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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate Review Thread

A

AIRic

Member
When the 3DS eShop update with new releases? I want to buy it, but there's only the demo available right now?
 
M

Mupod

Member
It's pretty hard to make a castlevania game that I don't like, I mean I enjoyed everything from the classic games to the SOTN-alikes to Lament of Innocence and Lords of Shadow. Not so sure about this one after the demo, so I'll hold off for some player impressions.
 
Z

zroid

Banned
Ughhh I just don't know. The mixed reviews aren't making it easy to decide. I thought the demo was OK, but so many games this month, and I'm not even finished with last month's games. I don't know that I need a "just OK" game right now.
 
G

Gonzo The Great

Banned
Colin is probably bitter because the game isn't on Vita. No seriously, don't you remember this? Why would they get the "IGN PlayStation Editor" to review Nintendo games? I wasn't impressed by the demo at all, but 4.7 seems really hyperbolic. The 2.5/10 from Gamesbeat is even more embarrassing.
 
MagiusNecros

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Edge gave it a 7 so it isn't terrible. And they aren't exactly lenient.

And I love the LoS series and Castlevania so I'm still picking this up.
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
Gonzo The Great said:
Colin is probably bitter because the game isn't on Vita. No seriously, don't you remember this? Why would they get the "IGN PlayStation Editor" to review Nintendo games? I wasn't impressed by the demo at all, but 4.7 seems really hyperbolic. The 2.5/10 from Gamesbeat is even more embarrassing.
Click to expand...

bloody hell, that article is straight up fanboy drivel

Bedlam said:
He shouldn't have reviewed it for that very reason. Everything that isn't an Igavania or Classicvania is bound to get hammered by guys like him. What he really wants is to relive his childhood.
Click to expand...

this is very true. It's pretty obvious this is a game that will be enjoyed by LOS fans; if you're a stubborn Igavania fundamentalist and all you want is to play a typical Castlevania, then you should avoid buying this
 
B

Bedlam

Member
prwxv3 said:
If you know anything about him you would know that he is a huge Castlevania fan and requested to do this review because of it.
Click to expand...
He shouldn't have reviewed it for that very reason. Everything that isn't an Igavania or Classicvania is bound to get hammered by guys like him. What he really wants is to relive his childhood.
 
G

Gonzo The Great

Banned
Currygan said:
bloody hell, that article is straight up fanboy drivel
Click to expand...
But he's such a big Castlevania fan!

Colin Moriarty said:
For better or for worse, Vita will be pitted against the Nintendo 3DS. But the comparison doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and even if you were to pit them against each other, Vita is still destined to sell better. That's because in addition to games (which Nintendo 3DS is still sorely lacking), it's also a much more powerful machine capable of doing a whole lot more than 3DS.
Click to expand...

Colin Moriarty said:
Vita is therefore not only echelons ahead of 3DS in terms of games, but it's light years ahead of Nintendo's handheld in terms of tech.
Click to expand...

Colin Moriarty said:
Even Nintendo, with its buttons and triggers and touch pad admitted that leaving off a second analog stick from its handheld was a huge mistake.
Click to expand...

Colin Moriarty said:
When you combine everything the PlayStation Vita can do, it could easily make you wonder why it's been short-changed by many people in the gaming community. The Nintendo 3DS is certainly not going to take the Vita out with N64 ports and tired, worn series.
Click to expand...
I can't believe they actually call this journalism. Even Fox News would blush.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
I think I'll just replay OoE/Rondo and ignore this game exists


Having a fan of the series review a Mercury Steam game is asking for a horrible score.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
Colin did not give the game a bad score because he likes the Vita more then the 3DS. Thats full on retard especially if you have listed to him on podcast beyond frequently. He was wrong about Vita and 3DS lol (but not about the power and build quality though)
 
Z

zroid

Banned
Gonzo The Great said:
Colin is probably bitter because the game isn't on Vita. No seriously, don't you remember this? Why would they get the "IGN PlayStation Editor" to review Nintendo games? I wasn't impressed by the demo at all, but 4.7 seems really hyperbolic. The 2.5/10 from Gamesbeat is even more embarrassing.
Click to expand...

I honestly didn't find anything particularly "off" about Colin's review. It's obvious he didn't like the direction of the game in general, and constantly drawing direct comparisons to earlier Castlevanias could be seen as misguided (or missing the point), but there appear to be legitimate issues with things like length, encounter design, and the growth system.

I'm not saying take his word as gospel, but it's one man's opinion, and it seems to have been justified reasonably well.
 
Ban Puncher

Ban Puncher

Member
NfNOG.gif



Konami just ain't got big enough bags with dollar signs on them for glowing IGN reviews.
 
T

Takao

Banned
I played the demo and wasn't impressed. I didn't think it would get sub 50% scores from some outlets though, lol.
 
B

Baconsammy

Banned
Colin Moriarty
Should Sony feel threatened by its competition? Sure. But Nintendo is the least of Sony's concerns these days.
Click to expand...

That quote is just... Wow.

And essentially his reasoning for giving Mirror of Fate a 4.7 is "wahhhh it's not like the old games". That's good, Colin, you identified what it isn't. Now review what it is.
 
F

FreedomFighter

Member
Gonzo The Great said:
Colin is probably bitter because the game isn't on Vita. No seriously, don't you remember this? Why would they get the "IGN PlayStation Editor" to review Nintendo games? I wasn't impressed by the demo at all, but 4.7 seems really hyperbolic. The 2.5/10 from Gamesbeat is even more embarrassing.
Click to expand...

This was exactly what I thought when I watched the video review (and pointed out on the first page where I linked to that same article). To his credit, he wrote a crow article about how he was wrong about that, but I think that's because no one would let it dies and was still eating him alive in the comments section a full two years later.

Others on the review comments have the same sentiments:
Bull$hit!! the reason why this game got a terrible score is because moron moreorty is still butthurt that his precious vita is getting its a$$ absolutely destroyed by the 3ds and he'll be able "sabotage," if you will, the 3ds by giving it this god awful review, thus impacting sales, by how much is unsure, its no different than when miller reviewed zombiU. they should stick to having nintendo journalists reviewing nintendo games and sony jour. reviewing playstation games. its as simply as that. nuff said
Click to expand...

And apparently, the devs took to twitter and called out Colin on his review:

The games directer has taken to twitter and is accusing Colin of false representation:

Quote from Twitter: @Enric_Alvarez IGN MoF review, or the fine art of reviewing a game without saying a single word about it... Please, read it.
Click to expand...
 
P

prwxv3

Member
Gonzo The Great said:
How can you say that for certain when his track record suggests otherwise? The point is that "games journalists" should not be reviewing games if they have blatant agendas.
Click to expand...

If you read his review for one he gives reasons and examples for his problems with the game.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Zeer0id said:
I honestly didn't find anything particularly "off" about Colin's review. It's obvious he didn't like the direction of the game in general, and constantly drawing direct comparisons to earlier Castlevanias could be seen as misguided (or missing the point), but there appear to be legitimate issues with things like length, encounter design, and the growth system.

I'm not saying take his word as gospel, but it's one man's opinion, and it seems to have been justified reasonably well.
Click to expand...

If he thinks the original LoS was a natural extension of Castlevania I wouldn't put much weight on his comparisons to CV to begin with.
 
T

Takao

Banned
If you guys actually listen to the Beyond podcast (I suggest you don't) you kind of get the picture that Colin actually doesn't like Vita. He's always negative, and says game xyz shouldn't be on it or something. Bringing up unrelated drivel makes you look worse than him.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
Baconsammy said:
Colin Moriarty


That quote is just... Wow.

And essentially his reasoning for giving Mirror of Fate a 4.7 is "wahhhh it's not like the old games". That's good, Colin, you identified what it isn't. Now review what it is.
Click to expand...




No, the bad reasoning is: "wahhh, it's not like the old games, like SoTN".
I guess if SoTN would be released today, it would be killed with fire because no more whip, no more Belmont, and "it's not Castlevania lol".
 
S

Spiegel

Member
Colin Moriarty shits on the Vita constantly, so please, stop with this fanboy nonsense and carry on calling him out for his awful review. Not because system wars.
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
Bedlam said:
He shouldn't have reviewed it for that very reason. Everything that isn't an Igavania or Classicvania is bound to get hammered by guys like him. What he really wants is to relive his childhood.
Click to expand...

Ding, ding, ding.

It's evident from Colin's review that he analyzed the game with SOTN/Igavania in mind. There's nothing inherently wrong with that; in fact, a great review does keep the legacy in mind. However, it's easy to fall into the reviewer pitfall of not actually assessing the quality of the game before you, but rather assessing the game according to what you want it to be.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
FreedomFighter said:
This was exactly what I thought when I watched the video review (and pointed out on the first page where I linked to that same article). To his credit, he wrote a crow article about how he was wrong about that, but I think that's because no one would let it dies and was still eating him alive in the comments section a full two years later.

Others on the review comments have the same sentiments:


And apparently, the devs took to twitter and called out Colin on his review:
Click to expand...

Did you just quote a hilariously terrible IGN comment and say that it has weight. lol

I dont agree with colin on everything and he can be wrong frequently but he does not give low scores because he has a agenda to belittle the 3DS
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
Vyse The Legend said:
Ding, ding, ding.

It's evident from Colin's review that he analyzed the game with SOTN/Igavania in mind. There's nothing inherently wrong with that; in fact, a great review does keep the legacy in mind. However, it's easy to fall into the reviewer pitfall of not actually assessing the quality of the game before you, but rather assessing the game according to what you want it to be.
Click to expand...




That's the problem. The review feels like the reviewer just has done the following:
"So... the combat ? It's not like SoTN. Bad."
"Music ? Not like SoTN. Bad."
"Design ? Not like SoTN."
And that's it. "The game ? Not SoTN. 4.7".




prwxv3 said:
Did you just quote a hilariously terrible IGN comment and say that it has weight. lol

I dont agree with colin on everything and he can be wrong frequently but he does not give scores because he has a agenda to belittle the 3DS
Click to expand...




To be honest... after reading this article, this kinda has clearly a preference, but hey, we're all human, so I won't put that in account. Also, what I see from the review is more like someone who disliked this not because it's on 3DS and not on Vita, but more like because he prefered to have a Metroidvania. I could be wrong.
 
F

FreedomFighter

Member
Spiegel said:
Colin Moriarty shits on the Vita constantly, so please, stop with this fanboy nonsense and carry on calling him out for his awful review. Not because system wars.
Click to expand...

That's not true, the guy loves his Vita. He just doesn't like how Vita is getting the shaft and he wishes it to be doing better. He spews venom toward Sony for not supporting it as much as he'd like, but that's not to be confused with how he feels about the ACTUAL device at all.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
GhostTrick said:
No, the bad reasoning is: "wahhh, it's not like the old games, like SoTN".
I guess if SoTN would be released today, it would be killed with fire because no more whip, no more Belmont, and "it's not Castlevania lol".
Click to expand...

SotN was actually a good game despite the difficulty falling down a cliff early on.

I loved SotN and I'm one of the classicvania types who don't really like the Igavanias I still appreciate them as mostly well-made games even if I don't really play them.

He expresses several legitimate complaints in the review mixed in with his comparisons to the older games. Bosses not getting health back when you die is ridiculous regardless of the Castlevania name on the box.
 
G

Gonzo The Great

Banned
Spiegel said:
Colin Moriarty shits on the Vita constantly, so please, stop with this fanboy nonsense and carry on calling him out for his awful review. Not because system wars.
Click to expand...
Only because he has to. What is he supposed to, shower a dying platform with unconditional praise? Yes, the review would still be bad with or without his pro-Sony agenda. I do agree that you shouldn't review games in a vacuum, but he refers to previous entries in the Castlevania series in literally every paragraph. Baconsammy is 100% right.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
Gonzo The Great said:
Only because he has to. What is he supposed to, shower a dying platform with unconditional praise? Yes, the review would still be bad with or without his pro-Sony agenda. I do agree that you shouldn't review games in a vacuum, but he refers to previous entries in the Castlevania series in literally every paragraph. Baconsammy is 100% right.
Click to expand...

Holy shit.
 
B

Bedlam

Member
prwxv3 said:
If you read his review for one he gives reasons and examples for his problems with the game.
Click to expand...
Those comments about the combat system are probably justified and voiced in most other reviews as well. But Moriarty in his review is grossly misjudging past Castlevania games by looking at them through rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. His rant about boss encounters alone is pretty hilarious. Hell, the AVGN made fun of the incredibly lame boss encounters in some Classicvanias. And I brute forced my way through all of the bosses in SotN. The guys seriously needs to take a look at those games again.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
kunonabi said:
SotN was actually a good game despite the difficulty falling down a cliff early on.

I loved SotN and I'm one of the classicvania types who don't really like the Igavanias I still appreciate them as mostly well-made games even if I don't really play them.

He expresses several legitimate complaints in the review mixed in with his comparisons to the older games. Bosses not getting health back when you die is ridiculous regardless of the Castlevania name on the box.
Click to expand...




Oh no ! Don't misunderstand me ! I really loved SoTN ! And as I always said I'd always prefer a Metroidvania over Mirror of Fate. No, the reasoning was IMO, it was stupid to bash the game because it doesn"t share your ideal vision of Castlevania, or because it's different.
 
J

jgmo870

Banned
Gonzo The Great said:
How can you say that for certain when his track record suggests otherwise? The point is that "games journalists" should not be reviewing games if they have blatant agendas.
Click to expand...

There isn't any track record of him reviewing Vita games higher than 3DS games.

Colin is just a terrible reviewer, there's nothing more to it.
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
if the game was getting many low scores and just one or two high scorees, i would be paying more attention to the ign review and putting more weight behind it, but seeing as the game has a 7 from two of the harshest reviewers (EDGE and Eurogamer, they basically say the game it good but it's not a metroidvania) well that tells me the game is alright, so my interest is still there.

just the fallout from the IGN review lol
 
J

jschreier

Member
Seven Force said:
Wait, what? If you die and restart against a boss, it still has the same amount of health it did when you died?
Click to expand...

Bosses all have multiple checkpoints. So you might die halfway through a boss fight and restart at the checkpoint when he was at 3/4 health. That sort of thing.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
I do think the score is a bit too low if the actual written review is anything is to go by. I hated the demo myself so I wont be getting it anytime soon. Plenty of other 3DS games coming out anyway.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
As a longtime CV fan, I enjoyed the demo for what it was: something different. Would I have preferred an IGA-style sprite game? Sure, but frankly I think it's wrong to punish the game we got based on what we would have preferred.

If you play the MercurySteam games and just don't enjoy them on their own merits, then that's perfectly fine, but to totally dump on the game because it's "not Castlevania!" or didn't ape the IGA style then it seems a little childish to me.

Demo made me think the game was going to be about a 7. I will reserve judgement until I play the full game but some of these scores/reviews seem...punitive.
 
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