Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2!

[scott]

It released today, who all is picking it up? Mine is out for delivery right now and hopefully I can get some game time in on it tonight!

I never played the demo, so I'm not sure how it feels compared to Lords of Shadow. But I'm really hoping that they fixed all the issues I had with the first one.

[mastafafik]

I have ordered Collector's Edition. European premiere is 28.02, so I have to wait till Friday morning.

[scott]

I'm so jealous of that EU CE.

[Veilor]

I have yet to play/complete the first Lords of Shadow, so I won't be picking this up.

[argyle]

I'm so jealous of that EU CE.

You and me both.   

Unfortunately it looks like my copy of LoS2 won't be delivered until tomorrow.  THANKS OBAMA - err, I mean Best Buy.   

[bikingjahuty]

A local game shop broke street date so I got it last night. Sadly I haven't been able to play it much, but from what I have it is an incredible game. Sort of feels like a 3D Symphony of the Night in many ways, and the story is amazing! Can't wait to play it some more tonight

[MJMaranan]

I've been hearing that Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow 2 isn't as good as the first one.  I've been wanting to get it but I'm also being wary of talk I hear from decent sources.

Would anyone who has the game recommend this?

[scott]

Its too early for me to tell. I'll let you know my opinion on it once I get more game time in.

But keep in mind that I don't really like the first game.

[jobocan]

I played the demo for this... HATED it. But that's just, like, 5 minutes of gameplay so it might not be enough to judge the whole thing It just feels cheaply made. The SotN references in the dialog are not enough.

[sin2beta]

I heard part of the planet gets nuked from the awesomeness of the Belmontes... Dragon Ball Z style. Honestly, that kind of made me psyched to play it. It's weird it had that effect on me.

[argyle]

When I saw it last night I called it a "Latin nuke", but yeah.    I have played very, very little - just past the tutorial & intro stuff really, so I can't comment yet.  Really like what I've seen so far.  And it comes off as anything but cheap to me - production values are very high.  The detail in the environments is amazing. 

[argyle]

I'm still early in, so no final judgement, but I have to say I'm a little let down so far.  My two main complaints so far are the modern setting is kinda generic, and they guide you by the nose.  One of the things you collect are diary entries from fallen soldiers.  I found one, and it literally told me where the "hidden" item was in that room and what I should do to get to it.  Thanks for letting me think for myself, game!   

[bikingjahuty]

From what I've read I am about half way through the game so far. Here are my impressions at the moment.

Like many of the reviews have said, the game takes a while to build momentum and become really interesting. If you played and enjoyed the first Lords of Shadow then you will at least have a mild interest going in, but it has been getting better and better in terms of the story.

The gameplay and combat is significantly improved over the first, with one major, I mean MAJOR exception, but that in a sec. The combat just feels more smooth, fluid and dynamic compared to the first game, and so far the bosses have been the best part (just like the first).

Now on to my biggest gripe so far, the stealth portions. These things seriously derail any fun you might have been having in the game, especially the stealth part I had the extreme displeasure of doing. You have to hide from Minotaur looking monster, and it is by far the most annoying thing I've had to do so far. It seems like no matter what you do he finds you. It took me FOREVER to get past this part. The other stealth portions, while boring, did not infuriate me the way this mission did! Given that these stealth portions are only about 10% of the game I can deal with them, but good god, this game would have been way better without them :/

Will give another update soon.

[scott]

I've read a few places that said it was kinda generic when you were doing the modern sections, but eventualy the game opens up and isn't as linear.... I'm gonna load it up tonight and see if I can get more time into it.

[argyle]

I put mine in the mail today, trading it in to Amazon.  I hit that stealth section you meantioned jahuty, and that was the end for me.  I wasn't enjoying the game anyway - environments continued to feel generic to me, plot was a nonsensical mess, game was far too linear to call itself a "metroidvania" style game, too many invisible walls, hit & miss graphics, etc., etc.  Basically, I just wasn't having fun with it at all.  And when I hit that stealth part, which I found infuriating, I decided I was done with it.  It's a shame that dev had to come apart at the seams, because IMO the original Lords of Shadow was a masterpiece.  Oh well, curious to see who gets the franchise next & what they do with it. 

Y'know who knows how to make a really good 3D Metroidvania style game?  Rocksteady.  I'm just sayin'.