Rating of
2.5/5
Castlevania in 3D Not Done Well
dbarry_22 - wrote on 10/05/11
The Castlevania series took a step back with this game. This was the 2nd attempt at making Castlevania 3D, following the Nintendo 64 version. While the graphics and play control are better than its predecessor, the rest of the game falls short.
Attacking in this game is fun in theory, but you seem to learn the skills randomly and there's not much to beating all the enemies other than mashing and blocking and a bit of dodging. No specific combos cause enemies to be stunned or gives you a noticeable advantage and no enemy is extremely tough.
The puzzles are vague and simple almost to the point where you can't figure them out. You don't learn skills that help you solve puzzles other than a couple whips that help you with one of them. The "hint" phrases are barely helpful and seem forced to help you with these unthoughtful puzzles.
The castle is boring. you go down the same long hallways followed by battle rooms over and over. And, since you go through five separate stages, it doesn't even feel like your traversing a castle. It's barely 3D because the designers didn't even think of building upwards in levels. The music isn't that great compared to others in the series, too.
Don't even get me started with the story either. You learn bits and pieces as you go through each stage but depending on which one you go through at a time, it causes it to be jumbled and pointless. The "shocking twist" at the end isn't shocking at all, and you don't even get a sense of closure when you beat it anyways.
As a big fan of the Castlevania sereies, this was a major disappointment.
