Topic: LoS has locked a sequel, but WILL YOU BUY IT?

[Kaori]

LOS was the first Castlevania I haven't really cared for at all, honestly. It was a good game, but as others have said, it simply didn't feel like Castlevania. I will not be buying the sequel unless it "feels" more like Castlevania. I will probably just watch the story on Youtube or something...which I hate to say that. This is the first Castlevania I've felt that way about.

[Successor The Cruel]

Without seeing anything to convince me otherwise, my answer is "Hell no." Mercury Steam put out the most ridiculous and even insulting thing with the Castlevania title on it I've ever seen. A Castlevania that is too ashamed to be Castlevania and would rather be Lord of the Rings meets Shadow of the Colossus meets God of War. I never thought I'd see such an abomination in my time, and I have absolutely no desire to see another.

[Renonsgoods]

Frankly, I think Judgement was a much bigger abomination than LoS...but that's just me.  Amazing how some of us can play LoS and feel its Castlevania-isity......while some play it and find it to be the most un-Castlevania-like thing they've ever seen.  I guess that's how big a role perception and personal preference plays in these things.  I think LoS is a great game, and I enjoyed it dearly.  It could have been a bit more Castlevania-ish, but I still got quite the kick out of playing a 3D Belmont with a nasty chain weapon.  If MS steers a bit more towards their source material for the sequel then I'll enjoy it plenty.

I often wonder how much art and character design plays into people's hatred of this game.  I've noticed in my time on the net that alot of people who loved LoI hated LoS, and those that hated LoI loved LoS.  Hmmm.

[Chernabogue]

If MS uses more lore from the main series (music, enemies, etc.) but keeps the awesome stuff they brought with LoS, I think the game would be a pure killer.

[Profbeanburrito]

I was very skeptical of LoS before it came out and during my first play trough, but after going through it 3 times I've learned to really love it for what it is. Sure, some of the early levels aren't great and it could have used more classic elements such as music and enemies, but like it for what it is, not for what you think it should be.

that being said, I'm very interested to see what Mercury Steam does with the next title. They did a whole lot of good with LoS and I think they can make it better. And I guarantee that anyone on this forum who says they won't be playing the sequel will be picking up regardless of what they're saying now. 

[Ahasverus]

If MS uses more lore from the main series (music, enemies, etc.) but keeps the awesome stuff they brought with LoS, I think the game would be a pure killer.

This.
I love LoS by what it is, a kinda "Castlevania 0". it has reasons to not feel like Castlevania because what we call Cv (Belmonts vs Dracula) hasn't begun, but it lays the foundations very well, the story is playing nicely and the most important, it wants to be big (if it is, or it isn't, depends on whatever you want to think) it's being made with love and care (Holy cow, the bestiary drawings, the attacks drawings, the backstory!) and it has a sense of scale I would have only dreamt of when I played my first videogame.

Not even a day one buy for me, the sequel is more like a zero-minute buy for  me 

[RichterB]

I have my doubts. I resisted LoS, but ultimately bought it to give it a fair shake (at full price!). It was a solid, quality game--but it was a failure as a relaunch of "Castlevania." Focus and gameplay-wise, it bends things so much that I hardly even think of it as a Castlevania game at this point. I need the next 3D CV to rein in the combos to something more "practical," and use CV64/LoD gameplay & atmosphere as the framework with a better 3D camera. If I see something like that, I'll be enticed. But if it's more of a disjointed genre mash-up of combo-hack'n'slash and scripted platforming, I'm going to have to let it slide to the bargain bin before I give it a try. At its heart, Castlevania is action-platforming; it's hyphenated for a reason: they go hand in hand at all times.

[cecil-kain]

I was very skeptical of LoS before it came out and during my first play trough, but after going through it 3 times I've learned to really love it for what it is. Sure, some of the early levels aren't great and it could have used more classic elements such as music and enemies, but like it for what it is, not for what you think it should be.

that being said, I'm very interested to see what Mercury Steam does with the next title. They did a whole lot of good with LoS and I think they can make it better. And I guarantee that anyone on this forum who says they won't be playing the sequel will be picking up regardless of what they're saying now.

Consider this.  40% of the hardcore fans responding here have NOT committed to buy the sequel.  Think about that.  How can you keep selling a product if 40% of your core customers aren't on board?  Most of those not committed have "serious doubts" --some are confused and discouraged while others even feel duped and betrayed.  Furthermore, Konami has yet to show any evidence that they succeeded in returning Castlevania to the mainstream --that was the whole point of rebooting in the first place.  Sure they made some money --apparently enough to gamble on a sequel.  But as hard as it is to sell the reboot, selling this sequel will be that much harder now that seeds of contempt have been sewn.  I'm not saying the sequel is doomed --far from it.  That all really depends on how seriously Konami MS and Cox respond to all the criticism.

[Ahasverus]

Last week Konami had its investor call and it showed a growth in packaged goods, and thet thanked MGS: PW, PES2011 and Lords of Shadow for it, they said the game had "healthy sales". And remember that last year Konami's CEO Thanked the community for the game's response (I think they were in Mexico or something) and also remember it hit the million mark in 3 weeks or so. The game was a success, why would Konami return to the old saga that sold 400k copies thanks to its dedicated fanbase instead of keeping the new one that sells millions and dragged many action fans  even at the expense of their old ones? I think we are pretty much in a situation of "Come aboard or leave the ship", I'm gladly in but I can understand if some people is turned off by this direction.

But Konami doesn't care, it doesn't have to. Those fans are just not enough.

[cecil-kain]

Last week Konami had its investor call and it showed a growth in packaged goods, and thet thanked MGS: PW, PES2011 and Lords of Shadow for it, they said the game had "healthy sales". And remember that last year Konami's CEO Thanked the community for the game's response (I think they were in Mexico or something) and also remember it hit the million mark in 3 weeks or so. The game was a success, why would Konami return to the old saga that sold 400k copies thanks to its dedicated fanbase instead of keeping the new one that sells millions and dragged many action fans  even at the expense of their old ones? I think we are pretty much in a situation of "Come aboard or leave the ship", I'm gladly in but I can understand if some people is turned off by this direction.

But Konami doesn't care, it doesn't have to. Those fans are just not enough.

Konami's in the game to make money.  This isn't art, it's business --and I for one understand that.  A reboot made good artistic and business sense IMO, but overall I think LoS came off as...  Disrespectful.  There are a variety of reasons I could go into, but really nothing that hasn't been said already.  Unfortunately sequels require a fanbase to sell to.  If the fanbase is growing, I'm sure they'll make lots of money; but if the fanbase isn't growing, they could be very disappointed this next time around --especially if the reviews come back mediocre.

[uzo]

Consider this.  40% of the hardcore fans responding here have NOT committed to buy the sequel.  Think about that.

Don't confuse 40% of a tiny corner of the internet with 40% of the entire hardcore fanbase.

[cecil-kain]

Don't confuse 40% of a tiny corner of the internet with 40% of the entire hardcore fanbase.

Touché.  Still, there's no better place to take the pulse of the fanbase than right here at the most popular Castlevania forum on the internet.  :-)

[Flame]

most popular Castlevania forum on the internet.  :-)

know that for a fact?

[X]

"Come aboard or leave the ship"

I'd laugh if someone in the crowd of that ship boarding yelled out; "Leave the ship or get Torpedoed!"

-X

[cecil-kain]

know that for a fact?

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