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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate Review Thread

Every new Castlevania doesn't have to be a Metroivania. Folks need to get over that.

Super Castlevania IV is the best game in the series imo, so they need to do more of that.

They were a nice change of pace, for a time, but it's time for the pendulum to swing back the other way again.

I feel the same way about the Final Fantasy series, too. It was a nice change to begin with but now I'd like to see them return to the series' roots and get back to what made the games so great to begin with.
 

joetachi

Member
Every new Castlevania doesn't have to be a Metroivania. Folks need to get over that.

Super Castlevania IV is the best game in the series imo, so they need to do more of that.

I still remember the pre Lords of Shadow realease bullshit from mercurysteam about them being big fans of Castlevania4 and then the game realeased it was jus God of War. I atleast expected them to try and use 4's formula for this game but nope we get a sort of watered down metroidvania with Lords of Shadow combat.
 

GetemMa

Member
I expected this. It is the same as Lords of the Shadow. You either like the style or you don't. Personally, I gave up on LOTS after about 10 hours. The gameplay is awful to me. Hack hack hack, slash slash slash, 1 million times. It looks like they did the same thing here. I played the Demo and I thought it sucked. Please Konami, give this franchise to someone else. Preferably someone who thinks God of War is mediocre.
 
I think I'll get this game but really... I do hope for Metroidvania to get back. Give me sprites, and 3D backgrounds with nice 3D effects.:-(
 

sfried

Member
I think I'll get this game but really... I do hope for Metroidvania to get back. Give me sprites, and 3D backgrounds with nice 3D effects.:-(

I don't mind non-Metroidvania, but I hope they aren't forgetting the fundamentals of a great Castlevania like Rondo of Blood.
I still remember the pre Lords of Shadow realease bullshit from mercurysteam about them being big fans of Castlevania4 and then the game realeased it was jus God of War. I atleast expected them to try and use 4's formula for this game but nope we get a sort of watered down metroidvania with Lords of Shadow combat.
This is kinda what I feared.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Not surprised over the scores being mixed. I probably pick it up after price drop to follow the story for LOS2.
 

grumpy

Member
I'm definitely buying this game because I'm a castlevania whore, but im not very excited about it, tbh.

I'd rather we got ports of the GBA and DS 'Vanias over this.****

GaijinVania sucks.


EDIT:**** Or a port of Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth for the eshop.
 
LoS and the demo of this have me convinced to stay away anything this developer does with the Castlevania name on it. Just not what I want out of the series.
 

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
I'm definitely buying this game because I'm a castlevania whore, but im not very excited about it, tbh.

I'd rather we got ports of the GBA and DS 'Vanias over this.

GaijinVania sucks.

Just put em up on eshop and call it a day.
 

OddworldBOY

Neo Member
Well, the reviews decided it for me. I am going to get it and judge for myself. I loved LOS and will get LOS2 and this. It's different than what we got used to which is the METROIDVANIA-style over the last several years. My favorite handheld will probably still be Dawn of Sorrow for the DS but this still looks fun. LOS2 will completely rule though. LOS was something out of left field incredible.
 

Ahasverus

Member
I remember when the ogirinal LOS IGN review said "There is no castle, there is no Dracula, there is no exploration, this is not a Castlevania" and then they erased that part when other people played beyond the second stage. Never forget.
 

zroid

Banned
Gamesbeat 25...out of? how does their scroring work?

yes it says 25/100 on the review page


edit: I do know that Colin Moriarty (the IGN reviewer) is a pretty big Castlevania fan. So his review may be somewhat trustworthy. I still have to read it, though. On the other hand, considering the actual game itself, maybe being a Castlevania fan will ultimately bring out certain inevitable biases.

What’s not so well delivered is the story, which is a nonsensical and uninteresting mess.

I can believe this, based on the demo, lol
 

Bedlam

Member
I remember when the ogirinal LOS IGN review said "There is no castle, there is no Dracula, there is no exploration, this is not a Castlevania" and then they erased that part when other people played beyond the second stage. Never forget.
That actually happened? For real?
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
I'm reviewing this game and can kind of see how the reviews are so polarizing. The game is pretty simplistic and doesn't have much of a story. Gameplay is solid, but that may not be enough for some reviewers.
 

Maedhros

Member
Reviews all over the place.

Not really. I mean I'd play one but I've beaten sotn and ooe and had my fill. Want something different.

Me too. LoS wasn't it.

I hope LoS2 releases this year already, so another team can try to make something different. If they continue LoS gameplay... well... Castlevania is dead for me.
 

rockx4

Member
25/100 sounds really unbelievable to me. For me any game getting 30 and lower would have to be completely broken and riddled with game breaking bugs that make it unplayable. Is the final game really that bad? From what I played in the demo it had frame rate stutters, but was still good enough to be average at least.
 

Ahasverus

Member
25/100 sounds really unbelievable to me. For me any game getting 30 and lower would have to be completely broken and riddled with game breaking bugs that make it unplayable. Is the final game really that bad? From what I played in the demo it had frame rate stutters, but was still good enough to be average at least.

Did you check the other 20 scores? :p
 

wrowa

Member
Every new Castlevania doesn't have to be a Metroivania. Folks need to get over that.

Super Castlevania IV is the best game in the series imo, so they need to do more of that.

But Mirror of Fate is like neither of them, so I'm not sure what your point is.
 

rjc571

Banned
People keep saying that Castlevania fans are knocking the game because it isn't faithful to the series, but they couldn't be further from the truth. We're knocking it because the gameplay is straight-up terrible. I wouldn't even have given the game a second look if it didn't have the Castlevania name attatched to it, because everything we knew about it beforehand made it seem like shovelware (and playing the demo seemed to confirm this). If you enjoy action games with controls this clunky, with combat this simplistic, with platforming this automatic, and with a framerate this nauseatingly low, I honestly don't know what to say to you.

The game reminds me of a Wiiware game called Anima: Ark of Sinners, which was reviewed harshly for having poor controls and clunky combat similar to this game. If this didn't have the Castlevania name backing it, I imagine it would have been received similarly.
 

Maedhros

Member
People keep saying that Castlevania fans are knocking the game because it isn't faithful to the series, but they couldn't be further from the truth. We're knocking it because the gameplay is straight-up terrible. I wouldn't even have given the game a second look if it didn't have the Castlevania name attatched to it, because everything we knew about it beforehand made it seem like shovelware (and playing the demo seemed to confirm this). If you enjoy action games with controls this clunky, with combat this simplistic, with platforming this automatic, and with a framerate this nauseatingly low, I honestly don't know what to say to you.

The game reminds me of a Wiiware game called Anima: Ark of Sinners, which was reviewed harshly for having poor controls and clunky combat similar to this game. If this didn't have the Castlevania name backing it, I imagine it would have been received similarly.

Holy crap! It looks exactly the same... D:
 
I suspected this one would be divisive, and I can accept that Moriarty simply disliked the game, but that one 25/100 score seems absurd. Nothing in the actual review justifies it.
 

Ridley327

Member
I suspected this one would be divisive, and I can accept that Moriarty simply disliked the game, but that one 25/100 score seems absurd. Nothing in the actual review justifies it.

Really? They hated the combat in a game that has a lot of combat in it. That seems like it should deserve a low score from a reviewer in that case.
 
Really? They hated the combat in a game that has a lot of combat in it. That seems like it should deserve a low score from a reviewer in that case.

I suppose. It just reads more like a 5/10 or 6/10 review - despite the criticism, the tone of the written review is much less harsh than what I would expect from anyone who gives a game a score that low.
 
Thus far (in the demo) I'm liking it. The combat feels much more rough and tough than predecessors, though the speed is something that's all kinds of different.

And falling. Really?

Anyway, I like how they're branching out as the series deserves serious exploration. I just hope that these next few iterations don't do to the series what Metroid: OM did to Metroid. I'd like CV to stay around for awhile.
 
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