In Februrary 2014 I picked up Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 at launch. I wanted to participate in what is likely the last season of games exclusive to the now old generation. Having played and enjoyed Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, I was invested in the series and I wanted to see the story to its end.
Playing as Dracula is an appealing twist on the typical hunt for Dracula.
The review scores trickled out but by the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 the gaming pundits had spoken. The game was declared subpar (to put it mildly). Still I wanted to play the game, I needed my questions answered about the Belmonts' pursuit of Dracula and I wanted to return to the fantastical environments of the Castlevania franchise. Undeterred but admittedly nervous I appeared at GameStop on Day One to pick up my preordered game.
As I played, I discovered the game that I had anticipated but finding that game takes patience. The tense boss battles, the new Dracula powers, the hidden secrets, the fighting tactics altered to the enemy type, and the jaw dropping scenery of Dracula's castle are all in the game. Also present are the bland modern day environments and stealth sequences that induce controller shaking frustration.
This is a boss battle with the stealth built in. Stepping on the leaves causes noise. Admittedly, I turned down the game's difficulty for this section.
Stealth gameplay in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is horribly wrong. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is an action/adventure game with a peppering of puzzle based problem solving. When not exploring environments, the player is battling enemies with a mix of fighting combinations and Dracula's powers. The stealth strips Dracula of his fighting abilities. The world's most powerful vampire tiptoes through hallways against enemies who one-hit kill Dracula at his first mistake that restarts the sequence at a frustratingly far checkpoint. Not playing as Dracula is not fun.
Yes! Fantasy based environments such as lava everywhere and Dracula's castle where not only fun to play but quite a sight to see.
By the second half of the game, the decreasing stealth sequences and the increasing fantasy environments reminded me of the game that we, the fans, anticipated. Deep into the game, I fought a three-stage boss where every time I defeated the boss it respawned into a new iteration. Ultimately, as I beat the boss for a third time Dracula stabbed his void sword into the column that the boss dimly leaned against and punched its head into the flat side of the sword. Epic!
This is truly a boss moment!
Finding the gameplay that I bought the game for required confidence in MercurySteam Entertainment. At the same time I recognize that many other gamers won't commit the needed time and money to play the game's signature sequences. The experience made me think back on other games I've played that had a "slow burn" for a variety of reasons.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is arguably one of my favorite games of the last generation and I haven't even played the Director's Cut edition that plugged the DLC into the base game and fixed the balancing of the boss battles.
Getting a takedown was worth the animation sequence alone.
Still, the early game is frustrating. The gun handling is not intuitive and playing as stealth with limited energy is near impossible against multiple enemies. In an early sequence, the player is must choose a gun which essentially determines two key gameplay choices - whether the player is stealth or assault based as well as whether the player is an up close shooter or a distanced marksman.
I choose tranquilizer rifle, the long distance stealth option. My decision left me gingerly tiptoeing through a warehouse stocked with enemies. Early stealth in Deus Ex: Human Revolution requires many repeated attempts and much patience. In that early sequence, after I finally reached the first boss I realized that my tranquilizer rifle was useless and the pistol hardly dented the steroid injected boss who enjoyed rushing me. Ultimately, I beat the boss based on a glitch that exploded his own grenades on him.
I nearly stopped playing but the story had me hooked. Eventually stealth became a rewarding experience that's kept me remembering the game fondly and wishing for time for a new playthrough.
Dragon Age: Origins
This game is much acclaimed and launched the much revered Dragon Age franchise. Dragon Age: Origins is indeed a love letter to fans of classic RPGs but with modern updates such as real time combat. Dragon Age: Origins is now a gaming classic but that doesn't fix the PC oriented control scheme on the console ports.
The combat wheel and I have a love/hate relationship. Mostly hate but some love.
Personally, I have yet to finish a playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins. After my frustration got the better of me in my first playthrough. I began a second character determined to approach the game with more patience for using its controller scheme. I am fully committed to completing my city elf's campaign but the substantial commitment to learning the game's control scheme and the time needed for the lengthy game doesn't make completing the game a given.
In fact, my inability to thus far finish the game reminds me of the conflict between Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2. Gamers loudly complained in response to the more action game orientation of Dragon Age 2 as well as about the lack of a more open world and repeating dungeons. While I haven't yet played Dragon Age 2 the more action focused combat in gameplay videos that I've seen makes sense. In order to grow the franchise outside of the players who can maneuver the cumbersome controller layout the franchise needed a more player friendly approach.
I want to stay up just for one more turn but fighting sleep is the hardest boss battle ever.
Even I, a dedicated gamer who forgoes much needed sleep in order to game during the late (or early) hours, who wants to complete the franchise's previous games before booting up the upcoming Dragon Age Inquisition has yet to complete Dragon Age: Origins. I am fighting the game in order to do so. As much as I repeat to myself, "I can sleep when I am dead," sometimes even the most committed of us must simply go to bed.
State of Decay
State of Decay released with the force of Microsoft Studio's marketing and experienced robust sales hitting the one million player mark within months. In fact, Undead Labs and Microsoft Studios recently recommitted to a multi-year and multi-title deal.
Breakdown refers to the broken down RV that leaves the survivors stranded until a new RV is found.
This Xbox 360 exclusive is the post zombie apocalypse as experienced by inventory management. Backpack space is limited, weapons fall apart, vehicles breakdown, and stamina depletes while fighting off a horde. Despite its success as an indie title it suffers from a lack of polish where characters clip into the environments and zombies apparently morph through walls into the house the player has taken refuge in. I do recognize Undead Labs' commitment to patching the bugs.
Living out of an RV during the zombie invasion is not recommended. Find a camp with walls, walls are important.
Once a player gets past the bug-related frustrations and accepts repetitive side missions the base game of keeping survivors alive and the camp stocked is quite fun. The story is not particularly gripping following the usual zombie narrative with no real explanation for the presence of the zombies and quickly turning the focus onto surviving while finding other survivors.
Personally, I found The Breakdown DLC more fun than the base game. Breakdown is based solely on surviving for as long as possible. The repetitive nature of scrounging for supplies is addictive as bullets are used and foods are eaten requiring that supplies are gathered again but now from further away because supplies don't respawn. Eventually players can pack up the camp onto the next level for a fresh map of available supplies but a steadily increasing zombie presence. While the DLC ties a rewards system with accomplishments, namely by unlocking new playable heroes, maintaining that sports car becomes a bizarre sense of accomplishment.
Games sometimes require more, more time or more money, to experience what its fans are clamoring about while the naysayers look on skeptically. With limited time and money but what feels like unlimited gaming choices, capturing gamers is harder than ever for developers. Sometimes players are rewarded by giving a title that stumbled out the gate a little bit of extra effort.
What game do you feel is a "slow burn"?
Do you give a game that initially failed to impress more time or move on?
Do you ever regret sticking with a game?