Topic: I knew it! Castlevania: Lords of Shadow!(SPOILERS HERE, PLZ USE THE SPOILER TAG)

[Kamirine]

It's better that they wait for the hype-juggernauts to blow over before releasing this time around. As has been stated before, Castlevania is no longer an A-List game. Releasing it when Bayonetta and GoW3 get released would only cause Lords of Shadow to be over-looked and over-hyped, causing it to become a sleeper hit at best. If this is a long term marketing strategy, if they release Lords of Shadow with enough time for people to take notice of it and the game does well, they've opened the market for another one.

I tend to agree with this: the more people that get the chance to observe the game without the hype of other things to take any steam away from it, the better.

[Lumas]

Well since Kojima is involved I would have to say that is the reason we aren't getting much news about this game. With his MGS series he tends to keep things in the shadows up until the last minute. I think its a good thing they haven't released much that way we dont get bored before the game is actually released. Though something new would be nice....at least at this point..

[Munchy]

Just remembered that yeah, Dracula looks like he's wearing some kind of mask in Simon's Quest. Mind blown.

Though, I gotta say, I remember little to no official artwork of Dracula ever having a mask. There was some manga where he had a mask but... that's a manga. He does have skeleton like features to hide in some games, like the MSX Vampire Killer or his second form in CV4.

It brings to mind some interesting thoughts though... like if Drac wears a death mask to hide his partially formed features after premature resurrections? (Or, more likely, to hide the mutilations that come with generations of angry whip-wielding men hitting you in the face?)

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Getting hit in the face with what constitutes to be a long steel mace-tip would tend to mess up your face.
Maybe Dracula should wear a mask like Vega.
Maybe he just borrows Carmilla's, bwahahaha.
I think Vampire and Masks go hand-in-hand.

The original Vampire novels (some which go back before Dracula) have vampires wearing masks:
Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla" has her wearing a ballroom mask.
I believe even in Stoker's "Dracula, he wears a ballroom mask at one point.
I think (not sure, it's been a while since I read this) Polidori's Lord Ruthwen (from "The Vampyre") also wears a mask at some point.  In these time periods, ballroom masks were used quite often by nobility at such parties. 

Even in the Phantom of the Opera, while the main character is not a Vampire, he ahs been shaped to take numerous nods to the attire of one, including a mask.

[RichterB]

Not sure if anyone here has been checking back on Dave Cox's LOS Twitter, but there's been some good Q&A as of late that confirms extensive platforming that will "please the fans," a "Legendary Mode" for CV veterans, that this game does not have anything to do with the established timeline, and several other tidbits. (There's even a statement that he might drop in here sometime). It's sounding better, but I still need more "Castlevania-ness" in future screenshots. LINK: http://twitter.com/CastlevaniaLOS

[CastleDan]

Not sure if anyone here has been checking back on Dave Cox's LOS Twitter, but there's been some good Q&A as of late that confirms extensive platforming that will "please the fans," a "Legendary Mode" for CV veterans, that this game does not have anything to do with the established timeline, and several other tidbits. (There's even a statement that he might drop in here sometime). It's sounding better, but I still need more "Castlevania-ness" in future screenshots. LINK: http://twitter.com/CastlevaniaLOS

Yeah i heard about the platforming. That made me happy...and

no offense people but how does this game NOT look like castlevania?....

There's numerous pics that scream castlevania...

1. http://www.hcgbrasil.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/castlevania_lords_of_shadow.jpg --- Reminds me of the broken castle seen at the end of each castlevania

2.http://nukoda.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/e3_2009_los_011.jpg ---inside gothic environments

3.http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/101/1015533/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-20090819065251344_640w.jpg --reminds me of the town you visit in castlevania 2..

4. http://www.thegamersmag.com/wp-content/gallery/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-e3-09/3593130631_0045403224_o.jpg --- this screams castlevania ...in a colder way

5.http://ps3bloggen.se/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/castlevania_lords_of_shadow_2.jpg --the architecture of this building is very castlevania like.. down to how he uses the whip ( super castlevania 4)

6.http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/101/1016021/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-20090819110136234_640w.jpg --- concept art...very gritty and dark

7.http://www.psu.com/media/castlevania:-lords-of-shadow/castlevania:-lords-of-shadow-ss-17.jpg --while very different it reminds me of the garden stage in LOI.

8.http://www.onthexbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/cv_los_gamescom_7-1250691601.jpg ---this is classic castlevania. Reminds me of the numerous towers we've had to climb over the years..( something the more recent 3d adventures failed to do.

[Munchy]

One of the things Cox brought up recently was that the game was not a non-linear one, but in fact a linear stage-based progression like the old Castlevanias.

If this is true, it should have extra lives and score as well. Would be a complete and utter nerdgasm.

[RichterB]

Yeah i heard about the platforming. That made me happy...and no offense people but how does this game NOT look like castlevania?....There's numerous pics that scream castlevania...

Well, the pics you noted, particularly the final one, are largely in the vein. But some of the others with the ice giant, the huge ogre, and horse riding are on the fringe at best. (I'm still not crazy about Gabriel's overly-beefy football shoulders either). The pictures you noted are also missing some of the background eccentricities/details of Castlevania, and thus look rather plain, albeit suitably medieval and moody. As an aside, that town looks more rural than what we saw in CVII; it's more like the town from Maximo 2 (though that's not really all that bad). The biggest telltale sign I am waiting for with LoS: VILLAINS. Almost all of the enemies shown so far resemble creatures from other series in art design. Give me hordes of skeletons wielding bones that explode, medusa heads, bone pillars, and white skeleton dragons, and then I'll be more convinced. In short, the overall art direction still hasn't exuded the same feeling as the North American Super Castlevania IV box art, which I think encapsulates the Castlevania vibe.

[uzo]

Almost all of the enemies shown so far resemble creatures from other series in art design. Give me hordes of skeletons wielding bones that explode, medusa heads, bone pillars, and white skeleton dragons, and then I'll be more convinced. In short, the overall art direction still hasn't exuded the same feeling as the North American Super Castlevania IV box art, which I think encapsulates the Castlevania vibe.

Agreed.

It isn't Castlevania without medusa heads. It isn't Castlevania without skeletons. It isn't Castlevania without whipping candl- oh wait.

[Profbeanburrito]

One of the things Cox brought up recently was that the game was not a non-linear one, but in fact a linear stage-based progression like the old Castlevanias.

If this is true, it should have extra lives and score as well. Would be a complete and utter nerdgasm.

It won't have extra lives or a score system. I can't think of any action game in the past decade that had either of those. And I don't think it's going to be completely stage-based. I think by that he means like in God of War, for example, you have all these places that are connected and maybe when you get to the end of one area a gate will close or you'll drop too far to get back up. Something like that. I don't expect to see a "Stage Clear" kind of thing showing up or anything like that

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I want my Motorcycle Skeletons, too!  >_>

[CastleDan]

Well, the pics you noted, particularly the final one, are largely in the vein. But some of the others with the ice giant, the huge ogre, and horse riding are on the fringe at best. (I'm still not crazy about Gabriel's overly-beefy football shoulders either). The pictures you noted are also missing some of the background eccentricities/details of Castlevania, and thus look rather plain, albeit suitably medieval and moody. As an aside, that town looks more rural than what we saw in CVII; it's more like the town from Maximo 2 (though that's not really all that bad). The biggest telltale sign I am waiting for with LoS: VILLAINS. Almost all of the enemies shown so far resemble creatures from other series in art design. Give me hordes of skeletons wielding bones that explode, medusa heads, bone pillars, and white skeleton dragons, and then I'll be more convinced. In short, the overall art direction still hasn't exuded the same feeling as the North American Super Castlevania IV box art, which I think encapsulates the Castlevania vibe.

Curse of darkness had qualities though?

IF any game is bland and doesn't have the small details that a normal castlevania would it'd be cod...

Not saying you said that but this is a step in the RIGHT direction compared to the other 3d vanias...and the beefy character reeks the ORIGINAL main character art of the old games.. Yeah if you are all about the new metroidvanias... but if anything this game seems more faithful than ever.

[Sindra]

Curse of darkness had qualities though?

IF any game is bland and doesn't have the small details that a normal castlevania would it'd be cod...

Not saying you said that but this is a step in the RIGHT direction compared to the other 3d vanias...and the beefy character reeks the ORIGINAL main character art of the old games.. Yeah if you are all about the new metroidvanias... but if anything this game seems more faithful than ever.

It seems very reminiscent of the original games, but I wouldn't go so far as to say its faithful. If it was faithful it'd have kept alot of the staples of the series that we already know for fact are going to be left out, like the candle-whipping. Regardless of how realistic you want a this game to be, candle-whipping has been in the games since the very first game. It's been parodied multiple times. That right there is being faithful.

It might seem like a small thing, but as we can see just in this thread, its the small things that can turn a person on or off to a game altogether.

I have to agree that, while this game does look like it will be awesome in its own right, that its looking like it's not going to have the same Castlevania vibe to it that even the other 3D games that people bitch about still had in smaller amounts. I do hope I'm proven wrong, though.

[CastleDan]

It seems very reminiscent of the original games, but I wouldn't go so far as to say its faithful. If it was faithful it'd have kept alot of the staples of the series that we already know for fact are going to be left out, like the candle-whipping. Regardless of how realistic you want a this game to be, candle-whipping has been in the games since the very first game. It's been parodied multiple times. That right there is being faithful.

It might seem like a small thing, but as we can see just in this thread, its the small things that can turn a person on or off to a game altogether.

I have to agree that, while this game does look like it will be awesome in its own right, that its looking like it's not going to have the same Castlevania vibe to it that even the other 3D games that people bitch about still had in smaller amounts. I do hope I'm proven wrong, though.

Look I completely agree.

However, how I look at it.....  This is the first 3d castlevania that I actually give a damn about. They gave it a big budget, they have a lot of people overseeing it, and they have listened to the people in regards to the previous games flaws ( level design, no platforming)..

I'm stoked mainly because I know David Cox is a CLASSIC castlevania fan, a fan of super castlevania 4, simons quest, and the original. I love sotn, but it will be nice to see a guy who admired the originals constructing the new 3d game.

[Lumas]

Quote from: Sindra on Today at 04:09:49 pm
It seems very reminiscent of the original games, but I wouldn't go so far as to say its faithful. If it was faithful it'd have kept alot of the staples of the series that we already know for fact are going to be left out, like the candle-whipping. Regardless of how realistic you want a this game to be, candle-whipping has been in the games since the very first game. It's been parodied multiple times. That right there is being faithful.


*Grabs the mic from her*

YO sindra i respect you I really do and I'm gonna let you finish BUT Castlevania Lords of Shadow has stage by stage progression, whip swinging, gothic monsters as well as fantasy based one (If you recall there were orcs in CoD that had rapid fire crossbows and I've so far hadn't heard any bitching about that), we got a beefed up hero who is even wearing armor similar to what Simon wore on the cover of CV2, We seemed to have a very beautiful landscapes which I've heard "Oh that isn't very Castlevania" but in Rondo didn't Richter ride a wooden plank down a river that cut through a lush landscape while fending off skeletons in the  middle of the day? And also the first scene from rondo was the carriage scene fighting Death so there really shouldn't be any complaining about the horse back riding fights. We even have monsterous Vampires which haven't really been seen since the 64 titles.  Even when i seen the first trailer when it was announced as Lords of Shadow I thought "Well that looked more like a Castlevania game then the last fifty million SotN expansion packs I've been playing."  Mainly because one he kneeled infront of a cross (Trevor CV3) second was wearing bitchin armor and looked more beefed up then the pretty boys of IGA's time (Simon cv1) and third had a retractable flaming chain whip that tore off the head of a giant (im sorry but that was badass). And so far I haven't heard that there wouldn't be any of the classic monsters like medus heads, bone dragons, death and such so you can't really use that as an example against the fact this game isn't being faithful. Some things must be sacrificed in order to take a game to the next level while adding more rewarding ones.

(If you couldn't tell I was going for that whole Kanye West thing cause I thought I would lighten the mood a little)

So I'm sorry but I think this game is more faithful then what most "fans" are thinking. And another thing I dont get all this complaining about "It's ripping off God of War!! Wambulance!!!". SotN ripped off Metroid and Im not hearing anyone bitch about that. "Oh because it was a great game and had beautiful artwork and great music and Alucard is such a great hero of the cv series." You know you are right it didn't have all that and was one of the greatest if not the greatest Castlevania game but this game is just over 60% done so you can't really be bitching that its ripping off another game when the best game in the series did the same damn thing. If i decided "Well I dont like that game because it didn't have level by level progression like the original title."  or say the same about Simon's Quest then I would be a complete and utter retard because it took something like what Metroid did and took Castlevania into a new direction, abeit a direction that started to kinda get redudant, but regardless you can't call this game not faithful to the original just because of one thing like candle whipping.

Also Im Hideo Kojima. Did jew rike it?

*Runs off the stage*