Previews

Hands-on with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for 3DS

Fairest of them all?

Hands-on with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for 3DS

There are two types Castlevania fan: those who think Symphony of the Night's exploration-heavy gameplay marks the pinnacle of the series, and those who believe that Rondo of Blood's stage-based structure is as close to perfection as the franchise has come.

Over this issue internet wars have been fought, friendships have been tested, and enemies have been made. But peace may finally be upon us, because Konami has seen fit to combine the two gameplay styles into one with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Ancient evil

Its 2.5D world is undeniably looking gorgeous already. Areas are vast, with towering pillars spiralling skyward in the far distance, hinting at the sheer scale of the quest that lies ahead.

Models are highly detailed, evoking Symphony of the Night's gothic romanticism – there's a lot of leather, worn fabric, and steel. But there's a touch of the home console release of Lords of Shadow in there, too - a dash of the naturalistic that grounds the story far more in reality than Symphony of the Night ever did.

Also brought over from the 3D outings is the combo-based combat - you can chain manoeuvres together in spectacular displays of skeleton-smashing. It looks like the emphasis will be in stringing these attacks together while keeping one eye out for incoming strikes to evade or block.

The platforming is more forgiving than the original NES releases, even if it retains the need for precision that the series is known for. But the fighting is just intense - it's Dark Souls-esque in that each encounter in an unfamiliar area can quickly go very wrong.

The series's trademark skeletons that throw bones at you are back, though many of the other classic enemies were nowhere to be seen. It's likely they'll make a return, but it was disappointing not to encounter more in this demo.

The towering boss characters are certainly back. Learning their attack patterns, timing your hits, and keeping your distance are all key to vanquishing them back to the hell they came from.

(Dracula) X marks the spot

Where the game borrows most from Symphony of the Night is in its map layout, in which you can revisit areas to find hidden goodies.

It differs - and moves more into Rondo of Blood territory - in the fact that there are fewer environmental puzzles to tackle, and you can pretty much breeze through an area (if you're good enough) from one end to the other without much backtracking.

Cut-scenes and dialogue help lend Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate a degree of grandeur that the 2D titles could never achieve, and every aspect of the game has triple-A production values.

The steep learning curve may confine this to hardcore gamers, but for the Castlevania fan aching to plunge his fangs into another adventure it's looking like a real feast.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is set for release sometime in 2013, keep checking back with Pocket Gamer for more coverage of this promising looking title.
Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.