Topic: Lords of Shadow = NOT a GoW clone

[The Silverlord]

Anyhoo, I've been noting lately, especially on sites like gametrailers and whatnot, that for every group of pics posted or new gameplay/theatrical trailer shown for Lords of Shadow, there is a slew of idiots saying that it looks "just like" God of War.

The God of War comparisons are unfortunate but not entirely unfair based on what we've seen thus far.  As 'Ham says though, we haven't seen or played the full game yet though and can't really judge it based on one, two gameplay sections.

Lords' looks like it'll be changing up the gameplay quite often and that may placate fans.  I've got my fingers crossed for the best, but it's hard to envisage sections where you'll be jumping over terrain and pits while whipping enemies (a series hallmark, essentially).  The gameplay looks heavily compartmentalised, a sentiment backed by Dave Cox with his "I want the gamer to have five minutes of combat, followed by five minutes of puzzle-solving, followed by five minutes of platforming" comment.

[shelverton.]

Accoring to Dave Cox, this game will compete more with games like Prince of Persia than God of War...  I can't believe how people are judging this game by those tutorial gameplay videos. There will be puzzles and exploring and platforming in addition to the GoW style combat (and GoW was inspired by Castlevania all along, so without CV there wouldn't even be "GoW style combat".) 

[angevil]

LOS can easily be called God of War: Lords of shadow and the main character is Gabriel Kratos. He fights huge giants. Fail. I did play GOW and this game looks very similar. Anyway, I am not fan of 3D so I am not interested in this game. Castlevania I love is 2D. Castlevania IS 2D. Ahh..

[Kale]

LOS can easily be called God of War: Lords of shadow and the main character is Gabriel Kratos. He fights huge giants. Fail. I did play GOW and this game looks very similar. Anyway, I am not fan of 3D so I am not interested in this game. Castlevania I love is 2D. Castlevania IS 2D. Ahh..

wow........ i don't even know what to say.

[Profbeanburrito]

I am excited for LoS, I think it looks interesting and fun, and if it does in fact play much like God of War, that's fine, I won't mind as long as there is the puzzles and exploration that Cox keeps promising. My only problem so far, is that it hasn't shown anything from previous games (and don't say Cornell or Carmilla and Laura, cause they just have the same names. they aren't the same characters.) and I know some people say thats good or that it doesn't matter, but it does, because it wouldn't be Castlevania without the enemies, and locations, and various other things that make it Castlevania. You can't take Goombas and pipes and all the other things that make up a Mario title out of the game and expect it to be as great as the others. I'm sure most of the Castlevania elements will be in the game, I'm sure they will be, but after that last trailer not showing any of them I was very disappointed. If they didn't say the name "Belmont" in the trailers it would be hard to tell its a Castlevania game if you aren't a huge fan like we all are here.

So, while I am looking forward to it, I still have my doubts until we either see some more trailers or until the game comes out.

[shelverton.]

Castlevania I love is 2D. Castlevania IS 2D. Ahh..

In that case you should probaly go back to 1992 where you belong. Lords of Shadow IS what Castlevania looks like in the year 2010, whether you like or not. Also, totally ignoring 3D gaming doesn't make you much of a gamer anyway. It's like people who claim they have good taste in music, yet they ignore everything that has happened since Elvis 'effin Prestley.

[MarquisX]

If they didn't say the name "Belmont" in the trailers it would be hard to tell its a Castlevania game if you aren't a huge fan like we all are here.

I don't really agree with that. It has castles, vampires, werewolves, armored guys with holy whips, some old grumpy vampire sitting alone on a throne.....Sounds like Castlevania to me. Plus these are trailers, you know the game will much more than the trailers are showing us. Only way you going to make it look exactly like Castlevania in 3D if you make a 3D Dot Game Hero version.

[Buflame]

LOS can easily be called God of War: Lords of shadow and the main character is Gabriel Kratos. He fights huge giants. Fail. I did play GOW and this game looks very similar. Anyway, I am not fan of 3D so I am not interested in this game. Castlevania I love is 2D. Castlevania IS 2D. Ahh..

A collegre jap prettyboy fighting huge giants.Fail? no, very Castlevania cuz 2d, right? my god...
There are already 4 castlevanias 3d and one 2,5d by the way, lords of shdows is not the fist attemp...

In that case you should probaly go back to 1992 where you belong. Lords of Shadow IS what Castlevania looks like in the year 2010, whether you like or not. Also, totally ignoring 3D gaming doesn't make you much of a gamer anyway. It's like people who claim they have good taste in music, yet they ignore everything that has happened since Elvis 'effin Prestley.

Most of people that claims god of war god of war, and dont see any character as "castlevania characters" if theyre not anime or androgins i think they even wasnt a feto in 1992, they didnt played as original barbarian simon and they know nothing about era before iga, and defends what they know and what they like, but is like ps3 xbox360 fanboys war, what is the problem if you can have both systems and play both...

By the way i liked and played all 2d titles even with anime guys and i like anime and love kojima art designs, so i dont hate iga or metroidvanias ecc... i just dont know why people is so "closed" to innovation or other styles like 3d, if LOS works, we will probably have more 3d titles and 2d titles coming for 3ds or Arcade that means more castlevania...

[jimmay17]

The more time I've given myself to turn over all of this, the better I feel about it.

Yes, the combat in Lords of Shadow, from what little we've seen, is very similar to God of War. We'll have to see once it comes out if it 'feels' like God of War, but it definitely looks just like it. It has quick time events (QTEs), 'box' room configurations, and the weapon mechanics are button-mashing hack n' slash. There, that's said.

Moving on, what's so bad about that? God of War is insanely popular because it has honed the 3D action scheme to relative perfection. If it isn't broke, as the axiom goes, don't bother attempting to fix it. I find it likely the developers tested and tried--as is the process, I gather, with the development of any given game--differing styles, controls, and aesthetics, and came to the conclusion the God of War style is the most preferable configuration. True originality in game design, just like true originality in movies, books or any other form of creative entertainment, is extremely rare. I can't help but think half of the stink over all of this is ironically due to a certain number of fanatical cheerleaders on these boards and elsewhere prematurely proclaiming the game a revolution in not just the franchise but in gaming on the whole. The inevitable drawback to hyping something up so damn much is that, if it doesn't meet expectations, people will be twice as critical as they would have been if it hadn't been hyped so excessively in the first place if it doesn't live up.

I'll be buying the game when it comes out. So, quite likely will nearly everyone on this board. That doesn't make criticism of the game moot, nor does it justify the gushing praise some are willing to devote no matter the worth of it.

Final note, the meme that God of War actually ripped off Lords of Shadow is sophistry at its worst. God of War, which came after years of Castlevania games in the video game canon, utilizes similar aesthetic and thematic elements as the Castlevania franchise. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, which comes out nearly five years after God of War was released for the Playstation 2, utilizes similar gameplay mechanics as God of War. This in no way equates to God of War ripping off Lords of Shadow. We're discussing two different things, God of War utilizing similar imagery, themes, and weapons, and Lords of Shadow utilizing similar control mechanics and layouts.

[A-Yty]

Technically, it's not a whip now. It's a chain attached to a cross. I wish using it would make a cracking or snapping sound and it would feel more like using a CV whip.The soundless chains makes hitting stuff feel less ballsy.

Those slow motions that happen when you hit something are pretty GoWish.

But yeah, good points. There have been huge enemies in CV before. Pazuzu, Galamoth etc.

[Vampire Killer]

Final note, the meme that God of War actually ripped off Lords of Shadow is sophistry at its worst. God of War, which came after years of Castlevania games in the video game canon, utilizes similar aesthetic and thematic elements as the Castlevania franchise. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, which comes out nearly five years after God of War was released for the Playstation 2, utilizes similar gameplay mechanics as God of War. This in no way equates to God of War ripping off Lords of Shadow. We're discussing two different things, God of War utilizing similar imagery, themes, and weapons, and Lords of Shadow utilizing similar control mechanics and layouts.

I don't think anyone is saying that GoW ripped off LoS (which is a temporal impossibility).

My main point was simply that CV has had the whip as its staple weapon for a LONG damn time, and thus LoS whip movements are not technically copying or cloning from GoW (inspired perhaps).  It's a whip, there are only so many ways it can be portrayed in a 3D environment.

[VEP]

can we just buy and play the game already!!!!!!!!

[Inccubus]

I wish ppl would stop saying LoS has QTEs.
Where the hell was there a real QTE in the game play videos?
All I saw was QTE-like moments that were obviously for tutorial purposes.
A QTE as defined in GoW game play is when you have a second or less to input a specific button that has no direct relation to what that button normally does in standard combat. Not to mention that they are required to advance NOT OPTIONAL.
In LoS I say very clearly that the supposed QTEs can then be performed at will or are optional in boss fights.
The only thing that really resembled a real QTE was the finishing move that can be done to the wargs in the chase scene, and I'm willing to bet that after the wargs flash they can still be killed with normal attacks.
LOS DOESN'T HAVE QTE ANYTHING!!!

[Kale]

A QTE does not have to be a requirement, to be a QTE. Where in hell's name did you get that idea from?

A quick time event is just an event that at one point requires you to press a button at the game selected time to do such event. Do you remember... I think Minotaurs? from GoW? When you go into a sequence of QTEs where you have to hit a button to hit them, then jump on them and then mash the hell out of your controller to kill them? You don't have to activate that QTE if you didn't want to... it is however, still a QTE.

What I don't think is a QTE is Ninja Gaiden 2's Obliteration technique. It is just a single button pressed when an enemy has a lost limb. It has no timely requirement, and is completed without such.

Though I don't really call it a QTE myself, Darksider's finishers are a QTE because you knock them down, and then they have a time limit until they get back up and you can no longer do a finisher.

So yea, LoS does have qtes.

[Vampire Killer]

A QTE does not have to be a requirement, to be a QTE. Where in hell's name did you get that idea from?

A quick time event is just an event that at one point requires you to press a button at the game selected time to do such event. Do you remember... I think Minotaurs? from GoW? When you go into a sequence of QTEs where you have to hit a button to hit them, then jump on them and then mash the hell out of your controller to kill them? You don't have to activate that QTE if you didn't want to... it is however, still a QTE.

What I don't think is a QTE is Ninja Gaiden 2's Obliteration technique. It is just a single button pressed when an enemy has a lost limb. It has no timely requirement, and is completed without such.

Though I don't really call it a QTE myself, Darksider's finishers are a QTE because you knock them down, and then they have a time limit until they get back up and you can no longer do a finisher.

So yea, LoS does have qtes.

Meh, as long as they're handled well, I don't really care.