Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

It is finally time to review Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. A game I have been anticipating since I beat the first one. Mercury Steam did a good job rebooting Castlevania for me in a different perspective, however, that is sadly not the case with its direct sequel. Four excruciatingly long years I have endured to find that my expectations were too high for what could have happened to this series, and I will gladly explain why.

Much like the first game, Lords of Shadow 2 is an action-adventure that is developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami. It is MercurySteam's last entry in developing a Castlevania game, and I am glad for the contribution they have offered so far.

Story: MercurySteam's Castlevania has redefined for me the setting especially with the plot twists I honestly did not expect. Doing my best to avoid all spoilers, MercurySteam allowed the player to follow the narrative as Gabriel Belmont banishes dark forces. As cheesy as that might sound, it was an over-the-top experience for me that could have only been done by above average writing. Gabriel ends up being consumed by darkness itself at the end of the first game, where the story ended in a cliffhanger, turning him into Dracula. That left many possibilities for me at least. I was baffled by how brave of a decision it could have been to create an antagonistic character followed by the narrative. Throughout all Castlevania games, the player was used to ascending Dracula's obstacles and castles and eventually banishing him until his next return. Thinking about it made me excited for the sequel, since I was close to being sure that it would offer an unorthodox perspective about it. Perhaps we would play As Dracula fighting for his life against the next Belmont and eventually ending the Belmont line by his own hands.

Sure enough when the announcement came and the posters overflowed my newsfeed, I was ready to have a great experience, to say the least. I was deeply and regrettably wrong. In Lords of Shadow 2, the player does follow Dracula's journey centuries later in a contemporary setting. However, the player's objective is to fight Dracula's own spirit and what seemed as hours of countless and mundane hours for me, I was tasked with fighting Dracula's own urges to take over him and the other half of the game was Gabriel fighting Satan and his acolytes followed by rapid character introductions that made them lifeless and lacking to a personality, to say the least. It was generally a mediocre experience for me since there was not much character introduction and/or exploration like the first one. There were many lines taken from previous Castlevania titles that seemed intentional to add, perhaps to appeal to different fans. Then I noticed that perhaps the reason I loved this take on Castlevania was that it was a memorable and an original experience on its own. That was the case until the sequel connected an abundant number of characters that may have contributed little to nothing for the writing. Eventually, the ending left me hanging not with a cliffhanger but with a questionable sense of dread as to what could they possibly have in store for us in the DLC to find out more about the reasoning behind the story. Perhaps they have more in store for us to look forward to more games. 

I was wrong about my assumption again after finishing the DLC, since it added peripheral information to the reasoning behind some characters' choices, but it did not add anything more than what the player already knows which is ironic given its title "Revelations" and even more ironic comparing it to the first Lords of Shadow's DLC, which revealed quite a lot about the story. To be precise, I was generally dissatisfied with Lords of Shadow 2 in its story and was hoping the gameplay would make up for its mishaps.

Lords of Shadow 2 introduced many characters fast

Gameplay: Like many Action-Adventure titles in my experience, Lords of Shadow 2 is a mindless hack and slash game that requires little reflexes and is surprisingly far too lengthy this time. Many reactions from Lords of shadow have aligned it with the God of War series, stating that the player doesn't need to put any mental effort in playing it and that it was far too easy. I agree to some extent, since I have enjoyed the difficulty of the first game and I had to put effort into my skills to overcome most bosses, especially in the "Hard" difficulty. That was not the case for the sequel. Apparently it was intentionally made to be easier and proved to be a breeze , other than the challenge mode, which was somewhat difficult. 

Lords of Shadow 2 uses the same basic elements of gameplay, where attacking is divided into two forms, direct and area attacks. Direct attacks are stronger and harder to land, whereas area attacks are easier to land but provide less damage. Dracula can defend and deflect attacks as well as feeding off his enemies to regenerate health. Light and Dark magic return here as well, where Light heals the player and Dark breaks the enemy's defense. Unlike the first Lords of Shadow, Dracula can master his weapons the more he uses his skills now, which is a gimmick to force the player to use various moves but is rewarding for added damage once a weapon is fully mastered. The focus bar also returns in this installment, where the more the player hits the enemy without being damaged, the more damage and magic drops from them.

Just as mentioned before, it is important to note that Lords of Shadow 2 is a considerably long game, spanning at least 20 hours of gameplay in both Story and the DLC. I was immersed for the first part, given my curiosity as to what the writing could offer, until I realized how dull the game was especially with introducing odd mechanics that are out of the ordinary for what Dracula might resort to such as the stealth levels. 

I never expected to see a stealth level in a Castlevania game, let alone a level that was done right. Most of them were awkward experiences where Dracula turned into a rat to travel between areas and disposing of guards that are able to kill Dracula with one hit. I wondered about the significance of adding such a mechanic, but was not able to find an answer to my confusion. Bosses were not memorable at all for me in Lords of Shadow 2, perhaps due to the poor writing, which provided the lack of immersion on my part.

Another of the added mechanics are the projectiles Dracula can throw, which can change as Light and Dark magic contribute to the platforming part of the game, as well as fending off enemies such as freezing objects or exploding the nearest obstacles. Item drops are also found such as health pickups, hourglasses that slow time for enemies, Blue crystals that offer max weapon masteries, Dodo Eggs that show the player the location of a secret area, and last but not least Talisman of the Dragon which triggers a cutscene when activated and deals massive damage to both enemies and bosses.

All in all, there isn't much difference in Lords of Shadow 2. I had hoped that the gameplay would make up for the lack of a solid story but it was the same as the first one, and offered minor additions that were awkward, eventually confusing me into thinking I am playing an expansion of the first game, one long expansion at that. One of the most annoying factors about both games were the tutorial popups that remind the player of the next objective or the extra artwork one hasn't checked up on yet and apparently that was not removed in the sequel.

Graphics: Perhaps the only redeeming quality of Lords of Shadow 2 were its graphics. There is nothing more immersive than the environment MercurySteam have provided. Character models were accurate and the backgrounds were great to look at for a few seconds, giving me a brief respite before going on with Dracula's lifeless journey. I was practically saving screenshots every few seconds from how much I loved the environment. Then again, perhaps it was the only consistent factor MercurySteam have preserved since the first game. It provided a good medium to stay curious about the setting, which was done well from the first minute to the last. Sadly, with low quality writing not contributing to the environment, one cannot be fully immersed with the aesthetics.

Gorgeous backgrounds and neat character models

The breathtaking environments stretch far out and are reachable

Sound: I was taken aback by the music here since Oscar Arauo is a recurring composer here. The tracks were enjoyable to a certain extent but I felt that some tracks were a bit too repetitive, not to mention that most boss fights didn't have an engaging piece as opposed to Lords of Shadow. The tracks in the previous games were memorable and held a really good place for me, whereas here it mostly blends in with the environment. The same voice actors return here as well and dialogue was fairly engaging, no complaints there. My only problem was the repetitive music, which sounded as a downgrade here.

Replayability: Lords of Shadow 2 does a good job with replayability. The game is lengthy enough and I was not able to purchase all my skills. However, experience gain carries over in New Game+ so the player can buy the same skills or try different ones to master. Upgrades also carry over so the players have a chance to check the hidden areas they missed out on.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Score:

6/10