Where there's a whip there's a way: Castlevania Lords of Shadow MEGATHREAD!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Where there's a whip there's a way: Castlevania Lords of Shadow MEGATHREAD!

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

Given how wild the plot gets even in the first game, I'm hoping you can pull this whole project off without too much issue. I remember coulis' thread died when he burnt out on the DLC, while BMS ran into workflow issues before he was run off the subforum for being a horrible person. :yiikes:

When a certain boss comes up I hope you'll make the appropriate joke. Frederick <-> Young [Frankenstein]

# ¿ Jan 19, 2020 11:26

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 12:48

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

Given how little Gabriel comments on his surroundings beyond getting around obstacles I'm alright with him not saying anything and just rolling with it. Just kinda "huh how do I use this to progress?" Though that in itself is a larger point of concern, that Gabriel can be so curt that half his character is informed by ~~Sir Patrick Stuart~~ Zobek's notes at the beginning of levels. It relies too much on diegesis (ie "telling") when even some snippets could better show what sort of person Gabriel is or isn't. Contrast this with Netflix Castlevania, where Trevor's familiar with electric lighting as a tool of Dracula or his vampire underlings. Not only does it demonstrate his experience at dealing with such monsters but it also shows that such monsters have access to a variety of seeming anachronisms.

In less literary news I pumped my fist at the Young Frankenstein bit. :allears:

# ¿ Apr 29, 2020 03:22

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

theenglishman posted:

I don't know how familiar you are with the end of the game, but pretty much all the hard work of Gabriel's character development leading up to the climax happens off-screen. It's really jarring. Roy and I even make fun of it in the one of the episodes we've already recorded.

I've seen the end of the original game from coulis' LP. It's been a few years but I have an idea of what you're getting at. Experiencing your reactions to the batshit climax will be a treat.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2020 04:11

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

On the topic of the dracolich, well...it's a somewhat windy story.

The term "lich" was originally an Old English term for a corpse. Sword-and-sorcery writers later reused the term to refer to that corpse returned from the dead by their own devising, by magical means or otherwise.
D&D took this a step further by making the lich a specific kind of spellcaster. Not only were they self-willed and undead, but they did so by hiding their souls in special boxes. If you couldn't find the box after defeating the lich, that lich would eventually regenerate their body from scratch. This bit comes from the Russian legend of Koschei the Deathless, who hid his soul in a concentric series of hiding places to gain immortality.
The dracolich is a sidegrade of this but for dragons. A dracolich cannot regenerate a destroyed body at will, instead having to prepare extra bodies beforehand. On the other hand, they can prepare as many extra bodies as they like.
That said the actual name of the soul box used by a lich is "phylactery". Which if you look into it is pretty clearly a reference to the Jewish tefillin. Thanks D&D, you accidentally did an antisemitism.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2020 18:49

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

Undead in D&D are almost invariably presented as evil and unnatural. Player characters never get to be them without a bunch of Was It Worth It effort. So tying up that in particular with a hint of Jewish identity has an unfortunate if unintended implication.

This is as I'm given to understand it. If you want to know more you should ask Mors Rattus. (He's actually Jewish, I'm just a trivia sponge.)

# ¿ Jun 6, 2020 19:30

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 12:48

NGDBSS: Dec 30, 2009

theenglishman posted:

I'm Jewish too, but as this most recent video showed, I basically know jack poo poo about D&D, so I'm perhaps not the best person to talk about this.

Thanks! I'm honestly far more worried about Mirror of Fate than LOS2. That game was just agony to play through, and I'm going to try my best to make an abridged but entertaining LP, while still showing off the worst parts of the game.

Yeah I was relying primarily on what Mors had said previously on the topic in TradGames. D&D in general has a bunch of weird cultural baggage, some of which is respectful but a lot of which is instead clueless. At least we aren't getting into alignment because that's :can:

times 10.

So far as I remember MoF, that game looked like the clunkiest possible metroidvania.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2020 22:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Where there's a whip there's a way: Castlevania Lords of Shadow MEGATHREAD!