Castlevania: Lords of Shadows whips in with a BusyGamer 2

First Glance:
The latest installment of Konami’s most popular game franchise next to the Metal Gear series.

Short Story:
You play as Gabriel Belmont, a knight in the Brotherhood of Light, a society of good assembled to make sure that evil is kept away from the innocent people of Earth.  There is a separation between the Heavens and the Earth, and because of it, evil creatures of every type have begun tormenting innocent villages and killing those who get in their way.  Gabriel’s wife is among those who have been killed by this evil, and because of that, her soul is stuck in limbo.  The higher ups of the Brotherhood believe that an evil society known as the Lords of Shadow is responsible for what has happened.  The higher ups believe that there is an item known as the “God Mask” that can be used to defeat all of the evil in the world and it’s also believed to be able to revive the dead.  Gabriel has been chosen to retrieve the God Mask and bring peace back to the Earth.

The Score:
This game had tons of potential.  Visually, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and the overall plot is quite good as well.  The main thing is that the game is two discs long, so it will take a while to beat.  Not to mention that you can go back to different levels after you have acquired a certain skill and do something you weren’t able to do previously.  I do have a problem with how the game ended, but I will get to that in a little bit.  For the Busy Gamer, Castlevainia: Lords of Shadow gets a 2.

Body of Review:
For the most part, I really enjoyed playing this game.  There were so many good things about this game.  First and foremost, the overall look of the game.  Castlevania is a beautiful game to look at.  There was little to no difference in the graphics between the in game cut scenes and the pre-rendered cinematics of the game.  This. Game. Is. Gorgeous!  The details on the levels are a sight to see as well.  In the third or fourth level of the game you are running around in a forest, and the colors are so vibrant and you can see the detail of almost every leaf on each tree. (more…)

Iwata

(IGN) Released in 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System was the king of all-consoles with sales. Today, history has been made and the NES has been knocked down to number two by one of its own: the Nintendo Wii. Though the system has the weakest software sales for a Nintendo console, the Wii itself has sold more than any other console ever. Iwata simply said in words that don’t really seem to be put together as I would say them:

It has replaced NES to become the best-selling Nintendo home videogame console of all time.

While it is the best-selling Nintendo console, it most definitely is not the best that the company has put out for entertainment value. Even the previous console, the Gamecube, had more games to offer to the American and Japanese markets. Now that Nintendo has hit this milestone, will it begin to focus on the software part of their business? They have a new Zelda and Metroid coming out within the next year and a half, but what about first-party series that haven’t been seen on a Nintendo console within the last few years? Castlevania?