Castlevania

[Mirby]

And that is your opinion.

Not fact, opinion.

[Rin]

And that is your opinion.

Not fact, opinion.

Of course.
Where did I say it was fact? Did I even use that word?
No.

I clearly said:

I merely stated what I think of this, and no one will tell me I should stop raging.

[Mirby]

I never meant to imply you said it was fact.

I was just pointing that out for further clarification, just like it's my opinion that... wait I don't really have an opinion on LoS. *shrug*

[Rin]

I never meant to imply you said it was fact.

I was just pointing that out for further clarification, just like it's my opinion that... wait I don't really have an opinion on LoS. *shrug*

Sorry then. My bad.
But your post kinda came off as such.
Whatever. I don't even want to talk about this anymore.

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

So excited for that upcoming trailer.

Time for a combo video for excitement!!!

[VixyNyan]

I loved Lords of Shadow so much I had to 110% all 14 chapters~

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

I second that as well.  Some trials were REALLY hard to pull (especially at Paladin mode, as the damage rate there is brutal, but dear god it feels good to get past the boss battles, even with all upgrades and the moveset completed.)

Except that library time trial, never again...

I have so much hope for LoS2's combat.  All it needs is refinement to hit that right sweet spot.

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

Well...

...considering how Iga went into the shadows...I doubt that'll happen...

...although with the new timeline, we'll get some '1999 war' but with one villain from Lords of Shadow 1.  Maybe.  Just my own speculation (maybe others too).

It'd be awesome if Julius Belmont is the current Belmont for when Dracula wakes up.

[Align]

Kinda hard to live up to the hype around 1999 for Castlevania. I mean, Julius was so powerful his item crash pwned the castle even when he was an old man.

[Vanya]

     Not to fan any flames, but I'm a VERY old-school CV fan and honestly LoS has had nothing much for me. Well, the artwork was good. The music has pretty much all been forgettable Hollywood tripe. Also, the game play was too derivative for it's own good. The story has been no better than the original timeline's regardless of the over abundance of melodrama.
   
    MoF was a half-asses attempt to infuse the LoS with some classic series style game play. It might have worked if they hadn't completely separated combat from platforming. This had the unfortunate effect making the exploration aspect of the game incredibly boring. Also, why the hell do bad-ass Vampire Hunters have to take 3 swings at a barrel for it to break? That's just a lousy design choice. The added ability to swim was nice, though.

     The plot twists that were easier to see coming than a flaming truckload of manure barreling down the highway at midnight were not. And for god's sake when are they going to learn that locking me in a room full of waves of enemies that absorb damage like a tank with ablative armor is not fun. Still, there were a few cool things here and there.
     
     That said, I have absolutely no hope for the final game in the trilogy. I expect nothing but vaguely veiled retelling of big-bad turned anti-hero that I already played through years ago in Legacy of Kain only less original and with the "Extreme, Epic" turned up as high as the hardware will allow.

EDIT: There. Is that a little easier for you to read? Same standard format as a book?

Edit edit: Space out the paragraphs like so. - Archetype

[Phi]

^ wall o' text

Not very appealing to look at.

[Flame]

I personally find LoS Dracula far more compelling than Classic Dracula.

This guy became a monster in the name of God, all for a bogus prophecy and a bogus payoff. He got played, and ended up being the death of his wife, and an innocent girl that was trying to help him.

Not to mention he discovers that by defeating said Lords from the prophecy, he weakened the seal they held over a powerful demon, requiring him to renounce his Humanity solely to be able to enter it's realm.

Sounds a lot more contrived in writing, but in-game, it works. he got manipulated and played by everyone around him, (EVERYONE) which led to his becoming the kind of things he hunted. (As well as a killer)

Hell, better than classic Dracula who's wife dies of Illness while he's away, and so because of something that happens to no doubt many people, loved ones who die while you are far away- he contrives a plan to become a vampire by using alchemy to steal a Vampire's soul, by [tornado fang]ing over his best friend and his Fiance. Then expecting him to be totally okay with him when offered immortality as well.

Then despite the overwhelming grief that it caused him, he re-marries anyway.

His rampage against Humanity for killing Lisa feels much more justified, but his origins are totally screwed.

As far as LoS1 goes, I personally felt plenty of classicvania influence within it. As far as derivative gameplay... the Titan battles are pretty blatant, yeah. The combat feels good though.

MoF definitely falls flat compared to it though. It's got plenty of problems, the biggest, (and possibly a contributor to it's framerate issues) is that it was developed as an HD console game, then scaled down for the 3DS. Second, it tries too hard to please critics of LoS by throwing classic elements in there, and suffers for it. The LoS gameplay just does not work well in 2D. Not NEARLY as well as it does in 3D. Thirdly, the story. It's fine in it's own right, and personally, the very obvious reveals are not a problem, they work, but the backwards gimmick for telling the story was just stupid. They could have told it in order and still left the big reveals for the last story.

On LoS2, I feel it will likely be pretty good. i hope MS doesn't fall into the same trap as MoF though, where the game was kind of over-hyped... LoS was really hyped up. Personally, I think it totally delivered. (well- except for the part where they tricked the audience into thinking Dracula would be a villain who says "DIE, BELMONT!", when it turned out to be an edit of a cutscene from the epilogue along with Satan's dialogue. ) MoF however, was hyped, and just sort of fell flat compared to what it could have been. (especially if it had been a console game) It will most likely play like LoS with added gimmicks, such as a sword to use, aside from the shadow whip, and whatever vampire powers MS gives you to use.

[Vanya]

I like the the overall plot just fine since it's basically an expanded version of the backstory in the film "Bram Stoker's Dracula". What I don't like was making Dracula into a Belmont, and the progenitor of the line, no less. What I really wish, though, is that MS hadn't inherited the Kojima Productions penchant for outlandish plot twists.

[Flame]

Well, It originally was going to be much less of a twist, considering both DLC chapters were supposed to be part of the game, but Konami sort of twisted their balls for DLC content. So ww would have seen, in-game, Gabriel becoming a vampire and calling himself "The Dragon", and in the epologue, we would have seen that he became "Dracul", and seemingly was once very powerful, and somehow ended up in a church in modern day, all dried up. it would have been much less "WHAT A TWEEST" and much more "The [tornado fang] happened to him in between?"

[Vanya]

At this point I have more anticipation for what might come after LoS2.
There are a lot of smaller companies that have a lot of potential for making something awesome.

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

Well, It originally was going to be much less of a twist, considering both DLC chapters were supposed to be part of the game, but Konami sort of twisted their balls for DLC content. So ww would have seen, in-game, Gabriel becoming a vampire and calling himself "The Dragon", and in the epologue, we would have seen that he became "Dracul", and seemingly was once very powerful, and somehow ended up in a church in modern day, all dried up. it would have been much less "WHAT A TWEEST" and much more "The [tornado fang] happened to him in between?"

I willing to bet it's related to that battle between him and Alucard from the CG trailer of LoS2.

And maybe Simon Belmont (or another Belmont, let's assume Richter ) comes in and helps out.

[Vanya]

The two prime candidates for appearance in LoS2 are Righter and Julius. I wouldn't be surprised if they're both there. Would be nice if they gave Sonia a nod in a way that isn't as disempowered as Sypha was.

[Flame]

If they don't make a new Belmont altogether. Though Im really hoping for Julius. I'd kill to see what kind of re-imagined design they can come up with for him.

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

They better keep the beard.  I really enjoyed Simon's new beard.  So I hope that follows~

[Vanya]

Agreed. The beard must stay.

[Flame]

Julius [chameleon sting]ing Belmont just isn't Julius [chameleon sting]ing Belmont without the beard of power.

Posted on: April 25, 2013, 03:06:58 AMhttp://operationrainfall.com/konami-castlevania-mega-man/

We needed to make a change, so we did. The Castlevania series wasn’t going anywhere, sales were dwindling and it was appealing to only a very small hardcore base of fans. That’s how franchises die. The success of Lords of Shadow proved to everyone that there’s life in the series yet and that people could accept us going in a new direction, and we can do that again. We have to take these risks if Castlevania is to survive, otherwise it’s just going to be like Mega Man.

ouch.

but true.

[OBJECTION MAN]

True? I don't agree that Castlevania "survived". It died for the most part with the creation of Lords of Shadow. In order to 'save' the series they had to gut it completely. That is not saving, that is just offering something in replacement.

I stand by the notion that Castlevania's issues are not with it's core concepts and characters, but in production values, choice of platform, total lack of marketing, and pandering to a different audience than what they should.

[VixyNyan]

Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth was such an awesome WiiWare game.

If only they could bring back the old roots again. I'd gladly play fresh new game with gameplay like Super Castlevania IV or even Rondo of Blood. ^^

[Flame]

Lords of Shadows 2 got a trailer at Konami's Pre-E3 show.

So hyped. It's also, getting a PC release along with the PS3/360, so that's day one right there.

[The Drunken Dishwasher]

Dat Carmilla and her bosoms~