Castlevania Lords Of Shadow 1 (FAO: Mods not the sequel!!!)

I don't get it... I mean, there are platforming elements to the game which have the potential to be interesting... Except there are invisible walls at every edge!!! It is impossible to fail them.

I really want to like this game, but it isn't making it easy
 
Completed the first chapter last night. I can't wait to run through this game on the top difficulties and 100% all the levels haha.

So now the game properly begins. And I won't be able to play it again until Sunday :(

Edit, for those new to the game, the first and most important skills to unlock/use are:

Downward Punch (300 EXP) - If you are airborne with an enemy in the air nearby, press the [given] button to blast it down to the floor below you.

Flying Kick (200 EXP) - Press the [given] button while airborne to grab an enemy and launch into them with a downward kick. This attack only works on larger enemies.

Rising Assault (Free) - This area attack will lift up all surrounding smaller enemies, allowing additional attacks to be combined with it.

Rising Strike (Free) - This direct attack will lift up smaller enemies in front of you, allowing additional attacks to be combined with it.

Somersault (Free) - While blocking ([given] button) use the jump button ([given button]) to leap over and land behind an enemy.

Air Grab (200 EXP) - Press the [given] button while airborne to grab an enemy and pull them into the air. Combine this with further aerial attacks to extend the combo. This attack only works on smaller enemies.

These combined open up a lot more variation into early game combat, mostly air as you can see. But you can really start to string stuff together. Such as if you are surrounded by 3 or 4 enemies. Such as the little goblin guys in the swamps, with one throwing bombs. Use the ariel combo and then jump. It sweeps them all in and drags them up to you, then you can unleash fury. Then the air grab comes in handy to stay in the air away from main combat.

Don't forget to block and roll!!! You will last a lot longer.

A couple of people I know said combat is boring but you really have to use the moves together to get the most out of the combat. It works brilliantly :)
 
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Steam saves Castlevania at
the 10068043 will be different on your pc

G:\STEAM\userdata\10068043\234080\remote

two files

castlevania.cfg
castlevania.profile

Worth backing up if your multi pc clouded.

Just walking along a cliffside playing at 2650 x 1600 looks lovely :)

2013-08-29_00001_zpsf20885bc.jpg
 
HHHHNNNnnggggggggggggggggggggggg

I want to play but won't get to until Sunday! Social life is so annoying!
 
Playing this at the moment, and its stunning! Superb production and score, and visuals to boot! Very atmospheric. And the gameplay is damn good fun too.. Not bad for £16!

Hack n slash is not normally my thing but a few hours in and stringing some combos together is very satisfying...

With all of the above I can forgive the 'console leading you by the hand' game mechanics! Anyone remember the days when games didnt tell you what button to press every 5 mins..Sigh.

Bloody good game tho :)

Mick
 
This is terrible feels flat and shallow as hell reminds me of final fantasy 7 with the moving around in a picture frame with invisible walls.
 
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Now other games do have the same kind of design with the invisible walls etc like devil may cry or god of war or bayonetta / vanquish, but this just feels off key ? those games are meaty feel alive but this game cant describe it just feels like a boring vegetarian meal with no flavor.



Just give us gigantic next gen 2d castlevania secrets explore em ups saddens me that a game like this exists.
 
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Well I cant comment on other hack n slash games as I havent bothered with them before this.

But I agree on the Bioshock Infinite comments, that game was a massive let down, imo couldn't get on with the visuals (didnt like the style), the story and gameplay was very meh.. Made myself play till the end, but just regretted buying it :(

For Castlevania tho, at first I felt frustrated about being pinned in by the invisible walls, (not used to that!) but now I can see that they are there to allow the player to be guided along and taken into the story and to be able to fly around the screen enjoying the combat without the fear of dropping off the scenery or getting lost. I can appreciate single player games that do give you an open world to explore and discover, but I'm really enjoying being carried along taking part in the story being told. Which so far is a very accomplished production.

Even with my poor hack n slash skills its lots of fun and not frustrating, and the loading times are very quick!

Maybe I'm just a sucker for a beautiful game, great score, fun gameplay and a nice story ;) Its a long stretch from Castlevania I used to play in the arcades!

Mick
 
Finished this a few days ago and got a pleasant surprise. I thought the story was exceptionally good, not necessarily original, but its delivery was incredible and by the end of it I really felt for the main character. I can count how many videogames have made me care for the main character on one hand, so it was a nice surprise.

The gameplay on the otherhand was a let-down, at first I was struggling to find it interesting as the combat was just so limited. However like the story, it opens up and becomes more varied if you're willing to learn the combo's and utilise them. Also I have to mention the camera, it's awful, there's no other way to describe it. I can understand WHY they used it, and from a story-point and atmosphere building aspect, I can understand it, but this is a videogame and it really affects the already struggling gameplay mechanics.

Overall I absolutely loved the story, thought it was really powerful, combined with the dramatically beautiful environments and moody music, it made it worthwhile playing. On the other hand the gameplay let it down bigtime. However it sets a good premise for the next game. If they can manage to capture the atmosphere and story delivery of the first game and improve on the gameplay, then it'll be one hell of a game.


One thing I hated about the game was the DLC "The Forgotten One." It was a slap in the face to the rest of the well written, well established monsters and lore. Considering you've just fought Satan, the master of the universe, and won; suddenly THE FORGOTTEN ONE is on the scenes and is incredibly more powerful than Satan. It felt tacked on and weak and I hated everything about it.

Instead I thought they should have built upon the relationship between Gabriel and Laura, I thought it was really haunting how those 2 found some sort of mutual bond in eachothers company (like the game hints at.) I would have much preferred to see Gabriel protect Laura from an assault from the Brotherhood who were attempting to rid the world of the Camilla's bloodline, eventually leading Gabriel to take her blood. It could have also added more fuel to the reasons for Gabriel's actions in Lords of Shadow 2.

But yeah, the Forgotten One, I didn't like it at all. Weak, terrible, cliché, awful addition to a very well delivered story.
 
C64 said:
Now other games do have the same kind of design with the invisible walls etc like devil may cry or god of war or bayonetta / vanquish, but this just feels off key ? those games are meaty feel alive but this game cant describe it just feels like a boring vegetarian meal with no flavor.



Just give us gigantic next gen 2d castlevania secrets explore em ups saddens me that a game like this exists.
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I disagree about vegetarian meals having no flavour but agree with you otherwise ;)

I grew up with 2d Castlevania games and would love to see Konami make another one. Sadly they seem to have been trying to push a square shaped peg into a round hole since the N64 days.

To me LOS just doesn't feel like a Castlevania game in terms of atmosphere (poor story and some of the voice work is dire....Robert Carlyle was clearly only there for the paycheck). Compared to games like DMC, GOW, Uncharted etc. combat & platforming feels stale and somehow off and dare I say it derivative.
 
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jellofund said:
I disagree about vegetarian meals having no flavour but agree with you otherwise ;)

I grew up with 2d Castlevania games and would love to see Konami make another one. Sadly they seem to have been trying to push a square shaped peg into a round hole since the N64 days.

To me LOS just doesn't feel like a Castlevania game in terms of atmosphere (poor story and some of the voice work is dire....Robert Carlyle was clearly only there for the paycheck). Compared to games like DMC, GOW, Uncharted etc. combat & platforming feels stale and somehow off and dare I say it derivative.
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Disagree about the story, it's the best Castlevania story by a mile. Seriously, try to pick a Castlevania story that was better than this or Mirror of Fate, you simply can't because there isn't one.

I will agree about Robert Carlyle though. At the start of the game he just runs off dialog like he's talking to his local shop assistant, no emotion or effort. I think he gets away with it because of his accent, Americans can't hear past it, whereas a Brit can hear some half-***** Glaswegian voice.

Saying that though, I think he gets better as the game goes on, perhaps he's able to get his head around voicing videogames or something. But overall I think they should have given the role to someone with a slightly meatier voice. It's more apparent in the Lords of Shadow 2 trailers when he's Dracula, shouting and damning the world, his voice is far too tinny and thin and doesn't suite the character model.
 
eggyoke said:
Disagree about the story, it's the best Castlevania story by a mile. Seriously, try to pick a Castlevania story that was better than this or Mirror of Fate, you simply can't because there isn't one.
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Bad choice of words on my part, 'unengaging' would probably been more appropriate. I think the sheer volume of dialogue and its delivery was what killed it for me rather than the storyline itself.
 
jellofund said:
Bad choice of words on my part, 'unengaging' would probably been more appropriate. I think the sheer volume of dialogue and its delivery was what killed it for me rather than the storyline itself.
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Ah fair do's, and to each his own :)

I guess from a hack'n'slash platformer point of view it might feel like there's a lot of dialogue. I tend to like story heavy games with well established lore and thick atmosphere. I don't normally play platformers (because of macho and shallow storylines) so I don't know, it might depend on what perspective you look at it.
 
If anyone on 120hz monitor with SLI in this who are seeing flickering just enable vsync for the game so it stays at 120fps then it's totally gone.(adaptive vsync still causes it too)
 
Sorry for the mega necro bump but how is this game? It looks like an equal proportion of people LOVE it and hate it? There's a sale on at Gamesplanet at the moment and even though it's cheap I have to justify every penny to myself. My main problem would be it dragging hugely which some people mention (5 minutes of fun then an hour of tedium and being overlong in general).

Worth playing or am I better off ignoring it and sticking to DmC, Bionic Commando and Enslaved which I already own and haven't yet played.
 
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