Topic: "The Dragon Returns" - Castlevania Lords of Shadow Sequel (HERE BE SPOILER INFO)

[Intersection]

I opened the article. I read: "Lords of Shadow is the best 3D Castlevania game ever made". I closed the article. I upvoted Rugal's post.

That's all.

[darkwzrd4]

I just can't take reviewers like IGN seriously. Considering that it's their job to review games, they probably receive more money for positive reviews meaning that high ratings are bought and paid for. Thus, corrupting the reviews and destroying the credibility of the reviewers. This makes the reviews potential lies and useless for gamers. It's just best to wait for a normal person to buy the game and upload their footage on youtube.

[VladCT]

Or it might go the way it actually went for CVLoS where mercurysteam makes a wonderful new version of a game that had gone stale with an uninspired developer, making many old fans very happy while bringing in new fans, and also selling the most copies of a Cv game in the process, and essentially bringing a franchise back from the brink of the abyss.

I might be able join in with you guys in your complaints if that wasn't the way it actually went.

In my understanding the complaints here are more about him taking a piss on the original mythos by just taking the names and trying to redefine them his way. Next thing we know Bill becomes Red Falcon and Riou goes as insane as Luca Blight.
That said, I hope he doesn't try to reboot franchises from other companies and touch Metal Slug. Last thing I want is a tongue-in-cheek game going grimdark.

[Intersection]

I just can't take reviewers like IGN seriously. Considering that it's their job to review games, they probably receive more money for positive reviews meaning that high ratings are bought and paid for. Thus, corrupting the reviews and destroying the credibility of the reviewers. This makes the reviews potential lies and useless for gamers. It's just best to wait for a normal person to buy the game and upload their footage on youtube.

I don't think it has as much influence as you're making it out to have.
Granted, it seems hard to imagine that larger companies wouldn't be paying reviewers to support their games. Yet there's no shortage of bad reviews out there. From what I've seen (and read), most critics seem to have preserved their independence of spirit -- it's exceedingly difficult to find a professional review that clearly appears to be biased.
So, for the moment, I'm still more inclined than not to trust them, especially when we're dealing with well-established institutions like IGN.
Of course, it's always best to judge a game on your own. Yet there are times when, both literally and figuratively, you can't afford to make a mistake... and that's where reviews come in. They're still very useful, provided you're using them wisely enough. And, like you said, it's always nice to have a few third-party opinions to complement your own.

EDIT: Oh, so this is my hundredth post! Why, this must be celebrated. Quite so.

[Bergaron]

some people love it, other hate it. But there is only one authentic truth, all will have to live with everyone, no matter what the views of other people. So, live with it.

See you very focused on MS, considering that they are only four months of relationship with Castlevania, do not you would have to be more focused on the future of Castlevania?, New producer, the new studio, continuation and end of the old saga ...

PD. I hate COD, but I have to live with it ....

PD2. When IGN gives it a 4.5 they are genuine fan of Castlevania, but when I lift the clouds are corrupt .... (I live with it, so is this world).

[shelverton.]

I just can't take reviewers like IGN seriously. Considering that it's their job to review games, they probably receive more money for positive reviews meaning that high ratings are bought and paid for. Thus, corrupting the reviews and destroying the credibility of the reviewers. This makes the reviews potential lies and useless for gamers. It's just best to wait for a normal person to buy the game and upload their footage on youtube.

High ratings may indirectly be "bought and paid for" because of advertising and such (you don't wanna bite the hand that feeds you), but I doubt game companies would flat-out bribe reviewers (apart from the occasional free drinks and strip clubs..eh.. I mean, PR events). I did work as a video game reviewer for a couple of years (not in the US though) and noone ever paid anyone to write a positive review of anything. I do however remember a Nintendo PR-person contacting us after we scored Mario Kart Wii a 3/5. He was pretty upset and started to question us why the game didn't get a higher score. We explained that a 3/5 was indeed a "good" score but he wouldn't accept that. On a big site like IGN I imagine things like that might happen even more often, but I dunno. It's not like you'd go back and change the score because someone yelled at you.

[Pfil]

The complains are because a lot of old fans don't think it is CV, and all that copies it sold, it did so with many people who doesn't know what CV is, and while it made some old fans happy, it made a lot of old fans unhappy.
Also, the complains are based on the way fans perceive MS, myself included.
I can see them doing the same with any franchise, and apparently I'm not the only one.

I don't have much faith in the future of CV because it's not Nintendo we are talking about, it's Konami, and they will care about selling.
We won't have another MetroidVania, and I highly doubt we'll have another ClassicVania.

The future of CV might be Lecarde Chronicles 2. That's the best we'll get. And not from Konami, of course.

To fight between CV fans? No, we all love the same thing. And there's nice people here.
To defend MS? Oh no, dear. Never. They made me lose 6 years of CV.

[Bergaron]

The complains are because a lot of old fans don't think it is CV, and all that copies it sold, it did so with many people who doesn't know what CV is

easy to respond to that statement, now people know perfectly well what is LOS (one 3D hack&slash style DMC), if LOS2 sells well ......

[Pfil]

Yes, and they will buy it because they like LoS, and I respect that, as much as I don't agree.
But many of those people still don't know anything about older CV games. Let's face it: we CV fans are just a little elite market, and that's why Konami tried to make it appealing to everyone.
Did they succeed? The sales numbers apparently say so.
But that doesn't mean they made a game appealing to older fans, at least not to a great part of the fanbase.
I see your point, and it stands just as much as my point stands.
The way I see it, they could have made LoS a separate franchise, and now they would have CV, with low budget games and some sales, and LoS, a new franchise that sells a lot, and we would all be happy, and also greedy Konami would be happy with that.

[Intersection]

The way I see it, they could have made LoS a separate franchise, and now they would have CV, with low budget games and some sales, and LoS, a new franchise that sells a lot, and we would all be happy, and also greedy Konami would be happy with that.

All this time, I'd been wishing LoS was a separate franchise; yet I'd hope CV would fare better than being relegated to a low budget wing -- for "some sales" only.

I'm all for a bold reimagining of Castlevania; yet this particular one went so far that it got lost in its own dream. When it came out it wasn't Castlevania anymore!
Here's the bottom line: I truly enjoyed Lords of Shadow -- but simply not as a Castlevania game.

But Pfil: you have to show some kind of optimism towards future games; yes, Konami isn't known to pamper its franchises, but we can always hope for a true breakthrough.

[Belmontoya]

Yes, and they will buy it because they like LoS, and I respect that, as much as I don't agree.
But many of those people still don't know anything about older CV games. Let's face it: we CV fans are just a little elite market, and that's why Konami tried to make it appealing to everyone.
Did they succeed? The sales numbers apparently say so.
But that doesn't mean they made a game appealing to older fans, at least not to a great part of the fanbase.
I see your point, and it stands just as much as my point stands.
The way I see it, they could have made LoS a separate franchise, and now they would have CV, with low budget games and some sales, and LoS, a new franchise that sells a lot, and we would all be happy, and also greedy Konami would be happy with that.

Oh Pfil. I really like you, but there is just so much bs in this post. As I've said before I've been a die hard CV fan since the 80's and I love LOS and fully except it as a cv game. To assume that fans of LOS know nothing about CV is presumptuous and down right ignorant. Most of the people I know who played LOS and liked it were as old of fans as I am. Not all of them are die hard fans who own very game, but they have been playing cv games for as long as me.

Many fans from way back in the day ( and I mean before you were a fan) simply lost interest when castlevania became primarily a low budget nintendo handheld game. LOS has brought back fans who didn't care for the Metriodvania hand held games.

I know a lot of fans like this, and LOS brought them back. Then there are the did hard fans like me who have been around since damn near the beginning, and we love LOS. That's what I call appealing to the true older fans.

It really seems to me that you like the idea of castlevania being this obscure anime Metriodvania game that has a niche crowd. That's not the way it was back in the day and thats not the way many fans want it. It seems like you feel threatened by castlevania being on the big stage again and getting new fans.

LOS is every bit as legitimate as any IGA game in CV. That's fine if you don't like it, but it would be nice if you could stop raining on the parade for those of us who are excited for the sequel. On this particular thread it's a little rude.

[uzo]

Ya know, speaking of Goemon, where the hell has he been lately. I could really go for a fun co-op insanity platformer right about now.

[Ahasverus]

.

True, MercurySteam "Reign of Terror" is only 4 months away from its end. I'd love the bitching to stop already.

[Intersection]

Oh Pfil. I really like you, but there is just so much bs in this post. As I've said before I've been a die hard CV fan since the 80's and I love LOS and fully except it as a cv game. To assume that fans of LOS know nothing about CV is presumptuous and down right ignorant.

Have you ever considered tempering your remarks before posting them? No matter how much we disagree with each other, we're here to share our opinions with respect. Even if we don't subscribe to someone else's opinions, we should always try to say so with a certain amount of civility. It's a simple courtesy, both towards others and towards yourself. Because you must understand -- I don't exactly care to know how much bulls**t Pfil wrote, now do I?

Many fans from way back in the day ( and I mean before you were a fan) simply lost interest when castlevania became primarily a low budget nintendo handheld game. LOS has brought back fans who didn't care for the Metriodvania hand held games.

I know a lot of fans like this, and LOS brought them back. Then there are the did hard fans like me who have been around since damn near the beginning, and we love LOS. That's what I call appealing to the true older fans.

It really seems to me that you like the idea of castlevania being this obscure anime Metriodvania game that has a niche crowd. That's not the way it was back in the day and thats not the way many fans want it. It seems like you feel threatened by castlevania being on the big stage again and getting new fans.

LOS is every bit as legitimate as any IGA game in CV. That's fine if you don't like it, but it would be nice if you could stop raining on the parade for those of us who are excited for the sequel. On this particular thread it's a little rude.

Lords of Shadow may have brought some long-time gamers back to the franchise, but I can assure you that it was not intended to appeal to such a crowd; the way I'm looking at it, Lords of Shadow has very little to do with classic Castlevania.
Then again, that's my opinion; I'll leave you to yours. But try not to invoke the "I been here longer than you" argument. It really doesn't rub off well.
I can understand that IGA's titles don't appeal to you as much, but you might try to abstain yourself from calling their fans a "niche crowd" if you're going to assert that LoS is just as legitimate as Metroidvania. You'll have to excuse me, but we can all have our own opinions, and I'm quite certain that Pfil's have precious little to do with "feeling threatened" by new fans. It also happens that I mostly agree with her.
A word to the wise: I'm just as excited as you to see a LoS sequel coming to consoles. So don't fault anyone for "raining on your parade". And the next time you're going to call someone rude, think about yourself first.


Some good advice for all of us:

some people love it, other hate it. But there is only one authentic truth, all will have to live with everyone, no matter what the views of other people. So, live with it.

[darkwzrd4]

True, MercurySteam "Reign of Terror" is only 4 months away from its end. I'd love the bitching to stop already.

Yeah, I want it to stop too. However, I bet it will start up again if someone else gets the opportunity to make CV games and they reboot the series (almost guaranteed to happen). At which point, both the fans who are complaining now and the fans of the LoS series will start bitching. I don't mean to be negative, but this is just the impression I get.

Oh, and what I said about before about IGN and other reviewers, I may have over exaggerated the way things are and how they work, but my point remains the same.