Jarriaga-
Almost Not a Noob
- Apr 16, 2012
- 10,883
- 17,658
As a whole, I believe this game is superior to the original Lords of Shadow (8.5/10 to me) in every way.... yet I'd personally rate it lower because of 2 questionable design choices and the ending.
I loved the "future". I don't understand these "the city looks generic" comments. It looks like Gotham City and perfectly fits Castlevania. Every building was gorgeous, every lamp and statue on every street made the city look evil, ghostly, a place I wouldn't want to live in. The details in the walls, the architecture, the ornaments. It all fits and doesn't feel out of place unless you believe CV can only happen in medieval times and you can't imagine how the future of that universe would and should look.
The game was harder, yet balanced. At no point you feel over-powered even though you do feel stronger as you master skills and weapons (Increasing damage), and even with the Void sword some low-rank skeletons and vampires can still kill you in a few hits even on normal (Creature of the night). Boss battles were epic. Voice acting did fit the characters very well despite some awkward occasional lines. And the castle... The are not enough words to describe how good and gorgeous the castle is. It felt like Metroidvania 3D in all ways. Te backtracking, the exploration, the secrets, the gems, the lore. It was perfect. It's how ai picture Castlevania should have been starting with Lament of Innocence.
Then why do I rate this game lower if i feel it's all-around better?
I didn't mind the stealth sections at the beginning of the game. The reasoning for you to turn into a rat and use bats for distraction and possession were fair; you just got your powers back and you are no match for these huge guards with even bigger guns. Since at no point of the game you actually get to fight them then you can only guess they'd be as strong as they look and should be a menace until you have all your powers. Then you have that last stealth section in which you have to slip by a guard in front of a gate using mist while other 2 patrolled each side of the room. It made no freaking sense that far into the game, not to mention the section is badly designed as even a split second gets you killed if the mist runs out.
Why was I ready to beat the second acolyte by that point in the game if I'm no match for these guys? Why didn't it turn into at least the only time you got to fight those guys (As they all disappear from existence once you clear the stealth sections) if you got discovered? It felt forced and cheap. An artificial way to hold you back for no real reason, and made me feel the bats were wasted and underused just for these sections as they suck in combat.
And before that, you get Agreus when searching for fragments of the MoF.
Just why? What was the point of him toying with you, getting you to start again from the beginning of the section rather than killing you outright like the other guys on stealth sections? What was he trying to accomplish by that if you still have to fight him as a boss after it? That stealth section itself was what killed my enjoyment of the game as a whole. You must follow a sequence from the beginning starting with throwing a blood knife to a bell so he runs by you or you simple won't make it as he recovers your trail and doesn't give you enough time to move or recover the mist before a leaf on the ground alerts him again.
I spent half an hour on there alone and had to use a guide to beat that section. It was so horribly designed and pointless that I can't wrap my head around what was MercurySteam thinking or what were they hoping to accomplish other than a rage quit and frustration. Even lowering the difficulty does nothing for you at that section as Agreus still behaves the same. He alone took the game from a 10 (Up to that point) to a 7 for me.
Then you have that extremely weak, ambiguous, and unresolved ending. Not only was it much shorter than LoS1's ending, but it left unaddressed they very central point of the game: Dracula didn't get to die or redeem at the end of the game. He just took a peak at the mirror before breaking it, then went back to his cathedral. That was it. Not even an epilogue giving real closure. Alucard doesn't even seem to know what to do since Dracula now has the Vampire Killer, so he can't grant his wish even by force. That brought the game down to 6/10 for me, and Revelations didn't expand on what was done since it happens before LoS2.
It's amazing how some very specific flaws can bring down an entire experience and kill and otherwise perfect game.
I loved the "future". I don't understand these "the city looks generic" comments. It looks like Gotham City and perfectly fits Castlevania. Every building was gorgeous, every lamp and statue on every street made the city look evil, ghostly, a place I wouldn't want to live in. The details in the walls, the architecture, the ornaments. It all fits and doesn't feel out of place unless you believe CV can only happen in medieval times and you can't imagine how the future of that universe would and should look.
The game was harder, yet balanced. At no point you feel over-powered even though you do feel stronger as you master skills and weapons (Increasing damage), and even with the Void sword some low-rank skeletons and vampires can still kill you in a few hits even on normal (Creature of the night). Boss battles were epic. Voice acting did fit the characters very well despite some awkward occasional lines. And the castle... The are not enough words to describe how good and gorgeous the castle is. It felt like Metroidvania 3D in all ways. Te backtracking, the exploration, the secrets, the gems, the lore. It was perfect. It's how ai picture Castlevania should have been starting with Lament of Innocence.
Then why do I rate this game lower if i feel it's all-around better?
I didn't mind the stealth sections at the beginning of the game. The reasoning for you to turn into a rat and use bats for distraction and possession were fair; you just got your powers back and you are no match for these huge guards with even bigger guns. Since at no point of the game you actually get to fight them then you can only guess they'd be as strong as they look and should be a menace until you have all your powers. Then you have that last stealth section in which you have to slip by a guard in front of a gate using mist while other 2 patrolled each side of the room. It made no freaking sense that far into the game, not to mention the section is badly designed as even a split second gets you killed if the mist runs out.
Why was I ready to beat the second acolyte by that point in the game if I'm no match for these guys? Why didn't it turn into at least the only time you got to fight those guys (As they all disappear from existence once you clear the stealth sections) if you got discovered? It felt forced and cheap. An artificial way to hold you back for no real reason, and made me feel the bats were wasted and underused just for these sections as they suck in combat.
And before that, you get Agreus when searching for fragments of the MoF.
Just why? What was the point of him toying with you, getting you to start again from the beginning of the section rather than killing you outright like the other guys on stealth sections? What was he trying to accomplish by that if you still have to fight him as a boss after it? That stealth section itself was what killed my enjoyment of the game as a whole. You must follow a sequence from the beginning starting with throwing a blood knife to a bell so he runs by you or you simple won't make it as he recovers your trail and doesn't give you enough time to move or recover the mist before a leaf on the ground alerts him again.
I spent half an hour on there alone and had to use a guide to beat that section. It was so horribly designed and pointless that I can't wrap my head around what was MercurySteam thinking or what were they hoping to accomplish other than a rage quit and frustration. Even lowering the difficulty does nothing for you at that section as Agreus still behaves the same. He alone took the game from a 10 (Up to that point) to a 7 for me.
Then you have that extremely weak, ambiguous, and unresolved ending. Not only was it much shorter than LoS1's ending, but it left unaddressed they very central point of the game: Dracula didn't get to die or redeem at the end of the game. He just took a peak at the mirror before breaking it, then went back to his cathedral. That was it. Not even an epilogue giving real closure. Alucard doesn't even seem to know what to do since Dracula now has the Vampire Killer, so he can't grant his wish even by force. That brought the game down to 6/10 for me, and Revelations didn't expand on what was done since it happens before LoS2.
It's amazing how some very specific flaws can bring down an entire experience and kill and otherwise perfect game.
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