God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

[ST Dragon]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

I noticed that God of War for the PS-2 has the same Greco-Roman theme like Rygar.

I played Rygar, two years ago, but I got bored of it about half way through & thus never completed it. Graphics & music were incredible, but gameplay felt a bit on the reparative side & the Boss fights were uninspired.

So how good of a game is God of War for the PS-2 in comparison?

Is it a long game with many secrets & twists in the story line?

And how good are the Boss fights & music?

I’m also considering getting CastleVania Lament of Innocence. Does it have similarities to Symphony of the Night?

Is it boring like Rygar?

 

[tsumake]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

I really like God Of War. I tried Rygar for the PS2 twice (meaning I bought and returned it twice, second time it was on sale for 14 bucks) and I just couldn't dig it. I like God Of War, but I admit it's because I came to enjoy Ninja Gaiden. I'm thinking about dipping into Rygar one more time to see if I like it. God of War is enjoyable. It has a relatively deep fighting system (it seems deeper, but there's a lot of flash admittedly, but still hell fun), a decent story (probably others would say great story but I'm picky) and the sound fx are great in surround mode. If you're cautious about it, I say rent it or pick up a used copy.

Lament of Innocence is a game I'm having a hard time enjoying. It's like the 2D Castlevania games, but for some reason the direct translation to 3D didn't work in its favor. The numerous levels in 3D feel tedious instead of interesting. It's harder to get a cohesive feel of the castle; you feel as if you're trudging from one room to the next instead of being in a room that's part of a huge castle, if you know what I mean. I think it's more the fault of a direct translation instead of trying to create a compelling castlevania experience in a 3D setting. Metroid Prime is a good example of 2D game brought into the 3D perspective. LOI just sticks to its roots, and it unfortunately hurts it. The good thing is though you can find it cheap in stores. I bought my copy for 20 bucks. I bet you can even find it for much cheaper if you're interested.

 

[ST Dragon]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

How about Devil May Cry 1, 2 & 3?

Which of the 3 is the best & how do they compare to CastleVania, Rygar & God of War.

Also:

Ninja Gaiden on the X-Box & Shinobi & Night Shade on the PS-2...

I've heard that Shinobi on the PS-2 feels a lot more like the original NES Ninja Gaiden than the X-Box version does.

Is that so?

 

[tsumake]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

I only played DMC 1 and 3 (I heard 2 was abysmal), and I played DMC1 way back when I wasn't really "into" games (meaning I didn't pay attention to game design) as I do now, but I did play DMC to almost the very end - I couldn't beat it back then (I also sucked at games back then).

DMC 3 is great. DMC 3 is hard, which is one of the reasons it's great. It's got a lot of overabundant style (the director of the cutscenes also directed "Versus") and it's fun. The fluidity of which you switch in between melee and projectile weapons with L2/R2 is quite nice, once you get used to switching on the fly. The enemies are tough, but after a while they become not so tough as the enemies in Ninja Gaiden. Also, the PLII sound system is nice, and the major cutscenes are in DD. A good game. But if you're feeling iffy, I'd seriously suggest renting it. This game can be quite tough, especially in the beginning when you don't know what you're doing. They sell it used for something like 5-10 dollars less, so I wouldn't recommend that route....

Ninja Gaiden is the reason I now like hard games. It's the reason why I play God of War on Spartan and refuse to take it down a notch if I die too much. It's one of the most rewarding gameplay experiences I've ever had, personally. There's a tangible immediacy to the battles. The enemy AI is tough; it's almost like a one-on-one 3D fighter like Soul Caliber, except you're fighting against five guys instead of one. The character progression is also nice and keeps things tough but interesting: upgrading your sword gives you access to new techniques and moves, but they're only useful if you can pull of the button combos. I don't know how many times I died before I got past the first level; I don't know how many times I died trying to get past the big dude with the nunchucks. Prepare to die. A lot. But when you finally get it, you get it. After I beat the first level, the subsequent levels came a lot "easier" in the sense that I knew what I was doing. Get a copy, die a few dozen times, enjoy every minute of it.

Alas, I still own a copy of Shinobi (not Night Shade), but I can't bring myself to like it. The combat system, while interesting, is pulled off in a greatly dull manner. When you defeat an opponent, they freeze in their death throws. You try to kill as many opponents as you can within a set time so that you can accumulate points for style. But, sloppy controls, poor graphics, and boring level design really kill it for me. Because of this, I haven't tried nightshade...

If you like the original NES gaiden, play it The cartridges aren't that hard to find. I would stay away from the SNES trilogy "update." It's quite rare (thus expensive) and many consider it to be disappointing. If you all ready have the games on the NES, play them on your PSP via emulator...

 

[it290]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

I like Shinobi -- the combat system isn't complex, but the tate kill feature adds a lot of challenge to the game, especially if you're going for the highest ranks on every stage. It doesn't hold a candle to the older Shinobi titles, but it's still more fun to me than GoW or DMC.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

God of War, CastleVania LOI & Rygar...

Shinobi for ps2 gets so hard cause of the whole having to do tate kills to even hurt some of the bosses =/