I suppose it was done that way in order to have the control over absorbing Light and Shadow magic...
...but why not just pool them together and auto-absorb 'em? You already toggle them with L1 and R1 (unless there's some Light/Shadow story element I've missed... on Chapter VII now).
I know this will sound pretty cruel, but thus far the platforming has been brainless. Castlevania has always been about methodical timing with jumps; in this game, once you know how to move, there's no skill required whatsoever. It feels too scripted and automatic.
Also, it was said earlier that there would be few, if any QTEs, that they took away from the game because the player is too busy trying to read which button to hammer. I was excited about this and find that... there are dozens of QTEs so far. What happened?
The game doesn't feel "Castlevania" in the first few chapters, but once you hit 4 it'll start to show more, trust me.
Maybe it's just because I'm playing at knight, but while I see a use for every single combo, I can't get some of them out (heavy combo 9x, I'm looking at you) because I need to dodge. I don't mind it, as it keeps the fights feeling fast-paced and makes me feel awesome when I pull off a long combo, it just makes me wonder if it could have been done a different way.
I hate hate hate hate hate that I can't target floor switches with my abilities. Supposedly you can FALCON PAWNCH the floor switches, but the ability has to land right on the stupid spot and 9 times out of 10, it doesn't.
Camera complaints
I don't entirely get the avid intensity for this one. I've really had very little problems/gripes with the camera. If anything, I've been praising it on how excellent it's been making the battles and platforming look.
To each his own I guess.
The only complaint is maybe the soundtrack could be a little more varied. But it's such a small gripe since everything in this game is so much fun. The Castlevania feel REALLY hits when you reach Wygol Village. Damn- anyone who says this doesn't feel like Castlevania needs to keep playing before they put there foot in their mouth- staking vampires with Patrick Stewart is cooler than most Castlevania experiences I had! As for the camera angle- I don't see the gripe- only a few times I wished I could control it, otherwise it's fine. I'm kinda glad it doesn't thinking back to CoD which I didn't like. I think it's best to save all complaints until the game is completed. I see people rating the game after 1 or 2 chapters which really doesn't give the game justice- that was just a warm up to the gothic horror that is coming up.
I wish they would minimize some of the npc dialogues, especially with Claudia and the bosses. I feel that they are nagging and trolling me to death. Dialogue on loop kinda dented some of the feeling while playing this game, it's a just minor gripe of mine.
This game grows on you the more you play it... Indeed it's growing into its Castlevania shoes nicely...
none of the original vanias with belmonts were entirely in a castle.
Music: look at gothic horror music and horror music in general ( 70s horror music)
Wojciech Kilar - Vampire Hunters ( Bram stroker's Dracula)
Dracula by Wojciech Kilar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E-yYkVQmg8#)
My only real gripe with this game is that I felt it was a little heavy on the puzzles at times. I would of appreciated more open-area combat thrown in instead.
Well anyways, they still should look at 70s horror music ( more specifically at Fabio Frizzi's and Goblin's works)
Are there any more titan battles in this game? Because I'm at the second one, and if there any more, I'm just going to shelve it. Or maybe just download a save game, if the PS3 will let me. They're so ineptly handled that I really want no part in them. I'm tired of hitting one of them weak spots, then getting to that point where I need to dodge their swipe, but the hit detection is so awful that I end up falling off despite not being anywhere near the danger zone.
Combat would work better if the larger enemies were actually stunned to an extent, or at least if you could cancel out of moves. I'm sick of unlocking combos and finding them nearly useless against anything but popcorn enemies, because I just keep getting knocked out of them anyway.
The frame rate is a good indicator of how seriously the developers want me to take their game. It it's 60, then it's about speed, reflexes and skill. If it's 30 or less, it's all about graphics. Guess where Castlevania falls.
The level design is incredibly counterproductive. The natural inclination to explore and find the hidden stuff is cut down because of all of the invisible walls. Except some of them aren't! It seems entirely at the discretion of the level designer. If you're going to render a hole in that mountain wall, and then not let me go through, then don't render it! At one point I walked up to a ledge and the game told me "This route is impassable, go another way." Then why is it there, jackass! Don't just put in pretty scenery, make it functional!
People are saying this game lasts 15-20 hours? Good GOD this is padded out. This goes back to the whole criticism of modern design sensibilities, but I'd rather a game stick everything in five hours instead of making me through the same types of scenery, defeating the same types of monsters, and every-so-slowly introducing important mechanics. The fighting doesn't even get good until a few hours in. When people dismiss your games for being a shallow button masher because, for the first hour or so, it IS a shallow button masher, then that's an issue.
In keeping with the frame rate discussion, what the hell is with Western developers and not locking frame rates? There are actually a few scarce times where it dips up into 60s, then minute anything happens it falls back into the sub-30 range. One part actually triggered quite a headache
Did the game seriously just give me a "guide the light with the mirrors" puzzle? I'm not sure if that was more insulting than that one where you need to rotate those circular platforms. This is Castlevania, not The 7th Fucking Guest.
Same goes with the platforming. Sometimes they'll guide with you the glowy ledges, other times it's up to you to figure out which of the identical looking platforms is your goal and which will send you flying into an abyss. At least the penalty for falling is light.