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

[Dremn]

3 more days gentlemen and ladies.

Get hyped.

[Munchy]

I'll be honest.

Some of those enemies look really generic, I wish they would show off the more Castlevania centric monsters instead of trolls and gnomes straight out of tolkien lore. I know J.R.R Tolkien has been a huge influence for Castlevania for awhile, but where the heck are the Medusa Heads and Mermen?

That artwork of Gabriel is insane though, love it.

My main disturbance is that the trolls look a little too much like they were pulled from Berserk. I just hope they don't start raping people.

The evil butcher is fucking awesome. What an ugly mofo. The ugly little split jawed zombie guys look cool too. Glad to see that there are some actual creepy looking creatures this time around, cuz, you know, they're the forces of darkness.

[DingusBelmondo]

The trolls are clearly modeled after the Trolls of norwegian lore and John Bauer's art work, which i am all for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/John_Bauer_1915.jpg/642px-John_Bauer_1915.jpg

[James Belmont]

All the whining for years over how they reuse enemies, and now everyone's pitching a bitch because there's some new ones which, let's be honest, aren't exactly new anyway. All the crying about how we never get out of the castle, and now everyone's throwing a hissy now that we finally see some new locations. Seriously, I love the hypocrisy around here. Gives me a nice chuckle.

[DragonSlayr81]

All the whining for years over how they reuse enemies, and now everyone's pitching a bitch because there's some new ones which, let's be honest, aren't exactly new anyway. All the crying about how we never get out of the castle, and now everyone's throwing a hissy now that we finally see some new locations. Seriously, I love the hypocrisy around here. Gives me a nice chuckle.

Interestingly enough, I've always liked the reused enemy sprites. I've never complained once about them in the IGA games, and even brought up how I would've much preferred LoI and CoD to feature 3D models based on the classic enemies rather than the designs they eventually used.

That being said, I do like a lot of the monsters in LoS. I love how they are basically bringing the SotN Wargs into 3D, retaining the basic look and SIZE(GIANT WOLVES).

[CastleDan]

The trolls are clearly modeled after the Trolls of norwegian lore and John Bauer's art work, which i am all for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/John_Bauer_1915.jpg/642px-John_Bauer_1915.jpg

Still believe you are a David Cox.

I mean you seem to always know some interesting things...and seem very positive about this game all the time.


INTERESTING.

[DingusBelmondo]

Still believe you are a David Cox.

I mean you seem to always know some interesting things...and seem very positive about this game all the time.


INTERESTING.

Blast. My cover is blown!

[Dtritus]

Thanks Silverlord! I really like that gabriel artwork in the 2nd scan.


Mr. Alvarez, I was looking into games you and some of your team have worked on in the past (pre-MercurySteam) and everyone seems to overlook Severance: Blade of Darkness. The game was actually pretty damn cool, and has gained a cult following over the years. I couldn't help but notice a resemblance a mask in that game has to the Devil Mask in Lords of Shadow. Was the design of the Devil Mask a homage to Severance or is this simply how José Luis Vaello Bertol likes to draw evil masks?

That is Ianna's face -Goddess of Light- sculpted on the handle of a sword you can find in Severance. Nothing to do with LoS mask, actually. But yeah, both come from same place -artist's imagination 

[Dtritus]

That would be awesome.

I'm very excited about this game. While I still really enjoy the overall experience of the DS games, I've had growing concerns about the direction of the Castlevania franchise. Quick tangent -- I think like many others, my ideal Castlevania title is a new, epic 2D platformer for console, sort of like Castlvania SotN meets Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade.

However, in the 3D realm, I feel like that's where we've been issued the most disservice as fans. I thought Curse of Darkness was a total mess, aesthetically. Horrible characters, story, writing, everything. A time traveling magician wearing a top-hat trying to add some sort of mystery plot to the game and overall series? I think when you have have half naked weirdos and a really silly plot about Death running around in disguise, you've "jumped the shark", as they say. There are lots of problems in that game, beyond the level design, which had me fearing that the people behind it no longer understood the series well enough.

When I saw the trailer for Lords of Shadow, it was a huge sigh of relief. While it's MercurySteam's first step into the world of Castlevania, there is already MUCH more hope and promise here than I think the series would've given us otherwise. The whole approach from the ground up seems much more in line with my tastes, at least.

When I think of Castlevania, this sort of imagry comes to mind:


Not this, so much:


Lords of Shadow looks like a great leap into the right direction. Mr. Alvarez, if you're reading this, thank you so much for making what looks like the 3D Castlevania I've wanted this whole time. I wish you and your team great success on this release, as well as a continued involvement from MercurySteam in the CV series.

Thx a lot for your words, m8. We do our best! 

[The Silverlord]

If I'm honest at this stage, I'd say things are looking braw.  Much of the art style appears brown and earthly, it has a gritty medieval feel, and I think that's going to complement the atmosphere no end.  Perhaps the reason for the colourings is the night and day aspect: if the palette is changing, the colours may be more closely linked/intertwined.

I’m glad we’re moving away from the Victorian-esque art and elegance of the IGA era, the pale-faced, flawless complexion of those characters whom possess little seeming backbone, the castle with few traps and dialogue niceties.  I’ve been talking about maturity and realism in Castlevania for a long time, or the lack of it, and it’s coming this time.  We’ve got adult themes, characters capable of shedding a tear or gritting their teeth in anger, emotions at play, feral demons, quality voice actors: I reckon this’ll all lend to some immersion.

I’d like to escape in there. I haven’t escaped into a Castlevania game for many years.  Some might say that’s not the point, it’s just a game, it’s action-orientated, etc.  But, why not?  Also: let’s grow out of Alucard, the cartoonish qualities of the games in the series, and let’s step up.  Things don’t have to be the same, developers don't have to be beholden, and things can be better.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for success in the mainstream with this title.  That'll mean good things for the future of Castlevania, direction and budget-wise.  If it plays well and garners some attention at E3, all things are possible.

[A-Yty]

Yeah, I like the art too. Especially illustrations of Gabriel. His character model is a nice middle ground between sleek and barbaric.

[shelverton.]

Ideally, we'd have a little bit of both; A gritty game here, a more "cartoonish" game there. And with cartoony, I guess I mean colorful like the DS games. They didnt strike me as kiddy games, but they weren't exactly mature-looking either. There is no excuse for the artwork and dialogue in Portrait of Ruin though. Had they changed the charatcer portraits and written new dialogue, the game would've been much better recieved, cause there's really nothing wrong with the gameplay, except the recycled areas in the game. But I could've lived with that cause the game was addictive, to me at least..

[Dremn]

2 days left!

[thernz]

I am going to post positive things about the game. It will most definitely have more interesting environments than the last 4 or 5 IGA games. Well, interesting in interaction though I dig them castle interiors. I am also digging the "travel along the countryside" approach akin to Super Castlevania IV. That should be explored more and it'll be a great refresher after the last few (barring Order of Ecclesia but Portrait of Ruin countered that with its horrible PORTALS IN CASTLES). The story will probably be better than most IGA games too. I'm sensing that the characters might have more depth than any of IGA's characters whereas most of their appeal stems from only their designs rather than personality except for Saint Germain and the hubhub Walter. Of course, that's a pretty easy feat, heh. Also, Gabriel is a total hunk.
I wish his hair was curly like in that artwork though. ;_;

This game will be the best 3D Castlevania.

[Dremn]

Man after today's Microsoft briefing even if Castlevania doesn't live up to my expectations I'll still like it more than what I had to see today.