Castlevania

[RowdyRodimus]

If you have a Wii, there's a good WiiWare Castlevania called Castlevania The Adventure: Rebirth. It's a remake of the original gameboy Castlevania and it's pretty good for a $10 WiiWare download. It plays like the old games (1-4 and Bloodlines) and they also have Rondo of Blood for $10 also (but you can get it on the PSP too). So in essence, if you have 2 of the 3 systems this gen (with the Wii being one of them) you can have all of the Castlevania console release with the exception of the Sega Genesis Bloodlines game ready to play at a moments notice.

I do, in fact, have a Wii. I rarely ever use it, but for $10, I think I'd really enjoy that. Just the opportunity to experience the originals, which would at the very least, give me a better understanding of the games, and help me give a more informed opinion on the new one. Now I have a reason to hook up my Wii! I so rarely use it I didn't realize you could download older games onto the Wii. >.> Oh, and depending on how that goes, I may be torn between the Wii and PSP for the last one. I do love a good handheld game before going to sleep.

Thanks!

You're welcome, it's not a problem at all

Well the one good thing about getting it on the PSP (they call it Dracula X on there) is that it also comes with Symphony of the Night and can be found used pretty cheap. Just look for it under the title Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.

This is what these boards are for IMO, sharing what we know with each other and helping others to find things and ways to enjoy their gaming even more.

 

[zombiesinc]

You're welcome, it's not a problem at all

Well the one good thing about getting it on the PSP (they call it Dracula X on there) is that it also comes with Symphony of the Night and can be found used pretty cheap. Just look for it under the title Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles.

If it's available on PSN, I'll certainly get it. If not, I may stick with the Wii, as this town doesn't offer much, and I can't be bothered ordering it online for a while. But still, I'll keep that in mind.

This is what these boards are for IMO, sharing what we know with each other and helping others to find things and ways to enjoy their gaming even more.

Y'know, I really couldn't agree more. It's just not as common as we'd like, so it's refreshing to see and hear.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I never played a Castlevania game in my life, but Lords of Shadows looks pretty damn good. The visual style and character designs look terrific.

The only thing that's holding me back from buying it is the combat. I played the demo and the combat just seems to be a shallow version of God of War. Fighting with a whip shouldn't feel like you're fighting with a chainblade. They could've just aswell designed a completely new combat scheme around dual-handed combat where you have a whip in one hand a a blade of some sort in the other, but in the end the took the easy way out and just copied the GoW fighting style. Shame.

 

[Julianking93]

OT: I've been a huge fan of the Castlevania series since I was 3-years-old (I'm almost 23 now). I love Castlevania to death. This is no Castlevania. It's God of War, yet again. I'm so sick of God of War games. And why does the tutorial have to keep telling you "Press R2 to climb ledges", when you're already on stage 5? That's how little the game thinks of you.

Damn...that bad, huh?

Well, seeing as I myself am a huge fan of Castlevania, I was torn between buying this and Dead Rising 2....I guess I made the right choice to get DR2 yesterday >>

Still, I must ask, how does this compare to Lament of Innocence? That was my all time favourite Castlevania.

 

[child of lileth]

Damn...that bad, huh?

Well, seeing as I myself am a huge fan of Castlevania, I was torn between buying this and Dead Rising 2....I guess I made the right choice to get DR2 yesterday >>

Still, I must ask, how does this compare to Lament of Innocence? That was my all time favourite Castlevania.

Lament is better in alot of ways. The biggest being Lament actually is a Castlevania game. This is a horrible step in the wrong direction, and fair weather fans are the only ones that love it. They're like the weeabos of this series. The only reason it has anything to do with Castlevania is that they force a few reminders of the story into it every now and then. Like, it brings up Mathias, and Vampire Killer, but who doesn't already know all that? I mean, Dracula and the whip have been in almost every single game anyway. No one is gonna forget about them.

The game is just insulting to long time fans, it's insulting to players with that horrible tutorial that stays far too long, and the only way you could like this is if you love playing God of War games. I really don't need Quick Time Events for "mash X to jump a boss' shock wave" in my Castlevania games.

 

[Nomanslander]

I never played a Castlevania game in my life, but Lords of Shadows looks pretty damn good. The visual style and character designs look terrific.

The only thing that's holding me back from buying it is the combat. I played the demo and the combat just seems to be a shallow version of God of War. Fighting with a whip shouldn't feel like you're fighting with a chainblade. They could've just aswell designed a completely new combat scheme around dual-handed combat where you have a whip in one hand a a blade of some sort in the other, but in the end the took the easy way out and just copied the GoW fighting style. Shame.

My sentiments exactly.

I too have played the demo and I also found the gameplay to be a watered down version of GoW. Honestly even though I've mostly been a major fan of Castlevania while it was a 2D game, I was looking forward to the 3D crossover, but I just don't see this as being it.

$50 says Yahtzee will be crucifying the game a week or two from now for being a GoW clone...=/

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I still fail to see why New Vegas is so desired, it looks like they remade Fallout 3. (Don't say it is being made by the people who made the originals because NO IT ISN'T they have like 3 people who worked on the originals working for Obsidian)

Because it's a remade Fallout 3. I loved Fallout 3 and a new main story, to me, would be completely worth the money. Plus the little things like iron sights and weapon upgrades... I know it sounds silly, but part of the reason is because I remember back in 2008 when I was getting excited for Fallout 3 and watching the preview videos... it sort of reminds me of how I felt back then. Yeah, it's silly, but I'm looking forward to roaming the wastelands again...

 

[SpireOfFire]

yes im an old CV fan.
yes i have it.
what do i think of it? frustrating, confusing (the puzzles), and very very long. but entirely fun.

sidenote: i have often said that castlevania games frequently have the best soundtracks. this one... eh, not so much. its good, but its nowhere near exemplary as is expected from castlevania.

It is another moment of comparing of differing tastes. Out of all the Castlevania games, I like the music from this one the most. This coming from a person who found Symphony of the Night to have fantastic music.

Does it have Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears in there?

EDIT: for some reason the quotations keeps buggering up for me.

you mean does it have the two best songs in video game history on the same fanchise game that spawned said songs?

no.

(at least i haven't come across it yet.)

 

[Casual Shinji]

The game is just insulting to long time fans, it's insulting to players with that horrible tutorial that stays far too long, and the only way you could like this is if you love playing God of War games. I really don't need Quick Time Events for "mash X to jump a boss' shock wave" in my Castlevania games.

I love God of War, but the combat in Lords of Shadow is the only thing that's keeping me from buying it.

The combat in GoW fits the game because it suits the weapons you use; heavy blades on chains. But in Lords of Shadow you use a whip which should feel swift and elegant yet comes off as slow and cumbersome. It disappoints the hell out of me when I think they could've designed a completely unique combat scheme around the use of a whip yet they choose to go with the usual light and heavy attack scheme.

I still think the visual and character design looks amazing though. All the more reason why I'm so disappointed that the combat is as thick and shallow as a muddy puddle.

 

[FlyAwayAutumn]

FlyAway: What system did you get it for? Where did you pre-order it from, wondering because of the T-Shirt thing. I got my limited edition from Amazon, what I got was the the hardback book binding type case with the alternate cover look, a CD with the 20 music tracks from the game, and the 40 pages of concept art attached to the inside of the front inside of the book case. I really love the case it is just awesome, this might be strange, but I can't stop smelling it. It smells like new trading cards, Yu-gi-oh cards to be exact, which is funny because Konami are the ones that do the Yu-gi-oh cards and games as well. I just love that smell, it must be the epic smell of Konami.

I need to practice writing articles, so when I finish the game, I will try my hand at my first user review to post here. It will most likely be a must buy review of the game, unless something goes wrong, I am about as far into the game as FlyAway.

I got it for 360 and preordered at gamestop. Also shorten my name to Autumn instead of FlyAway. It sounds sexier that way.

 

[FlyAwayAutumn]

yes im an old CV fan.
yes i have it.
what do i think of it? frustrating, confusing (the puzzles), and very very long. but entirely fun.

sidenote: i have often said that castlevania games frequently have the best soundtracks. this one... eh, not so much. its good, but its nowhere near exemplary as is expected from castlevania.

Yeah the soundtrack on this one is pretty...I would say "meh" but completely and awfully horrendous works better for it. I'm glad I didn't order the collectors edition and pay an extra 20 bucks for an art book (that I would never look at) and the soundtrack to the game. The only music I liked from it was the first notes of music on it where it plays a snippet of the original theme and then goes into its generic music it has the rest of the way through it.

Also, I kind of wish they gave us camera control, especially on the frost titan.

I got the soundtrack from the limited edition and while this new music goes well in game I don't like it by itself which is a step down for CV.

I don't mind not having camera control, the camera positioning works well most of the time except when it focuses on a mini boss without having good enough positioning to see what the little guys are doing.

 

[FlyAwayAutumn]

The game is just insulting to long time fans, it's insulting to players with that horrible tutorial that stays far too long, and the only way you could like this is if you love playing God of War games. I really don't need Quick Time Events for "mash X to jump a boss' shock wave" in my Castlevania games.

I love God of War, but the combat in Lords of Shadow is the only thing that's keeping me from buying it.

The combat in GoW fits the game because it suits the weapons you use; heavy blades on chains. But in Lords of Shadow you use a whip which should feel swift and elegant yet comes off as slow and cumbersome. It disappoints the hell out of me when I think they could've designed a completely unique combat scheme around the use of a whip yet they choose to go with the usual light and heavy attack scheme.

I still think the visual and character design looks amazing though. All the more reason why I'm so disappointed that the combat is as thick and shallow as a muddy puddle.

Have you played Lords of Shadow? It's not light and heavy attacks it's area and direct attacks, I'll give you area is basically light attack, and direct is basically heavy. But the combat IS fast and smooth I've even grown to prefer it over previous CV titles.

Also stop saying this new CV copied GoW that's a stupid fucking thing to say, there have been previous 3D Castlevanias that have used this same basic configuration. If anything GoW copied CV with the chains. Besides that what does it matter if it's similar to another game? "Oh look this 'Castlevania' bullshit has castles it's copying Tenchu" or some other game that has castles.

Edit: Oh look triple post. Is that a new record?

 

[diabla616]

I am SO keen for this game. I haven't bought it yet, but have plans to go and buy it tomorrow. I'm a longtime Castlevania fan, and have been waiting for a game to come out on the 360 since I got a 360.

 

[Misho-]

Do you know that even though Kojima "reviewed" the progress of the Game, he wasn't directing it?

It was more like the oficial director, David Cox or something- sent him monthly updates and he commented on the status of the game. Even Mr. David said something like "he would always tell me what he thought about it but that it was up to me" Actually the game cover doesn't show the Foxhound logo of Kojima because he felt they were just abusing his-oh-so-great name to sell the game, you will just see the fox on the starting screen where all the logos show up...

And that's it, all I know he's pretty much responsible for was the Character design since the first drawings were something like a son between alucard and a Barbarian, but then got changed into a more relatable character

 

[FlyAwayAutumn]

yes im an old CV fan.
yes i have it.
what do i think of it? frustrating, confusing (the puzzles), and very very long. but entirely fun.

sidenote: i have often said that castlevania games frequently have the best soundtracks. this one... eh, not so much. its good, but its nowhere near exemplary as is expected from castlevania.

It is another moment of comparing of differing tastes. Out of all the Castlevania games, I like the music from this one the most. This coming from a person who found Symphony of the Night to have fantastic music.

Does it have Vampire Killer or Bloody Tears in there?

EDIT: for some reason the quotations keeps buggering up for me.

you mean does it have the two best songs in video game history on the same fanchise game that spawned said songs?

no.

(at least i haven't come across it yet.)

If it doesn't have at least one of the classic castlevania songs, it ain't a proper castlevania. So here's hoping it does. *Crosses fingers*

It doesn't, here's the entire soundtrack in fact:

Spoiler

1. Besieged Village
2. The Warg
3. Hunting Path
4. The Dead Bog
5. The Swamp Troll
6. The Ice Titan
7. Labyrinth Entrance
8. Waterfalls of Agharta
9. Agharta
10. Cornell
11. Maze Gardens
12. Castle Hall
13. The Evil Butcher
14. Laura's Mercy
15. Carmilla
16. The God Mask
17. Belmont's Theme
18. Final Confrontation
19. The End
20. The Last Battle

 

[Casual Shinji]

Have you played Lords of Shadow? It's not light and heavy attacks it's area and direct attacks, I'll give you area is basically light attack, and direct is basically heavy. But the combat IS fast and smooth I've even grown to prefer it over previous CV titles.

Also stop saying this new CV copied GoW that's a stupid fucking thing to say, there have been previous 3D Castlevanias that have used this same basic configuration. If anything GoW copied CV with the chains. Besides that what does it matter if it's similar to another game? "Oh look this 'Castlevania' bullshit has castles it's copying Tenchu" or some other game that has castles.

Edit: Oh look triple post. Is that a new record?

I played the demo and I'll say it again; the combat feels slow and cumbersome. And anyone can see that they took the GoW approach when designing the combat.

I'm not hating on the game, I'm just extremely disappointed that they took the easy way out with the whip by making it the usual chainblade.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

FlyAway: What system did you get it for? Where did you pre-order it from, wondering because of the T-Shirt thing. I got my limited edition from Amazon, what I got was the the hardback book binding type case with the alternate cover look, a CD with the 20 music tracks from the game, and the 40 pages of concept art attached to the inside of the front inside of the book case. I really love the case it is just awesome, this might be strange, but I can't stop smelling it. It smells like new trading cards, Yu-gi-oh cards to be exact, which is funny because Konami are the ones that do the Yu-gi-oh cards and games as well. I just love that smell, it must be the epic smell of Konami.

I need to practice writing articles, so when I finish the game, I will try my hand at my first user review to post here. It will most likely be a must buy review of the game, unless something goes wrong, I am about as far into the game as FlyAway.

I got it for 360 and preordered at gamestop. Also shorten my name to Autumn instead of FlyAway. It sounds sexier that way.

Okay, I will do that Autumn. I was just typing fast and I just cut it off in the middle to save time. I tend to be very wordy when I a discuss most anything. So it is good to find typing short cuts.

Have you played Lords of Shadow? It's not light and heavy attacks it's area and direct attacks, I'll give you area is basically light attack, and direct is basically heavy. But the combat IS fast and smooth I've even grown to prefer it over previous CV titles.

Also stop saying this new CV copied GoW that's a stupid fucking thing to say, there have been previous 3D Castlevanias that have used this same basic configuration. If anything GoW copied CV with the chains. Besides that what does it matter if it's similar to another game? "Oh look this 'Castlevania' bullshit has castles it's copying Tenchu" or some other game that has castles.

Edit: Oh look triple post. Is that a new record?

I played the demo and I'll say it again; the combat feels slow and cumbersome. And anyone can see that they took the GoW approach when designing the combat.

I'm not hating on the game, I'm just extremely disappointed that they took the easy way out with the whip by making it the usual chainblade.

The problem with saying chain blade is that it isn't a chain blade. A chain blade would be a blade that can be used as a sword and then when the user wants, it can be used as a whip-like chain.

The combat cross in Lords of Shadow, has no blade. It is a big metal cross, and the chain comes out of the top of the cross. There is no blade/blade action. It is pure chain whip. If you play the first ever Castlvania game, you will see that it isn't a straight whip Belmont is using, it is a chain with usually something attached to the end of it.

I totally agree with Autumn. The combat is fast. It is fast if you are playing it properly. If you sit there and just occasionally press X or Y a couple times, you aren't going to be attacking very fast. Heck, the majority of the attacks I have unlocked are combos of 5 or more buttons, some have up to 12. The more you chain your button presses, the faster the combat gets. Of course it slows down if you get hit, that is a given.

I am SO keen for this game. I haven't bought it yet, but have plans to go and buy it tomorrow. I'm a longtime Castlevania fan, and have been waiting for a game to come out on the 360 since I got a 360.

If you keep an open mind, you will love it.

The problem I see with some of the comments in this thread are people are constantly comparing the game to other games, or saying that it is not like their favorite Castlevania game. Seriously, if they don't like this game because it isn't like a previous one, they should go back and play that game if that is what they like. Let the people that want to have a new game when a new game comes out, instead of playing the same thing over and over again. Variety is the spice of life, to use a cliche.

People need to stop comparing games to other games. I've never played God of War, but so what if the combat is like GoW. Even if I had played GoW, I wouldn't be thinking that when playing Lords of Shadow, because I don't think that way when playing games.

I keep my mind free and clear, I've never compared a game to another, unless it is a game in the same franchise, even then I don't criticize when it isn't warranted because of obvious reasons that need to taken into account.

Some people here have complained that LoS isn't a 2d side scroller, so it won't measure up to the 2d side scroller Castlevanias. Yes that is right the 3d won't measure up to the 2d, not because the 2d was better or what not, it is because you can't sit there and compare 3d to 2d because they are two completely different animals. With 3d you will have to have a totally different control scheme, so you can't compare 3d and 2d in that sense, or really any other sense.

I understand where you're coming from,and i respect that and I might have like the game more too,but my problem with Lord of Shadow was,It's Castlevania.

I didn't grow up with Symphony of the night,but older Castlvanias,and to me Castlevania is always be 2d(or it can be 2.5d consider how good Shadow Complex was) action side-scroller filled with horror cliches Greek mythologies (some people forget that Castlevania started as a horror game. Yes,Castlevania was suppose to be scary.)

First, you didn't have to grow up with Symphony of the Night, since it was re-released several months maybe year or more ago. (That is how I got to play it, for the first time on my 360.) The only thing different between the 2d SotN and others against the older 2d Castlevanias, is the RPG elements like inventory and experience.

On the whole 2d/3d thing, see the paragraph just before your quote.

I don't get your horror game comparison. Do you not see Lords of Shadow to be a horror game? I can't see how it is not. It also still has the horror cliches and Greek mythologies that other games had. (Titans and Pan, how is that not Greek?) And so far the major enemies have been Lycans, how are glowing red-eyed werewolves not a horror cliche. The game also covers other mythology with goblins and trolls. Still, Castlevania has always dealt with stuff from all mythologies and religions. So far, LoS is doing that.

I feel what you were trying to say was that LoS has no horror elements. The problem with that is it does.

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Okay, I'm done. This post itself has turned into a Titan.