Topic: The Lords of Shadow series has come and gone, time to reflect on it.

[darkwzrd4]

I watched a full playthrough of LoS2 on youtube and given the ending......

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both Dracula and Alucard alive at the end (but still vampires) and Satan permenantly dead

....the LoS storyline could be continued. 

[beingthehero]

I probably would've liked Lords 1 better if it was still what it was when the very first teaser was revealed at the end of 2008 - a stand-alone "dark fairy tale" that had nothing to do with Castlevania.

[crisis]

so shouldnt most if not all the blame go to Hideo Kojima since he was the one that stepped in & said "hey this game should be the new castlevania instead" & konami obliged

[Dremn]

I watched a full playthrough of LoS2 on youtube and given the ending......

(click to show/hide)

both Dracula and Alucard alive at the end (but still vampires) and Satan permenantly dead

....the LoS storyline could be continued.

Personally hoping they close the book on it.

[Mike Belmont]

I probably would've liked Lords 1 better if it was still what it was when the very first teaser was revealed at the end of 2008 - a stand-alone "dark fairy tale" that had nothing to do with Castlevania.

That´s exactly my thoughs. I insist, that for me the LoS saga is a spinoff of the main series. Not IGA series, nor Classic series. The entire series. For me, its a Castlevania-like game, from the POV of Dracula. For me the Castlevania added to the Lords of Shadow name was unnecesary. Think of Ghost & Goblins  saga, with is spinoffs Gargoyle´s Quest and the amazing Demon´s Crest. Even Maximo. Similar games, similar settings, but with other characters, with a different name.

....the LoS storyline could be continued. 

I think (and hope) that MS continue with the saga, but only in DLC. Please Cox, keep your promise, for once, and end the LoS with this trilogy!!!

Yeah. I was really excited for the first game, despite the odd changes we saw. I was duped into the lie they crafted. The way they cut that one trailer was so deceptive, showing the castle in the rain (was never in the game) and overlaying Jason Issac's voice pretending it was Dracula. Just a lie trying to lure in the old fans, making them believe there would be an epic showdown of Belmont vs Dracula in the castle. Well, we know that never happened.

That helped put me off to the future games, and especially the people who make them. Such a dirty thing for them to do.

I have the same feelings after seeing that part in the trailer from the first LoS. It´s like "hey, It will be a Castlevania game, after all, with Dracula in it". Such a dissapointment.

LoS was an interesting experiment. It was a passable game, that used "Castlevania" more as an attention getter rather than a game that was really following the series footsteps. It wasn't a bad game, just not really a good Castlevania game.

At this time, I see and judge the LoS saga as a game only. It has his good things. For me, the best are the graphics and environments. I like the boss fights (even the Titan´s). Overall, I give to this entire saga, a 8 over 10.

... lets just hope the next producer doesnt say assholeish shit like "4get everything u knew about castlevania, get on our boat or be left behind" but instead says shit like "we're gonna move the series forward by still embracing the past, please stick with us to see what we mean" programmers that will think outside the box rather than aping elements from other games & slapping the castlevania skin over it

Totally agree. I dislike that Cox dude. I mean, I think that those words were unnecesary. I hope the next producer (american, european, japanese) does not follow the path of Cox.

subjectively i think this sub-series is cool for what it is & what it tries to do; comic book series do it all the time with alternate titles & universes for main characters. altho i am not really a fan of the "amalgam" of certain characters (leon+mathias=gabriel, trevor+alucard, etc) i recall only a few months after los1's release we here at the dungeon throwing the name "alucard belmont" around in a mocking manner, and lo & behold look what happens. its kinda cheesy and MS coulda been a LITTLE more creative with the property so it wasnt so damn predictable all the time

My thoughs, too. I respect the MS work, because they have so much potential. I see as unnecesary the use of the names of past games, and the way of their use. I think is not too difficult to create new names and characters, like Gabriel and Zobek. I know that LoS pretends to be a reboot, but I think too that in the end, MS could be more creative in create that reboot.

PS Sorry about the long post. Very good thread, indeed.

[GuyStarwind]

My opinion is best summed up from a part in the Harry Chapin song Mr. Tanner. I of course will make it fit the question.

Castlevania Lords of Shadows from Mercurysteam made its final debut today. It came well prepared, but unfortunately its presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards. Its story lacks the range of tonal color necessary to make it
consistently interesting. Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.

But seriously if you enjoyed it more power to ya. I was actually really excited for the first game but my hopes were dashed and I soon couldn't get myself into the series.

[VEP]

i just want to get on to what it used to be like...what did it use to be like well hell iunno ill let you know when it happens...

[crisis]

unfortunately it's never gonna get back to the way it was, people need to accept this fact.. those of us that are still clinging to the 90's/early-mid 2000's era of castlevania need to realize that konami arent gonna take steps backward to the way things were. its just the nature of the business

sure we may get a new refreshing metroivania at one point but games in that spirit that were released almost back-to-back like what we were getting with the GBA/DS games? its a done deal guys

which is why when konami introduces the next incarnation of the series, which may very well be even further removed from the "classic formula" of the 90s/early2000s moreso than lords of shadow is, thatll be the final nail in the coffin (pun intended) for some of us & those that have been disillusioned with the series for years now will no doubt completely give up following castlevania & find other things to enjoy (see: the entire anti-chapel forum *BURN*


i can already see the seeds of this happening right now. it was nice chatting with some of yous over the years!

[machetespeghetti]

I think a classic style CV game would work on a new gen system just make it extremely difficult. Like in the NES days games had to be difficult to make the lastability longer. Just add really good graphics, old and new cv music, loud explosions, and metroidvania type bosses.

[Mike Belmont]

I don´t like this tragic end to the Castlevania I love, @crisis .

Castlevania will be my favorite franchise forever. Even if I love games like Megaman, Darksiders, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy (pre-X), Ys, Sly, Ratchet & Clank, Zelda, Metroid, Demon´s Crest, Ghost & Goblins, and many more, Castlevania will be my numer one among all of them.

I will continue playing all those 90s/early 2000s games that I love, even if some people doesn´t like it, or even if reviewers gave it low scores. I will continue listening all the melodies that I love and gave me that Castlevania vibe that I fell in love in the begining, when I play Dracula´s Curse in mid-90s.

I have a little light of hope, that Castlevania will continue. In a digital game, like Ducktales, Strider or Bloodrayne Betrayal, or in a big or low budget console game. Like the words spoken by Saint Germain in the ending of Curse of Darkness: "There is one great battle yet to be fought--the final battle between Lord Dracula and the humans. Perhaps they will remember your fight. Or perhaps it will start anew". Or like Gabriel´s last words:

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"Who knows what fate has in store"

Whoever is the team that makes a new Castlevania game, I will not give up in following my beloved saga.

[Ahasverus]

I simply want this to end already because I feel dirty like a pariah for liking it.

[uzo]

sure we may get a new refreshing metroivania at one point but games in that spirit that were released almost back-to-back like what we were getting with the GBA/DS games? its a done deal guys

I don't mind a slower release schedule. The games were coming out too quick anyway, during the GBA/DS era. The quality was taking a hit.

Compare SotN to the rest of the exploration games, with the exception of CotM perhaps. The GBA and DS games were made basically annually. SotN took 2.5 years to produce.

If they took longer to make the exploration/2d games, I'd be happy. That is presuming they don't cheap out the budget and release a game every two or three years with still only one year of development time.

Though even if that was the case, the craving for a new game would help out sales a lot anyway I think.

[theANdROId]

I've only played MoF, but I liked it.  Despite the teasers and previews for these games, I never clearly understood that they were essentially an alternate timeline, so I was initially a little miffed.  However, once I realized it wasn't really connected to the other Castlevania games (aside from the title and references to characters and such) I was okay with it.  It may not have been what I wanted it to be, but it was still a well made game that I enjoyed playing.

But I'm beginning to wonder if my feelings may change if/when I play LoS 1 or 2.  It seems like many people here, while ultimately displeased with the trilogy straying from the original timeline, were most forgiving of MoF...which is the only one I've played so far.  Perhaps I'll come post again whenever I play through either of the other titles.

[Nagumo]

I can accept Castlevania not returning to was it was before, as far as gameplay is concerned at least, because I'm confident that if anyone other dev team would make a new Castlevania game, it really couldn't turn out any worse than LoS. But if it's indeed just going to be LoS games fron now on, no drama, but there are still plenty of other gaming series that haven't become shallow sell-out versions of their former selves. 

[Kamirine]

I suppose I could sum it up best with the infamous quote from Cox himself: "Forget what you know about Castlevania!"

Because I honestly feel you damn near HAVE to in order to enjoy it.  Even after playing and finishing LoS2, I just never felt 'it'.  That 'it' that made me feel like it was honestly part of the Castlevania franchise other than the name being slapped on it and characters having names from the series.  MoF was the close and I still wasn't a hug fan if that one either.

I think it's just the story as a whole.  How hard was it to stick to the damn core script?  Family of bad asses fight Dracula. (Tagged, just in case):

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I feel the Belmonts got the shaft in this game: the two main Belmonts are merged into the main villain of the series and the favored non-Belmont hero, (not to mention Trevor fails to even kill Dracula unlike his previous incarnation, but that's what happens when you don't br

have friends to help I guess...), Simion is great but needs assistance to defeat a guy he beat all by himself previously twice technically. (Okay it's reboot, "forget what I know", but damn it, THAT'S the problem!  I shouldn't feel like I have to!) Poor Victor just gets defeated, spared, then sacrifices himself and killed off.  WTF happened to my Belmonts?!

And I never want Satan as the villain again. Seriously. He was unnecessary.  As much so as Dracula just being stuck as the villain like in PoR, when another vampire has the reins (but that's another rant for another day...) And Death did a better job at being a compelling jerk you wanted to face punch. (Once I get over him and Dracula having no bromance like usual.)

I could really go on and on just on the story alone but I am sleepy as fuck.  The gameplay isn't what I expected either. Or no, it's a coin toss.  The best way I can describe it, is the way some Sonic fans view later games: it's passable and all but something feels like it's missing. 

The music, fuck it.  I didn't need a remix of Bloody Tears or anything but it just wasn't Castlevania. It was a score to someone's Dracula movie.

And maybe that's my problem too: I always felt this series being a Castlevania game came in second, if not third to Mercurysteam.  But as Cox said recently, they focused on it being 'a mainstream blockbuster' and not some 'niche' series.  But there HAS to be another way, that sticks to what fans love but makes it an outgoing enough venture into the mainstream that Konami can approve of.

Ironically, I don't hate LoS.  I just hate it as a Castlevania game.  I'm done. Castle crumbled on this venture, thankfully.  Now give me Classicvania Megaman X or NSMB style or let's try something brand new.  I don't care, just get away from LoS.