Game Review: Castlevania Lords Of Shadow – Mirror Of Fate (3DS)
Since 1986 Castlevania and the Belmont family have 
been a constant in gamers’ lives. We’ve been introduced to many descendants of the Belmonts over the years and each one has brought a unique story to the Castlevania franchise. In recent years we’ve seen a reboot of the franchise that started with Castlevania: Lords of Shadows and this game is a direct sequel to that title. In MOF we’re introduced to familiar faces, Trevor Belmont, Simon Belmont and Alucard who are alternate versions of their existing characters in the franchise. I’ve been a fan of this series for a long while now and have honestly been looking forward to this title since it takes place and further extends the story that we were left with in the initial Lords of Shadows.
Story:
I thought the continuation of this story was great! Bringing in Trevor, Simon and Alucard into the mix for three separate (yet connecting) quests to push the storyline even further was fantastic. Familiar names are always a good thing in a franchise such as this. Kudos to Konami and MercurySteam because MOF really does prove that even a portable title can have a feel of a full fledged console game. Any player can easily pick this game up without having to have played Lords of Shadows (there’s some spoilers of the previous game in the beginning) though I don’t recommend it. This continuing story has me currently intrigued and I can honestly say that I’m really looking forward to Lord of Shadows 2.
Gameplay and Graphics:
This is the most important part of any game and to me it’s the “make it or break it” of any game. Thank the Kid Dracula 
(poor attempt at a Castlevania pun..lol) that the controls seem to be pretty straight forward and not too intricate. The last thing you want is to get hand cramps during battle. Now with that being said, the actual gameplay became fairly difficult (not in a bad way) as the game progressed. There are enemies that have two different attack styles. There are some with attacks that can’t be blocked and then there are your regular attacking enemies. This is where the blocking and dodging becomes challenging. There were moments that you encounter during the game where enemies with both attack types are in the same battle and you have to quickly maneuver your fingers to attack then dodge the incoming attack from another enemy and so on and so on. I can tell you one thing: There are a hell of enough enemies to keep you busy throughout the game.
The look of the game may not be the greatest overall but for a handheld title I think it looks beautiful. I love the 3D look with a 2D feel. It combines both aspects really well and the cutscenes/cinematics are some of the best I’ve seen on a portable game in a while. I turned the 3D off on the 3DS just to see and test the look and even without the 3rd dimension MOF really is something of beauty. I think one of my favorite parts of some of the cutscenes were the comic book looking cell shaded ones. It really reminds me of Borderlands but with a darker look to it.
Overview:
A fantastic Castlevania game that provides everything a gamer would look for. You have Vampires, Zombies, The Belmonts, great boss battles, fantastic cinematics and of course the famous Belmont whip. There are very few games that I feel push the 3DS to its potential and this is definitely one of them. An interesting story added to what is already pretty great gives it the Cinema Deviant seal of approval indeed. If these recent Castlevania games are any indication of what’s to come then I say we are in for a hell of a ride.
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows – Mirror of Fate is available NOW on Nintendo 3DS
