Fractally long
I don't mind grinding if I don't have to do it and the main game is good. I enjoyed Circle of the Moon without ever feeling compelled to collect 'em all. Wouldn't you rather just play the game again than sleuth for every blasted card?
It Just Bugs Me
No one ever complained about the grinding in Symphony of the Night. They only started complaining once the game decided to give a tangible reward for catching 'em all.
If there hadn't been a Chaos Ring in the Sorrow games, considerably fewer would have minded.
And then Oo E came on the scene with its 20 Bear Asses sidequests, blarg...
So, since discussion is no longer going anywhere... Lords of Shadow. Your thoughts?
I believe I've already made it damn clear how much I detest the idea of this game, how it looks, etc. It looks like yet another generic God Of War rip-off with a protaganist who looks like Aragorn. Actually, I swear the devs have been taking too many notes from Lord of the Rings. Even the werewolves are a resounding "meh". To make matters worse, it likely won't come close to the reception Bayonetta's gained - I bet it won't be nearly as good, since Mercury Steam is developing it. Hideo Kojima is probably only there for the hype, considering his role is limited at best.
Also, the part about the reboot bugs me. It's pointless. There's still a metric ton of material to be mined out of Castlevania as it is now. So there's been a few 3D games of quesionable quality, but the 2D games have been good, if not fantastic, to this day, and it seems arbitrary just to throw out decades of material just like that. Now, the reboot for Spyro could be justified by how he was a Franchise Zombie since the third game, but Castlevania? What makes this hilarious is how IGA is probably going to ignore the "new timeline" completely, if not throw it away as usual when Hideo Kojima isn't looking. I honestly don't see IGA giving anyone else creative control of the series these days for more than one game, not even Kojima.
Speaking of which, has there been any word on what IGA thinks of this game?
edited 8th Dec '09 11:33:14 PM by Cronosonic
HIGH IMPACT SEXUAL VIOLENCE
I liked the phrase "God Of War rip off" back when it was called "Devil May Cry rip off"
ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.
My thoughts on Lords of Shadow?
While I'm not opposed to a Castlevania Reboot, (Though at least answer the two biggest questions first: the 1999 battle, and Galamoth.) I'm still uncertain of this game.
God Of War Ripoff? Who the hell cares? If it's fun, it's fun. There is the inherit problem that it'd be hard to make a 3D game that isn't just Devil May Cry/God Of War, and thus stand out. As opposed to their 2D exploits, which have become the name of the very genre. Hence the problem. A new 2D Castlevania is a treat, another fine Metroidvania game made by the experts. A 3D CV is trying to compete with all those other titles, and will have a hard time just being adequate, never mind excellent.
When I first saw the preview for the game, I began to question if it really needed the Castlevania stamp. Especially as I have kept hearing that it wasn't a Castlevania Game initially, it just had the label slapped on. Which is really bad, they feel the game needs a big name to sell, instead of standing on its own merits. Heck, the first preview for the game barely had anything hinting at Castlevania. No mention of Dracula, (And who are the "Lords" of shadow? Dracula's always been the main man.) no mention of Gabriel being a Belmont, and that wasn't the Vampire Killer whip.
In fact, I got suspicious when the next trailer didn't really add anything new, except for one line by who we presume to be Dracula, vowing to end the Belmont line. I half-suspect they threw that in just to say "Oh, yeah, yeah, it's a Castlevania game. See? Dracula, Belmonts, the whole nine yards."
Storyline-wise? Meh, the story is a convoluted mess anyways. Still, there is some elements to be mined out, beyond the aformentioned 1999 battle. And, heck, I'm thinking less "reboot" and more "retell the story." I'd love to see modern remakes of certain games, like Bloodlines or Belmont's Revenge. (I love those CV games that go to places outside the castle.)
But all my points are the meaningless warbles of a fanboy if the game turns out fun. If it's a fun game, that's all that matters.
Though I will admit, I've always wondered what would happen to the CV storyline if Hideo Kojima ran with it like he ran the Metal Gear Solid story.
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
HIGH IMPACT SEXUAL VIOLENCE
I agree. I would rather prefer a retelling of one of the Belmont's goes at Castlevania. Preferably Simon.
ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.
Simon? You're serious, Simon? Hasn't that guy's tale been retold five times already? (MSX Vampire Killer, Haunted Castle, Castlevania, Super Castlevania 4, Castlevania Chronicles) I know his adventure is the basis of the Castlevania Concept, (Dracula's risen from the grave and he's in his castle. Go kick his ass.) but still, there's flogging a dead horse, and then there's flogging a pile of blood and guts that used to be a horse. I mean, I suspect that's part of the reason that Castlevania Rebirth tells Christopher's tale, not Simon's.
Unless you mean retelling Simon's Quest. That'd be cool, though challenging to balance the wide-open outdoor travel with easy navigation. Order of Ecclesia was a step in the right direction, but it needs more interconnection to really sell the feel.
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
HIGH IMPACT SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Yes, i'm serious, Simon. unless of course they plan to rape his design further *.
Simon Belmont isn't just a Belmont. He's the Belmont.
edited 9th Dec '09 11:06:19 AM by Schitzo
ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.
I've found that as far as the Chronicles redesign goes, the only part that's really bad is the bishounen face. The leather armour and skirt aren't really that far off from his original design concepts anyways.
As for the Judgment design... I find it lacks weight to claim leather shorts are stupid looking, but a leather skirt is the epitome of manliness. Still looks 'wrong,' but hard to fully explain why, when comparing it to earlier designs.
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
Don't like Lords of Shadow? But...Patrick Stewart.
edited 9th Dec '09 11:30:49 AM by ninjaclown
... And?
So they got a big name as a voice actor. That indicates to me that they wasted money that could be better spent in development. Plus I'm not even sure who he's supposed to be. Presumably a mentor figure of sorts...
Still, unless they got Stewart to voice somebody like Brauner, (Heh, imagine him screaming "A PAINTING OF THE SOUL!") it isn't really that impressive.
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
What about Patrick as Barlowe? Shakespearean actors should be permitted to recite as much iambic pentameter as possible.
Patrick as Barlowe would work... But my main point is that a five-star voice cast isn't going to save a bad game. (Though it may make it enjoyable for other reasons.)
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
I haven't really seen much of the trailer of the Lords of Shadow game. But I've seen a few screenshots and I could not tell it was Castlevania. I thought it was some sort of new franchise until I saw the title of the game.
Anyways, recently picked up Circle of the Moon for $10. I've so far killed Cerberus and got the Salamander, Mercury, Venus and Golem cards. Any advice for on what to do now?
Get ready to enjoy the game's remix of Sinking Old Sanctuary. It will be used in a large part of the castle, where your next boss lies.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175699
Huh, turns out that Lords Of Shadow was always a Castlevania game. Guess a lot of us naysayers have egg on our faces, now.
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
Eh, that's a sidenote these days, anyway.
God Of War Ripoff? Who the hell cares? If it's fun, it's fun. There is the inherit problem that it'd be hard to make a 3D game that isn't just Devil May Cry/God Of War, and thus stand out. As opposed to their 2D exploits, which have become the name of the very genre. Hence the problem. A new 2D Castlevania is a treat, another fine Metroidvania game made by the experts. A 3D CV is trying to compete with all those other titles, and will have a hard time just being adequate, never mind excellent. Also, noting the interview in the link, it seems like it's implying that IGA is supposed to move away from Castlevania and that Konami's vision for the series isn't in line with IGA's. Apparently not, because IGA was in fact directly involved with The Adventure: ReBirth, which means he's far from done with Castlevania.
Honestly, the way I see it, Lo S will either be merely decent at best or crap. Either way, it'll likely be overshadowed by Bayonetta and Darksiders. IGA will likely steal control back, disregard Lo S if not chuck into the Discontinuity bin as usual, and go back to doing things his way.
edited 11th Dec '09 1:53:19 AM by Cronosonic
I don't think he'd need to retcon LoS, since they've pretty much said it doesn't take place in current Castlevania continuity anyways. So he just has to agree, and all is well.
You are right, it does have to stand up to Bayonetta. But I'm willing to give it a fair shake. Still, I do suspect it won't be much higher than 'decent.'
Don't take life too seriously. It's only a temporary situation.
Cox also sounds like a console elitist to me, as he says something along the lines of wanting to make Castlevania more prevalent in gaming again, as if the hand-held games didn't exist. The problem is, Castlevania still is prevalent in gaming, with a few mediocre 3D efforts aside, and there's really no point trying to appeal to the westerners because they eat Castlevania up in any form. That's why IGA was so focused on appealing to the Japanese, the only ones who weren't really buying it.
Also, if he wanted to to spread Castlevania to a wider audience, he should've went with the Wii. Just saying.
Also, does it need to be a brawller? Why not just a platformer with combat? Kinda makes more sense to me, and at least it'll stand out more. Lo S, right now, barely resembles Castlevania, and even then, it's because of the line mentioning the Belmonts that just seems there to make it look like a Castlevania game.
edited 11th Dec '09 10:34:08 PM by Cronosonic
HIGH IMPACT SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Originally, the staff wanted Judgment to be an adventure game using the Wii's motion controls. But Iga (or someone) said 'wouldn't your arm get awful tired with all that swinging?'
How complicated is it, really? Do not tell me you never got sore hands from playing video games for the first time. I had to develop friggin calluses for most of the things i can do out of twitch reflex now. If you don't have the strength to endure all that swinging, you'll get better with time. Or maybe the game's save system will have mercy on you.
Either way, i want to make whiplike motions with the wiimote and whip the shit out of things, dammit!!!
edited 11th Dec '09 11:19:06 PM by Schitzo
ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.
So in other words, we need a Western release of Castlevania: The Arcade? Excellent.
(I don't know nearly enough about that game, except that it reinforces Death's stripper tendencies.)
Skeleton fanservice...?
Oh, dear God.
Also, I played a bit more through Portrait of Ruin, and the Nation of Fools painting is so messed up. Gravity is messed up, so literally only a quarter of the area is actually facing the right way, the stage is half-circus, half devestated town, and to make it worse, the circus-like music is playing constantly. The area's boss? Legion. Did I mention this painting was messed up?
It depends on the chances, really. If an enemy has a 1% chance in Randomly Drops, no matter how fun it is, you're going to get sick of it before you get the item. If it's a 50% chance, grinding is much less likely to drive you insane.