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Re: Castlevania Lords of Shadow and Tron Horse.
The problem with Lords of Shadow is it borrows from games it likes but doesn't learn the lessons those games have. Its like a cover band that tries to put their own stamp on a song, but a good cover is all about knowing what made the original song so great. When you don't know what made it great, you're never going to do it justice.
I hate Limp Bizkit and don't care for George Micheal, but just as example, look at how LB butchered George Micheal's "Faith." Its terrible. They took this catchy little tune and totally fucking destroyed it.
Contrast to this to their cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes." They put their stamp on it here, but in a way that is actually tasteful and not outright ear rape.
Lords of Shadow's problem is that it just knows it likes God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and Prince of Persia - but it doesn't understand why it likes them or what made them such big hits.
This is a stark contrast to SOTN and the games that followed it. IGA knew what made Super Metroid great, just like he knew what made Castlevania great. That's why SOTN, Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia get the respect they do.
Even Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness understood that on some basic level.
Lords of Shadow thinks its a Castlevania game, it thinks its a lot of games, but it stinks at emulating any of them competently. It knows it likes colossi battles, but totally halfasses it. It knows it likes platforming, but never makes it interesting. It knows it likes stylish combat, but is completely devoid of the depth and defense/evasion needed to match. And then there's the action prompts, which are more distracting than helpful.
Okami is pretty shameless in its emulation of Zelda games, but there comes a point where it does it all so well in its own way that you can't help but love it. If that was the goal of Lords or Shadow, not only did it fail, it failed on every level.
The problem with Lords of Shadow is it borrows from games it likes but doesn't learn the lessons those games have. Its like a cover band that tries to put their own stamp on a song, but a good cover is all about knowing what made the original song so great. When you don't know what made it great, you're never going to do it justice.
I hate Limp Bizkit and don't care for George Micheal, but just as example, look at how LB butchered George Micheal's "Faith." Its terrible. They took this catchy little tune and totally fucking destroyed it.
Contrast to this to their cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes." They put their stamp on it here, but in a way that is actually tasteful and not outright ear rape.
Lords of Shadow's problem is that it just knows it likes God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and Prince of Persia - but it doesn't understand why it likes them or what made them such big hits.
This is a stark contrast to SOTN and the games that followed it. IGA knew what made Super Metroid great, just like he knew what made Castlevania great. That's why SOTN, Aria of Sorrow, Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia get the respect they do.
Even Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness understood that on some basic level.
Lords of Shadow thinks its a Castlevania game, it thinks its a lot of games, but it stinks at emulating any of them competently. It knows it likes colossi battles, but totally halfasses it. It knows it likes platforming, but never makes it interesting. It knows it likes stylish combat, but is completely devoid of the depth and defense/evasion needed to match. And then there's the action prompts, which are more distracting than helpful.
Okami is pretty shameless in its emulation of Zelda games, but there comes a point where it does it all so well in its own way that you can't help but love it. If that was the goal of Lords or Shadow, not only did it fail, it failed on every level.
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