Alright so I had a great time with this when I played it on release but I never got around to playing the two DLC's so I figured screw it, I'll pick up this fucker on steam with the two DLC's and go through it all over again in anticipation for LoS2!

Well first things first, the PC version is absolutely incredible even playing it with the keyboard controls is pretty solid, or at least more solid than WASD + IJKL has any right to be. It's visually stunning, runs as smooth as a smooth thing and on top of that it loads quickly! So after setting my keybinds to perfections I started my adventure on the Warrior difficulty and made it through the tutorial with no hitch. After that is where my memories of all the faults I had with this game started creeping back to me.

This game has an incredible wealth of combat mechanics. It has a perfect block system, a solid dodge system, two magic stances that accomplish different things, a focus meter that rewards you for not getting hit during combat, a host of items that let you sprint or super punch, four sub weapons and a ton of abilities that you can play with that help you manage crowds or deal massive damage. Now that sounds like a lot of shit right? Well you're not wrong the game has a ton of shit, but the implementation for it instead of making it feel like you have a ton of options just makes it feel like you have a ton of bloat.

For example, the perfect parry in this game leads to counter attacks that do a lot of damage, all you have to do it hit block the frame that you get hit (game is a bit lenient on this though so it's more like 4-5 frames) that sounds like a fun mechanic right, I mean metal gear rising has that and that was fun! Well it's not very functional outside of boss fights because your average heavy mook telegraphs his unblockable and his blockable attack the exact same way with the exception that one glows close to impact and the other does not. Now this isn't really that bad because you can learn their patterns and figure out how to bait their blockable attack, the problem with this is that it's completely unnecessary. Because countering only gives about a 20% damage boost and a full focus bar so you're better off rolling away and using the heavy combo on mooks from a distance because your attacks come from a whip which has huge range!

This is one huge gripe I have with the game that I hope they fix in the sequel, give me purpose for using your mechanics don't just assume I'll try and use them, make me want to integrate this stuff into my gameplay. If I can figure out how to circumvent core combat mechanics for the bulk of the game what's the point of making them core combat mechanics? Also once you unlock the grab with the whip (which lets you pull a smaller enemy to you and finish it off with a single QTE) you realize that entire animation gives you invincibility frames which further negates the games mechanics, hilariously enough by chapter 4 I found myself looking for an enemy to grab as a defensive mechanics more than I found myself relying on the actual systems the game has to offer.

Speaking of other issues the game has a frustratingly long ramp up time, the game doesn't really get goign until after Chapter 3 which is after you kill your first lord of shadow. The first 2 chapters are too long and only really serve to get you your full armaments so you can continue the rest of the game, they don't really establish THAT much plot at least not as much as it forces you to play through some of the most boring levels I've seen in a castlevania game. "The lost city of Agharta" is a phrase that should make you recoil in regret. I hate that portion of this game with a passion, it's just disjointed ruins that doesn't really further the storyline at all. You know what actually? I would hazard a guess that most of the poor reception the game got was due to these chapters. In fact I have a theory, my theory is that if you make it past chapter 4 you are 70% more likely to finish the game but if you stop before that you are pretty much guaranteed to never pick this game back up, that's how poor these early chapters are.

EDIT: http://steamcommunity.com/stats/234080/achievements if you look at the steam achievements for this game I was kinda close, 60% of the people that finished chapter 4 went on to finish the game. (it ends at Satan the other two are DLC chapters)

Honestly my final fault with this game is that the large bosses all feel extremely cumbersome and not particularly fun or satisfying to fight, especially the flying serpent thing in chapter 11. However that's where my major disagreements with the game end.

No just kidding I have one more thing to bitch about: The fucking chupacabra that steals all your powers and equipment and then you get to play hot or cold for 10 minutes before you can progress. When I say this is pointless I want you to understand that I mean these sections add literally nothing to the game besides frustration and a sense of wasting your own time. The first time it is encountered it happens right before the final door of the area, a simple go back and find the key to open this would have sufficed but no this little shit steals everything. Every follow up encounter is that but with a twist, it's stupid and I hate it because it feels like they're padding out an area for the sake of padding it out, it doesn't really teach me anything meaningful.

You're probably thinking "but you hated the bulk of the gameplay why on earth do you enjoy this game Mr. ghost?" well I would have to tell you that honestly the game feels good, it feels great to hit stuff and to rip things to shreds, and pulling off counter attacks against a boss feels incredible, the zoom in with the particle effects, slow mo and the screenshake are just an insane sensation overload of FUCK YES THIS IS AN AWESOME THING I DID!

Also the scenery oh my god the scenery, there is one moment in chapter 4 I have seared into my mind and that's the first time you see the vampire's castle in the background as you're heading into the village.

Click to expand...

This is an awful image but it's the only one I could find of the moment I'm thinking about. Just look at that background scenery, the way the focus is on the castle, how huge it is, how uninviting it looks, the whole thing just leaves you with a looming sense of "oh boy this is gonna get bumpy". Also can we just take a moment to fully appreciate how fantastic the UI design is for this game? It's really clean and all the most important information is communicated to you right there. The enemy and character design is just top notch as well, Carmilla's design is so fantastically Gothic while at the same time feeling like it has its own original flair about it. The voice acting too! My god I don't skip cutscenes just to hear them speak, I honestly could care less about what they're saying (though the story is pretty solid) but just hearing all the characters speak is fantastic.

Level art is also pretty fantastic, there isn't that much I can say for design since most of it is corridors connected by puzzles. You have a surprising amount of variaty with levels as well, you've got swamps, ancient ruins, a ghostly desert thing, a castle and all the things you might find within one, a gothic tower, snowy areas, a medieval looking village, and more.

TL;DR Honestly this is a great game soured by almost over ambition. The thing about this game's combat is that I could trash it to hell and back but in the end it's still extremely enjoyable because it feels really good. The game tried to do too much with its combat and didn't quite account for how everything would actually weave together they just assumed that it would but they didn't really consider if it would be worth doing so, if that makes sense.

But seriously the PC port of this game is really well done!

EDIT: JESUS THIS TURNED OUT WAY LONGER THAN I THOUGHT

You said it very well.

The biggest issue is that the game doesn't get moving until chapters 3-4.

The first 2 chapters go on waaaaaay too long and a lot of people I know quit playing early on.

I really enjoyed Lords of Shadow and share a lot of your feelings about the game.

It's not the greatest combat system, and there were some janky moments in the game, but I'll tell anyone who will listen how much I liked it.

I loved the environments, I loved the voice acting, and when playing it I felt really engrossed in it - like I was part of the lore and invested in the outcome.

I'm excited for Lords of Shadow 2. As of right now it's the sole reason I'm leaving my XBox 360 plugged in.

Also... that ending!

It's pretty funny, I actually agree with everything you said, even the specific moment in chapter 4 which was just really cool. I will add one thing though: I don't care for the overabundance of QTEs. Pretty cool game though, still working on finishing up my first playthrough before the sequel comes out.

Edit: I should mention that the first time I rented the game was on 360 back when the game first came out and I ragequit the game on chapter 2. I'm currently playing the PC port as well.

I played through it for the first time on PC recently as well and as my first "character action" game I must say I fucking loved it - mostly. Had I played Devil May Cry or God of War I may have found it tiresome and I had many of the same problems you had with it.

1) The shadow of the colossus clone boss fights were too bloated for their own good.
2) I wanted to murder the chupacabra
3) Some of the puzzles were annoying
4) Some of the platforming was annoying

Everything else was brilliant though. Loved the story, the combat and you are right this game is beautiful. I screenshotted the fuck out of it:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/realit...westfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=imagewall

LevityNYC said:

The first 2 chapters go on waaaaaay too long and a lot of people I know quit playing early on.

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They're so looonnnnnnng especially that swamp part early on, I still remember my first play through I knew something was up when after the first tutorial encounter you get pushed into a chase sequence in which you get knocked off your horse every 10 seconds.

Dandalf said:

It's not the greatest combat system, and there was some jank in the game

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It's an earnest attempt at good combat but it is really missing a few basic things like auto targetting on sub weapons being a bit better and there really feels like there is skill bloat which makes it feel very "un-elegant" so to say.

princemarth23 said:

I don't care for the overabundance of QTEs

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You know I actually appreciated that you could respond to the QTE's with any face button press not a specific one, it made them feel less QTEish and more I GOTTA REACT NOW PUSH SOMETHING!!!

I stopped playing at the ice boss. Most uninspired and boring game I played this past generation.

Duxxy3 said:

I stopped playing at the ice boss. Most uninspired and boring game I played this past generation.

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So many people did.

I'm not a big fan of games that "get way better after a certain point"

However this one is worth sticking with. It's right after that "the game gets really good"

Duxxy3 said:

I stopped playing at the ice boss. Most uninspired and boring game I played this past generation.

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I honestly don't even blame you, I was ready to stop there as well. The first 4 acts of the game which take about 4-5ish hours to complete on a first run are some of the most painful things to play through. The game does pick up but you kinda have to want to push through it.

It's got good core mechanics but it needs to tighten up the pacing, cut out the fat, all the long boring sequences, concentrate on the good boss fights, have less grindy minion fights, fixup some of the wonky platforming, cut out some of the boring puzzles, have more Prince of Persia style acrobatics, and make the story less terrible. Even Patrick Stewart sounded bored while reading his lines, and the guy loves geek stuff.

There is, ostensibly, backtracking, but I can't see wanting to play it twice.

Duxxy3 said:

I stopped playing at the ice boss. Most uninspired and boring game I played this past generation.

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it really never got much better for me.

i liked the design of the castle when you actually got there. very short lived though.

it most certainly get's better after the ice boss. The vampire castle levels nailed the atmosphere and the QTE to finish them off by way of staking them was a QTE I thought actually enhanced the fight.

I loved the grotesque looking vampire designs in this

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Not Spaceghost said:

You know I actually appreciated that you could respond to the QTE's with any face button press not a specific one, it made them feel less QTEish and more I GOTTA REACT NOW PUSH SOMETHING!!!

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Yeah I do agree with you on that. I just felt like they happened too often and I'm not a big fan of mashing buttons either, which there was a lot of.

also, once you get a bit further into the story and find out who the lords of shadow are things get pretty interesting.

I forgot about the QTE. Wouldn't hurt to just get rid of them, imo. The boss fights were already fun without adding something that is at best unnecessary and at worst an irritation, especially when it makes you replay a sequence of a fight.

Also forgot about the ridiculous character design.

I'd better stop trying to remember Lords of Shadows, tbqh.

*ejeX topiX*

That's a better and more complete list of grievances than my "His head looks too small" complaint.

I agree though, it's a great game with a lot of room for improvement.

Is the DLC worth it? I really enjoyed the game but I'm not sure if the DLC adds enough gameplay/story.

I stopped somewhere through the vampire castle, the game just doesn't tickle the right places. It reminded me of Darksiders 2 really, a number of elements in the game, but they aren't cohesive and none turn out to be "good".

FunkyPajamas said:

Is the DLC worth it? I really enjoyed the game but I'm not sure if the DLC adds enough gameplay/story.

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If you watched the after the credits scene it explains:

The combat doesn't ever really have a "ah yeah now things are clicking" moment that all character action games should have therefore the whole game can just feel really frustrating to play and it's definitely one of those games that if you put down you won't ever touch again. But if you make it through it just once you'll look back and think of it rather fondly, it tries to do awesome stuff but kinda screws up and it sorta kinda can't see what it's doing right so it drowns itself in bloat.

Really all the games faults for me stem from the janky combat. It's just so disjointed and a lot of the mechanics really felt like they came from a white board titled "COOL SHIT WE COULD ADD" but nothing felt like it had purpose.

The problem with the QTE's in the game were that if you failed them you took MASSIVE DAMAGE or died instantly. I remember the first time I fought the troll after getting the hook upgrade in chapter 1 I basically no damaged him but failed the QTE to finish it and he just 1 shot me.

That really has the potential to sour a lot of peoples opinion of a game.

I'm playing it right now on hard, on the final boss actually.

Pretty much gave no fucks about the story, I'd listened and read everything but I just don't care. I'm playing for the gameplay, which is decent. Puzzles can be fun too.

I stopped just after the swamp. I couldn't carry on. As a fan of the series I wanted so badly to like it, but I just didn't have fun at any point of the experience. That image of the castle appearing out of the distance is spectacular though.

I'm currently playing this and I'm glad for this thread. I'm in the third chapter and I wasn't really feeling it. Your post has convinced me to keep going.
I agree about the perfect block. The telegraphs are often vague enough to make me just dodge everything.

RealityExists said:

If you watched the after the credits scene it explains:

Spoiler

How Gabriel becomes Dracula

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Yeah, I watched it. So, recommended, both of them? Should they be played in a specific order?

-MD- said:

I'm playing it right now on hard, on the final boss actually.

Pretty much gave no fucks about the story, I'd listened and read everything but I just don't care. I'm playing for the gameplay, which is decent. Puzzles can be fun too.

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That final boss was pretty hype but kind of a pain in the ass, the giant skeleton dracolich thing before that boss was goddamn terrible though. I liked the puzzles in general, they weren't cryptic but you had to sorta sit down and figure them out. It was a nice break away from the combat.

-Digits- said:

I'm currently playing this and I'm glad for this thread. I'm in the third chapter and I wasn't really feeling it. Your post has convinced me to keep going

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Do it man! hopefully you won't regret it haha.

As a fan of action games im glad you actually bothered to talk about the combat/mechanics. Generally when I hear praise regarding /certain/ action games on gaf people won't stop talking about how much they love a games level design, or story, or some shit..I care about combat dude...and Im glad you do as well, anyways I might check this game out on PC, how many difficulties does it have? is hard unlocked from the start?

CrackPebbles said:

As a fan of action games im glad you actually bothered to talk about the combat/mechanics. Generally when I hear praise regarding /certain/ action games on gaf people won't stop talking about how much they love a games level design, or story, or some shit..I care about combat dude...and Im glad you do as well, anyways I might check this game out on PC, how many difficulties does it have? is hard unlocked from the start?

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Haha thanks dude, combo heavy action titles are my favorite so combat is always the priority for me, but to answer your question it has 4 difficulties, easy (squire), medium (Warrior), hard (Knight) and very hard (Paladin) but only Paladin needs to be unlocked. I'd honestly recommend Warrior until you feel comfortable with the game because like I've said combat is a bit hit or miss.

Okay I hate to bump my own thread but I just finished the final DLC chapter and that boss was literally the most un-fun, most poorly designed fight I've had the displeasure of playing through.

What a shame that those who bought the PC version will see this as the games true finale when instead it should just be the glorious Satan boss fight. This boss, the forgotten one is just the most abhorrent design I've ever seen.

To start with, there is minimal indication that you're about to fight him since there is no health fountain or magic fountain before you enter his room and the area right before it has you fighting like 3 or so fiery skeleton knights, which are pretty rough. So I basically walked into the boss room looking like this -

Click to expand...

Well no problem I'll just build focus by dodging and counter attacking everything just like I've done for every other boss and gain some light magic to heal myself. EXCEPT NO THIS BOSS IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A COMBO CHAIN OFF SINCE HIS WEAK SPOTS ALL REQUIRES YOU TO BE AIRBORNE TO HIT! Gabriel Belmont has almost no functional control in the air besides continuing to attack and a double jump, he has a ground slam attack but it has long wind up. To further compound this issue the bosses ground stomps hit you while you're airborne, and his recovery time between attacks is extremely quick. Essentially you're fighting a hyper aggressive monster who is only possible to hit when you're at your least mobile and most vulnerable since you can't block any of his attacks period, least of all while airborne. For nearly three hours I slaved away learning patterns.

It's a multi phase boss fight and each phase he gets faster and more aggressive, however thankfully there are check points. Which means I get to respawn with half my health each time I make it to the next phase, his attacks hit hard too so you'll probably die shortly after each check point. You can only take ~5 hits depending on what hits you before you have to reload.

Basically what makes this boss awful is that you don't have to apply ANY actual game knowledge to find a winning strategy, the focus regeneration system becomes useless because actually combing him is a waste of time and effort, you don't have the window to perform any good air combos and you cannot hit him with ground attacks period.

Secondly, your subweapons? All of them useless, knives don't track well enough to hit him, holy water is ground based damage, fairies do nothing, and the huge damage crystal doesn't hurt bosses.

Thirdly, his attacks aren't intuitive to dodge. All his ground stomp attacks hit you while in the air, and his dive bomb attack is only dodgable if you have a running start, so if you are mid attack or mid jump while he begins it you won't have enough time to active cyclone boots therefore you get hit.

Fourth, it is unusually and unnecessarily punishing. If you get caught mid air in a combo and he starts revving up either his spike thrust into the ground or and ground stomp attack you're hosed. Your best course of action is just own up to your mistake and keep combing as long as you can because even if you stop now you're still going to get hit. Some of his attacks are only avoidable if you're ready to dodge them 2 seconds before they start to happen.

I guess you could say that the boss is extremely demanding, which it is however it's not a fun challenge. You don't feel satisfactory when you finish it, because your strategy for beating this boss will actually just be you waiting for him to do his double sword attack so you can get 4-5 hits in, any more and then you get hit.

If you're curious as to what 1 hour of studying his attacks on the final phase looks like you can watch my final attempt here. The actual fight ends before 2 minutes the rest of it is just the final cutscene...which is terrible by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM20qk7ArF8

SERIOUSLY SCREW YOU FORGOTTEN ONE! SCREW YOU FOREVER!

I am glad that this DLC came free with the game because if I had to pay money to buy this chapter on its own I would be beyond pissed. The DLC's themselves aren't even that long, if you clear this boss without dying it's only a 5 minute fight or so. And the rest of the chapter is just a stupid platforming section that lasts maybe 15-20 minutes?

Disappointment is all I can say.

At least the first DLC chapter was decent, but literally nothing good came out of this one.

Good lord was the ice golem fight irritating as shit D:

Im still trying to make my way through the whole game in prep for the 2nd one. Though some of the games design drives me a little insane.

Not Spaceghost said:

Okay I hate to bump my own thread but I just finished the final DLC chapter and that boss was literally the most un-fun, most poorly designed fight I've had the displeasure of playing through.

What a shame that those who bought the PC version will see this as the games true finale when instead it should just be the glorious Satan boss fight. This boss, the forgotten one is just the most abhorrent design I've ever seen.

To start with, there is minimal indication that you're about to fight him since there is no health fountain or magic fountain before you enter his room and the area right before it has you fighting like 3 or so fiery skeleton knights, which are pretty rough. So I basically walked into the boss room looking like this -



Well no problem I'll just build focus by dodging and counter attacking everything just like I've done for every other boss and gain some light magic to heal myself. EXCEPT NO THIS BOSS IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A COMBO CHAIN OFF SINCE HIS WEAK SPOTS ALL REQUIRES YOU TO BE AIRBORNE TO HIT! Gabriel Belmont has almost no functional control in the air besides continuing to attack and a double jump, he has a ground slam attack but it has long wind up. To further compound this issue the bosses ground stomps hit you while you're airborne, and his recovery time between attacks is extremely quick. Essentially you're fighting a hyper aggressive monster who is only possible to hit when you're at your least mobile and most vulnerable since you can't block any of his attacks period, least of all while airborne. For nearly three hours I slaved away learning patterns.

It's a multi phase boss fight and each phase he gets faster and more aggressive, however thankfully there are check points. Which means I get to respawn with half my health each time I make it to the next phase, his attacks hit hard too so you'll probably die shortly after each check point. You can only take ~5 hits depending on what hits you before you have to reload.

Basically what makes this boss awful is that you don't have to apply ANY actual game knowledge to find a winning strategy, the focus regeneration system becomes useless because actually combing him is a waste of time and effort, you don't have the window to perform any good air combos and you cannot hit him with ground attacks period.

Secondly, your subweapons? All of them useless, knives don't track well enough to hit him, holy water is ground based damage, fairies do nothing, and the huge damage crystal doesn't hurt bosses.

Thirdly, his attacks aren't intuitive to dodge. All his ground stomp attacks hit you while in the air, and his dive bomb attack is only dodgable if you have a running start, so if you are mid attack or mid jump while he begins it you won't have enough time to active cyclone boots therefore you get hit.

Fourth, it is unusually and unnecessarily punishing. If you get caught mid air in a combo and he starts revving up either his spike thrust into the ground or and ground stomp attack you're hosed. Your best course of action is just own up to your mistake and keep combing as long as you can because even if you stop now you're still going to get hit. Some of his attacks are only avoidable if you're ready to dodge them 2 seconds before they start to happen.

I guess you could say that the boss is extremely demanding, which it is however it's not a fun challenge. You don't feel satisfactory when you finish it, because your strategy for beating this boss will actually just be you waiting for him to do his double sword attack so you can get 4-5 hits in, any more and then you get hit.

If you're curious as to what 1 hour of studying his attacks on the final phase looks like you can watch my final attempt here. The actual fight ends before 2 minutes the rest of it is just the final cutscene...which is terrible by the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM20qk7ArF8

SERIOUSLY SCREW YOU FORGOTTEN ONE! SCREW YOU FOREVER!

I am glad that this DLC came free with the game because if I had to pay money to buy this chapter on its own I would be beyond pissed. The DLC's themselves aren't even that long, if you clear this boss without dying it's only a 5 minute fight or so. And the rest of the chapter is just a stupid platforming section that lasts maybe 15-20 minutes?

Disappointment is all I can say.

At least the first DLC chapter was decent, but literally nothing good came out of this one.

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I like to pretend the dlc never existed. Practically ruins the game for me. But then I forget it, and it becomes one of my favorites

Yeah the first 2 chapters are a major bummer. It took me probably a good week-2 weeks to get past that part because I just had no desire to play. Luckily, I had nothing else to play at the time so I kinda forced my way through it, and ended up really really loving this game.

Makes me sad to think that if I had played this game during a busier gaming period, I almost certainly would have dropped it based on that terrible beginning.

Totally agree with you OP, especially about the slow start. It felt like a different game, almost like kingdoms of alamaur or something, just way too colorful and boring. Once the vampires and ghouls come in, that's where shit starts locking down. However, same sort of problem occurs after the vampire lord is dead, all the dead titans land and that hell stuff gave me the same kinda rubs as the beginning. The castle was just so perfect and so castlevania, like you said great art and character design, especially the evil butcher.

I'm right at the point you mentioned in the OP: just finished the first two chapters, questioning whether I really want to play any more of it. So it does get better? Like, noticeably?

Because, well, I don't exactly hate it now, but those Titan bossfights were so unbelievably horrible that I don't know if I could bear doing another one. Gabriel's platforming and climbing controls are really unresponsive, so most of the time you can see a hand coming to swat at you while you're stabbing at a weakpoint but you can't do anything about it quickly enough, and then before you know it you've fallen off again and you have to wait forever for the stupid thing to initiate the attack that lets you get back on him. I swear I was waiting actual minutes for the second Titan to throw rocks at me. MINUTES! In a boss fight! Just standing there, jogging around so random falling debris doesn't hit me, screaming at this fucking thing to fucking throw a FUCKING ROCK so I can kill it. When I finally got to the end of the second fight I set my controller down and sat back in my chair exhausted, only to miss a QTE that I wasn't ready for, fall off the thing again and have to wait for another fucking rock throw all over again. I honestly wanted to cry.

So, I guess what I'm asking is, does it ever get that awful again? It can't, right?

Yeah, DLC seems weak. Ended up just youtubing the cutscenes.

matrix-cat said:

I'm right at the point you mentioned in the OP: just finished the first two chapters, questioning whether I really want to play any more of it. So it does get better? Like, noticeably?

Because, well, I don't exactly hate it now, but those Titan bossfights were so unbelievably horrible that I don't know if I could bear doing another one. Gabriel's platforming and climbing controls are really unresponsive, so most of the time you can see a hand coming to swat at you while you're stabbing at a weakpoint but you can't do anything about it quickly enough, and then before you know it you've fallen off again and you have to wait forever for the stupid thing to initiate the attack that lets you get back on him. I swear I was waiting actual minutes for the second Titan to throw rocks at me. MINUTES! In a boss fight! Just standing there, jogging around so random falling debris doesn't hit me, screaming at this fucking thing to fucking throw a FUCKING ROCK so I can kill it. When I finally got to the end of the second fight I set my controller down and sat back in my chair exhausted, only to miss a QTE that I wasn't ready for, fall off the thing again and have to wait for another fucking rock throw all over again. I honestly wanted to cry.

So, I guess what I'm asking is, does it ever get that awful again? It can't, right?

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Nah, not until the final boss fights anyway. Two in particular that are just so boring and frustrating.

Gorgeous game, but I didn't like the camera. For an action/adventure game, I thought God of War always had the camera in the perfect place/perfect angle, but I felt LOS struggled with this. I hope it's better in the sequel.

I completely agree with OP. There's a good game in here by a talented team, but there's too many rough edges to call it a masterpiece (or even a "great" game IMO). The combat system has a lot of moves, but they don't cohere in a meaningful way that really clicks for me. And I love perfect block/parry systems but fucking hate it in LoS. You can't see what the enemies are doing because the tells are so poor. Legibility is bad all around, really. I hope they seriously improved that aspect of LoS2 because based on videos so far it looks like they just added the Blade of Olympus and the Cestus to the arsenal and called it a day.

At least the new camera will mean the levels aren't disorienting and disjointed feeling.

Just finished this for the first time, actually.

Honestly, I would rather have just watched the cinematics on Youtube. The game overstays its welcome by leaps and bounds. The story is great! It's the driving force of me completing the game. It certainly wasn't the combat or level design.

How many times do you have to take away my powers before you decide I'm suitably 'respectful' of my strength? When there's no change in the actual content, I don't fear the coming combat challenge because it's tuned for my lack of power. The chupacabra were awful.

The Brotherhood notes were terribly written, a complete waste of an opportunity for world building. Disguised tutorials, speaking in game terms and years late Portal jokes. Rad.

As I said, best part of the game is the plot. The DLC actually drew me in pretty well, until the Forgotten One fight (As detailed earlier in this thread.). Christ, that fight....

I'm coming down hard but I played it to the end and plan on trying the sequel. There was the spine of a great story there, I'm happy to see where they go next. But pleeease...it doesn't need to be 25 hours of jumping puzzles.

Hopefully the sequel is the game we all anticipate it to be Lords 1 has rough edges and terrible 3 first chapters, but it had all the kind of good foundations needed for a great series.

The design of this game is one of the reasons I want to see more AA/AAA games from around the world. We've got Northern/Eastern Europe, USA/Canada, and Japan as standard. Mercury Steam is from Spain and it has it's own unique style that is not commonly seen.

So glad you posted that rant about the DLC boss, OP. Hated that fight too, almost made me rage-quit, but I was so close to the end that I just had to suck it up and try and try again. Thankfully there was no stupid-ass QTE after that one part, because if I had failed it and had to redo the whole fight, I think I would have thrown my controller on my monitor in rage. xD Whoever said the QTEs enhanced the combat.... I fucking beg to differ. Nothing is more frustrating than finally defeating a boss only to have to redo it all over because you mistimed an arbitrary button prompt (the worst offender was the fight against Pan which was lightning quick) or because you relaxed your grip on the controller because you thought it was gonna be a cut scene. Ugh.

Airborne combat is pretty damn mediocre and they based the whole fight against it, and as you said, sub-weapons are useless, focus is not workable, etc. Just terrible design overall. Oh yeah, another frustrating part was that I did have some light magic, but I couldn't use it to recover some health, because I had stupidly bought one of the skills that made some AOE light-magic attack on double-jumps (which, of course, did no damage to the boss) which wasted it all. I could heal by activating it in mid-air but it wasn't practical because you couldn't really stay in the air so long.

And the comic-book style cut scenes were just awkward and unworthy of the game's otherwise high budget. It's a shame that this is the "bridge" between the main game's story, and its WTF post-credits ending. We all want to know how Gabriel became Dracula, and it's so anti-climatic. Pretty disappointing.

Rant aside, I otherwise enjoyed most of the DLC. Playing as Laura was kind of neat, and I thought it had the best puzzles of the entire game by far. (Though I wish Laura would shut up, during one of the puzzles she blurted out part of the solution, completely unsolicited... -_-)

This thread made me realize that I need to finish LoS 1. I actually enjoyed chapter 2 unlike everyone in this world, lol. Thing is, I think the first two chapters are LoS the original game, then some part midway it became castlevania. The two first stages may have been what LoS is. All speculation here, so this is 100% bullshit.

LoS2 already is a ton of fun from the demo I played, but I still need to finish this first game and MoF to properly move over to the next game.

I´m currently playing it and i kinda enjoy it, but the boss fights are kinda meh and i highly dislike the level design.

Admiral Snackbar said:

The story is great! It's the driving force of me completing the game. It certainly wasn't the combat or level design.

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May I ask what you found compelling about the story? To me, it started off okay but quickly devolved into absolute garbage by the final boss. Patrick Stewart's narration was extremely awkward as well - not only in delivery, but also in how it absolutely failed to match what was happening in-game. The terrible hitboxes are still my #1 complaint with the game, but the story is #2.

(On the other hand, the vistas were amazing. Some really good art direction there.)

Oh yeah, wanted to ask, how is the story in this game in general? I find the idea of the first Belmont becoming Dracula very interesting, especially if we see his point of view as he slowly devolves into becoming Dracula. I am still in the early part of the game, so I have no idea how they deliver this, the premise on the other hand sounds amazing.

My only real problem with the game so far, aside from the "me too" golem boss I just fought, is the writing, which is kinda amateurish. Makes me sorta sad that a guy who did a one man version of King Lear had to narrate this stuff into a microphone.

But I love the dark, almost horror take on Castlevania. I also like how they even mention the Judeo-Christian God! Because, you know... if you're fighting an agent of the devil, it shouldn't seem verboten to mention the opposing, holy force by name. (And yeah, I know this almost certainly is due to Europeans making the game instead of Japanese.) I never bought any of Lament of Innocence's bullshit about True Love being used to creative the Vampire Killer.

TnK said:

Oh yeah, wanted to ask, how is the story in this game in general? I find the idea of the first Belmont becoming Dracula very interesting, especially if we see his point of view as he slowly devolves into becoming Dracula. I am still in the early part of the game, so I have no idea how they deliver this, the premise on the other hand sounds amazing.

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Without spoiling... this premise is largely unused, honestly. Very disappointing. You don't see the story of how he turns into Dracula, you just see Gabriel Belmont being a Belmont and killing demons. :\ The story is serviceable for the most part, but the end-game scenes are horribly cheesy.

Unabashedly one of my favorite games of last generation. SO excited for the sequel!

TnK said:

Oh yeah, wanted to ask, how is the story in this game in general? I find the idea of the first Belmont becoming Dracula very interesting, especially if we see his point of view as he slowly devolves into becoming Dracula. I am still in the early part of the game, so I have no idea how they deliver this, the premise on the other hand sounds amazing.

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It's preeeeeeeeeeetty dumb.

Morrigan Targaryen said:

Without spoiling... this premise is largely unused, honestly. Very disappointing. You don't see the story of how he turns into Dracula, you just see Gabriel Belmont being a Belmont and killing demons. : The story is serviceable for the most part, but the end-game scenes are horribly cheesy.

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Fimbulvetr said:

It's preeeeeeeeeeetty dumb.

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Aw c'mon, this story would have been pure gold if delivered right. A really cool tragedy. I guess most of this may be found in MoF and LoS2, or am I putting way too much hope into this that it will soon be crushed? Seems like we will find out when LoS2 is out. At least, how is MoF's story? Should be something there right? Belmont in an eternal struggle against their own blood line's curse?