Sep 30th, 2003, 08:37 PM
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence and FFX-2 Demos, more
Next month's Official US Playstation Magazine (December) will have playable demos of both Castlevania and FFX-2. Also on the disc will the The Eternal Calm (the special video from FFX that set up the sequel) in full English, and a behind-the-scenes video feature for the game.
Also, playable demos of I-Ninja and XIII, which you might be interested in.
Anyway, here's a review for LoI from the November issue of the same magazine. They gave it a 4 out of 5.
The latest game in the long-running Castlevania series has just about every card in the deck stacked against it. It's the first 3D game in the series since the release of the two Nintendo 64 Castlevania games, which were rightfully panned. Lament also has a fixed camera, something that can potentially mar an otherwise enjoyable game. But, despite these and several other factors, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence somehow rises above it all, and delivers one of the best action-adventure games on the Playstation 2 this year.
The action part of that equation is worth pointing out simply because it's been executed so well. Despite the lack of a manual camera or a lock-on system for targeting enemies, the combat mechanics in Lament of Innocence work wonderfully. You can rely on basic whip combinations for weaker enemies, but at the same time, you're encouraged to try more complex maneuvers - not only to deal with stronger foes but to also learn new and even stronger moves that become incredibly useful later in the game. In addition, the traditional secondary Castlevania weapons - such as the cross, crystal, dagger, ax, and holy water - can be worked into these combinations for especially devastating attacks. During all of this, the camera is usually positioned in a useful perspective that hardly ever makes it difficult to see where enemies are, even when the camera is directly facing or closely following Leon Belmont.
It's interesting that the fixed camera really doesn't hinder that game's exploration elements, either. You must occasionally jump around in order to get the camera to pan towards the ceiling of a room, to find hidden balconies or ledges that Leon can climb, but that's the smallest aspect of exploration in the game. The real rewards come by solving puzzles that aren't necessary for completing the game, as well as finding keys scattered throughout the castle, which sounds relatively straightforward but actually requires some backtracking in true Symphony of the Night style.
Of course, if you're not a particularly big fan of backtracking, then you'll find it especially painful in Castlevania - not because it's tedious, but because of the repetitive level design. Every level in the game has repeating hallways or rooms that look similar to each other, save the difference in enemies and some slight changes in background detail. That's not to say the game looks bad, because it still retains a cool gothic style, and all of Ayame Kojima's art is faithfully reproduced in polygon form. But when you travel through the same room dozens of times, it takes a little fun out of the whole experience.
Still, fans of the series will undoubtedly be able to tolerate this. They'll also be the ones most interested in the story, which reveals the origins of the Castlevania saga and the conflict between the Belmonts and Dracula. Though the dialogue in the cut-scenes is laughable, the story itself is good enough to hold your interest throughout the game.
At any rate, Lament of Innocence serves as proof that a Castlevania game can be done in 3D while retaining the essence of the series with great music and gameplay, and a stylized look. There's still room for improvement, but it's a great new beginning.
Giancario Varanini
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