Topic: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia *** NO SPOILERS

[Soma Cruz]

Dang, 30/40 is not that great.

Also Nintendo Power gave OOE a 8/10. They said the music was bad ?!?! 

It did get an A- from EGM, which is especially good. Have to wait for some reviews from IGN/GS.

Soma

[superDioplus]

It's just their opinions for the game, and still, it's not that bad. Two 8 is already worth it.

[Kamirine]

"The most interesting change is the dismantling of the typical "Metroidvania" structure. Instead of a single, giant castle, [the game] offers a world map dotted with locations...each of which is a small self contained level reminiscent of CV games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. Some do have hidden rooms and alternate routes, but many are straight forward levels that offer little in the way of exploration. Instead the focus is squarely on action..."

"The host of monsters and ghouls you'll lace on your quest are an imaginative and well-animated lot, and most seem to be completely new."

"Unfortunately, the soundtrack has gone in the exact opposite direction-it's pleasant but generic, with none of the bold compositions and exotic instrument choices that made PoR so extraordinary."

"But the bigger disappointment his how little mileage OoE gets out of its new glyph system. ...The change is little more than semantics; where other CV heroes would equip and swing a sword, Shanoa equips a glyph to make a sword appear in her hands magically. ...The whole thing plays out almost exactly like the Tactical Soul system found in AoS and DoS. ...It's disappointing to see the glyph system merely reorganize the series' traditional arsenal of weapons and spells, without adding much of significance."

"...Hardcore fans will delight in the deeper challenges and more adult look, but with little in the way of new play mechanics, [it] isn't going to find a spot in the Castlevania Hall of Fame".

(8/10)

But there were also games reviewed in this week's issue that you and I actually care about -- not least of which is Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, which hits stores both here and in Japan next week. The third DS Castlevania received two 8's and two 7's for a total of 30 points and a Silver reward, even though most reviewers agreed that it wasn't anything terribly new for the series. "The challenge level is pretty high overall," one said. "If you die, you get thrown back to the last save point, which makes it feel hopeless if this happens against a boss. Definitely for advanced action gamers only." Another reviewer was impressed by the graphics: "The atmospheric visuals are excellent; the characters have a surprising amount of detail drawn into them."

(30/40)

"The game's greatness makes suffering through a few poorly designed bosses worth it for hardcore Castlevania fans and 2d action experts.  But unlike many other titles in the franchise, I can't recommend this much beyond this limited demographic."

(8.25/10)

GamePro (after actually reading it, should have tor--I mean bought, yes BOUGHT the magazine...) pretty much said the same thing, that the bosses themselves were difficult and the entire thing with the Glyph system (I.E., the fact that it can run out and leave you hanging if your not careful)are it's hang ups and makes the game hard. (And yeah, the reviewer sent an email to Konami because he said he was hopelessly stuck.) He actually didn't mention the 'copy/paste' thing like the original poster of said review said he did, he actually loved the graphics and such.

Play...honestly sense they don't give scores, I couldn't make head or tails of that review, though apparently the reviwer seemed to love the game and said the graphics were the best to date for a 2D game. He did however, also mention the difficulty.

So the 'going trend' here is that the game is hard apparently. But it's getting straight 8's so that actually not bad.  As far as Famitsu goes, once the reviews started saying the game was 'hard', I knew they probably wouldn't give it a high score, considering apparently that 'hard action/adventure games' don't do well in Japan.

[semianonymous]

So the game is hard.
Awesome. Now I reeeeally want this.

[Algernon]

I'm not as happy about the difficulty trend as the rest of you, but I'm not going to be too preoccupied with reviews until I read IGN's, since I almost always agree with those guys.

[Kamirine]

I'll actually be surprised if they give it a low score to be honest, considering everything they've said so far is positive and they seem to honestly like what they've played in all the previews.  Who knows though.

It just kinda sucks that it's getting a wee bit (because 8's are actually quite good) of a lower score just because of difficulty.  Reviewers need to try to remember that when they're reviewing Ninja Gaiden.

[azielsatori]

Hmm, I recall them saying initially that there was a mixture of metroidvania and classicvania areas.

But the one review makes it seem like all the areas are classicvania.

From what videos have shown us that isn't actually the case, so what gives?

[Kamirine]

In Reply To #2137

Honestly after what NP said about the music, I'm taking there's with a grain of salt, good score or not.  The maps themselves (on some pics) show that what they said isn't accurate. Even if the levels are small, some are still exploratory.

[RichterX]

I could careless what reviewers say about the game, I will enjoy it no matter what. They say its hard? Bring it on! Mind you, reviewers always suck at games.

[Algernon]

I'm not sure what they mean about the music, since I've heard at least two themes I really like... and at least one I hate. Which is almost always how it is in Castlevania.

[azielsatori]

When do you think you will be able to get the OST up?

I need music D<

[Dark Nemesis]

PoR was having better sound track? The game sucks because it is difficult? Please, don't make me laugh. This are words for losers. If you can't play a game it doesn't mean that it sucks. Reviewers are a bunch of losers!!!

[erimocard]

Yeah well.

Also, there seem to be an awful lot of bosses of the type "giant humanoid monster" so I can at least understand the one saying there were a few poorly designed bosses.

[azielsatori]

that is not what was meant by poorly designed, what was meant is that some of the bosses were difficult in a way in which they were not meant to be.

[darkwzrd4]

Those reviewers are morons!!!  They aren't real CV fans.  If they were, I think the reviews would have very different.  That being said, let's ignore these idiotic reviews and just play through the game ourselves and discuss what we think on this forum.

I bet out impressions of the game will be very different from these reviews.