Castlevania

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Offline Flame

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Reply #1075 on: June 07, 2013, 02:18:44 AM
Oh yes... Carmilla boobies indeed...

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Satoryu

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Reply #1076 on: June 07, 2013, 06:58:09 AM
Ugh. I didn't have much expectations for this beforehand, but after watching that trailer, I care even less about LoS2. At least the first game and Mirror of Fate had parts that looked like a Castlevania. This though has none of that, just Gabriel.

The best thing I saw was "conclusion to the Lords of Shadow story."


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Offline Rin

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Reply #1077 on: June 07, 2013, 04:41:36 PM
I watched tha trailer, and I can safely say I.. felt nothing towards it.
No hate, no love, no sadness, no joy.
Just... nothing.

This is just horrible. If I at least felt something towards it, It could at least mean something.
But now, it's just like a... I cannot even grasp it.

It just looks so [tornado fang]ing "generic super duper epic god of war hollywood [parasitic bomb]".

Well, at least the music could be nice. In fact, I think it was the only thing which brings out some emotion in me, but only because I just like these kind of music.

Bolt Crank, tell me, how can you even get excited for this?

What in this ignites your spark so?

Is is the characters? The gameplay? Music? Story?

If I were to guess, it would be gameplay, but even then in MY OPINION, that's just generic [parasitic bomb].

If I want epic and poetic vampires with REVENGE and stuff... I would go and play some games from thE LoK series again.



Offline Flame

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Reply #1078 on: June 07, 2013, 07:29:16 PM
I'm surprised you enjoyed the music at all. That's one of the main things some Castlevania fans have been bitching about in regards to the LoSverse.

I liked the story, I didn't mind the gameplay, I enjoyed the music, and the designs/art direction I found real good. While people were bitching about how it's "not Castlevania" I was seeing plenty of Castlevania. (the first LoS I mean) people got hung up on the smallest things. But I suppose that comes with the territory.

I didn't care about the TWEEST at the end of the first where Gabe becomes Dracula (ehem- pardon- I mean Dracul) it reminded me of the Coppola film. (which Lament of Innocence also took as inspiration for Dracula's origins) The idea of a Belmont becoming Dracula does sound weird, but i didn't mind. I'm willing to look at the series as a different interpretation of the source material franchise. It's only a 3 part series too, so it's not like LoS will stay forever. from the start, Cox has stated he does not want to be "Mr. Castlevania" like IGA was. (and it's not the first time Dracula was related to the Belmonts- Legends on the Gameboy made Dracula Tevor's grandfather by making him Alucar and Sonia's son. And then there was a manga or novel i think, where Simon was Dracula's son, and a Dhampir, so...)

Plus, about some time while AoS/DoS were still fresh in recent memory, I thought, "Hm, wouldn't it be cool if there was a game where you played as Dracula instead of the Belmont?" And well, Mercurysteam delivered.

As far as the original LoS goes, I liked it's gameplay. i found it leagues better than GoW. It actually punishes you for nonstop spamming. you HAVE to learn to use your combos and skills, and block or dodge. And the combos were pretty fun. the gameplay actually reminded me more of LoI than GoW. I mean of course it plays differently and the whip handles differently, but what was LoI aside from a dungeon crawler beat em up? (with far clunkier controls as far as the whip was concerned) it controlled good, the atmosphere and scenery was gorgeous, the vampire castle in particular OOZED with Castlevania feel, the level progression was basically classicvania in 2D, gabriel's outfit is basically Simon's garb from CV2, (if you put in the Konami Code, you even get a little CV2 Simon sprite under one of your magic bars that mimics your actions)

TL;DR, I can appreciate it as MS' own artistic interpretation, and I enjoyed it for what it was in that respect.

I have not played the 3DS game because of my lack of a 3DS, but it didn't seem nearly as good. The atmosphere was alright, basically take the land of the vampires part of LoS and make that the entire setting, the gameplay though was LoS in 2D, and it did NOT seem to work very well at all. But then i didn't play it so i can't really judge. The story for MoF was alright, it's a decent tie between LoS and LoS2, the Alucard = Trevor twist did not bother me as much as I expected it to, (I just rolled with it and figured eh, why the [tornado fang] not) probably because Trevor's ending plays it real smooth. Trevor's ending in general was the highlight of MoF. The gimmick of telling the story backwards however, was real stupid and the order could have been played normally while still keeping the totally spoiler Trevor ending, or at least, the Alucard part, out till the end. I've heard that the FPS on MoF is not too great, and MS says they first developed the game in HD console quality and scaled it down for the 3DS, which to me just sounds like they were asking for trouble.

As far as LoS2, We actually get to play as Dracula. That's [tornado fang]ing awesome. The gameplay seems to be a slight bit different than LoS or MoF, since Dracula has a sword along with his blood whip. he also has all those nifty vampire powers that come with being a vampire. The grandness and scale of the trailers really gets me for LoS2. plus the fact that this Dracula actually gets his hands dirty. THIS is the kind of Dracula I like. he gets all up in the front lines and starts [tornado fang]ing [parasitic bomb] up, he doesn't sit in his throne room drinking from a goblet hoping a curry throwing skeleton can kill the protagonist. The IGA games really turned Dracula into a chew toy. (and his reasoning for becoming a vampire was silly and immature at best.) Almost anyone besides the Belmonts could defeat him. It was sad. This one kicks more ass and actually has a bit more depth to him. The most IGA ever got was Symphony, where Dracula actually seems to regret his actions when he learns of Lisa's last words. he seemed quite ready to move on, buuuut next game, no mention of that at all, he's all back and bad and [parasitic bomb]. which is the price to pay for a villain who's story revolves around the powers of malice and chaos, where he resurrects when people's faith is at it's lowest and [parasitic bomb] like that.

In short, I never minded the LoS series, I liked it, and I think it's just the booster shot the franchise needed to avoid going the way of Mega Man. (Which it was slowly but surely going with recent games)

EDIT: that said, I can still point out some flaws with LoS, so it's not like I'm just mindlessly praising it. For one, the QTE's in LoS were completely unnecessary. And the Titan fights, while well done and really epic in scale, really were very blatantly Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Rin

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Reply #1079 on: June 07, 2013, 09:04:12 PM
You make some good points, and I now understand perfectly why you like it.
And for me, it really stopped being about "THIS NOT MUH CASTLEVANIA".
It's just more about it being bland and so uninteresting to me. All the rage is gone, and in its place is left a void.

And yeah, thinking about it, it's cool to play as Dracula.
I just wish we would have gotten that in the good old Castlevania.

Instead of this.

But I guess, I just have to accept it and move on completely.

I like the music, which while not being like Castlevania, is still really good. And despite everything, I can see and hear how it enhances the game's atmosphere.

To be honest, with the kind of game LoS is, I don't think the old Castlevania style music would fit at all. But a couple or more remixes of old tunes wouldn't have been bad.

So there.



Offline Flame

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Reply #1080 on: June 07, 2013, 09:34:48 PM
Well, with LoS1 getting a steam release, You can bet people will mod it to add classic music. There already are a few classic re-orchestrations in LoS, Including Vampire Killer (Music box rendition which sounds really nice, made me smile when I heard it), 2 Super Castlevania IV themes, (Courtyard and Waterfall specifically) and the original Dracula battle from CV1.

Also, well not everything can appeal to everyone, different people have different tastes. And this in particular- Is something that has to be frequently reminded on Castlevania forums when LoS comes up and people start with the "ITS NOT CASTLEVANIA" because "IT DOESNT HAVE X AND X" the fact that Castlevania is defined by different things by different people.

As far as adding classic music, I'm sure it would fit just fine.

I mean look at this:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIu0ywRazGg[/youtube]

The same ol' loS E3 teaser, but with Classic CV music. Suddenly, the simple addition of Bloody tears makes it twice as good of a teaser.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Phi

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Reply #1081 on: June 07, 2013, 09:49:55 PM
The same ol' loS E3 teaser, but with Classic CV music. Suddenly, the simple addition of Bloody tears makes it twice as good of a teaser.

I agree. That was
[spoiler]bloody good[/spoiler]



Offline Flame

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Reply #1082 on: June 07, 2013, 10:14:41 PM

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline The Drunken Dishwasher

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Reply #1083 on: June 08, 2013, 02:22:24 PM
What Bolt Crank said is practically how I feel, except well, I REALLY like the Lords of Shadow series, and frankly.  Lament of Innocence started the whip action game first, and it'll always be that way for me.  GoW just simplified it, got popular and Lords of Shadow took it back and made that [parasitic bomb] awesome.  I especially love how parrying is implemented, has that sweet OOMPH to it~ plus, Paladin mode all the way~.  The Cornell boss battle is bloody brutal in Paladin, you practically have to have quick reflexes and completely know his moveset, otherwise, 3-6 hits, you're dead.

Although I do have to critisize the Titan battles.  It's undeniably heavily influenced by SotC, but also simplified by being one giant choreography.  Thankfully they are cool~ I hope LoS2's Titan battles are more closer in free movement and foolaround, 'almost' like SotC, since them time attacks are just bloody glorious. .  I highly doubt there will be a game like SotC (gameplay, shortcutting, tricks, AI manipulation, more tricks, more agro, exploding [tornado fang]ing arrows, hanging onto a hairy crotch), aside from others imitating it.

also, a combo video that I think, I might've posted before but hey, ENJOY!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLU7OLrWZEY[/youtube]



Offline Phi

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Reply #1084 on: June 08, 2013, 05:54:23 PM
Although I do have to critisize the Titan battles.  It's undeniably heavily influenced by SotC
heavily influenced by SotC
SotC

You just said the magic password.

I'll have to try out these Titan battles no matter what.



Offline Align

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Reply #1085 on: July 31, 2013, 02:24:03 PM
Lords of Shadow is now on Steam!
With a demo!



Offline Flame

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Reply #1086 on: August 01, 2013, 12:53:35 AM
From what I've heard, it runs beautifully, MUCH better than the console versions, but of course, like Arkham Asylum, it means the prerendered cutscenes are noticeable and no longer seamless from gameplay to cutscene.

It does come with the 2 chapers DLC though, basically making it the full game as originally intended.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline OBJECTION MAN

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Reply #1087 on: August 01, 2013, 03:51:38 AM
You just said the magic password.

I'll have to try out these Titan battles no matter what.

Don't get your hopes up. It's basically ghetto SotC.


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Offline Phi

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Reply #1088 on: August 01, 2013, 04:06:16 AM
Interesting way to put it. XD



Offline Flame

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Reply #1089 on: August 01, 2013, 04:29:24 AM
well it's true...

shimmy some, hold the triggers to "grab on", and stab weak spots. thats about it.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


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Reply #1090 on: August 01, 2013, 08:21:37 PM
Finished the demo, would definitely buy the full game if I had the spare cash. Silky smooth framerate is nice.



Offline The Drunken Dishwasher

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Reply #1091 on: August 06, 2013, 09:13:03 AM
Don't get your hopes up. It's basically ghetto SotC.

Listen to this man.  You don't even get to hang on stone titan crotch or ass.




Offline Phi

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Reply #1092 on: August 06, 2013, 05:29:04 PM
Dammit

I loved hanging on crotch 'n asses



Offline Flame

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Reply #1093 on: October 05, 2013, 11:35:36 PM
New trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOfMim_7jww[/youtube]

It's just the same old trailer, but skip ahead to 5:49 for the new Belmont.



Also, new gameplay trailer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unQ50CiKNz8[/youtube]

Posted on: August 21, 2013, 06:48:46 PM
Dracula's theme from Lords of Shadow 2 was posted on the composer's Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-2MG52wog

Sounds nice IMO

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Rin

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Reply #1094 on: October 05, 2013, 11:43:23 PM
Dracula's theme from Lords of Shadow 2 was posted on the composer's Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-2MG52wog

Sounds nice IMO
As I mentioned, the music is really good in this new Castlevania.
Oscar Araujo is doing an amazing job with it.



Offline Smoke

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Reply #1095 on: October 06, 2013, 01:16:21 AM
I really don't like what Mercury Steam did with Castlevania... I hope Castlevania gets his RPGish style and Michiru Yamanes music back after LOS2 is done.



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Reply #1096 on: October 06, 2013, 02:03:48 AM
I like LoS for what it is. I wouldn't object to more Old-style Castlevanias now either (I'm talking pre-SOTN here).



Offline Flame

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Reply #1097 on: October 06, 2013, 02:44:01 AM
I really don't like what Mercury Steam did with Castlevania... I hope Castlevania gets his RPGish style and Michiru Yamanes music back after LOS2 is done.
I'd rather not. Michiru Yamane is fine, I mean I'd rather stay away from Metroidvania for a while. In fact, I'd rather they stay away from HANDHELDS for a while.

Also, this came from a Konami Employee (supposedly) on Neogaf, regarding IGA.

Quote
Konami employee here. He's still around, but isn't involved with Castlevania at all right now. That is 100% in MercurySteam and Konami Europe's court.

I think that's the limit to what I'm allowed to say.

Quote
Not everyone is brave enough or ambitious enough to follow Inafune. A lot of producers that have 'window jobs' at major companies are there because they get demoted to a comfortable position of being less relevant but not affecting their pay (not saying this is true for IGA, but rather true for many current and former producer roles).

Basically, IGA's got a cushy desk job that keeps his pay what it was, and Castlevania's in Konami Europe's hands for the time being.

...When Larry the reploid accountant goes maverick of his own accord, he's certainly formidable during tax season, but he isn't going to provide X the challenge needed to make him grow as a warrior and reach his potential.


Offline Da Dood

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Reply #1098 on: November 11, 2013, 02:43:51 PM
I finally got Dawn of Sorrow (sealed copy!) and Circle of the Moon. I've played CotM to death already, but uh, never on an actual handheld.

Looking forward to DoS! Any tips?

Now I own all the Metroidvanias! :D


Offline Satoryu

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Reply #1099 on: November 11, 2013, 09:52:29 PM
A good soul you'll want early on is Mandragora.

I played Mirror of Fate HD on stream last week. Got it cause with the deal PSN had during October, I basically got it for free. My expectations going in were low. But it ended up not being the worst game in the world. It plays fine, if a bit stiff. But the problem is it's just so damn empty. It might have a Metroidvania map system, but there's barely any reward for exploring, just health upgrades and meaningless scrolls. It had the groundwork to be a good Castlevania, but it just wasn't fleshed out.

Also played the Lords of Shadow 2 demo. Hated it. Especially when they completely forced a couple SotN quotes.


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