If I didn't care too much for the demo, think I'd like the full game still?
I actually thought the Lords of Shadow demo was awful, but scored the PS3 version on a cheap deal, and started playing it very recently thinking I needed to be up to speed for this new sidescrolling 3DS game.......... anyway, closer to the end of Chapter II I'm really starting to like Lords of Shadow now; I think the demo represented the game poorly, and the game takes awhile to get off the ground. Hoping this 3DS game is the same way.
I'm still not a big fan of some of the directions MS have taken Castlevania, I really wish at least the music sounded more like Castlevania instead of generic eP1c!!1!! hollywood music; but oh well.
Your experiences with LoS are similar to mine. It was a slow starter for me too, but I reached a point where it just really clicked for me.
Mirror of Fate feels
more like a traditional Castlevania game in a number of respects, and tends to meet the older series halfway in some key ways:
costume/character design
2D movement
greater emphasis on platforming
traditional 'Castlevania' environments such as a clock tower, underground waterway, library, dungeon, etc
If you are the kiind of person who gets really hung up on the 'canon' of Castlevania, you will not like the liberties they take with the story and the connections between Dracula, Trevor, Alucard and Simon. Personally, I thought they were fantastic and I actually like the LoS canon a whole lot more than the original storyline in terms of general narrative and plot twists. I don't know if you've finished LoS yet or not, but at the end of the game, you learn that
This alteration to the old storyline creates a stronger bond between Dracula and the Belmont family, and actually contextualizes the nature of their conflict on a much more tragic and interesting level. The Belmonts aren't just 'monster hunters' now. Now, it's a matter of personal and family honor. It makes the conflict mean more, which means I care more about what's going on.
Gameplaywise, Mirror of Fate is a really strange hybrid of the LoS gameplay style and more traditional 2D Castlevania. The attacks and combos are right out of LoS but you fight on a 2D plane and Mercurysteam found a way to implement mechanics that serve as a satisfying substitute for dodging, rolling and staying mobile on the battlefield, such as the air dash. The only thing that keeps the combat from being better are the the graphics. The models are very detailed and so are the environments, and this is fine except for that the game doesn't have a very diverse color pallet and sometimes action gets lost on the screen.
It's nice that the characters are given different special abilities to help on their journey. While the gameplay remains the same on a basic level, the tools they're provided are useful in a number of situations, and not just gimmicks to get past one area and then be forgotten. They have practical combat application if you want to get really fancy, but I feel Trevor is a bit too powerful, even for this game, because of those electrical bombs and the LoS element of Light and Dark magic allowing you to either heal while dishing damage or boost your damage levels. Leveling the characters up is standardized, now. You don't choose which abilities to buy next, and they simply unlock in predesignated fashion when you reach certain levels. You level up by killing monsters, solving puzzles, finding dead knight scrolls, treasure chests and bestiary entries.
I really liked the soundtrack for LoS and Mirror of Fate, and felt that it had its own distinct identity that is the right fit for this version of the CV universe. While the introduction of a more traditional score and a move away from familiar Castlevania music is seen as a misstep by some, I completely understand why Mercurysteam chose to do this. Tonally, the Castlevania music is designed to be repetitive, with catchy hooks and familiar beats that harken back to the limitations of game music composition of the 8 bit days. The old Castlevania music was, and still is, a marvel of soundtrack writing. But the music theory of the older games doesn't serve the look and feel of Lords of Shadow. In fact, it can be argued that it would hurt LoS and MoF to use iterations of those old tracks because all it would do is stick out like a sore thumb and remind the players that this isn't the Nintendo version. In all honesty, listening to the LoS soundtrack separately from the gameplay, I think it has a very distinct identity and uses its leitmotif very effectively. Sure, when measured against the standard of quality it doesn't stack up against the best music CV has given us over the years, but it is still a really great soundtrack in its own right, IMO.
As it regards MoF, the soundtrack is effectively used but the tracks aren't long enough and they have this really wierd problem where they start at weird points and the technology to change the music when enemies appeared seemed to elude Mercurysteam. There were times when the music wouldn't kick in right away and times when the battle music played a lot longer than it should have. There were even times when both tracks were playing over each other, and I had to zone to get it to stop. I don't know what happened here, but Mercurysteam's lack of experience with programming for the 3DS is most obvious here. The composition is good, however.
The difficulty curve of the game is nice, too. I appreciate that the game is not very hard to beat and has generous checkpoints, even 'mid-boss' checkpoints. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be that many unlockable parts to the game and if you are dilligent during exploration you can get 100% completion without having to grind for hours and hours and hours. And can select a character's chapter if you want to revisit that character to either play them more or go get the rest of the missed secrets. It's like Mercurysteam didn't want to bother players with yet another 'Metroidvania' style grindfest, so they made a Castlevania game that you can just play and enjoy all of the content without having to bend over backwards. This will feel like a betrayal to Castlevania purists, but I kind of liked it for this game for being so straightforward. I guess the simplest way for me to put it is that while I noticed the SotN grinding elements the series is now known for are gone, I don't miss them. This is actually one of those examples of 'meeting the old series halfway'.
Is this a good Castlevania game? I think it's a good VIDEO game, and it retains enough of the Castlevania formula to be considered an excellent alternative take on the series. The game stayed fun throughout my playthrough, to the point where I actually looked forward to firing up my 3DS over my consoles. Most importantly, even though my run through lasted about 15 hours, I wish there were more levels and enemies, more story and more characters. I say this not because I felt the game lacked any content, but because I really wanted to spend more time in there, uncovering more secrets and navigating more areas. It's made me want to go back and revisit the older games just to fight through waves of Dracula's minions, enjoy the ambiance and atmosphere all over and reconnect with this once and still great series.
