Castlevania has long had a special place in my heart from the early days. My first taste was on the Nintendo 64 with Castlevania but true love came with Symphony of the Night. I wouldn't say that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD by MercurySteam captures that greatness but it is an okay game. It's like a decent local brew but you have to like that beer.
This game continues on from where Castlevania: Lords of Shadow left off. It will contain a lot of spoilers.
The Game:
(Story Spoiler)
You start out by playing find as Simon who is the great-grandchild of Gabriel. Come to find out Marie was pregnant when Gabriel had left on one of his first adventures and she gave the child up to protect him from what Gabriel would become. Simon is now working to destroy the vampire that killed his parents, Gabriel.
This game is in the classic 2-D platforming game. You are navigating throughout the map fighting minions, bosses, and solving puzzles. Health and magic upgrades, beastery scrolls, and scrolls of dead soldiers litter the map. Some blocked off until you unlock certain abilities.
(Story Spoiler)
You will play through the castle 3 times each time the castle changes a little bit. First, you will play as Simon, then as vampire Trevor (Simon's dad), and then Trevor before he is turned by Gabriel. Each chapter is like restarting in that you will have to find the abilities and items for each chapter you are playing.
You will unlock two magic spells, two throwable items, as well as gear that is scattered through the level. You will need to find these to progress but the game does a pretty good job of guiding you to them as the map is marked with a big red dot where your objective is. You are also able to leave notes on the map if you see something you think you need to remember.
My Thoughts:
Playing Castlevania in 2-D again is a nice kick of nostalgia. While they did several mechanics to the platforming genre I felt as if it was still a bit clunky. It worked and you, for the most part, had control but throughout the game, there were some obvious gravity glitches. There were several instances I was on the downside of a jump but my character did I slight rise to be able to grab onto the ledge. Not complaining, it just made the game feel less clean.
The graphics are 2-D cell shaded and pretty decent. This game was obviously originally made for a lightweight platform like the 3Ds. It's still not too bad on PC and it's easy to keep a high framerate. The music was okay but the voice acting felt a little forced. In the original Lords of Shadow, it was okay but this felt like a step-down. Maybe it was the mix of the animation having far too much movement when the characters were talking but it wasn't doing it for me.
(Story Spoiler)
One thing that kind of annoyed me was playing through the castle several times. Yeah, you are playing slight variations but there was an extended eye roll when chapter 3 brought me back to the same place. I understand that there was variation it just didn't feel any different.
I have complained a lot but the combat was pretty good. There were some fights that got the best of me but none of the bosses or encounters felt too out of line. One of the strengths of this game is the boss fights. There are several and many of them have unique mechanics that keep them interesting. They all do have a pattern so it's all about finding that pattern and exploiting it. Patience is important.
Mirror of Fate is a decent size 10 hours run through Dracula's Castle. It kept me interested to play to 100% on the regular mode but I had little desire to replay it on the higher difficulty. Passed on the boss rush as well. It was an ok and a decent play through with no real bugs and a few frustrating moments. The draw is getting the little bits of story in this canon but other than that I don't see much interest in it.
TL;DR:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD is a short trip through Dracula's Castle. Like the 2-D of old, you will be jumping around fighting enemies and finding abilities that allow you to progress further through the castle. The game isn't groundbreaking but its an okay experience for those into the franchise.
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