I think the problem with Lords of Shadow is that it just felt like a mash-up of things that have nothing to do with Castlevania. Gameplay from God of War,
GoW is a button masher. LoS punishes you for playing it like God of War, since not all attacks make enemies flinch, and therefore you have a higher likelyhood of being smacked upside the head for being so brash.
art style lifted directly from Lord of the Rings.
I wasnt aware Lord of the rings had illustrations, or any particular "art style"
Yeah, the gameplay is like Metroid,
Only since SoTN.
but it's got a far deeper item system and handful of RPG elements that set it apart.
the rpg elements of item drops and levels are really what separate it from metroid. Otherwise you always seem to have some kind of relic system in the metridvanias which functions like Metroid's power ups. SoTN especially.
Lord of Shadow? Virtually no personality what so ever.
That's like, your opinion, bro.
MercurySteam managed to take a cherished franchise and turn it into a bland, B- experience.
I thought it was an A. or at least a B+, with an A for effort.
Opinions, opinions.
I'm not seeing any innovation here. I'm just seeing mediocrity.
Hate to start this up again, but i saw little to no innovation in the past games since SoTN. Just the same formula with one added gimmick, and give or take a whip or interchangeable weapons. Also the reuse of many sprites from past games bothered me quite a bit in the later titles. I liked most of them, but the faults I find with them bothered me a fair bit.
the 3D games (LoI, CoD) were more innovative, since the maps were still metroidvania, but not quite the same, since they usually for the most part remained flat maps, with stairs separating different levels of the area, thus making them feel different than other metroidvanias. Unfortunately they suffered from repetitive level design, and visually were nothing too impressive. And the gameplay itself, while not too bad in LoI,(though a bit slow) in CoD was sort of hit and miss, either you liked it or you didnt.