Customer Rating:  
Summary: A beautiful 3D Castlevania
Comment: I am a newbie in Castlevania world (better late than never;).So I dont have a big experience to judge upon, my collection consists of 3 games so far : Symphony of the night, Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness.
Strangely, the last 3D Castlevania games are just so different in many ways!And my voice goes to LoI.Why? I will explain.
First of all, LoI athmosphere reminds me a lot of SotN (of course, nothing can compare to SotN we all know it:). There is no upgrade system, like in CoD- running around the same locations to get a new level and upgrade an Innocent devil, making weapons and armors. LoI is simply a walk-around-find-HP up potion and other nice things game.Your success in fighting bosses doesnt depend on your characters level (as in CoD).
Second thing, LoI has a simply beautiful athmosphere, I love the whole castle! A darkish gothic touch, level design is nicely made, lots of details (not like in CoD- boring endless levels). Music also reminds me of SotN somehow.
Third. There are a lot of hidden locations, and quests, which require specific skills from the main character, such as :double jumb, using whip, which we dont have in CoD game. But well, Leon is a Belmont, so duh, he can do a lot of cool things ;)
As for the storyline - I think it makes much more sense than CoD story (who the hell came up with that idea?). I know it may sound that I hate CoD, but I dont, I just like it a little bit less.
I cant really point out any minuses in this beautiful, dark romantic game. Except for one - its short, not cathosrophically short, but could be longer.
If you enjoyed SotN, I would suggest to try LoI, as a taste of it in 3D.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Stress Release
Comment: There is a great deal about graphics , game play, and max up's. The fact that after a stress filled day you can come home and pick up a paddle and go for broke. The whole whip thing is awesome.
The puzzle is what grabbed my attention. It is filled with one puzzle after another. I found the game to be a short one, but nonetheless an enjoyable game to waste time with.
I am no professional on graphics, but I found it easy to follow. The only thing I am professional at is having fun and button mashing! Just grab the game and enjoy it is well worth the price. The storyline is great as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great game but not perfect.
Comment: To me this game is very similar to Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance. Like HoD this game is fun and all but not perfect.
The graphics and gameplay are superb. As is the music. When youre exploring the castle, the awesome graphics and organ heavy music really sets the mood. The main chracter Leon controls smoothly and his whip strikes look and feel powerful. Plus the boss battles are tough but not overly difficult. And the camera doesnt seem to blind me as much as in Devil May Cry.
Though Lament of Innocence has plenty of short comings.
1) The enemies and level design are reused way too much. Too many of the corridors and enemies look and act exactly the same.
2) The magic system is 'dumbed' down. This games magic system is based around your subweapons, much like Harmony of Dissonance. Why they couldnt have implemented the awesome magic of Symphony of the Night or Dawn of Sorrow, i dont know.
3) Too many things are overly simplified like the combos and armors. There are no 'secret' armors or combos. You get them all as you gradually progress through the game.
In the end this is a great game and i enjoyed it much more than Devil May Cry. But when it stands next to some of the other Castlevania games it is far from perfect.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ugh.....
Comment: I LOVED Symphony Of The Night and Castlevania 64 and am currently enjoying Aria Of Sorrow, but this just isn't Castlevania to me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a die hard old school fan who hates 3D games, I LOVED Castlevania 64. And despite that games camera problems and occasional fustrations, it was a lot more enjoyable than Lament Of Innocence.
Granted, I haven't played much of it, but what I have played is repetitive and boring. Entire bland room. The only door out locks and you can't move on until you kill the enemies in the room. Rinse and repeat.
The graphics are gorgeous, yes, but do graphics always make the game? The floors in particular were STUNNING.
Some of the sound effects got on my nerves, namely the sound that would play when you'd pick up hearts. The music was great, as it always is in any Castlevania game, but it's not Symphony Of The Night quality.
Overall I found the game to be more fun to look at and listen to than to play. The story is pitiful, the action and environments repetitive, it's too linear, and the castle just isn't the way castlevania should be. And there's just not enough places to see and explore.
3D Castlevania worked once, hopefully they can make it enjoyable again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Konami breaks my heart
Comment:
Castlevania, Knightmare, Yie ar Kung Fu, King's Valley, Magic Tree, Penguin Adventure,,,,,
What do these titles have in common?
They're all Konami's production, and darn good production too I may add. Back when I was a little kid, I would go into my so called gaming room and turn on my MSX system and play a load of games, and about half of the games I owned were the creation of Konami.
Back then their games were very innovative and unique, meaning that each game had a totally different concept, storyline, atmosphere and so forth.
But I guess it's inevitable that time changes and iron rusts; and apparently Konami is a piece of rusting iron.
I really wanted to believe that Konami was gold, never decaying, never fading gold; I truly did, but they've changed and I must say I have lost faith in their ability to create another masterpiece like the original Knightmare or Castlevania.
(Which is one of my favorite games of all time)
They're now full of misconception about what a good game looks like and how it feels...
Castlevania : Lament of Innocence, the newest and graphically most advanced installment in the franchise of Castlevania, proves that I am right. Although it isn't a bad game, it isn't what you would call a masterpiece either. It's just an average, or hopefully an above average game you could find in a game store.
The gameplay is fun, filled with hack and slash action, and the combo system is also a hit. But the game doesn't last very long and there is a little replay value. (It's repetitive..)
Just like the original, there are hidden items/chambers in the game, but now that the game is in full 3D world they're so much harder to find that it isn't even funny, only just plain annoying.
I wish Konami would've spent more time, money, people, or whatever on this game...it could've been better, it could've been the top action game title for PS2 along with Devil May Cry and God of War.
Overall for 20 bucks this is a worthy buy, a decent fun whipping skeletons until their bones break and collapse, but that's pretty much all that is to the game, and sooner or later you will realize that it gets repetitive and that the original was so much better than this.
For 20 bucks it would be wiser to buy DMC, or save up for GoW if you haven't, but still this isn't a bad deal knowing that this is a part of the Castlevania saga.
But Konami....sigh.......
Hopefully they're working their butt off to figure out the forgotten secret formula of theirs and making Castlevania : Curse of Darkness a milestone action game.
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