Topic: The End and the Beginning

[Intersection]

After reading through pages and pages of discussion, I feel that there's still something that needs to be made clear. Lords of Shadow 2 is finished. No additional content is planned or being made, and there probably won't be any further releases past some "Ultimate LoS collection" Konami is bound to market. In fact, the entire Lords of Shadow series has ended. MercurySteam admittedly isn't even working on Castlevania anymore.

So why are we even trying to imagine a Sonia Victor Simon DLC, the Belmont lineage, more Alucard gameplay, Victor is still alive, THE TRUE alternate ending, True Satan form, Inner Dracula, the castle is an alternate reality, eternal torture, eternal torment, eternal peace, eternal life, series closure, oh, wait, wouldn't it be cool this was actually all Galamoth's master plan to regain control of time?

Why are we still trying to tend to LoS2's festering wounds when we all know that they're far beyond repair? Why are we still bickering about how the game could have been better if when we know that it's all behind us, and even behind them? This was supposed to be a short reply, but I'm using it to start an entire thread, because there's one revelation Revelations did actually leave us with, something so powerful, so obvious, and yet that we're so oblivious to, something that should have us all bow down in joy to the Castlevania God -- so at this point, I don't care how much you love or hate or ambiguate Lords of Shadow, and I don't care about how far up or down this post will be voted -- all I care about now is this simple fact:

MERCURYSTEAM IS GONE, PEOPLE! REJOICE!

[Chernabogue]

No, Alvarez is gone, rejoice.

The MS team are some talented guys (art, music, engine, etc.), but Enric destroyed the true potential of the team. (If you want to blame it for another thing, he asked Oscar Araujo to compose the music this particular way, cf. an interview w/ Oscar).

[Nagumo]

Because people are tired of IGA milking games, so hey, let's milk Lords of Shadow instead.

[crisis]

i guess its the same reason why till this day we still discuss the hypothetical 1999 game and how it couldve been, etc.
theres nothing wrong with speculation

[Trevelyan]

A couple of reliable people told us Konami were intending to continue the series without MS's involvement.  Including changing the end to suit that.  So of course that will lead to speculation.

Bergaron, iirc, said that more dlc from another studio was also a possibility if the sales were good enough.

[KaZudra]

No, Alvarez is gone, rejoice.

The MS team are some talented guys (art, music, engine, etc.), but Enric destroyed the true potential of the team. (If you want to blame it for another thing, he asked Oscar Araujo to compose the music this particular way, cf. an interview w/ Oscar).

well that would explain why mirror of fate was more like Devil may cry 2D

[X]

Because people are tired of IGA milking games, so hey, let's milk Lords of Shadow instead.

LoS is a bull. And you can't milk bulls, lol!

[Belmontoya]

LoS is a bull. And you can't milk bulls, lol!

You can. I just wouldn't recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THV5NgVdVsE

[Intersection]

i guess its the same reason why till this day we still discuss the hypothetical 1999 game and how it couldve been, etc.
theres nothing wrong with speculation

That wasn't really the point of my post. No, I'd be the last person to discourage speculation -- there's nothing more entertaining once you get into it. In fact, that was the reason why I made a stand-alone thread out of this post; I didn't want to spoil all of that what-iffy fun.

To be honest, I was only trying out my own version of a spontaneous declaration for MercurySteam's departure. I wrote it on a whim, and it wasn't exactly meant to be replied to; but it is what it is. You can also tell that I never was the greatest fan of what the studio did to the franchise, even though I'd found the LoS original to be a pretty decent game on its own.

Besides, LoS2 isn't exactly ripe for additional content. Its plot is downright awful, and there's only so much investment you can actually put into the game. So while a few new areas or enemies would be welcome, it's unlikely we'll see any further DLC, even from another studio.

[darkwzrd4]

Well, honestly I'm glad the LoS trilogy is done. I don't get why people continue to talk about DLC when MS said that they are done with CV. Oh, and let's not forget the crap ending of LoS2. It's a nice twist, but it leaves the final game without a sense of finality.

I say we just forget the LoS trilogy ever existed and wait to see what Konami decides to do with the franchise next. Whether the company decides to make games "in house" or out source it again (which worked so well with Mercurysteam), I don't really care so long as any new games are closer to the original lore of the franchise. That being said, there needs to be another reboot because the original timeline has a lot of plot holes which I can't see being filled without removing games from the official canon and LoS is done.

[Dremn]

People are hungry for more Castlevania anything at this point, looks like LoS2 wasn't able to scratch enough itches.

[Charlotte-nyo:3]

A couple of reliable people told us Konami were intending to continue the series without MS's involvement.  Including changing the end to suit that.  So of course that will lead to speculation.

Bergaron, iirc, said that more dlc from another studio was also a possibility if the sales were good enough.

This is probably one of the major reasons for the speculation. With the way a lot of publishers in the industry behave, I wouldn't really expect Konami to end the subseries just because the devs of said subseries were moving on and it was their vision. That said, are the sales of LoS2 actually up to what they expected? Whether that is the case or not may change their plans.

[Flame]

Because i liked LoS, and i feel theres lots of untapped potential. Alucard played amazingly, but was relegated to a short dlc. The castle was amazing,  but had to share space with the modern city, which left both feeling unfulfilled and half baked. Then the story. Despite Alvarez's horrible writing,  the other guy knows his shit and manages to show in MoF and Revelations the potential of the story. The designs are cool, and the casting great.

There's like 500 years between MoF and LoS2's prologue that can fit more satisfactory story. Or maybe a follow up dlc/game to resolve the plot.

Only thing is, i don't know if id want anyone but ms to handle LoS... a konami director?  Sure. But LoS is very much MS' thing, and i doubt another studio, internal or outsourced, could do it justice.

[e105beta]

I don't see how this thread is anything but flamebait.

Falsely premised flamebait at that.

[DragonSlayr81]

For better or for worse, LoS has it's fans, and fans want to see the things they love continue. Even after LoS is dead and CV has moved on, 20 years from now, I can see LoS still pining for another sequel and return to the LoS series, just like many now still want a return to the original canon.