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

[Kingshango]

IGN review

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1124296p1.html

7.5

Reading the review, it seems like the ramblings of a SOTN fanboy.  And the comment at the end shows his was biased against the game in the first place.

[Vatican29]

IGN review

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1124296p1.html

7.5

Reading the review, it seems like the ramblings of a SOTN fanboy.  And the comment at the end shows his was biased against the game in the first place.

I think maybe they have created a game that people want to love, but won't come out and say it.......

CV is a monster franchise in terms of longevity.  Its sort of like, IDK, wanting the New England Patriots to just go away from football, if that makes sense.

[thernz]

the alucard fanboys have infiltrated every facet of the gaming media
okay

[Julius]

You know, the scores so far have been pretty good in my opinion. I expected lower scores from IGN and Gamespot, they seem to have it out for any game that I absolutely love and dig for superficial reasons to downrate it. I hardly ever visit their site or listen to the reviews. As Thernz pointed out, clearly some SOTN fanboyism going on there. Which is all well and good, SOTN was and still is a great masterpiece of a game. But just because this isn't exactly like a Metroidvania doesn't mean it should be downrated or ignored.

Some opinions will always differ from person to person and some negative points I've seen pointed out actually are positive ones for me personally. All in all, despite the lukewarm to great scores, LOS is going to rock my socks off. And I'm hoping people will worry less about meaningless numbers and more about their personal experience with the game. Since this of all incarnations deserves to be played and enjoyed by everyone, not just Castlevania fans.

[DingusBelmondo]

Interesting to see some members upset that the game is being judged based off it's differences from castlevania and not because it's a good game. This seemed to be a common complaint just a few months ago. I have yet to see one less than 8 review that does not mark it down because it's "not castlevania enough". Sure, it makes no difference to some fans what the reviews are, but theres always that bitter feeling of being cheated if we feel the game was rated unfairly.

[e105beta]

IGN review

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1124296p1.html

7.5

Reading the review, it seems like the ramblings of a SOTN fanboy.  And the comment at the end shows his was biased against the game in the first place.

He doesn't say a single thing that the game does wrong besides not  being a Metroidvania. Then gives it a 7.5.

Also the fact that he attributed the pause during the grab attacks to frame rate drop made him look like a fool.

That said, Lords of Shadow also has framerate issues. It can drop when the action heats up -- or just during a cut scene. During one cinematic moment the game was literally chugging at just a few frames per second. Gabriel has a useful instant-kill move he can inflict on weaker enemies, but the game freezes for a moment every time he uses it.

Good grief, this is becoming tiresome. I used to trust sites like IGN, but now their reviewers are getting sloppy.
Who would you trust? The review that says "the combat is button mashy" or the review that goes into much detail about how complex and deep the combat system is. If anything, Symphony of the Night, which I assume this guy is a fan of, had button mashy combat.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

LOL I'm playing the Demo. :3

[Julius]

Interesting how he talks about the framerate chugging when most other reviews I've seen don't mention it at all or just in the beginning of the game because of the rain effects and whatnot. I find it hard to believe that a cutscene would drop down to single digit FPS like they make it seem. Maybe dipping into the low 20s at worse. Which is still totally acceptable considering the crazy amount of detail being pumped out all the time.

[RichterB]

IGN review

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/112/1124296p1.html

7.5

Reading the review, it seems like the ramblings of a SOTN fanboy.  And the comment at the end shows his was biased against the game in the first place.

An XBOX360 EXCLUSIVE!   I didn't know that LoS was only on XBOX360. Huh. Still no PS3 reviews for this game. What gives?

On another note, I'm tired of people thinking Castlevania is only a 2D series. That's ridiculous. That's like saying Mario is only a 2D series. I'm not sure if LoS will hit all the right marks, but even to a cautious fan like myself, there's no way it's going to be a bad game. It may not be as Castlevania as it could be (and I'm not talking about Metroidvania), but I'm pretty sure there will be enough nods overall. Well, time will tell, and probably personal preference, as well.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

On the demo, the framerate doesn't drop or slow down.  There seems to be some intentional (dramatic) slow down, especially during the Guillotine jump+whipslam attack and during some of the grabs.

I think some reviewers may be getting the wrong idea.  The "Precision Circles" that come out (which remind me of "Lost Odyssey" timed hits) seem to have a slightly different speed rate depending on whether you're playing on Squire or Knight (difficulties)... but I could just be imagining things.  It seems to slow down extra when playing the easiest mode.  I guess it's being slowed down for n00bs?  If anyone else is playing the demo, they can probably give a second opinion, since I could just be imagining things.

[RichterB]

On the demo, the framerate doesn't drop or slow down.  There seems to be some intentional (dramatic) slow down, especially during the Guillotine jump+whipslam attack and during some of the grabs.

I think some reviewers may be getting the wrong idea.  The "Precision Circles" that come out (which remind me of "Lost Odyssey" timed hits) seem to have a slightly different speed rate depending on whether you're playing on Squire or Knight (difficulties)... but I could just be imagining things.  It seems to slow down extra when playing the easiest mode.  I guess it's being slowed down for n00bs?  If anyone else is playing the demo, they can probably give a second opinion, since I could just be imagining things.

When the time comes, what challenge mode would you suggest playing on? I'm a good Castlevania player and have beaten modern action games like Devil May Cry 3. Should I pump it up to Hard right away? Or is Hard mode just sadistically cheap and Normal suffices?

[Kingshango]

Well at least Cox is taking the IGN review rather well 

Cox Twitter:

"Nice to see people seeing that IGN review for what it is...

[shelverton.]

Hm.. 7.5 again? Repetitive combat?
Very well...

Swedish magazine Gamereactor gave it 8/10 and actually praised the combat and story and said that there is a LOT of variation in the gameplay. They also think that it's unfair to call it a GoW clone cause they acknowledge that Castlevania inspired modern action games and not necessarily the other way round.

They do however complain a little bit about the framerate and say that we shouldn't expect something as smooth as Bayonetta. I'm guessing they mean the 360 version of Bayonetta... Also, they feel that the actual level design is a bit confusing at times and it's not always clear where you're supposed to go. Nothing new there.. Finally they seem to think that some normal enemies have waaay too much health.

Anyway, they think Lords of Shadow is one of the best action games of this year. I absoluely trust this magazine, more so than IGN anyway..

[Julius]

I'm moreso looking forward to hearing what everyone here thinks of the game when it releases. Or even more demo impressions, I always enjoy reading a review from someone who isn't getting paid to do so. That's assuming anyone will even be on the forum once October 5th hits us.   Maybe a few days after!

[Kale]

Sure, I'll make a review... it'll probably take a week... or more though. School really really really sucks