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

[Mike Belmont]

As for the pre order bonus in PSN...

Are you sure it's just those areas? gaming sites all around seem to suggest it's in general.

A site in Mexico/Latam has put that information today (LevelUp), and Gamespot (US, I believe) has give the same info, so I think that is worldwide... or maybe a confussion.

As for the reviews, again, I remember when I see the trailers, speculations, and reviews of former games. IGA games, to be precisely. How many of us has left the saga because of that reviews? I mean, they were not great ones, I accept it, but they have many Castlevania stuff that many of us love. We buyed them, and we played them, and we have all of them in present I am sure, so, the reviews really does not matter for real fans of a saga like Castlevania, with its more than 25 years of existence...

...Maybe is the fear for a period of years without CV games, if LoS 2 doesn´t sell well?

[derision]

So, if a review give a bad score, people will proceed to say that the review is shitty, but when some spanish magazine gives it a 9.5 and calls the game the second coming of Jesus, then they are right...

FUCKING DOUBLE STANDARDS, how do these work!?

That alleged 9.5 review hasn't really been discussed much further beyond brief mentions in passing. What are you talking about?

There's also the issue of this review not being in English so many people can't really talk about it in detail, much less throw it under the bus.

This whole "holier than thou" thing you try to pull is very tiring. You do this on neogaf as well.

[Maedhros]

We're not politicians, we're fans and we can have any double or triple standards if we feeli like it.

That's why I can't take you seriously after all, try at least to be consistent on your thinking. You hate the game when Edge gives it 4 but love it when a less known site give it 9.5.

Im not following this review thing too much because fuck reviews, but theres also a difference between US gaming journalism, and EU gaming journalism. on the EU scene, it seems to be more legit. FAR more legit than over here.

Also, I suppose it  matters when a magazine from the game's hometown gives it a review.

Mercurysteam is spanish, so if a spanish magazine gives it a review, that's something to listen for, no?

No. In fact, we could go as far as say that they could be biased on their review.

Edge review was pretty fair, if you actually read it. The stealth sections and the problems they have with no i-frames, pacing, etc... all of them are pretty fair and accumulating them makes the game not sound that good after all. It makes the game seems worse than the first (the pacing is a problem they didn't solve at all).

That alleged 9.5 review hasn't really been discussed much further beyond brief mentions in passing. What are you talking about?

There's also the issue of this review not being in English so many people can't really talk about it in detail, much less throw it under the bus.

This whole "holier than thou" thing you try to pull is very tiring. You do this on neogaf as well.

I'm not trying anything, I'm simply saying what I'm seeing around the net. People are trying to downplay reviews because they are giving low scores to the game based on their gameplay. It wasn't the same when these same magazines/sites gave 9/8 to the first game. Double Standards.

It obvious that some people already choose to buy the game and think that it'll be great and it won't make them not buy it. That don't give them the right to downplay the reviews from people who actually played the game in the first place.

Not caring about reviews is ok.

BTW, I think you'll continue to get tired of me in the future.

[Ahasverus]

And this is what I can't take you seriously. Would you kindly show me that post of mine profusing my love for the game after the spanish review? Or anyone else's for that matter? Because your e penis of ever rightness can't viagra itself with fabricated controversy, can it?.

[derision]

I'm not trying anything, I'm simply saying what I'm seeing around the net. People are trying to downplay reviews because they are giving low scores to the game based on their gameplay. It wasn't the same when these same magazines/sites gave 9/8 to the first game. Double Standards.

So you're saying that misdirecting your frustrations comes naturally to you. Okay, that says a lot. You say that you're "simply" responding to a very vague overall consensus on what you're seen on the net. lol, where? As I said, no one's making a fuss here. No on neogaf even cares, and I doubt it's even brought up there. Gamefaqs is silent.

It obvious that some people already choose to buy the game and think that it'll be great and it won't make them not buy it. That don't give them the right to downplay the reviews from people who actually played the game in the first place.

Not caring about reviews is ok.

Oh please. People are totally justified in "downplaying" reviews that they don't find adequate. And that has been a common complaint. Some readers are left thinking, hmm, this aspect of the game I was curious about wasn't covered. I don't quite think this review is thorough enough and I'll wait for more insight. Hardly an illogical response.

BTW, I think you'll continue to get tired of me in the future.

How can I continue to get tired of you when I'm already dead asleep? I've lurked neogaf for awhile and know enough. You're an emotional, cynical hypocrite with a persecution complex. You overreact to things that go against your views and are not beyond twisting the facts to belittle others and prop yourself on a false pedestal.

Things don't get much simpler. At the risk of further getting into a juvenile multi-quote argument I'll save you the trouble and say that I'm done talking to you. I've already made myself clear.

[Maedhros]

And this is what I can't take you seriously. Would you kindly show me that post of mine profusing my love for the game after the spanish review? Or anyone else's for that matter? Because your e penis of ever rightness can't viagra itself with fabricated controversy, can it?.

Abajo de postear dice "attachmebts and other options"

(click to show/hide)

lol this forum became bilingual, I think we need an spanish dungeon, jorge *wink*wink*

Spanish magazines were overly positive with los1 too. But I agreed with them so that 95 (!) is good news for me.

Of course, you'll probably say that you never said that you love the game on this post. Not even 5 posts you were talking like MS was worse than cancer, citing that you respect Edge's opinion (I agree that GI "review" is too short, though)

I'll repeat: try to be consistent on your opinion. And wait for the game, as me and others already said when only GI review was out. Going on this rollercoaster of emotions isn't productive.

So you're saying that misdirecting your frustrations comes naturally to you. Okay, that says a lot. You say that you're "simply" responding to a very vague overall consensus on what you're seen on the net. lol, where? As I said, no one's making a fuss here. No on neogaf even cares, and I doubt it's even brought up there. Gamefaqs is silent.

Oh please. People are totally justified in "downplaying" reviews that they don't find adequate. And that has been a common complaint. The readers are left thinking, hmm, this aspect of the game I was curious about wasn't covered. I don't quite think this review is thorough enough and I'll wait for more insight. Hardly an illogical response.

How can I continue to get tired of you when I'm already dead asleep? I've lurked neogaf for awhile and know enough. You're an emotional, cynical hypocrite with a persecution complex. You overreact to things that go against your views and are not beyond twisting the facts to belittle others and prop yourself on a false pedestal.

Things don't get much simpler. At the risk of further getting into a juvenile multi-quote argument I'll save you the trouble and say that I'm done talking to you. I've already made myself clear.

Oh, the usual "break the post into parts to give a response".

First: I'm not frustated. I'm just pointing that people shouldn't practice double standard. When only the GI review was out, you could see it on Neogaf and here (fuck, I won't go looking back here or there, you can go back some pages for yourself). Me and others said to wait for other reviews, as it was just one opinion.

Second, you could actually say that from GI review, as it was very short and from there, we couldn't really say too much about the game. Edge review is ok and they cover everything that is needed to be known about the game. Pacing, combat, platforming, stealth sections and open world, everything is there. Didn't they gave the first game an 8?

So you go to personal offenses in the end of your argument? Wow, who's being juvenile here? And I never said my opinion about the game at all, or that I'm actually right and you guys wrong. I'm just talking about double standards.

[Ahasverus]

Man you are asking /me/ to not like a positive review, I like to know the game is not Sonic 2006 levels of bad. If Mercury screwed this they deserve to be bashed to hell and back. But alas, all I have is the reviews, at least until the game is out. I'm really frustrated you know.

And I agree, personal insults are a little too far.

[Little Dracula]

Magazines from Spain like Playmania or Hobby Consolas are trash, they are nothing but marketing tools, is really hard to know if they are saying the truth or just making videogame companies happy.

Got my copy of Edge, here we go:

[Flame]

Magazines from Spain like Playmania or Hobby Consolas are trash, they are nothing but marketing tools, is really hard to know if they are saying the truth or just making videogame companies happy.

Got my copy of Edge, here we go:

"But the biggest influence was God of War"

Stopped reading there.

[Maedhros]

Man you are asking /me/ to not like a positive review, I like to know the game is not Sonic 2006 levels of bad. If Mercury screwed this they deserve to be bashed to hell and back. But alas, all I have is the reviews, at least until the game is out. I'm really frustrated you know.

And I agree, personal insults are a little too far.

I'm not asking you to not like the review man, I'm saying that you shouldn't change your opinion so much because of reviews. Flame, for example, had been consistent on his position (and right, actually, reviews doesn't matter, ever) and that he'll give a chance to the game regardless. You almost broke when Edge review came out.

The most legit review we had so far came from the leaker (Spanishkiller, I guess... don't remember his name), because he doesn't seems like your typical reviewer and more like a guy who likes videogames.

While I agree that it's frustating that some reviewers aren't liking the game (on the sense that it'll affect the sales), I simply accept that the game actually has a chance of being worse than the first LoS. The biggest problem on this is the franchise being affected by this. Hopefully, it'll sell well enough to be kept alive.

Don't view this as an order, it's just a recomendation/warning/tip.

"But the biggest influence was God of War"

Stopped reading there.

It is though, since the first game. I don't want to engage on this argumnt again, though.

[Trevorcard]

Hey everyone its been awhile and I been lurking on this thread since I been busy with school. You know I feel you man Ahasverus it kills me that this game is getting terrible reviews but you know I realized that were games that got great reviews and I wasn't impressed with (Batman Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite) and there were games that got bad reviews and I enjoyed them (Killer 7, Nier) . The game could be worse than Lords of Shadows 1 but you know I had fun with Mirror of fate which had a bunch of flaws and hopefully I will have fun with Lords of Shadow 2. If the game sucks it will suck but I already got it preorder so I guess I will find out. I will be back here to give my review. See ya guys later.

[e105beta]

So...yeah, the whole review doesn't make much more sense than the blurb. I stand by that claim.

Sure, they make the claim that LoS2 falls short of LoS1, but they don't demonstrate it in the review, especially on the first page. Most of the review I just found myself nodding and asking myself, "Ok, how is this any different from the first game?" The combat, the platforming, the script, the pacing, etc. I mean, it literally sounds like exact complaints with the first game, right down to the complaint about the unblockable sound being the same with every enemy. If you didn't like it in LoS1, you're not going to like it in LoS2...but they liked LoS1. I mean, I played the demo. It played better than LoS1. Not seeing it there.

I'm also suspicious of the graphics claim, since the "jagged mess" that the game supposedly is was not apparent in the slightest in the demo. It looked better than LoS1 did.

The stealth is a legitimate complaint, so I'll be interested to see how it plays out in the actual game. Particularly in the Agreus portion, since, IIRC, Spainkiller said it was easy once he remembered about the mist.

I don't know what this Spanish review is saying, and honestly, I could care less. The Edge review made me want to play the game because everything I read made me think of the first game which I liked. So *shrug*

EDIT: Honestly, I don't think it's the same reviewer. He cites God of War more than he cites LoS1, which by now is a fairly irrelevant discussion, and from the review I gather he has a very shallow understanding of the first game, and thus bizarre expectations. I think that's what's causing the score disparity.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Alright guys, calm down. Don't take your frustrations here.

[TatteredSeraph]

Flame:

I got the areas that the PSN bonus of MoF will be released in directly from the fb post which I linked.


As for the matter of whether I'm going "Oh no!  This game is going to be crap, because the reviews coming in say it is!  Arghhhh!" is a non-existant matter for the moment for me.  I paid attention to what I'd heard about LoS1, saying that it wasn't a Castlevania game yadda yadda yadda.  I then proceeded to ignore the game for a while, before curiousity lead me to watching a movie of the game on youtube, and found myself impressed.  When I finally ended up getting a console, I picked up the game at the same time.  I ended up really loving the game, even with knowing what was coming up.

On the flip side, the game I've played which is meant to be really good but I wasn't so keen on was Assassin's Creed 1.  I find the gameplay repeatative, and the system clunky.  AC2 however is amazing, and for me the highlight of the games. 

[Chernabogue]

If you want to play the game, play it. If you don't want, pass your way. That's that simple