@@torenvarela9340 Ever since it came and to this day the reboot trilogy was considered "bad". Nobody would ever explain why they disliked it aside from saying "it's not Castlevania" or "it's a God of War & Shadow of the Colossus rip off". Strange since Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. The most explained criticism was "Lords of Shadow 2's stealth sections are awful", meanwhile the stealth in LOS2 are so short and aren't that bad. And the comments in this video highlight just how beloved this reboot trilogy is. I'm surprised since all I was negativity before making this video (Steam reviews & Reddit are filled with people bashing the games). So I'm surprised and glad this video is my best performing Castlevania video since this game was good. Mirror of Fate kept being used as the example for why Mercury Steam was a "bad choice for Metroid developers". But MOF has shown me how Mercury Steam was always a great choice.
@@Gordoniankid as a guy who enjoyed both LOS games i have to say this, it was an unnecessary reboot of already beloved world that was built with characters and fans, is LOS didn`t outright contradict almost everything classic games had to offer fans would at least tolerate it, gabriel`s story takes place in 1042 while first belmont as of now in canon timeline, leon's story takes place in 1094, they could have made gabriel with his separate story in universe of many other belmonts so that would explain absence of main antagonist, wait did i say antagonist? oh yeah gabriel is now dracula which...uhhh...yeah, so anyways i hope that sorta explains it
@@torenvarela9340 Me, for one. Bought it on release, and actually completed it a couple times. To me, this did for Castlevania similar to what dMc did to Devil May Cry. Take a fun, campy franchise, and make it super cereal edge. It just didn't go as extreme, or disrespectful as dMc did with the mockery of the original fanbase. They just went a bit too far, to the point that it never felt like a game belonging to the Castlevania franchise. At no point does it ever feel like CASTLEVANIA. It would have been better served as a new IP.
Anyone who's played castlevania. This game isn't a castlevania game, it's a god of war game with a van helsing skin. When compared to Castlevania it is obviously going to be lacking and below average trash, on its own it's an average game.
I still have this game. It wasn't bad when I finally gave it a chance, and I played it to close to 100% if not 100%. I may have missed something here or there that I didn't care to really do? On top of lords being a surprisingly decent game, I can't praise konami enough for packing in a code for a free digital copy of symphony of the night with lords of shadow. I played symphony through at least once long before I played lords seriously and finished it.
From what I've seen, people go back and forth on the trilogy. With Mirror of Fate seeming to be disliked the most. Some say it isn't the quality of the game that they didn't like. But that it represented abandoning the original storyline, meaning no Julius game and no announced Alucard game.
The first was hated too probably even more , from what i remember . The entire trilogy was shitted on by the angry igavania fanboys. Glad that in time they got more appreciated and liked but the hard igavania people still hate on it even today most likely.
@@Gordoniankid The igavania fanboys were the ones that hated LOS trilogy . LOS 1 and MoF being the best ones . I remember LOS 1 being hated the most , what a toxic time it was when the LOS games were going .
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one Yeah I learned that some of the hate came from the cancellation of an Alucard game. So some don't like what the game represents instead of the actual quality of it. Granted as a Mega Man Legends fans, I know what it's like for a game you want to be cancelled for a game you didn't want to be made instead.
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one I remember when LOS 1 was new and people just kept saying "it's not Castlevania" or a "God of War clone". But I have seen Igavania fans also enjoy the LOS trilogy. Although I think Mirror of Fate got the weirdest hate since it used new versions of the original characters. With people complaining the Reboot versions weren't the same as the originals.
I remember ign giving it a 9. I thought that was pretty bold for them. I grew up with Castlevania so I bought it at launch and loved it. Disappointed with the sequel though. Correction. It wasn’t ign it was game informer. I remember sitting on the throne reading my GI and the glowing review they gave
Yea LOS 2 sadly had some big disappointment but still some cool things in it , like the fact you playing as an badass Dracula kicking ass in a VG for the first time . i will always apreciate that and like . The DLC was much more liked from what i remember though .
@SuperSteve152 From what I read, seeks like they intended Lords of Shadow 2 to be conclude the reboot story. Although still funny how they thought the Lords of Shadow 1 DLC was a mistake (and having gone through the trilogy, I see why they thought that. On top of the bad reputation for selling the game's conclusion as DLC). Also it's crazy to me having now played Mirror of Fate, Mercury Steam had all the makings to do great with Metroid (and did with Metroid Dread). Yet somehow people kept saying Mercury Steam was a bad fit for Metroid.
@@tomesofawesome8041 I will say, I wish LOS 2 did more with it's modern setting. But I still like the game and it at least did more with it's setting than Aria & Dawn of Sorrow (How can they set those two games in the 2030s and not have you exploring modern or futuristic locales? T_T)
From what I've learned, fans wanted a Julius Belmont game and the scrapped Alucard game. It's like how Mega Man Legends fans want Legends 3, but instead Capcom makes Mega Man 9, 10 and 11. Those game aren't bad, but it's not the one people were hoping for. Even if Lords of Shadow 1 went on to be the best selling entry.
I bought this game and thought it was amazing. I was shocked when I found out that this game was hated. I mean, yeah gameplay was God of War, but when that was a bad thing? Story, setting and music were pretty good. It was also pretty challenging game.
@@valder8423 Even looking up the complaints, people just kept saying "it's not Castlevania" despite the franchise already going from 2D Side Scrolling levels to Metroidvania with Symphony of the Night. I don't understand how the REBOOT is where people thought it would be like the OG some how. Lords of Shadow 1 does what it goes for well and just needs refining.
@@Gordoniankid I read the exact same common complaints as you did. I believe it was just mostly old fans of the series that hated this and LOS 2 because it dared to reboot their precious series. The characters and lore was different so they mostly just automatically hated it and never gave it a fair shot with a huge portion of them not even playing the game and still deciding to hate it. It is a shame though. The games had such good changes to the lore to freshen it up. The og games lore had gotten stale and old with the "every 100 years Dracula rises and is defeated again by a Belmont". If they were better received we could have had more sequels made with these characters. I far prefer Gabriel Belmont's Dracula over the Mathias Dracula, with Gabriel being far more combat oriented and "hands on" compared to Mathias just sending fodder to die to the Belmont's over and over again and still ending up being a literal whipping boy every time he rises again.
@JohnU1515 I made a video on the Dominus Collection and the repetition of other people being able to or trying to use Dracula's power. I think Portrait of Ruin I was like "sure, whatever, anyone can just take the Dark Lord's power!🙄". So yeah, I can see why things needed to be shaken up. Even funny enough considering how Symphony of the Night also had negative reception when it was new (mostly for being 2D in the early era of 3D games). I think the funniest complaint I saw in regards to the Lords of Shadow trilogy. Was complaining Simon had red hair, as if Ayami Kojima's Simon design for Castlevania Chronicles doesn't exist XD. People just be mad at anything in regards to the reboot trilogy (granted, some criticism people gave was fair).
@Gordoniankid I will have to check out that video. Ya people shouldn't just be able to copy Dracula's powers, his powers is what makes him who he is essentially. The only one who should be able to are those like Soma since Dracula is gone at that point and they don't have all of his powers but just a portion of them which makes sense in the context of the story. Lol I haven't read the issues with Simon having red hair before, I wanna search those to see if I can find them, that is REALLY nitpicky, especially since like you said with Castlevania Chronicles. I agree that there are actual issues with the LOS series. Issues that aren't nitpick's, especially LOS 2. I wasn't a fan of the weird generic monsters in the modern day sections, and I believe the game could have been far improved if it took place entirely in his massive castle. Could just change the story a bit to how he lost control of his castle from being asleep and having Satan take it and his monsters over, than could have Dracula as kind of a call back to the OG games by having a Belmont (in this case Dracula Belmont) having to storm the castle to defeat Satan and instead of destroying the castle afterwards, just reclaim it. The reboot version of Dracula's Castle is huge compared to the OG one and with the city sections gone it could have been expanded massively to give a much greater and interesting area to explore. But I am no writer and I am sure it could be written far better than my idea.
@JohnU1515 The complaints over Simon are all over Steam reviews for Mirror of Fate. Some even complained about the idea of Alucard using a whip (despite SOTN giving Alucard various weapons). I got words for Lords of Shadow 2 but I will say. I wish the city had more going on, it felt too samey. You have a futuristic city, a new setting for Castlevania (especially since Aria & Dawn of Sorrow don't use their future time period). I expected a bustling city, neon lights, people being in shock of the Dark Lord and sending human armies after him. But instead everyone is evacuated & and it's just warehouses & factories. So much potential not being used. But that idea you have of a weird inverse with a Dracula Belmont going on a "normal Castlevania quest" sounds both awesome and funny.
It was hated by people who were wrong objectively and I had bad opinions I said preface everyone is entitled to their own opinion and belief but this game f****** rules visually it's exactly what I would think Castlevania 3 would look like and it's loaded with all kinds of awesome monsters to fight the combat is a ton of fun and it's probably my favorite game in the franchise overall TBH
I feel like Curse of Darkness visually fits Castlevania 3 more, mostly because Trevor Belmont is in that game with a design by Ayami Kojima XD. From what I've seen, looks like some of the hate for Lords of Shadow wasn't from the quality of the game itself. But that an Alucard game got announced and cancelled for it. On top of never getting the Julius Belmont game that Aria of Sorrow kept mentioning. But Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry in the series, so the reboot was a success, yet is never used for cross overs.
@@Gordoniankid Sadly yea and i really hope Konami gives the respect it deserves , it needs a remastered easily LOS 1 at least ,if not a remake maybe . Give MS another chance , i really miss the LOS universe , there is still room and plenty potential . Maybe something will happen they haven't announced anything CV , MS has been pretty silent as well but how knows .
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one I feel like Konami will bundle the 3D games together for a remaster. Which I hope they do since those 3D games haven't been ported anywhere.
@@Gordoniankid Maybe , i kinda hope for a remake of LOS1 , like they are doing MGS3 , since they are on the Remake journey and they can be pretty dam good and successful .
Lords of Shadows was praised when it released, it was the best selling Castlevania title when it launched. Lords of Shadows 2 however, had very mixed opinions and a lot of complaints from people.
When Lords of Shadow 1 was new, all I saw was people (specifically UA-camrs) complaining about it being a "God of War & Shadow of the Colossus Rip off" how "Kojima ruined Castlevania" (Even though he didnt develop it) and that it wasn't a "real Castlevania". So despite the financial success, it seemed like the game wasn't well liked. I know that Mirrors of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2 had way more criticism out of the gate though.
@@gerryanggrana7626 LOS1 till has the highest sales even if it multiplatform. Symphony of the Night is also multiplatform (PS1, Sega Saturn, PSP, Xbox 360, PS4, Android/iOS) yet isn't the best selling entry.
For me, the biggest issue with Lords of Shadow is that it's too much a rip off of other games, mechanics-wise. God of War style combat, Uncharted-like 'exploration', a few cheap Shadow of the Colossus knock-off bosses with the giant golems, being littered with quick time events, and even feeling like it's ripping off the bullet hell Ikaruga with the Light, and Dark swapping. The story is okay, but the ending is such edgelording sequel bait that for me, everything falls apart. This game has no solid identity of its own.
Fair enough, also you're the first I've seen to mention the Uncharted-esque exploration. Still makes no sense how I read the devs saying they didn't want Quick Time Events, but the game is filled with them.
@Gordoniankid I find that tidbit absolutely hilarious. At times, it felt like half the game was QTEs, though I know that's an exaggeration. The game does have positives. I quite enjoyed the voice acting, and character designs, and many of the levels were gorgeous, but I just don't think the game was able to overcome its many failings to justify sequels, though if I recall, I think it was one of the best selling Castlevania games ever released. I'll need to double check that.
@@marcruth4531 Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. The unexpected success caused demands for DLC where they royally messed up. Because the DLC was overpriced for the content given and it had major story moments in it. The producer even admitted that making the LOS1 DLCs was a mistake.
@Gordoniankid Ah, so I remember correctly XD I don't remember the pricing issue for the dlc, but I also never had interest in buying it, anyway, even for the plot importance.
@@marcruth4531 I didn't learn about the pricing until after making this video since the PC port comes with the DLC included. But that DLC was not worth $20.
First off, the trilogy was incredible! I actually just finished my yearly binge of them actually! I try to do it every Halloween! That said, this new iteration of Castlevania just had bad luck of falling victim to people who couldn't accept Castlevania without Koji Igarashi and the 2D versions, but it also seemed to infuriate Western video game journalists as well. I mean LoS1 got better reviews than the other titles, but the journalists were all over them with all this talk about it being a GoW clone and so forth, which was quite ironic actually. The all high and mighty GoW trilogy.....which was actually a poor man's clone of the Devil May Cry combat system, but that was all forgiven because of the over the top violence and high production values and presentation it brought to the table..... There are SO many good elements to the LoS trilogy for video game and art enthusiasts to be fond of. The art design, the soundtrack, the voice acting, the story, the atmosphere, and combat were all pretty amazing. Literally the art design was second to none, and the Mercury Steam artists should be proud of that work. It's a tall order to do a blend of Pan's Labyrinth, Lord of the Rings, and Castlevania, but somehow they pulled it off in spades! The composer also was firing on all cylinders. It had a soundtrack that matched any movie OST. Western journalists just couldn't stomach it for some reason that some no name Spanish dev team did such incredible work. Were they all perfect.............no. There were some design flaws here and there, and some things that could have been better. I know LoS2 had some problems with it's stealth mechanics and stuff, but that was no reason to trash the whole game. The stealth stuff took up like 20 total minutes of a 15 hour campaign.......Los2 did have a very rushed 3rd act though. The game kind of was in dev hell and I think it showed. But all in all, the experience was great and to me at least, was the best iteration of bringing castlevania into the 3D world. Man was the art direction good!! Whoever's idea it was to have Dracula going into his own subconscious in LoS2 and revisiting his Castle to come to terms with his place in the world, as he then went back and forth to the future to eventually defeat Satan himself, it was bold and genius idea! Both LoS1 and LoS2 truly capture the alpha and omega angle as the story comes full circle!
It is weird how despite how much bashing for the Reboot trilogy I've seen. I just learned Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling Castlevania game. I wasn't focused on the journalist part, I kept hearing Castlevania fans bash these games. Even when I bought the trilogy I had people telling me I shouldn't have done that. But nah, the games are all good and there will be videos on Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2. The most baffling was the complaints for Mirror of Fate and how people said it showed Mercury Steam shouldn't be allowed to make a Metroid game. Only for Metroid Dread to be one of the best Metroid gams and Mirror of Fate was the blueprint for what they would later do in Metroid Dread. I understand people being worried by a reboot handled by a new company, especially with how Silent Hill got treated. But Mercury Steam made a good base with LOS1, experimented with Mirror of Fate and then improved with LOS2 with some risky experimentation (the stealth sections are nowhere near as bad as people claim they are. Ontop of Order of Ecclesia also having a stealth segment that people don't mention). The biggest missteps in the Lords of Shadow trilogy would be making the DLC for LOS1 (putting major answers in a post release DLC is a bad idea, but to be fair the devs realized that too) and I wish LOS2 took more advantage of it's cool new setting for a Castlevania game.
@@Gordoniankid Yea the journalists were relentless. They were more forgiving of LoS1 but they all planted the seeds of screaming about the GoW and Shadow of the Colossus rip off and stuff. What's funny, is many games take inspiration of other ones. I mean think of it, how many games literally took Resident Evil 4's whole formula to make their games.....THEY ALL TOOK IT! And rightfully so, the gameplay was revolutionary! This to me was proof of some very biased journalism that was afoot. Mirror of Fate's only flaw was probably that it should have been released as a full on PS3 entry instead! They had a wonderful little story there that I think people would have better appreciated had it been fleshed out and given a full production value treatment on PS3. That's one thing that people came down on LoS2 is that they complained they wanted a full on Castlevania game in the past and in the castle. They wanted the full Dracula treatment and didn't like that the next direct sequel after LoS1 took place in the future and with Satan again. So it's too bad that didn't happen, but I love MoF anyways for what it is. And you're right, it was an excellent blueprint for their later work. As for the DLC stuff in LoS1. Yea I get that a little bit. I think the main problem was that if that stuff was included in the main game, you really take the wind out of that Epic battle with Satan! Any additional stuff in the main game after that is just not going to compare. I think they were better off just rewriting small amounts of the story at the end that showed the audience how Gabriel got his powers in that final battle with Satan. But then again, there is the problem of how he would turn to vampire.....so that's another rewrite obviously. But no way around it, if you want to end a game properly with a great antagonist and good final battle, doesn't get any better than Satan!
I'm glad you mentioned Resident Evil 4 because that game pretty much created the 3rd Person Cover Based Shooter Genre XD. You also have games like Gears of War and Dead Space specifically crediting RE4 for inspiring them. Or look at how games credit Final Fantasy VII for it the transition to 3D and use of FMVs. With The Legend of Dragoon being made to specifically rival FF7. Before Freedom Wars Remastered got announced, I wished for years another company would mimic that game's Thorn mechanic. Or look at how people wish other games could use the Nemesis system from Shadow of Morder, but can't due to copyright. I've seen some say they would of preferred it if Gabriel became a vampire due to fighting Satan instead of the idea the DLC gives. It was solely the answer of what happened to Gabriel being the issue, having it be a paid DLC felt like an accidental extra kick.
Castlevania Lords of shadow 1 is like the ff16 of the franchise. A pretty okay action game that takes more inspiration from other franchises rather than its own while also trying to be "mature". I love lords of shadow 1 and lords of shadow mirror of fate(try mirror of fate it's pretty cool). Lords of shadow 2 was weird(worse/disappointing writing and some unfun stealth sections) but the combat and puzzles were neat. Also the lords of shadow 2 dlc is fun, light on story and short but I'll take replaying it over the main game. My only real complaint with LoS 1&2 is that I have to manually pick up my magic orbs which isn't convenient for me while in combat(mirror of fate which is between 1 and 2 fixes that and also just has enemies drop magic without needing to fill up the focus meter).
i personally loved this game as a teen, sequel too despite likeing this one more, but i understand why fans of franchise didn`t like this game, for starters this was heavily GOW inspired linear hack and slash game, couldn`t exactly back track areas you cleared like in classic games, you complete linear levels, obtain abilities, replay previous levels to obtain items you couldn`t get for not having needed ability, and also lot of these abilities felt like things we already saw in multiple GOW games, i`m not saying being inspired of GOW is a bad thing but it took too much after it at times, another reason is this was supposed to be reboot of already beloved franchise that has established of it's lore and gathered fans around it, LOS could just as easily fit in canon if you only keep first game in mind aside few contradictions but sequels (yes mirror of fate and LOS2) damaged reputation of LOS saga, i won`t but any spoilers here because OG castlevania fans will understand, for those who haven`t played this and looking forward to go ahead. this is not the only time we had proper 3rd person 3D castlevania game (lament of innocence for example), fans seeing konami cancel stuff like solo alucard action game and also one where there was supposed to be sonia belmont, they understandably felt disrespected and betrayed, add to that LOS 2 was a very low note to end your franchise with given it's short comings. in conclusion LOS is a simple hack and slash game that doesn`t innovate much in genre, that being said it was made with passion and mercurysteam didn`t disrespect source material like DMC DMC did.
@ I would honestly play solo alucard game similar to LOS (we have LOS2 revelations but that doesn’t count in this instance), unfortunately konami is no longer interested in making new games out of IP so perhaps one day a fan project appears
Personally, I think they did do the same thing that dMc did. They took a beloved, frequently campy franchise, and turned it into an edgelordy "super cereal, here" narrative, and completely altered main characters into something completely different. The difference is they didn't mock fans of the originals over new design elements, and made a new character for the first entry.
For me this series is one I love the story of, I love the characters, but I don't really enjoy playing it. I love Gabriel and his fall from grace into the lord of darkness. In fact I like him for the most part more than I like the main timeline dracula (blame lament of innocence ripping off the world damn dracula movie of all time), where that dracula lost his wife and spent the rest of eternity crying about it. Gabriel loses everything again and again, where LoI makes Mathias Dracula a retroactive whiny bitch, the universe really does conspire to make every day of gabriel's life a living hell. As a result it does annoy me that people focus on stuff like the stealth sections and just write the series off. But I ironically can't say that for the most part I enjoy playing LOS 1 or 2. Both of them have parts of their game play that infuriate me like the bloody skeletons or the stupid armor/shields you have to break on enemies who have a bullcrap back dash. Mirror of fate though had great gameplay which combined the best parts of classic vania and LOS.
I'm not sure it's fair to blame Lament of Innoncence for Dracula's characterization since Symphony of the Night did the same thing way earlier (with one of Dawn of Sorrow's bad endings having it happened a 3rd time). But it does help playing as the character in question going through the transformation in real time (same with Dawn of Sorrow in a Bad ending). Yes I agree, the Riot Police enemies in Lords of Shadow 2 back away when they need the Chaos Claws to break their shield is annoying. But you can jump mid combo to chase after them or use the Chaos Bombs to continue breaking their shields. People focus on the negatives for the Lords of Shadow Trilogy (or just make up complaints with no evidence to back them up. When the games have way more positives to them. It's crazy to me how for years people bashed Mercury Steam for making these games and even getting mad they were picked to make Metroid games. Meanwhile Mirror of Fate showed how the developers were the right choice.
I hate lords of shadow entirely for story reasons. When it came out i didnt have access to the internet for things like dlc. So i didnt find out there was a dlc for gabriel becoming dracula until mirror of fate came out. Locking an important story element behind dlc absolutely tanked my opinion of the game.
The developers agree with you, with the producer saying it was their biggest mistake. And yeah that DLC was the worst idea. The producer also said the DLC was rushed out because of LOS 1 being an unexpected success. Not only for the explanation not being good. But it looks scummy to have an ending that leaves questions and then sell the answer as DLC. And the fact that the DLCs were $10 each is FREAKING INSANE. That is way overpriced for the content being given.
@@Gordoniankid Mirror of fate could've been used instead. They use that game as an origin story for alucard with the game split between Alucard(Trevor) and Simon. Gabriel was already dracula at the time. It would have been better if you played as Human Trevor and newly turned Gabriel. With Trevor being mortally wounded at the end and gabriel being forced to turn his son to keep him alive. Its not like the boss had to be dracula ffs. It could've been Galamoth. Dude is trying to steal the throne of hell and gabriel injuring satan in LOS1 is a good oppourtunity to make the attempt. What bugs me the most is I like LOS2, Its two predecessors bring it down though. It deserves better.
@@v.v.3368 I feel like Mirror of Fate's story works, except for the part where Dracula's defeat just somehow doesn't kill him. With Alucard pointing out something isn't right. Honestly, it feels like there was never gonna be a satisfying answer to how Gabriel turned vampire. The one we got from the DLC does fit Gabriel's character of doing anything to save people at the cost of himself, also being tricked into ending Laura's torment while making himself immortal. But also feels half assed with the whole "The Forgotten One" thing feeling so cheap and coming out of nowhere.
Yeah, in some of my replies I compared to the DmC Reboot. But I found out through the comments that before LOS was announced, Konami had revealed an Alucard game for PS3/Xbox 360. So to have something people wanted get cancelled for a reboot they may not like, the frustration is understandable. Some did give it a chance but it didn't mesh with them, which is fine. Although some just think it lacks creativity or "Isn't a real Castlevania game".
I loved this game back in the day and I loved the second one mainly coz it was going the hack & slash direction, and speaking of H&S games... Here are some H&S games you can check out: Soulstice Valkyrie Elysium Wanted: Dead Etenights Stella Blade Project DT Project M Lost Soul Aside Phantom Hellcat Arise of Awakener Granblue Fantasy Relink Yasuke A Lost Descendent Shred & Tear: Explosive Kajun Phantom Blade Zero SuperSimmer Astor: Blade of the Monolith Captain Blood Mightreya 13Z There are a lot more that are out there, H&S games are really fun to play and I'm so glad to see more of them. Shouts out to hack & slash games, they are making a comeback.
Another Eternights fan👍🏾, I got the platinum trophy on the game. Wasn't sure if I should do a video on that. I do have a video on Stellar Blade on the channel.
I was excited for this game. I preordered the special edition that came with artbook and soundtrack, also GameStop gave out a shirt as a preorder bonus. I rebought them on steam since my ps3 is stored away. The complaints I kept hearing at the time were “God of War clone”. I was not a fan of mirror of fate, the lack of music and load times killed it for me.
Mirror of Fate has music, but the whole trilogy goes for more atmospheric music. Playing the games on PC with an SSD, it wasn't until LOS2 I noticed all the loading tricks (elevators, closing doors fully, etc). So I can't imagine what it was like on console & 3DS.
Moral of the story ? Don't listen blindly what others tell you and just experience for yourself open minded , one way or another and let that be the judge .
I've known that since the PS3 generation to always give something that interests you a chance. But I'm just surprised that even my friends were telling me to avoid this reboot. Also finding out it's the best selling entry.
@Gordoniankid Yea , with i hope Konami dose something with it , give MS a second chance , now that they matured more as a Studio and i want to see David Cox again with Enric . They have been silent for a wile now , i hope they are cooking something, even if it is a spiritual successor to LOS , get Oscar and make magic again .
All I wanted was SOTN2 and this is what they gave us. I tried to give it a chance, but I couldn't get into it. I'm sure I'm not the only fan that felt that way.
At least you gave it a chance, that's all anyone could ask for. I've seen many say they expected Mirror of Fate to be a SOTN2 (I don't know why they expected one of the reboot entries to be SOTN2). Considering how many entries have been Metroidvanias every since SOTN there's been many games that play like it. As for a literal direct sequel to SOTN, feels weird since SOTN itself is a sequel to Rondo of Blood. Granted, it is weird how Alucard becomes more of behind the scenes guy in entries like Aria/Dawn of Sorrow. But you can play as Alucard in Julius Mode of Dawn of Sorrow if that helps.
Recently replayed this game and still enjoyed. Of course it borrows aspects from different games, but it still comes together as a mostly enjoyable experience. It's production value, execution and tone were stellar. And just to point out that it did some things better than god of war, especially the environments. God of war had a lot of backtracking and reused areas. Every area in this game felt new and unique, and looked absolutely amazing, even today.
Definitely a cool game especially for a new studio that was allowed to have freedom in creating it. From what I've learned in the comments, some of the dislike is not from the game itself, but because an Alucard game was teased and cancelled for this. So I can see why many would not like the idea of Lords of Shadow.
I really enjoyed the Lords of Shaodw series, would be nice to see a remaster on PS4, they could just do a collection with all 3 games. I know a lot of people compared it to God of War however the game was closedr to Lament of Innocence than God of War. Lament also came out almost a year before God of War. Maybe I will load these up on my PS3.
@@ShadowCthulhu Glad you brought up Lament of Innocence since so few mention it when talking about Lords of Shadow. Perhaps Konami will make a collection with all the 3D games included?
@@Gordoniankid i think they should do a 3d Collection which would be Legacy of Darkness from N64, Curse of Darkness and Lament of Innocence. Then do a Lords of Shadow Collection.
@ nope QTEs do not mean core gameplay. I am only referring to the whip combat which if you play Lament and Lords back to back, the combat is definetly a refined version of Innocence.
This game definitely stands on it's own and is a good entry. From what I'm seeing, people's issues with this reboot trilogy is partially the games not meshing with them. But also because it represented the abandonment of the original continuity and there was a Castlevania game with Alucard that got revealed and scrapped. So for people to expect that Alucard game and to get this, I can see why people didn't like what it represented.
@@GordoniankidBeing one of the people that didn't like it, I didn't like it for itself. I don't keep up with a lot of gaming news, so I had no idea that we had lost a potential Alucard game. I bought LoS on release, and I completed it a couple times. It's not a terrible game, but the plot is laughably edgelord in a bad way, IMO. "Oh no, you were the one that killed your wife, the WHOLE TIME! Oh, no, your mentor was evil the WHOLE TIME! Oh no, better go fight literal Lucifer, now. Oh, no, now YOU'RE DRACULA!" The ripped off God of War combat works well enough, a lot better than Lament of Innocence did, as well, but this game offers me nothing that I want to come back to, and did nothing at all to warrant me wanting to even try playing the sequels. I can see why some people enjoy the games, though. There are moments of legitimate fun to be had, but for me, it just never felt like I was playing a Castelvania story.
From what I've learned, people do have their reasons for not liking it (wanting the cancelled Alucard game, thinking it was too similar to other action games, not meshing with the new lore). Plus as a DMC fan, I know the feeling of suddenly getting a reboot out of nowhere (granted, I also enjoyed the DMC reboot game). And found many people who love the LoS trilogy and wish it gets ported (perhaps in the next Castlevania collection, that would be cool). Also people who wish Lords of Shadow got a 4th entry as well. For years all I saw was people disliking the reboot trilogy or thinking they were "not Castlevania". I'm glad the comments showed me all the different sides to the discussion.
From what I've seen, Lords of Shadow 2 seems to be the least popular out of the three games. I thought all three were good, although I can understand the LOS 2 narrative frustrations.
He spent the whole game being tricked by everyone he ever knew, even by the very God he served. Having your whole life destroyed like that is gonna have an effect on a person. With Mirror of Fate expanding more on his downfall.
Well with Konami making collections of the Castlevania games. Maybe we'll get a 3D Collection that includes the PS2 games and the Lords of Shadow Trilogy.
I know right! But nobody brings up the other 3D entries, people just pretend don't exist. Even articles I read said "lets hope Lords of Shadow will be the first good 3D entry". I would say Lament of Innocence's combat was more enjoyable than Lords of Shadow's combat.
@Gordoniankid this article clearly doesn't know what they write about, because even Castlvania 64 was pretty well received at release, and gained infamous not without help from James Rolf.
@@zaqwsx41375 I was tempted to add Castlevania 64 & Legacy of Darkness to my marathon initially. Because I have seen fans vouch for Legacy of Darkness in particular. Also funny enough, people talked about the PS2 games so little, that nobody mentioned Curse of Darkness was also on the original Xbox. And I had people equally surprised it also came on the original Xbox. I remember reading how when Castlevania 64 and SOTN were new, journalists proffered Castlevania 64. Although that was more so because SOTN was a 2D game during the early era of 3D video games, so Castlevania 64 looked more impressive technological wise.
Despite Lords of Shadow 1 being the best selling entry. For years and to this day, all saw was people disliking it or saying "its not a real Castlevania game". The comments in this video showed me that some of the hate has nothing to do with the game's quality. But because it represented abandoning the original timeline, ontop of a cancelled Alucard game. I usually see people who enjoy the reboot trilogy go back and forth on which entry is their favorite.
They took Konami franchises and made hack and slash games out of them, Metal Gear and Castlevania, both were hated, but Metal Gear became famous because of memes, and now it's loved by everyone, even by those who said that game wasn't Metal Gear, Castlevania Lords of Shadow, Lords of Shadow 2 just didn't have a famous meme to go viral on UA-cam, otherwise I guarantee you that all those who speak ill of this game would say that it's the best game of all time because of a meme, unlike those who have always liked the game since its release. PS: i still awaits the lords of shadow 3
I would say Metal Gear Rising also had the benefit of a beloved studio, Platinum Games, being behind it. While Mercury Steam where unknown at the time so people had no idea what they could pull off. Although I do remember how many people complained that Metal Gear Rising was an action game with bad stealth mechanics (even though stealth was optional in MGR). It is funny since Lords of Shadow 2 does use the "What is a man?!" quote from Symphony of the Night. So yeah, the power of memes would have benefitted it, although it took a long time for Metal Gear Rising to get it's meme status. I remember when someone on Twitter posted the SOTN PSP Dub and so many Castlevania fans lost it, because apparently very few knew the PSP port had a new and better dub. To the point people tried to claim the PS1's bad & goofy dub was "well written and perfectly acted" 0_o. So the power of memes is a massive thing.
Castlevania were, at first, action game. Yeah you have a bit of adventure in Simon‘ Quest and Castlevania 3, but Suoer Castlevania 4 is a pure action game. Same with Castlevania on the Megadrive, GB and arcades. So it was like a return to the first genre of the serie.
@@awesomereviews1561 Or also a return to what Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness did. I get people trying to compare the Combat Whip to Kratos' Chains of Olympus from God of War. But then how come no one brings up the Alchemy Whip in Lament of Innocence functioning similarly? Granted, most don't mention the other 3D entries.
Since no one else is gonna say it, it's up to me, the oldhead in the room, to say it: I don't hate Lords of Shadow as a game; I hate what it stands for, and what Konami did to get here. When Konami greenlit Lords of Shadow, they relegated longtime Castlevania series steward and real-life vampire Koji Igarashi to the Nintendo handhelds, cancelled his upcoming PS3/X360 project, then forced him to eventually quit the company by preventing him from making another Castlevania game. To us who have never given up on getting another SOTN-style game on console, this felt like several stabs in the back. Not to mention there is a very long, extensive history of lore between all CV games spanning all the way back from the first Castlevania. After Order of Ecclesia, we were hoping that we'd finally get a Julius Belmont-centric game that showed the Battle of 1999, but all we got is this reboot and our dreams shattered into a billion pieces when Iga left. Not to mention the reboot was a moot point because they went straight back into the pre-LoS lore anyways for post-Iga media (the Netflix shows, Harmony of Despair, Grimoire of Souls). So no, I am sorry, but I cannot judge this game with an objective view, much like any new Metal Gear game will be panned as "The One They Tried To Make Without Hideo Kojima." This game can never be Castlevania in my eyes.
@@part-timeprotagonist7037 It wasn't until today I learned about the cancelled Alucard game. People kept mentioning they wanted SOTN 2, but didn't mention it was almost a thing. So from that perspective, I can understand people not liking what Lords of Shadow meant (also the weird 'old Castlevania had boyish depictions of monsters' comment by the producer.) I know that Iga refuses to explain the Julius 1999 story so whomever gets to pen that game can have free reign. Despite the fact I literally backed the Bloodstained Kickstarter and what that game stood for. I never considered how Lords of Shadow Trilogy could be an unintentional metaphorical middle finger to fans. Not helped it was during the era of reboots like DmC Devil May Cry (I like that game, but the devs gave literal middle fingers to the fans. Granted, the fans hated them just based on the idea of a reboot). Hell, even Dracula's Dead By Daylight entry references being defeated by Julius. And it probably stings that Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. That Konami's idea to scrap the Alucard game and ditch the Julius game looks justified by sales numbers. Meanwhile Gabriel Belmont is probably the least referenced Belmont by fans.
Thanks for this man... it sums up the complains... it's not that this reboot is not good.. it's that there are more to explore in the original lore... it's kinda sad that newbies on the series just thinks that veterans are just being stubborn of changes.. me personally I was ok when they added Sonia in the lore and I know some fans that do (Although it is confusing)... I may be wrong about Sonia but what I am getting at is, change is good... but if you throw away the established lore just because.. it kinda defeats the purpose on why it is loved in the first place...
Never heard anyone but me hate on this game back when it came out. Everyone gave it rave reviews and said it was the first good 3D Castlevania and so on and it wasn't until the sequel that everyone turned on it. Me? I despise it. It's everything I hate about 7th gen game design, the short answer to why I LOVE Ninja Blade so much (because Ninja Blade is the anti-Lords of Shadow), and the plot twist at the end INFURIATED me due to THAT being okay but Sonia Belmont being stricken from canon.
Until the comment section of this video, I've seen more people negative towards the Lords of Shadow Trilogy than positive (even having people I trust telling me not to play them). As for crazy story ideas, since LOS is a reboot it could get away with crazy plot twists. Since the reboot had no pre-existing lore it could contradict. I've seen many cite Lords of Shadow borrowing too much from games around it's era and lacking a unique identity (granted, Lament of Innocence established good 3D Whip combat earlier). The way 3D Castlevania gets ignored is very weird. Sonia had the downside of a story idea (romantic relationship with Alucard that would imply the Belmonts are part Dracula/Vampire) that couldn't fit with the pre-existing lore. It's why while I understand it couldn't happen, Lament of Innocence not having a Mattias boss fight feels like a major missed opportunity. Hell, I think the Soma Cruz plot twist in Aria of Sorrow is something I'm surprised that got greenlit despite how beloved that is. Ninja Blade is a game I've never heard of it, interesting you make the comparison to it.
@@John-Jenin But Kojima didn't develop the game. He was a producer, specifically trying to shield Mercury Steam from Konami meddling. Although he did advise stuff such as Gabriel's design and voiced the Chupacabra in the JP dub.
this game only suffers from one issue: This is clearly a tale including Christian background but its written by people who fundamentally cannot understand its teachings or values. In the past, the games could be forgiven because they were dialogue and script heavy regarding the faith that allows crosses to blow everything up on screen. But this one changed it and introduced several galring problems. Most notably, is the cringy, borderline pedophilic nature of the young vampire girl who Gabriel spares. SHE is a man eating tiger in human form, consuming the blood of humans and Gabe is just "shes alive and living things deserve to live" What exactly IS A VAMPIRE? No Gabriel is the most unchristian he could be, a man of fake and wishy washy faith that thinks beasts and men are equals. Bible doesnt say that. In the face of evil like Gabriel faces, there would be no question. Onto the fire, ye witches! Bring us the torch!
Gabriel is spending the whole game questioning his faith and rejects it by the end. Laura wasn't a direct threat to him nor was she one of the Lords that had to be defeated. Laura also wasn't mindless like the other vampire enemies in the castle. It's like how Gabriel doesn't kill the Chupacabra despite it interfering with him three times. Also the PS1 Dub for Symphony of the Night had Dracula quoting the bible.
Huh? Am I in a different timeline? This game is amazing! Who played this and didn't enjoy it?
@@torenvarela9340 Ever since it came and to this day the reboot trilogy was considered "bad". Nobody would ever explain why they disliked it aside from saying "it's not Castlevania" or "it's a God of War & Shadow of the Colossus rip off". Strange since Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. The most explained criticism was "Lords of Shadow 2's stealth sections are awful", meanwhile the stealth in LOS2 are so short and aren't that bad.
And the comments in this video highlight just how beloved this reboot trilogy is. I'm surprised since all I was negativity before making this video (Steam reviews & Reddit are filled with people bashing the games).
So I'm surprised and glad this video is my best performing Castlevania video since this game was good. Mirror of Fate kept being used as the example for why Mercury Steam was a "bad choice for Metroid developers". But MOF has shown me how Mercury Steam was always a great choice.
@@Gordoniankid as a guy who enjoyed both LOS games i have to say this, it was an unnecessary reboot of already beloved world that was built with characters and fans, is LOS didn`t outright contradict almost everything classic games had to offer fans would at least tolerate it, gabriel`s story takes place in 1042 while first belmont as of now in canon timeline, leon's story takes place in 1094, they could have made gabriel with his separate story in universe of many other belmonts so that would explain absence of main antagonist, wait did i say antagonist? oh yeah gabriel is now dracula which...uhhh...yeah, so anyways i hope that sorta explains it
@@torenvarela9340 Me, for one. Bought it on release, and actually completed it a couple times. To me, this did for Castlevania similar to what dMc did to Devil May Cry. Take a fun, campy franchise, and make it super cereal edge. It just didn't go as extreme, or disrespectful as dMc did with the mockery of the original fanbase.
They just went a bit too far, to the point that it never felt like a game belonging to the Castlevania franchise. At no point does it ever feel like CASTLEVANIA. It would have been better served as a new IP.
Anyone who's played castlevania. This game isn't a castlevania game, it's a god of war game with a van helsing skin. When compared to Castlevania it is obviously going to be lacking and below average trash, on its own it's an average game.
@ i agree with the part where LOS barely looks like castlevania but i wouldn’t call this game a trash, it’s pretty alright and competent
I still have this game. It wasn't bad when I finally gave it a chance, and I played it to close to 100% if not 100%. I may have missed something here or there that I didn't care to really do? On top of lords being a surprisingly decent game, I can't praise konami enough for packing in a code for a free digital copy of symphony of the night with lords of shadow. I played symphony through at least once long before I played lords seriously and finished it.
To be clear the first Lords of Shadows was amazing. The second game is the one most people hated.
From what I've seen, people go back and forth on the trilogy. With Mirror of Fate seeming to be disliked the most. Some say it isn't the quality of the game that they didn't like. But that it represented abandoning the original storyline, meaning no Julius game and no announced Alucard game.
The first was hated too probably even more , from what i remember . The entire trilogy was shitted on by the angry igavania fanboys. Glad that in time they got more appreciated and liked but the hard igavania people still hate on it even today most likely.
@@Gordoniankid The igavania fanboys were the ones that hated LOS trilogy . LOS 1 and MoF being the best ones . I remember LOS 1 being hated the most , what a toxic time it was when the LOS games were going .
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one Yeah I learned that some of the hate came from the cancellation of an Alucard game. So some don't like what the game represents instead of the actual quality of it. Granted as a Mega Man Legends fans, I know what it's like for a game you want to be cancelled for a game you didn't want to be made instead.
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one I remember when LOS 1 was new and people just kept saying "it's not Castlevania" or a "God of War clone". But I have seen Igavania fans also enjoy the LOS trilogy. Although I think Mirror of Fate got the weirdest hate since it used new versions of the original characters. With people complaining the Reboot versions weren't the same as the originals.
I remember ign giving it a 9. I thought that was pretty bold for them. I grew up with Castlevania so I bought it at launch and loved it. Disappointed with the sequel though. Correction. It wasn’t ign it was game informer. I remember sitting on the throne reading my GI and the glowing review they gave
I agree, I think it’s one of the best games of its genre during that period.
Yea LOS 2 sadly had some big disappointment but still some cool things in it , like the fact you playing as an badass Dracula kicking ass in a VG for the first time . i will always apreciate that and like . The DLC was much more liked from what i remember though .
@ I enjoyed it also I just was disappointed. I sure didn’t feel badass during those forced stealth missions though
@@LuciferHunter-kt7pm True those were forced .
@ and you got one shot when you were caught
This game + LOS2 was amazing for me.
@@SuperSteve152 What about Mirror of Fate? I definitely have some things to say about Lords of Shadow 2.
@Gordoniankid Mirror of fate too. I loved the cannon and wanted more. Too bad they never continued the story.
@SuperSteve152 From what I read, seeks like they intended Lords of Shadow 2 to be conclude the reboot story. Although still funny how they thought the Lords of Shadow 1 DLC was a mistake (and having gone through the trilogy, I see why they thought that. On top of the bad reputation for selling the game's conclusion as DLC).
Also it's crazy to me having now played Mirror of Fate, Mercury Steam had all the makings to do great with Metroid (and did with Metroid Dread). Yet somehow people kept saying Mercury Steam was a bad fit for Metroid.
Yeah LOS 2 ESPECIALLY !!! It's everything I ever wanted in a modern, live action, Castlevania Underworld cross over.
@@tomesofawesome8041 I will say, I wish LOS 2 did more with it's modern setting. But I still like the game and it at least did more with it's setting than Aria & Dawn of Sorrow (How can they set those two games in the 2030s and not have you exploring modern or futuristic locales? T_T)
It doesn’t look like a bad game but this isn’t what Castlevania fans are looking for so I’m not surprised people hated it.
It wasnt what i was looking for either but the presentation was enough for me to jump in. The story ended up being amazing.
From what I've learned, fans wanted a Julius Belmont game and the scrapped Alucard game. It's like how Mega Man Legends fans want Legends 3, but instead Capcom makes Mega Man 9, 10 and 11. Those game aren't bad, but it's not the one people were hoping for. Even if Lords of Shadow 1 went on to be the best selling entry.
Good point. Capcom not making MML3 makes me believe they don't like making money
I bought this game and thought it was amazing. I was shocked when I found out that this game was hated. I mean, yeah gameplay was God of War, but when that was a bad thing? Story, setting and music were pretty good. It was also pretty challenging game.
@@valder8423 Even looking up the complaints, people just kept saying "it's not Castlevania" despite the franchise already going from 2D Side Scrolling levels to Metroidvania with Symphony of the Night. I don't understand how the REBOOT is where people thought it would be like the OG some how. Lords of Shadow 1 does what it goes for well and just needs refining.
@@Gordoniankid I read the exact same common complaints as you did. I believe it was just mostly old fans of the series that hated this and LOS 2 because it dared to reboot their precious series. The characters and lore was different so they mostly just automatically hated it and never gave it a fair shot with a huge portion of them not even playing the game and still deciding to hate it.
It is a shame though. The games had such good changes to the lore to freshen it up. The og games lore had gotten stale and old with the "every 100 years Dracula rises and is defeated again by a Belmont". If they were better received we could have had more sequels made with these characters.
I far prefer Gabriel Belmont's Dracula over the Mathias Dracula, with Gabriel being far more combat oriented and "hands on" compared to Mathias just sending fodder to die to the Belmont's over and over again and still ending up being a literal whipping boy every time he rises again.
@JohnU1515 I made a video on the Dominus Collection and the repetition of other people being able to or trying to use Dracula's power. I think Portrait of Ruin I was like "sure, whatever, anyone can just take the Dark Lord's power!🙄". So yeah, I can see why things needed to be shaken up. Even funny enough considering how Symphony of the Night also had negative reception when it was new (mostly for being 2D in the early era of 3D games).
I think the funniest complaint I saw in regards to the Lords of Shadow trilogy. Was complaining Simon had red hair, as if Ayami Kojima's Simon design for Castlevania Chronicles doesn't exist XD. People just be mad at anything in regards to the reboot trilogy (granted, some criticism people gave was fair).
@Gordoniankid I will have to check out that video. Ya people shouldn't just be able to copy Dracula's powers, his powers is what makes him who he is essentially. The only one who should be able to are those like Soma since Dracula is gone at that point and they don't have all of his powers but just a portion of them which makes sense in the context of the story.
Lol I haven't read the issues with Simon having red hair before, I wanna search those to see if I can find them, that is REALLY nitpicky, especially since like you said with Castlevania Chronicles. I agree that there are actual issues with the LOS series. Issues that aren't nitpick's, especially LOS 2.
I wasn't a fan of the weird generic monsters in the modern day sections, and I believe the game could have been far improved if it took place entirely in his massive castle. Could just change the story a bit to how he lost control of his castle from being asleep and having Satan take it and his monsters over, than could have Dracula as kind of a call back to the OG games by having a Belmont (in this case Dracula Belmont) having to storm the castle to defeat Satan and instead of destroying the castle afterwards, just reclaim it.
The reboot version of Dracula's Castle is huge compared to the OG one and with the city sections gone it could have been expanded massively to give a much greater and interesting area to explore. But I am no writer and I am sure it could be written far better than my idea.
@JohnU1515 The complaints over Simon are all over Steam reviews for Mirror of Fate. Some even complained about the idea of Alucard using a whip (despite SOTN giving Alucard various weapons).
I got words for Lords of Shadow 2 but I will say. I wish the city had more going on, it felt too samey. You have a futuristic city, a new setting for Castlevania (especially since Aria & Dawn of Sorrow don't use their future time period). I expected a bustling city, neon lights, people being in shock of the Dark Lord and sending human armies after him. But instead everyone is evacuated & and it's just warehouses & factories. So much potential not being used.
But that idea you have of a weird inverse with a Dracula Belmont going on a "normal Castlevania quest" sounds both awesome and funny.
It was hated by people who were wrong objectively and I had bad opinions
I said preface everyone is entitled to their own opinion and belief but this game f****** rules visually it's exactly what I would think Castlevania 3 would look like and it's loaded with all kinds of awesome monsters to fight the combat is a ton of fun and it's probably my favorite game in the franchise overall TBH
I feel like Curse of Darkness visually fits Castlevania 3 more, mostly because Trevor Belmont is in that game with a design by Ayami Kojima XD.
From what I've seen, looks like some of the hate for Lords of Shadow wasn't from the quality of the game itself. But that an Alucard game got announced and cancelled for it. On top of never getting the Julius Belmont game that Aria of Sorrow kept mentioning. But Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry in the series, so the reboot was a success, yet is never used for cross overs.
@@Gordoniankid Sadly yea and i really hope Konami gives the respect it deserves , it needs a remastered easily LOS 1 at least ,if not a remake maybe . Give MS another chance , i really miss the LOS universe , there is still room and plenty potential . Maybe something will happen they haven't announced anything CV , MS has been pretty silent as well but how knows .
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one I feel like Konami will bundle the 3D games together for a remaster. Which I hope they do since those 3D games haven't been ported anywhere.
@@Gordoniankid Maybe , i kinda hope for a remake of LOS1 , like they are doing MGS3 , since they are on the Remake journey and they can be pretty dam good and successful .
Lords of Shadows was praised when it released, it was the best selling Castlevania title when it launched.
Lords of Shadows 2 however, had very mixed opinions and a lot of complaints from people.
When Lords of Shadow 1 was new, all I saw was people (specifically UA-camrs) complaining about it being a "God of War & Shadow of the Colossus Rip off" how "Kojima ruined Castlevania" (Even though he didnt develop it) and that it wasn't a "real Castlevania". So despite the financial success, it seemed like the game wasn't well liked. I know that Mirrors of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2 had way more criticism out of the gate though.
Its best selling coz multiplatform sir. Not each platform.
@@gerryanggrana7626 LOS1 till has the highest sales even if it multiplatform. Symphony of the Night is also multiplatform (PS1, Sega Saturn, PSP, Xbox 360, PS4, Android/iOS) yet isn't the best selling entry.
For me, the biggest issue with Lords of Shadow is that it's too much a rip off of other games, mechanics-wise. God of War style combat, Uncharted-like 'exploration', a few cheap Shadow of the Colossus knock-off bosses with the giant golems, being littered with quick time events, and even feeling like it's ripping off the bullet hell Ikaruga with the Light, and Dark swapping.
The story is okay, but the ending is such edgelording sequel bait that for me, everything falls apart.
This game has no solid identity of its own.
Fair enough, also you're the first I've seen to mention the Uncharted-esque exploration. Still makes no sense how I read the devs saying they didn't want Quick Time Events, but the game is filled with them.
@Gordoniankid I find that tidbit absolutely hilarious. At times, it felt like half the game was QTEs, though I know that's an exaggeration. The game does have positives. I quite enjoyed the voice acting, and character designs, and many of the levels were gorgeous, but I just don't think the game was able to overcome its many failings to justify sequels, though if I recall, I think it was one of the best selling Castlevania games ever released. I'll need to double check that.
@@marcruth4531 Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. The unexpected success caused demands for DLC where they royally messed up. Because the DLC was overpriced for the content given and it had major story moments in it. The producer even admitted that making the LOS1 DLCs was a mistake.
@Gordoniankid Ah, so I remember correctly XD
I don't remember the pricing issue for the dlc, but I also never had interest in buying it, anyway, even for the plot importance.
@@marcruth4531 I didn't learn about the pricing until after making this video since the PC port comes with the DLC included. But that DLC was not worth $20.
First off, the trilogy was incredible! I actually just finished my yearly binge of them actually! I try to do it every Halloween! That said, this new iteration of Castlevania just had bad luck of falling victim to people who couldn't accept Castlevania without Koji Igarashi and the 2D versions, but it also seemed to infuriate Western video game journalists as well. I mean LoS1 got better reviews than the other titles, but the journalists were all over them with all this talk about it being a GoW clone and so forth, which was quite ironic actually. The all high and mighty GoW trilogy.....which was actually a poor man's clone of the Devil May Cry combat system, but that was all forgiven because of the over the top violence and high production values and presentation it brought to the table.....
There are SO many good elements to the LoS trilogy for video game and art enthusiasts to be fond of. The art design, the soundtrack, the voice acting, the story, the atmosphere, and combat were all pretty amazing. Literally the art design was second to none, and the Mercury Steam artists should be proud of that work. It's a tall order to do a blend of Pan's Labyrinth, Lord of the Rings, and Castlevania, but somehow they pulled it off in spades! The composer also was firing on all cylinders. It had a soundtrack that matched any movie OST. Western journalists just couldn't stomach it for some reason that some no name Spanish dev team did such incredible work. Were they all perfect.............no. There were some design flaws here and there, and some things that could have been better. I know LoS2 had some problems with it's stealth mechanics and stuff, but that was no reason to trash the whole game. The stealth stuff took up like 20 total minutes of a 15 hour campaign.......Los2 did have a very rushed 3rd act though. The game kind of was in dev hell and I think it showed. But all in all, the experience was great and to me at least, was the best iteration of bringing castlevania into the 3D world.
Man was the art direction good!! Whoever's idea it was to have Dracula going into his own subconscious in LoS2 and revisiting his Castle to come to terms with his place in the world, as he then went back and forth to the future to eventually defeat Satan himself, it was bold and genius idea! Both LoS1 and LoS2 truly capture the alpha and omega angle as the story comes full circle!
It is weird how despite how much bashing for the Reboot trilogy I've seen. I just learned Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling Castlevania game. I wasn't focused on the journalist part, I kept hearing Castlevania fans bash these games. Even when I bought the trilogy I had people telling me I shouldn't have done that. But nah, the games are all good and there will be videos on Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2. The most baffling was the complaints for Mirror of Fate and how people said it showed Mercury Steam shouldn't be allowed to make a Metroid game. Only for Metroid Dread to be one of the best Metroid gams and Mirror of Fate was the blueprint for what they would later do in Metroid Dread.
I understand people being worried by a reboot handled by a new company, especially with how Silent Hill got treated. But Mercury Steam made a good base with LOS1, experimented with Mirror of Fate and then improved with LOS2 with some risky experimentation (the stealth sections are nowhere near as bad as people claim they are. Ontop of Order of Ecclesia also having a stealth segment that people don't mention).
The biggest missteps in the Lords of Shadow trilogy would be making the DLC for LOS1 (putting major answers in a post release DLC is a bad idea, but to be fair the devs realized that too) and I wish LOS2 took more advantage of it's cool new setting for a Castlevania game.
@@Gordoniankid Yea the journalists were relentless. They were more forgiving of LoS1 but they all planted the seeds of screaming about the GoW and Shadow of the Colossus rip off and stuff. What's funny, is many games take inspiration of other ones. I mean think of it, how many games literally took Resident Evil 4's whole formula to make their games.....THEY ALL TOOK IT! And rightfully so, the gameplay was revolutionary! This to me was proof of some very biased journalism that was afoot.
Mirror of Fate's only flaw was probably that it should have been released as a full on PS3 entry instead! They had a wonderful little story there that I think people would have better appreciated had it been fleshed out and given a full production value treatment on PS3. That's one thing that people came down on LoS2 is that they complained they wanted a full on Castlevania game in the past and in the castle. They wanted the full Dracula treatment and didn't like that the next direct sequel after LoS1 took place in the future and with Satan again. So it's too bad that didn't happen, but I love MoF anyways for what it is. And you're right, it was an excellent blueprint for their later work.
As for the DLC stuff in LoS1. Yea I get that a little bit. I think the main problem was that if that stuff was included in the main game, you really take the wind out of that Epic battle with Satan! Any additional stuff in the main game after that is just not going to compare. I think they were better off just rewriting small amounts of the story at the end that showed the audience how Gabriel got his powers in that final battle with Satan. But then again, there is the problem of how he would turn to vampire.....so that's another rewrite obviously. But no way around it, if you want to end a game properly with a great antagonist and good final battle, doesn't get any better than Satan!
I'm glad you mentioned Resident Evil 4 because that game pretty much created the 3rd Person Cover Based Shooter Genre XD. You also have games like Gears of War and Dead Space specifically crediting RE4 for inspiring them. Or look at how games credit Final Fantasy VII for it the transition to 3D and use of FMVs. With The Legend of Dragoon being made to specifically rival FF7. Before Freedom Wars Remastered got announced, I wished for years another company would mimic that game's Thorn mechanic. Or look at how people wish other games could use the Nemesis system from Shadow of Morder, but can't due to copyright.
I've seen some say they would of preferred it if Gabriel became a vampire due to fighting Satan instead of the idea the DLC gives. It was solely the answer of what happened to Gabriel being the issue, having it be a paid DLC felt like an accidental extra kick.
Castlevania Lords of shadow 1 is like the ff16 of the franchise. A pretty okay action game that takes more inspiration from other franchises rather than its own while also trying to be "mature". I love lords of shadow 1 and lords of shadow mirror of fate(try mirror of fate it's pretty cool). Lords of shadow 2 was weird(worse/disappointing writing and some unfun stealth sections) but the combat and puzzles were neat. Also the lords of shadow 2 dlc is fun, light on story and short but I'll take replaying it over the main game. My only real complaint with LoS 1&2 is that I have to manually pick up my magic orbs which isn't convenient for me while in combat(mirror of fate which is between 1 and 2 fixes that and also just has enemies drop magic without needing to fill up the focus meter).
i personally loved this game as a teen, sequel too despite likeing this one more, but i understand why fans of franchise didn`t like this game,
for starters this was heavily GOW inspired linear hack and slash game, couldn`t exactly back track areas you cleared like in classic games, you complete linear levels, obtain abilities, replay previous levels to obtain items you couldn`t get for not having needed ability, and also lot of these abilities felt like things we already saw in multiple GOW games, i`m not saying being inspired of GOW is a bad thing but it took too much after it at times,
another reason is this was supposed to be reboot of already beloved franchise that has established of it's lore and gathered fans around it, LOS could just as easily fit in canon if you only keep first game in mind aside few contradictions but sequels (yes mirror of fate and LOS2) damaged reputation of LOS saga, i won`t but any spoilers here because OG castlevania fans will understand, for those who haven`t played this and looking forward to go ahead.
this is not the only time we had proper 3rd person 3D castlevania game (lament of innocence for example), fans seeing konami cancel stuff like solo alucard action game and also one where there was supposed to be sonia belmont, they understandably felt disrespected and betrayed, add to that LOS 2 was a very low note to end your franchise with given it's short comings.
in conclusion LOS is a simple hack and slash game that doesn`t innovate much in genre, that being said it was made with passion and mercurysteam didn`t disrespect source material like DMC DMC did.
I did not know there was a cancelled Alucard game. That explains why people kept saying they expected Symphony of the Night 2.
@ I would honestly play solo alucard game similar to LOS (we have LOS2 revelations but that doesn’t count in this instance), unfortunately konami is no longer interested in making new games out of IP so perhaps one day a fan project appears
Personally, I think they did do the same thing that dMc did. They took a beloved, frequently campy franchise, and turned it into an edgelordy "super cereal, here" narrative, and completely altered main characters into something completely different.
The difference is they didn't mock fans of the originals over new design elements, and made a new character for the first entry.
We all loved playing this game but we all know why we "hate" it.
For me this series is one I love the story of, I love the characters, but I don't really enjoy playing it. I love Gabriel and his fall from grace into the lord of darkness. In fact I like him for the most part more than I like the main timeline dracula (blame lament of innocence ripping off the world damn dracula movie of all time), where that dracula lost his wife and spent the rest of eternity crying about it. Gabriel loses everything again and again, where LoI makes Mathias Dracula a retroactive whiny bitch, the universe really does conspire to make every day of gabriel's life a living hell. As a result it does annoy me that people focus on stuff like the stealth sections and just write the series off.
But I ironically can't say that for the most part I enjoy playing LOS 1 or 2. Both of them have parts of their game play that infuriate me like the bloody skeletons or the stupid armor/shields you have to break on enemies who have a bullcrap back dash. Mirror of fate though had great gameplay which combined the best parts of classic vania and LOS.
I'm not sure it's fair to blame Lament of Innoncence for Dracula's characterization since Symphony of the Night did the same thing way earlier (with one of Dawn of Sorrow's bad endings having it happened a 3rd time). But it does help playing as the character in question going through the transformation in real time (same with Dawn of Sorrow in a Bad ending).
Yes I agree, the Riot Police enemies in Lords of Shadow 2 back away when they need the Chaos Claws to break their shield is annoying. But you can jump mid combo to chase after them or use the Chaos Bombs to continue breaking their shields.
People focus on the negatives for the Lords of Shadow Trilogy (or just make up complaints with no evidence to back them up. When the games have way more positives to them. It's crazy to me how for years people bashed Mercury Steam for making these games and even getting mad they were picked to make Metroid games. Meanwhile Mirror of Fate showed how the developers were the right choice.
I hate lords of shadow entirely for story reasons.
When it came out i didnt have access to the internet for things like dlc. So i didnt find out there was a dlc for gabriel becoming dracula until mirror of fate came out.
Locking an important story element behind dlc absolutely tanked my opinion of the game.
The developers agree with you, with the producer saying it was their biggest mistake. And yeah that DLC was the worst idea. The producer also said the DLC was rushed out because of LOS 1 being an unexpected success. Not only for the explanation not being good. But it looks scummy to have an ending that leaves questions and then sell the answer as DLC. And the fact that the DLCs were $10 each is FREAKING INSANE. That is way overpriced for the content being given.
@@Gordoniankid Mirror of fate could've been used instead. They use that game as an origin story for alucard with the game split between Alucard(Trevor) and Simon. Gabriel was already dracula at the time. It would have been better if you played as Human Trevor and newly turned Gabriel. With Trevor being mortally wounded at the end and gabriel being forced to turn his son to keep him alive. Its not like the boss had to be dracula ffs. It could've been Galamoth. Dude is trying to steal the throne of hell and gabriel injuring satan in LOS1 is a good oppourtunity to make the attempt.
What bugs me the most is I like LOS2, Its two predecessors bring it down though. It deserves better.
@@v.v.3368 I feel like Mirror of Fate's story works, except for the part where Dracula's defeat just somehow doesn't kill him. With Alucard pointing out something isn't right. Honestly, it feels like there was never gonna be a satisfying answer to how Gabriel turned vampire.
The one we got from the DLC does fit Gabriel's character of doing anything to save people at the cost of himself, also being tricked into ending Laura's torment while making himself immortal. But also feels half assed with the whole "The Forgotten One" thing feeling so cheap and coming out of nowhere.
Those who hated it are the people invested in castlevania lore. This is the quivalent of the DMC reboot for castlevania fans.
Yeah, in some of my replies I compared to the DmC Reboot. But I found out through the comments that before LOS was announced, Konami had revealed an Alucard game for PS3/Xbox 360. So to have something people wanted get cancelled for a reboot they may not like, the frustration is understandable. Some did give it a chance but it didn't mesh with them, which is fine. Although some just think it lacks creativity or "Isn't a real Castlevania game".
I loved this game back in the day and I loved the second one mainly coz it was going the hack & slash direction, and speaking of H&S games...
Here are some H&S games you can check out:
Soulstice
Valkyrie Elysium
Wanted: Dead
Etenights
Stella Blade
Project DT
Project M
Lost Soul Aside
Phantom Hellcat
Arise of Awakener
Granblue Fantasy Relink
Yasuke A Lost Descendent
Shred & Tear: Explosive Kajun
Phantom Blade Zero
SuperSimmer
Astor: Blade of the Monolith
Captain Blood
Mightreya
13Z
There are a lot more that are out there, H&S games are really fun to play and I'm so glad to see more of them.
Shouts out to hack & slash games, they are making a comeback.
Another Eternights fan👍🏾, I got the platinum trophy on the game. Wasn't sure if I should do a video on that. I do have a video on Stellar Blade on the channel.
I still love and play this and the sequel. I'm still hopeful we get another reboot with similar style or a SOTN remake
I was excited for this game. I preordered the special edition that came with artbook and soundtrack, also GameStop gave out a shirt as a preorder bonus.
I rebought them on steam since my ps3 is stored away.
The complaints I kept hearing at the time were “God of War clone”. I was not a fan of mirror of fate, the lack of music and load times killed it for me.
Mirror of Fate has music, but the whole trilogy goes for more atmospheric music. Playing the games on PC with an SSD, it wasn't until LOS2 I noticed all the loading tricks (elevators, closing doors fully, etc). So I can't imagine what it was like on console & 3DS.
Moral of the story ? Don't listen blindly what others tell you and just experience for yourself open minded , one way or another and let that be the judge .
I've known that since the PS3 generation to always give something that interests you a chance. But I'm just surprised that even my friends were telling me to avoid this reboot. Also finding out it's the best selling entry.
@Gordoniankid Yea , with i hope Konami dose something with it , give MS a second chance , now that they matured more as a Studio and i want to see David Cox again with Enric . They have been silent for a wile now , i hope they are cooking something, even if it is a spiritual successor to LOS , get Oscar and make magic again .
@Kobalt_Rax_the_one With all the cross overs and game collections. Now is the best time for Konami to announce a new entry.
@@Gordoniankid Even an big Remastered or Remake of LOS 1 would be great . I miss the LOS world.
All I wanted was SOTN2 and this is what they gave us. I tried to give it a chance, but I couldn't get into it. I'm sure I'm not the only fan that felt that way.
At least you gave it a chance, that's all anyone could ask for. I've seen many say they expected Mirror of Fate to be a SOTN2 (I don't know why they expected one of the reboot entries to be SOTN2).
Considering how many entries have been Metroidvanias every since SOTN there's been many games that play like it. As for a literal direct sequel to SOTN, feels weird since SOTN itself is a sequel to Rondo of Blood. Granted, it is weird how Alucard becomes more of behind the scenes guy in entries like Aria/Dawn of Sorrow. But you can play as Alucard in Julius Mode of Dawn of Sorrow if that helps.
@@Gordoniankid Very good reply, thank you my man!
@@gamelover2222 I mean they were 6 Igavania on the GBA and DS. Why did you expect a 3D actionner to be like those games?
Yea the first Lords of Shadow was incredible! I ignored the reviews back in the day and bought it day one 9/10 for me!
Recently replayed this game and still enjoyed. Of course it borrows aspects from different games, but it still comes together as a mostly enjoyable experience. It's production value, execution and tone were stellar. And just to point out that it did some things better than god of war, especially the environments. God of war had a lot of backtracking and reused areas. Every area in this game felt new and unique, and looked absolutely amazing, even today.
Definitely a cool game especially for a new studio that was allowed to have freedom in creating it. From what I've learned in the comments, some of the dislike is not from the game itself, but because an Alucard game was teased and cancelled for this. So I can see why many would not like the idea of Lords of Shadow.
I really enjoyed the Lords of Shaodw series, would be nice to see a remaster on PS4, they could just do a collection with all 3 games. I know a lot of people compared it to God of War however the game was closedr to Lament of Innocence than God of War. Lament also came out almost a year before God of War.
Maybe I will load these up on my PS3.
@@ShadowCthulhu Glad you brought up Lament of Innocence since so few mention it when talking about Lords of Shadow. Perhaps Konami will make a collection with all the 3D games included?
@@Gordoniankid i think they should do a 3d Collection which would be Legacy of Darkness from N64, Curse of Darkness and Lament of Innocence. Then do a Lords of Shadow Collection.
@ i remembered another game that I believe came out before God of War. Rygar on PS2.
Lament of innocence didnt have qte. Are u drunk sir ?
@ nope QTEs do not mean core gameplay. I am only referring to the whip combat which if you play Lament and Lords back to back, the combat is definetly a refined version of Innocence.
All my friend loved this game back in the days. And a lot of them were die hard SOTN fans. Great game, fantastic OST.
This game definitely stands on it's own and is a good entry. From what I'm seeing, people's issues with this reboot trilogy is partially the games not meshing with them. But also because it represented the abandonment of the original continuity and there was a Castlevania game with Alucard that got revealed and scrapped. So for people to expect that Alucard game and to get this, I can see why people didn't like what it represented.
@@GordoniankidBeing one of the people that didn't like it, I didn't like it for itself. I don't keep up with a lot of gaming news, so I had no idea that we had lost a potential Alucard game.
I bought LoS on release, and I completed it a couple times. It's not a terrible game, but the plot is laughably edgelord in a bad way, IMO. "Oh no, you were the one that killed your wife, the WHOLE TIME! Oh, no, your mentor was evil the WHOLE TIME! Oh no, better go fight literal Lucifer, now. Oh, no, now YOU'RE DRACULA!"
The ripped off God of War combat works well enough, a lot better than Lament of Innocence did, as well, but this game offers me nothing that I want to come back to, and did nothing at all to warrant me wanting to even try playing the sequels. I can see why some people enjoy the games, though. There are moments of legitimate fun to be had, but for me, it just never felt like I was playing a Castelvania story.
i love this game, just other fans of 2D metroidvania style hating it for no reason, but as DMC fan i loved every minute
From what I've learned, people do have their reasons for not liking it (wanting the cancelled Alucard game, thinking it was too similar to other action games, not meshing with the new lore). Plus as a DMC fan, I know the feeling of suddenly getting a reboot out of nowhere (granted, I also enjoyed the DMC reboot game).
And found many people who love the LoS trilogy and wish it gets ported (perhaps in the next Castlevania collection, that would be cool). Also people who wish Lords of Shadow got a 4th entry as well.
For years all I saw was people disliking the reboot trilogy or thinking they were "not Castlevania". I'm glad the comments showed me all the different sides to the discussion.
This game was great, the second narratively falls off but combat and exploration are still solid.
From what I've seen, Lords of Shadow 2 seems to be the least popular out of the three games. I thought all three were good, although I can understand the LOS 2 narrative frustrations.
I just beat it for the first time yesterday. I really enjoyed it. Im playing lord of shadows 2 now an its amazing!
I don't like how your a holy warrior who becomes evil.
He spent the whole game being tricked by everyone he ever knew, even by the very God he served. Having your whole life destroyed like that is gonna have an effect on a person. With Mirror of Fate expanding more on his downfall.
Game was amazing to most of the people who actually tried it. The second one though… was mid.
Robert carlyle was great. He ought do more
The range they had to do for Gabriel's character throughout the reboot series. It's freaking amazing.
Hhahahahh funny how i 100% trophy when PSN was hack in 2012 hahahahaha
This trilogy is what got me into Castlevania XD i dont understand why it was hated cuz its pretty cool. :)
I wish it was on ps4 so i can replay em
Well with Konami making collections of the Castlevania games. Maybe we'll get a 3D Collection that includes the PS2 games and the Lords of Shadow Trilogy.
It's always funny to hear what Lords of Shadow is God of War rip off, because Lament of Innocence 2 years older.
I know right! But nobody brings up the other 3D entries, people just pretend don't exist. Even articles I read said "lets hope Lords of Shadow will be the first good 3D entry". I would say Lament of Innocence's combat was more enjoyable than Lords of Shadow's combat.
@Gordoniankid this article clearly doesn't know what they write about, because even Castlvania 64 was pretty well received at release, and gained infamous not without help from James Rolf.
@@zaqwsx41375 I was tempted to add Castlevania 64 & Legacy of Darkness to my marathon initially. Because I have seen fans vouch for Legacy of Darkness in particular. Also funny enough, people talked about the PS2 games so little, that nobody mentioned Curse of Darkness was also on the original Xbox. And I had people equally surprised it also came on the original Xbox.
I remember reading how when Castlevania 64 and SOTN were new, journalists proffered Castlevania 64. Although that was more so because SOTN was a 2D game during the early era of 3D video games, so Castlevania 64 looked more impressive technological wise.
@@Gordoniankid i personally think SOTN is overrated, and even best IGA game
@@zaqwsx41375 I would rate Aria of Sorrow higher than SOTN in terms of IGA games. Although my favorite Castlevania overall is Rondo of Blood.
Not at all. This game was very well received, since it's a really, really good game. The sequel's not nearly as good, unfortunately.
Despite Lords of Shadow 1 being the best selling entry. For years and to this day, all saw was people disliking it or saying "its not a real Castlevania game". The comments in this video showed me that some of the hate has nothing to do with the game's quality. But because it represented abandoning the original timeline, ontop of a cancelled Alucard game. I usually see people who enjoy the reboot trilogy go back and forth on which entry is their favorite.
They took Konami franchises and made hack and slash games out of them, Metal Gear and Castlevania, both were hated, but Metal Gear became famous because of memes, and now it's loved by everyone, even by those who said that game wasn't Metal Gear, Castlevania Lords of Shadow, Lords of Shadow 2 just didn't have a famous meme to go viral on UA-cam, otherwise I guarantee you that all those who speak ill of this game would say that it's the best game of all time because of a meme, unlike those who have always liked the game since its release.
PS: i still awaits the lords of shadow 3
I would say Metal Gear Rising also had the benefit of a beloved studio, Platinum Games, being behind it. While Mercury Steam where unknown at the time so people had no idea what they could pull off. Although I do remember how many people complained that Metal Gear Rising was an action game with bad stealth mechanics (even though stealth was optional in MGR). It is funny since Lords of Shadow 2 does use the "What is a man?!" quote from Symphony of the Night. So yeah, the power of memes would have benefitted it, although it took a long time for Metal Gear Rising to get it's meme status.
I remember when someone on Twitter posted the SOTN PSP Dub and so many Castlevania fans lost it, because apparently very few knew the PSP port had a new and better dub. To the point people tried to claim the PS1's bad & goofy dub was "well written and perfectly acted" 0_o. So the power of memes is a massive thing.
Castlevania were, at first, action game. Yeah you have a bit of adventure in Simon‘ Quest and Castlevania 3, but Suoer Castlevania 4 is a pure action game. Same with Castlevania on the Megadrive, GB and arcades. So it was like a return to the first genre of the serie.
@@awesomereviews1561 Or also a return to what Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness, Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness did. I get people trying to compare the Combat Whip to Kratos' Chains of Olympus from God of War. But then how come no one brings up the Alchemy Whip in Lament of Innocence functioning similarly? Granted, most don't mention the other 3D entries.
Not the first one, the second i hate
Still have it, enjoyed it!!!!
Since no one else is gonna say it, it's up to me, the oldhead in the room, to say it: I don't hate Lords of Shadow as a game; I hate what it stands for, and what Konami did to get here.
When Konami greenlit Lords of Shadow, they relegated longtime Castlevania series steward and real-life vampire Koji Igarashi to the Nintendo handhelds, cancelled his upcoming PS3/X360 project, then forced him to eventually quit the company by preventing him from making another Castlevania game. To us who have never given up on getting another SOTN-style game on console, this felt like several stabs in the back.
Not to mention there is a very long, extensive history of lore between all CV games spanning all the way back from the first Castlevania. After Order of Ecclesia, we were hoping that we'd finally get a Julius Belmont-centric game that showed the Battle of 1999, but all we got is this reboot and our dreams shattered into a billion pieces when Iga left. Not to mention the reboot was a moot point because they went straight back into the pre-LoS lore anyways for post-Iga media (the Netflix shows, Harmony of Despair, Grimoire of Souls).
So no, I am sorry, but I cannot judge this game with an objective view, much like any new Metal Gear game will be panned as "The One They Tried To Make Without Hideo Kojima." This game can never be Castlevania in my eyes.
@@part-timeprotagonist7037 It wasn't until today I learned about the cancelled Alucard game. People kept mentioning they wanted SOTN 2, but didn't mention it was almost a thing. So from that perspective, I can understand people not liking what Lords of Shadow meant (also the weird 'old Castlevania had boyish depictions of monsters' comment by the producer.)
I know that Iga refuses to explain the Julius 1999 story so whomever gets to pen that game can have free reign. Despite the fact I literally backed the Bloodstained Kickstarter and what that game stood for. I never considered how Lords of Shadow Trilogy could be an unintentional metaphorical middle finger to fans. Not helped it was during the era of reboots like DmC Devil May Cry (I like that game, but the devs gave literal middle fingers to the fans. Granted, the fans hated them just based on the idea of a reboot). Hell, even Dracula's Dead By Daylight entry references being defeated by Julius.
And it probably stings that Lords of Shadow 1 is the best selling entry. That Konami's idea to scrap the Alucard game and ditch the Julius game looks justified by sales numbers. Meanwhile Gabriel Belmont is probably the least referenced Belmont by fans.
Thanks for this man... it sums up the complains... it's not that this reboot is not good.. it's that there are more to explore in the original lore... it's kinda sad that newbies on the series just thinks that veterans are just being stubborn of changes.. me personally I was ok when they added Sonia in the lore and I know some fans that do (Although it is confusing)... I may be wrong about Sonia but what I am getting at is, change is good... but if you throw away the established lore just because.. it kinda defeats the purpose on why it is loved in the first place...
CASTLVANIA is not Koji creation, but he clearly consider it is, LOS is back to the roots of the first Nes tiles. And hated by Koji fanatics.
Never heard anyone but me hate on this game back when it came out. Everyone gave it rave reviews and said it was the first good 3D Castlevania and so on and it wasn't until the sequel that everyone turned on it. Me? I despise it. It's everything I hate about 7th gen game design, the short answer to why I LOVE Ninja Blade so much (because Ninja Blade is the anti-Lords of Shadow), and the plot twist at the end INFURIATED me due to THAT being okay but Sonia Belmont being stricken from canon.
Until the comment section of this video, I've seen more people negative towards the Lords of Shadow Trilogy than positive (even having people I trust telling me not to play them). As for crazy story ideas, since LOS is a reboot it could get away with crazy plot twists. Since the reboot had no pre-existing lore it could contradict. I've seen many cite Lords of Shadow borrowing too much from games around it's era and lacking a unique identity (granted, Lament of Innocence established good 3D Whip combat earlier). The way 3D Castlevania gets ignored is very weird.
Sonia had the downside of a story idea (romantic relationship with Alucard that would imply the Belmonts are part Dracula/Vampire) that couldn't fit with the pre-existing lore. It's why while I understand it couldn't happen, Lament of Innocence not having a Mattias boss fight feels like a major missed opportunity. Hell, I think the Soma Cruz plot twist in Aria of Sorrow is something I'm surprised that got greenlit despite how beloved that is.
Ninja Blade is a game I've never heard of it, interesting you make the comparison to it.
I love this game and I know the history
A Hideo Kojima Game
@@John-Jenin But Kojima didn't develop the game. He was a producer, specifically trying to shield Mercury Steam from Konami meddling. Although he did advise stuff such as Gabriel's design and voiced the Chupacabra in the JP dub.
this game only suffers from one issue: This is clearly a tale including Christian background but its written by people who fundamentally cannot understand its teachings or values. In the past, the games could be forgiven because they were dialogue and script heavy regarding the faith that allows crosses to blow everything up on screen. But this one changed it and introduced several galring problems. Most notably, is the cringy, borderline pedophilic nature of the young vampire girl who Gabriel spares. SHE is a man eating tiger in human form, consuming the blood of humans and Gabe is just "shes alive and living things deserve to live" What exactly IS A VAMPIRE?
No Gabriel is the most unchristian he could be, a man of fake and wishy washy faith that thinks beasts and men are equals. Bible doesnt say that. In the face of evil like Gabriel faces, there would be no question. Onto the fire, ye witches! Bring us the torch!
Gabriel is spending the whole game questioning his faith and rejects it by the end. Laura wasn't a direct threat to him nor was she one of the Lords that had to be defeated. Laura also wasn't mindless like the other vampire enemies in the castle. It's like how Gabriel doesn't kill the Chupacabra despite it interfering with him three times. Also the PS1 Dub for Symphony of the Night had Dracula quoting the bible.