Caught between past and present, a Dracula at the end of his strength is the only way for the Brotherhood to counter the imminent return of Satan. After changing clothes with Lords of Shadows, the Castlevania series is back on our screens with so many promises on his shoulders will be able to keep them?
The roots of the video game
Castlevania is a big name when it comes to video games. Born in 1986, its castles and its vampires have gone through all sorts of vintage and platform, coming to define a genre, offering the unforgettable soundtracks and titles that have been exceptional set in stone the interminable, tormented family conflict Belmont.
Renewing a series like this is a path fraught with such a risk and the possibility of failure that it could take a chapter of the game itself – and yet, Konami and MercurySteam have succeeded in the enterprise with the first Lords of Shadow, which shakes the foundations and There sling in the distant past of the series, in the role of Gabriel Belmont, then part of the Brotherhood.
Lords of Shadow 2 starts therefore, with a good premise and a lot of promises: Castlevania was shocked, reimagined and brought to life, pulled us into his distant past and hid by telling the origins of Dracula and putting ourselves in his shoes, abandoning the Lord of the Vampires at the end of his strength, alone and tired, between the streets of a modern city that should be the starting point for a more ” Open World ” with respect to the previous chapter, can allow the player has an option that did not have in the first episode. By adding a more substantial main story, an advanced combat system, a camera finally free and reduced still too present Quick Time Event, what can go wrong?
Several things, unfortunately. Despite the premise, this result seems incredibly to suffer from all the problems of a reboot that, somehow, the first chapter was able to avoid in an elegant and unexpected.
Stop the tears: it is not a bad game, or a total disaster. Given the starting point, the resolutions and the opportunity presented, the second adventure that sees us in the role of Gabriel Belmont – Dracula – does not achieve most of its objectives proposed, struggling even to maintain what has been shown previously. We try to understand how and to what extent.
Dracula, come here. Dracula, go beyond. Dracula, bring me a beer!
The game begins with Dracula, the limit of the divine creature, sitting impassively on his throne, while the Brotherhood to which he himself belonged erupts in his castle to try to put an end to his wickedness. Here begins a series of cut-scenes alternate with small tutorial sessions played, that show us the weapons at the disposal of our vampire and some fighting techniques that we can use, culminating in an epic battle with a Paladin in his mighty armor gold and a huge, gigantic gimmick of the Brotherhood, in no uncertain terms, that seeks to raze our beloved home.
The impact with the game is good, but it brings, in a nutshell, all its problems. At this point, in the session, we still have not finished the tutorial. We dragged between a scene and the other to run small, simple step’s assets in which the mechanics are partial, sketchy, incomplete.
A good half hour from the start and I was quite unsure if I got to the actual game or not, even by virtue of a longer narrative introduction and drag that I’ve been experimenting in a video game. It was not a bad half hour, but I was constantly pushed, moved literally from the game in the various directions in which purported to move. It was not a bad half hour, but I expected better. Feeling that will not change.
Going forward, the combat system – finally – is revealed in its entirety, and it is interesting and well thought out in its structure: two weapons for limited use (a sword will cure when it strikes and claws able to make glowing armor and then ground) and one, the ever-present whip, which does not consume any resources.
Various types of ammunition and consumables, a set of skills that can be acquired, unlocking new combos and fighting styles. The ability to ” finish ” our opponents, sucking their blood to regenerate our wounds. Of all this, among other animated so excellent, with smooth transitions and some variety in the movements, there are two crucial aspects to be emphasized.
The first, positive, is the structure of the combat game designed to reward aware than the ” button mashing. ” Bringing shots, you activate a rune bar. When it is completely full, damaging enemies in the air will leave little bubbles of blood, that we ” aspire ” to replenish the resources that allow us to use special weapons. Hitting is not enough: if Dracula is damaged in any way, the bar is empty, and we have to start over.
And an intelligent system that lends itself well to realize sparring sessions exciting and interesting.
And this is the second aspect, negative – even when the mechanics are shown in full, the game situation that confront us is unique and simple solution.
The potential range of the system is softened by the imposition of necessity rather than choice. Enemies with armor? We will need to crush the Claws of Chaos, before proceeding. The attacks that cannot be blocked? You have to dodge necessarily in a certain, specific direction.
Bloodsucking the enemies to finish them off – accompanied by an animation rather long which, although different for each category of the opponent, it tends to come early to boredom – the Sword of the Void makes a little more than a freezer for demons.
In short, the system, although valuable and carefully thought out, is made less interesting from an encounter little design inspired, that rather than offering possibilities intrigue the player pushes him to choose the weapon suitable for the need that requires from time to time.
Let’s go back to the same point: with the passing of time, it leaves a strong feeling of being driven, which is in more general terms the crucial issue of how much the whole game.
The stealth sections, which also show attempts to be original and interesting, and unique solutions are often obvious. The world itself, especially in its modern part, it seems decidedly not ” open “, with excerpts and elbows of roads that are always blocking of gates and impassable obstacles, only to present a specific set of grips in order to bring the clearing where will be held next, inevitable, cutscene.
Our Dracula, in essence, constantly follows a path that someone else has mapped in detail for him, a way that reveals itself over time rather confusing and poorly defined, with no direction made or an organic structure that engages deeply a player in the story as much as in its implementation in terms of gaming systems. As the hours passed, there is a tangible risk to stop and look around lost, while being led by the hand at every turn by the late Gabriel Belmont.
Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 – Conclusions
Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2, despite its clumsy attempt to drag the player into a winding path, is not without its merits. As already mentioned, the animations are good, the game is light and visually satisfying, and the camera free can finally appreciate the environments and the action in a more visceral and complete with respect to the previous chapter. The fighting, despite the problems of encounter design mentioned above, and a time window for the parade active a bit ‘too wide, which is likely to make it trivial, it is still fun, quick and pleasant overall.
Environments, particularly those in the past – where we often transported via a medallion – manage to be visually stunning and the atmosphere overall, with a strong and consistent emphasis on the power of the blood and inhuman forms, distorted and violent, maintains a special charm to evoke memories of past games with some frequency – with the absence of boots in the transition’s zone to play an important role in ‘immersion.
From the narrative point of view, dubbing excellent (with Sir Patrick Stewart and Robert Carlyle to interpret Zobak and Dracula respectively) maintained from the first chapter is certainly an added value in spite of the writing seems to have suffered structural quality of the confusion of the game and oscillates between high and low in a rather erratic, with music that does not betray the excellent tradition of the series.
Furthermore, it is large. Maybe too much so. Among stealth sections, gigantic boss fights, puzzles to solve, items to collect, demons take a whipping and a very long history to follow the sound of cuts cenes, can keep you busy without making you regret the time devoted to it, also net of its obvious flaws.
A want a closer look, maybe it’s just the excessive ambition – perhaps aided by development times are too tight for the initial objectives – to have made a difference in the negative compared to the previous title. Two completely different environments, many different aspects to coexist in a single frame of the game, a protagonist cumbersome and a name, Castlevania, which pays homage.
In hindsight – but it’s easy, in hindsight – perhaps it would be appropriate to refine the first chapter of this reboot in a more subtle and simple, without resolving to innovate again, so soon, a title that already had passed through a deep (and given the circumstances, and the stakes are incredibly successful) upheaval.
What we have in our hands is a sequel that – while technically decent and well made – is undoubtedly a sturdy step backwards compared to its predecessor, leaving a strong bitter taste that more than anything else, in my eyes, is a missed opportunity to shine and finally return to the market that represents the historical brand.
The hope is that Konami is able to understand what made the difference between the two chapters in this reboot, for all future, fascinating castles of Dracula, I hope. We will be visiting again.
Finally, a note about the controls: the use of a gamepad is highly recommended, given that support for mouse and keyboard, although the present, has a problem that stands out particularly in the navigation menu, as well as being decidedly anti intuitive with regard to the Quick Time Event that occasionally makes their appearance in the screen – of course – with the buttons on the pad and not those of the keyboard, which I initially created some confusion. Removed these problems, on the other hand, you can play very well with the standard devices of your beloved PC.
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