Topic: What's up Dungeon heads??!!

[son_the_vampire]

Haven't logged in a while, hope all is well with everyone here.

If it isn't too much to ask, would any of you be willing to give me the thick-n-thin of LoS2?

I know there is a thread but that thing is a book of pages long and I have LOTS of catching up to do. Thanks in advance!!

[theplottwist]

Easy, quick summary of Dungeonite opinions (WITH SPOILERS):

LoS fans:

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"omg omg OMG! This game is fantastic! This game surpassed my expectations OMG! DAT DEATH BOSS OMG. Dracula controls so well and the map is so well done! "Castlevania City" is really creative!"

People that give LoS a shot, but still keep their Castlevania (like me):

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"This game is cool. It has it's moments. But "Castlevania City"?? Why not "Wygol City"? Could we have one classicvania now Konami?"

People who dislike LoS:

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"Castlevania City? Gabriel making ammends with Alucard? Satan as the big bad again? WTF Victor dies? This game is a joke full of holes. Too much forced drama, too little Castlevania, and Disney ending. The gameplay is solid enough, but could've been done in a good Castlevania game."

People who know the game/shady people (Bergaron, Agreus):

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Do not judge the game without playing it. Play the game, forget reviews.

This is the opinion of the Dungeonites as I've seen it. Feel free to correct me, anyone reading this.

About the game itself, I cannot say anything since I've not played it, but from what I've read on the internet, and belonging to "People who give LoS a shot", LoS2 has improved drastically over the first game, control-wise and graphic-wise. The game also seems diverse enough to not let you fall into hack 'n slash boredom. The enemies are creative (sometimes TOO creative) and the map is *somewhat* big (I've read alot of people saying it could be bigger). The "exploration element" still falls a little short of what was promissed. Ah, and the "Agreus" and "Stealth" things, it seems that they're really a bitch.

Ashaverus is one who could provide one good spoiler-less analysis (albeit a little "Forget bitches. Love LoS" xD)

[thernz]

Joke's on you. I don't think the gameplay is even solid. I am the outlier you didn't account for...

[son_the_vampire]

Thanks for the reply.

I would like for this one to end well, I'm more a classicvania guy myself. Good thing I don't have ps4 yet I guess.

[X]

LoS2 is on the PS3. I've yet to see the PS4 disc case.

[uzo]

If it isn't too much to ask, would any of you be willing to give me the thick-n-thin of LoS2?

Dracula fights mobile suits and dodges lasers in a science lab.

[Morning star]

I have never played this game or the first one. But i have watched the trailers and gameplay videos. They look like more modern crap games to me. Both of em.. But since (like you said) there is a books worth of posts about these games, clearly others don't feel the same way.

Wasn't it nice when we didn't need to call them "classicvania" and we just called them Castlevania games.. I long for the good old days. Even SOTN seems classic at this point.

[son_the_vampire]

Well that demo I played when I grabbed MoF for the PS3 definitely seems misleading...:shrug

Seemed cool and whatnot, was really eager to see how it would go over; story-wise and gameplay wise. I can honestly admit that I'm not overall impressed. Only got a little taste of it as a buddy of mine grabbed it because he lives Drac (no prior CV experience mind you).

He was not that impressed, which says a lot. He then asked me what I love about CV so much and I told him that he's 25+ years too late to even understand. If only he knew how things were, compared to now. Oh well. I just got 19000 kills with richter on CVHD so that will keep me going for a while on the ole sony.

[GigaDan]

It's all vapid bullshit with shallow mechanics that don't develop or evolve in interesting ways. The plot in LOS2 somehow manages to be worse than MOF and LOS1 which is simply amazing and disappointed even hardcore LoS fans. Quite a few hardcore LOS fans have dumped many hours into trying to make the story meaningful and/or sane by extrapolating layer after layer of interpretation on top of the plot. There's a good bit here and even more on gamefaqs.

The game has hours of terrible stealth segments, a castle that is a crazy ex girlfriend made out of your blood, and space marines that kill you in one hit even when you're powerful enough to kill satan. The controls feel better than LoS1 but the game just feels like wasting your time having you do stealth segments and turn into rats.

Also, the entire crux of the plot is insanely pointless and revealed as a plot twist which makes it's inanity even worse. Much like Lords 1's reveal of Zobek and Mirror's Alucard, only a brainless twit wouldn't see the secret character twist coming from a mile away.

Oh, and the music is the same sort of stuff as LoS 1 where memorable melodies aren't prioritized at all.

Also, that guy up there CLEARLY didn't account for me. [been on CV dungeon for a long while, this is just my new handle]

[Ahasverus]

The game has hours of terrible stealth segments

Please, it's 20 mins, max.

Well that demo I played when I grabbed MoF for the PS3 definitely seems misleading...:shrug

Seemed cool and whatnot, was really eager to see how it would go over; story-wise and gameplay wise. I can honestly admit that I'm not overall impressed. Only got a little taste of it as a buddy of mine grabbed it because he lives Drac (no prior CV experience mind you).

He was not that impressed, which says a lot. He then asked me what I love about CV so much and I told him that he's 25+ years too late to even understand. If only he knew how things were, compared to now. Oh well. I just got 19000 kills with richter on CVHD so that will keep me going for a while on the ole sony.

For an old old old school fan that still likes modern action games, LoS1 is pretty cool, you will find people saying it's similar to Castlevania IV (I wouldn't say that) and it recovered the sense of journey the series lost (until Ecclesia which sadly was a step in the perfect 2D direction but it was the last IGA could do). The world has some bright colorful parts that while weird at first leave an impression. It gets dark later, however. Pretty good game, great, even (IMO). It works pretty well as an origin story (it's the first time we see the pre-Dracula world and the contrast is evident).

MoF is a weird hybrid between metroidvania "Castle only" mentality and ClassicVania "stages". It's similar to Castlevania 1 in that regard (And has 2 Dracula battles , which were cool). It's flawed on a deeper level than any Castlevania I've played, it has the right idea, but the execution lacks mastery, The story is the best in the series though. The game is far darker than LOS1 and the aesthethic is more gothic. Combat is cool for the genre, but floaty controls take some time to be used to. The level design isn't the most imaginative ever but it works. I'd say it's a game for everyone who liked LoS a little more above average. The most platfformer of the 3.

LoS2 is... a weird beast. The combat from LOS1 is polished to the max, playing as Dracula feels good, the bosses are out of this world, the story is intriguing enough until the ending, and the Castle is amazing. Yet, well, the modern sections are a mixed bag (good exteriors, TERRIBLE interiors) and the game suffers for trying to innovate "too much" (as one of the criticisms of LoS1 was that it was a pastiche of popular games)  and adds stealth sections/rat traversal which at best are innoffensive, but they are certainly not fun. The modern locations are as cookie clutter as they come and the ending is, well, underwhelming (it was apparently designed to be "open to interpretation" but that ws not well messagged, at all). LoS feels incomplete too, it is evident that many things were cut during development and you see characters appearing and dying in 10 minutes, and things like that. It is known that they had internal problems. What a shame. The level design is pseudo-open (Arkham Asylum style) and the traversal mechanics work. It is overall a game that if the main reason you liked LoS wasn't the variety of locales and sense of journey there's no reason not to play, forgiving a few sins.

Still, LoS1 is the most solid of the three. The trilogy could be better, far better, they had the most interesting ideas the series have ever seen since SOTN and all the good intentions but it was apparently not enough. It is still probably the only reason we have Castlevania right now so in a sense there is some appreciation to be had. And, hey, they made Castlevania work in 3D, and  when it shins, god it shines. The series future is at the same time the most uncertain but the most exciting it's ever been. Who knows what's next. but it cettainly be different and, at least, founed on a solid base.