adventure

[This review comes from a person that ACTUALLY OWNS THE GAME. This is not one of those stupid "predictions" reviews. AND I'M A HUGE CASTLEVANIA FAN - THAT'S WHY I'M BEING SO CRITICAL.]

For over fifteen years, the Castlevania series has been one of the finest series out there to keep gamers entertained. But, many fans were wondering - when would the series make the jump to a 128-bit platform? That time is now. Read on for my review of Castlevania - Lament Of Innocence.

THE GOOD:

-Graphically speaking, this is the best game in the series to date.
-Though it's an action/adventure title, the game has a number of role playing game (RPG) elements, such as being able to equip new weapons and armor.
-The game keeps the "secondary weapons" scheme that made earlier games in the series so entertaining.
-The game takes place BEFORE all previous Castlevania titles. It's cool to have a game with a "prequel" storyline.

THE BAD:
-What's up with the combo system? That sort of thing is horribly out of place in the Castlevania universe. If I want a combo system, I'll play a fighting game.
-The voice acting is subpar. They should not have dubbed the voices, and left them in their uncut Japanese glory.
-The controls take some time to learn. If you don't read the instruction booklet, expect to take quite a few minutes before you get them down.
-WAY TOO MUCH COMPLEXITY. I don't know about you guys, but I like games where I can just sit down and play - not the kind where I have to spend several minutes reading the instructions to try to figure things out.
-Having to use your whip to swing from place to place is just stupid, because it can be unrealistically difficult to do at times.
-The controls aren't that great. The idea of having a strong whip attack and a weak whip attack may sound cool, but ultimately this idea just falls flat.
-The storyline is just awkward. You'll have to play the game for yourself to see what I mean, because it's just too tricky to explain it in words.
-The game suffers from MS (Metroid Syndrome), a huge problem in games where you must save your progress (this means if you die, you start back where you saved, as you saved, and if you did anything spectacular, you'll have to do it again.) MS needs to be wiped out of games for good.
-The "having to use items in a real-time window" idea flat out blows. Because of this, enemies can kill you while you're trying to use an item to heal yourself!
-Mature rating? I've played T-Rated games that have more violence than this one!
-CASTLEVANIA IS A TWO-DIMENSIONAL SERIES, NOT A THREE-DIMENSIONAL ONE! Get it right, Konami.

OVERALL:
Overall this game is pretty good, it's just not what me and many others were expecting. I suggest you give it a try, just don't be expecting anything revolutionary.

Who wouldn't like the idea of exploring a haunted castle and killing a few monsters? Personally, the idea has appealed to me since the first entry to the series back in the 80s. (Although that first game literally had me screaming in frustration when the Grim Reaper killed me AGAIN! That little b*****d was harder than Dracula, in my humble opinion.)

But then, this isn't supposed to be a review of the whole series, is it? My apologies.

All the elements that made those 2-D games so great are back in "Lament of Innocence", with a few added elements and a few drawbacks, too. And they are ... ("Drumroll, please.")

--I was disappointed that the whip is not upgradeable to a chain whip. Sure, you can get fire and ice and that cool purple glow for the "Vampire Killer", but I wanted a big-@$$ chain to wave around. I mean, how much damage can a leather whip (I don't care how much "alchemy" was involved) do against a creature made of stone? Oh, well.

--The ability to combine the spheres with the sub-weapons was really cool. Holy Water was always my favorite, and it still is.

--I'm glad that the platforming aspect of this game was toned down. 3-D games are notoriously hard when it comes to leaping about and landing on small platforms. The fact that Leon will not automatically walk off edges helps a lot, too.

--Why can't I destroy the Skull Pillars in this game? That bites.

--Visually, this game is at once beautiful and disturbing. All the lighting effects are nice, but zombies with venomous vomit? What mind thought that up? . . . The juvenile still in residence in my mind just says "Uh, that was cool," and chuckles.

--Yes, the cut-scenes and voice-acting are cheesy. But it's a video game, for cryin' out loud! Don't expect a fine work of art, here. Just something to waste a few hours on.

--OK, this is important. If this is a prequel, how did some guy named Walter somehow become Dracula? What happened to Vlad? The Castlevania games have always, ALWAYS been about hunting down Dracula. The fact that he's missing from this game draws a little away from the tradition. And yet I find myself thinking that this is probably the best game in the series. The only thing that would make it cooler would be if there was an upside-down castle waiting for you when you THINK you've beaten the game. (That was one of the best gaming surprises ever, by the way.)

If your gaming skills are really good or if you aren't the hugest fan of the series, just rent this one. But if you like the Castlevania franchise, pick it up. I found mine for relatively cheap. Possible Greatest Hits title?

As a backdrop to the entire history of the already world reknown Castlevannia series, this game lives up to its predecessors. Only lacking in game length and depth of the story, the game mechanics are challenging at first, but after a short adjustment time, it can be easily mastered. While lacking in length, the difficulty of the game is one of its strong points since it escalates while you advance in the game, offering the player a variety of options with regards to the approach of the same.

Overall, this game is a must for Castlevania fans everywhere in order to read about the humble beginnings of the Belmont Clan, and most of all, brush up a bit on Castlevania Vampire lore.