From what I played of Castlevania so far, it is was a worthwhile pickup, very good game according to my taste. I haven't started Enslaved yet, but I think my plan is gonna be to start it up this weekend and beat it so I can trade it in for some decent credit immediately after. My reasoning is that while Enslaved seems like a fun game with a great storyline, it probably doesn't have any replay value after you go through it the first time.
I'll wait for the full game reviews, obviously I only played the demo, but did not get a great first impression. I also thought the controls were a little finicky in the game.
The controls were slightly unusual for me at first (Vanquish) but that's pretty much because it's just not played the way other games are. Once you get into the swing of things (especially in the JP demo, as it's a challenge mode so you can go for scores) it becomes second nature.
Another live stream: http://www.justin.tv/monsters_arcade#/w/451702688/3 Current thoughts: I pretty much agree with Neogaf's viewpoint. Chapter 1 - good Chapter 2-4 - great Chapter 5 onwards - the awesomeness begins
That's a pretty good review vid. I don't know what the hell IGN and Gamespot were smoking when they gave this game a 7.5. I know there's a lot of old fashion Castlevaniers upset about how this game is different than the others, I have a feeling there was a lot of spitefulness going on because of the change when those 2 sites rated this game. But damn this game is good, to me its a 9/10 minimum and a game that will be a part of my video game collection forever.
I've played a few chapters so far and I agree with the 7.5. It looks nice, the enemy character models are nice... it's all just nice. There's nothing I haven't done before, it's not giving me any new experiences, changing my perception on what games are capable or or even just wowing me with technical prowess. It's a solid game, but perhaps the reason it's so solid is because all it does is take directly from existing games and wrap it around a Castlevania story.
Totally true about the gameplay being a copy of other games, its done so well though that this is a rare example of it that I can say I don't mind it. Also, I actually find the presentation, story and atmosphere of this game more immersive than GOW.
Well holy shit at the ending! I wish it was hinted a lot more during the game instead of those long drawn out Patrick Stewart narrations but that was cool as hell.
