• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Castlevania Lords Of Shadow Ultimate Edition |OT| Now at 60 FPS!

scitek

Member
I totally agree. I've loved the series since I was a kid. I see this as a great step forward if even this isn't the path it remains after LOS2.

The Castlevania series is one of the more versatile ones around. It's already been established that it's capable of consisting of more than one type of game, so I don't know why fans freak out.

More screens:

castlevanialosue2013-5hb5s.png


castlevanialosue2013-2kx0g.png
 
The Castlevania series is one of the more versatile ones around. It's already been established that it's capable of consisting of more than one type of game, so I don't know why fans freak out.

That's the beauty part of the series too imo, people just need to chill. :D
 

Parsnip

Member
I think the patch fixed the bug where some couldn't get to world map if you had played the demo before starting the full game.
 

Dascu

Member
Alright, finished it.

I had already watched a stream of this game back when it was first out on console, so I knew what to expect.

Taken on its own, this is a fairly good game, and I would recommend it. But it has its flaws and some areas or moments ought to have been left on the cutting floor.

Taken as a Castlevania game, its gameplay, combat and "platforming" is definitely not the way I would envisage a proper 3D translation of the 2D classics. It takes an awful lot of liberties with the story, even for a reboot, by drawing a lot of inspiration from other sources. I don't know why there is so much European folklore involved, and why only a third of the game is actually set in a Castlevania-like environment. I very much dislike how this works as an origin story.
Not the timeskip, I think that's great. But the involvement of Satan and Gabriel/Dracula being the one to fight him, more or less on God's side.
But most of all, it's ridiculous how this was claimed to be closer to the original, pre-Igarashi games than the Metroidvanias. It has much more in common with the latter than the former.

Either way, I'm interested in the sequel and Mirror of Fate, if that gets a PC release.
 
As a long time Castlevania fan who is playing this game on the PC for the first time, I am stunned at how derivative the first few chapters are. I feel like I'm playing a mesh of devil may cry, god of war and a dash of shadow of the colossus. I've read about how slow these first few chapters are, which I guess I can agree with, but does this game eventually come into its own?
 

Retro

Member
As a long time Castlevania fan who is playing this game on the PC for the first time, I am stunned at how derivative the first few chapters are. I feel like I'm playing a mesh of devil may cry, god of war and a dash of shadow of the colossus. I've read about how slow these first few chapters are, which I guess I can agree with, but does this game eventually come into its own?

After you beat the first Lord of Shadow, then the game really comes into it's own and that Castlevania vibe kicks in... hard.
 

No Love

Banned
Fuck, I gotta get this damn game to downsample. Runs fine at 1080p, but when I try to downsample from 2560x1440, 3200x1800 etc it just crashes once you exit the menu. I've found other people here on GAF having the same issue, even in the demo thread. New drivers didn't fix it, yet other people can downsample just fine.

Wtf :\
 

BPoole

Member
Fuck, I gotta get this damn game to downsample. Runs fine at 1080p, but when I try to downsample from 2560x1440, 3200x1800 etc it just crashes once you exit the menu. I've found other people here on GAF having the same issue, even in the demo thread. New drivers didn't fix it, yet other people can downsample just fine.

Wtf :
Forcing SSAA doesn't work for me either. Even with the in game AA and SweetFX applied, the game still looks too jaggy in some areas for my liking.
 

No Love

Banned
Forcing SSAA doesn't work for me either. Even with the in game AA and SweetFX applied, the game still looks too jaggy in some areas for my liking.

Ok, I figured out how to fix the downsampling error. I actually ended up having to use a cracked exe, for some reason the normal exe kept having an error. And no idea why a cracked one is less buggy. LOL

Anyways, try downsampling from 3200x1800. It makes a big difference. Looks great!
 

Aklamarth

Member
What's up with those shitty ultracompressed low res movies ? Transition between gameplay and movies is shocking (in a bad way).

Replaying the game on PC with my PS3 controller. Game still great.
 

Momentary

Banned
I totally agree. I've loved the series since I was a kid. I see this as a great step forward if even this isn't the path it remains after LOS2.

As a person playing Castlevania ever since my dad bought me Castlevania II in 1989 I agree also. The series kept thing fresh all the way up to SotN and then they just ran that style all the way into the ground. I loved the games, but it was getting off-putting that they didn't want to try something new. Don't get me wrong. Ecclesia was my favorite out of the handheld series. It's not like I thought the gameplay was horrible.

When I saw Iga's 3D Alucard at that 3D representation at TGS I was excited and upset at the same time. I was excited because I thought that it would be his chance to finally make a game with a fresh play style, but at the same time I was upset that it would turn out mediocre or bad like the other 3D games. I'm glad they handed the reigns off to someone else.

LoS, in my opinion, is definitely one of the best experiences I've had with the series since SotN. Definitely looking forward to playing LoS II when it's released next year. It looks VERY polished and something tells me with such a large cast of badass characters we'll get to play the games as some of the other Belmonts too. This game has been in development for a while now since the announcement. Let's hope that it's to put in some SotN or Norturne in the Moonlight(SS) level of unlocks and discovery in there.
 

No Love

Banned
People with a 680, can you keep 60fps at 2880x1620? What about 3200x1800?
Yes, you can. I have a GTX 760 oc'd to around GTX 680 performance and I run 3200x1800 at 60 fps locked. I think you could do 3840x2160 (4k) @ 60 fps locked. The game is super optimized
 

Bedlam

Member
... I don't know why there is so much European folklore involved...
Seriously? Have you played a Castlevania game before? If so, you may have encountered Medusas, Frankenstein's monster and, hell, Dracula!

Tapping into various European mythologies is a staple of the franchise - as opposed to that Anime stuff that unfortunately diluted the series on the DS.
 

Dascu

Member
Seriously? Have you played a Castlevania game before? If so, you may have encountered Medusas, Frankenstein's monster and, hell, Dracula!

Tapping into various European mythologies is a staple of the franchise - as opposed to that Anime stuff that unfortunately diluted the series on the DS.

The franchise is inspired by tons of mythologies, from many regions. But my point is rather, why is someone like Pan or Baba Yaga suddenly a rather notable side-character? None of the previous games have done anything like that. Mythological creatures were just enemies, never actual characters.

The structure of LoS' plot was very different than what came before it. The Castle being just a location instead of the prime one, the influx of Tolkien-esque generic goblins and trolls, the big role for existing mythology (Pan, Baba Yaga, Laura and the Knight, someone else at the end), etc. All these things struck me as odd.

The game just has so much not-Castlevania. Some namedrops to franchise characters can't change that fact.
 
People with a 680, can you keep 60fps at 2880x1620? What about 3200x1800?

I can keep a steady 60 at 2880x1620 and max settings with a GTX670, although keep in mind I'm overclocking my CPU by a decent amount. The only time so far where it has dropped(and this was to 50 for the duration) was the second titan fight.
 

Bedlam

Member
The franchise is inspired by tons of mythologies, from many regions. But my point is rather, why is someone like Pan or Baba Yaga suddenly a rather notable side-character? None of the previous games have done anything like that. Mythological creatures were just enemies, never actual characters.
From many European regions. And as far as mythological characters in past Castlevania games go, "Death" talked to you in SotN, for example. Dracula is a character as well. God forbid they continue and extend the formula by introducing something new (that also fit in very well, in my opinion ... especially Baba Yaga was perfect).

Pan became an "enemy" as well later on. It's really not that different.

The structure of LoS' plot was very different than what came before it. The Castle being just a location instead of the prime one, the influx of Tolkien-esque generic goblins and trolls, the big role for existing mythology (Pan, Baba Yaga, Laura and the Knight, someone else at the end), etc. All these things struck me as odd.
Go back and play SCIV and remind yourself how little time you spend in the actual castle. Most Classicvanias were like this, only since SotN the castle became the major/only location of the game (the AVGN even complained about this fact in his Castlevania video series). Also, the castle is definitely the location you spend the most time in in LoS.
 

zainetor

Banned
The franchise is inspired by tons of mythologies, from many regions. But my point is rather, why is someone like Pan or Baba Yaga suddenly a rather notable side-character? None of the previous games have done anything like that. Mythological creatures were just enemies, never actual characters.

The structure of LoS' plot was very different than what came before it. The Castle being just a location instead of the prime one, the influx of Tolkien-esque generic goblins and trolls, the big role for existing mythology (Pan, Baba Yaga, Laura and the Knight, someone else at the end), etc. All these things struck me as odd.

The game just has so much not-Castlevania. Some namedrops to franchise characters can't change that fact.

in fact, some people like to call it: god of war nordic mithology.
 

Dascu

Member
Well, "Death" talked to you in SotN, for example. Dracula is a character as well. God forbid they continue and extend the formula by introducing something new (that also fit in very well, in my opinion ... especially Baba Yaga was perfect).

Pan became an "enemy" as well later on. It's really not that different.
It's not necessarily bad, it's just that the game had such a high ratio of new/"extended" material, that the Castlevania aspect (exploring a castle, fighting bats and skeletons, fighting Dracula at the end), was tone-downed to almost not present at all.


Go back an play SCIV and remind yourself how little time you spend in the actual castle. Most Classicvanias were like this, only since SotN the castle became the major/only location of the game (the AVGN even complained about this fact in his Castlevania video series).
But all of them work towards the Castle as the culmination of your journey. Unlike this one...

This aspect just rubbed me the wrong way, I suppose. And note that I'm not taking this against the quality of the game(play). Just that as a franchise entry, and even as reboot it's an odd adaptation of the formula.
 
I won't weigh in on "is it Castlevania or not" because I neither care nor know, I only ever dabbled with SoTN and OoE on and off before LoS. As a huge fan of Mike Mignola (the creator of hellboy) though, and Guillermo Del Toro (not his hellboy movies though funnily enough), this game hits so many buttons for me. I love it on its own merits. Maybe it's not Castlevania, but I'd like to think fans would be happy to say it fits under the Castlevania umbrella in addition to everything else that's went before, instead of always getting into the it is or isn't. Hell, I'm sure SoTN wasn't "Castlevania" when it came out; it was Metroid.

*insert "why not both" gif*
 

Glass Rebel

Member
Finished the game with all collectibles at Normal (whatever its called) difficulty. I played it on console around release but only up to
Carmilla
but never finished it until now.

As expected, I really enjoyed it even the second time around. Low-points were the first chapter, especially the Dead Bog, one area in Chapter 9
the Music Box
and the DLC chapters. Especially [DLC Spoiler]
The Forgotten One. Worst boss in the entire game. Don't make me hit high targets in a game where you don't have perfect aerial control.
After you meet Pan it's mostly good except for a few minor parts that were made unnecessarily difficult because of the controls. And I also noticed that I had already played the best part
Carmilla's castle
before. The last third was still enjoyable but not as good, both in terms of leveldesign and atmosphere.

I could pick on many minor flaws that drag it down a bit but it was overall a pretty good game and I'm looking forward to LoS2.
 
I beat the game, I really enjoyed it but I need an explanation on the ending.

How exactly is Gabriel, Dracula? I understand he must be immortal since he came back to life after Zabek(sp?) killed him. And he was depressed that he couldn't die and be with Marie again, so he locked himself in that castle for hundreds of years, But how does that turn him into a vampire?
 

Glass Rebel

Member
I beat the game, I really enjoyed it but I need an explanation on the ending.

How exactly is Gabriel, Dracula? I understand he must be immortal since he came back to life after Zabek(sp?) killed him. And he was depressed that he couldn't die and be with Marie again, so he locked himself in that castle for hundreds of years, But how does that turn him into a vampire?

Did you play chapter 13 and 14?
drinking Laura's blood has made him a vampire
 

JBourne

maybe tomorrow it rains
I can keep a steady 60 at 2880x1620 and max settings with a GTX670, although keep in mind I'm overclocking my CPU by a decent amount. The only time so far where it has dropped(and this was to 50 for the duration) was the second titan fight.

We have just about the same setup, except I'm not overclocking my CPU at all. I'm playing at the exact same settings with my only framerate drops being a couple random dips to 54 during the rainy opening and the ice titan.
 

Tizoc

Member
The Castlevania series is one of the more versatile ones around. It's already been established that it's capable of consisting of more than one type of game, so I don't know why fans freak out.

There's a Gametrailer retrospective on the Castlevania series which notes that the series managed to stay around so long mainly by using similar concepts to other games-
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/v939gm/gt-retrospectives-castlevania-retrospective--part-i
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-ep...ospectives-castlevania-retrospective--part-ii
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-ep...spectives-castlevania-retrospective--part-iii
 

cripterion

Member
Got this game cause heard it was quite good on GAF.

Played around for a bit, story so far is boring imo, arrived at the Ice section (so I guess it's still fairly early game), clunky boss fight mechanics, drab graphics, I haven't got the incentive to go on.

For a bit of comparison, for the short time I played Darksiders 2, I had a much more fun and felt the game had a more fluid feel to it. This just feels old somehow, really not quite what I was expecting.
 

Maedhros

Member
Seriously? Have you played a Castlevania game before? If so, you may have encountered Medusas, Frankenstein's monster and, hell, Dracula!

Tapping into various European mythologies is a staple of the franchise - as opposed to that Anime stuff that unfortunately diluted the series on the DS.

Man... chill out. Holy shit, you can't see a criticism to this game without having to respond and try to convince everyone that LoS is the best game in the world.
 
Man it's nice to be playing this on PC. I finally got the downsampling working on AMD for this game. I'm playing on an i5/7870 Tahiti Le and running the game at 1720x1530. It's really jarring how bad the cutscene iq looks compared to gameplay.
 
Hot damn I can't wait to play this in 1080p glory. Good excuse to do it again. Was a great game the first time. One of my fav's of the gen.
 

TGMIII

Member
Got this game cause heard it was quite good on GAF.

Played around for a bit, story so far is boring imo, arrived at the Ice section (so I guess it's still fairly early game), clunky boss fight mechanics, drab graphics, I haven't got the incentive to go on.

For a bit of comparison, for the short time I played Darksiders 2, I had a much more fun and felt the game had a more fluid feel to it. This just feels old somehow, really not quite what I was expecting.

The combat in DS2 is miles better and both games have pacing issues. LoS gets into it's stride after the first 2 chapters where as DS2 started to drag on towards the end.

If it's mainly the combat that's putting you off in LoS, don't expect it to get much better. The environments get progressively better however.
 

cripterion

Member
The combat in DS2 is miles better and both games have pacing issues. LoS gets into it's stride after the first 2 chapters where as DS2 started to drag on towards the end.

If it's mainly the combat that's putting you off in LoS, don't expect it to get much better. The environments get progressively better however.

Yeah the environments are well done but levels are really short (from the little I've seen so far). As for the combat, I dunno, I guess I was expecting something more like DMC as some people compared it to that.
I really like the 2D Castelvanias for the record, remember playing through the ones on NES and SuperNES when I was younger but as of yet this isn't doing it for me.
 

poopninjamvc3mk

I sucked six dicks to get this tag.
Hangs between 30- 50FPS on my work laptop with Intel HD 4000 at 720p so far. And here I was thinking this game was going to be demanding but in reality it runs much better than the console versions. Hopefully this game gets better like you guys said it would as it's meh these first couple of chapters. I'm at least hoping this game is better than DmC at the very least which was like a 7.0 imo.
 

Momentary

Banned
I hate how enemies' hit boxes are so wonky. They make contact sometimes on the start-up frames of a move. It's ridiculous since I play fighting games to see this crap. It's still a pretty awesome game. Just hit Chapter 4 and it started picking up. Been playing on Knight difficulty and farming for experience in certain stages, so it's taking me a while to advance.
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
I beat the game, I really enjoyed it but I need an explanation on the ending.

How exactly is Gabriel, Dracula? I understand he must be immortal since he came back to life after Zabek(sp?) killed him. And he was depressed that he couldn't die and be with Marie again, so he locked himself in that castle for hundreds of years, But how does that turn him into a vampire?

Play the DLC
 

Double D

Member
This game made me finally try downsampling. Not sure why I never did this before. Have it running perfectly at 2560x1600 and it looks great.
 

scitek

Member
Got this game cause heard it was quite good on GAF.

Played around for a bit, story so far is boring imo, arrived at the Ice section (so I guess it's still fairly early game), clunky boss fight mechanics, drab graphics, I haven't got the incentive to go on.

For a bit of comparison, for the short time I played Darksiders 2, I had a much more fun and felt the game had a more fluid feel to it. This just feels old somehow, really not quite what I was expecting.
Paying for it isn't incentive to go on? It's not like you can sell it or return it.
 
Top Bottom