MoviePage

I pretty much agree with all of the above. I bought this game 2 days ago and after playing it for about an hour last night I spent the rest of the evening playing...A Kingdom for Keflings, which I've had for about 15 months.

I suppose it's an ok game if you like a lot of button mashing. I also agree about Stewart's voiceover, especially during the opening of each chapter. It just sounds like Stewart reading from a script into a microphone. It needs some faint background music or something.

Michael Corvin

Well, okay then.

Gooter

Is this a 20 hour game then even with all of these short levels?

Trying to decide if I want to get this next week during the TRUB2G1 or just hold out for the inevitable price drop.

MoviePage

I'm only on chapter 2 and yes, the levels are short, but there are MANY of them. The game has 12 total chapters, but as an example, chapter 2 contains 8 or 9 levels. Since there isn't really any exploration, I'm guessing any time estimates will be pretty accurate.

MoviePage

Also, after reading what seems like overwhelmingly positive comments on certain other sites this morning from people who've progressed farther in the game than I have, I'm now more eager to press forward than I was based on my own experience of playing so far.

slop101

You say ADD, I say people like me who just don't have that many 2-hour chunks throughout the day to sit down and grind out 2 hours between save-points.Yeah, on that point, it seems like it started development as a brand new IP, but half-way through, they said, "hey! Let's make it a Castlevania game!"

Michael Corvin

Amen to that. It's the only reason I haven't gone back to Alan Wake.

pinata242

On this note, I lent my AW to a friend after I was done with it, neglecting to warn him about the "you can't save mid-episode" stuff I heard about. When I brought it up, he had quit mid-episode 3 (the longest). He pulled up his save and it was where he left it. Apparently you can quit mid-way through at checkpoints, but I haven't verified that yet (he still has my disc).

YMMV. Back to Castlevania.

fujishig

Chapters 3 and 4, at least, only have 2 levels each (although the last part of chapter 4 took me about 45 minutes to pass due to dying). It does get a bit better once you have a handle on the light and dark magic. You can also see which special weapons are more effective against enemies by looking at their profile in your book.

I was also stuck going back and forth trying to find


I'm only playing on Normal difficulty, but it seems the only penalty for dying is going back to the last "checkpoint" with half your health, but no refill in magic or daggers.

As a dad, I appreciate the smaller chunks of gameplay and the level-select nature of the game. But it still isn't Castlevania as of yet, and it's not just because there's no castle.

big e

This thread is not painting a good picture of this game for me. It seems like it may be average at best. On one hand, it seems to be getting decent reviews on game sites, but on the other hand almost every person in this thread has said it's not that great.

I honestly think Castlevania is a series that may have run its course. It seems destined to say stuck in the 2D Metroidvania world since those are the only games anyone seems to like. Every time a 3D Castlevania comes out, the fans bash it, it gets terrible reviews, and Konami goes back to Metroidvania. I've played every Castlevania that has come out since Symphony of the Night and, to be honest, I've never thought the 3D ones were as bad as everyone's said, even the two N64 games. No, they weren't great, but I didn't think they were that bad either (then again, I haven't played either one for a couple years, so I may just not remember them being bad). Now, 3 games that seem to get pretty high praises, Order of Ecclesia, Aria of Sorrow, and Dawn of Sorrow, are my least favorite Castlevanias.

Here's something to consider: everyone seems to be ragging on Lords of Shadow for taking God of War's game play, but didn't Symphony of the Night just take Metroid's game play? I know I'm comparing two completely different games here and from what everyone's saying it sounds like Lords of Shadow just plain isn't good, but I think you get the gist of what I'm asking.

Anubis2005X

He could've read from a script while sitting on the toilet for all I care. It's Patrick friggin' Stewart...

fujishig

That is a good point. I do think SOTN brought more to the table than just being a Metroid clone, if only because the settings were very different. But I wouldn't say LOS is bad, it's just not terribly original (and for some reason, the red suits just remind me of DMC), but it is pretty well executed. I will say this, if you liked the other 3D Castlevanias, this one is way, way better. I don't regret purchasing it, though it does seem like the kind of game that will get discounted relatively quickly, since it's a single player experience, a known IP (so copies will be plentiful) and is not first-party. The only thing it's missing is "made by Ubisoft, to be discounted in a couple of weeks" label.

I do kinda regret getting the LE... the score is great and all, but the case is regular-DVD-case sized, which won't fit on my PS3 shelf...

I wonder whether this or Enslaved will do better; while I know they're different games, they're similar enough that I don't have time to play both of them at once (a lesson I learned getting Bayonetta and Darksiders at the same time last year and only having time for one).

Quick question: which part of the game was in the demo?

MoviePage

The opening battle with the wolves/villagers, followed by the horseback chase and accompanying fights.

dsa_shea

I'm not saying that you can hit X to skip but it should be that easy. Sorry for the confusion.

Michael Corvin

Although I feel like less of a moron now for not figuring out X skipped scenes.

RichC2

Not really no, SOTN reminded me of Simon's Quest, which I guess was the first "metroidvania" but the two series are so completely different in terms of setting, mood, and feel that it's always seemed like a bit of a pointless comparison. (The main thing being you need items to progress to different parts of a big map, which more games should be following to begin with.)

However, I've never been a fan of the level-based Castlevanias, and that's the biggest deterrant for me with this game. Plus, I've never been a big fan of the God of War games (they get repetitive and incredibly boring to me pretty quick, too much emphasis on repetitive combat.)

slop101

Well, while the fighting might be repetitive (though you do get constant upgrades to keep it interesting), unlike a "MetroidVania" type game, at least you don't have to do the constant back-tracking resulting in repetitive levels and environments. At least the setting is constantly changing. Speaking of which, I really dig the art-design and graphics of the game. It's got a great sense of atmosphere.

superfro

Agreed. I've enjoyed what I've gotten to play quite a bit. Looking forward in getting to really dig into it.

Eric D.

I see your point, but you wouldn't have to slog through the entire level in one sitting. I just wish the stages were more of a traditional length. I'm sure they would still have checkpoints along the way that would allow you to play for as long or as little as you wanted. With the way it is set up now, I feel like it's a giant demo and I'm just getting a little taste of everything. Every time I get used to a level design, it switches to something completely different and I lose the sensation of forward momentum. But maybe that's just me.

Also, is anybody else having trouble with the health save system? I'm playing on the second hardest difficulty, so it may be that, but I'm not crazy about your health following you through each level. Basically, I finished a level with low health and the next level has two medium boss fights in a row. So I can only get hit twice or I die and have to start the whole thing over again.

And the music in this still kicks ass. Even though I'm not in love with the game, I'm glad I picked up the LE so I have the score on disc.

MoviePage

Please ignore any previous negative comments from me as have discovered game is, in fact, fucking epic.

slop101

It's pretty much an epic epic of epic epicness.

FRwL

Can't belive this is in its own timeline.

RichC2

Michael Corvin

spoiler!

FRwL

I just checked the wiki article on this and its in the opening
why's this funny?!