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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Review Thread

antitrop

Member
I picked up LoS1 on a cheap Steam sale a few months ago and really did not enjoy it. Definitely skipping this one altogether.
 

Famassu

Member
I've beaten every single GOW campaign, outside of Ascension. They're trash games with dumb AI that serves little more than to be walking sandbags.
GoWs aren't trash games in this or any alternative universe that exists. They aren't comparable to Bayonetta or DMC or Ninja Gaiden, sure, but it's pathetic over-negative hyperbole that overly negative people like you like to shit out of your mouths for some reason, as if you are some gods of games who know better than anyone else.

And please, most of the enemies are far from dumb and it's not like other action games don't suffer from them too. DMC & Bayonetta especially suffer from some sand-baggy enemies as well.
 

antitrop

Member
Yeah gaf convinced me to because of the story, I had already sold it so I played it with my brother and I have to say I agree that it's pretty good
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.
 

hamchan

Member
Taking the powers away from the "hero" at certain keypoints in the story is a common trope in games, movies, books, comics etc. and if successfully pulled off, it can add some tension and, in games, bring some variety to the gameplay.

And apparently it didn't work for this game. Spending the whole first game getting powers, becoming badass Dracula and then losing it all does not sound fun.

It's what Arkham City did well, keeping all the gadgets gained from Arkham Asylum from the start instead of arbitrarily making you lose it all.
 

TnK

Member
I have a feeling this game would be loved more by the user base vs the reviewers themselves, don't know why.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Played 5 hours so far. Not a bad game. Not living up to the potential it had, but saying it's bargain bin garbage isn't true. Come to the OT folks.
 
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

Knowing your preference for story, I still don't think LoS has a good enough one that you would find interesing and worth going through the game for. Just being honest, and I love LoS and Mirrors of Fate so yeahhhhhh.
 
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

For Castlevania I thought it was well handled but I had nothing to play so we just flew through it. I don't know if it's worth a play all by itself though.
 

kunonabi

Member
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

not really, the story is told very poorly despite some decent ideas.
 

DukeBobby

Member
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

The game somehow makes you hate Patrick Stewart, so no.
 
That GT video review is really bad. They spend the whole time saying bad thing about the game, yet give it an 8.3. That makes no sense. Yet in their Thief reveiew they spent the whole time praising the game, but gave it a 7.5. GT video reviews are weird.

I'm interested in the game. Except for the stealth segments, it seems like it'll be fun. I finished Lords of Shadows a few days ago, so I wouldn't mind seeing more of Gabriel again.
 
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

The story in it is crap and told as hammily as humanly possible. People say its a good story because of the shocking twist at the end that LoS2 has already spoiled for you omg
and then belmont was a vampire
. So yeah, dont waste your time replaying it.

Seriously LoS is one of the worst games ive ever played. Its absolutely awful and features some of the genuinely worst sections in any game ive ever played. The music box, those stupid electricity bits..not surprised LoS2 is getting reamed in reviews.
 
Lots of reviews commenting on how the back half is a huge step up from a boring first half. Looks like I need to slog through, should I ever play it.
 

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
I found the gameplay shallow and repetitive after about 2 hours and I even like GoW, is it really worth finishing just for the story? I was really not having any fun playing the game.

I do appreciate a good story, as rare as they are in games.

LoS1 is a pretty long game. If I recall, at 2 hours in, I don't think you've gotten both light and dark powers, which really add to the depth of the combat. The game improves significantly as you move forward. I think the first 5 or 6 chapters are pretty weak, but it's a 30 chapter game (i think, it's long, either way). It's definitely no GoW or DMC, but the combat is fun. And yeah, the ending is very well done, and why people were so stoked for this one.

I'll pick up LoS2 later, as march is all inFAMOUS for me.

Reviews haven't be relevant to me in over a decade, but it is often interesting to see what journalists think of games every once in a while.
 

Sendou

Member
That GT video review is really bad. They spend the whole time saying bad thing about the game, yet give it an 8.3. That makes no sense. Yet in their Thief reveiew they spent the whole time praising the game, but gave it a 7.5. GT video reviews are weird.

Sounds like you are obsessed about the score. Why can't you just listen to what they have to say and kind of just ignore the score? Is it so important?
 

Famassu

Member
And apparently it didn't work for this game. Spending the whole first game getting powers, becoming badass Dracula and then losing it all does not sound fun.

It's what Arkham City did well, keeping all the gadgets gained from Arkham Asylum from the start instead of arbitrarily making you lose it all.
I don't think it's a problem if a game does it like LoS1 -> LoS2, it's just all in the execution and it just seems like they didn't execute it all that well, at least when it comes to gameplay.
 

dreamfall

Member
10 or so hours in the first game on PC, I want to finish that before even considering the second title. Hopefully, I'll get it on sale sometime. I wanted the City Hub to feel alive! Seems like most reviews say it is pretty empty :/
 
Oh man Andy my sincere apologies. I misunderstood.

Sorry man.



Yeah gaf convinced me to because of the story, I had already sold it so I played it with my brother and I have to say I agree that it's pretty good

Glad to hear you went ahead and finished it. You have to approach this game with a speed run mentality to get all it has to offer. The Titans I hate, they kill the pacing. I never used half of Gabriel's arsenal till second playthrough, it can be effective and stylish.

SNES SC4 I speed run, I can play it in my sleep and stylishly I might add. I know every thing smells of rose tinted nostalgia.
 

Garteal

Member
I beat Lords of Shadow two days ago and really enjoyed it for the most part and was getting ready for this one. I liked the demo on Steam. It's unfortunate that it gets such low review ratings but I'll definitely get this one.
 

kmax

Member
I had high expectations of this after the first one, which was great.

Awful scores. Might hold on until sale.
 

Arsenic13

Member
Odd, I absolutely hated the first few hours of the first LoS, but enjoyed the rest. This one has been pretty fun, albeit definitely hammy, from the start. I'm only 3-4 hours in, so it might change, but I'm enjoying it.

It's a game filled with absurd stuff, definitely a change of tone from the first game. It tries to be straight faced even when tasking Dracula, who has just awaken from centuries of sleep, to sneak into a pharmaceutical company as his first mission. It's dumb, but highly entertaining IMO.

Edit: Although, I wouldn't be surprised if the overall game was poorer than the first. Kojima did oversee that one, and Mirror of Fate, their second Castlevania game, was pretty terrible.
 
Sounds like you are obsessed about the score. Why can't you just listen to what they have to say and kind of just ignore the score? Is it so important?

I usually could care less about the score, but what they were saying doesn't lead up to the score they gave it. This is bad, this is bad, this is too much... we give it an 8. What? You just spent the whole time saying how bad it is, yet give it an 8? Then say something good instead of bad during the review. The negatives they said in the review was that they didn't like the stealth segments, the weapons felt similar, they didn't like the lightings effect on the camera, and the first few hours of the game was a lot of tutorials. The only thing positive they said was the combat is enjoyable, the creatures and bosses look great, and its a beautiful game. That's about it.

All in all, what they said didn't match up to the score they gave it. Like I said, I could care less about the score they give it. I'm more mad that I jumped into the review expecting a lot of praise from them since they gave it an 8, yet I watch it and it's a bunch of negativity.
 
Judging by the Giant Bomb quick look, they've taken what was essentially one of the finest 2D action games and turned it into another generic God of War wannabe. Vinny even says, it's like God of War mixed with the new Devil May Cry game. :/ Can't wait for this series to return to someone who cares about it.
 

Blinck

Member
This is insane...I have no words man... I was so hyped for this game after loving the first one..

What the hell went wrong ? This is just insane
 

Splatt

Member
Mercury Steam should have used more of their budget on giving out candy to reviewers.

Their priorities weren't right.
 
This is insane...I have no words man... I was so hyped for this game after loving the first one..

What the hell went wrong ? This is just insane

I know this is nuts but maybe you'll like it as did those reviewers that liked it?

Why are people treating this as being so conclusive? The first game didn't exactly get great scores either and IIRC most reviews seemed to think it was okay yet bashed it for being like God of War and ripping off Shadow of the Colossus and complaining about it not being a Castlevania game. So I ask, why on earth is this so damn devastating to people? All the reviews aren't bad, and the first game was definitely up to individual experience.

The game may be shit for all I know, hell I haven't played it yet, I just think the overreactions to scores are a tad loony.
 

andymcc

Banned
GoWs aren't trash games in this or any alternative universe that exists. They aren't comparable to Bayonetta or DMC or Ninja Gaiden, sure, but it's pathetic over-negative hyperbole that overly negative people like you like to shit out of your mouths for some reason, as if you are some gods of games who know better than anyone else.

I had no idea that an opinion could be objectively held as a universal truth. they are not games that I like because I value fluid, flexible mechanics in character action games over anything else. if you are into the narrative (i think it's repugnant) or can get past the lower-level combat mechanics for the "whole package", more power to you.
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
I still don't get how LoS 2 got a 4/10 from EDGE and yet they gave Rambo a 5/10.

There is no way in hell that LoS 2 is worse than Rambo.
 

antitrop

Member
I still don't get how LoS 2 got a 4/10 from EDGE and yet they gave Rambo a 5/10.

There is no way in hell that LoS 2 is worse than Rambo.

I know every review is the individual reviewer's opinion and they all have their own ideas of how to use the scale, but there should really be a reviews editor to enforce some standards and consistency.

You're right, there's no way in hell that LoS 2 is worse than Rambo, and I don't have to play either one to know that.
 

R.I.P

Member
Oh man, did not expect such disappointing scores. Really liked the first LoS, but it looks like I will be saving my money for Dark Souls 2 and getting this on a sale.

Edit: give the series back to Iga now, please!
 

Blinck

Member
I know this is nuts but maybe you'll like it as did those reviewers that liked it?

Why are people treating this as being so conclusive? The first game didn't exactly get great scores either and IIRC most reviews seemed to think it was okay yet bashed it for being like God of War and ripping off Shadow of the Colossus and complaining about it not being a Castlevania game. So I ask, why on earth is this so damn devastating to people? All the reviews aren't bad, and the first game was definitely up to individual experience.

The game may be shit for all I know, hell I haven't played it yet, I just think the overreactions to scores are a tad loony.

The first game reviews pretty well, I don't recall it getting several 4/10. I really think this is really bad for a game being made by a fairly good studio.
I don't usually care that much for reviews, but when a game like this starts getting so many scores below average it's a really big red warning sign for me.

The worst for me is how many of the reviews are saying the environments look dull.
What I liked the most about Lords of Shadow 1 was the journey itself through all those amazing environments while the amazing soundtrack played in the background...from what many reviewers are saying this doesn't seem to be the case here.

I'll probably still pick it up when it's 5€ on steam or so..but overall i'm just really disappointed.
 
From the sound of things they fucked up the art aspect, too. Industrial environments are the fucking bane of 3D adventure games.

I feel like I've said this like three times about LoS2 already, but screw it, I'm bored. This is the number-one thing that worried me about LoS2 and almost every review confirms that it's a problem. Whoever decided they should swap out the seemingly dozens of great locations from LoS1, which were sometimes beautiful, sometimes gothic and basically everything in between, for generic industrial crap should be firmly slapped. Maybe it just came down to budget and time, but it was still a bad decision. No way am I trudging through a Castlevania game set in a bunch of factories and sewers. Ugh.
 
i guess this is the last lords of shadow game then. shame they don't seem to have been able to build on the first games foundations.

It was already the last Lords of Shadow game. Mercury Steam already said that LOS2 will complete the Gabriel Belmont story. There was never any intention to continue the series after this.
 

Tex117

Banned
Picked up the original a few weeks ago on the cheap to see if I liked it.

I liked the story and some of the enviroments (loved the Music Box level), but as an overall game, meh. Too many parts I was irritated.

Seeing this review the way it is, well, makes my decision to pass extremely easy.
 

Sid

Member
So the main complaints are:-
Stealth sections
Terrible story and characters
Uninteresting setting

I'll still get it as the demo was fun & the combat has been praised in several reviews.
 
I know this is nuts but maybe you'll like it as did those reviewers that liked it?

Why are people treating this as being so conclusive? The first game didn't exactly get great scores either and IIRC most reviews seemed to think it was okay yet bashed it for being like God of War and ripping off Shadow of the Colossus and complaining about it not being a Castlevania game. So I ask, why on earth is this so damn devastating to people? All the reviews aren't bad, and the first game was definitely up to individual experience.

The game may be shit for all I know, hell I haven't played it yet, I just think the overreactions to scores are a tad loony.

The problem is that this kind of argument only works if every game is free. When money is involved, it makes sense that the consumer wants the best use for their purchase especially when you start comparing value with other games. Suggesting that every game should be "tested" just to affirm an opinion is too risky in both time and money.

This is why the generalized overview (in this case, reviews) pretty much determines how one actually purchase a product.
 
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