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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (PS3/360) Comparison Thread

eshwaaz said:
Zeal, have you watched Gamespot's video review? At 5:45 they discuss frame rate, and show footage of the 360 version hiccuping during combat and even freezing for a moment when a larger enemy goes down (not the intentional "impact pauses", either). Please let us know if you encounter anything like that.
Brandon has said he has seen heavy slowdown in the 360 version via live stream. To the point of single frame. He put it in the official thread.

edit: scratch that he removed it.
 
Phloxy said:
Yeah, I had your complaints at first. However, the combat really does start to open up later on, which was very surprising to me. So don't knock it for the combat, because it does get much much better than the shit the demo throws at you.

I hope so.

I'm not opposed to getting the full game, I was really excited for this title up until a few weeks ago.

But with the concerns I have PLUS the framerate, I just think i have better games to spend my money on.

We'll see, waiting for Digital Foundry
 
Amir0x said:
I hope so.

I'm not opposed to getting the full game, I was really excited for this title up until a few weeks ago.

But with the concerns I have PLUS the framerate, I just think i have better games to spend my money on.

We'll see, waiting for Digital Foundry
I don't think any of these two versions even hold a steady 30 but watching the streams they seem very playable. Personal taste not included of course.
 
Amir0x said:
Abso-fucking-lutely.

It's bad enough games seemingly can't go beyond 30fps 9/10 times on consoles, but at least that is playable.

At 24fps, for me, it's something that's going to be a constant source of frustration. The terrible framerate almost ruined Shadow of the Colossus for me. Framerate is hugely important to games and anything sub-30 is not acceptable, no.

It's one thing to have OCCASIONAL drops, but if it's consistent, it's not something I'm going to support.

I'd actually rather it was consistent than dropping to 24. At least with a consistent shitty frame rate, you can play accordingly and work with it.

Is it confirmed that the PS3 version is THE version to get? I'm happy to get it in that case.
 
Zeal said:
k, i just watched the review and noticed what you're talking about. the developer made a comment on his Twitter that the review copies of the 360 version were not optimized and that the final retail version of the game would not feature such framerate hipcups.

now i normally don't pay much attention to claims like this, as i consider them PR speak, but i think this is the once exception where the developer wasn't bullshitting. if i do see anything like this, i'll be sure to report it, but so far the game has been consistently smooth, even in large battles.

i have, however, encountered one bizarre clipping bug where my character got stuck in a tree and was in a perpetual sort of falling animation (just hanging there in the sky, couldn't attack, move, etc.) although i was able to reload my save to correct it.

gonna continue to play and see how it goes.
Thanks, much appreciated. Are you playing it from the disc, or did you install?
 
eshwaaz said:
Thanks, much appreciated. Are you playing it from the disc, or did you install?

playing it right off the disc to test framerate. gonna see if i can install both dics a little further in though.
 
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second. Frame hiccups will ruin the game, but there isn't that much of a difference between 24 and 30 fps if it's constant, imo. I just hope the game is good.
 
RoninChaos said:
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second.

MotherFUCK at this retarded fucking argument already

people who don't know about framerates -> exit stage left already PLEASE and stop commenting on them

*head explodes*
 
What's the problem? I said if the frame rate was constant, it shouldn't be a problem and offered a comparison. Frame rates skipping is what makes things unplayable, not a game sticking at 24 frames a second rather than 30. Now, if you turn the character and the game drops to 10, I could see that being a valid complaint.

But since I'm obviously don't have a college degree in frame rate analysis, maybe you could enlighten me?
 
RoninChaos said:
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second. Frame hiccups will ruin the game, but there isn't that much of a difference between 24 and 30 fps if it's constant, imo. I just hope the game is good.

Please don't start this shit
 
Was it confirmed that both versions are 24 fps?
 
RoninChaos said:
What's the problem? I said if the frame rate was constant, it shouldn't be a problem and offered a comparison. Frame rates skipping is what makes things unplayable, not a game sticking at 24 frames a second rather than 30. Now, if you turn the character and the game drops to 10, I could see that being a valid complaint.

But since I'm obviously don't have a college degree in frame rate analysis, maybe you could enlighten me?

the problem is the bolded argument. relative to your position that it's "ok" to you, that's your personal preference even if it's an embarrassingly low standard to set for games

but saying movies are at 24fps that makes it fine for games is just a ridiculous argument that betrays your knowledge of framerates
 
um, although the game is playable and runs fine, comparing 24 (for movies) to 30 fps (today's gaming standard) is not a winning argument. most games don't run at 24fps for a reason, dude. it's kinda like how some people try to argue that there's no noticeable difference between 720p and 1080p. i say get your eyes checked.

but whatever, i hate when threads turn into a technical pissing contest.
 
Zeal said:
um, although the game is playable and runs fine, comparing 24 (for movies) to 30 fps (today's gaming standard) is not a winning argument. most games don't run at 24fps for a reason, dude.

but whatever, i hate when threads turn into a technical pissing contest.
Even when the thread topic is a technical pissing contest?
 
I'm going to get the PS3 version. Mostly because it's the lead platform and because I usually prefer the Dual Shock 3 for these kind of games.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
Even when the thread topic is a technical pissing contest?

thought we were just comparing how the 360 and ps3 versions run. i'm actually gonna throw down a little money and get both versions of this game though, something i normally never do. just a big castlevania fan and wanna support a smaller developer after enjoying the game so much.

wish the US version came with the badass God Mask thing or whatever. i'd let my dog wear it for halloween. (cat wears the Spartan helmet)
 
I really wish more powerful hardware was announced and coming soon. Games this gem look good but are already pushing the limits of the hardware and have no room to grow. I'd love to see 60 FPS games at the graphical fidelity we have in games like Castlevania. I'll wait for more opinions before choosing a version but I wish it would run at a higher FPS on both consoles because it looks amazing.
 
Amir0x said:
MotherFUCK at this retarded fucking argument already

people who don't know about framerates -> exit stage left already PLEASE and stop commenting on them

*head explodes*

Agreed. I've seen the 24fps is like a movie argument way too many times.
 
nacire said:
They do a great job of comparing cross platform games and are very honest and unbiased. Just the facts.

Not really. They have/can make a number of dubious judgments when it comes to "better" - usually in the lighting, shadowing departments.
 
Frostburn said:
I really wish more powerful hardware was announced and coming soon. Games this gem look good but are already pushing the limits of the hardware and have no room to grow. I'd love to see 60 FPS games at the graphical fidelity we have in games like Castlevania. I'll wait for more opinions before choosing a version but I wish it would run at a higher FPS on both consoles because it looks amazing.

This topic probably deserves it's own thread, but consumers are partly to blame unfortunately

60+fps looks incredible in motion and plays better (literally, faster response time)

But 30fps usually allows for more graphical effects

Most people will go for the 'ooh shiny' over the slightly less tangible benefits of a higher framerate. Try to explain input lag and your average gamer bro's eyes are going to glaze over (shit, I'd argue a fair number of developers could learn a thing or two about this)

Insomniac's decision to drop 60fps for the next Ratchet was a real bummer

But yes, I personally hate it. 60fps or death.

On some PC/console cross platform titles, I end up having to weigh my preference for razor sharp precision mouse control and 60fps vs 30fps and a wider group of friends to play the game with (not a knock on analog sticks incidently, I'm fine with either input in multiplayer games, because we're all on the same level playing field - I am quite curious to see if Move starts spanking regular controller users though!)

While there are some high profile 60fps games, they're painfully rare, and in terms of competitive multiplayer games, Call of Duty is one of the few that keeps the framerate up and the input lag down.

But to avoid derailing this entirely, I'll say that I can _generally_ accept 30fps for single player games a bit more readily. The fact that this game is part action game is a bummer though, given that I just finished playing through Bayonetta on every difficulty level :(

Bring on the comparisons, I could get either build, so I'd like to know which version to pick up, or if I can just get whatever version I prefer the controller for if they're close.
 
One early observation of the PS3 demo that I haven't seen mentioned yet in the other thread is that the cutscenes are indeed video files, rendered using their engine. Macroblocking is not very bad, but it can be seen in shadow areas.

Also the XMB highlight music for this demo is stupidly loud!

Framerate is a little disappointing in this demo, after playing GoW3 (I can definitely tell it's a constant sub-30FPS, even if not by much) and the controls are not the best either. There's a weird feeling of character having an 8-direction lock when you run around with him. It doesn't really have direction lock, but it looks like it does.

It's a level with rain though, so maybe the framerate is constant 30 where there's no atmospheric effects.

Not all the cutscenes are videos - those that happen in the breaks of the action, like the giant wolf breaking through, are rendered realtime. The one where hero is leaving the village is realtime as well. The intro and the one where he sits by the fire are videos though.

Demo has no AA, but I guess shaders and texture filtering are done in such a way that it doesn't seem like a big deal. The graphics are in fact quite impressive.
 
AlStrong said:
Not really. They have/can make a number of dubious judgments when it comes to "better" - usually in the lighting, shadowing departments.

They all have their pecadillos. Digital Foundry articles often mix editorializing in with the more objective analysis, without making much of a distinction for their readers. Which an issue since most of the analysis isn't (wasn't?) done by the guy writing the articles.
 
Combichristoffersen said:
Is the difference in colour vibrancy very noticeable? OPs pic in the other thread made it look like the PS3 version was a black and white game compared to the 360 version, and I was planning to eventually get the PS3 version :|


REALLY? :lol
 
I don't like games to be over 30fps, in fact - if a game is 60fps, I won't buy it. I've retrofitted my gaming tastes to this arbitrary notion and so I now argue its a major force in game design. 60 frames a second; no attempt at proper level pacing.

Oh don't mind me, just trying out irrational madness and seeing how it fits.

Its not that I don't believe you all think its important, its just that I think you all suffer from graphics poisoning. It is possible to enjoy the look of a lower framerate, too. It may not suit the games culture narrative, but that doesn't change the fact that some people do.

I'm not saying the game won't suck, it might well, but come awn fellahs.
 
Wolves Evolve said:
I don't like games to be over 30fps, in fact - if a game is 60fps, I won't buy it. I've retrofitted my gaming tastes to this arbitrary notion and so I now argue its a major force in game design. 60 frames a second; no attempt at proper level pacing.

Oh don't mind me, just trying out irrational madness and seeing how it fits.

Its not that I don't believe you all think its important, its just that I think you all suffer from graphics poisoning. It is possible to enjoy the look of a lower framerate, too. It may not suit the games culture narrative, but that doesn't change the fact that some people do.

I'm not saying the game won't suck, it might well, but come awn fellahs.
...What?
 
Wolves Evolve said:
I don't like games to be over 30fps, in fact - if a game is 60fps, I won't buy it. I've retrofitted my gaming tastes to this arbitrary notion and so I now argue its a major force in game design. 60 frames a second; no attempt at proper level pacing.

Oh don't mind me, just trying out irrational madness and seeing how it fits.

Its not that I don't believe you all think its important, its just that I think you all suffer from graphics poisoning. It is possible to enjoy the look of a lower framerate, too. It may not suit the games culture narrative, but that doesn't change the fact that some people do.

I'm not saying the game won't suck, it might well, but come awn fellahs.

hm judging from the serious parts of your post, seems like you never stopped trying out that irrational madness

Alt: Visuals are a major, massive part of any gaming package, and the framerate being one of the most important parts of that. A 24fps framerate is unacceptable. Lower your standards any further and your face will be eating shit in some Deadwood Gutter.
 
RoninChaos said:
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second. Frame hiccups will ruin the game, but there isn't that much of a difference between 24 and 30 fps if it's constant, imo. I just hope the game is good.
lol are you insane?
 
Amir0x said:
the problem is the bolded argument. relative to your position that it's "ok" to you, that's your personal preference even if it's an embarrassingly low standard to set for games

but saying movies are at 24fps that makes it fine for games is just a ridiculous argument that betrays your knowledge of framerates

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this game has a fixed non controllable camera throughout & has high quality motion blur?
This would pretty much negate the negative things about if it is 24fps.

It's not like a FPS or TPS.
 
60 > 30 FPS


Always. Always.


Now, as a gamer, we all make concessions. What is important to you is not important to me. I personally loved the sexist masterpiece known as Shadow of the Colossus. You? Maybe not. But you can never argue that 60 FPS < 30 FPS. It cannot be done.
 
The only thing keeping me buying the PS3 version is the fucking Playstation joypad, which really is in a need of a redesign.

Hate the position of the left stick. Hate the mushy R2/L2 even with RealTriggers.

Is there an adapter that I can use with the PS3 that allows me to use a wired 360 controller?
 
RoninChaos said:
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second. Frame hiccups will ruin the game, but there isn't that much of a difference between 24 and 30 fps if it's constant, imo. I just hope the game is good.
24 frames per second, when done right, isn't a real problem. The main issue here is that your console is still outputting a 60 fps video stream (that's all it can do), and so you get this pattern:
Display a frame twice, display the next one three times, then 2, then 3.
It's called judder, and it's very annoying.
It will be interesting to see if they did a proper 2:3 pulldown telecine (assuming the game is really locked at 24 fps) when running at 1080i resolution, but I doubt they did.
 
RavenFox said:
Brandon has said he has seen heavy slowdown in the 360 version via live stream. To the point of single frame. He put it in the official thread.

edit: scratch that he removed it.

Live stream?:lol :lol

Please wait DF for final judgement.
 
ZeroRay said:
Didn't Sony's latest firmware cause that to not work?

shouamabane said:
According to the Arcade Stick Thread it works fine.

Ordered. Now I don't give a damn anymore, PS3 or 360, the one with even 1fps more is the one I'll get! :D
 
chris0701 said:
Live stream?:lol :lol

Please wait DF for final judgement.

Beyond3D for pixels counting, DF for everything else. This should be the law of comparison threads.

Lens of Truth is a joke.
 
I'm not really bothered by occasional framedrops. I play on consoles, and it's the way it goes most of the time. I have no problems with it. If a game has 60 fps on a console, great!

But, I played the LoS demo and was blown away by the audiovisual presentation, the only thing bothering me was te constant low framerate... it did not drop though, but it was noticably low at all times.

I await Digital Foundry's analysis for my final purchase. If the average framerate is higher in the 360 build, then I'll go for that version. Right now I'm leaning towards PS3, because I like the dual shock better for these kind of games.
 
Blimblim said:
It will be interesting to see if they did a proper 2:3 pulldown telecine (assuming the game is really locked at 24 fps) when running at 1080i resolution, but I doubt they did.

This would be nice, if it is in fact locked at 24 fps

I'm assuming it _does_ have motion blur at all times?

Actually if they did that, I could live stream the game at 1080i to show it off.

In any case, I will be streaming this game live come Tues/Wed whenever it comes out, so for anyone who wants to see it in action before making a decision, you can just tune in and watch.
 
RoninChaos said:
24 frames a second, if constant, isn't bad. Most movies are at 24 frames a second. Frame hiccups will ruin the game, but there isn't that much of a difference between 24 and 30 fps if it's constant, imo. I just hope the game is good.

You do know that movies have built in motion blur, making the low framerate pretty much unnoticeable, right? Example: Take a screenshot of a moving object in a movie. It will be blurred, since it's filmed from a real object that doesn't update 24 times/second but an infinite number of times. Now take a screenshot from a moving object in a game. It won't be blurred (unless the dev implemented motion blur) because this time, the thing being "filmed" has the same framerate as the "camera" (24 fps). So unless your game has the same amount of motion blur that a movie has naturally, it won't look even close to as smooth.
 
Blimblim said:
24 frames per second, when done right, isn't a real problem. The main issue here is that your console is still outputting a 60 fps video stream (that's all it can do), and so you get this pattern:
Display a frame twice, display the next one three times, then 2, then 3.
It's called judder, and it's very annoying.
It will be interesting to see if they did a proper 2:3 pulldown telecine (assuming the game is really locked at 24 fps) when running at 1080i resolution, but I doubt they did.
Thanks for a response that actually told me something rather than "OMG YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT FRAME RATES" because I obviously don't have the knowledge that most here do. Or maybe others are just jumping on the bandwagon and are just as in the dark as me but don't want to appear that way.

I wasn't aware that kind of thing caused judder. Preciate it.

And to Ledson, I appreciate that response too. I wasn't aware of that.
 
The first thing that struck me in the demo was the lack of aa. This is one cerated looking game. Then I though, is this realtime? It looks gorgeous! Framerate never bothered me tbh.
 
Played the demo and didn't find the fps bad at all. I guess it is personal preference. Also, when you fell of the horse the framerate was much better. I'm fairly sure the framrate was lower because of the rain, but it is not unplayable.
 
Amir0x said:
hm judging from the serious parts of your post, seems like you never stopped trying out that irrational madness

Alt: Visuals are a major, massive part of any gaming package, and the framerate being one of the most important parts of that. A 24fps framerate is unacceptable. Lower your standards any further and your face will be eating shit in some Deadwood Gutter.

I notice terrible textures more than I do framerate problems. One recent example, I have Dragon Age on both 360 and PS3, one has quite terrible textures, the other has quite unstable framerate.

I don't disagree that I would prefer 60fps, in fact my ideal is Douglas Trumbull's 72fps for any source, he experimented with hundreds of speeds and found that beyond 72, the human eye was only ever gaining imperceptible quality of vision and therefore it should be considered a practical plateau.

My point is this - in an era with shocking textures still abound, with horrific colour palettes, with badly done motion blurring ... there's a lot of other things to be concerned about visually.
 
In some instances, I think 60 is TOO smooth. Sure, many of you will laugh and commit suicide (OMFG at some of your comments) but it's my opinion. But of course I wouldn't NOT buy a game nor would I rather die if a game were 60fps. I'd like to know what caused some of you to suffer this much over stuff like this.

If I played a game that featured a giant, hulking beast swinging up some rafters and dropping down onto the battlefield, I'd prefer that scene be 30fps over 60fps anyday. Seeing something like that with (too) crisp and fluid animations would look so jarring. I wish I had the sources to post side by side footage of a scene similar to that in both 30 and 60 to better defend my POV but I don't. Does anyone have access to SotC 30 and 60fps footage of the same battle?

For gameplay reasons, i get your point. But Castlevania works perfectly fine the way it is for what it is trying to do. Edit: But something like DMC which requires specific frames to access specific moves... yeah, 60 is necessary.
 
Wolves Evolve said:
I notice terrible textures more than I do framerate problems. One recent example, I have Dragon Age on both 360 and PS3, one has quite terrible textures, the other has quite unstable framerate.

I don't disagree that I would prefer 60fps, in fact my ideal is Douglas Trumbull's 72fps for any source, he experimented with hundreds of speeds and found that beyond 72, the human eye was only ever gaining imperceptible quality of vision and therefore it should be considered a practical plateau.

My point is this - in an era with shocking textures still abound, with horrific colour palettes, with badly done motion blurring ... there's a lot of other things to be concerned about visually.
Framerate is more than just a visual thing. It's a gameplay responsiveness and fluidity thing, too.
 
As much as Ami is going to hate and flame and tear this post asunder, I'm going to make it anyway. That said this is just a general opinion about the matter that I feel like getting out.

I think there is validity to the opinion that a lower framerate (30, maybe just a bit under even) does give a game a much different feel than one that runs at super silky framerates. I don't know that I would say it makes something more "cinematic" but I don't know that I would want this game to be butter smooth; I think the lower framerate accommodates the atmosphere for Castlevania-- it's a very dark and medieval and by that very nature I don't think it should be ultra-smooth. I know the counter argument to that is that the game doesn't necessarily need to be 60fps as long as it runs fine and doesn't hinder the gameplay and I understand that. I think there's a difference between a game having a good, solid framerate and a game where the framerate issues conflicts with the gameplay.

I remember when Ocarina of Time came out and I played the demo at Wal-Mart (good times!) and even at age 14 I was like "this doesn't really run as smoothly as I'd hoped." But when I got the game, the framerate clicked with me especially when I got to the Forest Temple. Wait, I know, it's an old N64 game so expectations are different, but it still applies to this debate because when I got to the Forest Temple and the very haunting, dark and just insanely great atmosphere made me really appreciate the lower framerate. I just think that there's a difference between low framerates and bad framerates. Ocarina of Time had a lower framerate that helped accentuate its atmosphere and I feel the same way about Castlevania. Playing the demo and watching the numerous gameplay videos have not given me the impression that the framerate is bad, it's just low to accommodate the atmosphere. Now, as I mentioned in the other thread, I was watching a live stream of the 360 version and it slowed down considerably during combat with dozens of enemies-- that's bad framerate. However, most of the time, it ran very steadily and did not impede gameplay in any fashion.

This may sound silly to you (not just you Ami, not really trying to single you out here because I know others will find the argument just as dumb) but I absolutely do feel that way. Always have; I'm not lowering my framerate standards just to defend this game. If I played the demo and the framerate was bad enough to notice I would be complaining about it just as much as the next person, but it didn't, and again I don't think this is a game where Call of Duty framerates are necessary. To me the way the game runs is simply hand-in-hand with the mood of the the game. And considering the amount of detail and really, really good texture work, I'm very pleased with how it runs.
 
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