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(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/511152/castlevania_lords_of_shadow.png)

So, who got this, is getting it, is staying as far away as possible, would recommend it, would not recommend it, and so on and so forth?

Personally I'm pretty sure I'll get it, but I was looking for opinions on it. I've played the demo twice and enjoyed it a fair bit.

Plus it's really fucking good looking.

It's a real curiosity for me with how much I like Castlevania but I don't have a PS3 so I've been watching lots of videos of it. It looked technically solid. The environments were purely visual treats. I noticed a bit of clunkiness with some of the controls and animations. And it shed the things that made Castlevania like rhythm in level design, threatening dynamic platforming, and catchy melodic music. But I guess the first two would be difficult to capture in an action game in the vein of God of War and Devil May Cry. Yeah.

I think I would be indifferent if it wasn't Castlevania honestly. It really seems to pride itself on being epic.

Yeah, it follows Castlevania much more in theme than in gameplay, from what I saw. It's still about defeating monsters like werewolves and vampires (though these I hear don't really show up much until near the endgame), etc, and going through dark and dreary environments. I'm somewhat sure Dracula's in it too. Not sure about Death, though. Would probably be a little silly for the so srs air they want to create around its story.

From what I could take the story is on the melodramatic side, but a far cry from the campy scripts and ultra-bad voice-acting of more traditional Castlevanias. This could be a bad thing for some people, but it's a bit of a blessing for me.

Wake me up when they start making 2D Castlevanias again...

I think it's substantially different in theme actually. In terms of aesthetics, it's really drastic. I mean, there are a plethora of ways to portray monsters, and LoS really does its own thing from the traditional titles. Not a compliant I guess.

Also, from what I saw, the script is still incredibly campy. Haha.

For me it takes itself waaay to seriously and the protagonist is epitome of bland AAA games character design.

I'm disappointed, the screenshot shows a distinct lack of NEXT-GEN features.
I like his armor though, it looks like a dragon. It's cool.
I hope it gives him badass dragon power. Maybe the character is a half-demon, that would make the game more interesting, with difficult moral dilemmas and a dark mysterious past.

@moi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXV6oWKMcSU

They should have given him akimbo uzis.

I tried the demo and it felt too much like God of War or Dante's Inferno for my taste.

Yeah, the script won't win any oscars (or maybe it could, if it had a story about someone who was crippled and dramatically overcame their disability), but what I saw still felt like an improvement in terms of coherent storytelling. Of course, "What is a man?" has its own unique charm. :P

Yes, it's very God of War-ish. But what I played showed a pretty good, engaging game, and that's mostly what I'm worried about.

The main character is at least more likeable than Kratos could ever hope to be.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_The_Adventure_ReBirth

This might interest you.

Bought it yesterday. It's a an enjoyable and fun game, but it doesn't feel like Castlevania at all. It's a cross between Devil May Cry and Uncharted with a dark fantasy setting. Pretty much the only resemblance it has to any of the other games in the series is that the main character's last name is Belmont and his main weapon is (something like) a whip.

That said, as far as new age AAA action games go, this is actually really well designed. The combat is satisfying and has a bit of depth (given you play on Knight or Paladin difficulty), there are a whole bunch of levels and a lot of variety both visually and gameplay-wise. Hidden secrets and additional "challenges" add replay value. The story kinda sucks but I sure dig Patrick Stewart's voiceovers. I could listen to him reading generic fantasy crap all day.
 ;)

TL;DR: Forget it's called Castlevania and you'll be fine.

Yeah, that's essentially how I'm going into it. Not thinking of it like it's a Castlevania so much as just a good action/adventure game.

I agree, the story sounds plenty generic. But I take a decently told generic plot with voice-acting that doesn't make me want to pierce my ears over most of the other stuff out there any day of the week.

I wonder how much they paid Patrick for this. Must have been plenty.

The thing I probably miss most from the older Castlevania titles is the distinct music. It's all generic unmemorable orchestral Hollywood bullcrap.  :(

I'm also starting to note the distinct lack of gothic castle environments, but that's supposed to change later on if reviews are any indication. Also, the SoTC ripoff boss battles are a bit too blatant for my tastes.

This is the kind of thing that bothers me about a lot of recent installments of video game series. I don't understand whose decision that is - who really prefers it to other styles of music? Even in films, aren't the scores that stand out usually the ones that are different in some way?

Anyway. Looks pretty God-of-War-ish, which isn't my scene, but as far as games like that go it's got good art direction.

How's the level design? I haven't really dug the level design of a lot of the recent action games, but this game has platforming so I'm guessing that might be changed a bit I suppose?

I mean, not just how it's good by having multiple secret paths but how those paths and areas where you fight enemies are designed and etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guXsYWtasFg

As you wish master



(bonus cred for recognizing the song)

Most of it is eye candy unfortunately. The levels are mostly made up of generic corridors as well as more "open" areas where you fight enemies. The environment factors into it ever so slightly. So yeah, it's very much along the lines of recent action games.

As for the "platforming" parts, they mimick Uncharted in that they're both separate from the combat parts and mostly about climbing. It's more like you're playing two games alternatingly (three if you count the occasional puzzles). I'd have preferred it if it combined the various gameplay styles, but it's decent the way it is.

Note that I'm only at chapter 2 right now so things could possibly change later in the game.

@Gilbert: Holy shit, it's from Super Castlevania IV, my fave of the pre-Metroid Vanias. Is that in that in the game somewhere or just the trailer?

I think only the Sands of Time trilogy tried to work the platforming skills into combat.

Too bad that series's combat was hella clunky.

EDIT: Actually, the 3D Ninja Gaidens did it too. In that case it was the reverse, combat was refined and platforming was a pain.

Hmm, actually I never thought about it that way. I suppose integrating platforming into these "hack'n'slash" games is harder because the combat is much more "complex" than in the old sidescrollers like Megaman, Contra, or indeed, Castlevania.

This reminds me, I still have to play Sands of Time one of these days.

It's certainly possible, but it should require a lot of work in ironing out the gameplay and making sure everything works as it should. The more systems you have working together the harder things get.

Of course, if there's someone that could take the time to do that is mainstream developers, so that's probably not an excuse.

@C.A.
I don't have the game, I don't know if it's in.

It's the first video I had seen and I was like HOLY SHIT AWESOME AMBIANCE, like in "they did something different" then gameplay commentary kick in and give the "generic mash up vibe with final fantasy envy". Then I realize that it was an homage as the comment unfold and say "crap, if it's not in the game it's a miss opportunity". I mean that ambiance the music give to image is HUGE.

I read this was a remake of Castlevania franchise (which sadly make sense due to the whole time warp/playing as dracula nonsense oh well). So does Patrick picking up the role of not being in majority of the game and being used to as a selling point for nerd?.


So dante emoish, belmont looking for masks, who else do we have left that isn't retcon for the young crowd.

Actually, going by the narration, Patrick Stewart's character is silently stalking Gabriel's every step and it is fantastic. He has a wealth of lines in the game, mainly due to being the narrator as well as one of the more major characters, second only to Gabriel. Considering the rest of the cast, I think they really just wanted a top-notch cast.

@C.A.
The song in that commentary video is from Super Castlevania IV by the way. It's Dracula's Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2KlLVnkw1k). It isn't in the game though. There are subtle nods to the music in the game though. I think all they did was ostracize their unique qualities, turning them too into drab movie music. I feel gimped by that level design comment. I think I would have preferred less stylistic combat if it meant a blending of platforming and combat. You don't exactly need a plethora of moves to have a deep combat system.

Exactly. None of the actual in-game music I've heard so far has anywhere near the same kind of impact (or any impact at all).

Well yeah, but there aren't nearly as many movies where the music plays a large role (musicals and musician biopics aside) as movies where it plays a diminutive one. It's a certain school of thought in film that says the score has to be more "ambient" in nature and subtly, almost subconsciously, influence a scene as opposed to dominating it.

Yeah, Robert Carlyle as Gabriel ain't half bad either. We need more Scottish accents in games.

I knew that. See my reply to the poster formerly known as Neoshaman.  ;)

The monsters, weapons and story are very blaargh. Predictable and ripped off colossus and other games of the sort.
OTOH There is a good ambiance in the video, very japanese. The 3D is great, impressive lighting.

These japanese devellopers will be able to stop saying that japan doesn't know how to make games any more (just before they air raid our cities and rip our bellies wide open with a katana).
The 2D castlevania game seems very bad (at least judging by the video replays). It looks like a bad indie game I've seen better looking gamemaker games.

That game was develop by the español developer of hellgate london Clive Barker's Jericho under the supervision of Kojima (it's hard to believe that's the same studio and it show that creative direction is indeed very important regarding ambiance and quality).

EDIT:

While the 2D Castlevania on WiiWare looks pretty ass, the level design is actually pretty stellar. Lots of neat ideas.

It feels like the movie approach to Castlevania. It's very serious almost feels like Lord of the Rings style fantasy. I was expecting something a lot more gothic. I'm waiting to reach the Vampire part to make a decision on it. The music is toned down generic ambiance music that most games get these days. The plot is nothing special. Graphics are really nice but so far this game Isn't reaching the expectations I had in my head. It's like the Castlevania team was like ... Well Devil May Cry was so popular we can make our version of that! Sadly, I'm not a fan of Devil May Cry style games. I am a Castlevania fan though and I was hoping to see it nicely translated to 3d. 
Was anyone weirded out by that strange Fairy that was at the locked Gateway. It was such an ugly style-less 3d model. At least in pixel art, the image of a fairy would be so simple that I could make up something awesome in my head. I can make up the difference. This fairy looks like a some cheesy Elfwood fairy.
Anyway, I want more Goth, less uncanny Valley. Here's hoping the plot takes a dramatic twist towards 'interesting'!

So I'm at chapter 3 now and the lack of dark environments is beginning to bother me. This isn't Castlevania, this is Sunlit-Temple-Vania!

Seriously, FUCK THAT SHIT!  :mockangry:

I heard the vampires and gothic castles are shown later. I saw some of that stuff in the trailers so I'm pretty sure it's in the game. Plus I heard Frankenstein's castle/lab is in the game as well. That should be interesting.

I got the game, and so far I like it. But I AM a fan of DMC-style games, so I guess this hits a better spot for me than most Castlevania fans.

The music is very subdued, yes. I had to up its volume in comparison to voices and sound effect just to be able to hear it most of the time.

In general this is a very good game, so far. But yeah, I'll have to agree that this uses the Castlevania name merely to draw more attention. It could be called anything else and it would have pretty much no effect on the game.

The narration by Patrick is nice stuff, but a little wordy. He talks a lot about very little sometimes. I don't think every single level part needed a narration before it, since some of these aren't all that eventful.

I also like the game's attention to detail in design, like giving me options to show damage/experience numbers, enemy health bars (very useful to also see where in the screen they are, since some of them can blend a little with the environment when the camera is pulled farther away), and such. You can also see all (I think) of the stuff that was in a level when you complete it, like life upgrading gems. It's useful because you can retry it at any time, from what I saw, so you can go back and grab the stuff you didn't.

I REALLY wish I could customize controls, though. I've no idea why devs recently decided beat'em ups having the trigger buttons for defensive moves was a good idea. I can never hit them with much precision since they need to be pressed down somewhat before the input is even registered.

The complete disregard for the right stick is also puzzling. It does nothing. They could let me pan the camera sometimes with it.

Blocking and dodging also require some learning curve, because to counter an enemy's attack you have to block earlier than your reflexes would normally tell you to (you have to press the button when the enemy start the attack, I believe, not when it's about to hit you). So yeah, gotta try to anticipate things a little bit.

I still feel this is an improvement to 3D Castlevanias in general, even if it's so different from the traditional gameplay and design. Every other 3D Castlevania I've played ranged from mediocre to awful.

I dunno, I just really like his voice. He could be reading the phone book before each chapter for all I care.  :lol:

To be honest, I don't block and counter a whole lot at this point. Only some attacks are blockable and I haven't bothered trying to find out which ones yet, so I mostly just roll around and jump a lot. The whip has such a long range that moving away from enemies isn't really a problem.

Also, why does every enemy have a "shockwave" attack you have to jump over to avoid?

Mainstream game "depth"

I beat the game recently. Here are some thoughts:

I general, I loved the game. I went into it with a fresh mind, not hoping or expecting it to adhere to Castlevania conventions or themes, and that's probably the best way to play it.

If you're looking for pure combat, it's probably a good idea to rent it first, cause the game has a TON of puzzles. However it lets you unlock the solution of the puzzles at any time before completing them yourself, and in exchange you forfeit the experience reward for completing it on your own. Honestly I found that to be a very nice idea that should help out those that aren't very interested in brain teasers, though most of them aren't very complex.

Combat itself doesn't show an extreme level of depth, but it does have some interesting ideas. The game eventually gives you two magic meters, Light and Shadow, and a Focus gauge. By doing well in combat and not getting hit you increase your Focus, and that nets you more neutral orbs you can absorb as either Light or Shadow mana. Light magic, among other things, heals you when you strike enemies, and Shadow deals more damage. Using either magic stops you from getting new orbs to replenish them. It's an interesting system that I wish was better explored to its full potential. There are two specific parts later in the game that show a little more ingenuity with it.

One problem with bosses was that they shared too many attacks. Tons of bosses had a stream of fire attack that hit in a line ahead of them, everybody and their mother had a ground pound you had to jump over, etc. Each boss did have their one or two unique abilities, but it felt somewhat repetitive overall. Combat in general wasn't that challenging, especially with the ability to heal yourself and generous checkpoints most of the time, not to mention Gabriel's crazy reach.

By the end I was starting to agree with the comment that you can listen to Patrick Stewart read the damn phone book and still enjoy it. The story itself was good. Won't break any new ground, but it was a cut above most videogame stories, and the acting helped give it weight, even if the narration could have been easily trimmed to half of what it was, if not a third.

Also, I really wish they hadn't gone with the never-stays-still camera. I can't figure out the reasoning behind it. Sometimes I just want to stop and admire the expertly crafted scenery without my screen jittering, thank you very much.

Also, difficulty settings are lazy. It seems all a higher difficulty changes is how much damage you take. There's a lot more that could be done with it, and I feel very little incentive to replay the game in a higher difficulty if I know everything will be the same, just with me being unable to make as many mistakes as before.

Shadow of the Prince of Dante's Godofwarvania.