Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

[shadowDOESrock]

*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

[jkid101094]

A miserable pile of-holy shit, dude.

[shadowDOESrock]

Here is the in-engine debut trailer.

aaand i already have a fully payed-off pre-order on this.

[jkid101094]

Didn't the last one sucks cocks, though?

[shadowDOESrock]

Didn't the last one sucks cocks, though?

No, it was one of the most amazing games i've played.
ever.


So called "Fans" just hate it because it has similarities with God of War and Shadow of the Colossus. And because its linear.

[jkid101094]

And because its linear.

I can understand this one, but only a little. Castlevania doesn't have a platforming genre named after it for no reason.

[shadowDOESrock]

I can understand this one, but only a little. Castlevania doesn't have a platforming genre named after it for no reason.

Castlevania was born linear and should've stayed linear.
Super Castlevania 4, one of the best games ever made, period.

Lords of Shadow used its linear design to compliment the fantasticly written story.
Not only that, but the Lords of Shadow Games are about how Dracula became Dracula. And its just such a fantastic tale.

I dont like the term Metroidvania, because Metroid is just... so much superior in that regard.
You get rewarded for exploring with important items and power-ups.

While in Castlevania Symphony of the Night you can just... grind through. And all you find are useless things.

Lords of Shadow goes back to Castlevania's roots.
A Linear and Challenging Game, where you always explore a completely new region in each level.

[shadowDOESrock]

[Hakudamashi]

Guacamelee is still my Game of the Year.

[shadowDOESrock]

Aside from that epic trailer...
Here's the first 20 minutes...



And holy god damn... I am in awe.

The Music, the Graphics, the Gameplay...
Castlevania's back *o*

[Hakudamashi]

Y'know, Ive never cared for Castlevania, i jut know it gets compared to Metroid a lot.
Is this franchise any good?

[shadowDOESrock]

Is this franchise any good?

One of the best of the best, with a few exceptions.

[Hakudamashi]

Well, what makes it one of the best? Other than being compared to Metroid...

[shadowDOESrock]

Well, what makes it one of the best? Other than being compared to Metroid...

Now, the issue with this question is that there's so many different flavours of Castlevania...


Flavour #1 - Classic
Titles: Castlevania, Castlevania 3, Castlevania 4, Castlevania Bloodlines, Castlevania: Dracula X, Castlevania Chronicles, Castlevania Adventure ReBirth

Some of the hardest games you'll ever play. I mean it.
But, unlike Ninja Gaiden on NES, they aint just insanely difficult to an unfair degree.
You could compare it to more recent games who've taken a page from Castlevania...
Games like Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy, Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures.
These Games are basically the mother of that "really hard, but fair" style
They give you an especially awesome feeling when you beat the Stage and the Music keeps you pumped during it all.
Each Stage has new enemies and a completely different boss, keeping you interested about what is gonna happen next.
The Artstyle still grabs you - Decades after release.
Now, I have to note that the above mentioned games are completely linear and use a classic level system. They are NOT Metroidvania.
I also have to note that these might not be enjoyable to modern games. The controls take time to get used to and you have limited Lifes w/ a password system.
Castlevania 4 has by far the most user friendly control sheme (you can whip in all directions) and isnt as hard as the others.



Flavour #2 - Metroidvania
Titles: Castlevania 2, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Castlevania Cirlce of the Moon, Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin,  Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
I, personally, do not enjoy these.
But, in a nutshell... Castlevania mixed with Metroid plus RPG Looting and Leveling.


Flavour #3 - Lords of Shadow
Titles: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
The Spin-off/reboot games.
Well... These will tell you one of the greatest Stories you'll experience in a Game.
Lords of Shadow goes back to being linear and uses a level-to-level design again.
Lords of Shadow is something I'd call a Masterpiece. This is how I imagined how "next-gen" games would be.
I'll give the Word to Zeigeist



Mirror of Fate on the other hand isnt that good...
I haven't bought that one yet, but I enjoyed the Demo.


Flavour #4 - All the shit ones
Which are all of those that I did not mention.



Now... If you want to get into Castlevania...
I suggest buying http://amzn.com/B00ENWZAHO (Castlevania Lords of Shadow Ultimate Collection) - It comes with Lords of Shadow, the two expensions packs for Lords of Shadow and an HD Port of the 3DS Title Mirror of Fate and a Demo for Lords of Shadow 2.

However, if you do so...
Do NOT tackle the Expansions Packs or Mirror of Fate before you finish Lords of Shadow.

aand you should also get Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Vita PSN) and finally Castlevania 4 (Wii U eShop).
Dracula X Chronicles comes with a remake of "Castlevania: Dracula X" as well the full original versions of "Dracula X" and "Symphony of the Night"

Ah, yes...
Thou are the "Needs Demo" guy.
Well, luckily for you (or not, depending on how powerful your PC is)...
Castlevania Lords of Shadow does have a Demo... on Steam only.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/234080/

[Hakudamashi]

There's a Lords of Shadow Demo on the PS3, and I wasn't impressed by it =V. It was like God of War with a bad framerate and an awkward dodging mechanic, but that was a loong time ago, I'll give it another try.
I tried Mirrors of Fate demo on the 3DS, 'twas alright. Framerate was wonky and the aesthetics didn't appeal to me at all though.

And that's my main gripe with Castlevania, I'm not into the whole gothic edgey aesthetic of the games, and games like it, but I can easily get over it if the games are cool