Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Xbox 360)

Log entries

2012-06-24
• [1769]
  Borrowed game from Erik, interested in trying it out...
• [1770]
  Patrick Stewart! YAY!
• [1771]
  Lesser Lycanthropes and a Great Warg. I like this already. Except for the frame rate.
• [1772]
  Lush dark fantasy graphics, decent combat with a solid block mechanic, a book that lists all encountered monsters with beautiful drawings and some backstory... Good stuff.
• [1773]
  In a surprise casting choice, Robert Carlyle portrays a tense scottish Gabriel Belmont.
• [1774]
  Similarly to how I solved the annoying puzzles in Onimusha 2 puzzle boxes, I did a quick brute force on the Castlevania rotation puzzle, using the hint that only one-way rotation should be needed:

  # Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Pan's Temple puzzle solver by schmid 2012-05-24
  moves = [ [-1,+1,-1,"middle RT"], [+1,-1,0,"inner RT"], [0,-1,+1,"outer RT"] ]
  def apply(move, puzzle)
      (0..2).each do |n| puzzle[n] = (puzzle[n] + move[n]) % 4 end
  end
  random = Random.new
  100000.times do
      puzzle = [1,1,1] # start position (0 is north, 1 is east, etc.)
      move_list = []
      (1..5).each do |m| # shortest solution is 5 moves
  	move = moves[ random.rand(0...moves.length) ]
  	apply(move, puzzle) ; move_list += [ move ]
  	if puzzle == [2,2,2] then # solution is all south
  	    puts "solution:" ; move_list.each { |move| puts move[3] }
  	    exit
  	end
      end
  end
  

  Solution: outer RT x 2, middle RT, inner RT x 2
• [1775]
  Patrick Stewart to the rescue! After a very Shadow of the Colossus-esque boss fight, I completed Chapter I/XII.
• [1776]
  EUW! Ginormous spider!
2012-06-27
• [1787]
  Completed part 2/9 of Chapter II. This game is H.U.G.E.
2012-06-30
• [1797]
  I dislike the stylistic choice of simulating a handheld camera for a fantasy game. Fantasy should not call attention there being a camera. Cameras don't exist in fantasy.
2012-07-01
• [1798]
  Defeated the mighty Stone Idol Titan, another boss fight ripped directly from Shadow of the Colossus. I don't mind, though, it's still pretty cool.
• [1799]
  Completed Chapter II/XII. Oh no! Gabriel has absolutely no luck when it comes to women.
• [1801]
  I just found a Brotherhood Knight Scroll, stating that 'The Cake is not a lie.' What the...?
• [1802]
  Got stuck with a missing lever ... I restarted from the last checkpoint and the lever was there again.
• [1803]
  Completed Chapter III/XII. The Dark Lord of the Lycans was a worthy opponent, a very tricky boss fight. I went back, completed a couple of old levels to get a dagger upgrade, which helped a lot (turns out werewolves don't like silver daggers - who knew? :) and the Dark Crystal horrible demon magic finished him off.
• [1804]
  Awesome Ogre fight ... reminds me of the end of Shadow of the Beast - the way it should have been :).
• [1805]
  'You cannot carry any more Faries' is one of the weirder sentences I have encountered in a game.
• [1806]
  Chupacabra? Heh ... kinda cute. Wait - where did my stuff go? Why, you little!!
• [1807]
  Completed Chapter IV/XII. Die, Crow Witch.
2012-07-05
• [1816]
  Completed Chapter V/XII.
• [1817]
  Insert Disc 2. :)
2012-07-06
• [1818]
  Hooray! I won the awful chess-like board game against a vampire girl.
• [1819]
  Another butcher demon? That seems to have become somewhat of a trope.
• [1820]
  Completed Chapter VI/XII.
• [1821]
  Completed Chapter VII/XII. Horribly boring chapter with complex, yet mindless puzzles and uninteresting fights.
• [1822]
  Completed Chapter VIII/XII.
• [1823]
  After gaining the double jump ability from magic wings, Kratos ... I mean Gabriel must now travel to Hades ... I mean Hell to redeem himself. Good thing they switched the crowd control and single target buttons from that other game when they copied every single combat mechanic from it...
• [1826]
  Completed Chapter IX/XII. I enjoyed the Scarecrow stuff, reminding me a bit of Medievil. The Music Box, however, was a bit boring and poorly made.
• [1827]
  Yay, poorly checkpointed 3D platforming - my favourite. Damn it.
• [1832]
  Completed Chapter X/XII.
2012-07-07
• [1833]
  Completed Chapter XI/XII. Although the Dracolich boss fight is lifted directly from Shadow of the Colossus, this one was so incredibly cool looking, that it was utterly memorable by itself.
• [1834]
  Last chapter is named Final Fight. I hope that Mike Haggar shows up.
• [1835]
  Final boss - it doesn't get much bigger than that. :)
• [1836]
  Completed the game on Warrior (2/4) difficulty.