Castlevania: Lament of Innocence - a return to 3D (1 Viewer)

[Hugo]

I'm waiting for my EBgames shipment!!! I'll let you know as soon as I get it!!!

 

[Philip_S]

Looks good. I think I'll use this for one of my PS2 games in the Amazon/Toys R Us "Buy 2, get 1 free" deal next week.

 

[Frank Grimes]

"Looks good. I think I'll use this for one of my PS2 games in the Amazon/Toys R Us "Buy 2, get 1 free" deal next week."

Can you give me some info on this? I'm interested in picking up SSX3 and somewhat Crimson Skies, so I think a free game would convince me to buy both...

 

[Philip_S]

Toys R Us/Amazon have their annual Buy 2 get 1 free deal going on.

This week it's for GameCube games. Next week it's for both the PS2 and Xbox.

Links for PS2 games:
$39 games
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...883897-9591866
$49 games
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...883897-9591866

For Xbox:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...770736-0165603

 

[Hugo]

Hi everyone, I got the game, and I played most of the day yesterday (I had to call in sick at work ). The game is great!!! Many elements remind you of the old castlevania versions, they take you directly to the first one in 1986. You will recognize many of the monster as soon as you see them. Excellent graphics (but the movie scenes could be better), even more excellent sound. Gameplay is fun, it takes a little while to get a hold of the evasion tactics, once you've mastered is a lot of fun. I only got to the second level, so I couldn't say much about the bosses. Monsters AI is very good, if you distract yourself a little they can really bang you up. One thing that is very frustrating, is the fixed camera view, I wish you could rotate manually, but after a while you get use to it. In overall I'm loving the game. I think the developers did a great job at taking castlevania to 3D. I'm looking forward to hours of fun. I got to go, I have a medusa to give a new haircut.

Hugo

 

[David Lee]

I don't see Castlevania:LOI as one of the Toys R'US buy 2 deal. Is that in-store only?

 

[Romier S]

My impressions of the game after 4+ hours of play time. Full review coming soon:

http://www.lcvg.com/forum/index.php?...=0&#entry21863

 

[Joseph Young]

Well stated, Romier. After just a short while with the game myself, I am left with the same - positive and negative - impressions. Because it's Castlevania, the positives outweight the negatives for me.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Solid review, Romier.

 

[Joseph Young]

Since I have finally found some solid time to spend with this title and gotten through 2 of the bosses, here are some more impressions for anyone who is curious.

The combat/item system is deceptively deep. Here are the basic categories for items/item use.

Special Weapons and Orbs
This includes the axe, holy water, crystal, dagger, cross, and perhaps more. If you equip an orb (usually given out by boss characters) in conjunction with one of these special weapons, the effect will change. Some examples: the crystal ordinarily appears and shatters after a time, wounding baddies in the vicinity. However, used on conjunction with the purple crystal, the whole screen in effect 'shatters' (very cool effect) hitting all the onscreen enemies. Likewise, the red orb causes axes to fly outward in a circular circumference, whereas the purple orb causes a tornado of axes that fly upward.

Whips
I didn't realize this at first, but you can get different charged whips. The default is the alchemy whip, which (during combo attacks) manifests itself in wind flurries. However, once I equipped the electrical/lightening whip, my whip changed appearance, giving off a blue electrical crackle, and during combo attacks, actually bringing down lightening upon unsuspecting foes. The lightening whip does not work against certain creatures, such as the electrical 'Peeping Eyes.'

Combo Attacks
As you progress through the game and increase the complexity of your moves, new moves open up to you. You can, for instance, execute a 'perfect guard' block maneuver... if you time your guard button exactly with an enemy's attack, you will gain hearts and MP. Not too shabby. Concurrently, not only can you dodge attacks by pressing guard/X in conjunction with the left analog stick, but you can attain a secondary dodge move that causes you to twirl acrobatically after dodging. In short, the wealth of moves is pretty amazing.

Relics
After passing two of the worlds, I still only have one relic. Either I'm doing something wrong, or the game has much more in store. This is perhaps the most confusing aspect of battle. If an enemy flashes purple/magenta prior to an attack, and you block that attack, you gain MP that allow you to trigger a special relic-related attack. However, I have not yet learned how to trigger that attack off... it simply bleeds away magic points and then stops. This is the last great frontier in the different complexities of the game.

At first glance, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence doesn't seem very reminiscient of its predecessors. It appears is a rather simplified brawler/dungeon crawler with some great music and art design. While not far off description-wise, as you play more of C:LoI, you may begin to see, as I did, the stealthy way this game grows on you and the way the disparate elements of C:LoI form a game that is actually shockingly true to its roots.

Somewhere in the middle of playing the "Garden" world I was struck with a rare feeling, one I don't often get playing games... that of total and complete acceptance and immersion in the world that has been laid before me. There is a quiet, self-explanatory beauty to some of these locations, and the character designs are nothing short of amazing.

While the individual locations are cursed by repitition, and while there is little incentive to continue fighting enemies once you have initially passed through their domains other than the addictive battle engine, I was surprised at the breadth of the maps and the number of side rooms and unannounced corridors that I felt compelled to explore. Most of the locked doors that appear (usually doors with 3 part locks, each part unlocked in a different secret room) lead to either very useful items, or mini bosses who yield items.

I wanted to see so much more, though. While the automated camera is only ocassionally problematic, the lack of interactivity and variety in room/floor structure is a definite problem. If the developers want to take the ideas begun here and apply it to a richer world, one with more items, more ways for you to power/level up, more puzzles, more incentive to explore, etc.. I think this could be the beginnings of a great series in 3D.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence manages to barely crawl out from under Devil May Cry's shadow, largely due to the massive amounts of work that went into the Battle/Item systems and the haunting Graphics/Audio. After you play for a while, you will even begin to feel like you are playing a Castlevania game.

:star::star::star: (out of 4 stars)

~Joseph

 

[Romier S]

Somewhere in the middle of playing the "Garden"

One of my favorite levels in the game though overly long at times. The first time I saw the beams of light piercing through to the floor I was in awe.

Excellent write-up Joseph.

 

[Ryan_TD]

i've given this a second chance and changed my opinion -- this game is awesome!!