Topic: Lords of Shadow. DLC news/sepculation

[cecil-kain]

Well Lords of Shadow was released one month ago today, and I think it's fair to say that most of us beat the game weeks ago.  And really, this game is way, way too linear to enjoy retreading these stages for Palladin Mode, Brotherhood Arks, Gems, or these silly trials...  Secret exits with unlockable stages would have done wonders for the replay value --and dare I suggest an alternate playable character?  No matter,  Lets talk DLC.  Supposedly it's coming --no news when.  And what little we do know is that the story will continue in some fashion.  Recent news indicates Gabriel will return to the Castle and meet up with Laura --a good move I might add.  Hopefully we'll see some bridging toward the game's epilogue.  What are your thoughts?  Or maybe just your reflection on the past month?

[The Silverlord]

Slightly off topic, but one thing that jumps out at me: Lords of Shadows is probably one of the quickest games I’ve seen to come down from a full price tag of £35+ to £20 odd in the UK, or maybe I'm not keeping a good track of how new releases work.  Two weeks after it was out (on my return from holiday) I managed to snap up a copy for £30.  Another week or so later, £22 odd on Gameplay.  Enslaved also looked to have got bigger billing in the shops I was in.  I think the marketing of the game was an absolute shambles.  I think Dave said something along the lines that the budget wasn't big and sales expectations weren't great (I think he said something along those lines, could be wrong, 'pologies Cox if I'm wrong): but even he was surely disappointed with the European LE fiasco and how quickly it's been dropped in price?

[Valtiel]

Slightly off topic, but one thing that jumps out at me: Lords of Shadows is probably one of the quickest games I’ve seen to come down from a full price tag of £35+ to £20 odd in the UK, or maybe I'm not keeping a good track of how new releases work.  Two weeks after it was out (on my return from holiday) I managed to snap up a copy for £30.  Another week or so later, £22 odd on Gameplay.  Enslaved also looked to have got bigger billing in the shops I was in.  I think the marketing of the game was an absolute shambles.  I think Dave said something along the lines that the budget wasn't big and sales expectations weren't great (I think he said something along those lines, could be wrong, 'pologies Cox if I'm wrong): but even he was surely disappointed with the European LE fiasco and how quickly it's been dropped in price?

Marketing was awful but the results aren't surprising. Look at Vanquish: it's a flagship title, the newest creation of the Resident Evil creator and the Devil May Cry father and it bombed like hell too, much worse than CV.

I don't know if you follow sales-age discussions, but these days if it's not a waggle game, an FPS or an exclusive with MS/Nintendo/Sony's hype machine behind it, it won't sell.

[Thunderbrand]

Marketing was awful but the results aren't surprising. Look at Vanquish: it's a flagship title, the newest creation of the Resident Evil creator and the Devil May Cry father and it bombed like hell too, much worse than CV.

I don't know if you follow sales-age discussions, but these days if it's not a waggle game, an FPS or an exclusive with MS/Nintendo/Sony's hype machine behind it, it won't sell.

You can throw in the EA Sports titles (Madden, NHL, etc.) as big sellers too, but that's about it. Marketing was pretty much zero for LoS, but I think over time it will start to sell well. It may just take some time for people to discover it, similar to SotN. I still think in time, LoS will go down as a very popular, well recieved game. and not just by the CV diehards like us.

As for the DLC, I'm glad we'll get to return to the castle. I thought there should be more areas to cover there anyway, given how huge the castle is. I would also assume we'll see the Lady of the Forest at some point, unless they just deleted that character completely.

[cecil-kain]

You can throw in the EA Sports titles (Madden, NHL, etc.) as big sellers too, but that's about it. Marketing was pretty much zero for LoS, but I think over time it will start to sell well. It may just take some time for people to discover it, similar to SotN. I still think in time, LoS will go down as a very popular, well recieved game. and not just by the CV diehards like us.

As for the DLC, I'm glad we'll get to return to the castle. I thought there should be more areas to cover there anyway, given how huge the castle is. I would also assume we'll see the Lady of the Forest at some point, unless they just deleted that character completely.

I hope the DLC doesn't have that tack-on feeling --like the unlockable characters in the Castleroids.  I hope there's some compelling storyline (complete with voicework) that drives it all forward.  New relics, and system enhancements would be a godsend.

[Wallachia]

I hope we get DLC akin to the 1st FORCE UNLEASHED - FULL, new levels, enemies, and costumes even..

[Kingshango]

Well since Gabe is going back to the castle Im guessing the layout will change.(assuming it should going by what one of the scrolls said about it being a living entity that changes form) Plus it wouldn't make sense to go back to a area and it looks exactly the same as before.

New enemies or rather more familliar enemies to the Castlevania universe.

Arena mode, hell im surprised it wasn't in the main game.

Some more familiar music wouldn't hurt either, hopefully more like the remakes of the Waterfall and the Courtyard and not hidden like the Beginning and Simons theme.

[shelverton.]

About the sales of LoS;

It seems Konami is releasing a PS3 bundle with Metal Gear Solid 4 AND Castlevania Lords of Shadow, according to this;
http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/82529/metal-gear-solid-4-castlevania-ps3-bundle-confirmed-for-japan/

That will most definitely boost the sales of LoS in Japan, even if it isn't really the same as a game selling on its own. Still, Wii Sports is on VGChartz.com as one of the best selling games of all time (if not THE best selling game...) so I don't see why not.

[Inccubus]

Well since Gabe is going back to the castle Im guessing the layout will change.(assuming it should going by what one of the scrolls said about it being a living entity that changes form) Plus it wouldn't make sense to go back to a area and it looks exactly the same as before.

New enemies or rather more familliar enemies to the Castlevania universe.

Arena mode, hell im surprised it wasn't in the main game.

Some more familiar music wouldn't hurt either, hopefully more like the remakes of the Waterfall and the Courtyard and not hidden like the Beginning and Simons theme.

This! They could even go as far as having stages similar in theme to CV1 with their songs orchestrated and I think Cox would get much, much more love from us. Not to mention it would be pure win.

[uzo]

Recent news indicates Gabriel will return to the Castle and meet up with Laura

Wait, hold on. What did I miss?

[Inccubus]

Yeah it was a Cox-tweet or an interview snippet or something.

[Alutwon]

This! They could even go as far as having stages similar in theme to CV1 with their songs orchestrated and I think Cox would get much, much more love from us. Not to mention it would be pure win.

Pure win indeed. This DLC has soo much potential, I hope they don't do something lame with it.

[Harrycombs]

I hope the DLC for this is like the one Triumph did for the original Overlord. It was pretty awesome, new levels (that actually introduced more new gameplay elements), new voicing acting, and it picked up the story from where the game ended. I hope its not recycled.

[crisis]

I don't wanna get all hype for something that most likely will turn out to be something underwhelming. So my expectations for the DLC to be uber-Castlevania-like are pretty low. But for laughs this is what Cox/Konami prolly has in store:


DLC Pack #1- More chess with Laura
DLC Pack #2- Chupacabra Hedge Maze Panic!!
DLC Pack #3- Solid Snake boots w/ gloves
DLC Pack #4- LoS PS3/360 dashboard theme
DLC Pack #5- Belmont Shuffle (NOT what you're thinking/expect)

[Munchy]

I don't wanna get all hype for something that most likely will turn out to be something underwhelming. So my expectations for the DLC to be uber-Castlevania-like are pretty low. But for laughs this is what Cox/Konami prolly has in store:


DLC Pack #1- More chess with Laura
DLC Pack #2- Chupacabra Hedge Maze Panic!!
DLC Pack #3- Solid Snake boots w/ gloves
DLC Pack #4- LoS PS3/360 dashboard theme
DLC Pack #5- Belmont Shuffle (NOT what you're thinking/expect)

Is the Belmont Shuffle a parody of the Superbowl Shuffle with all of LoS's voice cast rapping about what they do in the game?

I'd buy it.