Buy Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD

As a big fan of Castlevania since Rondo of Blood, I was stoked that Konami is porting over Castlevania games to Steam, even though they aren't the stellar IGA-vanias like Order of Ecclesia and Symphony of the Night, but my fingers are crossed. Hopefully Konami shall at least grace Steam with Harmony of Despair if the sales do well.

Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is a great blend of the classic Castlevania mixed with the later Metroidvania exploration, all wrapped in a solid combat system.

The Pros:
- Great atmosphere
-Great art and music
-Combat is fluid and rewarding
-The pacing is pretty good.
-Character designs and animations are pretty damn awesome.
-Doesn't have all the QTE's breaking up combat. There are a few, but not as many as on the DS version.
-Alucard with a whip, need I say more?

The Cons:
-Sometimes suffers brief slowdowns when entering a new area, even with a top-notch gaming rig.
-Hit registration and enemy invicibility frames can be really random and wonky.
-The various character's combat styles aren't very unique aside from spells and subweapons.
-As in classic Castlevania style: Expect plenty of B.S. deaths, so your patience may be tried.
-Blocking system is good but needs reworking, not enough reward for timing a perfect block.
-The controls are awkward at first and take getting used to. It is strictly keyboard, and doesn't offer much customization.

Overall it is definitely worth a buy if you like 2.5D action platformers. The art is fantastic, and the combat has weight to it. Most of the flaws can be easily circumvented and the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Hopefully this isn't the last time Steam picks up another Castlevania.

Being a long time fan of Castlevania since the late '90's, I was eager to pick up Mirror of Fate HD due to its classic side scrolling gameplay which reminded me of Symphony of the Night. Whether you are a new or old player, this game is nothing short of a blast! The story is intriuging, the combat fun, and the graphics are brilliant (for being a 3DS Port)! I enjoyed how the gameplay consisted mostly of exploration and the very layed back atmosphere made it more enjoyable than stressful and overly intense.

This game in particular gives great nods to the past with certain key rooms and areas that remind me of the older games: something I really appreciated. Although Castlevania has had a facelift, the series is still thriving!

No matter who plays Mirror of Fate, I assure you that this title is an instant classic to be enjoyed for years to come!

Just completed this Castlevania and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Castlevania: LOS - MOF has a great old school feel and does everything right. The controls and combat are tight and satisfying. Some of the boss battles (and also some of the "fodder" battles) you get a great feeling from victory.

Checkpoints are located in good locations so as not to make the game too easy and also not to create massive frustrations. There is very little back-tracking, mostly throughout the game you feel as if you are progressing.

The graphics are weirdly great. During my playthrough I took a load of screenshots. When looking through them afterwards they don't looks so great. You can easily see some of the low-res textures used in the backgrounds and some of the polygons are very obvious. The weird thing is whilst playing, the game looks so nice! I attribute this to great graphics artistry and also there is a wonderful use of colours as you move through the game. In some areas as you move through your environment the colours subtley change, it really is very nice!

I'm personally not one for stories but I watched a little of the cutscenes which are beautifully drawn and animated. I may go back and watch them in sequence in the library one time.

I'd heartily recommend this Castlevania for anyone interested in this genre.

WOW this game is a must for castlevania fans!!!I didnt expect it to be so good but seems it is an excellent title!It manages to revive the platform gerne,which older castevania games used and also the best part,in my opinion,is that mirror of fate continues the story of castlevania lords of shadow and connects it with lord of shadow 2!!!Now i can totally understand the story of Gabriel Belmont,Alucard Belmont and Simon Belmont!!!9/10!!!

Okay......another short, simple review from me.

If you have already played the Castlevania: LoS games or are planning on playing them, then you will almost certainly want to play this to fill out the story a little bit. It fills the gap between the first and second games nicely.

If you aren't going to play Castlevania: LoS 1 or 2, don't play this. You will have no idea what is going on as far as the storyline is concerned. Remember, this is a gap filler title only.

There you have it. GAME ON!!!!!!!!!

If you're looking for a classic revival of Castlevania in its Metroidvania incarnation you're not going to find it here. While it may look like a 2.5D "get new abilities to access new areas" adventure it is anything but. It's actually pretty linear and any exploration you want to do with your new powers is completely optional. It's a decent little game but it's really only for those who are invested in the Lords of Shadow lore and want to know what happened inbetween Lords of Shadow and Lords of Shadow 2.

I am in the minority but if asked to list the best Xbox 360 games, Castlevania Lords of Shadow(LoS) is no doubt on the list. It embodied everything i like about an action game. It had massive enemy variety, exploration, puzzles, challenge and story. The second chapter in the LoS series Mirror of Fate tries its best to maintain that original blueprint and succeeds while channeling its classic Castlevania roots while suffering graphically due to its original development being completed on the 3DS.

Mirror of Fate tells the tales of Simon, Trevor, and Alucard after the events of LoS. The story is broken into 3 acts where you will take control of one of the said characters but all the stories are actually intertwined. As an example if playing as Simon you may receive help from Alucard. In the second act playing as Alucard, you will find out why and how you helped Simon. This keeps the story interesting but too many hints are thrown around for a surprise ending like LoS. Overall the story is still good and best of all it feels like a Castlevania game.

One of the best things i like about the 3 characters setup is the variety that each brings to each act. As you level you will unlock attacks which every character will use, but the differences are just minor movement or special abilities for each that keeps combat and exploration fresh throughout the game. As Simon you can carry axes and flasks of oil to set enemies on fire and he also channels the ability of a spirit who can be used as a shield, or a spirit of an archer who will attack when enemies are in range. As Alucard he can slow time, change into a wolf to climb certain walls and do more damage, but he can also turn himself into a mist and he has wings to jump higher. When playing as Trevor he carries boomerangs and electric shock grenades and his special abilities are using light magic which can regain health from attacks, or shadow magic which increase damage. This variety is one of the game's strengths as each act felt like a new game.

Certain expectations come with a game bearing the name Castlevania and thats combat, bosses and exploration. I loved looking for secrets and exploring the castle and most of all when they are important as you will need each and every upgrade in order to defeat the bosses.Though the setting for Mirror of fate does not change drastically for each of the 3 acts, each individual character you play will approach each section differently making each act its own. The changes come with the enemy types and abilities your characters will learn. Most of the first act involves combat, the second introduces some puzzles and the third act most bosses, excluding the end, are done with QTE’s and there is also more platforming.

Enemy variety and challenge continue to also evolve as you make your way thru the game. I never found the regular enemies outside a few challenging(damn puppets) but they will all keep you on your toes. In order to increase difficulty a lot of games will overwhelm you with numbers which then forces you into basic button mashing but Mirror of Fate avoids this trap. Instead it throws a small number at you and lets you use your skills you have learned more strategically. This makes the enemy encounters more of a dance than the normal chaotic hit x,x,x,x,x. Just as in the original LoS i was constantly looking at my abilities and bestiary for my best attack combos. This made combat super satisfying, fun and never frustrating.

Just as everything else the bosses in Mirror of Fate come at you with a ton of variety and higher challenge. They all follow the rule of three and none seem to be unique(historically) but beating each was still super satisfying and of course beating Dracula had my hands sweating. I always am amused when the first boss, to me, was not only the hardest but the most unique of all the boss fights. Also if i kept track, when i did finish a boss i barely had any health left making for very tense encounters. One thing i did like a lot was the game allows you to leave a boss fight in case you feel overwhelmed and need to go level.

Usually when i come to summoning up the negatives i have a few to list but in this case for Mirror of Fate the only negative to me was the graphics. While this was a HD version of the original 3DS release it still suffers from minimal colors, flat textures and it's basically just an upscale in resolution from the original. That being said, the framerate is solid, combat is fast and furious and it still looks ok. It just made me want a 2D Castlevania MADE for the PC.

Mirror of Fate maybe one of the best 2D action games i have ever played. It never was boring, or frustrating and its variety kept it fresh throughout the 18 hours i spent attacking, jumping, swinging, searching and leveling. An excellent adventure for a fan of the series or genre would enjoy.

Positives

Combat is excellent and satisfying
The enemy and character variety
Challenging but fair Boss fights
Intertwined story
Lengthy campaign
100% completion reward

Negatives

This is a port of the 3DS version which limits it graphically
Backtracking can become a little annoying

Side notes:

I completed the game on my desktop PC with an Xbox 360 controller where i never had any problems. The game ran super smooth with a fast frame rate.
I finished the game on Hard difficulty with 100% completion for the entire campaign. It took me 18hrs and i would say 2 hours was when i was lost or backtracking too many times looking for secrets.

Why doesn't anyone like Dracula? Because he's a pain in the neck!

+ great story
+ great music, passable voicework
+ fun, varied combat
+ plenty of combos and abilities to obtain
+ diverse enemies and bosses

- controls somewhat imprecise (see next bullet point)
- sluggish animations
- graphics a little sub-standard (but this is a 3DS port)

Overall, this game is quite enjoyable. The story is told in 3 acts from 3 different characters' perspectives. It's an entertaining plot and I liked the new twists on the old characters and backstories. Combat is fun, exploration is rewarded, and bosses do a good job of keeping you on your toes.

The only real problem I had is that the animations, and therefore the controls, feel a little slow and clunky. This is due to the fact that it uses 3D models with 2D gameplay. Once you get used to it though, it becomes little more than a minor nuisance. Also, even though it's HD (and it does look much better than the original) Mirror of Fate is a port of a portable game so the graphics will be uglier than most other modern 3D games.

A decent mini sequel to Castlevania LOS 1. No where near grand in scope but there's alot of gameplay for the price. The objects and gameworld are 3D rendered but goes back to it's 2D side scrolling roots. That doesn't detract much from the gameplay fortunately. Mirror of Fate helps to flush out character development and some unanswered questions from the story. The combat is good and most of the levels are designed well enough. However there are a couple of boss fights and very poorly designed levels that require hair pulling, frustrating precision to make progress and when you fail you're forced to repeat stuff you already did making you want to throw your controller across the room.

It's not required to play LOS 2, as they recap the story to date but it's a nice addition for the gothic horror fan and if you played LOS 1 to completion.

7/10 Overall

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror Fate HD is the sequel to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and it was first released for the Nintendo 3DS. Gameplay wise, it differs alot from the first Lords of Shadow, instead of being a spectacle fighter, Mirror of Fate is a metroidvania in the strict sense of the word. That said, please be aware that the only games of the Castlevania series that I’ve played were Lords of Shadows and this one.

At its core it is an action adventure platformer in which you’ll find yourself backtracking to previous areas that you couldn’t previously access, and now you can because you have a certain ability or skill. The game is somewhat linear but there is alot of room for exploration which most often the not, rewards you with either more health, more magic, more ammunition or scrolls, which contain the last thoughs of fallen Brotherhood of Light soldiers.

The game takes place after the events of the previous game and lets you take control of Simon Belmont, Alucard and Trevor Belmont. The game is divided into three different acts and in each act you’ll play a different character, each one of them having their unique special abilities and weapons. There is some puzzle solving on the game, mostly on the second act and it is pretty good. It isn’t too hard nor too easy and this is coming from someone who tends to stay away from puzzle games and who doesn’t like doing alot of thinking.

The meat of the game, atleast for me, is the combat and the platforming. Platforming plays a huge role on the game, there are alot of areas filled with deadly traps and you need to have great timing to manage to get through. Combat is like the previous game, you start with very basic combos but as you make your way through the game and increase your level by earning experience, you’ll unlock more combos. Do not be deceived by the only two attack buttons. Not only you’ll unlock more combos as you progress through the game, but you’ll also unlock more weapons or upgrade your main weapon, allowing you not only to annihilate your enemies in new ways but also to access previously blocked areas and paths.

As it was the case with the previous game, you’ll be gradually introduced to new enemy types and each one of them felt unique on their own way to me. Bosses are also really well done, each one of them requiring you to adapt to a change in their attack patterns which helps keep the gameplay refreshing and challenging.

Now let’s talk about what I didn’t really like about the game. First of all, the fact that it is a 3DS port, even though it is in HD, doesn’t really help the game at all. The graphics look very dated with low resolution textures and on a 1080p monitor there are black bars on the sides. That said, I did find the cutscenes rather well executed with a cell shaded look to them, along the likes of Borderlands and Telltale games.

Even though backtracking is something characteristic of metroidvanias, and even though I’m a huge fan of the genre, I tend to get bored when going back to places that I’ve already visited. It would be nice if a new type of enemy would show up in these ocassions. But considering that it took me around nine hours to complete the game (not 100% though) I guess it isn’t that bad at all.

Mirror of Fate is a pretty well executed metroidvania and I recommend it to any fans of action/adventure platformers with a focus on combat and exploration, even if you’re not a fan of Castlevania. It has enough enemy variety to make you rethink your attack strategy and it features some nice sections of platforming.