Of course, to take full advantage of the qualities of this Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate, you have to start by putting its sourness aside. These purists who swear only by the past will not be able to appreciate this new reading of the myth of Dracula and the eternal fight of the Belmont family. Mirror of Fate also acts as a transition episode between the last Lords of Shadow released in 2010 on PS3 and Xbox 360 and its sequel, Lords of Shadow 2, planned this year with a little luck, or in 2014 if the developers take their time. So be aware that the beginning of Mirror of Fate will force you to know the ending of Lords of Shadow whether you want to or not. So be careful not to get spoiled by buying the game if you haven't had the opportunity to play Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Still, we take into account that you are now warned and that the rest of this test will unfortunately contain spoilers, in order to be able to give you all the right information about this game.
Vania Ultra
Since the hero, Gabriel Belmont, has passed to the other side of the Force in front of himself Dracula, the Master of the Vampires, it falls not to his offspring but to his grandson Simon to go and plant the stake in him. in the heart, without forgetting the clove of garlic that goes with it, just to make his revenge even tastier. But our fiery hero is not the only protagonist of this adventure, but one of the four that the scenario has planned to offer us. Simon, Alucar, Gabriel and Trevor therefore have the heavy task of giving us the benefit of a scenario that responds to all the gray areas that haunted Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. No need to be a diviner to recognize all the heroes that we have been able to embody in the previous Castlevania; a bit of a fan service side that aims to attract all fans of the series. If Gabriel will only be accessible for a short prologue, the other characters will make their skills available, even if overall the gameplay remains identical to each. It is indeed on the side of the secondary skills that our heroes are distinguished from each other. Simon can call on specters to lend him a hand and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Alucar can transform himself due to his half-vampire nature (he is the legitimate son of Dracula and a mortal) and finally Trevor may appeal to other powers as well. Each of these vampire hunters takes turns heading, each living in a well-defined era. Of course, for pure gameplay reasons, we would have liked to be able to switch protagonists to multiply the possibilities of gameplay, but what we lose in playability, we gain in immersion.
One for all, all against one!
Also, to modernize the series a little, Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate does not hesitate to take up certain codes from the home console version, such as the possibility of making multiple combos that can be unlocked over time. 'adventure. Our four heroes indeed use the whip as Kratos deploys his blades of hell. But where the Belmont family stands out is in the use of a double jump, the dash and secondary weapons that are always very useful and different depending on the character played. Better, it is possible to achieve aerial combos to maximize the chances of rusting the vampire with efficiency and class. Over the levels, our heroes gain in aptitude and combining attacks becomes a constant pleasure. A contemporary aspect that combines with an old school side that is not displeasing to us, reminiscent of the first Castlevania with horizontal scrolling, revised in 2013 sauce. We are indeed dealing with a game that perfectly mixes the scenery and the characters in 3D to make a 2D representation. The result is rather successful, thanks above all to the very fine graphics, the high-flying baroque artistic direction and the intelligent integration of cutscenes that promote immersion.
A contemporary aspect that combines with an old school side that is not displeasing to us, reminiscent of the first Castlevania with horizontal scrolling, revised in 2013 sauce."
Even better, the use of 3DS relief is also really successful, with depth fields rarely seen in a 3DS game and sometimes reminiscent of Super Mario 3D Land. Too bad, however, that the gameplay never uses this optical effect, too little exploited since the release of the 3DS. Fortunately, Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate can count on a staging worthy of the name, which reminds us that the 3DS can perfectly transcribe the epic side of the series. The great fights are always well introduced, with cinematographic angles of view and we pass without difficulty from the gameplay to the cut-scenes, without the slightest cut. If the action has obviously taken over the game, modernity of the franchise obliges, Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate does not fail to offer its phases of exploration, puzzles and a certain interest in the challenge. If the path leading to Dracula's mansion seems clear, the progression of the game intelligently alternates between platform phases, puzzle-games and fights against Dracula's forces. It will take about 8 to 10 hours of play to arrive in front of Gabriel, totally transformed into Dracula. In short, with such gaming pleasure and the 3DS being quite poor in games for gamers, it would be a shame to miss out.
