I hate coal it always lights on fire and I can never pick it up once its on fire its like the worst lighter I ever used... I mean I can't even put it in my pocket without getting burns!
Such fragments of diabolic fecal matter that rots and dwells from the deepest bowels of an impaired horse's rectum hole, a chasm larger than any darkest hells on the face of the earth. Lords of Shadow is the ultimate testiment of impeccable treachery towards all loyal Castlevania fans and it hellishly lures these younger fruits of the newest generation into a purgatory that is burned with common, banal squalor that forever scars this world's corrupted quintessence and purity!
... In other words: This reboot sucks balls. Where the fuck are the vampires?! Where the fuck is Dracula?! Where's my Vampire Killer? Screw this Combat Cross, give me back the Belmont's traditional weapon! They might as well have called this game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Lords of Shadow. It has nothing to do with TMNT... but what the fuck does it have to do with Castlevania??
HIDEO YOU ASS. JUST BECAUSE YOU MADE METAL GEAR DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE THE POWER TO FUCK UP OTHER SERIES
Well I expected some stuff to be changed, though it's a shame I wont be able to play the games because they haven't been released over here so the manga will be the only way I can get access to it. I did try Amazon, but for some reason I could only find French translations and only volume 5 in English.
I haven't actually completed the original game series yet, I had just completed the third disc and my save got corrupted somehow. I lost the will to start again after that. Taught me to keep backups of all my saves on several memory cards though. I do however have three of the four books written from Black Rose's perspective which reveals some stuff you dont find out in the games (as far as I remember anyway). .Hack//Sign will always be my favourite in the series though.
Give it time, maybe? I'm sure you'll get a release over there eventually. And yeah, it took me the longest time to actually get into the games completely. Had to be laid up by surgery for like a month and it's like "Well, I haven't got anything else to play, so..." I crunched through discs 1-3 and then Baldur's Gate 2 for PS2 came out and I did that for a while, then got back to .Hack when I was done.
The novels are pretty good. I haven't read Cell or Link (wait, Link's a manga. nvm.) yet and they're actually doing *novels* of the GU series, too. Haven't started reading them yet, but I own them, heh. Like I said, the only thing more screwed up than the game itself is trying to figure out the continuity of the side stuff *laughs*
Such fragments of diabolic fecal matter that rots and dwells from the deepest bowels of an impaired horse's rectum hole, a chasm larger than any darkest hells on the face of the earth. Lords of Shadow is the ultimate testiment of impeccable treachery towards all loyal Castlevania fans and it hellishly lures these younger fruits of the newest generation into a purgatory that is burned with common, banal squalor that forever scars this world's corrupted quintessence and purity!
... In other words: This reboot sucks balls. Where the fuck are the vampires?! Where the fuck is Dracula?! Where's my Vampire Killer? Screw this Combat Cross, give me back the Belmont's traditional weapon! They might as well have called this game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Lords of Shadow. It has nothing to do with TMNT... but what the fuck does it have to do with Castlevania??
HIDEO YOU ASS. JUST BECAUSE YOU MADE METAL GEAR DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE THE POWER TO FUCK UP OTHER SERIES
Perhaps I enjoyed it because I wasn't a fan of the original series. That isn't to say I didn't like them (really enjoyed Symphony of Night) just never really played them.
However, as you said, this is a reboot. If they just kept bringing back the same story over and over, the hardcore fans might (keyword might, hardcore fans are some of the most annoying people to appease) be happy, but it really puts a clamp on the writers' creativity.
Besides, there was an entire stage devoted to vampires. As for Dracula well...
And Gabriel becomes Dracula at the end. Turned out pretty well in that regards, in my opinion at least. I kind of saw it coming, the whole him turning evil thing, not very far into the game, but it was still handled well.
I quite enjoyed the game, but I'm not saying it's perfect. Indeed I had a few issues with it that I mentioned in the game discussion thread. However, hating something that is trying to rebuild itself as something else and push the series in a different direction, simply because it isn't the same story and game as the original seems very... anti-progressive to me. Much like the fans of Fallout over at "no mutants allowed" who screamed bloody rape at Fallout 3.
Yes, it's not the Castlevania of old, but why does this have to be such a bad thing. Really the only complaint I've heard here is that it isn't the same as it was. If you liked the original so much go play it instead.
Castlevania is far from the first series to completely reinvent itself and how its played: Doom, Fallout, Duke Nukem... they've all jumped from one thing to another to great success (okay DooM3 wasn't anything classic compared to the original, but I think that's more a case of the original was something that'd never really been handled so well before, whereas DooM3 had some stiff competition). Of course there are always fans of the original howling at how they've been betrayed because it's not the same, and that has always been something that's bugged me.
Give it time, maybe? I'm sure you'll get a release over there eventually. And yeah, it took me the longest time to actually get into the games completely. Had to be laid up by surgery for like a month and it's like "Well, I haven't got anything else to play, so..." I crunched through discs 1-3 and then Baldur's Gate 2 for PS2 came out and I did that for a while, then got back to .Hack when I was done.
The novels are pretty good. I haven't read Cell or Link (wait, Link's a manga. nvm.) yet and they're actually doing *novels* of the GU series, too. Haven't started reading them yet, but I own them, heh. Like I said, the only thing more screwed up than the game itself is trying to figure out the continuity of the side stuff *laughs*
The games have been out for about four years now, they're not seeing the light of day over here. From what I remember AI Buster 1 and 2 are pretty good though I couldn't tell you what they're about, I read them like 3-4 years ago. If you haven't read it yet Legend of The Twilight Bracelet is a pretty good manga set after the first lot of games. There's a 12 episode anime adaption too. I haven't heard of Cell or Link so I'll have to pick them up at some point, and by the looks of it there's a fair few I don't have which I'll need to order. And looking on wikipedia there seems to be a new 3 episode OVA called .hack//Quantum which has a female version of Kite.
Perhaps I enjoyed it because I wasn't a fan of the original series. That isn't to say I didn't like them (really enjoyed Symphony of Night) just never really played them.
However, as you said, this is a reboot. If they just kept bringing back the same story over and over, the hardcore fans might (keyword might, hardcore fans are some of the most annoying people to appease) be happy, but it really puts a clamp on the writers' creativity.
Besides, there was an entire stage devoted to vampires. As for Dracula well...
And Gabriel becomes Dracula at the end. Turned out pretty well in that regards, in my opinion at least. I kind of saw it coming, the whole him turning evil thing, not very far into the game, but it was still handled well.
I quite enjoyed the game, but I'm not saying it's perfect. Indeed I had a few issues with it that I mentioned in the game discussion thread. However, hating something that is trying to rebuild itself as something else and push the series in a different direction, simply because it isn't the same story and game as the original seems very... anti-progressive to me. Much like the fans of Fallout over at "no mutants allowed" who screamed bloody rape at Fallout 3.
Yes, it's not the Castlevania of old, but why does this have to be such a bad thing. Really the only complaint I've heard here is that it isn't the same as it was. If you liked the original so much go play it instead.
Castlevania is far from the first series to completely reinvent itself and how its played: Doom, Fallout, Duke Nukem... they've all jumped from one thing to another to great success (okay DooM3 wasn't anything classic compared to the original, but I think that's more a case of the original was something that'd never really been handled so well before, whereas DooM3 had some stiff competition). Of course there are always fans of the original howling at how they've been betrayed because it's not the same, and that has always been something that's bugged me.
I am very aware it's a reboot. But in terms of style of previous Castlevania games, it feels too foreign and has barely any resemblance to.
In spite of it's interface and aesthetic changes that were very similar to Oblivion, Fallout 3 had references to previous Fallout games and it still had that Fallout atmosphere. As for Doom 3? Doom 3 was like a remake intended to fit the series appropriately with the newer generations - I always considered it a heavy remake, not a reboot.
And I'm surprised you didn't really mention Final Fantasy 7. That game literally changed EVERYTHING for the series. And well. I actually hate it for that. But I enjoyed the game otherwise. And it was still consistent in it's elements and didn't stray off TOO far from the series.
Lords of Shadows lacks too many elements that existed in previous Castlevania games - I don't just mean story or gameplay. I just didn't really feel like I was playing Castlevania and the entire game blended in with typical action games (though this one proved to be slightly better than the average). Although I may be harsh because of that, I haven't really heard anyone truly admitting this game to have any connection with the Castlevania games. Reboot or not, I was looking forward to a few references to previous installments and was really hoping for some orchestrated pieces of older music. None of that.
I suppose I'm just bothered that they actually used the title Castlevania. Again, they might as well have called it anything. Change Gabriel's last name to Fisher and you'll get Splinter Cells: Lords of Shadows.
I mean, I'm a fan - not nearly as hardcore as a few others I've met (I never played Symphony of the Night, for example). I may be simply blinded from my biasism that this is in fact a very good game, which it is a fairly okay action game. But my major complaint is how the series is treating older fans by falsely putting up the title of Castlevania. Again, I was hoping for a lot of remixes of older music AT LEAST and maybe a few references here and there (or perhaps I missed them). The consistency of keeping the Castlevania feel was lousy at best. And I personally didn't like Gabriel too much (the whole tragic love story was just... ugghhh.)
A hardcore fan of Lords of Shadows (who happens to be a friend) argued the same way about this, though in a more informal way. I'm not saying the series should forever stay the exact same. But I do want some consistency, something to show that it really is part of the Castlevania series - reboot or not. Basically the reason why Lords of Shadow is a Castlevania game is because the fucking guy's last name is Belmont.
The ending was actually very confusing and a little surreal. I'm pretty sure the reason why Gabriel became Dracula or Dracul-whatever he called himself was because of the mask's power, turning him immortal. If I were to relate this series to previous Castlevania games, I'd complain Belmonts aren't supposed to be vampirized - especially become Dracula, their archnemesis. It's like having, I dunno, Link gaining the Triforce of Power and becoming completely evil or something.
But the real issue is how the series is going to continue from this ending. I didn't understand the whole point of entering modern time - this again REALLY fucks up the atmosphere of Castlevania games, considering they all take place in older eras (though I recall one game you use pistols?)
I hate that I went to bed at 11pm, and woke up around 2am.
And have been up since. And have to leave to go to Christmas family thing in just under 2 hours. Sure, I'm taking the train there, and it'll take a while, so I can in theory nap, but I don't so much as sleep as doze on public transport, unless I'm really, really out of it. Even when I know if I oversleep past my stop, the driver will come and wake me up and it'll add like 5 minutes to my walk at the end.
The games have been out for about four years now, they're not seeing the light of day over here. From what I remember AI Buster 1 and 2 are pretty good though I couldn't tell you what they're about, I read them like 3-4 years ago. If you haven't read it yet Legend of The Twilight Bracelet is a pretty good manga set after the first lot of games. There's a 12 episode anime adaption too. I haven't heard of Cell or Link so I'll have to pick them up at some point, and by the looks of it there's a fair few I don't have which I'll need to order. And looking on wikipedia there seems to be a new 3 episode OVA called .hack//Quantum which has a female version of Kite.
Ah, well, that sucks. Save up and get an American PS2? (Yes, I can hear you laughing all the way over here.)
Yeah, AI buster, if I recall, were the short story collections with the various characters. It introduced the...Masha? The cat from Sign. LotTB was cute. Again, a case of anime and manga being different, but it was nice to see some of the familiar characters again. Ohyeah, there's also, um, not Alcor, that's the spoof...There's one with Alkaid, too. It's a one shot manga, I think. I'll have to get the title sometime. Like I said, Cell is currently a 2 issue novel and Link a 2 issue manga. I need to look into finishing out the GU anime and will have to look into Quantum, too.
To Hell with my damn computer! This damn thing eats HDs for breakfast. I've Gone through 2 externals since I've owned it. One with the clicks of death, and the other with data corruption. its 4 years old and just waiting to die on me at the least opportune moment. FUCK.
