Should Shields return? (Submitted)

What armor items have over shields is that armor isn't taking up weapon/item slots. So...yeah, that's kind of the obvious thing. For them to be present in the game/doing that, they need to be proven useful.

Don't misunderstand, I want them in the game, too! But proposed/present as only cosmetics, it's just not likely.

I don't see how the flavoring of the arguments diminishes their value in a discussion.

I like how arguments don't factor into that equation.

If you're just seeking support, then be upfront about it. Don't ask for a discussion.

Thing is, we weren't going in circles.

I said the suggested implementation is redundant from a gameplay point of view, you replied in an attempt to disprove my statement and failed to provide a reasonable argument for why the feature isn't redundant.

I feel like the arguments are kinda pointless. I'm assuming it's a two handed game because of that one artwork that showed two weapons in her hands. With that assumption alive I'm saying maybe shields can be brought back. 

Your points about the shields not having enough to them, I never said I didn't want more from them. When did I say that? i'd love to get into the nitty and gritty of what they could do in a new game, but i think we should get people more open to the idea of them being back first. Your points about the shields could be said about the capes.... What's the significance of the twilight cloak, or who cares that the blood cloak gives you hearts. The little touches like that are what made SOTN special to a lot of people.

It's not.... so what's the point of the lightning effect in the iron shield, it's...wow that's a cool little touch to that shield. It gives the game more personality. They could have just had shield designs and left it at that but they put little touches into them that gives them personality. 


you wanna turn this into how we can make shields more worthwhile? Let's do that but I don't agree that they were useless because if you say that than majority of the equipment in IGAVANIA games are useless because mainly all they amount to is stat increases.

I liked the shields in SOTN, so yeah that's why I brought them up. That doesn't mean i want them implemented the same exact way, that they have to work the same exact way.  So if you are open to the idea of shields being more useful let's discuss that and turn this a bit more positive. Adding options does cost money, this is the largest budget they've gotten on an IGAVANIA game, and I think useful defense equipment like shields could have more purpose than other things with less use. It's about picking the right things to use, and if they utilize shields in a more useful way they could be very good additions.

So let's discuss that.

There we go, thinking up new ways they could be used.

Yeah that's my point as well. The options allow for different play styles and to play the game differently on your next play-through.  Plus, the more to collect the better. Tryin' to get that medusa shield is part of the fun. More equipment to collect!

Again, I have no like moral qualms (LOL) against shields or anything but if you add a weapon class to a game, good game design dictates that you want it to be useful. For the most part, shields in Castlevania/Metroidvania/Igavania type games aren't useful. Over the course of any good example of the genre, your offensive and mobility options improve and grow to the point that something like a shield can't keep up.

In Zelda games, mobility is restricted, Magic isn't easy to use, enemies are restricted in the number of planes they can typically attack you from and in the 3D games you have Z-targeting and its descendant systems. That makes combat much slower and more methodical with a sense of back and forth between stronger foes. Shields are useful in defending yourself as you wait for or try to create opportunities to counter attack. They are also useful in solving puzzles.

In any sort of -vania game, you're going to have double jumps, and fly moves and transformations and multiple dashes and lots of other mobility options. Enemies are more likely to attack from above or below you. Magic is quick and easy to use. When you're blocking you aren't attacking but you can dodge and attack at the same time with a normal weapon. As such, you never really need or are incentivized to use shields. That's why they suck in SOTN (unless you use the Shield Rod) and that's why they basically fell to the wayside in later games. That's why its really hard to justify shields in Bloodstained if they are anything remotely like they were in SOTN (which is of course the starting point for this discussion). If you tie special techniques to them that might make them more valuable (see those Marvel gifs I posted earlier) but at the same time, people would probably wonder why they weren't just traversal techniques you could acquire (independent of weapon) or weren't button combinations like the spells in SOTN. If you had a shield that you could use as a discus ala Captain America (movies or games) then we might be on to something. Then they become actual offensive weapons with interesting and distinct properties. That allows you to maintain pressure and attack and move at the same time and falls in line with the gameplay that -vanias naturally push you towards.





Let me do something like that (assuming the enemies gets hurt by it rather than catches it of course ) and I'll gt behind shields (lets also assume the shields always comes back to you like a boomerang). Otherwise.....meh not interested.