I think a more fair comparison would be to Castlevania 3 due to the multiple characters but I don't think it's that much of a hot take. The classic Castlevania games have always been of the love it or hate it variety so generally if you don't like Castlevania then you wouldn't like this one and it just depends on the person really if they'll end up preferring Curse of the Moon more.

Originally posted by konradfun:

I think a more fair comparison would be to Castlevania 3 due to the multiple characters but I don't think it's that much of a hot take. The classic Castlevania games have always been of the love it or hate it variety so generally if you don't like Castlevania then you wouldn't like this one and it just depends on the person really if they'll end up preferring Curse of the Moon more.

It's not that I don't like Castlevania. I really do like it and in fact and I wouldn't mind buying the classic games on Steam, or even getting the first Lords Of Shadow, despite that it's a God Of War ripoff (I've played its demo). What I'm saying is that I do prefer Bloodstained over the Castlevania games I've tried so far (1,3). I also tried Dracula X. Very good, but again, I think I like Bloodstained more. I know it's very subjective, but I want to see more perspectives. Hence why I made the discussion.

Lords of Shadow is just another entry in hack and slash. God of War didn't even pioneer the genre. But going back to Bloodstained it's just a different flavor of the same type of game. I'd highly recommend you to try out Castlevania 2 with a fan patch though.

Originally posted by konradfun:

Lords of Shadow is just another entry in hack and slash. God of War didn't even pioneer the genre. But going back to Bloodstained it's just a different flavor of the same type of game. I'd highly recommend you to try out Castlevania 2 with a fan patch though.

Well, Lords Of Shadow's style is very reminiscent of the first God Of War games. It's even more apparent if you compare it with other hack and slash games that came around that time. Darksiders for example had also taken a few notes from God Of War, but it is less obvious there due to being more open ended with its design. I may give Castlevania 2 a try. Do I have to download some sort of romhack?

Yeah if you look up Castlevania 2 Redaction you'll find the one that basically makes the game comprehensible.

Originally posted by DimitrisYellingPlaya:

I know it's a hot take

Not really.

The NES Castlevanias are very old and, in terms of gameplay mechanics, Bloodstained has had 40 years of refinements over its ancestor. People can enjoy the OG games and respect them for the pioneering they've done, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who actually thinks they play *better* than modern platformers.

Hardly an unpopular opinion. The Retrovanias are difficulty first, CotM is fun first.

Bizarre to me. I thought this game sucked. Love the originals. To each their own...

Lords of Shadow is just another entry in hack and slash. God of War didn't even pioneer the genre.

What are you talking about? GoW influenced an entire five year period of over-the-top hack and slash clones. LoS absolutely borrowed a bunch of things from it as did a bunch of games.

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>The classic Castlevania games have always been of the love it or hate it variety

Different generations are going to like different types of games. Some only like the Metroid-clone CV games so maybe the classic NES titles aren't their thing. CotM is a nice compromise since it's similar in style but has much more reasonable difficulty and a lot of ways to nerf the game.

>I may give Castlevania 2 a try. Do I have to download some sort of romhack?

Not really. Just maybe get a guide but even then there's very few parts that are actually tricky...maybe you'd need a map to get through a few of the castles and there's a few points where you have to kneel in place to activate something.

Originally posted by Hotel Security:

Lords of Shadow is just another entry in hack and slash. God of War didn't even pioneer the genre.

What are you talking about? GoW influenced an entire five year period of over-the-top hack and slash clones. LoS absolutely borrowed a bunch of things from it as did a bunch of games.

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>The classic Castlevania games have always been of the love it or hate it variety

Different generations are going to like different types of games. Some only like the Metroid-clone CV games so maybe the classic NES titles aren't their thing. CotM is a nice compromise since it's similar in style but has much more reasonable difficulty and a lot of ways to nerf the game.

>I may give Castlevania 2 a try. Do I have to download some sort of romhack?

Not really. Just maybe get a guide but even then there's very few parts that are actually tricky...maybe you'd need a map to get through a few of the castles and there's a few points where you have to kneel in place to activate something.

It did not pioneer the hack 'n slash and outside of an emphasis on QTEs during combat I don't really recall what GoW did that made such a large impact on the genre as a whole. Also I wasn't referring to Metroidvania when I literally said classic Castlevania games.

>It did not pioneer the hack 'n slash and outside of an emphasis on QTEs during combat

I didn't say it "pioneered" anything. I said it influenced a massive amount of games and absolutely led to a revival of the genre with a slew of copycats and clones. And the ultra-violent style as well as the system for magic/HP/XP orbs was borrowed across the gaming landscape. And this includes Lords of Shadow who borrowed from multiple games. Heavenly Sword, LoS, Dante's Inferno, Transformers Devastation, Metal Gear Rising, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, El Shaddai, Golden Axe Beast Rider, Fist of the North Star, Genji, Asura's Wrath, Thor, Too Human, Wolverine, Darksiders, X-Blades, Conan, even Killer Is Dead...all came out in the mad rush after GoW. You're crazy if you deny this.

>I don't really recall what GoW did that made such a large impact on the genre as a whole.

The massive amount of hack and slash clones that came out in the wake of its popularity just slipped your mind, huh? Did you think all those were going to come out naturally? Hack and slash is a half-dead genre at the moment...the great run we had in the PS2/PS3 era was a direct result of GoW being so huge. DMC already existed then and it certainly didn't have that level of impact.

>Also I wasn't referring to Metroidvania when I literally said classic Castlevania games.

I know but different people were introduced to different styles of CV from different eras. If you grew up with the Metroid clones, the classic style may be hard for someone to get into. In their eyes, that's not what CV means to them.

Originally posted by Hotel Security:

>It did not pioneer the hack 'n slash and outside of an emphasis on QTEs during combat

I didn't say it "pioneered" anything. I said it influenced a massive amount of games and absolutely led to a revival of the genre with a slew of copycats and clones. And the ultra-violent style as well as the system for magic/HP/XP orbs was borrowed across the gaming landscape. And this includes Lords of Shadow who borrowed from multiple games. Heavenly Sword, LoS, Dante's Inferno, Transformers Devastation, Metal Gear Rising, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, El Shaddai, Golden Axe Beast Rider, Fist of the North Star, Genji, Asura's Wrath, Thor, Too Human, Wolverine, Darksiders, X-Blades, Conan, even Killer Is Dead...all came out in the mad rush after GoW. You're crazy if you deny this.

>I don't really recall what GoW did that made such a large impact on the genre as a whole.

The massive amount of hack and slash clones that came out in the wake of its popularity just slipped your mind, huh? Did you think all those were going to come out naturally? Hack and slash is a half-dead genre at the moment...the great run we had in the PS2/PS3 era was a direct result of GoW being so huge. DMC already existed then and it certainly didn't have that level of impact.

>Also I wasn't referring to Metroidvania when I literally said classic Castlevania games.

I know but different people were introduced to different styles of CV from different eras. If you grew up with the Metroid clones, the classic style may be hard for someone to get into. In their eyes, that's not what CV means to them.

I wasn't quoting you when I said pioneered. Violent hack and slash games were around before God of War as well as the orb system and it didn't revive anything. Referring to those games as clones is silly. You sound like someone from the 90s calling anything where you shoot in first person a Doom clone.

At least the controller works with the NES games.

Originally posted by HellToKitty:

At least the controller works with the NES games.

Use big picture mode to make your controller work.

DMC invented the genre and predates GoW significantly.