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

[cecil-kain]

Ok... after powering through it...

[spoilers]Wow.  All I can say.  Wow.

The fight to take out the Forgotten One is played out over both in a running battle/cat and mouse game.  This is because he is so powerful that, with the exception of one or two moments, he can vaporize Gabriel by looking at him.  During those moments of "weakness" Gabriel finds himself trying to tear the armor away from TFO, while the demon summons weapons out of pure darkness, moving faster and faster as the battle gets more intense.

This is also a HARD DLC.  Even the platforming requires good timing and fast reflexes.

Story wise, it finishes Gabriel's story and his transformation into Dracula, which I found was really well done.[/spoilers]

Few comments on the story:

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- Gabriel proves that he is indeed Dracula when he starts the final battle with the Forgotten One with "Enough talk! Have at you!" Golden.

- Gabriel's transformation into a vampire at the end of Reverie burned out what good there was within him, which combines well with the absolute Nihilism that was consuming him during that section of the game.  At the end we see exactly why Dracula is so feared, and what makes him more than a mere vampire.  Having the Forgotten One begging "Mercy, my liege!" was awesome.

- It'll be interesting to see where the next Belmont comes from and where he gets his whip from, considering Gabriel shatters the Battle Cross and leaves it's pieces in the Forgotten One's prison dimension.

- Mathias becomes Dracula by manipulating a friend into doing the heavy lifting and taking possession of an artifact that let's him control Death.  Gabriel becomes Dracula by absorbing all the power of a vampire that is already over 1000 years old in addition to a goodly portion of the energies of a demon lord that could not be killed, all on top of his own strengths.  Gabriel just come across as the more interesting, powerful and sympathetic Dracula.

So looking forward to more from them now...

How's the gore factor?  Do you get to rip some guts out?

[Tobias]

How's the gore factor?  Do you get to rip some guts out?

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Not really.  There are gorier portions of the main game than in Reverie than Resurrection.  The Forgotten One, however, is not exactly what you would call pretty, and Gabriel is as brutal as usual in dealing with his opponent and getting that armor off of him.

I forgot to mention that there are more in-game cutscenes in this one, which do a good job of setting up the epic nature of the fight.

[Eärendil]

Fighting TFO is like I would imagine fighting Morgoth Bauglir. He is much harder to defeat than Lucifer. I agree this is a hard DLC, especially if you play at a higher difficulty. Kudos to Cox and Mercury Steam for pulling this one off. A very challenging and rewarding end to this installment of Castlevania.

[Kamirine]

So I'm guessing the

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final part of the game where he's all angst in New York will probably be the sequel?

[Tobias]

So I'm guessing the

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final part of the game where he's all angst in New York will probably be the sequel?

Possibly, except [spoilers]there's still 1000 years between the end of Resurrection and the final cut scene.  My guess is that we still have Trevor's story at least before we reach modern day.  After all, now we know the beginning of the story and the set up for the end of it.  There's lots more to play with from here to there.[/spoilers]

[Chernabogue]

How's TFO's voice? Does he speak?

[darkwzrd4]

Now that the game is out, could someone upload a video of Resurrection on youtube?  I'd like to see it before I buy it.  From what I'm reading, it sounds like this team is finally getting their act together.

[Tobias]

How's TFO's voice? Does he speak?

He does.  Voice is pretty good.  More powerful Evil Knight than tormented, soul devouring demon, but it goes with his look.  His dialogue is fairly typical "Powerful Demon Who is Escaping and Going to Eat You" fare, but it works well with the story and adds a lot to some of the scenes (especially the final cut scene).

[Tobias]

Now that the game is out, could someone upload a video of Resurrection on youtube?  I'd like to see it before I buy it.  From what I'm reading, it sounds like this team is finally getting their act together.

Unfortunately I don't have a camera for it.  Sorry.

If you played LoS and Reverie, you have to play this one.  Resurrection finishes Gabriel's transformation into Dracula and frankly it was what the entire game was building towards.

And let's just say that it's a lot cooler than Mathias popping up and declaring that he's decided to go into the people eating business.

[Chernabogue]

Something seems strange:

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Gaberiel is powerful enough to defeat TFO and to claim being Dracula, but 1000 years later, he seems very weak. Maybe we'll find an explanation in a sequel or another LoS-timeline game?

[Tobias]

Something seems strange:

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Gaberiel is powerful enough to defeat TFO and to claim being Dracula, but 1000 years later, he seems very weak. Maybe we'll find an explanation in a sequel or another LoS-timeline game?

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I noticed that too.  I figured that it's either due to something that happened in his fight with the "Belmonts" (or whoever it was that killed Slogra) or simply the weight of time has weighed down on him and he's allowed himself to atrophy.

Then again, Dracula never opened up on any of the Belmonts with his full power either, so maybe he was holding back.  It wasn't like Zobek was a threat to him.  And at the same time, it isn't as if he would care if he did die.   His attack seemed more reflex than concerted effort after all.

Speaking of Zobek, we still need to find out how he gets out of Hell.  That's probably somewhere in the sequel...

[Chernabogue]

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I noticed that too.  I figured that it's either due to something that happened in his fight with the "Belmonts" (or whoever it was that killed Slogra) or simply the weight of time has weighed down on him and he's allowed himself to atrophy.

Then again, Dracula never opened up on any of the Belmonts with his full power either, so maybe he was holding back.  It wasn't like Zobek was a threat to him.  And at the same time, it isn't as if he would care if he did die.   His attack seemed more reflex than concerted effort after all.

Speaking of Zobek, we still need to find out how he gets out of Hell.  That's probably somewhere in the sequel...

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Agreed. I'd like to see if a bloodline of Belmonts will exist in this timeline, as the first one became Dracula. Maybe it'll be the Morris, Belnades or Lecarde family (families), or people like Shanoa or Grant.

Also, it may be Gabriel who killed Slogra, but that's just a thought. And where's Gaibon then? x)

As for Zobek, I think he has enough powers to get out of hell on his own, as it is hinted he's Death in disguise (even not in disguise), pretty much like Zead.

[Eärendil]

Unfortunately I don't have a camera for it.  Sorry.

If you played LoS and Reverie, you have to play this one.  Resurrection finishes Gabriel's transformation into Dracula and frankly it was what the entire game was building towards.

And let's just say that it's a lot cooler than Mathias popping up and declaring that he's decided to go into the people eating business.

I will go so far as to say if Reverie and Resurrection had not been DLC, but actually part of the original release, more of the fandom would have accepted it versus the old canon. When you see his transformation, you will understand. This is a much better explanation of why Dracula/Lord of the Dragons/Prince of Darkness is such a powerful entity other than just a king of vampires. He is more like the dark lord that would march armies of darkness across the world from his demon castle (hence, Castlevania) than a mere blood sucking vampire sorcerer. Ironically, this has ended up being a better story of how Dracula came to be for the old canon than the story of Mathias. But, this is my opinion, I admit I didn't care much for the Mathias Dracula.

[Tobias]

I will go so far as to say if Reverie and Resurrection had not been DLC, but actually part of the original release, more of the fandom would have accepted it versus the old canon. When you see his transformation, you will understand. This is a much better explanation of why Dracula/Lord of the Dragons/Prince of Darkness is such a powerful entity other than just a king of vampires. He is more like the dark lord that would march armies of darkness across the world from his demon castle (hence, Castlevania) than a mere blood sucking vampire sorcerer. Ironically, this has ended up being a better story of how Dracula came to be for the old canon than the story of Mathias. But, this is my opinion, I admit I didn't care much for the Mathias Dracula.

I have to agree with you there.  It's unfortunate it ended up being DLC, but I can't really complain.  It isn't like they were cheaping out on material in the core release.

Cox made Gabriel the Dracula fans imagine, which is heads and shoulders above Mathias in terms of ability and drive.  Gabriel is actually a tragic figure, where Mathias undercuts his own tragic elements.  That and Gabriel seems to be at Sauron-like levels of power at the end there.

[Tobias]

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Agreed. I'd like to see if a bloodline of Belmonts will exist in this timeline, as the first one became Dracula. Maybe it'll be the Morris, Belnades or Lecarde family (families), or people like Shanoa or Grant.

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Well, we don't know if Gabriel and his wife had children before her death. For all we know they were left with the order.  Gabriel wouldn't have been the first person to let grief overwhelm him and his responsibilities as a parent.

It'll be interesting to see just what the "Belmonts" end up wielding though, considering what Gabriel did with the Combat Cross.