Topic: LoS: Why do some fans hate it?

[Flame]

Leon praying whilst grasping the Holy Whip is way more fitting & mysterious

funny enough, that was only the US box art.




The Japanese and EU box arts were a more typical "action" type of pic.






That said I do love the US cover.

But damn, the "alternate" LoS cover WAS so much better than what the west got as the default version.



I also loved the artwork in the game for the character and bestiary entries. And I found the little animations of Gabe's moves to be amusing too.

[Inccubus]

For my part I don't hate the game per se either. What I hate is the shameless slapping on of the Castlevania name to something that isn't trying to be a castlevania game. The point of this game on Konami's part was to try to use an existing IP get a piece of the action pie they've been slowly loosing a grip on. All the fan service in this game is exactly that, fan service. And it was poorly executed anyway. The game has very little to make it scream castlevania. If you take out all the references and give it to one of the members of Konami's coveted "wider audience" they aren't going to say "hey this kinda reminds me of Castlevania". Because the audience Konami is trying to attract isn't supposedly familiar with the old timeline that in itself nullifies the reasoning for using an existing IP. At best by using castlevania's name in this way will damage the company's relationship with at least part of their fan base. By creating a new IP you don't run this risk. So I guess what you could say I hate is the corporate concept behind the entire endeavor and the rushed PR fuckery that went on when it was realized that a big portion of the fan base didn't like this new direction. The bottom line then is that there's no reason this couldn't have been a new IP, and I hate that because it's lazy.

[Flame]

The game has very little to make it scream castlevania.

The whole second half of the game after Gabriel passes through Crow's Pass screams Castlevania to me. Pretty hard. It was for a bit there, almost like some sort of a dream Castlevania game. Gothic environments with nightmarish monsters, which spew a lot of blood when you kill them. Filling both the Gothic and Horror quotas.

[VampirehunterB]

man I miss the ayami kojima art..

[Flame]

I miss Yamane.

The post Yamane Vania OST's are rather weak.

Imagine if they teamed Yamane with Oscar Arujo?

That'd be an epic music team up right there.

[Raxivace]

I started it for the first time recently, and am currently enjoying it.

It's not the most Castlevania-y Castlevania game, but I'm having fun. If the sequel adds in more CVish elements, that would be perfect. Though I'm okay with this being a little different in nature, since this game is supposed to be pre-Dracula from what I understand.

[Charlotte-nyo:3]

the combat itself wasn't all that "fun" though.

Beware then. You walk a dangerous road. I remember seeing God of War getting 10/10s and the like everywhere and deciding to try it, finding it ok, but having the same feeling of the combat itself not being all that "fun." Then I ended up gradually growing to dislike it years down the road after trying to get through God of War 2 and not really feeling compelled to just because the combat is the main activity--if I don't find the main activity that fun it seems somewhat pointless to play it despite the graphics, story, music, atmosphere, etc. I could get all that from a Let's Play of the game and some possibly amusing commentary as well, but the fun is what makes you want to play it yourself.

[Inccubus]

Beware then. You walk a dangerous road. I remember seeing God of War getting 10/10s and the like everywhere and deciding to try it, finding it ok, but having the same feeling of the combat itself not being all that "fun." Then I ended up gradually growing to dislike it years down the road after trying to get through God of War 2 and not really feeling compelled to just because the combat is the main activity--if I don't find the main activity that fun it seems somewhat pointless to play it despite the graphics, story, music, atmosphere, etc. I could get all that from a Let's Play of the game and some possibly amusing commentary as well, but the fun is what makes you want to play it yourself.

Absolutely! That's should be the main focus of any game. Having the main activity be fun. Too many developers forget this in favor of pretty visuals or gimmicks.

[jestercolony]

I'm a hardcore CV fan, I honestly don't hate it and am actually enjoying it. Perhaps I enjoy the story more because of the fact I can relate with Gabriel in a sense (the calm/angry type) but when it comes down to the actual game play itself? The QTEs didn't really bother me as much because they are designed to force you to pay attention (this actually helps with the games combat mechanics.) My only true issue is that it wasn't the atmosphere, the monster choices or anything of that nature...

My only issue is the difficulty and level design. Simply put it, the layout of each level was excellent - but so much more could have been done. What I mean this is that since Level 1 the entire level should of been attacking us. Zombies, objects being thrown at you (poltrigiest...etc.) and we should of been wanting to break our PS3/360 controllers when we got to the third level.

Puzzle elements? What puzzle elements? They were so simple that it didn't really give me the "Hmm..." feeling. It was like they had been designed for a 10 year old ADD/ADHD kid. Sorry, when someone tells me puzzles are involved, I am expecting something of Myst or Silent Hill hard mode on crack kinda thing, I like the action, but also adding in something that actually forces you to think? Even better.

The platforming bored the hell out of it - I was expecting very technical and harsh things to over come (Which I expect from a CV game) such as say, the use of Malphas' crows or the bats? They could have been used as an attempt to knock you down in to a pit. What about spikes, flame traps and movable platforms? Oh wait, we didn't see this until the Music Box Level and the DLC. What happen to all of that? I'm sorry but Cox as a producer who was apparently a CV "Fan"  didn't obviously pay the 'ef attention to the platforming elements that we have all grown up on.

Music? I loved the OST and all - but yeah I do agree a lot of tracks where over used. It annoyed the crap out of me at times because having to hear a catchy tune then having to hear it 50 times later got old very quick. But this is just me throwing my 2 cents in.

[Raxivace]

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I hope Cox includes a lot of those elements in the sequel.

I really hope LoS 2 is a genuinely better sequel, and not just a carbon copy of LoS.

[Sumac]

Dracula being an emo wreck seeking to die instead of being an affably evil relentless antagonist etc.

Hm...wasn't Mathias an emo-wreck too?
And we didn't see almost nothing of Dracula-Gabriel so how relentless he is, is up in the air.
But I'd guess it didn't stop people from making such statements. 

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I'm a fan and don't hate it.
I guess I'm not hardcore enough.

[e105beta]

I'm a fan and don't hate it.
I guess I'm not hardcore enough.

This

[A-Yty]

Hm...wasn't Mathias an emo-wreck too?
And we didn't see almost nothing of Dracula-Gabriel so how relentless he is, is up in the air.
But I'd guess it didn't stop people from making such statements. 

Not really. He was still determined enough to cook up a scheme and to eventually Hannibal Lecture Leon. He was determined to become what he is, even if his motivation was deeply emotional. And he is more angry than sad in LoI, so I don't think that's really emo. But I digress. I'm talking about what he became after Lisa died.

Sure, Gabriel may or may not be a bad guy, but is he ever going to give a crap about shattering a wine glass before a duel and being an overall magnificent bastard? Is he gonna become an evil spirit, almost like a force of nature that is fueled by the evil of man?

You don't really need to answer, because I can kind of already guess you don't care about any of that. But what he is now and what he'll probably be, he's not my kind of Drac. And Satan? I can hardly take him seriously (wearing pants might help a little).

[beingthehero]

I guess I'm not hardcore enough.

Not until your mom lets you be hardcore, anyways, though I think that's a foregone conclusion.