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

[Neobelmont]

I guess he means the traversal aspect of the game, starting from a village, to forest, ancient ruins, abandon fortress's and finally ending up at the castle. ( I know the game technically ended in the land of the dead but still)

yeah something like this and the red armor, the night day cycle. babysitting makes me tired so I can't think too well right now. 
 but yeah something like this and the red armor, the daylight did make me think of SQ.

[Ahasverus]

What is similar to Simon's Quest in Lords of Shadow?

Simply: The sense of a world.

[Dremn]

I hate these droughts of no info. Here's something in the mean time.

http://www.meagan-marie.com/castlevania/



Scroll way down for some nicer pics.

[Chernabogue]

I would totally play with Gabrielle Belmont. 

[Intersection]

I wish LoS2 had a Day and Night Cycle and had a text prompt saying "What a Terrible day for a Sunshine" And all the Brotherhood Paladins go Hardcore Crazy.

Uh... interesting idea, I guess? But I'm not sure if "what a terrible day for sunshine" would have enough dramatic effect...
Implementing a day/night system in LoS2 would be a great idea, though. Remember when night fell in Carmilla's castle? Just when you thought you'd finally dealt with with them all... I'd love to see something like that in LoS2.

Being a Hardcore Castlevania fan by the way, if I had the rights to Castlevania back in 2009, mine would've been something as completely new as LoS. Why do I have to follow the same damn pattern if I'm rebooting the series. SotN wasn't made with "Castlevania" esthetics and gameplay so SHUDDUP! 

Well, I wouldn't say that. When it came out, Symphony was ripe with novelty and innovation, but a good part of the game's success lay in how remarkably well Castlevania's past esthetics were integrated within it. Every recognizable aspect of the series, from its unique gameplay to its inspiring music, were flawlessly woven into SoTN -- it was, and it still is, unmistakeably Castlevania. Remember, it was also Hagihara's last effort in the franchise; its perfect union between old and new was key to its success. Also not that SoTN wasn't that radically different, either; the series had been moving in that direction ever since Rondo. After all, Symphony was its sequel.

Simply: The sense of a world.

And a world there was. And yet it was never truly as monumental as it appeared to be. Towering cliffs, thunderous waterfalls, crumbling ruins -- you could feast your eyes on them, but never anything more. You couldn't interact with them; you couldn't explore them; you were literally imprisoned between the insubstantial walls of a linear game. They felt more like decoration, rather than constituting the comprehensive universe I'd expected them to be... Of course, there were those moments when what I saw truly took my breath away. But I'd even have preferred a slightly smaller world, if I could be given the freedom to wander about, far and wide, unbound.
But it seems LoS2's on the way to right that, though. I'm impatiently waiting to see what it'll be like...

I would totally play with Gabrielle Belmont. 

Sure, why not? We certainly need another heroine in the series... 

[Flame]

Flame:
What moments in particular reminded you of SCIV? I didn't find the two games to have that much in parallel, if not for the trademark whip swing...

Mostly, the somber atmosphere. (and the fact that it used some CV4 music)

Everything before the castle reminded me of CV4 and it's varied environments before the actual castle. The swamp gets particular mention here, as does Veros Woods.  The Castle really doesnt even need mentioning, since that's the one thing everyone agrees feels decidedly like Castlevania.

And yeah, the whip swing is one thing too.

on the CV2 talk, There's also gabriel's outfit. he's wearing Simon's CV2 outfit. Complete with silver boots and gauntlets.

[Belmontoya]

I'll share a few of my thoughts now, though:
- I still don't think LoS was conceived entirely with classic CV fans in mind. Cox's intentions were far from being a mystery: he had intended, among other things, to bring Castlevania into the mainstream market. And that would involve, he noted, unconventional choices.
- I'm perfectly convinced that many, long-time fans were brought back to the series with LoS; but you can't deny that many more were attracted to the MercurySteam's new blockbuster reboot without exactly knowing much of the series' heritage. I know there to be many new LoS-crazed fans who don't hold Castlevania's past games in particularly high regard.
But that isn't, of course, true for all of LoS's fans (that'd include me ). Far from it.

Here's a little snippet from the Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow wiki.

"Unlike most recent Castlevania games, Ayami Kojima did not participate in the character designs for Dawn of Sorrow. Instead, the characters were drawn in a distinctive anime style. This was done due to influence from producer Koji Igarashi, who wanted to market the game to a younger audience."

Basically, he was watering down the look of Castlevania, taking it from an already disputed gothic anime look, to a saturday morning cartoon anime look, in order to make it more accessible to kids.

LOS is a very mature game visually, and plays in a linear fashion like a classic Castlevania game.

Now which developer do you think had the older cv fans in mind?

And a world there was. And yet it was never truly as monumental as it appeared to be. Towering cliffs, thunderous waterfalls, crumbling ruins -- you could feast your eyes on them, but never anything more. You couldn't interact with them; you couldn't explore them; you were literally imprisoned between the insubstantial walls of a linear game. They felt more like decoration, rather than constituting the comprehensive universe I'd expected them to be... Of course, there were those moments when what I saw truly took my breath away. But I'd have even have preferred a slightly smaller world, if I could be given the freedom to wander about, far and wide, unbound.
But it seems LoS2's on the way to right that, though. I'm impatiently waiting to see what it'll be like...

I for one do not see the open world style of play as an improvement. I see it as an alternate style of gameplay, not a superior feature. I liked the fact that LOS was linear like the original Castlevania was. This was another nod to the older Castlevania games in my opinion. It keeps the focus on action, which is my favorite part of CV. When I am playing a game, I prefer to spend my time battling monsters, and overcoming level obstacles- not wandering around a level collecting items and trying to figure out where to go next. I can appreciate that some fans prefer the Simon's Quest, SOTN open world style, but I don't think it makes sense to complain about the style of game LOS is. You might as well pop in Grand Turismo and complain that you can't drive off of the track and onto public streets.

[Bergaron]

I hate these droughts of no info. Here's something in the mean time.

http://www.meagan-marie.com/castlevania/



Scroll way down for some nicer pics.

Kudos for this girl, and of course the photographer, a superb job!!!

[Lelygax]

Why Xena's sister is invading this topic?   j/k

Here's a little snippet from the Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow wiki.

"Unlike most recent Castlevania games, Ayami Kojima did not participate in the character designs for Dawn of Sorrow. Instead, the characters were drawn in a distinctive anime style. This was done due to influence from producer Koji Igarashi, who wanted to market the game to a younger audience."

Basically, he was watering down the look of Castlevania, taking it from an already disputed gothic anime look, to a saturday morning cartoon anime look, in order to make it more accessible to kids.

LOS is a very mature game visually, and plays in a linear fashion like a classic Castlevania game.

Now which developer do you think had the older cv fans in mind?

...IGA? Changing characters portrait is one thing, changing everything else is another. xD
If they decide to change something in some product, its better if they change the box than the product itself IMO.

[Kingshango]

So while I was in thirst for info I came across footage of the game from the Eurogamer expo. It's the same demo as E3 and TGS but then I noticed something different about it right around the 9:20 mark, can you spot the difference?

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 Gameplay Konami Gamers Night 2013

[Zetheraxza]

something different about it right around the 9:20 mark

NAW! Dave Cox actually listened? Not that it was a problem to me but hey! He does listen... but only if he wants to. Then again, maybe it is only a demo.

[Flame]

Ah the optional hint thing. it'll be nice to go through the game without it this time.

[Ahasverus]

So while I was in thirst for info I came across footage of the game from the Eurogamer expo. It's the same demo as E3 and TGS but then I noticed something different about it right around the 9:20 mark, can you spot the difference?

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 Gameplay Konami Gamers Night 2013

1- That's not Eurogamer Expo, that's konami gamer's night.
2- What's different? Optional hints? nice.

What reassures me is that it's 360 footage and framerate is fine.

[Asgardwolf]

1- That's not Eurogamer Expo, that's konami gamer's night.
2- What's different? Optional hints? nice.

What reassures me is that it's 360 footage and framerate is fine.

Hint: No Quick Ti... or at least somes hope for an option to disable them.

[Maedhros]

1- That's not Eurogamer Expo, that's konami gamer's night.
2- What's different? Optional hints? nice.

What reassures me is that it's 360 footage and framerate is fine.

How can you get that from a shitty off-screen footage (on Youtube, which is capped at 30FPS) is beyond me...