nunca tinha jogado algum Castlevania antes e resolvi começar por esse e seguir jogando em ordem cronológica. eu gostei apesar de ter suas falhas, depois de um tempo o design dos níveis se tornou cansativo e a exploração também MAS A TRILHA SONORA É MUITO BOA e achei legal o combate contra os chefes (tomei uma surra do Doppelganger), vou jogar os próximos
two bonus stars for having my favorite cover art of all time
You can kind of see that they tried to adapt the Metroidvania style into 3D with this one, but every level just feels like a series of rooms and hallways. The game is still pretty fun besides that though. Also the music goes really hard thanks to THE BASED Michiru Yamane.
+1 point for having dual audio in 2003.
+1 point for having dual audio in 2003.
Lament of Innocence é um jogo que eu não esperava nada honestamente. É um dos Castlevanias que eu nunca tive o interesse de jogar direito mas PRINCIPALMENTE nunca tive uma maquina que pudesse rodar esse cara. Agora finalmente tentei e estou mais surpreso do que nunca.
Ele tem seus problemas graves de level design mas tirando isso, a gameplay é uma das melhores da franquia, conseguiram transmitir bem o estilo metroidvania para algo com um combate mais elaborado, o que ficou sensacional. As músicas, gráficos, histórias também tão incríveis então é um prato cheio.
A exploração é o mais paia, a navegação não é muito boa e é isso que impede esse jogo de entrar no panteão dos melhores da franquia pra mim, mas mesmo com isso, ele tá bem alto na lista hein!
Ele tem seus problemas graves de level design mas tirando isso, a gameplay é uma das melhores da franquia, conseguiram transmitir bem o estilo metroidvania para algo com um combate mais elaborado, o que ficou sensacional. As músicas, gráficos, histórias também tão incríveis então é um prato cheio.
A exploração é o mais paia, a navegação não é muito boa e é isso que impede esse jogo de entrar no panteão dos melhores da franquia pra mim, mas mesmo com isso, ele tá bem alto na lista hein!
walter is the most non-walter looking walter ive ever seen
A beautiful Castlevania game, while in some aspects the gameplay and it's details feels simplistic and easy, I consider it a comfortable kind of easy. I quite enjoy the story, the acting was pure theatrics as it should be and voice acting was above my expectations, without spoilers, the origin of Vampire Killer made me tear up and I never had trouble believing Leon's determination. Only character I say was kind of a wasted potential was Joachim, I expected to see more of him or him to be explored more but no, he's just there, beat him and bam. I guess they had to put someone in their own mode as per series tradition and didn't have anyone better, I also imagine he was picked on how fun to play as they felt, which is fair. Music is great, especially Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab is straight up fire, Dracula got the best damn gay club raves in town! Overall it's a great origin story that I'm glad they got to explore. I also really gotta admire how well they transitioned the gameplay and atmosphere into 3D this time, all that experience with the N64 titles payed off. I really like how they reinvented and changed the sub-weapons to work in this enviroment, Cross is easily the best one tho, very OP....now that's some good Christian propaganda huh? lol
Bosses are pretty fun, I expected a more variety to the two health bars thing, maybe some having just one or three but nope, same throughout...this is what I meant earlier, I expect this game to have a biiit more detail, mix it up a little but it doesn't..making me go, huh alright I guess. A bit underwhelming but also not the worst in the world. Tho the game can feel a bit formulaic once you figure it out.
And holy shit, The Forgotten One is terrifying. His presence alone is what gave this game an M rating, that's awesome!
I do not regret doing his boss battle! Oh yeah he did have three phases, so that's some mixing up!
Now for the bad quickly besides Joachim, camera is...not always very flattering and because it has to be locked to an angle, almost every room feels like it has an unused square dedicated to it cuz of it, not sure how I feel about that...platforming, especially the ones where you gotta do a whip swing was easily the hardest part of the game for me and sometimes just landing on a platform period, luckily we don't have the instant death situations of the N64 games anymore but good god, it's hard enough to line these things up with this camera angle (there's a whole right stick there guys, which you didn't even use) but who's bright idea was it to have those dark rooms on top of it?! Heh...bright...good thing these bottomless pits (tho sometimes you see Leon land on the bottom with the scream triggering anyway) just spawn you back up and again, not do it the N64 way. I am aware of it's DMC inspiration but I realized this game is technically not unlike an isometric game, if this thing was on a GBA I'd drop it so quickly and so hard I tell you lol.
I dunno how to feel about only equipping in real time...it's pretty weird but at the same time I don't mind it too much, it's no Silent Hill 4 that's for sure.
Game runs excellent at 60FPS 1080p on PCSX2, I used a widescreen patch which looks much better than I expected, pretty damn native feel. Tho it kinda stretched the HUD where atleast the healthbars look longer than they realy are and it caused the other minor issue of the HUD being over Leon's model in the menu and the rotating items when you examine them overlapping a bit on the text cuz they're a bit to the center instead of left.
I went for 100% Map, which means all optional bosses, upgrades and items too...what I didn't do is go for all the relics or item drops or whatever and...frankly I'm not insane lol. I also really appreciate us not having to cover every single square of a room or something, that'd be a nightmare and I'm glad developers had the insight, pretty sure they'd hate that themselves.
I also wanna say, this game basically feels like the early framework of it's type for me, and that has some parallels with other parts of Castlevania for me. If the N64 games were Castlevania Legends, I guess then this is Circle of the Moon and would that make Curse of Darkness the Aria of Sorrow? (I prefer Harmony of Dissonance among the GBA titles tbh but nobody will get it if I use that game as the parallel, I also haven't played CoD yet so we will see). Another parallel I see is that both this game and Circle are missing a key component that would make them much better if they had it...Circle lacked a Shop, while Lament lack an XP system, which is odd cuz it really feels like both games should have these features, oh well...
From this day on, the Belmont Clan will HUNT the NIGHT!
Bosses are pretty fun, I expected a more variety to the two health bars thing, maybe some having just one or three but nope, same throughout...this is what I meant earlier, I expect this game to have a biiit more detail, mix it up a little but it doesn't..making me go, huh alright I guess. A bit underwhelming but also not the worst in the world. Tho the game can feel a bit formulaic once you figure it out.
And holy shit, The Forgotten One is terrifying. His presence alone is what gave this game an M rating, that's awesome!
I do not regret doing his boss battle! Oh yeah he did have three phases, so that's some mixing up!
Now for the bad quickly besides Joachim, camera is...not always very flattering and because it has to be locked to an angle, almost every room feels like it has an unused square dedicated to it cuz of it, not sure how I feel about that...platforming, especially the ones where you gotta do a whip swing was easily the hardest part of the game for me and sometimes just landing on a platform period, luckily we don't have the instant death situations of the N64 games anymore but good god, it's hard enough to line these things up with this camera angle (there's a whole right stick there guys, which you didn't even use) but who's bright idea was it to have those dark rooms on top of it?! Heh...bright...good thing these bottomless pits (tho sometimes you see Leon land on the bottom with the scream triggering anyway) just spawn you back up and again, not do it the N64 way. I am aware of it's DMC inspiration but I realized this game is technically not unlike an isometric game, if this thing was on a GBA I'd drop it so quickly and so hard I tell you lol.
I dunno how to feel about only equipping in real time...it's pretty weird but at the same time I don't mind it too much, it's no Silent Hill 4 that's for sure.
Game runs excellent at 60FPS 1080p on PCSX2, I used a widescreen patch which looks much better than I expected, pretty damn native feel. Tho it kinda stretched the HUD where atleast the healthbars look longer than they realy are and it caused the other minor issue of the HUD being over Leon's model in the menu and the rotating items when you examine them overlapping a bit on the text cuz they're a bit to the center instead of left.
I went for 100% Map, which means all optional bosses, upgrades and items too...what I didn't do is go for all the relics or item drops or whatever and...frankly I'm not insane lol. I also really appreciate us not having to cover every single square of a room or something, that'd be a nightmare and I'm glad developers had the insight, pretty sure they'd hate that themselves.
I also wanna say, this game basically feels like the early framework of it's type for me, and that has some parallels with other parts of Castlevania for me. If the N64 games were Castlevania Legends, I guess then this is Circle of the Moon and would that make Curse of Darkness the Aria of Sorrow? (I prefer Harmony of Dissonance among the GBA titles tbh but nobody will get it if I use that game as the parallel, I also haven't played CoD yet so we will see). Another parallel I see is that both this game and Circle are missing a key component that would make them much better if they had it...Circle lacked a Shop, while Lament lack an XP system, which is odd cuz it really feels like both games should have these features, oh well...
From this day on, the Belmont Clan will HUNT the NIGHT!
fucking braindead, but it's still pretty fun anyway
ILL KILL YOU AND THE NIGHT!
Damn, I wanted to like this one so much more...
Heading into Lament of Innocence I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that the game dove into the origins of the Belmont family which piqued my interest and in terms of the story, I'd say the game does a good job, it answers some questions regarding the Vampire Killer and how it got the name as well as establishing the conflict between Leon and Dracula while also giving Dracula some backstory. What's there in terms of the plot is great, my only gripe is, I just wish we got more of it, maybe explain why Death is Dracula's right hand man or give a better reason why Dracula keeps reappearing rather than the vague "The people want him back because they're all dumbasses ig" the others games go with. Maybe I was expecting too much, plot's still good though.
Since I went in almost completely blind, I was surprised to see the game play like a 3D Metroidvania. It's all there, non-linearity which allows you to pick what level to play through in what order, optional bosses and plenty of hidden goodies you can find ranging from accessories, elemental whips, HP and MP upgrades and extra item slots. On paper, it sounds great, I adore the igavania titles in the series, so why don't I like this one? Well it's down to the gameplay. It's way too barebones. It plays like the most basic hack n' slasher you can find. You've got some basic combos and special moves, of which there are a ton if you go try out all the various attacks you can make by combining orbs with sub-weapons and that's about it. The entire gameplay just boils down to you using subweapons followed by mashing the square and triangle buttons for every stage. It got really monotonous and the stages all looking like an identical set of hallways only made the gameplay feel more dull. Because of this, I didn't really bother with exploring the game to find all the hidden items like I would with any other Metroidvania and that's really disappointing to me. The game is pretty short though, I beat it in under 6 hours. Also, the bossfights are fun, Doppelganger being my favourite since it's basically a war of attrition on whether you can get your attacks out before he does.
Despite how negative I sound when talking about the gameplay, I never felt extremely bored and that's because I was too busy adoring the OST. Most of what plays here is pure Castlevania gold. Some highlights for me being House of the Sacred Remains, Anti Soul Mysteries Lab, Leon's theme and this game's Cross of Fate.
Overall, I feel the game is best played in short bursts, and if I took my time with it I probably would've enjoyed it a lot more. As it stands though, the combat is way too lacklustre for me to say I've really enjoyed the game as a whole despite all the things the game has going for it.
Heading into Lament of Innocence I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew was that the game dove into the origins of the Belmont family which piqued my interest and in terms of the story, I'd say the game does a good job, it answers some questions regarding the Vampire Killer and how it got the name as well as establishing the conflict between Leon and Dracula while also giving Dracula some backstory. What's there in terms of the plot is great, my only gripe is, I just wish we got more of it, maybe explain why Death is Dracula's right hand man or give a better reason why Dracula keeps reappearing rather than the vague "The people want him back because they're all dumbasses ig" the others games go with. Maybe I was expecting too much, plot's still good though.
Since I went in almost completely blind, I was surprised to see the game play like a 3D Metroidvania. It's all there, non-linearity which allows you to pick what level to play through in what order, optional bosses and plenty of hidden goodies you can find ranging from accessories, elemental whips, HP and MP upgrades and extra item slots. On paper, it sounds great, I adore the igavania titles in the series, so why don't I like this one? Well it's down to the gameplay. It's way too barebones. It plays like the most basic hack n' slasher you can find. You've got some basic combos and special moves, of which there are a ton if you go try out all the various attacks you can make by combining orbs with sub-weapons and that's about it. The entire gameplay just boils down to you using subweapons followed by mashing the square and triangle buttons for every stage. It got really monotonous and the stages all looking like an identical set of hallways only made the gameplay feel more dull. Because of this, I didn't really bother with exploring the game to find all the hidden items like I would with any other Metroidvania and that's really disappointing to me. The game is pretty short though, I beat it in under 6 hours. Also, the bossfights are fun, Doppelganger being my favourite since it's basically a war of attrition on whether you can get your attacks out before he does.
Despite how negative I sound when talking about the gameplay, I never felt extremely bored and that's because I was too busy adoring the OST. Most of what plays here is pure Castlevania gold. Some highlights for me being House of the Sacred Remains, Anti Soul Mysteries Lab, Leon's theme and this game's Cross of Fate.
Overall, I feel the game is best played in short bursts, and if I took my time with it I probably would've enjoyed it a lot more. As it stands though, the combat is way too lacklustre for me to say I've really enjoyed the game as a whole despite all the things the game has going for it.
This game was a bit of an enigma for me as a kid. I remember playing it because of my brother getting it. The intriguing box art and awesome music had me so entranced but the gameplay I just did not understand at the time. Fast Forward 18 years later and I've finally finished the game, and boy this game design has aged beautifully.
I'll start off with a confession, aside from a few attempts at a Castlevania gameboy game and this game, I've never really played a Castlevania game before. While they looked cool and intriguing, the 2D side scrolling open ended game design did turn me off. I found it a little overwhelming for my small little mind growing up. Playing this game as my first may have probably spoiled me since its in 3D rather than your traditional 2D, but I think starting with this game really gave me a better appreciation to the open ended game design Castlevania is known for. I found it near addicting exploring the castle's various rooms and dungeons, finding hidden stat boosts and weapons and the option bosses that give me additional loot.
The combat itself is very tactile albeit a little slippery here and there, but overall holds up VERY well to today's standards. It's gameplay reminds me of Devil May Cry which knowing its influence in the industry at the time I would not be so surprised if they took some notes from that game. I don't know if Lament of Innocence was designed with newcomers in mind, but the way the game felt as I progressed made me want to try out the other games because of how much I enjoyed this one.
Coincidentally enough, this game also happens to take place at the very beginning of the entire series, so I want to say that "beginner friendly" game design may be more intentional than coincidental. Speaking of story though, this game's story is... probably it's weaker aspect. Its in no way horrible. I understood the hero's journey and his end goal, but it all just felt like an afterthought to the game's development. I will say the voice acting for this game is phenomenal though! I was playing it in Japanese (very rare for a western release of a Japanese PS2 game) and the performances were very well read. So much so that I couldn't be bothered to go back to English cuz if it ain't broke don't fix it!
If there were ever a game that was in need of a port/remaster, Lament of Innocence deserves one for sure. I know with Konami's... questionable business conduct we shouldn't hold our breaths for this game to receive an HD Remaster treatment, not after what happened with Silent Hill (may ye Rest In Peace), but I do think this game would sell very well were it to receive such treatment. There's practically nothing to fix in regards to game design. Just a bump in res and we're pretty much solid. If you have a PS2/PS3 or a PC I highly implore you to check it out. This game is a treasure amongst the massive PS2 catalogue.
I highly recommend this game to the following:
-Castlevania Fans (duh)
-Platforming enthusiasts. This game has some rewarding platform exploration game design. You'll never know what's hiding from you until you truly explore all three dimensions of the game.
-Fans of Devil May Cry. This kind of feels like a given, but in regards to the newer more younger DMC fans, this game will definitely scratch that old school DMC itch if you have one. Its combat isn't as diverse as DMC, but its SUPER fluid and fun to master.
I'll start off with a confession, aside from a few attempts at a Castlevania gameboy game and this game, I've never really played a Castlevania game before. While they looked cool and intriguing, the 2D side scrolling open ended game design did turn me off. I found it a little overwhelming for my small little mind growing up. Playing this game as my first may have probably spoiled me since its in 3D rather than your traditional 2D, but I think starting with this game really gave me a better appreciation to the open ended game design Castlevania is known for. I found it near addicting exploring the castle's various rooms and dungeons, finding hidden stat boosts and weapons and the option bosses that give me additional loot.
The combat itself is very tactile albeit a little slippery here and there, but overall holds up VERY well to today's standards. It's gameplay reminds me of Devil May Cry which knowing its influence in the industry at the time I would not be so surprised if they took some notes from that game. I don't know if Lament of Innocence was designed with newcomers in mind, but the way the game felt as I progressed made me want to try out the other games because of how much I enjoyed this one.
Coincidentally enough, this game also happens to take place at the very beginning of the entire series, so I want to say that "beginner friendly" game design may be more intentional than coincidental. Speaking of story though, this game's story is... probably it's weaker aspect. Its in no way horrible. I understood the hero's journey and his end goal, but it all just felt like an afterthought to the game's development. I will say the voice acting for this game is phenomenal though! I was playing it in Japanese (very rare for a western release of a Japanese PS2 game) and the performances were very well read. So much so that I couldn't be bothered to go back to English cuz if it ain't broke don't fix it!
If there were ever a game that was in need of a port/remaster, Lament of Innocence deserves one for sure. I know with Konami's... questionable business conduct we shouldn't hold our breaths for this game to receive an HD Remaster treatment, not after what happened with Silent Hill (may ye Rest In Peace), but I do think this game would sell very well were it to receive such treatment. There's practically nothing to fix in regards to game design. Just a bump in res and we're pretty much solid. If you have a PS2/PS3 or a PC I highly implore you to check it out. This game is a treasure amongst the massive PS2 catalogue.
I highly recommend this game to the following:
-Castlevania Fans (duh)
-Platforming enthusiasts. This game has some rewarding platform exploration game design. You'll never know what's hiding from you until you truly explore all three dimensions of the game.
-Fans of Devil May Cry. This kind of feels like a given, but in regards to the newer more younger DMC fans, this game will definitely scratch that old school DMC itch if you have one. Its combat isn't as diverse as DMC, but its SUPER fluid and fun to master.
o primeiro da linha cronológica, e também meu primeiro contato com a franquia.
amei cada segundo dentro dele por inúmeros motivos, leon belmont virou meu xodózinho e dificilmente acho que alguém vai superar ele (quem sabe o ritcher quando eu chegar no rondo of blood).
amei cada segundo dentro dele por inúmeros motivos, leon belmont virou meu xodózinho e dificilmente acho que alguém vai superar ele (quem sabe o ritcher quando eu chegar no rondo of blood).
not the most impressive or technical game out there, surely not a hallmark of action games but its fun and enjoyable in its own way
A pesar de tener un inicio y un cierre muy potentes, es de los Castlevania más flojitos, lo cuál no es necesariamente malo ya que me ha gustado mucho igualmente. El gameplay se siente algo ortopédico, como una especie de toma de contacto de la franquicia con el 3d, el combate es simple pero divertido y la dificultad, apenas existente además de ser bastante cortito. Pero eh, la pedazo de banda sonora que se casca Michiru Yamane... por si sola hace que merezca la pena jugarlo, pero sin ninguna duda además. Ahora a por el Curse of Darkness que creo que es una mejora significativa respecto a este.
Top tier track: House of Sacred Remains y Lament of Innocence ~ Leon's Theme ~
Top tier track: House of Sacred Remains y Lament of Innocence ~ Leon's Theme ~
Sólido. A gameplay é legalzinha e a progressão é satisfatória, a história é legal mas a exploração é mt ruim, bixo pq n botaram um teleporte?
Muita OST pedrada btw.
Muita OST pedrada btw.
Castlevanias em 3d são estranhos... Mas o Leon é absurdo🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hard to view this as anything but a Granfalloon-sized downgrade from Symphony of the Night. The somewhat rigid controls and fixed camera makes for real bad platforming, and Konami presumably recognised this because there's barely any actually necessary platforming sections - in a Castlevania! A small mercy I guess, but it also has the effect of compounding the seriously boring level design - with little vertical movement around the map you end up just running through a bunch of flat, samey corridors. And you're going to be running through them all multiple times, too, because this game has backtracking up the wazoo. Even the runup to the final boss is all backtracking!
It's a real shame, because I think the combat isn't bad at all once you've unlocked some more moves like the sidestep dodging. Could have used a manual lock-on but it still feels pretty snappy. You pretty much never have to fight a non-boss enemy unless they're blocking a door, though, so yeah. Dull, dull game. Waste of great box art. I do think it's very funny that they make Michael McConnohie say "it's a whip...made with Alchemy...", though.
It's a real shame, because I think the combat isn't bad at all once you've unlocked some more moves like the sidestep dodging. Could have used a manual lock-on but it still feels pretty snappy. You pretty much never have to fight a non-boss enemy unless they're blocking a door, though, so yeah. Dull, dull game. Waste of great box art. I do think it's very funny that they make Michael McConnohie say "it's a whip...made with Alchemy...", though.
Any game with an Item Duplication glitch is an immediate 10/10, so yeah. That's the review.
Ok, for real though. It's fun! And a nice origin story for the Belmont clan.
We're back in 3D land, and in a post Symphony of the Night world, it's only natural they would try to replicate the search-action formula in the third dimension.
It obviously doesn't work as well as it did for SotN. This is one area in which I feel Castlevania 64 actually one-ups this game, the level-to-level structure and platform-heavy design of CV64 just worked for me. Lament's approach to exploration isn't exactly bad, but I'd be lying if the multiple repeated rooms in each area and the long corridors with fuck all in them didn't have me thinking of Reinhardt and Carrie's adventure instead.
That said, in all other aspects, Lament comes out on top compared to its 3D predecessors. It obviously looks better, both in terms of 3D models and character design, the music has Michiru Yamane's fingerprints all over it, and the combat is far more elaborate than the 1-hit max slapfest of CV64. It's not Devil May Cry 3 levels of intricate, but considering it's their first attempt at something like this, it does a fine job.
Lament serves as an origin point for the Castlevania timeline, so there's more emphasis on story this time around, meaning lots of voice acting and cutscenes after each boss.
The voice performance is... Alright. It's clear that the voice cast is talented, and the script is much better than SotN's, but the voice direction is a little stilted. Since most of the cutscenes are pre-rendered, I assume the voice actors had no choice but to talk as fast as the cutscene runtime demanded. That doesn't mean it lacks cool lines though; Leon's speech to Death at the end comes to mind, very badass.
Overall, a very accessible entry in the series. It really doesn't ask a lot from the player and it's not very long either, which might be a downside to some, but as someone who's marathoning a whole bunch of Castlevania games in one go and also appreciates short games a lot more nowadays, I like that about it.
Ok, for real though. It's fun! And a nice origin story for the Belmont clan.
We're back in 3D land, and in a post Symphony of the Night world, it's only natural they would try to replicate the search-action formula in the third dimension.
It obviously doesn't work as well as it did for SotN. This is one area in which I feel Castlevania 64 actually one-ups this game, the level-to-level structure and platform-heavy design of CV64 just worked for me. Lament's approach to exploration isn't exactly bad, but I'd be lying if the multiple repeated rooms in each area and the long corridors with fuck all in them didn't have me thinking of Reinhardt and Carrie's adventure instead.
That said, in all other aspects, Lament comes out on top compared to its 3D predecessors. It obviously looks better, both in terms of 3D models and character design, the music has Michiru Yamane's fingerprints all over it, and the combat is far more elaborate than the 1-hit max slapfest of CV64. It's not Devil May Cry 3 levels of intricate, but considering it's their first attempt at something like this, it does a fine job.
Lament serves as an origin point for the Castlevania timeline, so there's more emphasis on story this time around, meaning lots of voice acting and cutscenes after each boss.
The voice performance is... Alright. It's clear that the voice cast is talented, and the script is much better than SotN's, but the voice direction is a little stilted. Since most of the cutscenes are pre-rendered, I assume the voice actors had no choice but to talk as fast as the cutscene runtime demanded. That doesn't mean it lacks cool lines though; Leon's speech to Death at the end comes to mind, very badass.
Overall, a very accessible entry in the series. It really doesn't ask a lot from the player and it's not very long either, which might be a downside to some, but as someone who's marathoning a whole bunch of Castlevania games in one go and also appreciates short games a lot more nowadays, I like that about it.
They gave the man 3 dollar to make a 3D castlevania
1 dollar went to a hot dog
the rest on the game
I can respect it
1 dollar went to a hot dog
the rest on the game
I can respect it
This review contains spoilers
Castlevania is one of my favorite game series. Not only do I love the linear stage-based game style, but I love the castleroid style as well. However, there is a third game style that Castlevania never seemed to really get right. No, not a fighting game with art by the creator of Death Note. No, the 3D style of game.
Adapting to 3D can be hard. I started taking Calculus III recently and have had a bit of trouble adapting to the third dimension. However, I think Lament of Innocence just barely gets a thumbs up from me. It's a faithful adaptation of the castleroid style of the series, but it definitely stumbles a bit. I'd honestly sell the game as Harmony of Dissonance in 3D. I'm not a huge fan of that game, but I think this game does enough to improve upon that one.
For example, my biggest gripe with Harmony of Dissonance is that to actually play optimally, you have to enter the menu a lot. Let's say I wanted to use a spellbook once in that game. I go into the menu, activate the book, go out of the menu, use it, go back into the menu, turn it off, then leave the menu. It's dumb, and despite being a GBA game they could've easily done better. Ironically, you still have to menu a lot in Lament of Innocence, but it's all in real time. Want to use a potion? Real time menu. Want to turn a relic on or off? Real time menu. Want to use a ticket to get out when your health is low? You better be quick in that menu! It makes fights tense, and it's something that even the most critically acclaimed game this year got wrong, so I have to give Lament of Innocence credit.
The combat isn't particularly great aside from that though. It's usually pretty button mashy. If you've played PS2 God of War, you have a good idea of how this game is with its combat. However, a few elements elevate it. First is the subweapons. They're all well-balanced, and using orbs changes their utility. There's also relics, which upgrade you for the cost of MP. To get MP back, you have to time blocks well. Dodging is less risky, but also less rewarding. It's a very simple but effective system.
However, I think a lot of the other series staples weren't adapted very well. It's extremely apparent that Igarashi had a comically small amount of resources to work with when it came to this game. This was probably true of the handheld games, but those are obviously gonna be cheaper than this kind of game. One way this shows is the exploration. Most areas do have unique theming visually, but the areas themselves are pretty repetitive when it comes to layout. Most rooms are flat arenas, and the ones that aren't are dedicated platforming areas. There's no blend of action and platforming, or at the very least interesting level design for battle arenas. Thankfully, the enemies themselves are pretty varied though.
This issue also extends to the actual exploration. I like that you can choose the order in which you play each stage, but actual exploration in each stage is super dull. You go somewhere, do a thing that opens a door far away, go to that door, repeat. There are some optional areas, which is neat, but an actual sense of exploration between levels just isn't there because the room visuals and layouts are just so repetitive.
Another issue is that the game doesn't really have much you can actually buy in the shop. Unlike many of the Castlevania games at the time, you can only use the whip here, so no buying alternate weapons. Subweapons are obtained in-stage. Orbs are obtained by defeating bosses. You can buy a few relics, but only a few. The rest is consumables, but most of those will be potions to heal and tickets to teleport. There should've been much more to obtain here, because after a point I had tons of money and little to spend it on.
Another area where the lack of resources is apparent is the visuals. Not just the environments, but the character models and animations. Our protagonist looks like a dope. Walter looks dumb too. The main villain looks kinda like Takumi from the Shoujo classic Nana. Spoilers from her on (For Nana as well). Honestly, I could see Takumi becoming an evil vampire. It seems he's characteristically two-timing Hachiko with some girl named Elizabetha, which is the dumbest name I've ever heard. Elizabetha dies though, and Takumi is so pissed that he becomes a vampire to get revenge on God. Actually, this is nothing like Takumi, he would just shrug if his wife died.
Uh... Anyway, Our hero Leon Belmont has to save his wife Maria from a vampire named Walter. He does so, but Walter bit Maria, so Maria is becoming a vampire. Apparently though, killing a willing vampire with a whip makes it a super whip. It like imbues the vampire's soul into the whip. So, Maria offers herself to upgrade Leon's whip because it's the only way to defeat Walter. This is like a step above the wife arm from Bionic Commando. Anyway, Leon defeats Walter, but then Takumi comes in and takes Walter's soul to power himself up or something. Apparently, he planned all of this. So, he planned for Walter to kidnap Maria, bite her so that she would start to become a vampire, then Leon would come and save her without dying, she is becoming a vampire but isn't one quite yet, she consents to becoming a powerful whip, then Leon would defeat Walter so that he could take his soul. Wait, Leon only knew about the whip thing because his buddy Rinaldo told him, and Rinaldo was only around because Walter killed his family and vampirized his daughter. Did Takumi plan that? Was Walter working with him? It doesn't seem like it. What if Walter killed Rinaldo? How would Leon know about the whip thing? What if Leon died, or took too long to rescue Maria? I dunno, whatever. Weirdly enough though, the final encounter here is Death, not Takumi. I mean, it's fine, but it was a bit surprising. Such ends one of like, three Castlevania origin stories.
Anyway, while the visuals aren't great, just look at that box art. Even among Castlevania box art it stands out. The same goes for the music. It's really, really good.
So, the game is good overall, but just barely. I'm definitely gonna try Curse of Darkness soon. 6/10.
Adapting to 3D can be hard. I started taking Calculus III recently and have had a bit of trouble adapting to the third dimension. However, I think Lament of Innocence just barely gets a thumbs up from me. It's a faithful adaptation of the castleroid style of the series, but it definitely stumbles a bit. I'd honestly sell the game as Harmony of Dissonance in 3D. I'm not a huge fan of that game, but I think this game does enough to improve upon that one.
For example, my biggest gripe with Harmony of Dissonance is that to actually play optimally, you have to enter the menu a lot. Let's say I wanted to use a spellbook once in that game. I go into the menu, activate the book, go out of the menu, use it, go back into the menu, turn it off, then leave the menu. It's dumb, and despite being a GBA game they could've easily done better. Ironically, you still have to menu a lot in Lament of Innocence, but it's all in real time. Want to use a potion? Real time menu. Want to turn a relic on or off? Real time menu. Want to use a ticket to get out when your health is low? You better be quick in that menu! It makes fights tense, and it's something that even the most critically acclaimed game this year got wrong, so I have to give Lament of Innocence credit.
The combat isn't particularly great aside from that though. It's usually pretty button mashy. If you've played PS2 God of War, you have a good idea of how this game is with its combat. However, a few elements elevate it. First is the subweapons. They're all well-balanced, and using orbs changes their utility. There's also relics, which upgrade you for the cost of MP. To get MP back, you have to time blocks well. Dodging is less risky, but also less rewarding. It's a very simple but effective system.
However, I think a lot of the other series staples weren't adapted very well. It's extremely apparent that Igarashi had a comically small amount of resources to work with when it came to this game. This was probably true of the handheld games, but those are obviously gonna be cheaper than this kind of game. One way this shows is the exploration. Most areas do have unique theming visually, but the areas themselves are pretty repetitive when it comes to layout. Most rooms are flat arenas, and the ones that aren't are dedicated platforming areas. There's no blend of action and platforming, or at the very least interesting level design for battle arenas. Thankfully, the enemies themselves are pretty varied though.
This issue also extends to the actual exploration. I like that you can choose the order in which you play each stage, but actual exploration in each stage is super dull. You go somewhere, do a thing that opens a door far away, go to that door, repeat. There are some optional areas, which is neat, but an actual sense of exploration between levels just isn't there because the room visuals and layouts are just so repetitive.
Another issue is that the game doesn't really have much you can actually buy in the shop. Unlike many of the Castlevania games at the time, you can only use the whip here, so no buying alternate weapons. Subweapons are obtained in-stage. Orbs are obtained by defeating bosses. You can buy a few relics, but only a few. The rest is consumables, but most of those will be potions to heal and tickets to teleport. There should've been much more to obtain here, because after a point I had tons of money and little to spend it on.
Another area where the lack of resources is apparent is the visuals. Not just the environments, but the character models and animations. Our protagonist looks like a dope. Walter looks dumb too. The main villain looks kinda like Takumi from the Shoujo classic Nana. Spoilers from her on (For Nana as well). Honestly, I could see Takumi becoming an evil vampire. It seems he's characteristically two-timing Hachiko with some girl named Elizabetha, which is the dumbest name I've ever heard. Elizabetha dies though, and Takumi is so pissed that he becomes a vampire to get revenge on God. Actually, this is nothing like Takumi, he would just shrug if his wife died.
Uh... Anyway, Our hero Leon Belmont has to save his wife Maria from a vampire named Walter. He does so, but Walter bit Maria, so Maria is becoming a vampire. Apparently though, killing a willing vampire with a whip makes it a super whip. It like imbues the vampire's soul into the whip. So, Maria offers herself to upgrade Leon's whip because it's the only way to defeat Walter. This is like a step above the wife arm from Bionic Commando. Anyway, Leon defeats Walter, but then Takumi comes in and takes Walter's soul to power himself up or something. Apparently, he planned all of this. So, he planned for Walter to kidnap Maria, bite her so that she would start to become a vampire, then Leon would come and save her without dying, she is becoming a vampire but isn't one quite yet, she consents to becoming a powerful whip, then Leon would defeat Walter so that he could take his soul. Wait, Leon only knew about the whip thing because his buddy Rinaldo told him, and Rinaldo was only around because Walter killed his family and vampirized his daughter. Did Takumi plan that? Was Walter working with him? It doesn't seem like it. What if Walter killed Rinaldo? How would Leon know about the whip thing? What if Leon died, or took too long to rescue Maria? I dunno, whatever. Weirdly enough though, the final encounter here is Death, not Takumi. I mean, it's fine, but it was a bit surprising. Such ends one of like, three Castlevania origin stories.
Anyway, while the visuals aren't great, just look at that box art. Even among Castlevania box art it stands out. The same goes for the music. It's really, really good.
So, the game is good overall, but just barely. I'm definitely gonna try Curse of Darkness soon. 6/10.
This review contains spoilers
Dracula = El Mati
Bu adam soyunun nereye dayandığını öğrendi ✋
A pretty solid attempt at 3D Castlevania, but not without some flaws and jank.
I think it's pretty cool that they attempted to make a 3D metroidvania here, but it doesn't feel like a true metroidvania, I would've liked more side content like in Symphony of the night. But the level design is still solid, it's just not as good as the masterpiece that is Symphony of the night.
The combat is decent and can be pretty fun at times, but my main issue is that it's too repetitive and gets old before the game ends. The bossfights are pretty good though, I have no complaints about them.
I also love the music, it's great even by Castlevania standards.
The game's story was also better than I expected, although I had low expectations on this front. There is a good deal of emotion carried across by the actors in certain scenes which I really liked. Although some scenes seemed to me to have no background noise, not music or even ambience, which is very strange and makes them feel a little more awkward.
One little thing I greatly appreciated was the super quick loading times, this is something that many people won't notice that improves the experience drastically.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and think it lays down a solid foundation for a sequel, but it gives a medium budget feel with some jank and repetition. It is a worthwhile game for fans of Iga's Castlevania games as long as you can get it for a decent price.
I think it's pretty cool that they attempted to make a 3D metroidvania here, but it doesn't feel like a true metroidvania, I would've liked more side content like in Symphony of the night. But the level design is still solid, it's just not as good as the masterpiece that is Symphony of the night.
The combat is decent and can be pretty fun at times, but my main issue is that it's too repetitive and gets old before the game ends. The bossfights are pretty good though, I have no complaints about them.
I also love the music, it's great even by Castlevania standards.
The game's story was also better than I expected, although I had low expectations on this front. There is a good deal of emotion carried across by the actors in certain scenes which I really liked. Although some scenes seemed to me to have no background noise, not music or even ambience, which is very strange and makes them feel a little more awkward.
One little thing I greatly appreciated was the super quick loading times, this is something that many people won't notice that improves the experience drastically.
Overall, I really enjoyed this game and think it lays down a solid foundation for a sequel, but it gives a medium budget feel with some jank and repetition. It is a worthwhile game for fans of Iga's Castlevania games as long as you can get it for a decent price.
Has a great soundtrack and pretty cool combat. It definitely copied DMC1 a bit with the camera.
Overall pretty good, the only things I dislike are the horrible backtracking and really repetitive room layouts (2D Castlevania does that as well but it's way more noticeable in 3D)
Overall pretty good, the only things I dislike are the horrible backtracking and really repetitive room layouts (2D Castlevania does that as well but it's way more noticeable in 3D)
a falta de conectividade entre os mapas dentro do castelo deixou a exploração muito fraca nesse jogo. o que é uma pena pois eu acho que é possível um castlevania 3D existir de uma forma melhor mas lament of innoncence me desapontou um pouco. tem pontos bons como as batalhas de chefes (pelo menos as que eu joguei) e trilha sonora eclética mas é meio que isso mesmo.
Kinda repetitive but it's still a pretty decent game, there's so many things on this game that could've been fixed tho
Lament of Innocence tries to combine the unique exploration style of its own predecessors while introducing fast-paced hack 'n slash gameplay from contemporary titles like Devil May Cry. Unfortunately, it fails to do either very well.
The exploration is slow and stunted due to dull, repetitive areas; an unintuitive and often unhelpful fast-travel system; and slow, stiff character movement. These combine to make traversal (and backtracking, which you will do an excessive amount of if you wish to get any items or upgrades whatsoever) a chore. Additionally, Lament includes some of the most cryptic, unintuitive, and sometimes outright opaque progression in the entire series (yes, including Simon's Quest). Although much of it is not necessary for game completion, it will lock the vast majority of players out of the actually fun and interesting aspects of the game's combat altogether.
The combat, while not completely boring, is too simple and repetitive to remain interesting for the game's already stretched length of about 10 hours (more if you go for 100%). You start the game with almost no combos (a detriment to a game of its style), and even once you do progress enough to unlock more, you realize that only one or two out of the already extremely limited supply are actually worth performing consistently. The camera is fixed in each room, meaning that if it's in a bad angle, you have no choice but to try to move to another part of the room to see the action better. The Relic system is also laughably underdeveloped, having only 6 options to choose from in the entire game, 3 of which will ever be useful; of these 3, none are unlocked without copious amounts of backtracking and cryptic nonsense. The saving grace is the legitimately fun and interesting mixture of classic sub-weapons (Daggers, Axes, Holy Water, etc.) and Orb powers, which combine to grant Leon many exciting abilities. The system is almost exactly like that of Harmony of Dissonance, making it a welcome return from another troubled Castlevania title. Unfortunately, some of the best and most interesting of these are, once again, locked behind the game's poor exploration.
The music, while legitimately good, starts to grate on you once it has looped for the 100th time on a stage. For as long as you will spend in each individual area picking your way through the same enemies in each cookie cutter room, there is a distinct lack of different music for different floors, sub-areas, etc.
The story is a mess, pulled in two directions by its archetypal nature and its new series lore. The majority of Lament is an uninspired narrative consisting of a young knight, aided by an old mentor, on a quest to save his girlfriend from a vampire (notably, not Dracula). While almost nothing about Rinaldo the Alchemist and Walter the Vampire is particularly compelling, Leon makes for a simple but effective protagonist, and the twists (one of which is extremely obvious) actually make the game's narrative stand out from its peers a bit.
Overall, Lament of Innocence, whether due lack of care or (much more likely) budget and time constraints, is a half-baked entry in the Castlevania series, but it is still far from the worst.
The exploration is slow and stunted due to dull, repetitive areas; an unintuitive and often unhelpful fast-travel system; and slow, stiff character movement. These combine to make traversal (and backtracking, which you will do an excessive amount of if you wish to get any items or upgrades whatsoever) a chore. Additionally, Lament includes some of the most cryptic, unintuitive, and sometimes outright opaque progression in the entire series (yes, including Simon's Quest). Although much of it is not necessary for game completion, it will lock the vast majority of players out of the actually fun and interesting aspects of the game's combat altogether.
The combat, while not completely boring, is too simple and repetitive to remain interesting for the game's already stretched length of about 10 hours (more if you go for 100%). You start the game with almost no combos (a detriment to a game of its style), and even once you do progress enough to unlock more, you realize that only one or two out of the already extremely limited supply are actually worth performing consistently. The camera is fixed in each room, meaning that if it's in a bad angle, you have no choice but to try to move to another part of the room to see the action better. The Relic system is also laughably underdeveloped, having only 6 options to choose from in the entire game, 3 of which will ever be useful; of these 3, none are unlocked without copious amounts of backtracking and cryptic nonsense. The saving grace is the legitimately fun and interesting mixture of classic sub-weapons (Daggers, Axes, Holy Water, etc.) and Orb powers, which combine to grant Leon many exciting abilities. The system is almost exactly like that of Harmony of Dissonance, making it a welcome return from another troubled Castlevania title. Unfortunately, some of the best and most interesting of these are, once again, locked behind the game's poor exploration.
The music, while legitimately good, starts to grate on you once it has looped for the 100th time on a stage. For as long as you will spend in each individual area picking your way through the same enemies in each cookie cutter room, there is a distinct lack of different music for different floors, sub-areas, etc.
The story is a mess, pulled in two directions by its archetypal nature and its new series lore. The majority of Lament is an uninspired narrative consisting of a young knight, aided by an old mentor, on a quest to save his girlfriend from a vampire (notably, not Dracula). While almost nothing about Rinaldo the Alchemist and Walter the Vampire is particularly compelling, Leon makes for a simple but effective protagonist, and the twists (one of which is extremely obvious) actually make the game's narrative stand out from its peers a bit.
Overall, Lament of Innocence, whether due lack of care or (much more likely) budget and time constraints, is a half-baked entry in the Castlevania series, but it is still far from the worst.
Incredibly boring. Really wish the first 3D Vania could be a lot more engaging than it actually is. Fighting feels clunky, the game feels like a random progression of featureless rooms and you only occasionally get the impression you're playing a finished game. Difficulty is also a motherfucker and has not made me want to come back to it.
I really enjoyed my short time with this DMCvania. Movement was fun, the whip combos and perfect guards were really satisfying to use. Yamane's music is good as ever and creates a perfect atmosphere in the castle. But I felt like the game had potential to be so much more than it was. The level layouts are fairly repetitive, the "swinging" and platforming are unintuitive, bosses are mostly very simple and easy. Still, it's a good translation of the series to 3D.
A atmosfera melancólica e trevosa de Lament é algo que eu sinto falta em Dark's Fantasy nos dias de hoje, sendo um piloto da saga ele consiste com uma bela direção de roteiro em sua trama, nos apresentando e adentrando na jornada dos Belmont, as soundtracks são incríveis e nos trazem um sentimento a mais de imersão dentre o castelo, diversos personagens interessantes e bem apresentados, deixando um ar misterioso para cada um deles, o único ponto negativo de Lament é seu maçante Backtracking, é totalmente chato e irritante perambular pelo castelo com seu Level Design patético e repetitivo.
Facilmente um dos títulos que mais me surpreendeu da franquia.
O primeiro jogo da cronologia de Castlevania definitivamente não decepciona, música e ambientação são lindíssimos, gráficos ótimos e uma história bem decente até.
O combate e o foco no mesmo foi bem colocado, temos vários golpes e o chicote nunca fica enjoativo de usar, mas não posso dizer o mesmo do level design. Infelizmente as salas são repetitivas e o backtracking é muito cansativo visto que Leon é um personagem relativamente lento e a exploração não é mais o foco.
Mas ainda sim, é um ótimo jogo.
O primeiro jogo da cronologia de Castlevania definitivamente não decepciona, música e ambientação são lindíssimos, gráficos ótimos e uma história bem decente até.
O combate e o foco no mesmo foi bem colocado, temos vários golpes e o chicote nunca fica enjoativo de usar, mas não posso dizer o mesmo do level design. Infelizmente as salas são repetitivas e o backtracking é muito cansativo visto que Leon é um personagem relativamente lento e a exploração não é mais o foco.
Mas ainda sim, é um ótimo jogo.