Topic: The official "Finding Castlevania in Lords of Shadow" thread....

[Vampire Killer]

Some of my fondest memories from youth are rooted in Castlevania. I grew up mostly poor, even used food stamps for a bit.  So when it came to videogames, I had to be really careful with my selection, as I only got about 3 games a year (birthday and Christmas). Of course like most children, I traded and borrowed with friends to try other games out. Through this borrowing I eventually tried and fell in love with the series, seeing something epic and meaningful in it's quest.  The first Cv I owned was Cv3: Dracula's Curse (and odd title considering Cv2 was the game about an actual curse from Dracula).  And yes, I had by this point beaten the previous two games. When the SNES came out I was stated to get it just in time for Christmas.  I thought my mom would only get me the system itself and nothing else (being poor as we were), but to my grand surprise, I received Super Castlevania 4 with it.

My GOD, WHAT a game! To this day Cv4 is the best material gift I've ever gotten. It took me about four days, but I beat it. Followed quickly by a replay, and then another, and then another. I moved back and forth between Cv4 and Super Mario World for probably months until I finally got Gradius 3. Through the SNES years I beat many a game, but always I went back to Cv4 and marveled at it's beauty. Only SNES game that beat it for my love was Super Metroid (understandably). Point being, I played the heck out of Cv4. With each play-through I noticed new details, sometimes lingering at particular spots to take it all in. Cv4 was the first game that I really did that with, that is, admired it's beauty in the way I would admire a painting or a flower.

As strange as this may sound to some of the haters (and thar be many haters dwelling in the Dungeon, arrrr), I found myself often lost in the same admiration while playing Lords of Shadow. After subsequent play-throughs, I began to notice how much of the old Cv was hidden within LoS. For example, as I've mentioned before, the Brotherhood outfit worn by Gabriel is extremely close to the artwork for Simon on the box of Cv2. So much in fact that I'd say it's definitely deliberate.

Another example, while Cox and team were obviously heavily inspired by SotC for the Titan battles, it's actually possible that the main (or at least part) inspriration for including the Titans at all stemmed from the Cv4 level 5 boss, Koranot.



Whether it is or not, I think you're getting the point of this thread. For those of us who've been with Castlevania through the years and enjoyed LoS, finding the old, sometimes hidden other times obvious, within the new brings a new enjoyment and appreciation of the game. 

What I'd like is for you to list what you've found in LoS that has reminded you of your beloved series. No matter how small or vague the possibility (let's try to keep it serious though). It could be part of an outfit (as I listed above), or an enemy (on the way to Baba-Yaga, those guys that borrow under the earth and throw their heads at you remind me of the medusa heads), an entire stage (parts of chapter 2 remind me a lot of some Cv4 stages), or whatever. Be creative.

Please, no remarks about how un-Cv like LoS is, or how much it sucks. That's not what this thread is for. Thank you.

[crisis]

There was a similar thread created a while back that revealed pretty much all the classic references LoS had.

I think it's been known since day 1 that Gabriel's armor looks like Simon's.

[Kingshango]

Even though most (if not everybody) hated the Aghartha segment, it did remind me of the old sinking city stages of Super Castlevania/Bloodlines.

[Vampire Killer]

There was a similar thread created a while back that revealed pretty much all the classic references LoS had.

I think it's been known since day 1 that Gabriel's armor looks like Simon's.

If true, then feel free to merge this Jorge. No need for clutter.

And you're probably right about the armor. Felt like an ass that it took me so long actually.

[darkwzrd4]

Well, I think the most obvious CV thing in LoS is the castle.  It has everything.  The maze garden.  The castle hall.  The castle keep.  Plus, the clockwork tower (which is kind of like a clocktower).

Another thing is that the song in the music box is "Vampire Killer".

And let's not forget that the hero is someone with the Belmont last name and he wields a whip.

[Vampire Killer]

Even though most (if not everybody) hated the Aghartha segment, it did remind me of the old sinking city stages of Super Castlevania/Bloodlines.

Actually, I liked a lot of chapter 2.  I really wanted to stab Claudia in the chest with a dagger for never STFU though. Wait...maybe that's why Gabriel killed her?.  He's running along after she's said it for like the 147th time, thinking "ok bitch, one more fucking time and I knife you".  And of course, poor Claudia, her being so happy and giddy to finally have another person around after so many long lonely years just can't stop talking. Not to mention the poor lass is socially retarded, having no other company but a mute golem, she can't think of anything to say but to find those shards, all the while thinking "yay, I'm helping!".

Poor poor Claudia.

[Ahasverus]

There are many CV elements, I will name what I remember.
1- The old man tells Gabriel the Guardian is "In the Forest". Transylvania means forest in romanian,
2- The hunting path abyss (the one we see in the cutscene) has a resemblance to some background of the mountains of Order of Ecclesia.
3- The Dead Bog is almost a 3D reimagining of the swamp level of SCVIV and CV Chronicles  (Toads, Skeleton Dragons and everything!)
4- The ice titan level has a resemblance to the frozen lake in ecclesia.
5- There's some background in Agharta (Can't remember which part) is almost an exact portrait of the final SOTN escene background (Falen pillar, dawn, open sea...) with the same colors and stuff.
6- Waterfalls from Agharta= Waterfalls SCVIV
7- The Cornell Bossfight (and some of his attacks) is derived from the traditional Werewolf battle, especially from the ROB one. Cornell's 2nd form is reminiscent of POR's werewolf.
8- Malphas tower lobby has a resemblance to Walter's Castle main hall.
9- Ruvas forest. Enough said.
10- The vortex at the top of Carmilla's Castle, reminiscent of the one found in SOTN.
11- Wygol is a 3D modeling of the Ecclesia village (Count the buildings!) however, in the vampire fight, it resembles the old "Village in fire" from Rondo of Blood.
12- Abbot's monastery is a reimagining of the area found in Ecclesia. (Even its location matches, along with the Castle)
13- The inner yards of the monastery (Where the portal puzzle is located) is reminiscent of Garibaldi temple.
14- Traps of the monastery are very CV-ish (Spiked roof!)
15- Castle gardens is a reimagining of the old stage from CV-64
16- The trap door from the Castle gate leading to a prison is reminiscent of Nocturne in the Moonlight area.
17- Statues from the garden are similar to Venus weeds.
18- The evil butcherer kitchen has a similar decoration of the one used in AOS (The barrells with meat, the hanged flesh etc)
19- The big statue guarding the upper part of the castle found at the Evil Butcherer stage, classic.
20- The altar from the same room reminds me of something, but I can't recall, I think I saw it on Harmony of Dissonance.
21- Devil statues from Carmilla's castle are simlar to the ones in the Marble Corridor from SOTN.
22- The Whole Castle is just... Castleorgasmic
23- Carmilla's throne room is preceded by long, stairs, with the moon shining in the background, need anything else?
24- The scene with the castle crumbling in Carmilla's cutscene is similar to the one in DXC.
25- Carmilla's attacks are similar to Elizabeth bathory's in Bloodlines. She's also surrounded by a circular shield while flying.
26- The level before baba-yaga's house is similar to one in Ecclesia (I can't remember) scarecrows included.
27- Music Box plays Vampire Killer... enough said.
28- Necromancer lands are similar in aesthethics to the chaos world in AOS and DoS.
29- (almost forgot it) Claudia's Knight is a typical Guardian knight.
30- Olrox Room is just under castle keep. Just like in SOTN.
31- The Dracolich is both a reiagining of the Zombie Dragon and Death's second from from various games.
32- The after-fight climbing from the Gravedigger's battle is similar to the old levels where lava/water/something level increased and you had to go up quickly before it caches you.
33- Satan's level kinda looks like the Chaos Realm.
34- Reverie's castle entrance is a complete reimagining of the traidional entrance (Big windows, white walls, red courtains, staris leading to mermen... great!)
35- Founder's Headquarters are reminiscent of some backgrounds from "Shrine of the Apostates".

And of course there are the adapted enemies... all of them are.

Adapted songs:
1- Beginning (Final Confrontation)
2- Vampire Killer
3- Waterfalls
4- Prologue -SCVIV- (Malpha's tower=
5- Castlevania 1 Dracula's theme (Carmilla's fight unnamed song)

And that's all for now, I will write other ones I could have missed (I didn't mention the obvious ones)

[uzo]

Wow, your first few there are already grasping at straws. I'll consider this list just full of BS then.

[Vampire Killer]

I lack enough imagination to see anything beyond the scope of my own set parameters.

Not surprised at all

[thernz]

So Koranot is a ton of rock backwards, but guess what...
The first two titans are tons of rock.

[Munchy]

There were a few tiny nods (I don't know if they're intentional or not) to some other enemy attack patterns. One being the swamp troll attacking with large pillars like the Bloodlines minotaurs, the goblins throwing bombs like... uh... green bag-head guy in Bloodlines. Watching Cornell with the hammer, I was kind of sad he wasn't a cyclops.

[Rychord]

I've just finished playing through Lords of Shadow, and I felt like the game did a relatively good job of capturing what I like about Castlevania, up until the point where you defeat Carmilla. The last few chapters - especially with the Titan Graveyard and the Nercromancer's Abyss levels, but also the parts with Baba Yaga - felt like it was something different from Castlevania. My main point of reference for Castlevania games consists of the Nintendo (NES,SNES,N64) games, as well as SOTN and the PS2 games, so maybe those levels have similarities with other games, but to me the "feel" of Castlevania went out the window as soon as I got out of the vampire castle. I didn't even know I had fought Death until the Dracolich intro scene. Actually, I'm still not convinced it was actually Death I was fighting since the game calls him the "necromancer", ad his appearance was nowhere near what Death should look like. Also, the titan and Dracolich fights felt like I was playing some other game instead of Castlevania. One of those fights would have been fine, but three was too much out of place tedium for me.

I did get many moments where I felt like I was playing the Castlevania I know and love in the first few chapters. The cut-scene at the beginning I felt was a good reflection of the mood that usually presides over the opening of a Castlevania game. The swamp level made me smile when it gave me a warning that I was going to sink if I didn't hurry up. Wygol village/ the Abbey reminded me of the opening level of many Castlevania games.The vampire's castle as a whole seemed a worthy addition to the series inventiveness with castle design, and the general mood of those levels was familiar.

All in all, I can say it succeeded in making me feel I was playing a Castlevania game, but broke with that feeling in the later parts. The post credit ending scene did redeem it a bit IMO.

[Munchy]

I've just finished playing through Lords of Shadow, and I felt like the game did a relatively good job of capturing what I like about Castlevania, up until the point where you defeat Carmilla. The last few chapters - especially with the Titan Graveyard and the Nercromancer's Abyss levels, but also the parts with Baba Yaga - felt like it was something different from Castlevania. My main point of reference for Castlevania games consists of the Nintendo (NES,SNES,N64) games, as well as SOTN and the PS2 games, so maybe those levels have similarities with other games, but to me the "feel" of Castlevania went out the window as soon as I got out of the vampire castle. I didn't even know I had fought Death until the Dracolich intro scene. Actually, I'm still not convinced it was actually Death I was fighting since the game calls him the "necromancer", ad his appearance was nowhere near what Death should look like. Also, the titan and Dracolich fights felt like I was playing some other game instead of Castlevania. One of those fights would have been fine, but three was too much out of place tedium for me.

I did get many moments where I felt like I was playing the Castlevania I know and love in the first few chapters. The cut-scene at the beginning I felt was a good reflection of the mood that usually presides over the opening of a Castlevania game. The swamp level made me smile when it gave me a warning that I was going to sink if I didn't hurry up. Wygol village/ the Abbey reminded me of the opening level of many Castlevania games.The vampire's castle as a whole seemed a worthy addition to the series inventiveness with castle design, and the general mood of those levels was familiar.

All in all, I can say it succeeded in making me feel I was playing a Castlevania game, but broke with that feeling in the later parts. The post credit ending scene did redeem it a bit IMO.

I really enjoyed the Baba Yaga section, but I totally agree that the "Death himself" thing is yet another pointless namedrop (and that the later parts just turn into Mordor wtf).

[Renonsgoods]

I think it was a waste that the necromancer model was NOT used for the character of Death.  I thought it was a brilliant design. All it needed was a scythe in hand.

[Reinhart77]

it felt like i was climbing one of those big Skele-Dragons during the Dracholich Titan battle.  Sure, its got more parts than just the spine and head, but that's where you were most of the time.