@@nachoolo I like to think their experience on Lord's of Shadow 1 and Mirror of Fate helped them hone their skills to make Samus Returns and Dread. That and with Nintendo's oversight and care really shines through in what this studio is capable of! Would love to see them do another Castlevania!
@@kbbkkbbk9999 suuuuuure it was the “anime” part that westerners loved and complained about LOS for not having. not like DS and judgment were bashed for being recognizably anime
Lamont of innocence came out 2 years before god of war and has almost the same combat style. If anything god of war is a castlevania style but people don’t give it credit for it.
I have a soft spot for the Lords of Shadows series. They’re not my ideal Castlevania games, but I do enjoy GOW/DMC type games, and these were, for the most part, solid. Glad that MercurySteam is finding more success in their Metroid titles though.
Honestly, most of your critics about this series make a lot of sense to me given the context of my own playthroughs. I have played all the Darksiders games and all the Lords of Shadow games and I really couldn't understand the hate that the games got when they came out. Each time I started playing each game I became entranced by how much fun I was having with them in spite of all the negativity that I found surrounding them. It seems that it really boils down to the kind of gamer I am, but I really find that odd. My bread and butter games are RPGs and story driven games; really the direct antithesis of these kinds of games. I've also played through the entire God of War franchise and much of the Devil May Cry series, which I think most would say are the better iterations of these games. Yet, in spite of that, I prefer these games to those. Maybe I'm just really weird, but I think that all these games are much better than people give them credit for and I would love to see more entries in them.
Take away the name "Castlevania" and people complain will be almost none for the series, they just Castlevania fanboys, I liked both games and even if they have some issues (like the stealth parts on 2), they are overall good games that mocks games released today (would anyone rather forspoken over this?)
Honestly Lords of Shadow suffer under the same curse that DmC does, having the name of the franchise attatched to them, without that franchise name to set expectations they are just well put together if uninspired action games that offer a good time but nothing spectaculer.
Honestly Lords of Shadow and DmC are better then previous games in their series in many ways ,both are intriguing ,engaging very inspired action games that are spectacular in most aspects,..even to the people that can't handle change can't be blind to both games greatness
@@wackyswacky1374 DmC is a fine game, but compared to 3 4 and 5 it just doesn't compare. And while 1 has definitely aged the worst, it revolutionized 3D action games and that legacy can't be ignored. Add on a story and a take on Dante and Vergil that the fandom absolutely loathes and for good reason, it's no surprise that DmC as a series reboot completely flopped.
@@frankbasile3662 I really like DmC, but compared to DMC1 and 3 it really comes out destroyed in terms of story and gameplay. The only thing that's better are the platforming sections
Such a good video. I'm glad you took it easy on the shit parts of Lords of Shadow 2 since people at launch and even now blow them out if proportion, when they're at worst 5 minutes at a time. You don't see people ditching Dark Souls over New Izalith Ruins or Bed of Chaos, they accept those parts and enjoy the rest so I'm puzzled as to why this wasn't the case here. The game has a whole lot to offer, gameplay wise and I hope people come to understand it with time. The sequel also improved on the gameplay a huge deal. The first LoS was a great action adventure title, up there with the best of the older God of War titles in its epicness, I do understand why people were alienated because of its non Castlevania feel.
Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
I only played LoS 1 but I honestly had a blast with it. Loved the Shadow of the Colossus style bosses. I've had a nearly lifelong habit of highly enjoying the Castlevania games that get critically panned. Castlevania 64, Lament of Innocence, etc. The series has rarely missed in terms of solid gameplay, it's larger crimes seem to be refusing to conform to gameplay expectations outside of the handheld metroidvania entries.
Dude, in terms of gameplay 2 is far, far superior and the story while a little odd and unfinished feeling it's serviceable enough for a video game. But the gameplay improvements make the first game almost obsolete, also Dracula Gabriel just looks badass on top of the game visually holding up on pc.
I disagree with the last thing you said. I'm not a fan of Metroidvania either(they're okay, better than this style wise). And I played lament too. And I can't agree that that's the issue here. Everyone has always known of CV's action background.
Lament of Innocence is one of my three favorite Castlevania other than Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of The Night. so of course I welcomed Lords of Shadow when it was first announced since it quenched my thirst for 3d Castlevania at the time. and I loved it. I loved the 2nd one as well but oh boy those stealth sections nearly killed the game for me.
The stealth sections aren't even bad. They also only last about 1 minute unless you're mentally handicapped. Only one I had trouble with was the 3 guards at one door because I forgot 20 hours ago they told you that the knife can distract guards.
I do not care when anyone else says, Lords of shadows 2 will always be a masterpiece in my eyes. Stealth sections suck, but those are a small flaw. It always annoyed me whenever I saw people complaining about the fight against Pan's brother, where they completely ignored the ability they literally just received and say that the fight makes no sense.
LOS 1 is better. I love the fantastic cinematic feel of it and the Forgotten One fight is one of the coolest battles of the genre. Also the story of LOS 2 was a great disappointment. The castle and reality sections of the story should have at least been split into separate games, so much potential lost by cramming the two into a single game.
I wouldn't call it a "masterpiece" in the grand video game world, but it is one of my favourite Castlevania games. I bought it day one when it was released and I enjoyed it immensely. The only thing it lacked was another good Satan boss battle at the end. They bothered to give Lucifer that bulky design and they didn't do anything with it. And no, possessed Alucard doesn't count...
That’s all I heard about when this game came out. Everyone focused hard on the stealth sections when there’s probably 3 or 4 of them in the game and all together make up maybe 30 minutes of total playtime, and that’s being generous. Same thing with the first game and the Shadow of the Colossus bosses. That’s only 4 bosses out of what, 15? There are legitimate flaws with these games and I’ll admit, the stealth sections weren’t very good, but I have no idea why everybody clung so tightly to that one complaint as if it ruined the entire game.
@@Ckoz2829 I dont mind the stealth at all,it was easy and only done a few times as you said,..those creatures were designed with armor resistance to Draculas attacks so it makes sense he can't harm them,especially at reduced strength,..it was a small change of pace in the game for only a few minutes each...,
Well Konami didn't lack Metroidvania games. They had dozens and they did fine..I doubt mecury at the time could have done a better one than igarashi. Could be wrong. What they needed was a 3d CV on the big boy consoles. That's where CV had failed the last gen... And all gens. And where that DMC and GOW money was. Unless you mean make a 3d Metroidvania.
@@DSan-kl2yc Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
Lords of Shadow is pretty great, better than some other classic Castlevanias. The voice acting and areas were great, and it was a bang for your buck since it was very very long. The DLC was also good. Then Lords of Shadow 2 attacked. The 3DS Mirror of whatever was meh.
This is good stuff, but I’ll have to make a reminder to myself not to eat while watching these. Not because of gross stuff, but because I’m actually laughing too hard and might choke. Well done KBash.
I love this review. So, well done. But, the funny thing is, Lords of Shadow is and will forever remain one of my all time favorite trilogies. I loved Lords of Shadow 2 so much that it’s the only game that I’ve ever beaten on the ultra hard mode.
"the time when they went devil may cry" fun fact : Hideki kamiya the creator of devil may cry, his most favourite action game is "castlevania" thats why classic devil may cry has gothic atmosphere and the setting majority is in the castle because its reference to Castlevania
I've always seen the souls borne series as a true 3d castlevania when you only look at the castlevania rpgs. They gave me the feeling of playing a 3d version of those games especially when the 2d rpgs died out.
Absolutely. Castlevania ended in 2008 and then Demon's Souls came out a year later in 2009, and it had everything you would want out of a Metroidvania but in 3D. Most Castlevania fans moved on to the Souls series and never looked back. At least, not until Bloodstained came out. Bloodstained was a decent game, but it's meager scope and budget just can't compete with the juggernaut that is Fromsoft now.
Castlevania ≠ Souls / borne games These are totally different beasts for me and even objectively this doesnt count as a spiritual successor . Even Bloodborne isnt really near Castlevanias identity and own brilliance . Just because both are horror-gothic in its theme doesnt mean they are alike . Bloodborne goes for eldritch horror while Castlevania goes more into the universal monster horror which later on got that romantic touch behind it ( Just look the coverart of Castlevania SotN and chronicles alone which captures Castlevania perfectly that bloodborne and Dark souls not have ) . The souls-games have huge worlds to explore that are connected to a huge event which is connected to many important creatures and persons while Castlevania is only depending on Draculas return/ressurection/rebirth alone in his always changing castle (a creature of chaos in itsself) that make it a world-shattering impact. Maybe the souls games are more like the NES/Snes/Megadrive games but even these games introduced different ideas that brought more possibilities on its mechanics to be more versatile instead in the Souls-game to be more reactionary in its gameplay. And especially the Lore of castlevania is way too different next to the souls games. Not that the Soulsborne-games are bad . The souls games are more ominous and are even sceptical in its design , lore and atmossphere which makes those games different and awesome. And Castlevania with Dark souls/bloodborne gameplay sounds unfitting or even bad . I would see more a evolved gameplay approach of castlevania 64 instead playing another souls-clone disguised as one of my favourite franchises . Would be very disheartening for me and many other castlevania fans.
I played all three of those games and was lukewarm on all of them. For a while, I blamed MercurySteam for the death of Castlevania, but that was when I had no idea what was really going on at Konami and how they were treating their other franchises. When I discovered that Konami's interests had shifted exclusively to wallet-sucking mobile trash and pachislot garbage, I realized that MercurySteam weren't to blame at all. All they did was their best.😔
For a company with low experience doing these action games, they did pretty well imo, and the games have some charm and a vision, somewhat cohesive even if mediocre
The First Lords of Shadow was excellent in all aspects,easily one of the best games of that generation,.from the rich atmosphere,lore and enemy variety the large varied levels and deep rewarding combat.The story and narration are also very well done ....My personally favorite Castlevania and much better then the 2d crap in my opinion..,
@@frankbasile3662 Yeah they were solid yet they came out at the WORSE time. Since people were not happy with it, then they were really not happy when they found this was the best they're gonna get since Konami doesn't care anymore.
I think we all can agree that Lords of Shadow tried to tell a story. In the old games rarely they elaborated on the story, just the same ''Dracula is back, gotta whip his ass'' and that's fine. Lords of Shadow 2 at least tried. I legit cried when Gabrielsaw his wife again, the dialogue and acting was great. But after that the story simply doesn't make sense even if you try to and the stealth sections are a buggy mess. If you have patience on the stealth parts and just turn off your brain about the story, you'll find a great game. The graphics hold up to this day, the combat is fluid and fun, the castle is fun to explore (though it doesn't make sense it's existence) and the thing that hurts the most, it's potential.
First LOS was a damn good action game , mirror of fate was meh, the second game has a good bosses and the castle sections are pretty good but all those stealth section ruin the game
Dude, always the same stuff. Oh, in this game you have to fight 3 super giant dudes and search for their weak points? "Well that was already made by shadow of the colossus" so what? No else can put giant boss battles in games anymore because that gane did it before? The only thing that matters is if it's a well made fight, and by what I see on this video it looks like it is.
It just struck me that this games story is so close to Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen. Ghostly spirit around some pillars tasks a morally dubious gentleman to save the world only for him to go “Fuck the world” and become the most powerful Vampire to live.
Damn, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Yeah, you do have a point. Sheesh tho, didn't expect to hear about legacy of kain, those games dummy underrated.
To be fair in LoS dude became a Vampire to go kill extra dangerous demon - exactly opposite of "Fuck the world", then resisted "curse" for a while until going mad (also those whom he tried to protect going Holy Crusade on his ass didn't help the matter at all). So similar in end result but different starting point. Kain never was a nice person and his choice to become Vampire Lord and screw over 9 pillars was out of pure selfishness (he got wiser with years but still).
I laughed way too hard at "Ya know what, let's go drink martinis and just be giant bitches together about everyone we hate." That line fucking floored me. And that exaggerated verbal portrayal of Gabriel as Carmilla's slave had me reeling. I'd normally chime in with my own take on your commentary here, especially with me being a fairly avid Castlevania fan, but all I really want to say is this is by far one of the funniest episodes you've done in a while. Also very insightful and enlightening as always but I don't think I've laughed this hard at a game review in some time, and I generally spend my evenings eating my one square meal a day and watching a game review before I go to bed. Never stop doing what you're doing, man. Even if your opinion isn't always the popular take, your content is too entertaining not to pursue, and I'm confident you won't stop.
Probably nothing special, but he did have a millennium to bulk up. And for what? All he did was possess Alucard with a considerably slimmer physique. All those gains WASTED!
@@Ckoz2829 Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
Lord of Shadows 2 is one of those games, you know the type: "Its really bad for the first 4 hours, but then it gets good for the remaining 20"... not really something you can recommend to someone else , but something you know is worth experiencing once you already did.
That doesn't even make sense. The tutorial level is a pretty awesome opener and the next maybe hour is some cutscenes and minor stealth. Game is great within 2 hours and amazing feeling afterwards.
Believe it or not, these were my favorite castlevania games, especially given that I got introduced to them first, at the beginning of my edgelord phase, when Robert Carlisle's dracula hit *the SPOT* for 13 year old shitlord me lol
2 is unfairly hated as well. Seems like people read ign type reviews or watched 2bfp complain about the mildly annoying at worst stealth sections and wrote the game off.
I’ve never been a big fan of this series of CV games, but I will admit for what they are at least the first 2 games were fun. Not something I’ll play over the Igavania or even the classicvania games. I can understand why the series went in this direction, but man the series lost its identity trying to get those mainstream sales
What I find interesting is that Ninja Gaiden is pretty much Ninja Castlevania, yet that got praise for its change, when Castlevania did a similar change and got shit for it.
I really liked the first one. The gameplay was fun and I was invested in the story. I just couldn't stay hooked. I would almost get there, but then I would lose interest.
IMO LoS2 IS the best 3D Castlvania game, and i think the hate from the game IS blown out Of proportion by the fanbase, they act like the horrible stealth sections are the entire game and not a a few small sections in a mostly platforming, exploration and combat heavy Adventure
and funnily enough, Koji Igarashi was like "Yo Konami! You wanna revive Castlevania properly? Call me!" after Bloodstained was a success. I want to see one era in the Castlevania cannon to be covered : Demon Castle War era where the fight against Dracula is brought out worldwide a long time before Aria of Sorrow
I was the perfect age for this. Too young for Castlevania proper but I was all about GOW. I never beat this game back in the day, but I just beat the Lycan King. This game really holds up well honestly. Not many games are like this anymore
This is still one of my favorite games out there, I didn't care who made the game, the story was good, the gameplay had me engaged and the boss battles were fun, there is no game like this today that can make me feel like a fucking badass like LOS2 did. With how fucking bad new games are I'm glad to have LOS2 to return to when I wanna have fun.
I'm a big fan of these games, but because of the stigma that surrounds them I often dread seeing people online talk about them because it's often just yet more hate without giving them a fair shake. So I'm glad to see you actually approach them more even-handedly and give praise where its due, especially with LoS2. While it has flaws it's my favourite of the series, in part thanks to the improved combat, so I'm glad that's something you picked up on as well. It's funny when you were talking about issues with the first game's combat, and you were showing footage of the Butcher boss, I could predict exactly what you were going to bring up with that guy. That issue of the weird hitboxes is something I noticed too, but haven't seen anyone else bring it up.
I'm a huge fan of the original CV games, so LoS made me shudder in disgust right from the start. However, I have the mindset that you mentioned, giving things their fair shake. I might hate them from a distance, but maybe playing them would give more insight and appreciation for them. Nope. I tried. I REALLY tried. I 100%ed the first and middle games and the second game is just so painful to look at that I gave up on it within a few hours. I really, REALLY tried. Even after completing the first game, it only made me loathe the game even more because it made me realize that the game would have been better as an entirely new IP. It didn't feel like CV at all. The game isn't absolutely awful. I'd venture far enough to call it decent. But. It. Is. Not. Castlevania. Attaching the name "Castlevania" to a new IP just feels like usurping the recognizability of the brand for attention. If "Lords of Shadow" was its full name and it was a new IP that had nothing to do with CV, then I'd probably like it more, but this is such a massive departure from - and what feels like a middle finger to - the original games that I can't in good faith say that Lords of Shadow, which I gave its fair shake, has any right being a Castlevania game.
Cope harder, you can't simply butcher a renowned IP and expect the fans of said IP not to be revolted by this lame reboot (and even if you disregard the Castlevania name, these games are bad on their own, being nothing but lame GoW clones)
7:05 KBash continues to impress with the deepest cuts. Only KBash could insert decades old Balloonshop material and keep it relevant. Beautiful and a masterclass in comedy. :D
I got a huge grin on my face from seeing that. I used to watch Balloonshop all day long. I still quote them once in awhile but I don’t think my sisters even remember what I’m referencing lol.
I really think you should do a kbash episodes on the God of war trilogy some day. Cause comparing the games to dmc when they are definitely more inspired by God of war is going to make so many hate comments with something like "It's not inspired by DMC. It's God of war!". They aren't the best games, but they succeed on what they try to do, for the most part
While I agree with the majority of what was said in this video, I have to disagree about the opening to Lords of Shadow 2 being a highlight. I loved Lords of Shadow (admitted Darksiders simp here ☺), so I was crazy hyped for LoS2, but when I played the demo, which was just the opening segment of the game, it deflated my expectations completely and I didn't even support it at launch, only playing the full game for the first time years later when I got it on deep sale on Steam. On paper that opening is the greatest nerd shit ever imagined, but in practice it was incredibly disappointing, to the point that when I finally played through the game I was furious that the devs divorced those segments so completely from the actual gameplay, which was way more enjoyable and would have guaranteed a day 1 purchase from my had the demo included a later game segment instead of the intro. And I'm sure you hear this all the time, but your voice is amazing and I hope you get some VO work in an RPG some day 🙂
Even with all its shortcomings I’m still surprised Lord of Shadows 1 is the best selling Castlevania game of all time. Makes sense seeing how much was behind this reboot, but disappointing as a hardcore fan looking at how much this series has to offer
I'm not surprised. That doesn't mean I LIKE the game or that I think it deserved the attention, but considering how these things go? Mentioning the word "reboot" is a marketing boost in and of itself. Plus, the first game was announced around the time that God of War was still in people's minds. Is it a faithful CV game? God no. But it checks all the boxes for "What will grab the mainstream's attention?" And it did. Basically, I'm not surprised it was such a success because its success is largely predicated on NOT being a faithful CV game. The previous games did fine, but this reboot is like launching an entirely new IP while wearing the CV skin. If the previous games were ever going to sell as good, they would have already. It's the change itself that allowed LoS to be successful. So quite literally, NOT being a faithful CV game is what gave it such success. Other examples of this: Tales of Arise and Breath of the Wild. Massive departures from the formulas of their predecessors, which allowed them to be massive successes by drawing in new fans the prior games couldn't appeal to. None of what I just said can be translated as "These games are good" or "These games are bad". It's just the fact that these games....are. They prove that a game's quality is irrelevant. If quality put bvtts in seats, earlier titles would have filled those seats already.
Honestly not that surprising if you consider the platforms each game was released on. Of course games that are released on ps/xbox/pc will sell more than one that is exclusive to a thing. And since a lot of fans of the old Castlevanias got burned by LoS 1 they didn't bother with the other reboot releases. Hence why they did worse.
Seemed pretty faithful to me, loads of different monsters, Christian themes, chain whip, Dracula. Certainly more fun than any other 3D attempt at castlevania to boot. First one is good but the second game is far less frustrating by simply adding a God damn air dodge.
I like this rebooted universe in theory. Dracula being the first Belmont and the Belmont curse of having to fight him being a series of misunderstandings is appropriately tragic and on brand. I wish the games weren't so....7th gen. Despite some of the cool things I saw in the trailers for the first game, I didn't buy it because my thought was simply "I've seen this too many times before to be invested". I had already played Lords of Shadow without touching it and I was tired of that kind of game. I would love to see this world of Castlevania but in the Fromsoft style. In fact, I think From is the perfect studio to resurrect the series.
Never understood why LOS gets so much hate. The first game is one of my top 5 (or 3) Castlevania entries. Yes it has shortcomings but which castlevania doesn't? The action complements the theme and it all creates an epic game i keep getting back to. Sad that it wasnt remastered for newer console generations. It may not be as good as Dracula's curse (imo the best) but the 30+ yo me got the same feeling like back when I played the first entry on NES as a kid. Taste is subjective. You may disagree but I adored this one and was hoping for more. And yes I loved Dante's inferno, but found GoW/DMC boring.
I have a soft spot for LoS2. It was so utterly weird compared to how aesthetically bland the first game was. Rat levels, satanic space marines, Dracula vs mechs; something about it was just enduring. I certainly won’t argue that it was ‘good’, but it was definitely ‘different ’. Still though, I can understand why fans hate the series. This marked Castlevania’s death knell before being banished to the pachinko mines. Even on its own merits, the LoS series lands somewhere underneath Darksiders. But Darksiders didn’t have Captain Picard hamming it up in the VA booth, so who can say?
I enjoyed LoS 2 a lot. The combat was solid enough. Too bad the Alucard DLC never made it to the console in europe. I really wanted to play as Alucard and now years later, i have a PC, i could buy the PC version, but i dont think its replay value is good enough, too much puzzles and annoying shit that isnt fun. I still may buy it, i would reconsider less, if I knew, it would help LoS 3 developement. But as it is, I dont want to do all that for a 1 hour dlc and i dont think the dlc is playable without the main game. I wish the lvls were more coherent, if they had more structure, this could have been a replayable masterpiece. But they sadly went with, lets make a unique one time experience instead. The open world has hurt this game in the long run. It has a similar design Issue like darksiders 2, where the core game is good, and i love to loot items and match shit with my skills as Nekrolord and test out diffrent stats in combat and how they affect my abilitys and casts. But there is just no structure, the world is quantity instead of shorter quality, you cant redo dungeons or bosses.... Hell darksiders 2 doesnt even let you New game ++, instead it deletes your file...well fuck, who the hell thought that was a good idea, this person should jump off a cliff because I did that thinking i could play new game ++ and farm even more gear. I wish every game had a structured core like Devil may Cry 3, just choose lvl and play against your favorite Boss. Or do as many New game + as you like, with diffrent difficulties if you like...why is no developer picking up on the good long term fun shit of dmc 3/5, i dont get it. I would have farmed everything, because i liked the overall aesthetic, i love every third person sword game. Even Darksiders 3, despite its shortcomings.
really just is depressing because this is the last genuine attempt at a new castlevania game, and there hasnt been a new one since, and Konami sure aren't going to try again any time soon.
They were commercially successful games with the first one being critically very well praised. They are some of my own personal favourote games that have one of the best soundtracks from a criminally underrated composer. Most criticism is unfounded and comes from sad die hard fans who cannot appreciate the concept of an adaptation and want carbon copy repeats of games for ever
Makes me wonder what kind of games KBash actually DOES enjoy playing. Lords of Shadow wasn't nearly as bad as he's trying to make it out by dragging it.
I love the atmosphere Lords of Shadow has, but it's definitely a 'play it once' kind of game. It's good, but not get-every-trophy good. I'm glad I have it in my collection, but I've been lamenting the fact I've never gone back and played Lords of Shadow 2.
People say god of war like but lament of innocence released 2 years before god of war and is in a similar combat style. So I think it should get more recognition as an original idea rather then a knock off.
Lets appriciate for a moment that Zobek was Voiced by Patrick Stewart adding to the weird suprsingly good side of first LoS. I might actually pick up mirror of fate because of this video because I thought It was more or less like the first game but just bad.
I agree with most of your criticisms but still loved these games. Their music and aesthetics have always appealed to me so much. Great video anyway! Hopefully this will bring these games to more people's attention again.
I like the first LoS for the most part (until the completely obvious example of Patrick Stewart's betrayal, and the transparent revelation of who killed Garbriel's life and then we end up fighting Satan which is a huge shark jumping moment). The Shadow of the colossus elements were nice. Some characters like Laura and Carmilla were somewhat interesting. I don't like Quick Time events but these weren't the worst I've seen. The best aspects of the game I thought were how big and immersive the world was. The graphics of the world were pretty good at the time. LoS2 was absolutely freaking awful. I have nothing nice to say about it. Even at the end of the game a guy with a big gun can one shot the Lord of Darkness. My favorite part of LoS2 is where Dracula rides the exploding gas tank. That told me we had crossed the line into full goddamn parody....
One correction: Cornell, Camilla, and Zobek weren't 'ex' members. They were the founders, who were ascended. "Ex" implies they just went up and left the brotherhood
I enjoyed the LoS series the world of the 1st game and the medieval segments of the 2nd. Once the world went into modern times I admittedly was losing interest in those moments but I pushed on to be able to see the world as it looks way back then without anything we see day to day
Nice video, thank you. Especially since I could only stomach LoS for a couple of hours before becoming deathly bored. Lament of Innocence was good though.
I had the complete opposite effect lol. I loved Lords of Shadow but Lament of Innocence nearly bored me to tears with its level design. The combat wasn’t half bad, the story and characters were good, and the music was great. But I always hated trudging through that barren castle where every room looks identical and are connected by mile long hallways.
Despite the story being utter nonsense, despite Gabriel being a pathetic Dracula and despite all the other things, LoS2 is my favorite of the rebooted saga. Why ? Probably because of the non linearity that was lacking in LoS1, I was so disappointed it was a linear set of stages after playing all the metroidvanias before, including SotN at its launch. Also the whole dialogue between the Paladin and Gabriel is one the most badass things I've ever seen in a video game.
Idk portrait of ruin is still my unironic favorite. Also, holy crap was that a Spoony Bard cameo? I thought I was the only person on the internet that remembers him
The worst part of this series is that I played the first game to completion and still cannot remember a single damn thing about it other than the twist ending.
I still think the LoS games are among the best Castlevania ones. I'm also glad you didn't bash on LoS2 so bad. I'm thankful it was released, given the Konami situation and all.
The biggest problem with los 2 was the stealth in the first game nothing could phase you not even satan and you didnt have that much power back then. But the stealth sections ruined the power fantasy why should I hide from a goat if I can kill it literally 4mins later?
The main problem with these games is that they carry the Castlevania title. If they had just been called Lords of Shadow, with no connection to Castlevania, most of the players would have been a lot more lenient on them. They are decent GoW clones.
I like the LoS series. Simon's Quest was my first and favorite classic CV game, so I dont go with the pack. And yes, I played SQ new, so Ive been into CV for quite a long time. Id love to see a 3D version of SQ
Real shit Castlevania Lords of Shadow 1 was a treat and I loved playing it, i highly suggest giving it a try, now number 2 I had mixed feelings about but on a side note the chess mini game after figuring out how it works is actually hella fun
The backflip girl part is almost literally the Jack Ending Cinematic from Tekken 3 but as a fully realized game chapter and that is all I could think about while playing that part.
Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
It’s funny that Mercury Steam has worked on Castlevania and Metroid and it’s clear which IP holder actually cared about their property.
Their work on Metroid do make me wish for them to do another Castlevania game. Just to see what they can do now.
@@nachoolo I like to think their experience on Lord's of Shadow 1 and Mirror of Fate helped them hone their skills to make Samus Returns and Dread. That and with Nintendo's oversight and care really shines through in what this studio is capable of! Would love to see them do another Castlevania!
@@kbbkkbbk9999 Exactly, it was diet God of War with none of the charm of either series
@@kbbkkbbk9999 suuuuuure it was the “anime” part that westerners loved and complained about LOS for not having. not like DS and judgment were bashed for being recognizably anime
Now only Mercury Steam needs to actually care about their employees
Dracula killing holy knights with holy magic is a wonderful thing. This isn't your movie dracula he crucifixes you
Imo this is the best GoW “clone” out there. The voice acting was amazing and the areas were beautiful. 13 year old me was very happy
Imo, as edgy as it is, I think that honor goes to Dante's Inferno. Lords of Shadow is a close second for me, though.
Lamont of innocence came out 2 years before god of war and has almost the same combat style. If anything god of war is a castlevania style but people don’t give it credit for it.
Dante's Inferno is the one for me
GoW is a DMC clone. And now its a Dark Souls clone.
@@darrylreid8145 People for a long time thought devil may cry was a god of war clone, the mass is stupid in general.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Lords of Shadow series. I love the plot, I had fun with the games.
Yeah, for a game by itself, it's amazing.
@@painasura1403 nah not even that, game is generic and derivative af, glad that awful reboot trilogy flopped hard
@@wallacesousuke1433NAH its great.
@@wallacesousuke1433Cheer up chuckles
According to the interviews, Kojima involvement on the series was to protect MercurySteam from Konami, by put his name on the project.
I believe it look what happened to LoS2 Konami murdered it.
I have a soft spot for the Lords of Shadows series. They’re not my ideal Castlevania games, but I do enjoy GOW/DMC type games, and these were, for the most part, solid. Glad that MercurySteam is finding more success in their Metroid titles though.
Honestly, most of your critics about this series make a lot of sense to me given the context of my own playthroughs. I have played all the Darksiders games and all the Lords of Shadow games and I really couldn't understand the hate that the games got when they came out. Each time I started playing each game I became entranced by how much fun I was having with them in spite of all the negativity that I found surrounding them. It seems that it really boils down to the kind of gamer I am, but I really find that odd.
My bread and butter games are RPGs and story driven games; really the direct antithesis of these kinds of games. I've also played through the entire God of War franchise and much of the Devil May Cry series, which I think most would say are the better iterations of these games. Yet, in spite of that, I prefer these games to those. Maybe I'm just really weird, but I think that all these games are much better than people give them credit for and I would love to see more entries in them.
Take away the name "Castlevania" and people complain will be almost none for the series, they just Castlevania fanboys, I liked both games and even if they have some issues (like the stealth parts on 2), they are overall good games that mocks games released today (would anyone rather forspoken over this?)
Forspoken is trash
Who ever Gabriel's VA was needed a fuckin award...
Honestly Lords of Shadow suffer under the same curse that DmC does, having the name of the franchise attatched to them, without that franchise name to set expectations they are just well put together if uninspired action games that offer a good time but nothing spectaculer.
Honestly Lords of Shadow and DmC are better then previous games in their series in many ways ,both are intriguing ,engaging very inspired action games that are spectacular in most aspects,..even to the people that can't handle change can't be blind to both games greatness
@@frankbasile3662 DmC is trash and when the original series came back with DMC V, Hideaki Itsuno showed us how a REAL DMC game is made.
@@wackyswacky1374 DmC is a fine game, but compared to 3 4 and 5 it just doesn't compare. And while 1 has definitely aged the worst, it revolutionized 3D action games and that legacy can't be ignored. Add on a story and a take on Dante and Vergil that the fandom absolutely loathes and for good reason, it's no surprise that DmC as a series reboot completely flopped.
@@frankbasile3662 I really like DmC, but compared to DMC1 and 3 it really comes out destroyed in terms of story and gameplay. The only thing that's better are the platforming sections
@@wackyswacky1374 jfc i'm not one to usually say shit like this but seriously.
soyjack ass comment.
Such a good video. I'm glad you took it easy on the shit parts of Lords of Shadow 2 since people at launch and even now blow them out if proportion, when they're at worst 5 minutes at a time. You don't see people ditching Dark Souls over New Izalith Ruins or Bed of Chaos, they accept those parts and enjoy the rest so I'm puzzled as to why this wasn't the case here. The game has a whole lot to offer, gameplay wise and I hope people come to understand it with time. The sequel also improved on the gameplay a huge deal.
The first LoS was a great action adventure title, up there with the best of the older God of War titles in its epicness, I do understand why people were alienated because of its non Castlevania feel.
WTF? This cr*p is nowhere near as good as the og GoW games, or DMC, it's about as mediocre and forgettable as Dante's Inferno
Mirror of Fate is super cheesy and fun. Never understood why it got so much hate. Great video (as always)! 💜
Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
As a long time Castlevania fan who’s played nearly all the games 110%… me neither. It was solid, fun, and had a great story.
I only played LoS 1 but I honestly had a blast with it. Loved the Shadow of the Colossus style bosses. I've had a nearly lifelong habit of highly enjoying the Castlevania games that get critically panned. Castlevania 64, Lament of Innocence, etc. The series has rarely missed in terms of solid gameplay, it's larger crimes seem to be refusing to conform to gameplay expectations outside of the handheld metroidvania entries.
Dude, in terms of gameplay 2 is far, far superior and the story while a little odd and unfinished feeling it's serviceable enough for a video game.
But the gameplay improvements make the first game almost obsolete, also Dracula Gabriel just looks badass on top of the game visually holding up on pc.
I disagree with the last thing you said. I'm not a fan of Metroidvania either(they're okay, better than this style wise). And I played lament too. And I can't agree that that's the issue here.
Everyone has always known of CV's action background.
Lament of Innocence is one of my three favorite Castlevania other than Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of The Night. so of course I welcomed Lords of Shadow when it was first announced since it quenched my thirst for 3d Castlevania at the time. and I loved it. I loved the 2nd one as well but oh boy those stealth sections nearly killed the game for me.
The stealth sections aren't even bad. They also only last about 1 minute unless you're mentally handicapped.
Only one I had trouble with was the 3 guards at one door because I forgot 20 hours ago they told you that the knife can distract guards.
I do not care when anyone else says, Lords of shadows 2 will always be a masterpiece in my eyes. Stealth sections suck, but those are a small flaw. It always annoyed me whenever I saw people complaining about the fight against Pan's brother, where they completely ignored the ability they literally just received and say that the fight makes no sense.
LOS 1 is better. I love the fantastic cinematic feel of it and the Forgotten One fight is one of the coolest battles of the genre.
Also the story of LOS 2 was a great disappointment. The castle and reality sections of the story should have at least been split into separate games, so much potential lost by cramming the two into a single game.
@@vitalyklimenchuk8392 eh didn't stop me from putting three more playthroughs into it than the first game.
I wouldn't call it a "masterpiece" in the grand video game world, but it is one of my favourite Castlevania games. I bought it day one when it was released and I enjoyed it immensely. The only thing it lacked was another good Satan boss battle at the end. They bothered to give Lucifer that bulky design and they didn't do anything with it. And no, possessed Alucard doesn't count...
That’s all I heard about when this game came out. Everyone focused hard on the stealth sections when there’s probably 3 or 4 of them in the game and all together make up maybe 30 minutes of total playtime, and that’s being generous. Same thing with the first game and the Shadow of the Colossus bosses. That’s only 4 bosses out of what, 15?
There are legitimate flaws with these games and I’ll admit, the stealth sections weren’t very good, but I have no idea why everybody clung so tightly to that one complaint as if it ruined the entire game.
@@Ckoz2829 I dont mind the stealth at all,it was easy and only done a few times as you said,..those creatures were designed with armor resistance to Draculas attacks so it makes sense he can't harm them,especially at reduced strength,..it was a small change of pace in the game for only a few minutes each...,
The music composed for Lords of Shadows is BALLER
It's the Shadow of the Colossus-style boss fights that intrigued me the most
They not good.
They pretty good
it's crazy that we know for sure that MercurySteam have the skill to make an amazing metroidvania game but Konami just... didn't have them do that
Well Konami didn't lack Metroidvania games. They had dozens and they did fine..I doubt mecury at the time could have done a better one than igarashi. Could be wrong.
What they needed was a 3d CV on the big boy consoles. That's where CV had failed the last gen... And all gens. And where that DMC and GOW money was.
Unless you mean make a 3d Metroidvania.
@@DSan-kl2yc Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
YES! Konami are the ones to blame. They screwed IGA, then Mercury Steam, and then the whole series.
This game gets so much Undeserved hate. These games are awesome, don't care what anyone says!
Lords of Shadow is pretty great, better than some other classic Castlevanias. The voice acting and areas were great, and it was a bang for your buck since it was very very long. The DLC was also good.
Then Lords of Shadow 2 attacked.
The 3DS Mirror of whatever was meh.
I got the 2nd game on release and it was the coolest thing ever to me
Yuh know. Some parts ain't that bad. Plus closest thing we've had to a blood omen game in ages so I kinda had fun too.
This is good stuff, but I’ll have to make a reminder to myself not to eat while watching these. Not because of gross stuff, but because I’m actually laughing too hard and might choke. Well done KBash.
I love this review. So, well done. But, the funny thing is, Lords of Shadow is and will forever remain one of my all time favorite trilogies. I loved Lords of Shadow 2 so much that it’s the only game that I’ve ever beaten on the ultra hard mode.
i really loved this game growing up, im glad to see that you appreciate it so much!
"the time when they went devil may cry" fun fact : Hideki kamiya the creator of devil may cry, his most favourite action game is "castlevania" thats why classic devil may cry has gothic atmosphere and the setting majority is in the castle because its reference to Castlevania
I've always seen the souls borne series as a true 3d castlevania when you only look at the castlevania rpgs. They gave me the feeling of playing a 3d version of those games especially when the 2d rpgs died out.
ESPECIALLY the first DS game
@@TheExFatal Lordran is amazing to move trough... At least the bits preO&S
The first DS was a true metroidvania. Less on the mobility more on the interconnected world
Absolutely. Castlevania ended in 2008 and then Demon's Souls came out a year later in 2009, and it had everything you would want out of a Metroidvania but in 3D. Most Castlevania fans moved on to the Souls series and never looked back. At least, not until Bloodstained came out. Bloodstained was a decent game, but it's meager scope and budget just can't compete with the juggernaut that is Fromsoft now.
Castlevania ≠ Souls / borne games
These are totally different beasts for me and even objectively this doesnt count as a spiritual successor . Even Bloodborne isnt really near Castlevanias identity and own brilliance . Just because both are horror-gothic in its theme doesnt mean they are alike . Bloodborne goes for eldritch horror while Castlevania goes more into the universal monster horror which later on got that romantic touch behind it ( Just look the coverart of Castlevania SotN and chronicles alone which captures Castlevania perfectly that bloodborne and Dark souls not have ) .
The souls-games have huge worlds to explore that are connected to a huge event which is connected to many important creatures and persons while Castlevania is only depending on Draculas return/ressurection/rebirth alone in his always changing castle (a creature of chaos in itsself) that make it a world-shattering impact.
Maybe the souls games are more like the NES/Snes/Megadrive games but even these games introduced different ideas that brought more possibilities on its mechanics to be more versatile instead in the Souls-game to be more reactionary in its gameplay.
And especially the Lore of castlevania is way too different next to the souls games.
Not that the Soulsborne-games are bad . The souls games are more ominous and are even sceptical in its design , lore and atmossphere which makes those games different and awesome.
And Castlevania with Dark souls/bloodborne gameplay sounds unfitting or even bad . I would see more a evolved gameplay approach of castlevania 64 instead playing another souls-clone disguised as one of my favourite franchises . Would be very disheartening for me and many other castlevania fans.
I played all three of those games and was lukewarm on all of them. For a while, I blamed MercurySteam for the death of Castlevania, but that was when I had no idea what was really going on at Konami and how they were treating their other franchises. When I discovered that Konami's interests had shifted exclusively to wallet-sucking mobile trash and pachislot garbage, I realized that MercurySteam weren't to blame at all. All they did was their best.😔
For a company with low experience doing these action games, they did pretty well imo, and the games have some charm and a vision, somewhat cohesive even if mediocre
And they went on to make Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, so I'd say they've improved since then too.
The First Lords of Shadow was excellent in all aspects,easily one of the best games of that generation,.from the rich atmosphere,lore and enemy variety the large varied levels and deep rewarding combat.The story and narration are also very well done ....My personally favorite Castlevania and much better then the 2d crap in my opinion..,
@@frankbasile3662 The 2D crap is real Castlevania lol. Lords of Shadow is just an GOW ripoff.
@@frankbasile3662 Yeah they were solid yet they came out at the WORSE time. Since people were not happy with it, then they were really not happy when they found this was the best they're gonna get since Konami doesn't care anymore.
I think we all can agree that Lords of Shadow tried to tell a story. In the old games rarely they elaborated on the story, just the same ''Dracula is back, gotta whip his ass'' and that's fine.
Lords of Shadow 2 at least tried. I legit cried when Gabrielsaw his wife again, the dialogue and acting was great. But after that the story simply doesn't make sense even if you try to and the stealth sections are a buggy mess. If you have patience on the stealth parts and just turn off your brain about the story, you'll find a great game.
The graphics hold up to this day, the combat is fluid and fun, the castle is fun to explore (though it doesn't make sense it's existence) and the thing that hurts the most, it's potential.
I never played the old castlevania games, but i have played these. And I like these games, its my favorite games series,. I hope they make more.
First LOS was a damn good action game , mirror of fate was meh, the second game has a good bosses and the castle sections are pretty good but all those stealth section ruin the game
Lords of Shadow 1 is my favorite game of all time. Great story, fantastic cast, great setting and a real sense of despair.
I agree
Dude, always the same stuff. Oh, in this game you have to fight 3 super giant dudes and search for their weak points? "Well that was already made by shadow of the colossus" so what? No else can put giant boss battles in games anymore because that gane did it before? The only thing that matters is if it's a well made fight, and by what I see on this video it looks like it is.
Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.
You take a sip from your trusty vault 13 canteen
We won't go quietly, the Legion can count on that.
It just struck me that this games story is so close to Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen. Ghostly spirit around some pillars tasks a morally dubious gentleman to save the world only for him to go “Fuck the world” and become the most powerful Vampire to live.
Damn, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Yeah, you do have a point. Sheesh tho, didn't expect to hear about legacy of kain, those games dummy underrated.
To be fair in LoS dude became a Vampire to go kill extra dangerous demon - exactly opposite of "Fuck the world", then resisted "curse" for a while until going mad (also those whom he tried to protect going Holy Crusade on his ass didn't help the matter at all).
So similar in end result but different starting point. Kain never was a nice person and his choice to become Vampire Lord and screw over 9 pillars was out of pure selfishness (he got wiser with years but still).
@@Ghostel3591 you hit the nail on the head dude 👍
Only it hides deeper motives and a puppet master behind the scenes who creates an unbeatable plan by normal means.
Aiming for a legacy of Kain storyline is not a bad thing in my book.
I laughed way too hard at "Ya know what, let's go drink martinis and just be giant bitches together about everyone we hate." That line fucking floored me. And that exaggerated verbal portrayal of Gabriel as Carmilla's slave had me reeling. I'd normally chime in with my own take on your commentary here, especially with me being a fairly avid Castlevania fan, but all I really want to say is this is by far one of the funniest episodes you've done in a while. Also very insightful and enlightening as always but I don't think I've laughed this hard at a game review in some time, and I generally spend my evenings eating my one square meal a day and watching a game review before I go to bed. Never stop doing what you're doing, man. Even if your opinion isn't always the popular take, your content is too entertaining not to pursue, and I'm confident you won't stop.
I love how Lucifer went from skinny and petite to EXTRA THICCC in the sequel. I wanna know his workout routine
Probably nothing special, but he did have a millennium to bulk up. And for what? All he did was possess Alucard with a considerably slimmer physique. All those gains WASTED!
@@Ckoz2829 Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.
Lord of Shadows 2 is one of those games, you know the type: "Its really bad for the first 4 hours, but then it gets good for the remaining 20"... not really something you can recommend to someone else , but something you know is worth experiencing once you already did.
That doesn't even make sense. The tutorial level is a pretty awesome opener and the next maybe hour is some cutscenes and minor stealth. Game is great within 2 hours and amazing feeling afterwards.
@@Bourikii2992 Ok, it doesn't make sense then, I was wrong, you're right and the game is actually shit after all, my bad.
Believe it or not, these were my favorite castlevania games, especially given that I got introduced to them first, at the beginning of my edgelord phase, when Robert Carlisle's dracula hit *the SPOT* for 13 year old shitlord me lol
Lord of Shadows 1 is an amazing game that people hate on unfairly .
2 is unfairly hated as well. Seems like people read ign type reviews or watched 2bfp complain about the mildly annoying at worst stealth sections and wrote the game off.
I’ve never been a big fan of this series of CV games, but I will admit for what they are at least the first 2 games were fun. Not something I’ll play over the Igavania or even the classicvania games. I can understand why the series went in this direction, but man the series lost its identity trying to get those mainstream sales
What I find interesting is that Ninja Gaiden is pretty much Ninja Castlevania, yet that got praise for its change, when Castlevania did a similar change and got shit for it.
I really liked the first one. The gameplay was fun and I was invested in the story. I just couldn't stay hooked. I would almost get there, but then I would lose interest.
Apparently the 3ds lords of shadow was good enough to land mercury steam the metroid 2 remake and eventually dread so
a remaster collection for ps4 and ps5 would be nice, also creating a chance for a new game
IMO LoS2 IS the best 3D Castlvania game, and i think the hate from the game IS blown out Of proportion by the fanbase, they act like the horrible stealth sections are the entire game and not a a few small sections in a mostly platforming, exploration and combat heavy Adventure
Yuh know. The second one. Some parts ain't that bad. Plus closest thing we've had to a blood omen game in ages so I kinda had fun.
Complaining about Satan being in the game tells me he has never played any of the other Castlevania games.
"It was rough" yeah we only got like 1 amazing vania every 2 years :((((
and funnily enough, Koji Igarashi was like "Yo Konami! You wanna revive Castlevania properly? Call me!" after Bloodstained was a success. I want to see one era in the Castlevania cannon to be covered : Demon Castle War era where the fight against Dracula is brought out worldwide a long time before Aria of Sorrow
I was the perfect age for this. Too young for Castlevania proper but I was all about GOW. I never beat this game back in the day, but I just beat the Lycan King. This game really holds up well honestly. Not many games are like this anymore
This is still one of my favorite games out there, I didn't care who made the game, the story was good, the gameplay had me engaged and the boss battles were fun, there is no game like this today that can make me feel like a fucking badass like LOS2 did. With how fucking bad new games are I'm glad to have LOS2 to return to when I wanna have fun.
Really not gonna talk about how if you wanted to find out how he became drac, then you better by the dlc on the first one
The final boss in that DLC is named The Forgotten one which is fitting because they literally forgot to put him in the game.
I'm a big fan of these games, but because of the stigma that surrounds them I often dread seeing people online talk about them because it's often just yet more hate without giving them a fair shake. So I'm glad to see you actually approach them more even-handedly and give praise where its due, especially with LoS2. While it has flaws it's my favourite of the series, in part thanks to the improved combat, so I'm glad that's something you picked up on as well.
It's funny when you were talking about issues with the first game's combat, and you were showing footage of the Butcher boss, I could predict exactly what you were going to bring up with that guy. That issue of the weird hitboxes is something I noticed too, but haven't seen anyone else bring it up.
I'm a huge fan of the original CV games, so LoS made me shudder in disgust right from the start. However, I have the mindset that you mentioned, giving things their fair shake. I might hate them from a distance, but maybe playing them would give more insight and appreciation for them. Nope. I tried. I REALLY tried. I 100%ed the first and middle games and the second game is just so painful to look at that I gave up on it within a few hours. I really, REALLY tried. Even after completing the first game, it only made me loathe the game even more because it made me realize that the game would have been better as an entirely new IP. It didn't feel like CV at all. The game isn't absolutely awful. I'd venture far enough to call it decent. But. It. Is. Not. Castlevania. Attaching the name "Castlevania" to a new IP just feels like usurping the recognizability of the brand for attention. If "Lords of Shadow" was its full name and it was a new IP that had nothing to do with CV, then I'd probably like it more, but this is such a massive departure from - and what feels like a middle finger to - the original games that I can't in good faith say that Lords of Shadow, which I gave its fair shake, has any right being a Castlevania game.
Cope harder, you can't simply butcher a renowned IP and expect the fans of said IP not to be revolted by this lame reboot (and even if you disregard the Castlevania name, these games are bad on their own, being nothing but lame GoW clones)
@@wallacesousuke1433 man I've seen you in every comment section so do us all of favor and shut up if we like it we like it if you don't you don't
7:05 KBash continues to impress with the deepest cuts. Only KBash could insert decades old Balloonshop material and keep it relevant. Beautiful and a masterclass in comedy. :D
I got a huge grin on my face from seeing that. I used to watch Balloonshop all day long. I still quote them once in awhile but I don’t think my sisters even remember what I’m referencing lol.
Aw. Now that.... That is a reference from the days of old. Makes me want to dance and burn up.
The fuck happened to those guys. So talented.
Gotta churn that butter.
Bruh... I loved the first one, I keep restarting the second one I need to finish it some day.
I really think you should do a kbash episodes on the God of war trilogy some day. Cause comparing the games to dmc when they are definitely more inspired by God of war is going to make so many hate comments with something like "It's not inspired by DMC. It's God of war!".
They aren't the best games, but they succeed on what they try to do, for the most part
I thought god of war was inspired by DMC
@@princeofbased5730 it is. But it's very different from DMC
That collection of Castlevania melodies playing in the background 😎
I fucking love the quality of your "let's play" microphone.
While I agree with the majority of what was said in this video, I have to disagree about the opening to Lords of Shadow 2 being a highlight.
I loved Lords of Shadow (admitted Darksiders simp here ☺), so I was crazy hyped for LoS2, but when I played the demo, which was just the opening segment of the game, it deflated my expectations completely and I didn't even support it at launch, only playing the full game for the first time years later when I got it on deep sale on Steam.
On paper that opening is the greatest nerd shit ever imagined, but in practice it was incredibly disappointing, to the point that when I finally played through the game I was furious that the devs divorced those segments so completely from the actual gameplay, which was way more enjoyable and would have guaranteed a day 1 purchase from my had the demo included a later game segment instead of the intro.
And I'm sure you hear this all the time, but your voice is amazing and I hope you get some VO work in an RPG some day
🙂
Even with all its shortcomings I’m still surprised Lord of Shadows 1 is the best selling Castlevania game of all time. Makes sense seeing how much was behind this reboot, but disappointing as a hardcore fan looking at how much this series has to offer
I'm not surprised. That doesn't mean I LIKE the game or that I think it deserved the attention, but considering how these things go? Mentioning the word "reboot" is a marketing boost in and of itself. Plus, the first game was announced around the time that God of War was still in people's minds. Is it a faithful CV game? God no. But it checks all the boxes for "What will grab the mainstream's attention?" And it did. Basically, I'm not surprised it was such a success because its success is largely predicated on NOT being a faithful CV game. The previous games did fine, but this reboot is like launching an entirely new IP while wearing the CV skin. If the previous games were ever going to sell as good, they would have already. It's the change itself that allowed LoS to be successful. So quite literally, NOT being a faithful CV game is what gave it such success.
Other examples of this: Tales of Arise and Breath of the Wild. Massive departures from the formulas of their predecessors, which allowed them to be massive successes by drawing in new fans the prior games couldn't appeal to. None of what I just said can be translated as "These games are good" or "These games are bad". It's just the fact that these games....are. They prove that a game's quality is irrelevant. If quality put bvtts in seats, earlier titles would have filled those seats already.
Honestly not that surprising if you consider the platforms each game was released on. Of course games that are released on ps/xbox/pc will sell more than one that is exclusive to a thing. And since a lot of fans of the old Castlevanias got burned by LoS 1 they didn't bother with the other reboot releases. Hence why they did worse.
Seemed pretty faithful to me, loads of different monsters, Christian themes, chain whip, Dracula.
Certainly more fun than any other 3D attempt at castlevania to boot. First one is good but the second game is far less frustrating by simply adding a God damn air dodge.
*This game is good, i like it if you dont well you can try complaining to your father...oh wait you dont got one*
Did the funny man hurt your feelings by not liking your favorite toy?
I like this rebooted universe in theory. Dracula being the first Belmont and the Belmont curse of having to fight him being a series of misunderstandings is appropriately tragic and on brand. I wish the games weren't so....7th gen. Despite some of the cool things I saw in the trailers for the first game, I didn't buy it because my thought was simply "I've seen this too many times before to be invested". I had already played Lords of Shadow without touching it and I was tired of that kind of game.
I would love to see this world of Castlevania but in the Fromsoft style. In fact, I think From is the perfect studio to resurrect the series.
Never understood why LOS gets so much hate. The first game is one of my top 5 (or 3) Castlevania entries. Yes it has shortcomings but which castlevania doesn't? The action complements the theme and it all creates an epic game i keep getting back to. Sad that it wasnt remastered for newer console generations. It may not be as good as Dracula's curse (imo the best) but the 30+ yo me got the same feeling like back when I played the first entry on NES as a kid. Taste is subjective. You may disagree but I adored this one and was hoping for more. And yes I loved Dante's inferno, but found GoW/DMC boring.
I have a soft spot for LoS2. It was so utterly weird compared to how aesthetically bland the first game was. Rat levels, satanic space marines, Dracula vs mechs; something about it was just enduring. I certainly won’t argue that it was ‘good’, but it was definitely ‘different ’.
Still though, I can understand why fans hate the series. This marked Castlevania’s death knell before being banished to the pachinko mines. Even on its own merits, the LoS series lands somewhere underneath Darksiders. But Darksiders didn’t have Captain Picard hamming it up in the VA booth, so who can say?
I enjoyed LoS 2 a lot. The combat was solid enough. Too bad the Alucard DLC never made it to the console in europe. I really wanted to play as Alucard and now years later, i have a PC, i could buy the PC version, but i dont think its replay value is good enough, too much puzzles and annoying shit that isnt fun.
I still may buy it, i would reconsider less, if I knew, it would help LoS 3 developement.
But as it is, I dont want to do all that for a 1 hour dlc and i dont think the dlc is playable without the main game.
I wish the lvls were more coherent, if they had more structure, this could have been a replayable masterpiece.
But they sadly went with, lets make a unique one time experience instead.
The open world has hurt this game in the long run.
It has a similar design Issue like darksiders 2, where the core game is good, and i love to loot items and match shit with my skills as Nekrolord and test out diffrent stats in combat and how they affect my abilitys and casts.
But there is just no structure, the world is quantity instead of shorter quality, you cant redo dungeons or bosses.... Hell darksiders 2 doesnt even let you New game ++, instead it deletes your file...well fuck, who the hell thought that was a good idea, this person should jump off a cliff because I did that thinking i could play new game ++ and farm even more gear.
I wish every game had a structured core like Devil may Cry 3, just choose lvl and play against your favorite Boss.
Or do as many New game + as you like, with diffrent difficulties if you like...why is no developer picking up on the good long term fun shit of dmc 3/5, i dont get it.
I would have farmed everything, because i liked the overall aesthetic, i love every third person sword game. Even Darksiders 3, despite its shortcomings.
really just is depressing because this is the last genuine attempt at a new castlevania game, and there hasnt been a new one since, and Konami sure aren't going to try again any time soon.
They were commercially successful games with the first one being critically very well praised. They are some of my own personal favourote games that have one of the best soundtracks from a criminally underrated composer.
Most criticism is unfounded and comes from sad die hard fans who cannot appreciate the concept of an adaptation and want carbon copy repeats of games for ever
Makes me wonder what kind of games KBash actually DOES enjoy playing. Lords of Shadow wasn't nearly as bad as he's trying to make it out by dragging it.
I love the atmosphere Lords of Shadow has, but it's definitely a 'play it once' kind of game. It's good, but not get-every-trophy good. I'm glad I have it in my collection, but I've been lamenting the fact I've never gone back and played Lords of Shadow 2.
People say god of war like but lament of innocence released 2 years before god of war and is in a similar combat style. So I think it should get more recognition as an original idea rather then a knock off.
I liked MoF drunk Irish Simon is Simons canon personality in both continuites in my heart.
I hear Anti-Soul Mysteries lab. PS2 Castlevania vid confirmed?
Lets appriciate for a moment that Zobek was Voiced by Patrick Stewart adding to the weird suprsingly good side of first LoS. I might actually pick up mirror of fate because of this video because I thought It was more or less like the first game but just bad.
I agree with most of your criticisms but still loved these games. Their music and aesthetics have always appealed to me so much. Great video anyway! Hopefully this will bring these games to more people's attention again.
I'd pick Lords of Shadow over the terrible level design and structure of Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness
I like the first LoS for the most part (until the completely obvious example of Patrick Stewart's betrayal, and the transparent revelation of who killed Garbriel's life and then we end up fighting Satan which is a huge shark jumping moment).
The Shadow of the colossus elements were nice. Some characters like Laura and Carmilla were somewhat interesting. I don't like Quick Time events but these weren't the worst I've seen. The best aspects of the game I thought were how big and immersive the world was. The graphics of the world were pretty good at the time.
LoS2 was absolutely freaking awful. I have nothing nice to say about it. Even at the end of the game a guy with a big gun can one shot the Lord of Darkness. My favorite part of LoS2 is where Dracula rides the exploding gas tank. That told me we had crossed the line into full goddamn parody....
One correction: Cornell, Camilla, and Zobek weren't 'ex' members. They were the founders, who were ascended. "Ex" implies they just went up and left the brotherhood
They were the evil halves of their ascended selves.
I enjoyed the LoS series the world of the 1st game and the medieval segments of the 2nd. Once the world went into modern times I admittedly was losing interest in those moments but I pushed on to be able to see the world as it looks way back then without anything we see day to day
Nice video, thank you. Especially since I could only stomach LoS for a couple of hours before becoming deathly bored.
Lament of Innocence was good though.
I had the complete opposite effect lol. I loved Lords of Shadow but Lament of Innocence nearly bored me to tears with its level design. The combat wasn’t half bad, the story and characters were good, and the music was great. But I always hated trudging through that barren castle where every room looks identical and are connected by mile long hallways.
Holy shit that BalloonShop whip clip 😂 god I miss 2005 UA-cam
“He said I’m the most christian” lmaoooo
Despite the story being utter nonsense, despite Gabriel being a pathetic Dracula and despite all the other things, LoS2 is my favorite of the rebooted saga. Why ? Probably because of the non linearity that was lacking in LoS1, I was so disappointed it was a linear set of stages after playing all the metroidvanias before, including SotN at its launch.
Also the whole dialogue between the Paladin and Gabriel is one the most badass things I've ever seen in a video game.
Idk portrait of ruin is still my unironic favorite. Also, holy crap was that a Spoony Bard cameo? I thought I was the only person on the internet that remembers him
The worst part of this series is that I played the first game to completion and still cannot remember a single damn thing about it other than the twist ending.
I'll have to go back to number 2 . I remember the stealth sections being terrible at launch.
I just gonna agree on one thing Lords of shadow 2 had so much potential that was wasted.
I genuinely loved the first game.
🤢
I still think the LoS games are among the best Castlevania ones. I'm also glad you didn't bash on LoS2 so bad. I'm thankful it was released, given the Konami situation and all.
whats funny is that i was looking into playing the castlevania games and just got done beating sotn. crazy
Castlevania deserves more, too bad Konami sucks
Such a shame
The biggest problem with los 2 was the stealth in the first game nothing could phase you not even satan and you didnt have that much power back then. But the stealth sections ruined the power fantasy why should I hide from a goat if I can kill it literally 4mins later?
The main problem with these games is that they carry the Castlevania title. If they had just been called Lords of Shadow, with no connection to Castlevania, most of the players would have been a lot more lenient on them. They are decent GoW clones.
I love Lords of Shadow 2
My favorite 3D Castlevania game
I like the LoS series. Simon's Quest was my first and favorite classic CV game, so I dont go with the pack. And yes, I played SQ new, so Ive been into CV for quite a long time. Id love to see a 3D version of SQ
These games are still better then that buggy mess called Dying Light 2
If Konami really wanted to reboot the franchise, they should make it a Souls-Like game, Dark Souls is literally Metroidvania 3D at it's core!
Curse of Darkness is such an underrated gem.
Lords of shadows is my favorite castlesvania but i can understand the um low points
Real shit Castlevania Lords of Shadow 1 was a treat and I loved playing it, i highly suggest giving it a try, now number 2 I had mixed feelings about but on a side note the chess mini game after figuring out how it works is actually hella fun
The backflip girl part is almost literally the Jack Ending Cinematic from Tekken 3 but as a fully realized game chapter and that is all I could think about while playing that part.
Castlevania's death
You watch the Netflix show yet?
Absolutely BASED BalloonShop reference
you know my boy kbash got taste when he thinks mirror fate is an okay game because its my favorite out of all the lords of shadows games
Yoshio Sakamoto said the reason Mercury Steam was chosen to make a Metroid game was because of Mirror of Fate on the 3ds. Proving that Konami is to blame.