Topic: Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror Of Fate HD

[Zuljaras]

I am sad as many other Nvidia card owners The game stops right at the start when the bat sounds begin.

I read that I need to change my nvidia drivers to 195.62 (5 years old drivers) in order to play MoF.

And I refuse to do that just for one game. I really hope that next week there will be some kind of patch or something because this is stupid

MoF is the only LoSvania that I haven't played

[Flame]

- Walks too fast to appreciate the backgrounds normally.

You can run, and you can walk. walking is pretty slow enough, imo.

The way the player gravitates toward grapple points is dumb looking. There is way too much leeway, and the gaps aren't properly spaced.

It's not just grapple points, pretty much anything you have to jump to. ledges, magnetic rails, etx, sometimes you feel like you really shouldn't have made that jump.

magnetic rails are one of the worst offenders, they have a really big detection box. But magnets, so I'll give em the benefit of the doubt.

Area attacks are definitely useless, when guillotine will usually suffice. The combat was lifted right out of LoS1 without consideration of how "area attacks" work in 2D. Also, while I didnt notice it as much in LoS1 and 2, the fact that you can hover in mid air while in a combo is pretty broken against airborne enemies.

overall, i wouldn't say it's terrible, just not terribly amazing either. It gets forgiven by it's nice presentation though. Story is compelling and the visuals/sound are great. (Except for the occasional audio bug. is getting a big item, like the cross upgrades and shit, supposed to sound like the fanfare cut out and repeated?)

EDIT: I HATE the fact that 1- there's fall damage, and 2- that the game refises to let you jump from certain heights, if you are in a narrow hole. it will automatically make you grab on to the nearest ledge. Stomping doesn't work at some heights for this reason

[KaZudra]

Played, beaten, 100%.

Gameplay, Second worst Castlevania, next to Haunted Castle
Simon's Part was the best part, Alucard gave you annoying Puzzles and Trevor's Part was an abomination, cheap death platforming and QTE fest, a major lack of enemies, and the enemies you get progressively get more annoying.

Story-wise it's amongst the best Castlevania.

I'll probably Keep it for the cut-scenes but never touch it again.

[uzo]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention about Fall Damage. THe concept itself isn't always terrible in 2D games but the way they did it here was completely arbitrary. Heights to death are coded based on what's in the area. Like if they WANT you to do the grapple shit to get down, you don't have a choice cause trying to skip it will insta-kill.

I don't mind a little damage, increasing as you fall, but the ratios here were basically, half life, or death. Nothing in the middle.

On top of that it reminds me of what happens when you die. I died most often trying to get down from heights. But that's A-OK cause you just kind of respawn about 5 feet away with more health than when you died... Ridiculous. Way to extract every ounce of engagement from the interactivity of the game. Might as well just not them die in the first place.

And no, that's not always a sin against 2D gaming. If you have the right player incentives no-death can actually work really well. See also Wario Land 2 (GBC) which has no death but happens to be one of the best 2D platformers out there. Wario Land 3 also gets a mention, perhaps even more applicable for being kind of a 'metroidvania' in it's own right, but I just like 2 more.

[Flame]

Alucard gave you annoying Puzzles

Are you seriously complaining about the puzzles?

Overall im actually liking mof better than los2 believe it or not.

Imo, Revelations dlc > MoF  = LoS > LoS2

There's just something about mof that i can't hate.

[Ahasverus]

I'm surprisingly liking MoF very much. It's only sin is the "pause" after landing a jump and some collision issues. Like how every "castle hazard" has an explanation.

[crisis]

i feel one of the greatest offenses in not just mof but the entire los series as a whole has committed are the damage-sponge enemies. like KaZiZ said, the enemies progressively get moar annoying an just take way too many hits to take down. dont get me wrong i like a good challenge but the way these games made simple enemies is just frustrating. why are skeletons, which are at the bottom of the food chain of castlevania enemies, so damn tough & take over 10 hits to defeat? a giant metal chain isnt enough to shatter bones in a couple hits, i have to constantly wail on them to see some results, and even then they barely even flinch, but a single hit from them is devastating and sends me flying? thats just nonsense and is super annoying, and i hope this trend doesnt continue

[uzo]

I think they could mitigate that with possible buffs, new weapons / enchantments, and useful special abilities. Shanoa's gameplay is a great example of giving a variety of useful abilities. You don't need as many as aria, they just need to be useful. The more you get the faster you can melt the increasing enemy HP.

[KaZudra]

Okay a better synopsis,

Simon's part wasn't bad, it had a good mix, but short, this was Traditional Castlevania and Sadly the only part worth playing again...

Alucard's Part was more annoying, Mostly Puzzle after puzzle, and even the boss fights had fucking puzzle parts, Puzzles aren't bad, but this is almost nothing but puzzles.

Trevor's part focused more on Instakill half responsive Platforming and QTEs, yet again, most bosses are just QTEs


The game would have been Phenominally better if they took a little bit of each and distributing it evenly.

[uzo]

So what you're saying is, I played the best part of the game and should stop now?

[Flame]

I liked Alucard's puzzles. they were fun. a foreign concept, I know.

not sure why people complain about them. Puzzles were the best part of LoS1. Revelations like, 2 puzzles were cool too.

[Anglachel]

Mirror of Fate is my favorite of the series. My only wish is that it was longer and that there was some actual replay value.

[uzo]

not sure why people complain about them. Puzzles were the best part of LoS1.

If you mean shit like the Chess board, then;

NO.

[KaZudra]

So what you're saying is, I played the best part of the game and should stop now?

Sorta...
Most of the aggravation comes from certain Elements; Trevor's part was bad because it relied on faulty Jumping mechanics, The QTE bossfights should have allowed a bit of fighting in between sequences. Alucard's problems mostly lie in that with Puzzles, the puzzles themselves are not bad at all, just that there are too many of them condensed in one part, it severely lacks combat, and the Wolf/Mist forms were very lackluster. otherwise I wouldn't have a single problem with the game

[Flame]

If you mean shit like the Chess board, then;

NO.

Chess board is not a puzzle. It's a minigame. And you can skip it, then replay it at your own leisure from the menu.

Stuff like the electric puzzles in Frankenstein's lab, are what I mean. Or the light refraction thing in the Abbey library. or even the OTHER light refraction one in the land of the dead.

Yknow, the puzzley stuff that you have to often get through to unlock the door, or make a path to the door.

I can't recall if the first third had any significant puzzles aside from the pendulum one with pan...

The chess minigame wasn't even that bad. It was mostly RNG, but it was fun for what it was worth.

LoS2 was severely lacking in puzzles compared to LoS1 which became very puzzle heavy 2 3rds in.