[PooBone]

Glad this got a sequel, I loved the first one, minus the last chapter and the DLC which was terrible. One thing I hope they improve is the new game plus, I wish it was easier to pick up and hit continue and be right where you left off, instead of automatically at the last level.

Anyway, looking forward to it!

[brandonh83]

I wish it was easier to pick up and hit continue and be right where you left off, instead of automatically at the last level.

Isn't that a weird thing? It gets pretty annoying especially when you're doing trials or whatever.

OP has so many broken links, lol... guess it's time for me to make a new banner out of pure boredom even though the thread doesn't get a whole lot of activity these days. I imagine that it might pick up some steam though as we get closer to LOS2 and people are like hurrr guess I need to finally play the awesome first game. :p

[Henchmen21]

What are you guys talking about? When you complete it, it sends you to the main menu and from there you can just select world map and then bam just chose which chapter than what level you want.

[brandonh83]

What are you guys talking about? When you complete it, it sends you to the main menu and from there you can just select world map and then bam just chose which chapter than what level you want.

Whenever I load my game up and go to the world map the cursor is always on the last chapter -- apparently I'm not alone.

[Henchmen21]

Whenever I load my game up and go to the world map the cursor is always on the last chapter -- apparently I'm not alone.

Yeah but it's not like they start you in the level itself. Just go back a page.

[Extollere]

Finished last night. The LOS2 trailer got me so pumped that I had to finally check out the first game - even though it had been sitting around on my desk for a couple months. I thought it was a pretty decent hack and slash adventure/action game. However it was pretty fucking rough around the edges and in need of some serious refinement, in my opinion. This didn't stop me from enjoying what was there, and there definitely is some good stuff.

I know this has already been touched on over and over, but I really did find some of the GoW and SotC elements to be a little too overt. What bothered me most about it wasn't its presence, but the lack of something else instead. It feels like a wasted opportunity to provide more original styles of gameplay and encounters that were a little more unique and fitting to the Castlevania world. The colossus battles were all pretty weak, minus their presentation. Platforming was jank. Well, using the cross to swing and repel was neat, and it worked pretty well, but jumping was bunk... losing your grip on an edge for no reason (for the 8th time) isn't that fun either.

Story-wise can't say much. I thought it was alright, but the whole "I murdered my wife against my will and now I'm gonna rage through some levels" story felt tiresome and garnered little enthusiasm from me. It's slightly awkward as well given the very well tempered and respectful character that Gabriel is. It's told to us again and again that Gabriel is pure of heart, and his wife of all people would probably account best for this. But Zobeck keeps telling us how dark he is, and how horrible a person he's become. I kept thinking "who the fuck is he talking about?" because I just don't see it. Even at the very end he's harping on about love and forgiveness. I get his immediate story arc, but it's hard to buy the idea that this puritanical warrior of God and good values somehow becomes Dracula - the epitome of sin and scheming. It's cool that they want to provide an origins story for Dracula, but when I think of Dracula I think of dark, cold-hearted cruelness. Something mysterious and a bit ethereal. If you explain him too much, or give him too much humanity, he starts to lose those things that define him. He's cool because he's inexplicable and otherworldly. Being told that this wood chopping warrior of good virtue and kind heart is somehow en route to becoming the most sinister character in the mythos is quite the stretch by any means. Well those are my thoughts about it anyways.

Everyone seems to love the art direction for this game and it's easily the best part. Though I did find several of the environments to fall flat with poor lighting. Not all of them mind you... but some places like the forested brown areas, and the final level of platforming were a bit bland. The architecture throughout the game was pretty great though, and the soundtrack was awesome. I wish there was a real throwback to the OST other than the music box stage though.

All in all, a decent experience, but not one I'm willing to revisit. LOS2 however, still holds my attention, and I'm eagerly awaiting more information about the game. If a trailer can do that to me after feeling this lukewarm about the first game, that's pretty awesome. Here's hoping that Mercurysteam really nails it this time.

[Naeval]

I love this game (not the dlc, that I haven't played). It begins slow, and continuously grows in Epicness, until you defeat the first GREAT enemy (I don't want to make spoilers). Then, the game relaxes, but begins another time to be more and more EPIC, and the final is so great :D

Looking for the second game, and the 3ds title

[blanco21]

I'm a huge fan of traditional CV and thought that this was a nice little side-series or whatever you want to call it. The ending is weird, but if MercuryStream is only making LoS2 and the 3DS game before moving on to something else, I don't mind them going outside the lines so much.

The only real problem I had with the game is that everything feels so plodding and tedious after a while. Despite really enjoying what the game presents, I felt like it needed to pick up the pace the entire time. Not cut actual content or anything like that, just eliminate the perpetual feeling of slowness that lingers throughout the entire game.

That's just my two cents though - I was reading through the thread and didn't see anyone else with that particular complaint. The music is spread pretty thin and the combat can get pretty repetitive after a while too, but I didn't think it was anything bad enough to point out or complain about. Looking forward to the other 2 games next year.

[CREMSteve]

Playing through this, need help. How do I avoid the Ice Titan's hands when he is swatting at me because I'm smacking his little blue circles?

I try to shimmy away from his incoming hand, but I'm never quick enough. I watched a Youtube vid, and the dude was JUMPING from side to side to avoid him, but I for the life of me cannot get the evade (LS + X) move to work to replicate it.

What the heck am I doing wrong?

[Sanctuary]

This was one of my favorite games of 2010. Easily much more enjoyable overall than GoW3. The only action game that beat it (in some respects) was Bayonetta, but the aesthetics of that game were hard to get over. Can't wait for LoS2.

I know this has already been touched on over and over, but I really did find some of the GoW and SotC elements to be a little too overt. What bothered me most about it wasn't its presence, but the lack of something else instead. It feels like a wasted opportunity to provide more original styles of gameplay and encounters that were a little more unique and fitting to the Castlevania world.

What it's "lacking" compared to the GoW games is the ability to simply mash your way through most of the fights. I'm also kind of tired of the GoW comparisons since the Castlevania games were not "Metroidvania" until SoTN and LoS is more like the earlier 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias, but in 3D. The main thing both games have in common is that they use chain like weapons. The other issue is that GoW didn't invent this kind of 3D Action/Adventure genre. Devil May Cry did. It's also not Castlevania's first foray into the 3D realm, although the games found on the N64 aren't worth remembering.

[Combichristoffersen]

This was one of my favorite games of 2010. Easily much more enjoyable overall than GoW3. The only action game that beat it (in some respects) was Bayonetta, but the aesthetics of that game were hard to get over. Can't wait for LoS2. What it's "lacking" compared to the GoW games is the ability to simply mash your way through most of the fights. I'm also kind of tired of the GoW comparisons since the Castlevania games were not "Metroidvania" until SoTN and LoS is more like the earlier 8 and 16-bit Castlevanias, but in 3D. The main thing both games have in common is that they use chain like weapons. The other issue is that GoW didn't invent this kind of 3D Action/Adventure genre. Devil May Cry did. It's also not Castlevania's first foray into the 3D realm, although the games found on the N64 aren't worth remembering.

There were two 3Dvanias for the PS2 too :p

[BadWolf]

Just finished it.

There were some tedious gameplay decisions but overall I really enjoyed it. In terms of combat there wasn't much new but what was there was solid, big movelist and lots to do.

The idea of playing well to fill up the tension guage which let you fill up the light/shadow gauges was really good I think. It made me strive to play better so I could get more health or power.

The game really picked up for me towards the end in particular, the chapter before the last boss one was very epic. The story I really enjoyed as well where we basically see how Dracula came to be as well as his relationship with Death.

Visuals/soundtrack were top notch. I hope they add save spots instead of breaking chapters into tiny pieces in the sequel, will make the game flow better.

Do we know if the protagonist is Gabriel in the sequel? The Spike awards teaser ended with a white haired man challenging him, kinda hoping its Alucard.

I give it a solid 8.5/10, very good game.