he Castlevania reboot from Mercury Steam and Kojima productions is a noteworthy one amongst it’s peers that have attempted to modernize with a new beginning. In some degree, no matter how drastic the change to the conventions or tropes with the source material that’s being reworked, there’s always some form of semblance to the roots of the property; Lords of Shadow barely identifies with remotely recognizable to the Castlevania label.
It wasn’t until players were greeted to a cliffhanger ending comprised of several spontaneous details tof a drastic change to story direction. Gabriel’s predicament and radically changed outlook displayed no inkling of clarification to what sort of events took place prior leading to the revelations portrayed within these last scenes—just a bait and switch for the upcoming sequels that would deliver the answers we were seeking. Before we would see the true sequel to Lords of Shadow however, Mercury Steam in true Japanese fashion, would give us the midquel that is Mirror of Fate to bridge the two main games on the 3DS—unfortunately, it didn’t do so hot.
The theme of Lords of Shadow has always been about second chances however, and with Mirror of Fate being rereleased on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network with an HD facelift and improvements directly responding to the criticisms of its portable cousin; the redemption pays off, but comes off a bit winded in the process.
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Stevie
ot that it's a bad thing, but retro styled games are practically everywhere now. Both visually and gameplay wise tons of products on the indie scene are embracing gaming's origins to varying degrees. Some are parodies like Super Meat Boy or Retro City Rampage, while a smaller batch are genuine attempts at capturing the actual feel these classics gave us in the very beginning. Shovel Knight is the latter.
