Topic: Predict the effects of Lords of Shadow.

[Nagumo]

I shamelessly copied this topic from the Chapel. Punish me.

What do you think will be the results of Lords of Shadow?  Do you think it will be as popular as some think it will?  Do you think Mercury Steam will become the main developers of Castlevania for a while, or do you think maybe they'll make one or two games and pass the series to other teams, kind of like how it was before Iga arrived. 

And about Iga, what do you think will happen to him?  Do you think we’ll still see Castlevania games from him?  Do you think the 3-D Alucard game is still being planned, or do you think Iga and his team will move on to different non-CV projects? 

Will Lords of Shadow become a template for many other Castlevania games, like how Symphony of the Night was?  Would you even want that to happen?  Will we start seeing lots of new Castlevania fans?

Your predictions?

[shelverton.]

I predict the game to do fairly well, scoring an average of 7,5/10 in most magazines. The major complaints will undoubtably be that the game isn't original enough, and magazines will unfairly compare it to God of War. I do however think that the game will sell A LOT more copies than both Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness did, resulting in Mercury Steam to create one more Castlevania game before passing the torch to someone else, possibly an american studio.

Meanwhile, IGA will make a few more Castlevania games, mainly for downloadable services and handhelds (because he told Konami that he, quite frankly, don't wanna touch 3D ever again). The Alucardvania is still in production though and will be released in 2011, which will give Mercury Steam enough time to finish the sequel to Lords of Shadows (much like how Lords of Shadows is released in 2010 to give IGA enough time to finish the Alucradvania).

Yeah, this is EXACTLY what will happen 
(I honestly don't have a frickin clue, I'm just making stuff up that sounds somewhat reasonable).

[darkwzrd4]

It depends on how LoS does.  While the Alucardvania is still in production, I believe that if LoS is more popular, Mercurystream will make most of the future CV games (or at least the 3D ones).  Assuming that will be more 2D CVs in the future, I believe that those games will be made by Iga or whoever his successor at Konami is.

[crisis]

lords of shadow will be successful enough to blow all the other 3D CVs outta the water, in terms of sales & reviews. However, the hardcore fanbase(us) will still be divided as it is now. I believe that after all's said & done, the hype will die down fast & people will find more and more flaws about the game. It'll be the closest to achieving CV in 3D, but there'll still be something holding it back.. what that something is, still remains to be seen.

I believe the reason IGA is out of the spotlight is because he's working on the next big 2D game from scratch, and Konami doesn't want to reveal it yet for the same reason they didn't announce lords as a CV.




And yes, the next 2D game, will be the best one since Symphony.

[uzo]

The major complaints will undoubtably be that the game isn't original enough, and magazines will justly compare it to God of War.

Fixed.

[Rugal]

This will be the final Castlevania game ever made.

[e105beta]

I've actually found that video game reviewers are pretty fair when it comes to judging a game's originality or not. If the game feels like God of War, they're going to compare it to God of War. If it doesn't they may still make a few passing comments, but they won't be spouting the clone nonsense that so many fans do.

It really all depends on how Lords of Shadow does. If it does well they'll probably continue in the same game. If it doesn't do well, well, Konami might just drop Castlevania after years of sub-par sales, focusing their efforts on hordes of Metal Gear Solid games. I would hate for the latter to happen, so I'm hoping it does well.

[shelverton.]

If it doesn't do well, well, Konami might just drop Castlevania after years of sub-par sales, focusing their efforts on hordes of Metal Gear Solid games.

Now you made me cry little
I've never thought about it before... I mean, sure Castlevania WILL come to an end.. Mankind too. But... I kinda see myself playing new Castlevania games for the rest of my life, both good and bad ones. However, in 30-40 years I don't even think there will be Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto left. Everything must go.

I am teh depressed naow

[e105beta]

I am teh depressed naow

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad

I was just calling it as I see it.

[Sindra]

Haha...I think Shelv and uzo pretty much nailed it.

[Inccubus]

MercurySteam is out to prove themselves and if they do, good for them.
If they fail, they'll pro'ly get tossed like yesterday's week-old leftovers.
And, honestly, as long as the game doesn't suck I don't care about the rest.

[JR]

My hunch is the Lords of Shadow will get modest review scores, and will go largely unnoticed by a general gaming public, despite promotional hype (or for lack of hype, possibly). I hope this game succeeds (especially if it's any good  ), but it's hard for me to see this game being met with anything other than indifference.

[e105beta]

My hunch is the Lords of Shadow will get modest review scores, and will go largely unnoticed by a general gaming public, despite promotional hype (or for lack of hype, possibly). I hope this game succeeds (especially if it's any good  ), but it's hard for me to see this game being met with anything other than indifference.

There's not much that can be done about that, then. Action games are hyper popular right now, and unless they make the next Castlevania a gorgeous, giga-hyped 3 disk RPG, nothing else is going to make the series successful if not this. Sure, they could make a game more appealing to the small numbers of forum going fans, but that doesn't sell.

[Sindra]

I think a large part of the game's success will depend on its release date. Because of its similarity to GoW, if its released anywhere within the same timeframe as GoWIII's release, I expect game sales to be lower than if it came out a month or more afterwards.

[Munchy]

Honestly, the way Western-developed games in Japanese series tend to go, who knows? I'm not terribly optimistic about the outcome either (as Konami's other outsourced games have done pretty damn poorly, like Contra 4 and the Silent Hills), but it seems like people are more hyped for Lords of Shadow than any Castlevania in recent memory. Kojima's approval of the game and the participation of famous actors like Patrick Stewart certainly didn't hurt, either.

To me, what makes this game stand out is that David Cox is stressing the importance of the game's environment as well as the action, something that IGA's games more often than not completely glaze over. He talks a lot about the game's platforming and slower-paced exploration. Hopefully, these will set Lords apart from your everyday beat-the-crap-out-of-stuff-stylishly action game, but I guess it all boils down to how well it generates hype.