Castlevania:Lords of shadow

SeantheMan

ihateclowns11 wrote: »

Sweet looking game ,think ill be downloading this one for ps3 and xbox

You mean buying I think :rolleyes: , unless your talking about the demo

seraphimvc

i am afraid when i look at this game it doesnt really give me a 'Castlevania' feel:o

the fighting system is too 'god of war' (not saying that this is bad lol LoI/Curse of darkness on the other hand are kinda bad), and where is my Ayami Kojima's artwork?

not sure about the music compose part and most importantly where is my classics castlevania enemies?? watsup with these LoTR's enemies? and i saw the giant from RE4 too! watched tonnes of clips and in-game pictures but it still fail to persuade me to buy it. i guess without the series mastermind Koji Igarashi involvement, castlevania is just not the 'castlevania' to me.

damnit too, i was really hoping that this may turn out to be my first enjoyable 3D castlevania.....

SeantheMan

Just tried the demo there

-Very short - but good
-Enjoyed it as soon as Patrick Stewart started yapping
-Was expecting maybe a Lock-On button, but...maybe too easy then
-Graphics were very nice
-Fighting was good, wasnt sure what to do when on my horse with the Russian accent :P when those circles came up..tried pressing 'any button' like before, but he'd jump off
-Seemed very Epic, even in the first level, music was great and good atmosphere.
-Probably a rental or wait till price drops

johnny_ultimate

At chapter five now, on hard difficulty. Some impressions thus far.

Loving the frequent and varied boss fights. At this point it has been almost one a level for the last few levels, and it alters the pacing of the game nicely. Unfortunately...

Hating the checkpoint system. There have been a load of times I've been caught with a low healthbar in the middle of a difficult fight. I'm not sure if it is just high difficulty, but health doesn't regenerate. Hence, getting to a mid-boss checkpoint with only one hit between you and death is infuriating, necessitating the need for risky timed blocks to get the precious magic energy you need to fill up your health bar. Also...

Hating the ground pound moves employed by enemies. So very very irritating and frequent. If you're in the middle of a combo, buh-bye precious health. On the other hand...

Loving the variety of environments. Truly is compelling moving from place to place, with wonderful graphics and surprises around most corners. Also...

Loving the amount of collectibles and hidden objects, which after all is most of the joy of a Castlevania game. Most levels I have finished with around 50-75% of items collected, and that's with perusing the level carefully! Lots to find here.

Loving / hating the platforming. At best, you are traversing epic landscapes. At worst, you're trying to figure out where exactly the ledge you're meant to jump to is, often leading to loss of health. Boo.

Anyway, mostly enjoying it, despite some flaws which have led me to tear out my hair on occasion (trying to finish the

second form of the Lycan Lord

with only a tenth of my health bar left was a bastard). When it comes together, it comes together nicely. But with an inexact combat system which lacks the joys of its most compelling inspirations, it can be as infuriating as it is satisfying.

bugs

In agreement with johnny_ultimate, although i haven't really had the time to put into the game yet.

The fighting system isn't bad, it ends up being closer to devil may cry than god of war. However, it can be a little useless at picking up inputs making for a laggy feel to the combat.
This isn't helped by the static camera, which can make it extremely difficult to see what you're doing or what you're attacking depending on where its set.

Its not a great game, but its definitely a good game.

tman

Haven't really had a chance to get stuck into this properly, and got frustrated early on so ended up dropping the difficulty down to easy even though it wasn't really that hard... Think I'll ramp the difficulty back up and replay the last few levels next time I play it.

Losing health every time you fall off a ledge is a major pain in the arse (doesn't happen on easy), and as johnny said, enemies using that ground pound move can be an exercise in frustration!
Frequently repeated dialogue can also be extremely grating, so much so that I've taken to muting the TV during any sections where an NPC is involved

and especially whenever those bastard Chupacabras steal my stuff!

As a journey it really is an incredible spectacle

for example the first sighting of the Vamp castle looming over you at the end of a chapter... Gave me goosebumps!

. As a game, it could have done with a tiny bit of fine tuning.

bad2dabone

Just happened to me, the whole save debacle thing. This is a great game, i'm loving it but this is the most annoying bug. I had just beaten the vampire boss, gotten all the combos except the ones that cost 25,000 exp. I'm going to go cry in the corner.

And then put an SD card into my PS3 and start again.

valleyoftheunos

Anyword a patch for this problem?

Fizman

Seriously, what is with the shoddy products that are constantly being released to the public these days? Beyond a joke at this point.

maquiladora

Konami has responded :

We are looking into it. This issue only affects a very small number of users. We have a fix and are currently testing it. Patch incoming. To be safe make sure you periodically back up your save.

Generic_name01

I cleared the gaem on knight on sunday and want to get my paladin playthrough trophy but after hearing about this bug I'm worried! got 110% all the way up to chapter 4 so twud be heartbreaking to say the least to get the bug!

Not gonna risk spoiling anything since the game is so new but if anyone else here cleared it, how much did you love the ending? I'm a big castlevania nerd so I've never wanted a sequel so bad in my life.

bad2dabone

Incredibly I got stung by this bug AGAIN about 5 mins ago. However I had stored my save on an SD card in advance.

Really shoddy from konami, its really putting a dampner on my experience of this game.

Shryke

Got this the last day. Played an hour or two, at the first major boss. I'm liking it, good but not amazing yet.

kearneybobs

The combat gets really good once you obtain the light and dark magic abilities. Allows you to do some pretty amazing stuff and allows you a good variation in combat.

johnny_ultimate

A few of my issues with the game still stand (although the enemies start laying off the ground pounds later on - hard in general has actually started being more fun than frustrating, although losing a quarter of your health bar if you miss a platform is hella annoying) but just have to reemphasise how amazing this game looks. The landscapes during the

castle

levels were just out of this world. Running towards the boss' layer in that level, I just stopped a few times to take in the graphics. There were some images that I'd frame as a painting! Just fantastic.

Halfway through Chapter 10 now so nearly there. I must praise the developers for creating a long single player game with lots of variety. The combat might be pretty repetitive, and some of the puzzles frustrating, but there's lots to do in this game. It may shamelessly rip off others in many, many regards (SotC, God of War) but I prefer it to the overrated GoW III, that's for sure.

kearneybobs

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

losing a quarter of your health bar if you miss a platform is hella annoying.

Have you gotten to the

clocktower

yet? Now that was frustrating! Liking this game very much.

johnny_ultimate

briankearon666 wrote: »

Have you gotten to the

clocktower

yet? Now that was frustrating! Liking this game very much.

I actually didn't find that level too bad, a few missed jumps but the most annoying thing for me was trying to figure out why the levers kept springing back after I turned them a third of the way around (turns out you're not meant to hold the right trigger!).

In Chapter Nine, the

music box

level got me because I had to get through the last platforming bit - the electricity after the awkward timed jump - with only a tiny bit of health, and no enemies to use blue magic with: one hit death effectively. That required many a restart I actually liked the puzzle section of that level, but platforming with low health in this game is controller hurlingly frustrating!

Also, one thing it took me ages to appreciated was to never underestimate the usefulness of blocks for bosses when you run out of magic at an awkward checkpoint! I still wish the block and dodge controls were more differentiated (many an accidental dodge when blocking) but if you're really stuck, taking the risk for a block will reveal many precious orbs!

kearneybobs

I found the blocking maneuver really hard to pull off successfully. It would never work for me when I REALLYy needed it to but sometimes when I tried to throw a block in the middle of a large combo when a load of enemies are around me it would work. I just dont know why the dodge wasn't mapped to the right stick. The right stick is sitting there doing nothing anyway.

johnny_ultimate

briankearon666 wrote: »

I found the blocking maneuver really hard to pull off successfully. It would never work for me when I REALLYy needed it to but sometimes when I tried to throw a block in the middle of a large combo when a load of enemies are around me it would work. I just dont know why the dodge wasn't mapped to the right stick. The right stick is sitting there doing nothing anyway.

I don't understand it either. In such a twitchy action game, having a block button that requires you to be pressing no directional buttons just doesn't work in the heat of battle. The right stick definitely should have been utilised, if not for dodging then for full on camera movement! To block, you really just have to stay still for a moment and hope the enemy comes for you with a blockable attack.

I hate to bring up Bayonetta all the time, but the inspired fighting mechanics for that game really do show up the likes of GoW and this. It's the one game where losing feels like your fault as opposed to the game design!

AnCapaillMor

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I actually didn't find that level too bad, a few missed jumps but the most annoying thing for me was trying to figure out why the levers kept springing back after I turned them a third of the way around (turns out you're not meant to hold the right trigger!).

Oh dude i spent hours on that saturday night, thought my pad was screwed at one stage, then thought something was interferring with the bluetooth. watched several youtube vids while roaring i'm f'in doing that to the telly. Eventually figured it out.

another bit that got me

The sewers towards the end, the bit where you bunch the button wait for the spikes to drop run past and the door closes just as you get ot it. Took gamefaqs to figure out shadow magic and throw a knife. suppose the bag of knives beside the switch should've made me think.

Mr. K

I beat the second Dark Lord last night,

she

was really cool. Managed it on my first go too!

The more I play, the more I'm enjoying it. I haven't had much time to play since it came out, so I'm slowly making my way through it.

Shryke

Having a serious idiotic moment. Caught on an enemy kickin my ass repeatedly. I'm positive it's an easy fight! I've gone way way down hill since Ninja Gaiden.

kearneybobs

Shryke wrote: »

Having a serious idiotic moment. Caught on an enemy kickin my ass repeatedly. I'm positive it's an easy fight! I've gone way way down hill since Ninja Gaiden.

Which one?
Want some tips?

johnny_ultimate

Finished it today. Final boss is great (

Satan!!!

), one before that a great idea (robbed, once again, from SotC) that is only okay in practice (

damn brown ribcages!

).

However, I now really really really want a sequel because the post credits sequence is ****ing insanely mindblowing. MAJOR

Gabriel IS Dracula? Plus, the modern day?!

I barely cared for the narrative throughout the game, but man that cliffhanger got me hook line and sinker. Sequel please! If they follow the route they hint at, we could have one insane game ahead of us.

Pan was an absolute bastard of a boss

, though. Once again, stuck on ridiculously low health at a vital juncture. Became a cluster**** of blocking by my tenth attempt!

Definitely liked the game anyway, despite it's stolen ideas and occasional interface quirks and irritants. I don't always finish games satisfied, but I want a sequel to this ASAP now! It may not be Symphony of the Night (which itself was derivative of Super Metroid with welcome twists) but it's a good 3D Castlevania, which is a pleasant sentence to type.

Shryke

briankearon666 wrote: »

Which one?
Want some tips?

I'd love some but I refuse any help. Picking up the controller in an hour or so and the bastard is going to perish. :pac:

kearneybobs

Shryke wrote: »

the bastard is going to perish. :pac:

Best of luck.
Finished it there yesterday too. Really liked it. Think I might revisit it a couple of months down the line.

Mr. K

Finished it earlier. Great game, the battle with

Satan

was epic, especially since

he was voiced by Jason Isaacs

!

The nods to the original Castlevania timeline were cool, like the Gabriel's possible link to the

Cronqvist family

, the

castle as a living entity

and the

use of a Vampire Killer in the Music Box

.

It seems the DLC will take place post-game, I wonder what it'll consist of?

tman

Picked this back up after a week away on hols and was loving it until I got to the

Clockwork Tower

level, I'm not really sure if I should be posting in this thread or the "Hated sections in games" one...
I can't think of any other level in a game that has so perfectly illustrated the flaws in an otherwise good game.:(

No spoilers but the

music box

level is driving me insane :mad: It is very rare that a game does this to me, I was loving it up until now. Whoever designed this level should be beaten, flogged, set on fire and shot :mad::mad::mad::mad:
I find it extremely frustrating.

kearneybobs

Deleted User wrote: »

No spoilers but the

music box

level is driving me insane :mad: It is very rare that a game does this to me, I was loving it up until now. Whoever designed this level should be beaten, flogged, set on fire and shot :mad::mad::mad::mad:
I find it extremely frustrating.

I actually kinda liked that level. The only frustrating thing about that level was the seemingly random jump distances that would occur when jumping onto the platforms in the red sections.