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[Eternal Phoenix]

The final installment in the LoS time-line of Castlevania is here. While generally well received by most, the Lords of Shadow game saga has received criticism for not being like later Castlevania titles (metroidvania's) and having God of War/DmC type combat. Lords of Shadow 2 has not changed the combat (which in my opinion was great) but it harkens back to the metroidvania type CV games and does so more than spin-off Mirror of Fate. I'll list the features that have me most excited with this game:

• Open metroidvania exploration: Ever since playing Metroid Prime, I've loved games that have incorporated this exploration into them, from Castlevania series to Dark Souls.
• Skill trees for weapons and abilities: While the upgrade system from Lords of Shadow 1 remains, it's been changed so it resembles a skill tree featuring different tiers for abilities and your weapon upgrades.
• Heavy story: The games features a more direct story than the predecessors with more cut scenes. For me, this reminds a lot of Legacy of Kain with that it's combined metroidvania exploration with a heavy story, it helps that's it's a good story too with some amazing voice acting.
• Award winning Oscar Araujo once again composing the music for the game. 'nuff said.

From what people, who've got their hands on early versions of the game before release, have uploaded, the game is pretty much open with the ability to freely return to regions (which is sometimes mandatory and other times optional to access secrets, relics, upgrades, new encounters and new bosses).

YouTube user CGInfernoBlast has uploaded more than five hours of gameplay from the game so far. Watch at your own risk for spoilers but it shows the general gist of the game including the metroidvania exploration. This link takes you to part 1 in the gameplay. Reviews so far have been positive of the game such as the one from Game Reactor asides from two bad reviews such as the one from Edge. The main problem seems to be a stealth section although people who have played on the GameFaqs board claim it's not as bad as it was made out to be and resembles a puzzle rather than a straight up stealth section.

Modifié par Eternal Phoenix, 28 décembre 2014 - 05:31 .

[Vort3xX]

I would buy it for the music alone heh but Edge gave it 4/10 and Game Informer 6/10 as you said and here's the problem, i do not trust these sources and they are usualy sh!t when it comes to reviewing but that said you can't ignore them completely and maybe they're right though i really hope it turns out alright,

I liked the first Lord of Shadow, it was a fun game although not a "Castlevania" game for me personally but it's important to keep in mind that a different game doesn't equal a bad one imo but i'll wait and see how the second turns out.

Modifié par Vort3xX, 23 février 2014 - 04:55 .

[AventuroLegendary]

I look forward to playing the LoS series in full circle one time, minus the 3DS game. Fun combat, great (if a little confusing) story and good musical score. The metroidvania aspects in this is also a plus.

With this being the last installment, I really hope Castlevania returns to 2D platforming. They were getting somewhere with Order of Ecclesia before Konami decided to bail.

Modifié par LegendaryAvenger, 23 février 2014 - 05:12 .

[BouncyFrag]

I really liked the first one. The start was a bit slow but the Cornell boss fight sucked me in. I liked the demo for LoS2, especially the soundtrack which sold me on the game. I wonder if the chupacabras will return. On one hand they could be seen as unnecessary but I kinda liked the little fellas. They didnt want to hurt you, just hold on to all your uber magic gear and powers for a little while. Can't wait for Tuesday's release.

[TheChris92]

The founding factors of Castlevania is absent in Lords of Shadow--  Far as I remember the game is fun enough but it's no Castlevania game. The inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus with the boss battles is interesting.

Modifié par TheChris92, 23 février 2014 - 07:44 .

[eternal_napalm]

Early reviews are not good

[Raizo]

I loved the first game but I going to take a pass on LoS2. Edge are notorious for being hard in thier reviews so I'm not so worried about the score, I am however concerned with thier harsh reaction towards the stealth elements in the game, the fact that Game Informer also made a huge deal about this has me very worried indeed, if it is not done right stealth mechanics can be very frustrating and if this game goes to that particular well to often it could break the entire game. You don't play games like this with a protagonist like this to sneak around. Just because Mercury Steam were able to fit a square peg in a round hole doesn't mean they should have, some forms of gameplay don't belong in certain genres.

The main reason I am taking a pass on it however is that I am ready to move on from 360/PS3 games, LoS2 arrived a bit to late in the last gen console life spans to impress me. I downloaded the demo the other day, I loved the combat and the art direction but everything looked so rough and clunky, I swear the first game looked more impressive.

[Eternal Phoenix]

Vort3xX wrote...

I would buy it for the music alone heh but Edge gave it 4/10 and Game Informer 6/10 as you said and here's the problem, i do not trust these sources and they are usualy sh!t when it comes to reviewing but that said you can't ignore them completely and maybe they're right though i really hope it turns out alright,

I liked the first Lord of Shadow, it was a fun game although not a "Castlevania" game for me personally but it's important to keep in mind that a different game doesn't equal a bad one imo but i'll wait and see how the second turns out.

I see the Edge review being thrown across the web while the majority of good reviews are ignored. For me it seems no different than the 5/10 score Destructoid gave to the first game. Different opinions for different people but most seem to love it again.

Raizo wrote...

I loved the first game but I going to take a pass on LoS2. Edge are notorious for being hard in thier reviews so I'm not so worried about the score, I am however concerned with thier harsh reaction towards the stealth elements in the game, the fact that Game Informer also made a huge deal about this has me very worried indeed, if it is not done right stealth mechanics can be very frustrating and if this game goes to that particular well to often it could break the entire game. You don't play games like this with a protagonist like this to sneak around. Just because Mercury Steam were able to fit a square peg in a round hole doesn't mean they should have, some forms of gameplay don't belong in certain genres.

The main reason I am taking a pass on it however is that I am ready to move on from 360/PS3 games, LoS2 arrived a bit to late in the last gen console life spans to impress me. I downloaded the demo the other day, I loved the combat and the art direction but everything looked so rough and clunky, I swear the first game looked more impressive.

See above about the scoring but I agree on the stealth. I think it shouldn't have been in the game at all but from what I've watched and heard (since there seems to be an influx of people who have access to the full game now) the stealth sections are few and miminal in what is a 20 hour game.

LegendaryAvenger wrote...

I look forward to playing the LoS series in full circle one time, minus the 3DS game. Fun combat, great (if a little confusing) story and good musical score. The metroidvania aspects in this is also a plus.

With this being the last installment, I really hope Castlevania returns to 2D platforming. They were getting somewhere with Order of Ecclesia before Konami decided to bail.

I seriously don't think CV will ever return to 2D at least in a fully fledged release. Konami have seen how profitable these new 3D CV's have been and will probably continue in this direction with whatever developer they choose next. I personally don't mind at all whether CV is 2D or 3D as I've enjoyed both styles. 

At the very least ,the original time-line deserves a proper conclusion (but one could argue it had one) or that Julius Belmont spin-off. So long as we don't get another god-awful Judgement type game, I'll be happy but I really wonder when we'll see a new CV game after the release of LoS2. Will the next developer set it in the same universe? If so, how? Or will it be in the old time-line or a new time-line altogether and how about just a reboot of a old CV? Who knows...

TheChris92 wrote...

The founding factors of Castlevania is absent in Lords of Shadow--  Far as I remember the game is fun enough but it's no Castlevania game. The inspiration from Shadow of the Colossus with the boss battles is interesting.

It's got Dracula, it's got a Belmont, it's got a whip, it's got the vampire killer, it's a got a castle, it has exploration. For me it's as much as a Castlevania as SoTN or that horrible CV which featured skeletons on motobikes...

Modifié par Elton John is dead, 24 février 2014 - 09:56 .

[TheChris92]

Elton John is dead wrote...
 It's got Dracula, it's got a Belmont, it's got a whip, it's got the vampire killer, it's a got a castle, it has exploration. For me it's as much as a Castlevania as SoTN or that horrible CV which featured skeletons on motobikes...

He has the Belmont name but that's like saying DmC is a Devil May Cry game because the main guy's name is Dante. There is no Belmont clan in this game. Most of the game plays like another God of War reject, from my experience, and like Sonic 3D doesn't get a long too well with Castlevania. The Vampire Killer is a crossbow as opposed to a whip this time, I find Dracula's back story and introduction in this game to be weak. I like the boss battles because it's essentially like Colossus like you pointed out in another thread. Also far as I remember there was barely any exploration in the game but I gather they wanna change that in the sequel.

Modifié par TheChris92, 24 février 2014 - 10:51 .

[Chewin]

Discovered this franchise not only a few weeks ago, and it genuinely surprised me.

I am not familiar with previous Castlevania installments, so the game having a similiar combat mechanic as God of War / Dante's Inferno / Devil May Cry didn't bother me. And while I was fully expecting an entertaining hack-and-slash game was actually much more than that.

The game features quite a promising protagonist, a decent storyline and a surprisingly good antagonist. Though what really captured me about the game was Gabriel's fall and rise to Dracula, making the character someone to sympathize with rather than the evil incarnate (like in previous games) that serves to blatantly hate from the player's POV. It serves as a great method when you play as Dracula in this upcoming game, making one having different views on the character.

Will be interesting to see how LoS2 will advance on Gabriel's character development, which has me more interested than the gameplay itself.

[Fishy]

I'm really heavy on stuff tommorow

Castlevania
Thief
Thor
Gravity
Supernatural

and than the 27 .. Starting listening to VIking season 2 !

Modifié par Suprez30, 24 février 2014 - 01:39 .

[ev76]

I can't wait to get my hands on lords of shadow 2! I've played and enjoyed lords of shadow and mirror of fate. That said I've watched some of the walkthroughs and this game looks fantastic. I can also say that everyone having problems with one particular stealth section,without being to spoilery forget to use a particular power that would make their life easier.
It seems all three games of this series bring different play experiences. That and the story is something I have and will enjoy come Tuesday. Oh also the ost of the games is awesome.

[TheClonesLegacy]

My Profile pic may imply I'm on this hype train already.

I love LoS 1 and Mirror of Fate, and I'm super hyped for 2.

[OdanUrr]

What's going on with this week's releases?

 

 

It's even worse than Thief, apparently:

 

http://www.metacriti...rds-of-shadow-2

[Eternal Phoenix]

 

He has the Belmont name but that's like saying DmC is a Devil May Cry game because the main guy's name is Dante. There is no Belmont clan in this game. Most of the game plays like another God of War reject, from my experience, and like Sonic 3D doesn't get a long too well with Castlevania. The Vampire Killer is a crossbow as opposed to a whip this time, I find Dracula's back story and introduction in this game to be weak. I like the boss battles because it's essentially like Colossus like you pointed out in another thread. Also far as I remember there was barely any exploration in the game but I gather they wanna change that in the sequel.

 

Umm, yes there is a Belmont clan in the game. Play Mirror of Fate. You have Trevor Belmont, Simon Belmont and now Victor Belmont all who use the same combat cross too and it is a whip, not a crossbow. A crossbow shoots projectiles, the combat cross is a chain weapon like a metal flail which functions like a whip but better. I find Dracula's back-story to be far stronger than his back-story in the original time-line where he becomes a vampire simply because his wife dies. This Dracula has more reason for anger and revenge and is far more humane. I actually sympathize with him unlike the original Dracula who was a laughing stock in the original time-line, resurrected every 100 years just to be killed again. In the end, I feel sorry for the old Dracula for all the wrong reasons.

 

What's going on with this week's releases?

 

 

It's even worse than Thief, apparently:

 

http://www.metacriti...rds-of-shadow-2

 

According to some reviews. It's mixed to positive though just like Thief. Seems like one of those titles we're going to have to play as there are some reviewers/players who love it and others who hate it. I knew the modern setting was going to be a bad idea though. All reviewers seem to love the combat still which is a good thing for me. Although I can't really comment on Thief's problems as I haven't read the reviews for that one yet.

[DeathNyx]

Epic series not much else to say, can't w8 to play it. My Premium Edition should arrive tomorrow. 

[Fishy]

Still purchased it. Reviewer are getting super predicable of how they will review each game. You could make an apple jump for 10 hours with nothing else to do and it's might get a 10/10. SInce it what you were expecting. That remind me too much of DA2. So they expect a thief game to have the same WOW effect the first had and it did not. So it received a low score. The criticism of ign is laughable. It's suck because it happens during modern time ? Or the enemies aren't ''unique enough'' .. And by unique I mean the stereotypical monster you find in a castlevania game.

 

Take Titanfall. What do you expect for this game ? A FPS with robot played in a small map and no story ( or a super crappy story). So since you expect this from this game .. Than you will give it a good score based of these expectation ( Usually above 8.0).. If the expectation is greater.. It might reach a 9.0 and above.

 

Also why are people now so addicted to review site ? It like everbody can't for themselves anymore. They let journalist do it for them before even playing the thing for themselfves. It's like hating Celine Dion because it's the cool thing to do or you're part of a certain social group. Are we has a society really becoming like this ? Sheep and stooge ?

 

Haven't played castlevania 2 and I let you know what I really think of the game. The most important thing .. Am I having fun ?

[ev76]

I'm loving the game so far. I'm at about 4 hrs in and must say it is quite enjoyable. I saw some of the reviews I had to laugh on the kotaku one when the mentioned it took them 4 hrs to pass one stealth part. I haven't had any problems of that sort, lol.
Anyway the game is fun so far.

[Eternal Phoenix]

I'm loving the game so far. I'm at about 4 hrs in and must say it is quite enjoyable. I saw some of the reviews I had to laugh on the kotaku one when the mentioned it took them 4 hrs to pass one stealth part. I haven't had any problems of that sort, lol.
Anyway the game is fun so far.

 
Yeah, I find Amazon reviews are far more legit and so far it has 4.5/5 from seven reviews there from people who've brought the game and played it. Metacritic is fine sometimes but it seems to attract a lot of a butt hurt people (for every game that is released) who rate every game they dislike 1 star leading to fan boys to rate 5 stars in response leading to non-balance. Amazon reviews are (most of the time) far more level headed...well aside from two of the ones for LoS2 currently on Amazon.com...
 

is a good game to play nice n long i like how u bite ppl i like being the king of darkness

 

I bought this because I expected the same greatness as the first but was I wrong. Simply put, this is awful and HUGE waste of potential with a game holding a fantasy pedigree like castlevania.

The first guy rated the game good and the second rated it bad. Both have had comments asking them to elaborate but I love the first review. It's hilarious as if being able to bite "ppl" makes it the best game in the world, lol. The other five reviews out of the seven are a lot more informative. You can read them here.

Although speaking of metacritic, the user reviews so far are great for it. 82/100 so it can't be a massive fail. When a game had a bad user score on metacritic it's either because it disappointed fans in someway or genuinely sucks. This has a positive score. I get the game this Friday so we'll see how the game does for me. I'll post my own thoughts back here then.

[AventuroLegendary]

I've had more fun with some 6.5s and 7.0s games than I did with some 9.0s. Though, the hamfisted stealth doesn't sound appealing to me.

[Eternal Phoenix]

TotalBiscuit's (The Cynical Brit) view on Lords of Shadow 2. He basically sums it up as:

+Castle sections are amazing with an amazing variety in the environments, great enemies and lots of enjoyable exploration and metroidvania goodness.
+Great combat.
+Great musical score.
-Modern sections are horrible mainly due to less work being put into the environment and exploration here and these parts seem like filler content.
-Bad camera.
-God-awful stealth sections.

 

He says it's great but also with flaws.

[themikefest]

Just downloaded the demo. Will play it later. Hopefully it's good as the first one.

[AventuroLegendary]

So I recently read something about the story. A specific scene, actually. Light spoilers.
 

Spoiler

It involved Ole Drac slaughtering an innocent family and immediately going into brooding emo mode about his past and family, as if to elicit sympathy from the audience and to paint him as a justified anti-hero. Ugh... Is this going to be another God of War where I have to feel sorry for a hypocritical mass murderer?

[Liamv2]

Has anyone got it yet? I'm wondering how bad the stealth sections are before buying.

[Chris]

Has anyone got it yet? I'm wondering how bad the stealth sections are before buying.

They're really bad and it doesn't make sense to have them but i never found them frustrating and it wasn't hard, unlike in some review where some idiot spent 4 hours trying to go through it, i don't know if he was b!tching for the sake of it or what happened but i can't understand how it's possible to spend 4 hours on it.

 

Lords of Shadow 2 is a game where you can have really fun moments in but it is definately a bad game imo since enemies shouts the same damn quotes a hundred times every fight and that is quite annoying i have to say, Combat is repetitve and could really need to be fleshed out with more moves, magic and i wouldn't have mind the option to have abilities that change the way you play even though it's pretty rare in games nowadays (Human Revolution did it ok i think but with swords instead ofc), modern time is a boring setting imo and i much prefer the first game and the world/ characters feels on the whole pretty damn generic but it have good vocie acting atleast. R.I.P. future gaming, i swear it gets worse every year.