New Castlevania Gameplay: Combat, Platforming Goodness

All the trailers are nice, but it's even better when we can lay eyes on a relatively long gameplay clip.

If you're fluent in Japanese, you'll be able to understand what the people are saying during the playing of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow at this past week's Tokyo Game Show. Pretty sure I know the Japanese word for "hi." But anyway, it's the action that's important: don't know about you guys, but it's the speed that stood out first and foremost. Gabriel moves faster than I would've expected and the fluidity/frame rate appears to be top-notch. There's basic combat, platforming, and even a big boss battle.

You even zip right along in the platforming elements, too. Puzzles will also be a part of the game, so Lords of Shadow should be a complete package that never grows tiresome. I like that "extendable" cross weapon of his - that's what he's using here, right? - although I could find myself hoping for different weapons, ala God of War...

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow arrives on October 5.

Related Game(s): Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Tags: castlevania, castlevania lords of shadow, castlevania gameplay

9/18/2010 10:35:31 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (31 posts)

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FullmetalX10
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 10:54:33 AM
Reply

It's looking real nice, I might even pick it up, if I have any cash left, since I still need to get a laptop and all o em games n whatnot.
Anyways looks good.

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ro kurorai
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:01:45 AM
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Damn, looks like I gotta buy three games this October -_-

Was hoping Castlevania LOS ain't gonna interest me, but it really is looking like a solid package.

The speakers were just randomly commenting btw.
They were impressed with the scale of the world and the size of the boss. During the boss fight the girl even cheered the player on ^^.

2 up, 0 down

Highbird
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:08:59 AM
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Looks awesome. Definitely gonna pre-order it from amazon cuz you get a $20 credit!

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SolidFantasy
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:09:30 AM
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Looks pretty slick. He dose move very quickly and the environments seem ok and well detailed. I'm sure it will a very well done game, but I'm just not sure it will really push the button masher/action genre.

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Kiryu
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:25:14 AM
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I don't know , it feels so much like god of war.That boss battle was just like part of the Colossus battle from god of war 2.

Last edited by Kiryu on 9/18/2010 11:25:32 AM

2 up, 1 down

Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:39:43 AM
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I've signed up for the Blockbuster Game Pass (Only $16 for first month right now) in order to get a shot at all these great games during the coming months. This one is definitely on my must play list.

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LimitedVertigo
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:50:56 AM

I had Gamefly for several months but eventually had to drop the service. It took way too long to get the games at the top of my Queue. I hope you have better luck with Blockbuster's service.

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Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:55:07 AM

Yes, Game Fly was horrible. I even wrote them about how they could improve.

The Blockbuster Game Pass, on the other hand, is an at store service. This service has treated me well, especially for new releases. In fact, a few times now I've been able to get hot new games at launch.

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LimitedVertigo
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 11:45:18 AM
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Gotta admit when this game was first announced I chalked it up to being another crappy game in the series but I'm actually looking forward to this. Sure it seems to take a few things from some other great games but nothing wrong with that.

1 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:37:05 PM

I did too. Not a fan of mulitiplats but it's turning our better than i expected. Looks like quality stuff. I may be getting this now.

Also I just bought SotN. Awesome. Never liked Castlevania all that much but SotN is quite good.

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LimitedVertigo
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:42:26 PM

Glad to hear you finally picked it up. One of the best games ever made IMO. Evidently Ben can get over 200% without even using the map. That's hardcore.

2 up, 0 down

Dridion
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 7:17:30 PM

Wow that really is hardcore. I know where the places are but since the game is sooo huge, it's hard to remember where you did and didn't go. Especially the second half of the game. Nice stuff Ben.

This game really is shaping up to be a good game. I remember when I was so against it because of the whip not being the true vampire killer. How I've come so far from that stage. This game HAS to be special. Not in innovation, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that this is gonna finally do justice to CV, hopefully.

Take note Capcom....this is how you do a reboot....butttt I haven't even seen much of anything from that so what eve.

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aaronisbla
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 9:01:37 PM

after playing SOTN, you come to realize how much of a HUGE influence it had in shaping every Castlevania game in 2d that came afterwards

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Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:03:20 PM
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I'm curious about those yellow essence orbs that release after dispatching an enemy--Onimusha, NG.

I wonder if, like NG, you can absorb those during battle to initiate a more powerful attack. This is one of the "bread and butter" techniques for NG when tapping the strong attack button just as you touch the ground when returning to the ground from being airborne--a near instant UT.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/18/2010 12:03:56 PM

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Shams
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:22:57 PM

OLUT: On Landing Ultimate Technique. Subtle, yet highly valuable technique. String it with aerial combos, jumping off of enemies' heads, wall runs/swan dives, shurikens/arrows, and even counters, and you'll pull of some sick combos. It saves time, and increase hit-tally (which discharges more essence from your enemies), too!

Last edited by Shams on 9/18/2010 12:25:35 PM

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Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:31:01 PM

Yeah, it surprises me that such a powerful technique is nearly ignored by the game tutorials. I remember that not until after a few play throughs of the original Ninja Gaiden did I stumble upon the technique. I think NG2 had a video pick-up that discussed the UT but only by observing the actual demo vid would you see the OLUT in action.

A fav of mine is the Izuna fade UT mix-up. Depending on the situation, I'll launch an enemy and from mid-air I can determine whether I should follow through with the Izuna, or stop it before the Izuna finisher and return to the ground for the UT( it just depends on the situation)

Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/18/2010 12:31:40 PM

1 up, 0 down

piratedrunk
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:55:55 PM

Those orbs in LoS are used to charge magic. You choose if they go to light or dark and get more of them if you build up a meter without getting hit.

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Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:58:56 PM

Cool, thanks Piratedrunk

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Shams
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 4:31:07 PM

I tend to spam the izuna-drop on the harder difficulties just because it guarantees iframes. But I do alternate when i can. For example, with the dragon sword, i like doing a y-counter (rising, spinning sword slash), followed by a blade of narriti (juggle), followed by an OLUT/UTOL instead of a izuna, if there's essence available.

With the Double swords, i like doing a x,y, followed by blade of narriti, followed by a swan dive, followed by shuriken throw, followed by a UTOL, if there's essence hanging around. And if there isn't, instead of the swan-dive, i go straight to an izuna.

The vigorian flails have some sick combos with a lot of openings for either UTOL, or izunas. It's an underrated weapon, imo.

I love that game, and i'm psyched about NG3. But I'm glad to know that Castelvania will hold me over in October.

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Temjin001
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 7:22:31 PM

Yeah, I've noticed how I'm much more reliant on the Izuna drop while playing on Master Ninja. It does help guarantee those safe frames. The OLUT, I believe, has a very slight vulnerable window where you can be interrupted.

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Shams
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:13:40 PM
Reply

It's interesting that people have made comparisons of Belmonte's weapon with Kratos's. But it's actually the other way around. First came Castlevania, then came GOW.

As for the rest of the package, it does make sense that it borrows much from GOW, because GOW was the natural evolution of the action adventurer. Yet at the same time, there are couple of other influences in there, too. Belmonte's speed in action and traversal reminds me much of DMC. The animation of ledge-climbing reminds me of Uncharted. And we've previously seen the obvious Shadow of the Colossus influence, in at least one boss-scaling battle.

I agree weapon variety helps this kind of game. GOW, DMC, and NG all had that and for good reason. DI took the middle ground, in that rather than having you switch weapons on the spot, it gave you similar variety in move-sets. However, the pacing, effect, and style of these move sets, not only reduced the number of weapons, it reduced the tactics and strategy necessary for combat with different enemy types.

1 up, 0 down

JackC8
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:27:14 PM
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Kratos was a good looking guy when he was younger :)

That Japanese chick was hilarious. I kept waiting for the guy to make a big jump so we could get another "OOOOHHHHHH" out of her.

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piratedrunk
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:36:54 PM
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I can't wait. Getting this day one and not taking it out until I have it 100% complete.

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WolfCrimson
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 12:56:46 PM
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It looks.. alot like God of War. Dunno if I want to get this game.

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DeathOfChaos
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 2:09:02 PM
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Looks too much like a God of War Copycat. Bring back the old Castlevania style!

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Jawknee
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 2:10:10 PM

It looks less of a God of War copycat than Dantes Inferno.

2 up, 0 down

Condemnedsoul23
Sunday, September 19, 2010 @ 9:23:54 PM

I'm with DeathOfChaos on this one. This looks like God of War with a whip. Even the way you find things to extend magic and energy meters. The similarities are too great for me. While being just like the GOW isn't a sin since that was/is an incredible series, barring an exceptional review I think I might just rent this. 60 dollars doesn't seem worth it as of yet unless there are some serious surprises here.

1 up, 0 down

FM23
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 5:33:14 PM
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Wow...this reminds me of the Hades fight (last part) in God of War III. Games looks good though...kind of looks like it could be better, but this is a first impresssion...lets see what happens. If this plays like GOWIII, I will definitely rent it...but not buy it.

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aaronisbla
Saturday, September 18, 2010 @ 9:04:02 PM
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this game went from a purchase sometime down the line to a day 1 for me. the last trailer shown at TGS sealed it for me. Looks like we may have another top notch multiplatform game that all can enjoy, though thats some what rare.

It looks like its a solid 60 fps too

Last edited by aaronisbla on 9/18/2010 9:07:42 PM

1 up, 0 down

___________
Sunday, September 19, 2010 @ 2:12:52 AM
Reply

im really excited for this its looking fantastic!
i just hope it has more puzzles and larger puzzles than GOW3, they got far to caught up in the anger lets rip everything apart feel of the game!

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DjEezzy
Monday, September 20, 2010 @ 3:11:08 PM
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The blockbuster service will treat you well until they go out of business. LOL. They are literally going the way of the dinosaur. i have gamefly and am happy with it. The urge to get things right away these days is ridiculous. It's all about instant gratification. Oh well. There are so many games coming out and ones to catch up on that it really doesn't matter how long it takes to get through your queue. Especially if it's a single player game. Now some multiplayer games i can understand getting right away. Brink being one of them.

Castlevania looks fantastic but not a purchase for me.

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