a responsive as games like NG so you have to anticipate what the enemy is going to do. The combat in general is a bit sluggish. It seems like canceling a combo to go into a block isn't as responsive as it should be either. I'm liking the game though. I just unlocked Chapter 4, but I'm back tracking picking up all the power ups I missed first. It's a shame that completing the trials don't unlock something besides achievements/trophies.
 

TEJ

Member
Just started chapter 6, and I noticed that some breakable walls cannot be broken with charged punching/holding down L1 with dark magic and moving. Are there any other techniques I should be using, or some move/item I will be getting later on?
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Fimbulvetr said:
Uh Castlevania isn't an actual place within the Castlevania series. There's just Dracula's Castle.

Isn't Castlevania just a portmanteau of the words castle and Transylvania? I seem to remember reading somewhere that they just combined those two words to find an English title for the first game.
 

Solune

Member
I don't know why people keep saying combat gets repetitive, the same can be said of alot of action games that have recently come out.
In Castlevania it's the same, you reap what you sow. There's alot of variety to the actions you can do, it's up to the player how to maximize the potential.
This is especially true once you acquire relics later in the game and unlock the relic powers.
 

reminder

Member
Wtf, i had to switch to the easiest difficulty setting in chapter 2. Am i really that bad or is this game that hard? :lol I never had to switch the difficulty settings in the God of War games (except for the last fight in the first one...). Still love the game, though. :D
 

Tom Penny

Member
Throwing thing back = lamest game mechanic ever. Hit or miss bullshit. For every good thing the game does it has dumb as shit like then more than once. Stupid.
 

TEJ

Member
reminder said:
Wtf, i had to switch to the easiest difficulty setting in chapter 2. Am i really that bad or is this game that hard? :lol I never had to switch the difficulty settings in the God of War games (except for the last fight in the first one...).

The game can get hard. It's probably a throwback to when Castlevania titles used to be a good challenge.
 

LaneDS

Member
Fimbulvetr said:
Uh Castlevania isn't an actual place within the Castlevania series. There's just Dracula's Castle.

It's definitely called Castlevania in a number of the past games, even if that's a English speaking series staple (since it's obviously not the title in Japan).
 

Ledsen

Member
Tom Penny said:
Throwing thing back = lamest game mechanic ever. Hit or miss bullshit. For every good thing the game does it has dumb as shit like then more than once. Stupid.

You just press RT when the projectile starts to glow and spin the stick a little. I don't think I've ever failed one of those.
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
Game is so awesome! Just reached chapter 6. Been taking my time with the game. Cant wait to go back and unlock stuff once i get the powers.

This might be one of the few games i also try to beat on paladin difficulty. I typically dont go back after i beat a game once, but this game is really addicting. And i love the locations. So classic. My favorite game of the year so far.
 
Solune said:
I don't know why people keep saying combat gets repetitive, the same can be said of alot of action games that have recently come out.

i'd say (for me, anyway) the only time combat feels repetitive is when the rest of the game (story/characters/graphics/music/gameplay) isn't grabbing me. which's totally subjective, of course, but it's what turns what's fun in one game into a chore in another...
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
MadOdorMachine said:
I'm trying to get it down, but it seems hit and miss for me. I don't know if it's the framerate causing it or just the way the game was designed, but there seems to be some latency when pressing L2 to block. It isn't a responsive as games like NG so you have to anticipate what the enemy is going to do. The combat in general is a bit sluggish. It seems like canceling a combo to go into a block isn't as responsive as it should be either. I'm liking the game though. I just unlocked Chapter 4, but I'm back tracking picking up all the power ups I missed first. It's a shame that completing the trials don't unlock something besides achievements/trophies.

Don't make a point of trying to cancel combos into a counter. It generally won't work. In that situation you're better off dodging. To counter you have to predict when the enemy is going to attack and wait for them to make the first move.

LaneDS said:
It's definitely called Castlevania in a number of the past games, even if that's a English speaking series staple (since it's obviously not the title in Japan).

I don't think so. I have all the mainline games (the Japanese versions mostly, and a few in english) and none of them refer to the castle by name. Even if one of the english manuals might have done so at one point, it's definitely not canonical.
 

Teknoman

Member
Anyone saying the combat is too button mashy dont know what they are talking about. You can pretty much string together any moves you know into a combo, which is far better than just mashing square or X all the time.
 

LiK

Member
Teknoman said:
Anyone saying the combat is too button mashy dont know what they are talking about. You can pretty much string together any moves you know into a combo, which is far better than just mashing square or X all the time.

yea, gets more intricate after i unlocked all the advanced moves too. it's a lot of fun.
 

Tom Penny

Member
Ledsen said:
You just press RT when the projectile starts to glow and spin the stick a little. I don't think I've ever failed one of those.

Nah. It works like shit. In GOW I can do the full circle on Medusa's 9 out of ten times. It's garbage in this.
 

Don

Member
Y2Kev said:
Am i crazy or did i just hear the metal gear theme :lol
Is it really?

The theme was removed from Portable Ops and then didn't make it into MGS4 or Peace Walker, but it shows up in a Castlevania game?
 

haunts

Bacon of Hope
just beat it. my combos are godlike in this game.

and yeah if you arent instant blocking in this game u are doin it wrong!
 

Teknoman

Member
reminder said:
Wtf, i had to switch to the easiest difficulty setting in chapter 2. Am i really that bad or is this game that hard? :lol I never had to switch the difficulty settings in the God of War games (except for the last fight in the first one...). Still love the game, though. :D

Change back, just remember what attacks are best and when. Also dont shy away from blocking (unless you're out numbered, then keep moving).
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Tom Penny said:
Nah. It works like shit. In GOW I can do the full circle on Medusa's 9 out of ten times. It's garbage in this.

Nah, he's right. It works fine. The only time I ever missed one was the first time it showed up and I wasn't expecting it.

haunts said:
just beat it. my combos are godlike in this game.

and yeah if you arent instant blocking in this game u are doin it wrong!

preach it.
 

LaneDS

Member
luka said:
I don't think so. I have all the mainline games (the Japanese versions mostly, and a few in english) and none of them refer to the castle by name. Even if one of the english manuals might have done so at one point, it's definitely not canonical.

Skip to about 5:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-TPhBIuTJc

I know it's called Castlevania in quite a few of the games besides Symphony. Like I said, I know the series was never called Castlevania in Japan originally, but I grew up with a bunch of games in English that called it as such, so that's canonical enough for me in a series that has always struggled with canon anyway.
 

Tom Penny

Member
luka said:
Nah, he's right. It works fine. The only time I ever missed one was the first time it showed up and I wasn't expecting it.

It worked better if I kept tapping R2 during the whole process. No idea why.
 

Future

Member
Teknoman said:
Anyone saying the combat is too button mashy dont know what they are talking about. You can pretty much string together any moves you know into a combo, which is far better than just mashing square or X all the time.
I'd say it's anti button mashy. To the point I don't even use the vast majority of combos. Too risk as there are too many ai that evade and attack with quick unblockables. Ya tend to poke and roll with quick bnb combos a lot which makes things feel a bit repetitive. As creative as the ai is in this game, they all behave the same really (including some bosses)

I just wish ai reacted more to my hits. Sometimes you start doing cool lookin shit only to have an ai go completely unphased and knock me right out of it. Unevadeable area effect slams can kiss my ass as well
 

LiK

Member
Future said:
I'd say it's anti button mashy. To the point I don't even use the vast majority of combos. Too risk as there are too many ai that evade and attack with quick unblockables. Ya tend to poke and roll with quick bnb combos a lot which makes things feel a bit repetitive. As creative as the ai is in this game, they all behave the same really (including some bosses)

I just wish ai reacted more to my hits. Sometimes you start doing cool lookin shit only to have an ai go completely unphased and knock me right out of it. Unevadeable area effect slams can kiss my ass as well

i notice that the Direct Attacks affect them more than the Area Attacks. Seems like Area should mainly be used to try to get additional hits or hit more guys onscreen but Direct works the best, imo.
 

JB1981

Member
luka said:
People who are just dodging instead of countering are completely missing out on the most enjoyable and rewarding part of the combat system. :(
I have only played the demo but it feels like because they have roll/counter on the same button I inadvertently roll when I mean to block. Very annoying.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
If you're really looking just to counter something, you can almost take your hand off the stick.
 

LowParry

Member
JB1981 said:
I have only played the demo but it feels like because they have roll/counter on the same button I inadvertently roll when I mean to block. Very annoying.

It's the same with Ninja Gaiden. I guess vets of NG have it easy but I get the frustration people are having with it. It's a multi-function tool that to me, works very well for the game.
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
JB1981 said:
I have only played the demo but it feels like because they have roll/counter on the same button I inadvertently roll when I mean to block. Very annoying.

This. That's why I constantly roll, its safer.
 

haunts

Bacon of Hope
Dunno if you guys know this but you can insta block the grenades goblins throw and they will explode almost instantly, killing off a few surrounding goblins in the area.

If you guys are having problems with combos, a lot of it boils down to this:

Start off with a long range Direct Attack on a single enemy... If other enemies start to approach you, press the Area Attack... From here you can jump which will send all the surrounding enemies into the air, and finish them off with the Guillotine or the Air Area Attack (forget what its called). Once you've gotten the
Seraph Shoulders
press jump again after that for some added damage and then use whatever follow up attack you've got.

Once you've got the upgrade, you can just hold the Area Attack and use the Chain Barrier to protect yourself from incoming attacks after hitting them with the Direct Attack. You can then switch back to the Direct Attack and use whatever follow up combo from there to finish them.

Once you've got a lot of the Light and Shadow upgrades, you can activate mid combo and do some pretty wild stuff too but thats more advanced.

Also, in regards to instant blocking, if you're using the Direct Attack and you see another enemy approaching, get ready for an instant block and follow up with the Area Attack to reset your position and go from there.

A lot of the bosses I honestly found that using the Direct Heavy Attack then dodging or instant blocking is what worked well.

Remember too that Chain Barrier Upgrade and Gilloutine Upgrade attacks will break armor which can be useful versus bosses as well if your spacing and timing is down.
 

Solune

Member
Future said:
I'd say it's anti button mashy. To the point I don't even use the vast majority of combos. Too risk as there are too many ai that evade and attack with quick unblockables. Ya tend to poke and roll with quick bnb combos a lot which makes things feel a bit repetitive. As creative as the ai is in this game, they all behave the same really (including some bosses)

I just wish ai reacted more to my hits. Sometimes you start doing cool lookin shit only to have an ai go completely unphased and knock me right out of it. Unevadeable area effect slams can kiss my ass as well

This is one thing I agree with for sure. When you hit some enemies they don't get stunned and that gets frustrating as hell because they retaliate and there goes your focus (in instances where you can't block cancel an attack). Another problem I do have with combat is jumping is extremely unsafe, especially against large enemies who don't get stunned easily. Their attacks don't even touch you but you'll still get hit due to the hitbox or whatever and that pisses me off. Other than those 2 gripes I find combat to be quite satisfying.
 
Victrix said:
Game doesn't reward you enough for risking the counter. Plus the whole block/dodge/counter/melee attack on one button is painfully stupid.

edit: oops, forgot /dash!

The reward is VERY big, if you do it well. Specially if you have bought the counter combos. You can kill an enemy much faster, with counter, specially enemies that block or dodge (enemies that needs lots of hits can be defeated in a few seconds). Also, when there are several enemies, is VERY useful, because you can block an attack of an enemy (even if its one of the smaller one) and deal a lot of damage, not only against the enemy that you blocked, also for the others that are near.
 

LowParry

Member
Ya know, come to think of it, Gabriel and his attack grunts and whatever. Different voice? It's just strange to have him go from Isaac's narrative in a sort of soft spoken way to these off the wall attack shouts and what not that just don't fit.
 

haunts

Bacon of Hope
CaptYamato said:
Not good at it. During small encounters I have it down but bosses ruin me.

i think with alot of the bosses bosses its best to use the long range Direct Heavy Attack and go into the Chain Barrier followed up with the upgrade move (forget the name) that breaks their block and builds a shitload of focus meter. Go in for some quick extra hits while they're stunned then get to da choppa.

A lot of the bosses have many unblockables so using the insta block can be kinda tough, but at the same time once you learn their animations it works well against them too. Sometimes you just have to do it to build that focus.

going for air combos vs bosses is pretty much always a bad idea though unless they have a shockwave move which you can jump and follow up with Guillotine.


Dalauz said:
wow, my 360 version doesnt run like that, wtf


I got stuttering and sub 30 fps


Yeah a lot of people have been complaining about framerate issues to me but I havent encountered any. Is this just a 360 issue?
 

Despera

Banned
JB1981 said:
I have only played the demo but it feels like because they have roll/counter on the same button I inadvertently roll when I mean to block. Very annoying.

Never happened to me past the 2nd chapter. Not even once.

Combos aren't useless. Chaining area-effect light and shadow combos with regular combos saved my ass on so many occasions. Pulling them off is fun too.
 
Dalauz said:
wow, my 360 version doesnt run like that, wtf


I got stuttering and sub 30 fps

UTBMv.png
 
To be honest, some parts of Castlevania: LoS remind me of Bionic Commando. Parts where you're using your whip to lower yourself (The very beginning of Chapter 2-1 for example) to jump over to another whip location. Lower yourself just one step lower than you are supposed to and you fall and die somehow. This reminded me very much of the radiation zones in BC and I have no idea why anyone would allow that in their games.

Simply block the area off or make the character stop moving once he reaches that point.
 
Top Bottom