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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow collection spotted, includes Mirror of Fate HD

Foffy

Banned
I remember the rumor months ago. Finally coming about I see.

Rumor? Cox himself implied it..it was Cox being Cox that outed the existence of an HD version before the 3DS version even launched. Cox was still being Cox by backtracking.
 

Bedlam

Member
Is there a joke I'm missing here?

It's Bedlam talking about LoS

Haters gonna hate. LoS was fantastic. :)

(not talking about MoF, btw)

Rumor? Cox himself implied it..it was Cox being Cox that outed the existence of an HD version before the 3DS version even launched. Cox was still being Cox by backtracking.
Yup. That interview probably didn't sit well with Nintendo. Time-exclusivity deals almost always involve a "don't talk about other versions of the game until deal is over"-clause it seems.
 
Mirror of Fate was decent, it's not anywhere near the level of the other handheld Castlevanias, but I liked the presentation and atmosphere.
 

heyf00L

Member
MoF was everything that's wrong with handheld games. Instead of making a game that played to the strengths of handhelds like Castlevania games in the past (GBA and DS), they tried to do a downscaled console game. It doesn't work. This is a much bigger problem on PSP/Vita than 3DS, but developers still try it sometimes.
 

jaz013

Banned
Meh, the only good game in that list is Mirror of Fate, not even LoS2 looks that appealing.

Didn't know that "waiting for a HD port" of portable games was a thing.
 

Eusis

Member
MoF was everything that's wrong with handheld games. Instead of making a game that played to the strengths of handhelds like Castlevania games in the past (GBA and DS), they tried to do a downscaled console game. It doesn't work. This is a much bigger problem on PSP/Vita than 3DS, but developers still try it sometimes.
I don't think it's always inherently bad admittedly, but a lot of the problems lie with save systems and with how far a game tries to push handheld hardware, and they would've been better served aiming for a rock solid 30 FPS rather than an FPS that made the original Lords of Shadow look buttery smooth.

We did need SOMETHING other than Igavania though, even if it was more Metroid-style stuff.
 

Foffy

Banned
Dave Cox would never publicly lie on Twitter, so I'm sure this is just a false rumor.

https://mobile.twitter.com/CastlevaniaLOS/status/298527393390415872

“We created everything in high definition – all the textures, all the levels, high-poly models, everything – and we kind of shrunk it all down into the 3DS. Then we lost bones from characters, you know, we dropped the resolution of the textures and everything to make it fit. At Mercury Steam we have an HD version of the game sitting there in a computer somewhere.”

“Absolutely, yeah. We would consider it. We want as many people to play it as possible. Obviously we have an exclusivity deal with Nintendo right now though and they’ve been very supportive of the product.” - David Cox


Yeah, he's never backpedaled on anything ever...
 

Bedlam

Member
It was obvious even back then that he did backpedal because someone reminded him that they have a contract with Nintendo and he shouldn't say such things.

Does MoF really suck so bad? I kind of liked the demo.
Mostly Igavania fanboys overreacting again it seems. It's obviously not a great game but it's not shit either.
 
You know, what bothers me with the MoF HD release is third party trust. The game, at its release, was being hyped up for the 3DS. It was supposed to be a reason to own a 3DS. I trusted that a third party company was going to focus all their energy on this game for a 3DS release. They messed up confirming there were HD assets before the 3DS release. By doing that, many, myself included, were under suspicion that the game would release on PSN or XBLA at a heavily discounted price, even when David kept saying it wasn't going to happen. It didn't help that the game was getting mixed reviews. I took the gamble, and clearly, it paid off.

I, and all my fellow 3DS gamers, shouldn't be in this situation. Third-party releases on 3DS are already far and few in between, and the few games that are good are ported to other systems and done better. I almost always look at third party games on 3DS costing $40 with suspicion that it may go to other platforms, perhaps digitally-only, at $15.
 

Foffy

Banned
Does MoF really suck so bad? I kind of liked the demo.

Its combat system does not work well in a 2D space. Why are there QTEs in a side scroller? Why have the same combat system as the 3D games when there's little reason for such a system in a side scrolling game? Why must you use analog controls for a game that only goes left and right?

MoF's biggest weakness is it's a 2D game with 3D gameplay elements that don't feel like they belong at all. It makes the game feel like a hollow placeholder, like one of those cash-in holdover games until something you actually give a shit about comes out. It helps to know that MoF exists not because someone wanted to make it, it's because Mercury Steam had to release something between LoS1 and LoS2 or they would have to axe off staff. It shows throughout the whole product. Look at gameplay or walkthroughs and it's readily apparent. It's a game that lacks a true soul.
 
I really liked MoF. My biggest complaint was how abruptly it ended but the framerate was pretty bad.

I heard that it was improved a little by one of the 3DS updates but I never went back and tried it again. I'll double-dip if it ends up on Steam.
 

Bedlam

Member
Its combat system does not work well in a 2D space. Why are there QTEs in a side scroller? Why have the same combat system as the 3D games when there's little reason for such a system in a side scrolling game? Why must you use analog controls for a game that only goes left and right?
I totally understand the gameplay criticism. 2D gameplay needs to be snappier. Hit-sponges are only appropriate for 3D brawlers.

It's a game that lacks a true soul.
Despite its shortcomings, it probably has still more of it than Harmony of Despair and Judgement though.
 

Foffy

Banned
It probably has still more of it than Harmony of Despair and Judgement though.

True, but those are spin-offs. For the 'main' series, Mirror of Fate really stands out in a number of sad ways. There's nothing it offers that's of higher quality than the DS or GBA games outside of visuals and especially the artwork. The gameplay doesn't seem as fleshed out in terms of the oomph of it all, the bosses seem rather boring, and the whole different character thing is an absolutely wasted opportunity that literally goes nowhere at all. Strangely, the audio in MoF sounds much more muffled than the previous games, despite being a more powerful system. It's also the only game I've played on 3DS that bursts the speakers if you're not using headphones.

I think a lot of people caught on that MoF was a placeholder game. Isn't it one of the worst selling games in the entire franchise?
 
Cox ALWAYS lies, about EVERYTHING. I ain't even mad, that's his style.

“We created everything in high definition – all the textures, all the levels, high-poly models, everything – and we kind of shrunk it all down into the 3DS. Then we lost bones from characters, you know, we dropped the resolution of the textures and everything to make it fit. At Mercury Steam we have an HD version of the game sitting there in a computer somewhere

“Absolutely, yeah. We would consider it. We want as many people to play it as possible. Obviously we have an exclusivity deal with Nintendo right now though and they’ve been very supportive of the product.” - David Cox


Yeah, he's never backpedaled on anything ever...

Your sarcasm detectors are in need of some repair.

Seriously, though, MoF was a flawed but very enjoyable game. I hope it finds a more receptive audience on consoles.
 
Seems really odd to get a port of a 3DS game to consoles. Are they going to replace all the textures and models so that it doesn't look awful at a higher resolution?

Edit: Answered above.
 

Boogiepop

Member
The MoF demo was so bad for me that it killed any interest I'd ever have in picking up the game. Just... awful. And none of my issues were related to framerate, as I recall. It just plain wasn't good. MAYBE it gets to the level of decent in the full game, but the demo sure makes it seem like a terrible game.
 
Damn it I just bought the DLC/already own MOF....
But it comes with a los 2 demo/MOF in HD with trophies....F#%! my wallet!
 

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho

Ahasverus

Member

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RPGCrazied

Member
I don't want the collection. I have the first game already, the DLC is shit, so this does nothing for me. Surely to god they will sell MoF standalone.
 
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