meh

Here's the thing though. If David Jaffe wanted to see that ending (which I don't really like anyway, but I also think the "hope" ending was weak too), he shouldn't have left the team and Sony completely after God of War II. I think David Jaffe is a legend for speaking his mind, but unless he has a talented staff he can't do shit (sorry I don't like the terrible Twisted Metal franchise, the PS3 game looks horrible and hope it doesn't sell. Calling All Cars was fun for about 2 hours. God of War was his creation, the game that [I believe] put him on the map. He walked away from it.)

If you create something and then walk away from that team or that project. Don't bitch about how the story ends when you weren't even there for 2/3 of it. I also call BS on him stating (years ago) that God of War was never designed to go passed one game. He sure did leave alot of room for Cory Barlog (who I think deserves much more credit than he gets) to advance Kratos and the story overall. God of War was good in both of their hands. God of War II was great in Cory's hands and Stig just finished the story that was largely in place from Cory. Stig is a nice guy (from what I've seen and heard), but that just doesn't make for a great director of God of War.

Anyway, these are just my own opinions obviously and not exactly targetted at you. Just I wanted to comment on the link you provided.

I actully think i agree with you.

Castlevania is not as good as God of War 1 or 2. while those games are shorter, they are more complete. in the sense that God of War was an excellent adaptation of a Greek tragedy. GoW2 was not as good storywise, but it did build on and improve the formula. the PSP GoW games, for some reason are as equally as good. with Ghost of Sparta even being compared to GoW3 in some cases.

while i think the combat in GoW3 is better than Castlvania, the blocking and rolling are just more accessible and Castlevania's combos are difficult to complete because because the enemy AI, things like that. i really like that long combo in Castlevania where Gabrial slams the whip on the floor multiple times. only its rarely ever useful. in GoW you can pretty much use whatever moves you want, when you want, because the system is more adaptable like that.

however the reason GoW3's story and characters dont make sense is because of the departure of David Jaffe, and the introduction of director Stig Ammerson. a man who i personally think is abysimal. the story he commissioned for GoW3 about Pandora is attrocious. "Hope is what makes us strong". the man clearly is not a director. for some reason (that is never explained) Athena returns in the opening few hours, and has a new mission to take over the world. the whole game feels like it was scripted by a teenager. and thats why Castlevania is better. all the things mentioned in the OP about level design, story, length, etc. GoW3 couldve been the best action game of all time, maybe even the best game of this gen, but no David Jaffe is no deal as far as i'm concerned.

inFamous is indeed an Action Adventure game, not really sure how you think otherwise. Darksiders is also an action adventure game. Dante's Inferno....well who really cares.

Post of the day.

I bought castlevania, but never finished it, got past the second chapter, but it had no drive for me, I did not want to finish it... maybe I will at some point.
God of War 3, I finished in 2 sessions...pretty long sessions but I had time, and it BLEW me away! Its a perfect experience in my opinion!

Wow...I usually get slammed around here for putting down LoS. Didn't expect positive reinforcement. :)

But yeah I agree, you can't even compare the two. They are not from the same cloth of gameplay fundimentals and ideals... I'd be glad to forgive LoS for being different if it was exceptionally good, original or fresh, but it isn't. Just a mediocre hack and slash with really boring characters and dialoge (Why is the game so freekin serious?) and copycat "me too" gameplay and set pieces. How many times does LoS ask you to accomlish a simple task like knock down a tree and move a crank while infinite enemies keep respawning? Too many...and I finished less than half of the game before I gave up on it.

I loved Resident Evil 4 reboot even though it completely changed everything my favorite game series at the time was about...shame LoS couldn't pull that kind of magic out of its hat. I believe that the SotN metroidvania style formula would work wonderfully if done properly in 3D and current gen visuals and presentation. I mean look at Demons Souls. Its the best 3D castlevania game ever made and it ain't even Castlevania... :)

Funny you should say this but Bayonetta, ninja gaiden 2 and Demons Souls I fully enjoyed and came out after 2001 and are same style of game as LoS. Hack and slash games that have gameplay engagement to back up their presentation have nothing to worry about in my books and will get my gaming dollar.

restected 

So basically his plan was similar to the last two seasons of Hercules the Legendary Journies.

Seems like further theory of my "The god of war team got it's ideas of Greek religion and the gods by watching Hercules the Legendary Journies."