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

[agnes]

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.

So I've completed it multiple times over the years on multiple platforms. Having it on PC is the best obviously as it doesn't take much to run it at the highest and specially if you use Nvidia's DSR to run it at a much higher res making it buttery smooth around the edges and crispness.

As for the game, it is a very long game, well, not insanely long, but it's a story more than anything with puzzles, bosses, multiple enemy types and you have one main weapon. You can upgrade your spells/weapon throughout the game to tailor your fighting style. The story is fantastic in my opinion. There are some areas that feel 'dragged' but in the context of the story, it's meant to be like that, why should a swamp be filled with gun ho action (no guns in the game btw) and epic music? It's a swamp, it's meant to sap your energy, be tedious and test you to push through it. Then you get huge towers you slowly scale and the music is going, you're leaping from edge to edge, only to break into the castle and start punishing your self through lots of puzzle rooms designed by Dracula.

Personally, for me, it's an easy 10/10, I love story, I love the setting, I love the combat (it can feel a bit like smashing X is all you do, but once you start unlocking skills and learning how to chain them, it's so much more!). Graphics are obviously not the best by todays standards, but I still adore the art style. I'll load the game up and get a screenshot for you.

Oh, forgot to mention, you can easily back track to different levels to do challenges and stuff to earn more points to unlock more skills.

 

[x-st]

Personally, for me, it's an easy 10/10, I love story, I love the setting, I love the combat (it can feel a bit like smashing X is all you do, but once you start unlocking skills and learning how to chain them, it's so much more!).

Any negatives? You're really selling it well but the general mixed concensus for a long game make me wonder what there is that people dislike so much.

 

[agnes]

What the hell is wrong with this forums img displaying? lol...

I can't get rid of these stupid marks...
[IMG]http://imgur.com/uoLvBVR

 

[x-st]

You need to link to the jpg.....Looks lovely and atmospheric! But what are the negatives?

 

[agnes]

Any negatives? You're really selling it well but the general mixed concensus for a long game make me wonder what there is that people dislike so much.

What do they say is their reason for disliking it? Obviously a game preference is a personal thing, I love Skyrim, some don't, I love Castlevania, others don't. All I can do is tell you my thoughts on the game. What sort of games do you like? Is this up your alley or are you more of a FPS guy?

Also, these screenshots are running at 5120x2880 on my 1440p monitor, 980ti and a buttery smooth 60fps, solid.

 

[agnes]

I think this is what you're aiming for.....Looks lovely and atmospheric! But what are the negatives?

Honestly, the negatives... For me, is the combat can be a bit tedious when you start, as it's not really explained well and it seems boring. But after you realise you have combos and what have you, it really opens up. Plus, as you progress, you unlock new powers and items that also aid in combat.

Ummmmmm... There are some enemies that are a pain in the ass, their attacks are a bit cheap but this is a few and far between. Some puzzles drag it out with waves of enemies sometimes just to break up the puzzle side of things. Puzzles can be VERY tough, but nothing a bit of googling won't help.

Those points are minor to me. Oh, did you know you have Patrick Stewert voicing and narrating the story as you go and also one of the key characters?

EDIT: Just read some reviews on Steam... A bit shocking so many dislike because it's a long game??? As for buggy... Not really, not that I've noticed anyway. One guy complained it doesn't know what it wants to be, I think he's never played an old school Castlevania, it's a platforming adventure hack and slash game with puzzles lol.

 

[x-st]

What do they say is their reason for disliking it? Obviously a game preference is a personal thing, I love Skyrim, some don't, I love Castlevania, others don't. All I can do is tell you my thoughts on the game. What sort of games do you like? Is this up your alley or are you more of a FPS guy?

FPS not so much - my favourite games would be ARPG's like Valkyrie Profile Silmeria, Third Person games like Devil May Cry 3 and Metal Gear Soild 3, and RPG's such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. I've always been an RPG/action adventure player and even have the original Symphony of the Night PSX game still lovingly tucked away. I enjoy the third person adventure combat type games but combat has to be varied (I spent time S Ranking the original Devil May Cry, and finishing the God of War games on the hardest difficulty...although now I'm older I doubt I'd do that again!). Like you I loved Skyrim and put around 165 hours into it. I suppose the key things that would put me off would be repetition and lack of variation in combat or enemies, a forced stealth element, and a story that gets needlessly dragged out. A long game is fine but it needs to remain interesting!

Edit - Did you play the second one too? Is that inferior?

 

[agnes]

FPS not so much - my favourite games would be ARPG's like Valkyrie Profile Silmeria, Third Person games like Devil May Cry 3 and Metal Gear Soild 3, and RPG's such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. I've always been an RPG/action adventure player and even have the original Symphony of the Night PSX game still lovingly tucked away. I enjoy the third person adventure combat type games but combat has to be varied (I spent time S Ranking the original Devil May Cry, and finishing the God of War games on the hardest difficulty...although now I'm older I doubt I'd do that again!). Like you I loved Skyrim and put around 165 hours into it. I suppose the key things that would put me off would be repetition and lack of variation in combat or enemies, a forced stealth element, and a story that gets needlessly dragged out. A long game is fine but it needs to remain interesting!

If you liked God of War, then chances are you'll like Castlevania as well. It's similar, not as highly budgeted as GoW, but similar play style and game type. Devil May Cry! Loved that back in the day, S ranking? You're nuts lol. A thing to note about Castlevania LoS is that it's done in chapters (see below), each chapter has a number of levels, each chapter is also placed into a different area, so one chapter can be spent scaling mountains, another in the swamps, then in Draculas castle. So as I imagine you're like me, don't have 6 hours every day to throw at gaming due to being a boring adult now, you'll have an hour or 2 tops. Which this game caters for, Patrick Stewart comes over on the load screen with a narration of what's happened so far and what's going on so each time you pick it up, you get a reminder of what's happened in the story. And due to the nature of the levels and chapters, you can play for 30 minutes, do a level and put it down again.

I can't remember, but did God of War have a fixed camera? As Castlevania does, it can be a pain here and there, but you get used to it.

 

[x-st]

Awesome, thanks for your detailed impressions. I think I'm going to pick this up in the sale. Also glad it doesn't need a powerhouse PC to run too. The second game is also cheap but reviews for that are even more mixed so I suspect the first game will be enough for me.

 

[agnes]

Awesome, thanks for your detailed impressions. I think I'm going to pick this up in the sale. Also glad it doesn't need a powerhouse PC to run too. The second game is also cheap but reviews for that are even more mixed so I suspect the first game will be enough for me.

I love the first, so I'm biased obviously, but I think it's still worth £15 or so. The second is horrid, don't touch it lol.

 

[x-st]

I love the first, so I'm biased obviously, but I think it's still worth £15 or so. The second is horrid, don't touch it lol.

How about under £4 at the moment on Gamesplanet?

Thanks again. Will avoid the second (which is under £5!)

 

[agnes]

Oh? For less than £4 it's a no brainer! I would buy in a heartbeat at that price lol

Even if you only get an hour or 2's time out of it and decide it's not for you, it's still given you your money back

 

[heartburnron]

The first one is for sure a great game - the only negative for me was the camera swings around a bit in combat situations on occasion. I disagree about the second game though - it's also a fantastic game, ok the story isn't as good and most reviewers didn't like that it was set in modern times but it still feels gothic. I implore any one who enjoyed the first one to ignore the reviews and give it a go - I loved every minute of it.

 

[agnes]

The first one is for sure a great game - the only negative for me was the camera swings around a bit in combat situations on occasion. I disagree about the second game though - it's also a fantastic game, ok the story isn't as good and most reviewers didn't like that it was set in modern times but it still feels gothic. I implore any one who enjoyed the first one to ignore the reviews and give it a go - I loved every minute of it.

I was instantly turned off from the fact it's all in one area though... I'll see if I can find it cheap anywhere.

 

[x-st]

Thanks to agnes' helpful posts I bought LoS last night....not played yet as finishing Alpha Protocol first but it's definitely on my todo list! If you want the second one cheap then you can grab it for £4.79.

 

[heartburnron]

I was instantly turned off from the fact it's all in one area though... I'll see if I can find it cheap anywhere.

The main city the game is based in is pretty big though and consists of inside, outside and underground areas plus you transition in to another realm/time for many other areas so you definitely won't feel like you're in the same place all the time. This was a big budget game with Patrick Steward (Captain Picard from Star Trek) providing the voice of one of the main characters. There are some really cool characters and bosses throughout the game - the Medusa sisters were my personal favourite!

 

[heartburnron]

Thanks to agnes' helpful posts I bought LoS last night....not played yet as finishing Alpha Protocol first but it's definitely on my todo list! If you want the second one cheap then you can grab it for £4.79.

Great game for this price people!

 

[agnes]

Thanks to agnes' helpful posts I bought LoS last night....not played yet as finishing Alpha Protocol first but it's definitely on my todo list! If you want the second one cheap then you can grab it for £4.79.

Welp, you're not wrong! I've just bought it and downloading it now I'll give it a shot.

Played for a few hours, just about to get my Chaos power back, it's good! Not as good as the first, but already earnt the £5 I spent on it.