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

[Flame]

@Flame I SAID THAT NOT UZO

btw my d-arts megaman arrived today am very excite. it has excellent sculpt. will pose next to my other figures so i can make ultimate Smash bros. team post photos soon. would you be interested to see?

My apologies, I remembered that wrong then. Still, eerily accurate.

Also, I have Mega Man D-Ats. Magnificent sculpt indeed. looks just like he should. I also have, in addition to my own Mega Man, Bass, X, Zero Type 1, Black Zero type 2, Vile, and Ultimate Armor X.

[KaZudra]

Wait for the Revelations DLC...

[Dremn]

oh so thats how that works

[Viskod]

Yeah but they played upon that dynamic by having Soma try and stop that endless cycle from repeating while simultaneously dealing with people who wanted the Belmont family vs Dracula to occur forever.

My point being it's not just about Belmonts killing Dracula, because we've had two games without him as Dracula proper, one game where he exists as Dracula for all of two seconds before running away, and five games where he's killed by other people, six if you count using Sypha, Grant, or Alucard at the end of 3.

Oh and a fighting game where you get to play as Dracula.

There have been many different approaches to Castlevania, and Mercury Steams is no less deserving of the series title. I would even say the game is more about Dracula than the Belmonts because he's been in all of them somehow but a Belmont has not, and he's what each game centers around with the possible exception of Lament of Innocence which was a dual origin story for both Leon and Dracula.

Without Dracula there is no Castlevania. So a stand alone series centering on him is quite appropriate.

[Flame]

putting Armored and Dark Dracula together produces some kickass results.

http://s28.postimg.org/z68rj9563/1393555784041.jpg

EDIT: we need automatic image resizing on this forum.

[Intersection]

I might as well share a few impressions. Keep in mind that I'm only a few hours into the game.

- I'm surprised to see that LoS2 is a genuinely nonlinear game. And while this is nowhere near Metroidvania depth, I'm actually managing to somewhat enjoy backtracking, which is a huge improvement over the dull chapter replays of LoS1 and the abysmal forced backtracking of MoF.

- There's a shop, which should normally be a very welcome addition. Though I haven't used it much for the moment.

- The combat system has been given a few small but definite improvements. Unblockable attacks are no longer signaled by a barely visible white light -- the new cue is painfully obvious, but that's still a good thing. And there's an air dodge. Finally.
There's also an interesting new block-breaking mechanic, which is pretty solid for the time being. It adds a little more combat depth, allows for some new enemy design, and gives the chaos claws an additional raison d'etre beyond simply dealing more damage. The mastery system looks pretty neat, but hasn't yet amounted to anything. I'll need a few more hours to fill the gauge.
Most of LoS's combat moves return in LoS2, which is unsurprising but still welcome. It's strange but just as satisfying to be controlling Dracula the way I'd controlled Gabriel.

- There's a clear world dichotomy here. Dracula's Castle can be beautiful, sometimes breathtaking, and is well-crafted for the most part. It also features the brunt of the game's interesting combat and enemy design. Reality is dull, ugly, generic, has stealth, and is plagued with an absolutely ridiculous plot development. It's hard not to have a preference.

- Platforming, like in LoS1, still relies on dull, heavily scripted wall shimmying. This may change later on in the game, but for the moment a few jumps and a few swinging chandeliers aren't exactly conducive to "real platforming". On a positive note, Dracula's climbing speed is thankfully much quicker than Gabriel's, which does tend to shorten the shimmying tedium. And LoS1's mortifying balancing segments are finally gone.

- Stealth is horrible. LoS2 doesn't even bother to give you the illusion of freedom as everything is scripted and explicited to a T, and any attempt you make at leaving the given path is invariably and severely punished. The environments you cross are ugly and uninteresting, failure makes the entire business abominably repetitive, and the whole concept in itself is jarring in context.
- The plot is a simple carrot-and-stick narrative, only armed with an absurd plot point that you'd be hard-pressed not to laugh at. As far as I'm concerned, only the voice acting is competent.

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A virus is released into the atmosphere by a pharmaceutical company, causing humans to transform into monsters. Does this sound familiar?

- The game holds your hand for far too long. I'm getting tired of the all-too-obvious camera pans, the interminable prompts, the constant hints provided by Zobek, and those bats. I simply can't get rid of those bats, even when I disable hinting. It's almost insulting.

[Flame]

I dont mind the bats, they are far less intrusive than glowing yellow ledges.

And sometimes they are needed, since not everything climbable is obviously climbable.

[Kamirine]

My point being it's not just about Belmonts killing Dracula, because we've had two games without him as Dracula proper, one game where he exists as Dracula for all of two seconds before running away, and five games where he's killed by other people, six if you count using Sypha, Grant, or Alucard at the end of 3.

Oh and a fighting game where you get to play as Dracula.

There have been many different approaches to Castlevania, and Mercury Steams is no less deserving of the series title. I would even say the game is more about Dracula than the Belmonts because he's been in all of them somehow but a Belmont has not, and he's what each game centers around with the possible exception of Lament of Innocence which was a dual origin story for both Leon and Dracula.

Without Dracula there is no Castlevania. So a stand alone series centering on him is quite appropriate.

Let me clarify: for a reboot, which LoS is suppose to be, it got Castlevania wrong.  Yes, there were games eventually that stared non-Belmonts, but the Belmont family were still accounted for/explained away and it was still in the realm of a built upon story.

You play as Dracula through Soma  , but to be fair, I thought Dracula being reincarnated as a Japanese teenage boy was rather silly to say the least. Another rant for another day and thread.

The problem I have with LoS is as a reboot and after all the--let's be frank--lying Cox did before the first game was released, it was expected to be a reboot of the game back at it's roots.  And those roots are a badass with a whip from a kickass family fighting Dracula. 

Not Dracula as a sympathetic  anti-villain/borderline hero who fights Satan.  I actually like the story and characters enough (save Satan, Zobak was the better villain in my eyes) that it's actually why I wish it wasn't Castlevania related: I would have loved to see where it would have gone without having to shoehorn Caatlevania mythos in there.

And with the way LoS's story is, you really couldn't apply the old story or mythos to it (for starters, Dracula is a Belmont and anti-hero...), so it's more a complete alternate universe than a stand alone backstory for CV's Dracula as we knew him. Too much was changed.

This may be an agree to disagree moment, admittedly. 

[Viskod]

I agree that you don't like the series to a point that blinds you to the fact that Konami said it was Castlevania, so it is. Whether you, I, or anyone else like the game or not. We're all at their mercy as to where they decide to take the series.

[Kamirine]

I agree that you don't like the series to a point that blinds you to the fact that Konami said it was Castlevania, so it is. Whether you, I, or anyone else like the game or not. We're all at their mercy as to where they decide to take the series.

I'm not blind to anything, but I don't have to LIKE LoS as a Castlevania game or agree with it as being one.  It's my opinion and I'm entitled to have it just as you are with it fitting into the series without being generalized for it.

Though I do agree that it's up to Konami now for what's to come.

[ChibiMaddiChan]

I agree that you don't like the series to a point that blinds you to the fact that Konami said it was Castlevania, so it is. Whether you, I, or anyone else like the game or not. We're all at their mercy as to where they decide to take the series.

So is Legends still a Castlevania game even if it was removed from canon by IGA? Because it has the Konami emblem on it so it's liking they're saying it is.  And Kid Dracula?  I mean it does have Galamoth or whatever in it.  And those slot machine game.  Where the hell do they count in the series?!

Jokes aside, Lords was worth it just for that

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Death fight.  So epic and I loved sticking it to Zozo.

. Doubt we'll stay with Lords but if not, I want new shit, not going back.

[Viskod]

Of course it's still a Castlevania game, it's just a non-canon Castlevania game. Like Judgement, 64, Legacy of Darkness, and the Lords of Shadow series.

[Kamirine]

Of course it's still a Castlevania game, it's just a non-canon Castlevania game. Like Judgement, 64, Legacy of Darkness, and the Lords of Shadow series.

I wouldn't say Lords is non canon per-say, since it's a reboot.  Maybe alternate universe since it features some of the same people but a different setting and retelling of their story. 

@MaddiChan

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Okay, say what I will, I spiked my controller and war screamed at beating Death.  I waited since LoS1 to kick his ass and it felt awesome to finally do it. He WAS my personal final boss, lol.  Alusatan...well, admittedly reminded me of DMC 3.  Not what I expected but okay.  And the ending left me conflicted.

[Mike Belmont]

Well, if we take the IGA timeline, then yes, those games are not canon...

...But still Castlevanias Games

[Shiroi Koumori]

And those slot machine game.  Where the hell do they count in the series?!

Hehehe. Pachislot 3 is a remake of CV3 in slot machine form, minus Grant, again.

Well, if we take the IGA timeline, then yes, those games are not canon...

...But still Castlevanias Games

Yup. Whether people like them or not.