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[Addnan]

The games crashes for me whenever it plays a pre-rendered cut scene. If i keep trying sometimes I'll go through but most of the time it just crashes. the screen goes black and I have to hard restart the computer. Anyone have this problem or know of a solution?

Running it on:
i7 920 stock
GTX 570
8g ram

Tried different drivers? Try the latest Nvidia beta drivers.

 

[teokrazia]

Sorry if already posted, but, uhm...
http://i.imgur.com/HVxQLEo.jpg

Apart this funny oversight, ATM seems a nice conversion.
Running beautifully on my rig [2500K, GTX 670 OC] and giving full justice to the game.

 

[garath]

Finally started it last night. Wow. Other than the pre-rendered cutscenes, the game runs silky smooth maxed out at 1920x1080 on my i5 2500k and 660ti.

Game happens to be fun too! Though I've already missed some health crystals (including one on the very first level lol) and it's driving me nuts. I want to go back and get them.

 

[MaximoffZero]

Played it last night. My video card is nowhere near top-of-the-line (GTX 650 Ti) and the game runs like a dream with all settings up.

This was a game where I disagreed with a lot of the critics. It was getting mixed/average reviews all around. I personally thought it was awesome a great modern take on Castlevania.

 

[doniewhalberg]

Finally started it last night. Wow. Other than the pre-rendered cutscenes, the game runs silky smooth maxed out at 1920x1080 on my i5 2500k and 660ti.

Game happens to be fun too! Though I've already missed some health crystals (including one on the very first level lol) and it's driving me nuts. I want to go back and get them.

Haha, you'll miss more anyway that you don't have a choice about, until you can come back with gear you get later. You'll probably want to come back for the trials too, so I wouldn't worry too much. Do your best wait until you've got some of the mid game gear then go back and do a good sweep.

 

[Moff]

I am playing force unleashed 2 on pc (played part 1 on the 360) right now, since it was in the star wars mega steam sale a few months ago and its really incredible what difference 60 fps make. I'll never trade looks for fps again.

I am really thinking of replaying lords of shadow in 60 fps now.

 

[Arkanius]

Played it last night. My video card is nowhere near top-of-the-line (GTX 650 Ti) and the game runs like a dream with all settings up.

This was a game where I disagreed with a lot of the critics. It was getting mixed/average reviews all around. I personally thought it was awesome a great modern take on Castlevania.

Same.
I really don't understand why people hate it.

 

[garath]

Haha, you'll miss more anyway that you don't have a choice about, until you can come back with gear you get later. You'll probably want to come back for the trails too, so I wouldn't worry too much. Do your best wait until you've got some of the mid game gear then go back and do a good sweep.

Lol, good plan. I already hit one chest where the game told me I couldn't get it until later. Guess it does have a little castlevania exploration involved. Sweet.

 

[Bedlam]

Played it last night. My video card is nowhere near top-of-the-line (GTX 650 Ti) and the game runs like a dream with all settings up.

This was a game where I disagreed with a lot of the critics. It was getting mixed/average reviews all around. I personally thought it was awesome a great modern take on Castlevania.

Actually, the reviews were pretty positive: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/castlevania-lords-of-shadow

It was mainly a loud minority of Igavania fans who hated the fact that this game exists and refused to acknowledge its quality.

 

[Krusenstern]

Actually, the reviews were pretty positive: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/castlevania-lords-of-shadow

Oh my god, why is the PC version rated worse than the console versions and why does it have such bad user scores? Seriously, read this crap:

This game is completely bad. The graphics is unacceptable for the PC version, it has ugly textures, dull colors, mediocre characters. Graphically talking it seems like a game of 2004-2005!!! Prey in 2006 was visually better than this rubbish. What did game developers do in the past 3 years??? This is a joke, not a game. As for gameplay and controls it is a nightmare: no mouse use, very bad keyboard bindings, awkward moves will soon spur you to stop playing this game. And the game is very boring and with fixed camera. A very bad port, one of the worst ports that I have ever seen. I suggest you don't spend your money for this and if you have installed it, remove it from your PC as soon as you can.

And people give credence to these shit reviews?

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Actually, the reviews were pretty positive: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/castlevania-lords-of-shadow

It was mainly a loud minority of Igavania fans who hated the fact that this game exists and refused to acknowledge its quality.

You can keep repeating this with your fingers in your ears, but the game has MANY flaws that have nothing to do with "it's not really Castlevania! IGA 4 EVER!"

Just a few posts ago someone brought up the camera, which is in the style of GOW, but with far worse execution. The platforming and ledge grabbing are also janky and inconsistent. GOW's platforming isn't anything to write home about, but it's technically more polished than LOS.

The Titan battles are all spectacle and complete failures in terms of enjoyable mechanics. The Titan's behaviors are wrote and robotic, which makes the sequences tedious rather than thrilling. Some people deflect this criticism by mischaracterizing it as "people are mad because they ripped off SotC." Maybe some are. But the real issue isn't that they did it, but that that they did it badly.

Mercury Steam simply didn't have the experience to replicate others' ideas within the genre with 100% success. It's still very impressive that they managed to put this game together, but it has many areas where its lacking refinement.

I'm still very much looking forward to the sequel. I really wanted to love the first one but I couldn't. I hope they were able to examine its faults honestly and fix them.

 

[remz]

Man my only complain so far is that I thwacked the graveyard miniboss with two parries and constantly hitting the straight attack. So ez! other that visually it's nice and the fighting seems fun enough to. I like it.

 

[Bedlam]

You can keep repeating this with your fingers in your ears, but the game has MANY flaws that have nothing to do with "it's not really Castlevania! IGA 4 EVER!"

Just a few posts ago someone brought up the camera, which is in the style of GOW, but with far worse execution. The platforming and ledge grabbing are also janky and inconsistent. GOW's platforming isn't anything to write home about, but it's technically more polished than LOS.

The Titan battles are all spectacle and complete failures in terms of enjoyable mechanics. The Titan's behaviors are wrote and robotic, which makes the sequences tedious rather than thrilling. Some people deflect this criticism by mischaracterizing it as "people are mad because they ripped off SotC." Maybe some are. But the real issue isn't that they did it, but that that they did it badly.

Mercury Steam simply didn't have the experience to replicate others' ideas within the genre with 100% success. It's still very impressive that they managed to put this game together, but it has many areas where its lacking refinement.

I'm still very much looking forward to the sequel. I really wanted to love the first one but I couldn't. I hope they were able to examine its faults honestly and fix them.

The two Titan battles make up a tiny, tiny fraction of the game and they aren't even that bad. Especially the second Titan is rather fun to fight and yeah, visually spectacular. It's nuts to denounce the whole game just because of two average bossfights while the vast majority of the bosses are fucking awesome und incredibly fun to fight. Furthermore, there are bossfights in the GoW series that are even less dynamic and most colossi in SotC behave rather "robotic", as you put it, as well. It's just that the climbing in SotC is more dynamic but considering that LoS' focus is not solely on Titan battles (as opposed to SotC), I found the execution of those boss battles rather okay.

And yes, the platforming sections aren quite as polished as those in GoW but again: they comprise a tiny fraction of the game (well, a few tiny fractions) and never really get in the way.

However, the game does some things better than GoW (combat for example) and shines in other areas as well. For me the whole package, even with its flaws, sits comfortably above any GoW game and most other games in the genre.

Bottom line: this isn't a bad game. Period. Everyone who suggests as much greatly exaggerates their distaste for some weird reason. The notion is just as face-palm-worthy as the recent "Bioshock Infinite is the worst game ever"-movement.

 

[remz]

yeah the combat is way more engaging and fun than gow so far and i haven't unlocked many moves yet.

 

[Ahasverus]

Seriously, read this crap:
.
And people give credence to these shit reviews?

lol igafanz

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Bottom line: this isn't a bad game.

I don't think anybody's saying that, it's just that's it's a plainly flawed game in a number of ways and there's plenty of room for improvement. The Titan boss battles, the platforming/ledge climbing, the overwrought narrative, the janky hitboxes that everybody seems to notice but you, the overall pacing of the game(even some of the ardent defenders of the game like Brandonh note the game is pretty bloated, especially the beginning before the Light/Dark combat system comes into play), the inconsistent framerate, etc.

 

[Ahasverus]

I don't think anybody's saying that, it's just that's it's a plainly flawed game in a number of ways and there's plenty of room for improvement. The Titan boss battles, the platforming/ledge climbing, the overwrought narrative, the janky hitboxes that everybody seems to notice but you, the overall pacing of the game(even some of the ardent defenders of the game like Brandonh note the game is pretty bloated, especially the beginning before the Light/Dark combat system comes into play), the inconsistent framerate, etc.

There is bloat, but it's not "unsuffereable" bloat, it's fine, just a little unneccessary. But yeah even the most ahrdcore fans like me expect a complete overhaul in LoS2 and won't forgive any repeating mistakes as people have been very, VERY vocal about what they didn't like.
Luckily for all we know, the TItan battles in LoS2 already are like 200z better if judging by the first one that was shown.

 

[Bedlam]

I don't think anybody's saying that, it's just that's it's a plainly flawed game in a number of ways and there's plenty of room for improvement. The Titan boss battles, the platforming/ledge climbing, the overwrought narrative, the janky hitboxes that everybody seems to notice but you, the overall pacing of the game(even some of the ardent defenders of the game like Brandonh note the game is pretty bloated, especially the beginning before the Light/Dark combat system comes into play), the inconsistent framerate, etc.

Sure there is room for improvement. Even those whole love this game acknowledge its flaws (me included).

Sometimes a game is more than just the sum of its parts, and for me LoS is one of those games. You could also list the abundance of problems that a game like Dark Souls has but that list wouldn't change the fact that it's a great game.

 

[doniewhalberg]

Sure there is room for improvement. Even those whole love this game acknowledge its flaws (me included).

Sometimes a game is more than just the sum of its parts, and for me LoS is one of those games. You could also list the abundance of problems that a game like Dark Souls has but that list wouldn't change the fact that it's a great game.

This pretty much nails it and saves everyone going in circles on it. For some that will be enough, for others it won't. That's fine either way, but no matter how much people go back and forth on it, it won't change that the game is very much more than the sum of its parts and people will feel a certain way on that. Personally, I attribute it to a magnificent art team and composer that ties all that other stuff that people feel one way or another on together. It is what it is. I see miles of room for improvement, I certianly hope the sequel improves certain things, but I still see this as a fantastic game, and really pushes some buttons for me that don't get pushed elsewhere.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Think I soon need to try this game.. the story seems solid.

It was co-produced by Kojima-San right, with cut scenes?

 

[Ahasverus]

Think I soon need to try this game.. the story seems solid.

It was co-produced by Kojima-San right, with cut scenes?

Yep. Though not as long, except the second to last and last one.

 

[Ryu1999]

My only complaint is that the FOV makes it hard to see what's going since the characters are so tiny compared to the scenery.

 

[Angel Abaddon]

Finally started it last night. Wow. Other than the pre-rendered cutscenes, the game runs silky smooth maxed out at 1920x1080 on my i5 2500k and 660ti.

Game happens to be fun too! Though I've already missed some health crystals (including one on the very first level lol) and it's driving me nuts. I want to go back and get them.

I'm going to admit I'm using a guide for the gems, since I really don't want to spend half hour running around each area pushing against the camera angle trying to find the hidden route. Infuriated me on console and possibly one of the reasons I didn't go back to it.

I'm definitely getting into this game more than I did on console, but I'm kind of miffed I've realised I've been hit by the demo save glitch, after playing for 5 hours. Means I pretty much have to wait for a patch before I can start backtracking for upgrades. Gah.

 

[Gattsu25]

So that odd issue that I had where my controller input would stop working in the game (though I could still bring up the big picture mode overlay and navigate around there with the controller) and I couldn't alt+tab or alt+f4 the game away....it's completely stopped since I stopped trying to use big picture mode with this game.

 

[scitek]

I found a cfg file in the game's userdata folder, but it's encrypted. Anyone here good at making decrypters?

 

[SargerusBR]

Oh god, this Ice Titan battle is such bullshit i can see why people hated so much

 

[Rokal]

Oh god, this Ice Titan battle is such bullshit i can see why people hated so much

It's really easy, and you may be thinking "I have to climb this stupid boss every time I fall off?" but the route back to the active rune is shortened every time you break one. Took me a couple tries to get the timing down last night on Knight difficulty, but the complaints have always been overblown.

 

[Bedlam]

I never understood why some people hate the Titan fights so much. Sure, they are not overly original or dynamic but they are also pretty easy and short, nothing to get hung up about.

 

[princemarth23]

Oh god, this Ice Titan battle is such bullshit i can see why people hated so much

It's a really stupid fight and replaying it reminded me of why I quit the game so early on back when I played it on 360. With that said, once you get the pattern down it's painfully simple and easy. If you're having trouble being knocked off, just jump off to the side as soon as you see the titan begin to shake.

On a side note, I think I'm going to give this game a fair chance this time as I've read it gets a lot better. I enjoyed Mirror of Fate, and LoS2 looks quite awesome so I think that's motivation enough.

 

[Maedhros]

I never understood why some people hate the Titan fights so much.

And you'll never understand.

 

[OverHeat]

Those stupid little fucker that steal your gear....no more hide and seak plz.

 

[Ahasverus]

Those stupid little fucker that steal your gear....no more hide and seak plz.

Ha. He's voiced by Hideo Kojima. That Bastard!

 

[hlhbk]

I haven't even made it to the second titan fight yet and absolutely love the game. The story is great, the gameplay is awesome, and not that it runs at 60 FPS it is one of the best adventure games in years.

 

[Ahasverus]

I haven't even made it to the second titan fight yet and absolutely love the game. The story is great, the gameplay is awesome, and not that it runs at 60 FPS it is one of the best adventure games in years.

You've not even started the good part. Welcome to the club.

 

[Mango Positive]

This game is EXTREMELY beautiful at 60 FPS. I'm really glad I waited. The first titan battle is a bit annoying.

 

[scitek]

Some screens.

 

[doniewhalberg]

Some screens.

Great pics, I just passed the level with the little thief so I'm nearly there, looking forward to getting into these levels again.

Titan levels aren't brilliant or terible imo, they just are. If you can pull it off in one go, they play amazingly, if you fall off they are an utter drag. The trial for the first is to beat it in a minute and a half, goes to show how quick it can be done if you can stay on. I tend to restart the fight if I fall off.

 

[Samir Sedlar]

Great pics, I just passed the level with the little thief so I'm nearly there, looking forward to getting into these levels again.

Titan levels aren't brilliant or terible imo, they just are. If you can pull it off in one go, they play amazingly, if you fall off they are an utter drag. The trial for the first is to beat it in a minute and a half, goes to show how quick it can be done if you can stay on. I tend to restart the fight if I fall off.

I am not sure if you know this or not, but the trial can't be done in a normal way, it needs some sort of catalyst, but yes even then in the Titan battle you need to get everything right and move really fast, you can finish a trial with only 2sec left.

wait till you see the last titan trial, crazy.

 

[thebert1]

You can keep repeating this with your fingers in your ears, but the game has MANY flaws that have nothing to do with "it's not really Castlevania! IGA 4 EVER!"

Just a few posts ago someone brought up the camera, which is in the style of GOW, but with far worse execution. The platforming and ledge grabbing are also janky and inconsistent. GOW's platforming isn't anything to write home about, but it's technically more polished than LOS.

The Titan battles are all spectacle and complete failures in terms of enjoyable mechanics. The Titan's behaviors are wrote and robotic, which makes the sequences tedious rather than thrilling. Some people deflect this criticism by mischaracterizing it as "people are mad because they ripped off SotC." Maybe some are. But the real issue isn't that they did it, but that that they did it badly.

Mercury Steam simply didn't have the experience to replicate others' ideas within the genre with 100% success. It's still very impressive that they managed to put this game together, but it has many areas where its lacking refinement.

I'm still very much looking forward to the sequel. I really wanted to love the first one but I couldn't. I hope they were able to examine its faults honestly and fix them.

I rarely post on GAF, but as a castlevania fans i want to say that i absolutely HATE this game, and i'm not even a couple hours in (i will eventually force myself to finish this, though).

As hey_it's_that_dog said this game has plenty of flaws: camera is horrendous and resorting to the camera itself to hide "secret" items is pretty stupid if you ask me, because it forces you to try to jump EVERYWHERE to find them.

After the facepalm-worthy horse riding sequence, there's the collapsed bridge to traverse and as already has been said the platforming is inconsistent at best.

I didn't particularly mind the titan fight to be honest, but the fact that he kept shaking more and more as you climb it was terribly annoying, when you get to the head you have like 2 seconds to act before he shakes again, which makes the fight tedious.

This are just niptickings, what REALLY bugs me is that the backtracking is poorly designed: i just got the spiked chain and after the level ended, i wanted to open the locked passage in the level i just completed. Wait, i have to get both gems again to complete the level? See the cutscene to obtain a new ability - that i already have? beat a lot of spiders AGAIN?

Which brings me to the next point: bullet sponges enemies (not bullets per se, but still), 3 to 4 hits to kill even the goblins? A million hits for the spiders? 2 HITS to destroy even the PORCELAIN pots around the level? Seriously?

The music: i will never, ever, remember a single tune from this game. Castlevania has always been remembered for its beautiful music (vampire killer, iron blue intentions, etc.). Here you just have "atmospheric" music that never sticks in your head (try humming a song from this game, i dare you)

Graphically speaking, i have nothing to complain about, and the conversion is well done, but to me this feels NOTHING like a castlevania and, no, i'm not saying IGAvania. Just because there is a bestiary of standard fantasy enemies and is linear like the first games it doesn't mean you can call it castlevania, i'd rather play another IGAvania (OoE was amazing) or the older ones.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Finished Chapter 8, meaning I just passed the point where I stopped playing the console version. Sadly I was spoiled a while ago so I know what happens but at least I get to play the "new" stuff Game is great but it's still shocking how slow and tedious some of the first locations are. The Dead Bog in particular is a level I never want to replay.

 

[heliconsoul]

Anyone having trouble with down sampling? I'm trying to set the resolution to 1440p and it just black screens on me, GTX670 and don't have any problems with other games.

Odd.

 

[doniewhalberg]

Anyone having trouble with down sampling? I'm trying to set the resolution to 1440p and it just black screens on me, GTX670 and don't have any problems with other games.

Odd.

Nup. 2560x1440 ran completely fine for me, and I've managed to get as far up as 3200x1800 with no dip from 60fps.

 

[BPoole]

Not a fan of how this game handles its "metroidvania" element. I don't mind revisiting areas when the game is open world, but have to go back and replay an entire level and do all the simplistic platforming and killing weak enemies makes me not even want to go back for the weapon upgrades.

Some of the boss fights have been pretty fun though and the game looks very good.

 

[Toothless Spoon]

Nup. 2560x1440 ran completely fine for me, and I've managed to get as far up as 3200x1800 with no dip from 60fps.

I read that thread on downsampling and I don't understand it - would it work for someone like me that runs 3 screens in nvidia surround? my normal res is 5760x1080.

 

[scitek]

but to me this feels NOTHING like a castlevania and, no, i'm not saying IGAvania. Just because there is a bestiary of standard fantasy enemies and is linear like the first games it doesn't mean you can call it castlevania, i'd rather play another IGAvania (OoE was amazing) or the older ones.

It's really not supposed to feel like a Castlevania game. They were trying something new with this series, and it works for the most part. Get past chapter 3 and see if you don't like it a little more. The first time I played it, I had similar feelings about the beginning, it's slow, poorly designed in a lot of places, and it made me want to quit, but the game really comes into its own starting in chapter 4. From there, I really liked it a lot until the end, which I didn't like at all.

I read that thread on downsampling and I don't understand it - would it work for someone like me that runs 3 screens in nvidia surround? my normal res is 5760x1080.

Don't think so.

 

[hlhbk]

I rarely post on GAF, but as a castlevania fans i want to say that i absolutely HATE this game, and i'm not even a couple hours in (i will eventually force myself to finish this, though).

As hey_it's_that_dog said this game has plenty of flaws: camera is horrendous and resorting to the camera itself to hide "secret" items is pretty stupid if you ask me, because it forces you to try to jump EVERYWHERE to find them.

After the facepalm-worthy horse riding sequence, there's the collapsed bridge to traverse and as already has been said the platforming is inconsistent at best.

I didn't particularly mind the titan fight to be honest, but the fact that he kept shaking more and more as you climb it was terribly annoying, when you get to the head you have like 2 seconds to act before he shakes again, which makes the fight tedious.

This are just niptickings, what REALLY bugs me is that the backtracking is poorly designed: i just got the spiked chain and after the level ended, i wanted to open the locked passage in the level i just completed. Wait, i have to get both gems again to complete the level? See the cutscene to obtain a new ability - that i already have? beat a lot of spiders AGAIN?

Which brings me to the next point: bullet sponges enemies (not bullets per se, but still), 3 to 4 hits to kill even the goblins? A million hits for the spiders? 2 HITS to destroy even the PORCELAIN pots around the level? Seriously?

The music: i will never, ever, remember a single tune from this game. Castlevania has always been remembered for its beautiful music (vampire killer, iron blue intentions, etc.). Here you just have "atmospheric" music that never sticks in your head (try humming a song from this game, i dare you)

Graphically speaking, i have nothing to complain about, and the conversion is well done, but to me this feels NOTHING like a castlevania and, no, i'm not saying IGAvania. Just because there is a bestiary of standard fantasy enemies and is linear like the first games it doesn't mean you can call it castlevania, i'd rather play another IGAvania (OoE was amazing) or the older ones.

I am a huge Castlevania fan and couldn't disagree more. It may not be Castlevania that everyone remembers but I think the game is a nessecarry evolution for the series.

 

[Ahasverus]

Not a fan of how this game handles its "metroidvania" element. I don't mind revisiting areas when the game is open world, but have to go back and replay an entire level and do all the simplistic platforming and killing weak enemies makes me not even want to go back for the weapon upgrades.

You don't need to replay the whole level! Just wait after you reach a save checkpoint and quit the level.


Ans Scitek, great grea screens.

 

[Sinatar]

EDIT: Wrong thread

 

[SlasherJPC]

I am a huge Castlevania fan and couldn't disagree more. It may not be Castlevania that everyone remembers but I think the game is a nessecarry evolution for the series.

I totally agree. I've loved the series since I was a kid. I see this as a great step forward if even this isn't the path it remains after LOS2.

 

[Kodiak33]

I'm a huge Castlevania fan and I love this game. Took awhile to get into it (first few areas are slow), but I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was beautiful on the 360, but the PC version is incredible. Definitely worth double dipping IMO.