Castlevania Lament of Innocence

🎮 PlayStation 2 ⏳ 10 hours ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

First 3D Leap #

This Castlevania marked the series’ first full leap into 3D action on home consoles, set as an origin story for the Belmont clan, the MC is Leon Belmont, and you play his quest through a gothic castle to rescue his beloved and confront the vampire lord Walter Bernhard. The game features stylish, combo-based combat and a hauntingly atmospheric soundtrack, which is a trademark of the Castlevania series, having amazing OSTs. While its visuals and mood were praised, it has repetitive level design and shallow exploration compared to its 2D predecessors.

Flawed Gothic Experiment #

Still, it successfully laid narrative groundwork for the franchise and offered solid Hack’N Slash gameplay with Castlevania’s signature tone. This is a flawed but atmospheric 3D debut for the series—best appreciated by fans curious about the lore and evolution of Castlevania. I’m not a fan of this one but decided not to skip it simply because I like Castlevania very much, though I don’t consider this a must-play, the other entries which have better exploration and RPG mechanics are much better experiences, still I would only play this one if the person is a Castlevania fan to any extent.

Bosses Done Right #

I think that what bugs me the most on this game is enemy variety, which is lacks, you have variations of the same enemies, which in on itself, technically, counts as enemy variety, but not in a creative way. There is one thing I can praise about this is the boss encounters, they are very good, and very challenging, it won’t blow your mind but this game definitely translated 2D to 3D amazingly when it comes to the bosses.