Topic: E3 Hands-On Report

[nsideus]

So I went to E3 today, and got a hands-on with all three new Castlevania games.  Here's what I felt:



Harmony of Despair

Uggh...let's get the crap out of the way first.  It's basically a mish-mash of all the DS games, with a Diablo feel.  The game plays just like any of the DS games. Each character has a selection of skills that they use in their own game.  Just a sample, Shanoa has a few glyphs, Soma has a few souls, Alucard has Summon Spirit, etc.  Weapons are shared between characters for the most part.  There are some weapons that are limited per character, but Alucard and Soma can use almost all the same weapons and there's some other overlap.  Armor is the same way.  The only real way to progress is to get new equipment.  There's no leveling.  Soma can find new souls, Shanoa can find new glyphs.

Gameplay basically consists of running through the levels trying to find treasure chests (recycled from OoE), which seem to have random loot in them.  You do this until you are strong enough to kill the boss for that level.  The bosses are pretty hefty, you basically need other players in order to kill them.  The game is playable single player, but all you can really do on your own is grind for new loot.  You aren't going to take on a boss on your own.  In that respect you really can't play through the full game on your own.  The levels seems really small when playing through.  There's only six of them as well.  The only thing that makes the game longer is the NEED to grind through the levels multiple times.  That's one of the worst things about this game in my opinion.  You have to grind, and you can't get through the game on your own.  Bleh.

I didn't really have fun playing this.  Maybe for 5 minutes but it got boring quickly.  It looks like crap as well.  You can zoom in pretty far, to about 2 floors on a screen.  You can really see the pixelation at that zoom level.  It's painful to look at, but I had problems playing well at any other zoom level than the most zoomed in one.

I don't think this game is worth $15.


Encore of the Night

This game actually isn't terrible.  I had more fun playing this than playing HoD, and I'm sure this won't cost $15.  It has reuse as well, but it's different enough to warrant a playthrough.

The puzzle logic isn't groundbreaking or anything, but it plays solidly.  The story mode basically puts you through the SotN story again.  It seems like the entire castle is there to explore.  All the music is there, the enemies, the items, for a puzzle game it seems to have a lot of depth.

After playing this game I realized that HoD was even crappier than I first thought.  Why?  BECAUSE EOTN HAS HIGHER RES SPRITES THAN HOD. LOL!  That makes no sense at all.  A cell phone game.  Better graphics than an XBox game.  W-T-F IGA.


Lords of Shadow

The gem of the show...or was it?  I have to say first that I wasn't totally blown away by this title as I was expecting.  It looks solid.  I can't deny that.  But the gameplay just isn't groundbreaking.  It plays just like GoW.  Just like Gow.  No doubt.  When you play a game for the first time and you don't need the tutorial because you've played a game with the same controls and feel before, something is wrong.  Especially when the game was made by a different company and already has 3 installments.  There is nothing unique about the gameplay.  The Combat Cross may as well be Kratos' blades.  The daggers are basically the bow from GoW. 

Also there's the QTE.  There weren't any sequences where the QTE was quite as long as GoWs, but then again the demo didn't really have any boss fights.  But the sequences that were there felt too much like GoW.

So they gameplay...meh.  It looks great though.  As good if not better than GoW 3.  The presentation is great.  Even with the way it looked though, I felt I was playing a re-skin of GoW, instead of a new Castlevania game. 

I don't know what to think about this title.  I want to like it.  But based on what I've played, it's new for Castlevania, but definately not new to gaming in general. 



And in other news, the 3DS looks awesome.  I was expecting something gimmicky but it really looks great in person.  It's solid hardware.  It looks just like watching a 3d movie in a theatre.  They didn't seem to have that Castlevania tech demo on the floor, but they had an MGS trailer that looked great, and a new pilotwings and starfox.  I'm not sure how this would work for 2.5D though.  I don't think they had any 2d games on display. They were all 3d rendered games.  I'm not sure if it's really just focused at 3d games or what.  But what they did have, it looked solid.  Another surprising feature on the hardware was a "3d depth slider".  You can basically turn the 3d off, and the screen will display just like a normal DS screen.  Or you can nudge the slider up slightly (it's like a volume slider) and get a bit of the 3d effect, or turn it all the way up and get the full 3d effect.  You really have to see it in action.  It's awesome.

I'm disappointed Konami didn't announce any Castlevania games for the 3DS.

[crisis]

I'm sure a Castlevania for the 3DS is in development, just too early to reveal anything. They said more titles would be announced soon. I wonder why they chose HoD for the 360 & not ps3??

The similarities to God of War is that excessive, huh? That's pretty funny. I just hope there will be replayability. Once I beat games like this I rarely go through a 2nd time (unless there's some extra modes, or something).

[nsideus]

HoD is probably XBLA only because there are many more people who play multiplayer games on XBLA.  PSN is free, but XBLA still has the edge in people who actually use it.  Don't ask me why though, that's just the way it is.  Might be because PSN was just late to the party.

[Aridale]

hmm interesting about the 3ds... Sounds neat

[Kale]

I'll have to reserve judgement til I play, but if it really is GoW with another suit, I'd have to pass... I hated teh first GoW, though people do tell me 2 and 3 were better, I just never got around to playign it, teh first one is holdin me off on those.

From what I've seen though, it looks better that GoW, and I hope I'm right.

[shelverton.]

Dave Cox said LoS is more like Prince of Persia than GoW. I actually believe him.
Maybe the combat is like GoW, but there's much more to the game than what was shown in that demo.

[X]

If this new CV game is like GoW then I wonder if the Belmont charater will get it on with some wenches like Kratos did 

-X

[Kale]

Oh, for the love of...... if he does, just screw this game.

"I'm gonn risk everythign to resurrect my wife!"
*Sees a whore off the street*
"Here's ten bucks, now bend over, I need to get some vitality back! So I can save my beloved!" *tear*

Ugh.

[uzo]

I had more fun playing this than playing HoD, and I'm sure this won't cost $15.

Hahahaha. That made my day.

[DingusBelmondo]

I have a question. How can whip combat be different than GoW. other then Castlevania 64/ LoI combat. Whips are meant to thrash things around. Not slow or calculated or third person shooter over the shoulder aim where you whip. I dont get what people were expecting.

[angevil]

I have faith in IGA..I hope he is working on a 3DS game

Encore of the night..looking forward to it! I like puzzle games on mobile devices. Looks fun for a CV fan. I am buying it on launch day.

Remix of Despair..well, good for some multiplayer gaming. And for those with XBOX360. I don′t, so I am not getting it.

Lords of shadows..just sucks.

[shelverton.]

Encore of the Night doesn't even qualify as a Castlevania game in my opinion. I will most likely never touch it, I have Tetris on my Gameboy which works fine.

Lords of Shadow probably won't suck, it will be effin EPIC. Had the game been developed by IGA you'd be drooling all over yourself right now, angevil. But yeah, I am also looking forward to that IGA 3DS Vania. Wonder if it's gonna be the 1999 battle already..

[nsideus]

Dave Cox said LoS is more like Prince of Persia than GoW. I actually believe him.
Maybe the combat is like GoW, but there's much more to the game than what was shown in that demo.

Dave Cox also said there wasn't any QTE.  And that obviously isn't true.

[nsideus]

I have a question. How can whip combat be different than GoW. other then Castlevania 64/ LoI combat. Whips are meant to thrash things around. Not slow or calculated or third person shooter over the shoulder aim where you whip. I dont get what people were expecting.

But it is almost exactly like GoW.  Gabriel moves like Kratos.  Swings like Kratos.  All of those swing animations are just like GoW.  They could've done something different. 

Have they said anything about alternate main weapons?  I'd guess not because Gabriel is a Belmont, but then again the Combat Cross isn't technically a whip.

[angevil]

Had the game been developed by IGA you'd be drooling all over yourself right now, angevil.

No. First of all 3D CV does′t look appealing to me in general. Another thing is that LOS does not have CV feel. It is more like God of war, most of the bosses are giants, main enemies are werewolves with red glowing LEDs instead of eyes. The game looks nice as a non-CV game, but as a CV game..not a chance.

I am sticking to good old 2D CV games. THAT is why I like CV in the first place..2D gaming, amazing music, beautiful art..

But yeah, I am also looking forward to that IGA 3DS Vania. Wonder if it's gonna be the 1999 battle already..

1999 game in 3D would be fucking awesome!