Topic: Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror Of Fate HD

[e105beta]

If the Lost Soul really does turn out to be a Voldemortized Zobek, it'll not only make him a way better character and explain why he's called "The Lost Soul, but it'll make Zobek the most manipulative motherfucker around.

EDIT: What if, after all this time, The Brotherhood still takes orders from Zobek? What if the Belmont/Dracula feud is just something he's setting up to give himself the ultimate power he's been striving for later?

[crisis]

Zobek being The Lost Soul still doesn't make any sense. The Lost Soul is nothing more than the physical manifestation of the mirror of fate, whereas Zobek is the Lord of the Dead/Necromancers, the empty corpse left behind by the original Zobek.

If he is Lord of the Dead, then how is he also a mirror? I fail to see the correlation between the two.

[e105beta]

The premise would be that The Lost Soul isn't actually what the game says he is, and is merely posing as the manifestation of the Mirror, using that guise to manipulate events in his favor. I mean, if he really is just "Fate" then, like you said, he's completely pointless as a character, and could have just remained the mirror and the shard.

Not saying I expect it, just that it would be awesome. Also trying to come up with an explanation why he's the Lost Soul, and not the "Soul of Fate" or something.

[Claimh Solais]

GameFAQs finally accepted my god damn review for Mirror of Fate HD. Only took a week. Anyone interested in reading?

[K.G. Morder]

I sincerely doubt the Lost Soul is Zobek. Zobek is already involved in MoF's plot, sending the necromancer after Simon.

[DoctaMario]

GameFAQs finally accepted my god damn review...

I don't know why this made me laugh so much...! 

Liked the review though!

[Intersection]

GameFAQs finally accepted my god damn review for Mirror of Fate HD. Only took a week. Anyone interested in reading?

So I've read through it -- it's an interesting review. I don't agree with any of it, of course, but it's still a good effort. 
Taking time to detail your opinion is always worthwhile.


Although I'll have to bring up a few of the parts that drew my attention:

Where did you find "quite a bit of enemy variety"? There are only thirty-four enemies in the entire game.

What exactly do you mean by "exploration"? You're citing platforming abilities as "exploration moves", but the platforming sections were as linear as they could get.

What "replay value" could there possibly be in Mirror of Fate to warrant a 9/10? Once you've finished the game in itself, you'll have little to no reason to return to it -- the only power-ups you'll ever find are your generic health up/magic up/XP/add weapon slot upgrades, and the only exploration offered is either ridiculously shallow or massive and unwarranted. Otherwise, there are no items to speak of, no interesting abilities past your whip combos, and the 100% mark gives you a disappointingly cutscene...


Oh, and I'm surprised you found the ending "tear-jerking". Granted, it's the only well-acted scene in the entire game, but this ending was such an obvious one, and was telegraphed so often throughout the game that I was just staring blankly into the screen by the time I'd finally gotten to it.

[Maedhros]

So I've read through it -- it's an interesting review. I don't agree with any of it, of course, but it's still a good effort. 
Taking time to detail your opinion is always worthwhile.


Although I'll have to bring up a few of the parts that drew my attention:

Where did you find "quite a bit of enemy variety"? There are only thirty-four enemies in the entire game.

What exactly do you mean by "exploration"? You're citing platforming abilities as "exploration moves", but the platforming sections were as linear as they could get.

What "replay value" could there possibly be in Mirror of Fate to warrant a 9/10? Once you've finished the game in itself, you'll have little to no reason to return to it -- the only power-ups you'll ever find are your generic health up/magic up/XP/add weapon slot upgrades, and the only exploration offered is either ridiculously shallow or massive and unwarranted. Otherwise, there are no items to speak of, no interesting abilities past your whip combos, and the 100% mark gives you a disappointingly cutscene...


Oh, and I'm surprised you found the ending "tear-jerking". Granted, it's the only well-acted scene in the entire game, but this ending was such an obvious one, and was telegraphed so often throughout the game that I was just staring blankly into the screen by the time I'd finally gotten to it.

I agree with this. 10/10 review of the game.

[Claimh Solais]

Where did you find "quite a bit of enemy variety"? There are only thirty-four enemies in the entire game.

I liked how varied the enemies were though. Compared to some of the other games that featured multiple forms of the same enemy.

What exactly do you mean by "exploration"? You're citing platforming abilities as "exploration moves", but the platforming sections were as linear as they could get.

The entire castle that could be explored in each Act was fully explorable the whole time. There were hidden areas and such. I wish the platforming required a bit more skill, but I enjoyed it.

What "replay value" could there possibly be in Mirror of Fate to warrant a 9/10? Once you've finished the game in itself, you'll have little to no reason to return to it -- the only power-ups you'll ever find are your generic health up/magic up/XP/add weapon slot upgrades, and the only exploration offered is either ridiculously shallow or massive and unwarranted. Otherwise, there are no items to speak of, no interesting abilities past your whip combos, and the 100% mark gives you a disappointingly cutscene...

What had me returning to play the game was about as much as the other games. Finding those few hidden areas and items and whatnot. And besides, it's not like the other games had a much more rewarding cutscene for reaching the 100% mark.

Oh, and I'm surprised you found the ending "tear-jerking". Granted, it's the only well-acted scene in the entire game, but this ending was such an obvious one, and was telegraphed so often throughout the game that I was just staring blankly into the screen by the time I'd finally gotten to it.

It was Robert Carlyle's performance. He really sold it to me. And I knew the whole time it would happen, but it was executed really well. Like the ending of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. We all knew Zack's fate from the beginning because of FFVII, but the execution of it is was made it work out so well.

I don't know why this made me laugh so much...! 

Liked the review though!

I don't know either. I laughed when I typed it. Kinda strange though that it took them a whole week to accept the review for this (a rather well marketed game), but then for niche titles like Gods Eater Burst it only took a day or two.

These are some of the other reviews I wrote:
Castlevania (NES) 8/10 (Looking back on this review, I think it's horrible)
Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3) 8/10
Gods Eater Burst (PSP) 8/10
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3) 6/10 (has a really inappropriate title)
Warriors Orochi (PSP) 8/10

I notice I give a lot of 8/10s.

[JayDominus]

Just got it. First impression: did I just spend 500 f[bleep!]cking rubles on THIS? What the f[bleep!]ck is wrong with the controls?! Why are they so stiff? Why is jumping so short compared to walking? why are the environments too dark? Why is the map so bad? How the f[bleep!]ck do I make notes in the PS3 version?

[Ahasverus]

So who's just playing it on PC? I'm kinda liking it. THe atmosphere is top notch and the PC graphics help A LOT.

[Chernabogue]

So who's just playing it on PC? I'm kinda liking it. THe atmosphere is top notch and the PC graphics help A LOT.

Currently installing. May try this version tomorrow.

[K.G. Morder]

Man, I'd kill for a mod to change those hideous character portraits.

[uzo]

Since the PC version doesn't have frame rate issues, I gave it a second chance.

After completing Simon's story, I can really say this game is just... mediocre. It's kinda boring, and sloppily executed.

Quick thoughts:
- Doesn't look so "HD". Looks like a PS2 game, if not less than.
- Good backgrounds, in some spots.
- So-so character models.
- Walks too fast to appreciate the backgrounds normally.
- Jump is slower than walk. Why not just make walk the same speed? (see above)
- I liked the Spirit of Belnades power. Nice little auto blocker.
- Spirit of Schneider seems pretty useless.
- Odd placement and spacing of teleporters.
- Fairly dull and repetitive level design. Some whole maps are huge flat corridors in a bend. Not much of an excuse since they're not using "tiles". Each background has to be made explicitly. The detail in the backgrounds shows this well. Some places just feel empty or uninspired.
- The overuse of the soul waterfalls was really dull and annoying.
- The way the player gravitates toward grapple points is dumb looking. There is way too much leeway, and the gaps aren't properly spaced.
- Combat is pretty good. I'd like the ability to move forward in the combo only when I'm holding forward. Also area attacks are both cheap as hell in range but also kinda useless since they do shit for damage. Why bother having them?
-It's very clearly physics, speeds, and mechanics lifted wholesale from LoS and applied without much thinking to how well they work in 2D space.
- I was impressed with how they applied a new ability, the grapple points, to make it possible to go through the prison water area, once the areas is no longer doable by water.
- Some actions and events seem to lack a sound effect, or proper sound effect.

That's all I can think of for now.

Overall pretty disappointing honestly. It feels like LoS on rails, which doesn't work that well.

[Shinobi]

What "replay value" could there possibly be in Mirror of Fate to warrant a 9/10? Once you've finished the game in itself, you'll have little to no reason to return to it -- the only power-ups you'll ever find are your generic health up/magic up/XP/add weapon slot upgrades, and the only exploration offered is either ridiculously shallow or massive and unwarranted. Otherwise, there are no items to speak of, no interesting abilities past your whip combos, and the 100% mark gives you a disappointingly cutscene...

Dude a game that you finished can still count as replayable because you enjoyed it and play it again from start to finish not because of lots and lots and lots of unlockable items, modes exploration or other bunch of craps. Even those earlier or old school Castlevanias doesn't have such gimmicks yet you want to play it again even if you already finish it many times because you enjoyed it.