When developer Mercury Steam began creating the Lords of Shadow series, die-hard Castlevania fans were drawn primarily by the kicking and screaming. After all, the studio aimed to weave its own story into the wider world of Castlevania. As a result, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2010 was a huge success and incredible success. It wasn’t the first great 3D Castlevania game, but it was probably the first great game, including Castlevania. Even if it sounds like a god of war game. That’s why the long-awaited sequel, Castlevania: Shadow of Shadows 2, is confusing.

It seems you come back often. There are too many contemporary tracks to satisfy as many as possible. Some of these changes (for example, the transition from linear campaigns to non-linear open worlds) have been very successful, while other changes, such as the addition of unsightly stealth sections or unfortunate modern environments, have been. significantly damaged. It has the final product. Lords of Shadow 2 is technically good, but trying to do a lot of new things I couldn’t understand the spirit that made the original so great.

Where Lords of Shadow 2 shines is in this battle. Gabriel Belmont, now known as Dracula, is very similar to Kratos in the God of War game, where you can combine light and heavy attacks to destroy your enemies. I especially liked the depth of the new experience system. This unlocks many new moves as you fight. The fact that this system encourages and rewards the use of all the movements available to you requires you to deepen your experience.

He was also delighted to have Dracula at his disposal with three basic weapons that serve a variety of purposes. His standard whip attacks perform tricks most of the time, but his chaotic claws and empty swords, both with their limited magical caliber, must be used regularly, especially in combat. Add a special dynamic. Chaos Claws penetrate enemy armor and shields (in addition to dealing heavy damage), and Void’s sword is weak, but heals Dracula with every hit. Lords of Shadow 2 has been supplemented with features, such as Chaos Claws, Void Swords, and Whips, which have different fights than the original, such as special items that have never been used before. When I changed, my toes stayed the same.

Unfortunately, Lords of Shadow 2 was not very successful in its setting. Modern Castlevania isn’t always unfamiliar, but it lacks the gothic feel that makes previous games in the series clear and impressive. It feels awkward and out of place for this character when he talks to a man in a cute suit who smokes a cigarette as he walks the 21st-century streets filled with cars and computers. Fortunately, Dracula can go back and forth between the past and the present, but we can’t even feel or see the various areas that he has explored in the past as being all that interesting. Without a compelling set of locations, at least in many sequences, you haven’t played, only the characters and stories remain.

But even then, Lords of Shadow 2 fails. Dracula is very interesting, but the characters around him are not (with a few exceptions, such as the toymaker and Dracula’s wife and son). And this story, which at first glance appears to have been drawn from Capcom’s discarded Resident Evil Story dossier, is puzzling and uninteresting. Castlevania hasn’t exactly been known for its amazing story in the past, but it’s nice if we’re going to be brute force. This alone is too long and focuses on several different topics revolving around modern pharmaceutical companies, among others.

To make matters worse, this is the list of enemies from Lords of Shadow 2, enemies that are mostly bland and boring. Some bosses are really cool; Many of these fights are epic and they really mix things up. But among them, little distinguishes small enemies from each other. Also, there are enemies that don’t seem to fit into Castlevania at all. Why does Dracula fight rockets and alien creatures with machine guns? Despite all the standard Castlevania dishes out there (for example, skeletons with swords and shields), there are many more enemies that made me scratch my head.

Fighting all kinds of monsters is one thing, especially since Lords of Shadow 2’s excellent core mechanics can hide some issues, but what can’t be hidden are the terrifying invisibility sections scattered all over the place. countryside. Not only are these sections confusing and inexplicably overwhelming for your fighting ability, but they also impose on you weak mechanics and a little explanation of what you should be doing. They disrupt the pace of the game and pose big questions, so Dracula can kill 99% of the enemies in the game, but not the specific creatures that are presented to him in moments of invisibility. As fun as Lords of Shadow 2 is to play, these sections spoil the experience and are frustrating over and over again. They are not only poorly designed and poorly designed; They limit your options because it is practical for today’s level design, not because it makes sense.

To its credit, Lords of Shadow 2 brings the streak of linearity to an open world. This is a great solution, especially since the world and everything in it is so beautiful. Lords of Shadow 2 is a beautiful game, albeit chained by long, often haunting, and poorly disguised load times, and there’s no shortage of beautiful monuments, Gothic architecture, and lovable character models. The further you advance in the campaign, the more non-combat moves you will unlock, such as transforming into mist or double jump, allowing you to see more of the covered map, both past, and present. All of this exploration is accompanied by beautiful music, a different soundtrack to the larger Castlevania franchise, but still adequate and well-executed.

Exploring the vast open world of Lords of Shadow 2 is rewarding as there is so much to find, including but not limited to updates and tons of documents. They contribute to the exceptional crafting value of Lords of Shadow 2, and the focus they put on their own expertise is commendable. It is a pity that this adventure, which will last at least 15 hours, has nothing that you love.

Verdict

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 seems like a product of overthinking. I applaud any developer who wants to do something new, who doesn’t want to stay there. It’s just that MercurySteam has given up on a lot of the things that made Lords of Shadow such a stellar game, Castlevania, or whatever. Lords of Shadow 2 may have won the open world, but a mediocre story, uninteresting enemies, and a mellow cast went along with it. The combat could be improved, but the forced stealth sections are just concerning and frustrating. The end result is far from the overall quality of the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.