Where there's a whip there's a way: Castlevania Lords of Shadow MEGATHREAD! (THREAD COMPLETE!)

An archival space for the threads that made it.
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Oh boy it begins. :allears: I remember the story/lore being even dumber than the other games but the gameplay is at least... mostly fun to compensate.

...Why are damage numbers GREEN?! Green is like the one color damage numbers shouldn't be! Use red, orange, white, gray, black, whatever; anything but green, which is what healing numbers are supposed to be!

Also, MercurySteam probably uses European VAs because they're based in Spain. Probably best to hire local rather than pay to fly talent across an ocean.

It's a blast of an intro, that's for sure. Also I bet Dracula practiced tossing that goblet across the floor forever just so he could finally deliver his line when someone busted down the door.

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With all the scenery Dracula chews you'd think he was an old man in need of fiber. Which, to be fair, he probably is.

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As promised, here is the full exorcism from A Bewitched King, with the portions used by Lords of Shadow 2 emphasized in bold and underlined:
Sir John Bowring wrote: The form used for casting out demons was as follows:

Vade retro, Sathana;
Nunquam suade mihi vana;
Sint mala quæ libas;
Ipse venena bibas;
Crux sancta sit mihi lux;
Non draco sit mihi dux.

Christus vivit, Christus regnat; Christus ab omni malo te defendat. Maledicti et excommunicati dæmones, in virtute ritorum sanctorum Dei nominum, Messias, Emmanuel, Sother, Sabaoth, Agios, Ischyros, Athanatos, Jehovah, Adonai et Tetragrammaton, vos constringuimus et separamus à creatura, vita, Abbas, et ab omni loco et domo ubi fuerint hæc nomina et digna Dei; et præcipimus vobis, atque ligamus vos, ui non habeatis potestatem, per pesten, nec per aliquod, quodeumque maleficum nocere ei, neque in anima, neque in corpore [Lords of Shadow 2 replaces this with "incantationem neque, in anima, nec in corpore!"]. Ite, ite, ite, maledicti, in stagnum ignis, sive ad loca vobis a Deo assignata. Imperat vobis Deus Pater, imperat vobis Deus Filius, imperat vobis Sanctissima Trinitas, unus Deus. Amen!

Oremus! Acci piat, quærimus, Domine Deus noster, benc dictionem tuam creatura ista, qua corpore salvetur et mente, congruamque tibi exhibeat servitutem, atque tuæ propitiationis beneficia semper inveniat. Amen!

Potestas Dei Patris, Sapientia Dei Filii, et Virtus Spiritus Sancti liberet et sanet te, creatura Dei, ab infirmitate lumbricorum. Amen!

In nomine Jesu Christi Nazareni conjuro vos, ascarides, ut, conversæ in aquam, recedatis à corpore isto, in honorem Dei et devotionem S. S. Benedicti et Bernardi atque Antonii de Padua, qui orent pro nobis. Amen!

Per signum sanctæ Crucis, quo signo te, efficiaris sanus ab omni infirmitate, ct vermes isti procul sint; moriantur, et exeant a corpore tuout in Domino dicamus: Dum appropriant super te nocentes, ipsi infirmati sunt et acciderunt. Amen!

I copy this literatim, in all its pure latinity.

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Oh boy, here we go. A lot of the game design decisions are questionable at best, but the presentation is top-notch. One thing I really like about this is that while Gabriel's voice acting was melodramatic and hammy in the first game, the style is perfectly appropriate for Dracula and Carlyle just nails it perfectly.

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Mopey Dick wrote:
Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:01 pm
Oh boy, here we go. A lot of the game design decisions are questionable at best, but the presentation is top-notch. One thing I really like about this is that while Gabriel's voice acting was melodramatic and hammy in the first game, the style is perfectly appropriate for Dracula and Carlyle just nails it perfectly.
I'm more mixed-leaning-positive about the game design (although having just recorded the Victory Plaza elevator circuit-breaker puzzle, it was a harsh reminder that for every two good things about this game there's something pretty bad), I totally agree with you regarding Robert Carlyle's performance. In Mirror of Fate, you can tell that he was still finding his sea legs turning Gabriel's character fully into Dracula, but I guess the practice paid off, because he is absolutely perfect here. Even when the dialog is hilariously awful (which is more often than not) he still gives his all. We stan Scottish Dracula!

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Charles II of Spain is a classic example of how not to grow your family tree.

"Charles was the only surviving son of Mariana of Austria (1634-1696) and Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) who was 56 years old at the time of his son's birth. For political reasons, marriages between Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs were common; Philip and Mariana were uncle and niece, making Charles their great-nephew and first cousin once removed respectively. All eight of his great-grandparents were descendants of Joanna and Philip I of Castile."

The unfortunate fellow had so many physical problems that even though it is unclear whether any of them are a result of inbreeding, one can see how he might come to believe he was cursed or possessed.

Does Simon Belmont ever come back in Lords of Shadow 2? I believe someone said he does not, in which case they could have spared us the 2min of the recap dealing with his story.

That was an amazing intro - I did not expect the huge wood & iron mecha powered by holy crystals. I wish that had been an actual angel that Gabriel Dracul tore apart. That was a hell of a combat suit, so to speak.

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I know I say this every time I do an LP but I mean it this time! I am going to do my best to keep updates consistent every Monday, at...some point during that day.

Following the prologue there's a large chunk of cutscenes without much gameplay in between, so Update 2 will also be a double update. I don't plan on doing many, if any, double updates after that though. We'll have to play it by ear.

Also, Update 2-1 has a CONTENT WARNING for disturbing violent imagery during one specific scene. I have provided time stamps at the start of the video and in the description, and will also give a warning just before the scene in question plays.

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Alright, it is *technically* Monday in my time zone, so it counts!

Once again, be aware of the content warning for update 2-1, time stamps in the description and the video itself. The lore post will also be updated in a few minutes.

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Hi guys, I'm back with shitpost photoshops
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Kurieg wrote:
Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:26 pm
Hi guys, I'm back with shitpost photoshops
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I've been day drinking on vacation, but I seriously love you Kurieg. Don't ever stop.

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I'm reminded a bit of the Castle Heterodyne in Girl Genius.

Except that the Castle itself is a genius and doesn't quite have the same jilted ex vibe (it's still trying to woo its new Mistress, so to speak).

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It looks like the family scene was such blatant controversy bait that even the thread is ignoring it. Nice going, MercurySteam.

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Honestly, it just feels cheap. There are plenty of cooler ways you could show that Dracula is a monster.

With a more critical eye I can at least see the possibility of more going on with it than just shock value, if the game is implying what it seemed to be implying.

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Mopey Dick wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:34 am
Honestly, it just feels cheap. There are plenty of cooler ways you could show that Dracula is a monster.
The focus of the scene isn't even really about Dracula. It's about re-establishing Zobek as a manipulator and monster. Zobek kidnapped the family specifically so Dracula could feed on them - there's even a pointed shot where Dracula finds their bodies again in Zobek's office building.

Yeah, there were definitely ways to help that didn't involve Siccing a basically feral Dracula on an innocent family, like, ya know, a blood bank or something. He did it to fuck with Gabriel, and it's obvious he doesn't really care about anyone who isn't "Zobek".

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Kurieg wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:49 pm
Yeah, there were definitely ways to help that didn't involve Siccing a basically feral Dracula on an innocent family, like, ya know, a blood bank or something. He did it to fuck with Gabriel, and it's obvious he doesn't really care about anyone who isn't "Zobek".
Holy shit. Zobek is Facebook.

Mark Zokerbek

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Kurieg wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 6:54 pm
Mark Zokerbek
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Kurieg wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:49 pm
Yeah, there were definitely ways to help that didn't involve Siccing a basically feral Dracula on an innocent family, like, ya know, a blood bank or something. He did it to fuck with Gabriel, and it's obvious he doesn't really care about anyone who isn't "Zobek".
Well, yeah, but anyone's played the first game would know that and the manipulative nature of the relationship in question is already established by Zobek going all "old friend" on Gabriel (given the way they parted). I guess the scene is there primarily for the benefit of people who didn't play Lords of Shadow 1.

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It's time for the plot to start! And if you thought things were stupid before...well, you were right, but things are only going to escalate from here.

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Generic as the stealth sections are, they really get playing as Dracula. Locked door? Possession! Sneaking? Rat swarm! Distraction? Fly, my pretties!
It's all very basic mechanics but it doesn't really occur when playing because it's just dripping with style.

e: Speaking of, props for mentioning Vampyr - that's another flawed gem of a game.

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Mopey Dick wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:14 pm
e: Speaking of, props for mentioning Vampyr - that's another flawed gem of a game.
I intend to LP Vampyr sometime in the future - I want this on the record so I can't back out of it later. (It won't be for a while yet, I have a few other games planned first, but I will get to it!)

I had a good time with Vampyr but that game desperately needs some way to respec considering I turned my primary source of shadow damage that the AI was functionally incapable of dodging into a damage over time pool that they prioritized leaving at all costs.

Also the plot kind of accelerates off the rails after chapter 5-ish.

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Watching how the castle was acting like a jilted lover was reminding me of something just now. Remember how it said "we can't exist without you"? That line, right there, sounded like the voice direction from Netflix Castlevania. (S1E3) Only there, well, it's more about ironic congratulations than yearning. Still, it goes to show that for all its faults this game earnestly tries to do well.

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Oh joy, you dubbed in the health-up choir. Five out of five stars.

No power up music at all is strange. Not even something ominously vampiric.

I wonder if they removed the magic-powered version of sub-weapons because most people were like me and never even noticed they existed.

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I told you the Chupacabra would get better in Lords of Shadow 2.

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Gotta admit that "platypus" is a pretty awesome insult, especially if followed with "macrocephalic baboon".
I'd argue that the use of the three sisters here isn't as much a trope as it is mythology: the ancient Greeks knew of all three Gorgons, Medusa just had the best PR.

All I can think of when I see the gorgons moving around is someone saying "We need to save on the animation budget" :v:

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Two enemies, two keys. It's not that hard, Past Self.

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Oh man you've put all this discussion into Dracula's Wild Adventures and yet you've got me thinking of playing through Dark Souls 2 again. :v:

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Gabriel should really do something about his castle blood infestation. That's gonna bring his property values way down.

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I finally updated the lore post so it's up to date with the latest video. I swear, my next LP won't have any lore posts. This is just way too annoying to set up.

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I'm not really a fan of situating part of the game in boring old Dracula's castle - the modern day storyline being (IMO) much more interesting - but every once in a while a bossfight comes and immediately justifies all the shit you had to wade through to get there.

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Mopey Dick wrote:
Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:38 pm
I'm not really a fan of situating part of the game in boring old Dracula's castle - the modern day storyline being (IMO) much more interesting - but every once in a while a bossfight comes and immediately justifies all the shit you had to wade through to get there.
The really interesting thing about your take is that negative reviews from the press had the exact opposite reaction - they loved the parts in the castle and hated the modern-day parts, calling the setting boring and the plot uninteresting. It really goes to show that no one can seem to agree on why this game is disappointing.

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The aesthetic mood switch between the two sections is very jarring. One is a glorious gothic supernatural weird castle (with art-deco elevator doors), and the other is function-driven design in dystopic cyber-punk or space-marine fashion.

I feel like if they'd done more to interweave the plots, or at least do more than throw you from one setting to the other without much idea of *why* you're suddenly back in the (castle OR factory) then that would have helped bring the two halves of the setting together.

So far, the plot is more time-driven in the modern time -- got to stop the spawn of Satan from summoning Him back (whereupon you, Zobek, and the rest of the world is SOL). Whereas the plot for the castle is more nebulous - you lost your powers somehow while in torpor (?) and somehow going back into the memory(?) of your castle, you can get them back, with your pre-teen son who hates you acts as your medium/psycho-pomp. The castle is more personal, but far more of a mess than the very direct plot in the modern time.

As is, which part you like probably depends on what you like in a game. I like the gothic aesthetic, I like meeting the various creatures who have sworn fealty to Dracula, and I'm moderately interested in what's going on with the castle. I really liked the aesthetic of the first Satan-spawn we fought, too - but I haven't felt as interested in exploring the factory itself. Compared to the castle, it isn't as visually compelling for me.

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Why Dracula is occasionally stuck in the castle is never completely explained, but there are some hints given. You'll see.

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