@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

As a related side note, I still don't understand why something being similar to God of War is grounds for immediate dismissal. I don't mean that just in relation to the Bomb Crew, I mean the Internet in general. It's not like there's anywhere near the amount of those that there are first person shooters, or third person shooters, or indie platformers, or normal platformers, or fighting games(well, maybe not so much nowadays) and so on. There's plenty of genres that have a tone of similar games, and people have no problem with a good chunk of them. Yet the second something comes out that's close to God of War(such as Dante's Inferno, which I thought was totally fine), it's treated as the biggest garbage. It's a weird double standard.

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

this

It often seems to me he reads some shit somewhere and mindlessly repeats it as if were his own conclusions. Best thing is when someone like Jeff calls it out and Patrick immediatly starts to paddle back or switches topic.

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

@JCGamer said:

@Humanity

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

I think people are giving the gameboy/DS versions of Castlevania a bit too much credit. Symphony of the Night was ground breaking and each installment tried some sort of twist on that formula but they started to feel the same to me. That might have had to do with the near yearly releases but the Metroidvania style games on the handheld all sort of blend together right now. I'd love a mostly linear game in the vein of LoS that actually took place in the 2D version's world and expanded on the story we have become accustomed to.

I'd like to add that while I loved SotN, I was never fond of the growing anime-influences in the DS games. With each iteration they lost some of that European vibe that was - at least for me - an important part of early Castlevania games. LoS brought it back.

@CptBedlam said:

@JCGamer said:

@Humanity

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

I think people are giving the gameboy/DS versions of Castlevania a bit too much credit. Symphony of the Night was ground breaking and each installment tried some sort of twist on that formula but they started to feel the same to me. That might have had to do with the near yearly releases but the Metroidvania style games on the handheld all sort of blend together right now. I'd love a mostly linear game in the vein of LoS that actually took place in the 2D version's world and expanded on the story we have become accustomed to.

I'd like to add that while I loved SotN, I was never fond of the growing anime-influences in the DS games. With each iteration they lost some of that European vibe that was - at least for me - an important part of early Castlevania games. LoS brought it back.

It brought it back while ironically being developed by, to me anyway, one of the most Japanese-iest dev studios out there.

@Humanity said:

@CptBedlam said:

@JCGamer said:

@Humanity

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

I think people are giving the gameboy/DS versions of Castlevania a bit too much credit. Symphony of the Night was ground breaking and each installment tried some sort of twist on that formula but they started to feel the same to me. That might have had to do with the near yearly releases but the Metroidvania style games on the handheld all sort of blend together right now. I'd love a mostly linear game in the vein of LoS that actually took place in the 2D version's world and expanded on the story we have become accustomed to.

I'd like to add that while I loved SotN, I was never fond of the growing anime-influences in the DS games. With each iteration they lost some of that European vibe that was - at least for me - an important part of early Castlevania games. LoS brought it back.

It brought it back while ironically being developed by, to me anyway, one of the most Japanese-iest dev studios out there.

The spanish developer Mercury Steam?

@SlashDance said:

@ajamafalous said:

@SlashDance said:

@Nottle said:

@Hailinel said:

@SlashDance said:

@ajamafalous said:

It probably would've gotten less flak if it wasn't called Castlevania.

@JCGamer said:

I think people have a problem with the game because it doesn't "feel" like a Castlevania game.

Oh yeah I forgot about that. I still don't get those complains but hey, that's the Internet I guess. Seriously, Igarashi spent over a decade making crappy 3D Castlevania games, and kinda cool 2D ones that never managed to top Symphony of the Night, and yet people throw a hissy fit when Konami tries something different ? If there was one franchise that needed fresh ideas, that was Castlevania.

To many, Lords of Shadow is another crappy 3D Castlevania. When Igarashi was on his game with the 2D entries, even the latter ones, those were still great experiences. Order of Ecclesia ranks among my favorites in the series.

Also it's worth remembering we have a lot of games that do the character action game stuff probably better (I admit I should not be criticizing a game I've played very little of, though I am somewhat interested in playing it.) Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, and God of War have that genre covered. Making Castlevania like God of War isn't a "fresh idea" when only 5 companies have figured out how to do Metroidvanias right and it's not like we get metoidvanias every month.

How many Metroid or Castlevania games have come out in recent years that were actually Metroidvanias? The Last 2D Metroid was Zero Mission and Prime 3 was the last Metroidvania in that series. Castlevania had Harmony of Dispair which wasn't a metroidvania, then LOS which was a character action game. The last Metroidvania in that series came out in 2008. That's insane. Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night are everyones favorite games right? We need more of those games. Remember how good Shadow Complex was? How it's one of the best games on XBLA, how it had fresh ideas.

I'm saying they had perfectly good reasons to want to try something different. There was nothing inherently fresh about the final game, that much is obvious.

You can deconstruct the game and find a bunch of flaws, but what I remember from LoS, and what many of those who liked it have also told me, is that this it's somehow more than the sum of its parts. Yes it's very linear, it doesn't do anything groundbreaking, it's extremely slow paced, but it still manages to offers an unforgettable experience.

Also Lord of Shadows isn't completely crazy and over-the-top story wise, unlike pretty much every other game in this genre, so at least it had that going for it.

That's kinda the problem, though. Nobody was sitting around thinking to themselves "Hey, you know what I want out of the next Castlevania? A middling character action game that doesn't do anything new." To a lot of people, whether it actually was or not, it feels like a squandered opportunity to get a new Metroidvania game.

It's hard to know if there would've been another big budget Castlevania game had they not slapped the brand on Lords of Shadow halfway through development. Still, it's irrelevant to those who enjoyed it so much. I think people are maybe a little too attached to the brand if they can't judge a game for what it is, just because of its name. You can always be disapointed that you didn't get what you wanted, but not to the point where it's okay to call what you did get a failure because of it.

I do hope Lords of Shadow 2 is a bit less linear, though. Do we know if it is by the way ? I haven't really been following.

I agree with you that is perhaps shallow that people (Including myself) didn't give this game a chance because it is different than what we expect a Castlevania game to be, however I believe that changing a game from a pretty uncommon type of game to a much more common type of game is silly especially when what the games become are sort of just ok.

It's like when people get upset over Tomb Raider changing or that Vivendi Xcom FPS. We have plenty standard FPS games, we don't have a ton of games like Xcom.

Now we have 2 more games being developed by Mercury steam because apparently this game did well enough. Where a, what I think, superior game in the same genre, Bayonetta struggled to have a sequel, it's sort of strange that LOS gets to live on and we still don't have a Metroid ass Castlevania.

I promise once I get though everything on my plate I'll give the original Lords of Shadow a chance because I can't really criticize something I've played only a demo for.

I really enjoyed that game.

@Nottle: I assumed it was heavily produced by Kojimas studio because I saw a lot of familiar Kojima touches in the gameplay.

@Humanity said:

@Nottle: I assumed it was heavily produced by Kojimas studio because I saw a lot of familiar Kojima touches in the gameplay.

Nah, Kojima was just an advisor and I think at one point he sent a few guys to Spain to help out a bit. But Mercury Steam deserves most of the credit. Kojima was the force behind the game eventually getting the Castlevania license during development though. There are a few interviews out there that paint a pretty good picture of the relationship.

@Nottle: If you do give it a chance, play at least till chapter 4 because the game is a slow starter. Personally, I enjoyed it more than Bayonetta (both are great games).

i'd play this but given how much else is on my backlog it doesn't really seem commanding of my attention/time. this dogpile shit on patrick in every thread it seems is just getting ridiculous and i'm making a point of calling it out. yeah he's not perfect obviously but it's not like he's the only one with faults or strong opinions. vinny gets a free pass for being so fucking and blandly deferential about everything all the time, even when it's pretty obviously poorly designed/borderline crap? i'd rather have someone that at least sticks up for their own opinions (and yes patrick's usually good at articulating the reasoning behind his opinions too).

just don't see how everyone but vinny disliking the game = patrick's wrong for disliking the game. that sounds more like a consensus that it was generally speaking pretty middling/average. i somewhat agree the GoW bashing is a little much, but maybe cause it's such a specific and easily identifiable formula so it sticks out like a sore thumb in a way.

Because it's not actually "classic Castlevania realized in 3D". That would be Dark Souls.

It's God of War with a terrible waste of Patrick Stewart's voice narration and knockoff Shadow of the Colossus bosses.

@CptBedlam said:

@JCGamer said:

@Humanity

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

It's a lot more involved than God of War in many ways, including plot, yet no one will ever know because all the people that never played it and never will play it will continue labeling it "derivative" - the new cool word of the week now that entitled is out of style - and lament how somehow it's too simple and theres too much going on at the same time. Then there will be some quips about how the story was terrible, once again either from people that have never played it or only played the first couple of hours and some off handed comments about how poor the camera was.

I think people are giving the gameboy/DS versions of Castlevania a bit too much credit. Symphony of the Night was ground breaking and each installment tried some sort of twist on that formula but they started to feel the same to me. That might have had to do with the near yearly releases but the Metroidvania style games on the handheld all sort of blend together right now. I'd love a mostly linear game in the vein of LoS that actually took place in the 2D version's world and expanded on the story we have become accustomed to.

I'd like to add that while I loved SotN, I was never fond of the growing anime-influences in the DS games. With each iteration they lost some of that European vibe that was - at least for me - an important part of early Castlevania games. LoS brought it back.

The anime art-style was dropped in Order of Ecclesia.

@Iron_Tool said:

I don't think it was a bad game, quite the opposite. Production values were great, gameplay was fun and bang for buck was great (game is like 20 hrs long). I enjoyed it and did enjoy some of the DLC as well (got significantly harder).

I can't wait for the 2nd which also proves that it was commercially successful enough to warrant a sequel.

We have to keep in mind that the bomb crew are game critics and of course they will nit pick. Especially the last few years it seems difficult to get much enthusiasm out of Jeff (even if he likes the game he sounds negative about it when he describes it). I think the last game that Jeff really enjoyed (not without nit picking though) was the first Borderlands.

I loved it because it was so different from other Castlevania games

@kortex said:

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam said:

oh hey guyz thanks for another random patrick hate thread!!!

It didn't start out as one but his dickish demeanor on the casual friday show made him an easy target (again). And it didn't help that he presented a few wrong assumptions about the game as facts. That itself really seems to have become a Klepek thing: pretend knowledge.

@ripelivejam said:

this is a game with a cult audience who like/appreciate what it does, but it also seems pretty heavily flawed and seems like it requires a large investment to get anything good out of it. seems like the bombcrew's opinions are pretty ot$.

Obviously, you didn't play it. The game has flaws. But I wouldn't call it heavily flawed.

The biggest flaw for many of the haters is that it's not a 2D sidescroller.

Also, the game distinguishes itself well enough from God of War. It's not bombastic spectacle from beginning to end. There are lots of calm moments, many (actually fun) puzzle sections, very different in tone (very serene, which I happen to love about the game), the combat system is even more intricate etc.

this

It often seems to me he reads some shit somewhere and mindlessly repeats it as if were his own conclusions. Best thing is when someone like Jeff calls it out and Patrick immediatly starts to paddle back or switches topic.

Yeah that shit's pretty hilarious. It just seems with Patrick is that he really loves something, or it's the biggest piece of shit.

@Hailinel: Not really, they only toned it down a bit.

@CptBedlam said:

@Hailinel: Not really, they only toned it down a bit.

You call that "a bit"?

Most "critics" are pretty damn casual and have bad taste in video games. I love the crew, but I stick to Vinny, Erik Kain, and Mark Bussler for recommendations and game reviews.

Edit: When I say most critics, I mostly mean the current generation of critics.

@Hailinel: Yep

@CptBedlam said:

@Hailinel: Yep

You either need to elaborate on how, or I'm calling bullshit.

@Hailinel: The shading is a little less anime typical, that's all. But features such as the head's shape, the hair etc are still all pretty anime.

@CptBedlam said:

@Hailinel: The shading is a little less anime typical, that's all. But features such as the head's shape, the hair etc are still all pretty anime.

You're going to have to do better than that.

@Hailinel: I don't think so. Let's agree to disagree. I find the look still pretty anime-like.

@CptBedlam: Then you're either being lazy, or your analytical skills need work. Also, anime isn't an adjective.

@Hailinel: Maybe, I don't think so and I know.

Just by looking at the facial features you can tell that the anime influences are still strong in the character portraits.

I would call LoS one of the best games this generation. The artstyle and quality of the graphics is really impressive, the puzzles are fun and the combat is flashy while being deep enough to make me learn the systems and play it on higher difficulties. The whole parry to increase the magic regen bar is really clever and to fill up your magic you have to be offensive especially if you're low on health (because you need magic to heal). In addition to that I liked the bossfights (the QTEs are quick and pretty satisfying) and the story was told well enough that I wanted to see how it ends (eventhough it's obviously not the focus or the biggest strength of the game).

@CptBedlam: I agree. It still looks anime-like.

@ripelivejam: Don't worry, Brad, Ryan and Jeff have been called out as well on this. Vinny actually played a considerable portion of the game while Brad and Patrick only played the introductory chapter and I believe Ryan and Jeff never even touched the game. What a great foundation for a consensus!

But you're still right with Vinny not getting called out for stuff the others would've gotten called out for. If it had been Brad or Patrick just doing stupid bullshit in Sleeping Dogs instead of properly doing a mission, they would've been accused of running in circles and not moving the QL forward etc. But what can you do? This is a personality driven site. And part of it is probably the fact that Vinny still genuinely enjoys videogames. I'm not so sure about the others (I guess it comes with the territory of playing games for your livelihood).

@mdnthrvst: There are about two dozens of bosses in this game and only two of them are colossi. And even those fights are not bad at all. Sure, you can make them look bad ... but that possible with SotC as well. Remember Brad's QL?

@CptBedlam said:

@ripelivejam: Don't worry, Brad, Ryan and Jeff have been called out as well on this. Vinny actually played a considerable portion of the game while Brad and Patrick only played the introductory chapter and I believe Ryan and Jeff never even touched the game. What a great foundation for a consensus!

But you're still right with Vinny not getting called out for stuff the others would've gotten called out for. If it had been Brad or Patrick just doing stupid bullshit in Sleeping Dogs instead of properly doing a mission, they would've been accused of running in circles and not moving the QL forward etc. But what can you do? This is a personality driven site. And part of it is probably the fact that Vinny still genuinely enjoys videogames. I'm not so sure about the others (I guess it comes with the territory of playing games for your livelihood).

well personally i think every ounce of the "calling out" bullshit is pretty pathetic and childish. i don't mind mature disagreement and discussion but the level of offense people take at other people's opinions is ridiculous. and also the outright moral outrage at watching some of the bombcrew's playstyles is laughable. ofc i like vinny (as i like the rest of them) and i don't have a problem personally with how he plays/"reviews" his games, but i'm just pointing out the hypocrisy in some people's complaints on here.

i'd rather people just tone down the anger and act a little more adult about how they present themselves here (but it's the internet so fat chance)

@MegaLombax: im playing through it right now, and I just brought down the Ice titan, which has to be the best GoW esque moment I have had on my xbox thus far. Must play more and get to that awesome ending I keep hearing so much about! It is too bad the GB crew doesnt like this game, but with all the games they have to play and whatnot, it makes sense that they would overlook a lot of titles like this one. They are simply so many hours in one day, you cant do it all :)

@chilipeppersman: Seems like the game is a hit or miss with a lot of people. I personally like the details that they put into the game. Small touches like the enemy summary and how every combat move has a small animation that accompanies them. The way the story was told felt a bit lacking for me, found a disconnect between the narrator and what was going on. Gameplay wise, it still is probably one of the best 3rd person action games I've played this gen. Varied combat moves, interesting enemy designs, solid combat mechanics mixed with some platforming and adventuring. Looking forward for the next installment :D

@SathingtonWaltz said:

Most "critics" are pretty damn casual and have bad taste in video games. I love the crew, but I stick to Vinny, Erik Kain, and Mark Bussler for recommendations and game reviews.

Edit: When I say most critics, I mostly mean the current generation of critics.

How are most critics casual? It's their job to play video games, lots of them and lots of different kinds.

I thought LoS was a gorgeous game marred by it's awful pacing. The combat wasn't anything exceptional but it was serviceable, and the game had plenty of fun bosses (even the SotC knockoffs).

My biggest issue is (and this sounds weird since we gamers like to equate "time spent" with "value") the game was way the hell too long. There's a refined, fantastic 5-6 hour game somewhere in that 15-20 hour slog, but it takes almost until the second half that the combat opens up, the story hits full force, and the game gets really fun.

I had a blast the final 3-4 chapters and was bored to tears the first however many there are. I think if the sequel is shorter and tighter it could be an ample God of War competitor. This is a game for patient people which, frankly, most of the core Bombcrew are not when it comes to games. I could see Vinney and Drew enjoying this game after sinking time into it. I could NEVER see Jeff playing past the first few chapters.

I think that's why, and then they take a dump all over it because it's funny? I don't know the hate for it on-air, especially when they clearly dont' understand it. I mean, it isn't groundbreaking or anything, but it's far from bad.

LoS was my first contact with Castlevania so not being a old time fan I think really helped me enjoy it as much as I did.

What was REALLY bizarre was Jeff alluding to Castlevania 2 as a good game.

Is it ever a terrible night to have a curse? Do you turn into mist and waft through a grate? Because those things are in good Castlevania games.

Um, what? His latter reference is obviously SoTN but does he remember Castlevania 2 correctly? I grew up with that game. It's interesting, but it's not very good. Jeff is a hilarious guy but sometimes I think he's really, really out of touch or at the very least he makes a snap-judgment about a game however-irrational and then doesn't change his tune ever.

Lords of Shadow has god-awful level design. There's no way to tell where you can and can't go; two areas can look exactly the same but one is totally off limits and the other is the path you're supposed to take, and the camera angles are fucking terrible.

@WarlordPayne said:

Lords of Shadow has god-awful level design. There's no way to tell where you can and can't go; two areas can look exactly the same but one is totally off limits and the other is the path you're supposed to take, and the camera angles are fucking terrible.

Completely disagree. Love the level design and also the static camera angles. Then again, I never had any problems with such camera angles. Not in DMC1, not in older RE games, not in NG games etc.

@SSully said:

@SathingtonWaltz said:

Most "critics" are pretty damn casual and have bad taste in video games. I love the crew, but I stick to Vinny, Erik Kain, and Mark Bussler for recommendations and game reviews.

Edit: When I say most critics, I mostly mean the current generation of critics.

How are most critics casual? It's their job to play video games, lots of them and lots of different kinds.

By casual I think he meant that they play a lot of different genres and usually have to get through a game quickly to get the review out in time. Unlike most gamers that will spend significant amounts of time with a particular game and really get into the the nitty gritty of it's inner mechanics, game reviewers/critics kinda make a bee line for the ending unless time permits them to mess around a bit more.

@WarlordPayne said:

Lords of Shadow has god-awful level design. There's no way to tell where you can and can't go; two areas can look exactly the same but one is totally off limits and the other is the path you're supposed to take, and the camera angles are fucking terrible.

I didn't have any real issues with the camera angles - those claims are highly exaggerated. I did get somewhat lost as to where I should go next a few times, but it also wasn't a HUGE deal. Most complaints regarding Lords of Shadow seem to always fall into the nit-picking category which is odd because, while I'm sure thats not the intention, it does come off as people looking to find any excuse to bring the game down.

@Humanity: It certainly isn't nit-picking for me. I wanted to like that game. I heard so much great stuff about it that I was really excited to play it, but I couldn't even bring myself to finish the damn thing. I think I got to chapter 2 or 3 and just quit.

I've finished plenty of kind of bad games because they had something going for them, like Nier, but everything in Lords of Shadow was mediocre to bad. Maybe it does get good once you get to chapter 4 or whatever, but that's too damned long to suffer through the first few chapters.

Ugh, maybe I should go back and give it another try. There's got to be something that I'm missing with how much some people love this game.

A couple of quick points:

Chapter 2 is not five hours long. I'd place it at about two to three. Chapter 3 is just a one stage and a boss fight if I recall correctly. They're definitely slow parts in those first three chapters, but there are also some pretty damn good parts as well. This game definitely had pacing issues at the beginning, but it is nowhere near the slog people are trying to make it out to be.

The similarities between God of War and this game is that its third person and the button layout. LOS's combat is much more fleshed out and you actually have to adapt to enemy tactics. That's not a slight on God of War, I enjoy the button mashing nature of the series, but these two game do have differences.

I admit this is a divisive game, but if you don't like it, don't call it garbage. Understand that it's a quality game that isn't going to appeal to everyone. Or would you like it if all games tried to reduce themselves to the lowest common denominator in order to appeal to as big an audience as possible?

I'm happy there's going to be a sequel and I hope they address the issues that the first was knocked for.