Castlevania graphics then & now: Skeletons, Belmonts, and more

And still only in one game you're able to swim. In others you either walk underwater or die. Also no music comparison? I mean that was the only thing that linked the series together until LoS. I don't know about music but I think the last compositions aren't as memorable, one note, and samey. For the game's purposes it adequate in tone and what's happening on screen but to hear out of the game is really boring. Like hearing the soundscapes of a movie. Also I hope to fight Death this time, that should have been the final boss given that you're Dracula and the dragon fight doesn't cut it. Tomorrow let's see how this game is judged, since it kind of worrisome that a launch trailer doesn't give anymore clue of how the game will play. I know it goes for the cinematic edge but lack of gameplay footage disturbs me.

Dude, you have a demo at your disposal if you want gameplay footage, and if you really want more than that, there have been other scenes and demonstrations of the combat, like the whole boss fight against the toy maker. Also.. Yeah, you only swim in one game, how is this a bad thing? underwater levels/sections are famously known for sucking, and swimming is very linked to that. Even the one game that has it in the series (MoF) used those sections very sparingly because they just aren't fun to play. Regarding the music... I'm not sure I understand your point. Up until LoS, a lot of other things linked most of the games together, not just the music. Messy as it was, save for a couple of the games Igarashi nixed, all games have a shared cannon timeline and plot elements. And as for the music, even in games before LoS you had discrepancies, or games that weren't composed by the same people. As for the music in the LoS series, I agree it's tonally different, and overall not as memorable, but I do think it still has a few good songs to listen to even outside the game, like these two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Uqy9L_xtk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuJq17OpA2s

The combat is not the issue I have, that was the best thing of the first game. But the traversal portion they've said they want it to be more explore-based and it just rubs me the worng way not seeing an example of that. Is it more like Batman Arkham or like Ninja Gaiden's downtown? The swimming comment is just a trivial fact, not really a complaint more of something odd, since you know vampires can't cross rushing water. Iga's timeline is a mess with thing going in and out as he pleases but in the end all games were self contained, not leaving on cliff hangers. That's a great issue with MoF, since it lacked a sense of closure. Kinda like Halo 2. Yeah it has its moments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvzhoq2SHuk&list=PL21791DA20B55E7E9 That music that plays after Alucard wakes up in MoF. (Can't find it, but uses eerie instruments) But most of its effectiveness is linking the pace of the game with its score and IMO falls flat when listening by its own. Like Metroid: Other M it isn't fun to listen on it's own.

Found it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er5EsaNS09s

I agree it's not as good for listening on it's own as the more prog-rock sound the series had before. But what are ya gonna do, it's clear that from the beginning, MercurySteam wanted the LoS universe to have it's own flavor, and that meant having a different style of music, for better of worse. And I mean, seeing how a lot of modern VG soundtracks are bland to listen to even when playing the game, I think we could have done a lot worse. And well, question about MoF, did you get the true ending? (The cutscene you receive after you 100% with the three characters) If you didn't, i can understand why you lack closure, the final cut-scene, while it doesn't really show MUCH more, it at least ends with the castle crumbling down, And Simon and Alucard both escaping, Simon thanking Alucard as he watched the castle topples down, clearly meant as an homage of most of the other castlevania game's endings. Again, it's not MUCH, but it felt like enough closure for me at least. As for the exploration... Yeah, i now understand what you mean, and true they haven't really shown much of that aspect, but I'm guessing it has more to do with the fact that showing combat in videos is always more interesting than showing exploration. From what I've heard in previews though, it sounds like it could be kinda like Dark Souls, which has a world that's completely connected to each other, but it's clearly divided in sections, and has room to explore, but it isn't like, super open, or full with rooms of nothing. (In other words, I don't think it'll had the problem that Castlevania: Curse of Darkness had, which was pretty open... but most rooms felt empty, boring, and unnecessarily big.)

I know and I respect that [except what their arrogant spokesperson says about it being better.] But at least throw another bone to the fans like with the music box. In the end the game had a weak pay off, feeling more like "we'll solve this in the sequel". It really needed an epilogue because we knew way before the game was released that Gabriel wasn't going to get killed and it feels a bit hollow killing but not really killing the bad guy. The issue I mainly have is that in MoF the traversal was very dull, it felt like they were trying to go the Prince of Persia route of cinematic platforming but in the end a huge portion felt like padding.

Well... are you really gonna take anything a spokesperson says seriously to begin with? :P They are paid to shamelessly praise and hype a game, I wouldn't take it personal XD I wouldn't worry about them throwing us a bone though, people on twitter HAVE asked the main producer repeatedly if there would be music cameos like the music box in LoS2, and he has said yes every time (: I can understand that, i mean, specially if we don't see Simon again. (Which I'm pretty certain we won't, since far as I know, the game takes place either before Simon was even born, or way later into the future when he couldn't possibly be alive anymore.) It would have been nice to know what happened to him after the castle crumbled down. Yeah, I agree that flaw was in MoF... but I don't think it's fair to judge what was in MoF with what will be in LoS2. Specially because save for the basics of the combat, you can't really compare MoF with the first LoS, now can you?

Well that person was the producer. I like Mercury Steam but the guy representing them on interviews is an arrogant prick, that states things in bothersome bragging ways. But oh well like they say "Cae más rápido un hablador que un cojo". I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. Since blood is the theme of trailers I hope they fit a Bloody Tears bit. I mean they already used that reference textually in the first game. Yeah I hope they link the in betweens because it feels a bit loose, when and where that castle siege is taking place and what made Gabriel hibernate. That's up in the air, but MoF left many plot threads that may either get no resolution, a poor one or unlikely be clever setups for things in this game. Either way it was a poor Castlevania outing.

*Shrugs* again, welcome to gaming PR, most PR people in the industry tend to be insufferably arrogant almost out of need. Look no further than Nintendo of Ameirca's own President: Reggie Fils-Aime. Eh, I'm personally a bit tired of Bloody Tears since it's been rather overplayed and overexposed, though having already paid tribute to vampire killer, Bloody tears seems like the obvious next choice. Though if it was up to me, since this game is centered about Dracula, I'd rather they had "Dance of Illusions", Dracula's signature theme, as the cameo song. Well, I'm pretty sure the reason Gabriel was hibernating so long was precisely because of that defeat at the hands of Simon and Alucard. Even if it didn't kill him, I'm certain that drained quite a bit on him. As for the castle siege, we know Gabriel waged war on the brotherhood soon after he defeated and gained the ancient one's powers, so the siege could have taken place any time between this, and when he was defeated by simon. Yeah, MoF wasn't terrible, but it was far from a great game,and I do feel many of the plot elements were clumsily handled. (Did they seriously think most intelligent people wouldn't be able to make the connection between Trevor and Alucard before the end of the game? where they made a huge deal out of the reveal as if it was somehow not obvious like 1/4 into the game..) But it did put more Belmonts in the spotlight, and many of the callbacks and nods to the main series were cool. Even with it's flaws, I do like the way LoS has handled the Castlevania mythos and incorporated it into it's own thing.

Ok I'll give you that since he's opinion of next gen consoles was out of line. Isn't that song already referenced? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SQlHmjxg5s&list=PL21791DA20B55E7E9 I guess. Also that angel knight reminds me of the redeemers of Spawn. Not sure if cool or cheesy. [Not a complaint, just amusing]. I felt they were tacked on or handled with little love/passion. Aside from the Belmonts the other elements felt like they had to put them rather than to add to their own spin. Sypha, the Belnades/Fernandez spirit and the Grant spirit were more fan service, but have little rhyme or reason in this narrative. Like how game movies think they're clever when they name drop an element from the game.

...Only his opinion of next gen consoles? ever since he stepped into his first E3, Reggie has been nothing but an arrogance machine. Nintendo fanboys love him for that though, since they are always delusional thinking Nintendo is the best in everything, so having a guy with a loud voice shouting about it in an official capacity is right up their alley. And er... Not really, unless you are talking about the very initial beat, otherwise, I don't think the songs are even remotely alike. This is the one I'm talking about, just for refference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dznUMYJAj0A Dude, that Angel Knight's armor is meant to look like Pan's armor in the first game. And I guess I can see why it might be cheesy... but in this game's context, I think it works, lol. And seriously man... Once again you seem like looking at any excuse to be down on the series, warranted or not. MercurySteam stated ever since they announced LoS2 back in E3 2012, that they were only going to make 3 games in the series with LoS2 being the last one. Having only 3 games to work with, there was no place to properly have every single notable character of the past star in the main plot. And if they were still gonna have notes scattered around to serve as world building, it's better for some of them to serve at least as extra fan-service.

Do you guys like the music in Lords of Shadow 2? The series has some iconic pieces, wondering if along with the improvements to camera control and combat and whatnot if the soundtrack was noticeably better as well.

Well, the music is from the same composer of the first Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate, and it's just a different style from the prog-rock vibe that Yamane and Yamashita's music is known for. That being said, Araujo's music is still pretty good, leaning towards a more orchestral, classical sound, it doesn't sound as "video gamey", but it's still memorable in it's own right. And if you need a sample of what to expect in LoS2's music, just check out the song from the reveal trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfYwsUFFKHk

Hmm, cool idea for a feature, though I kinda would have liked this to include the 16-32 bit era of the franchise, and maybe even the N64 era to make the gradual graphical evolution of the series look more interesting in perspective.