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

[Foffy]

Just saw this on Twitter.
Alucard in the sequel...? And then in another twitter someone mentions Simon for the sequel, Dave replies "Ooooh the shit I could tell you "

...Please no. No Simon, please. Alucard I can understand, but no Simon. For the love of Grand Cross.

[Harrycombs]

^

Why would you not want Simon? He hasn't had a game in like, forever.

[Dremn]

I just finished playing through the demo for the 8th or 9th time. Uuuugh, screw it. I'm picking this game up next time I get cash. You win Mr. Cox and Konami. My money is yours.

...Please no. No Simon, please. Alucard I can understand, but no Simon. For the love of Grand Cross.

I'm sorry, but I'm all up for seeing Simon in the sequel as the new protagonist, especially considering he's my favorite protag in the series.

(click to show/hide)

Since it's going to take place in modern times, a redesigned Simon might look really awesome, if it happens anyway.

[jediblaster]

I had an epiphany.  

What if this was the first Castlevania game ever to be released?  What would you think about it?  I know it is nigh impossible to even fathom such a thing, but just try for a moment.......


Well, what do you think?  Does it have the things which really made you enjoy the first Castlevania you ever played?  I know for me it does.  It wasn't the catchy music that made me like castlevania 1 on the nes back when I was 10 years old the first time I played it in 1987.  It was the monsters.  At that point, I enjoyed anything that had to do with greek mythology, fantasy and horror.  (still do in fact).  I loved watching the old hammer horror dracula, frankenstien, mummy and wolf man movies.  I even enjoyed the Bela Lugoshi, lon chaney and Boris Karloff.  Then the monster squad.  Cheesy, but fun to watch as a kid.  

That is what I loved about the series.  Then there was the castle.  Who doesn't like monsters and doesn't also like castles?  Well, don't forget the original clash of the titans, which I still prefer over the re-make.  Ray Harryhousen was a genius with stop motion animation.  Well, this game delivers all those, so if this were to be the first in the series I would have loved it, so I do like it.  It does feel like Castlevania now to me.  It just doesn't fit within the parameters of my memories of what Castlevania was to me as a 10 year old.  

Times have changed.  We can't have what he used to have.  What we got though is so much more than what LoI had to offer.  I liked that game too, so don't feel I am slamming it.  I never touched COD though.  Perhaps one day I'll pull out my dusty PS2 and give it a go, but chances are I won't.  Well, I think I have finally made up my mind (after some doubts) that this game is what it is and I like it.  What say you?

BTW, here is another well written review.  Enjoy.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/06/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-review/

[Harrycombs]

^

I don't think that its as good as CV was. That game was literally perfect, it will probably still be played long after Lords is forgotten.


So I have gotten to chapter 3, and I am enjoying it a lot more now. However, those Titan battles were both terrible. I'm glad I don't have to worry about another one for a long time now. I'm really enjoying the platforming and the battle system is growing on me, but it really needs a lock on like Devil May Cry. Even Curse of Darkness had one. Multiple times I have died because of enemies off screen that I couldn't hit...

The QTE are still really annoying. Especially when the game tricks you into thinking its a cut scene,and then it catches me off guard with another one of those stupid quick time events...

The boss battles so far have been pretty poor, but the knight was actually quite fun in my opinion. So yeah, its better than I first thought. Far from great though. Parts of the game are down right frustrating, but overall the game is good, and the level design is vastly improved from anything we have seen before in 3D (although there are invisible walls that prevent you from walking up to real walls, whats with that?).

[crisis]

What if this was the first Castlevania game ever to be released?  What would you think about it?  I know it is nigh impossible to even fathom such a thing, but just try for a moment.......

I would probably look at it as yet another action game that ripped off a lot of other franchises to succeed.

[jediblaster]

Fair enough.  So what would you implement, exclude and innovate to make your dream Castlevania game?

[thernz]

Well, everyone has different reasons for liking the first Castlevania. I liked the tightness of the levels, the concept of a barbarian ravishing up a hodgepodge castle of Hammer horror, and the catchy music. For me, the appeal didn't just apply to just a castle full of monsters but how it was this muscled mass of man marching down with a quirky whip that took them on. I wasn't fond of the background aesthetics of CVI and hence, I wasn't interested in the castle. On another note, CVII and CVIII both improved on that though~. I don't think it was until games like SCVIV and SoTN that I really got immersed in the visual backdrops. I think it was really the rhythmic approach I had when playing the game. Placement of candles, enemies, platforms and etc. There was this impeccable way of getting you in a groove.

L-looking at that, Lords of Shadows should be really lacking for me lol. I guess you can say it's a hodgepodge of LOTR, del Toro, Clive Barker, and classic cheesy horror (albeit the last one is really rare to see), but I was never really interested in that style of western fantasy so uh. I don't think I would even be paying attention if this was the first ever Castlevania either. Usually not appealed to Western extreme action games either. Then there are all those elements from other franchises. Haters gonna hate.

But yeah, I still want to play LoS.

[Dremn]

I think it was really the rhythmic approach I had when playing the game. Placement of candles, enemies, platforms and etc. There was this impeccable way of getting you in a groove.

Perfectly well said, this is exactly why I enjoy the original games so much. If they could manage to capture this in 3D I would be utterly thrilled.

[jediblaster]

thernz, I hear what you are saying.

I can respect that.  Perhaps that is another thing that appealed to me when playing my 1st CV, which was CV1 on nes.  You are right about that rythmic candelabra/enemy thing.

I guess it is hard to capture nolstagia in a bottle, which is the downside to MS creating this new take on the series.  Gonna grab those who want something similar to what is being regurgitated over and over, then you still want to keep the loyal fans over the years.  It was quite a daunting task and what they did with it is actually pretty good.

[Dremn]

Did this character ever show up in the game...?

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Lady_of_the_Forest

[Ahasverus]

Please save Castlevania from this guy

You were wrong because there IS no Castlevania suit. This is more like God of Twilight Saga.

http://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/26586510361
Do you know him? You should, he's the biggest troll on Games Journalism
http://www.destructoid.com/review-final-fantasy-xiii-167136.phtml
http://www.destructoid.com/review-assassin-s-creed-ii-155807.phtml
http://www.destructoid.com/review-deadly-premonition-165168.phtml ??!!

I expect a 2-3 from that "man" and God that would hurt us a lot (talking about metascore, no one takes his opinion seriously though)
What do we do? wait til the eventual disgrace?

[Foffy]

^

Why would you not want Simon? He hasn't had a game in like, forever.

I'd rather them have a new character as opposed to bringing in another character from older games who's been redesigned too many damn times.

I personally feel more comfortable with redesigns of antagonists as opposed to protagonists, because the design of the hero becomes a staple to the character. The villains over the years have changed visually between nearly every game, but not the protagonists, and maybe that's why I'm picky. Alucard I can understand a new design for, as he's even had those in the main games due to how long he's been around. But I think not reintroducing any of the other Belmonts would be for the better, if their re-imaginings in Judgment are an example of ruining their original designs.

I'd rather not have my favorite depictions of a Conan-like Simon being replaced with some modern guy in a business suit or some shit. Just make a new character, or maybe include them as an unlockable skin. THAT I can live with.

[Thunderbrand]

I kind of like to breakdown the series into different sections so to speak. I'm referring to console games ONLY here:

- CV, CVII, CVIII and SCVIV would be the 1st section. These are THE true, timeless classics, the staples of the series. These games never get old and every time I revisit them they feel fresh and fun. Even though I've been through them a million times, there's just something about them...whether it's just nostalgia or not I don't know, but these first 4 games are just something special. The atmosphere and music in each of these first 4 are just fantastic. I'll throw Chronicles in this group too, even though it came out years after the first 4. I thought Chronicles was a very nicely done remake, a good homage to the classics. It was fun and having both original and arranged modes on the disc was a nice feature.

- DracX and SotN are another section. Great for what they were, innovative, epic, and colorful. SotN was sort of a re-boot when it came out and it skyrocketed. There's a reason many consider it the pinnacle of the series. DracX on the SNES was lacking a bit but the original was excellent.

- CV64, LoD, LoI and CoD are another section. All have their good & bad moments, but they largely tried to go in a direction that just didn't quite work for everyone. For me personally, I really liked all of the games in this group, particularly LoD and LoI. Those 2 games in particular had good atmosphere, were fun to play and had excellent soundtracks.

That brings us to LoS. I'm still early in the game but so far I like what I see alot.

[Thunderbrand]

Did this character ever show up in the game...?

http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/Lady_of_the_Forest

No, but the DLC is said to have new characters and levels, so she may be part of that.