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Mini-Review : Castlevania : Lament of Innocence for PS2
I have been playing Castlevania : Lament of Innocence for PS2 since it's release this week. As with all the other games in the series it is a blast to play as a mixture of gothic horror and kick ass videogame violence. This is the first real sequel to the masterful Castlevania : Symphony of the Night on the PSOne and Saturn. It would not do the game justice for me to review it so I just have this mini-review as a place holder until BBQ can get deeper into the game and do a proper review.
This is about the third Castlevania game in 3d. The first being both versions of Castlevania : Legacy of Darkness on Nintendo64. Then the never completed and never released Castlevania : Resurrection of the Sega Dreamcast. We can only imagine what Resurrection would play like and the gameplay of Legacy of Darkness was a bit off setting to the 2d loving fans of the series. But I can report with joy that the gameplay in Lament of Innocence is tight and fun. I would still love to see more 2d Castlevania game on the Gameboy and Playstation Portable but I can say that this is a transition to 3d graphics that I can live with.
There is a bit more action kung-fu like gameplay in this than previous games. The totally non-interactive camera is a bit hard to get used to. Shinobi, Rygar, Contra, Zelda, Sonic and Mario have finally moved into 3d and I am glad to say that Castlevania made the move gracefully.
Everyone is going to make the comparisons between this game and Devil May Cry. The non-interactive camera and combat with multiple baddies is sure like Devil May Cry as is the long coat on Leon Belmont but I think that Capcom started lifting artistic inspiration from the 2d Castlevania games. I am not saying that Lament of Innocence is a rip off of Devil May Cry but I have no doubt that the creators of this game did play Devil May Cry.
Oh they left the original Japanese dialog option in the game if you so desire at the option screen. Slick!
The graphics, animation and music is pure Castlevania and does not disappoint. This is pretty much what I had expected and I am not disappointed by this game. I shall look forward to playing this game until the end. This game was made by much of the same people who worked on Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood so it is mathematically impossible to love Castlevania and not have a blast with this game.
Jake at October 24, 2003 
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Comments
I agree that they have done a good job at keeping the classic Castlevania feel, but the camera angle is very much similar to Rygar (PS2) and Devil May Cry, making it very difficult to completely control your character. Which can be frustrating when you are trying to reach that upper ledge or jump from one place to another. But, beyond that, the only complaint I have so far is the massively annoying fleamen who have plagued every Castlevania in history, and continue to do so in Lament of Innocence.
Posted by: Mici at October 24, 2003 7:31 AM
Nice, thanks for the impressions. Looking forward to checking it out myself also.
Posted by: ZYirAH at October 24, 2003 10:57 AM
Jake correct me if I'm wrong on this, but didn't Symphony of the Night only come out on the Playstation? I've been a Vania fan since the beginning and I was scratching my head trying to place a Saturn version...
Posted by: Boyd at October 26, 2003 9:56 AM
In Japan it also was out of the Saturn. BBQ has a copy of it.
Posted by: Jake at October 26, 2003 10:08 AM
Is it worth the purchase, or is it more of a week-long rental type of game? I am a huge fan of earlier 2d versions, but I have not had a chance to play any of the GBA titles or this version (yet)...
Posted by: Jeff at October 28, 2003 9:00 AM
Yes it is worth it. I have been playing it and it is a blast. The three Gameboy Advance games are more old school but this is Castlevania in 3d done right.
Posted by: Jake at October 28, 2003 9:24 AM
