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Lords of Shadow is beautiful

N

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Shinta said:
It also has a fully developed combat system that's better than Ninja Gaiden 3 and God of War. Castlevania never even comes close to that besides Lords of Shadow, and they take it even further in the sequel. It's got a ton of moves you unlock, and the game is tough, with adjustable difficulty levels (is this a Castlevania first also?) and forces you to fully rely on counters, dodging and careful rationing of light and dark magic to survive.
Click to expand...

I like LoS a lot but this is absolutely not true. The combat system in this game is an absolutely bloated mess with a lot of "options" but few of them actually being compelling to use besides dodge.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757592

I went on a huge rant about the game mechanics in this thread back in january you're free to check it out.
 
F

FlashbladeGAF

Member
Not Spaceghost said:
Sorry about the lack of AA but this sequence right here

AwMDn16.jpg
Click to expand...

Exactly what I thought of when I saw the thread title.

Pan's area was also nice.
 
¡

¡HarlequinPanic!

Member
Stopped playing this a few levels in. It is very pretty and has a mood but it really just felt like lord of the rings or something. Where was the gothic? I hear its coming but I'm too busy jumping down a well after a girl olol.
 
B

BotoxAgent

Member
Not Spaceghost said:
Sorry about the lack of AA but this sequence right here



As you pull out of the wilderness, fight through the snow and see the Castle in the distance appear slowly as the camera pans around to make it seem like this over powering darkness in the world is just one of the coolest things ever.

Also there is another sequence when you're walking on the buttresses of the castle later on that looks lovely.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this part was absolutely lovely. And so was the rest of the game.

LOS can't get enough praise.
 
S

shinobi602

Member
Fantastic game, agreed. Loved the combat, music was perfect and the environments were jaw dropping most of the time.

Never got the chance to play the sequel though unfortunately.
 
Z

Z3M0G

Member
Game was fantastic... and excellent mash of great games (God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, etc). The art direction was simply unmatched, and the combat was very demanding, but not broken as it may seem on the surface.

Part 2 really failed to grip me... it's sad what happened. I still want to finish it some day... I feel myself slipping into a PC gaming mood lately so now's the time.
Click to expand...

3 years later, i still havent reloaded the 2nd game...

Id rather dig out my old copy of the first one and play that, hands down!
 
P

Percy

Banned
Total shit imo. But then I've always thought Castlevania as a whole was a massively overrated and thoroughly mediocre franchise.
 
S

silenttwn

Member
Shinta said:
It also has a fully developed combat system that's better than Ninja Gaiden 3 and God of War. Castlevania never even comes close to that besides Lords of Shadow, and they take it even further in the sequel. It's got a ton of moves you unlock, and the game is tough, with adjustable difficulty levels (is this a Castlevania first also?) and forces you to fully rely on counters, dodging and careful rationing of light and dark magic to survive.

Music is also great.

Story is the best in any Castlevania also. Most barely even attempt a story.

I'm struggling to think of anything it does worse honestly. We could argue level design, and probably that only. But on that point, I personally still greatly prefer LoS. Especially LoS 2.

It's definitely got the best platforming of any Castlevania also, with in depth whip swinging that blows away anything in Super Castlevania IV to a humiliating degree.
Click to expand...

Is Shinta secretly that ego maniac that lead and destroyed the Lords of Shadow team?
 
F

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
Lords of Shadow was awesome.

I'm a huge Castlevania fan. I have been since I played the original on the NES back in the 80's. LoS was fantastic.

I love the IGAvanias also.
 
D

D1AMONDDOGS

Neo Member
LoS2's stealth sections were awful. Made zero sense.

"Man, I'm this super powerful being that can turn into a dragon & that, but I have to turn into a rat to sneak past these fat dudes with cannons. Can't hurt them at all. Nope."
 
L

Levyne

Banned
Superb art direction.

LoS1: A quality game, some iffy levels and weird story pacing, DLC true ending epilogue with an annoying boss fight with weird stage mechanics. QTE galore.

LoS2: Absolutely shit story pacing, better primary combat. The castle is neat. Can turn off QTEs. Drab city environments. Stealth unneeded. Throwaway DLC cash grab. Neat bosses.
 
R

rjc571

Banned
It's really pretty on PC but I don't know if I can put up with the insanely fucking shallow gameplay. I'll consider buying it if it goes on sale for like $2.50.
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Castlevania was a series I held in high regard in the 90's and felt it got lost as we moved to 3D graphics, I played the newer titles but they all was still stuck in the early 90's and they disappear off my radar, Lords of Shadow came from nowhere and like the op said is a beautiful game and put CV back on the map for me, and while I enjoyed LOS2 it was obvious it had problems, its sad There is never gonna be another like it and we'll probably just get some lame but good 2d downloadable in the future, let hope a nextgen/currentgen CV is in the works in the vain of LOS because it'll be a shame to lose it after It's only just got back on it feet again.
 
J

jett

D-Member
D1AMONDDOGS said:
LoS2's stealth sections were awful. Made zero sense.

"Man, I'm this super powerful being that can turn into a dragon & that, but I have to turn into a rat to sneak past these fat dudes with cannons. Can't hurt them at all. Nope."
Click to expand...

That game has such unbearably moronic decisions. That is one of the worst. Someone at MS really wanted to have stealth sections in LoS2.
 
R

RoninChaos

Member
I really enjoyed the first one. It needed some work, but I enjoyed it's scope and it's ambition. I really had three problems. You spent waaaaaay too much time on the way to the castle. That irritated me. I also didn't like that much of Gabriel's story was TOLD to you, rather than shown. You'd hear in the interludes that he was going mad, he hadn't rested in days, etc, but you're never shown that. He seems the same throughout. ANd then there's the ending. I didn't like the bullshit ending though. I always felt they could have really made the Belmont story tragic by having Gabriel be Drac, and then it's his own decedents that hunt him through out the ages. It's poetic, and tragic and adds a bit of backstory to the entire Castlevania series that easily explains why the Belmonts do what they do. But instead they hoped to that modern day bullshit.

I don't know if they ended up going that route with the 3ds game or LoS2 I just know it left an awful taste in my mouth. Who the fuck wants a modern day castlevania? I don't, so I didn't play any of the other titles.
 
L

lukeskymac

Member
Shinta said:
It's the best Castlevania ever made. And the game is gorgeous, and one of my favorite action games ever.

I thought the sequel was the 2nd best Castlevania game ever made, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Click to expand...

Give us a call when you decide to play non-Lords of Shadow Castlevanias, k?
 
S

SixMachine

Member
I thought this game was pretty easy even on Paladin. The Pan boss fight challenge sounded like it would be complicated since he changes light and dark and you can't mess up once to complete the challenge but all I did was parry him to death since it's extremely generous on the window. The game is also really easy once you learn which whip combos build up the combo meter the fastest because the light and dark skills are op and once you max out the gauge you gain meter really fast unless you get hit, which is pretty easy not to since as I said parrying is extremely generous and it also builds meter fast. The worst things are the colossus fights, especially trying to complete the challenge on them. You had to use the that summon gem to weaken all the weakpoints and it lets you one shot the spots when you climb them and if you mess up, you have to exit and re-farm that stupid gem so you can one shot it the weakspots. I bet someone probably got the challenge done without the gems and someone can just say, "GIT GUD" but it was tedious platforming in a game not focused platforming. All in all the game was okay though.
 
D

DemWalls

Member
Since I agree with this (a few of my terrible screenshots because why not)

r5DfIO3.jpg


tKAHpzO.jpg


3mpf5mD.jpg


UFkl1nz.jpg
Click to expand...


I think many derserve to behold this beauty first-hand. I happen to have a Steam key for this game, for which I have little use. If someone's interested (truly interested, possibly, and not just to increase the Steam library's size), PM me something I'll gladly give the code.
 
A

AlexFlame116

Member
I'll never forgot the Mask website when we had that E3 so long ago.

That mask, plus the amazing music, filled me with wonder, curiousity, dread, and sadness.

To this day I look for that music but it was never released...
 
A

AAK

Member
I also loved the hand drawn animations to demo moves you can purchase between missions.

The presentation of this game was master class.
 
C

Croash

Member
7 years later it's still mesmerizing at times, greatly helped by the music. I often wanted to encourage friends to try it out even though the saga was poorly concluded.

Best treated as a standalone title for God of War fans seeking similar experiences. It's so epic!


Edit: LoS 2 aside, I'm really glad making Mirror of Fate lead them to remake Metroid 2. Hoping to see bigger games from MercurySteam in the future that live up to LoS.
 
B

burgerdog

Member
DemWalls said:
Since I agree with this (a few of my terrible screenshots because why not)




I think many derserve to behold this beauty first-hand. I happen to have a Steam key for this game, for which I have little use. If someone's interested (truly interested, possibly, and not just to increase the Steam library's size), PM me something I'll gladly give the code.
Click to expand...

How do people dig up three year old threads. Shit is just crazy to me.
 
S

SlipperyFishes

Banned
AlexFlame116 said:
I'll never forgot the Mask website when we had that E3 so long ago.

That mask, plus the amazing music, filled me with wonder, curiousity, dread, and sadness.

To this day I look for that music but it was never released...
Click to expand...
Ha. Yes. I had that SWF shit downloaded on an old PC long buster :(

I love the Mask and the creepy music.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Yep, game was amazing.

I enjoyed the gameplay and story but it was really the art direction and music that elevated the experience.

They really screwed up with the Sequel though
 
drotahorror

drotahorror

Member
Keep in mind there's over 50, FIFTY different levels in the game. All different locations, all beautiful in their own way. It's the ultimate action-adventure game when it comes to globe-trotting and locales. No game in the genre is even close to the amount of varied environments.
 
A

Alex_Mexico

Member
I really love it. Its was my 2010 GOTY too and by far the best 3D Castlevania ever done. It starts slow and the second chapter definitely drags but still an amazing title and I will fight anyone who says its a bad game. It already gets enough shit for being developed in the west and not following the messy and incoherent original canon.

The less said about its sequels the better, though.
 
R

Rmagnus

Banned
Worst game I ever played on my PS3. First time I gotten a headache playing a game because of its horrible framerate. The game that murdered my interest in castlevania, thankfully there's bloodborne to rekindle it.
 
G

GitarooMan

Member
It is an amazing game with some of the greatest visuals and music of last gen and a fun and engaging journey. One of my favorites, so much that I rebought it on PC.
 
G

Gbraga

Member
AlexFlame116 said:
I'll never forgot the Mask website when we had that E3 so long ago.

That mask, plus the amazing music, filled me with wonder, curiousity, dread, and sadness.

To this day I look for that music but it was never released...
Click to expand...

Can it really bring the dead back?
 
M

Muskieratboi

Member
I'm sorry guys...

But I'm in the Lords of Shadow Fan camp, too.

I've played every (Western Released) Castlevania to date and I rank the LoS trilogy right smack dab in the middle, above the Classicvanias (and in the far distance below them, the early 3D titles and Judgement), but below the Igavanias.

(mind you, even in that rank it's Mirror of Fate>LOS1>>>LOS2)

Also, Dat music is *AMAZING*, fite me. (Yes, I'm pissed off there weren't any classic castlevania tunes too, but the music was just THAT good.)
 
D

DemWalls

Member
burgerdog said:
How do people dig up three year old threads. Shit is just crazy to me.
Click to expand...

Well, mainly I wanted to make that gift. I bumped the OT yesterday, but since it is in the Community section, possibly no one even noticed it :p
So I did a quick search, and this seemed the most appropriate Lords of Shadow thread in Gaming Discussion.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
One of the best game reveals of all time IMO. The music, the atmosphere, that damn mask, Kojima...I was hyped beyond words for Lords of Shadow. Game was truly gorgeous and that whole book design for the menus, with the animated drawings? Brilliant.

As for the game. It felt soulless and empty. The idea was great, the execution was piss poor. Combat was floaty and spongy. Boss encounters had terrible visual and gameplay design. The giant enemy colossi were absurdly terrible, like Shadow of the Colossus but programmed by the makers of Drake of the 99 Dragons. So repetitive, and utterly boring. And the soundtrack while technically well composed and orchestrated was flat. Castlevania music is all about memorable beats. This was generic fantasy music. Felt to me like the 2nd's game critical reception was meant for the first one.

Really happy to hear MercurySteam nailed Metroid though. They obviously have some talent working there. They just need a project that fits them I guess. Castlevania was about the worst match possible.

I mean Lords of Shadow killed the entire series, pretty much. Says a lot.
 
D

Demicore

Member
Agreed! It's one of my favorite games too. Beautiful graphics, not just technically but artistically too, mesmerizing soundtrack, levels and monsters brimming with imagination, fluid, snappy gameplay, and most of all a tragic hero, which is a pleasant change from some of the other action games of our era. Shame about the nonsensical story and final boss, but then I'm not sure I could come up with a coherent tale that involves all those crazy characters and environments.
 
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