Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 69
  3. Negative: 8 out of 69

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  1. GRANITsalvo
    Sep 10, 2014
    7
    Having never played it on the 3DS, my only comparison is to the venerable C:SotN.
    My love of that game being the only reason this one caught my eye.
    Am I happy with my purchase? Yes. Is it like C:SotN? Kinda. Controls: The combat is snappy; I block when I want to and I attack when I want to with no lag. Movement on the other hand...well, I can only describe as 'assisted'. There is    Having never played it on the 3DS, my only comparison is to the venerable C:SotN.
    My love of that game being the only reason this one caught my eye.

    Am I happy with my purchase? Yes.
    Is it like C:SotN? Kinda.

    Controls: The combat is snappy; I block when I want to and I attack when I want to with no lag. Movement on the other hand...well, I can only describe as 'assisted'. There is no lag, but turns and movements (not combat rolls) start almost with momentum, jumps are strangely high/far, and if you don't quite reach a platform visually, the game corrects and counts you as grabbing a ledge. Less of bad programming and more of "Assisted Platforming". Yes, that is what I will call it.

    Combat: Fighting is fun. Especially the fist boss, the night watchman. It pulls heavily from it's parent C:LoS's movesets and includes timed blocks and unblockable moves. They add in the 'hearts' and secondary weapons of previous games, but it seems like there may not be many options and you are limited to 5 of each. At least they are very powerful and not linked to up+attack.
    I would complain about the random uninterruptible animations that let enemies move through your strikes, but I think it is that way because a veteran brawler could march right through combats if all strikes had effect. You get used to it.
    What you don't get used to is the vibration. Near constant rumble (all on high) for everything including footsteps sometimes. You are only safe during loading screens. If I were of opposite gender or had a custom controller this may be more enjoyable, but I just turn it off.

    Music/Sound: Nothing noteworthy. The sounds are not "HD" so do not fade well or have too much variety as they were limited by the Gameboy hardware. The music sounds nice and is very dramatic, but is also missing at times and none of it is memorable. Nothing like old Konami titles (which used to be their best features!) .

    Gameplay: Exploration is limited but the 'metroidvania' feel is still there. . .Just missing some of the spirit, and that came from level design and map planning. Shadow Complex got this right (and I would love to see that on steam) but others don't: Just like a Feng Shui house needs 'circulation', so does a great metroidvania map in order to not feel linear. Areas that interconnect. So far the layout of this game is in chapters and in a line very similar to C:LoS. So, some of the soul is lost.

    [A notable feature though is typing notes on the map! A feature that I have been wanting for a great deal of time. Very happy to see this in a game.]

    So, It's linear then, right? A bit, but you get a good sense of freedom from one simple thing.....you don't have to fight. Sure, the camera suggests that you stay and fight, but you can easily just run past and continue exploring. Well done.

    Final Thoughts:

    For the Metroid/Castlevania Enthusiasts, this is not a "Great" game. But it is fun and worth your time, in my opinion.    … Expand
  2. Matseb2611
    Aug 25, 2015
    6
    Where to begin? I'm a huge fan of the Castlevania series, although I've not played any of the Lords of Shadow games in the series until now, and Mirror of Fate was my first venture into this corner of the franchise. I knew, according from other reviews, that Lords of Shadow games are meant to be somewhat different to the rest of the series, but I was willing to give them a try to see ifWhere to begin? I'm a huge fan of the Castlevania series, although I've not played any of the Lords of Shadow games in the series until now, and Mirror of Fate was my first venture into this corner of the franchise. I knew, according from other reviews, that Lords of Shadow games are meant to be somewhat different to the rest of the series, but I was willing to give them a try to see if they captivate me.

    Mirror of Fate is a smaller game that links the events of LoS 1 and 2, and unlike those games, it's a sidescrolling platformer for the most part, done in 2.5D (2-dimensional play but with 3D graphics). The first thing I noticed was how dull the visuals are. Most of the areas are just brown and grey, and most of the locations are just forgetable. The music is also barely noticeable at all. Nothing sticks out. Every area just feels the same.

    The gameplay didn't really save it either. Most of it seemed quite repetitive to me. Enter room, fight baddies, climb a few walls, enter next room, fight more baddies, and so on. The combat doesn't know what it's trying to be. It uses the mechanics native to 3D games, such as parrying and dodging, but the whole game plays in 2D, meaning most times you have one enemy in front of you and one behind, and no matter which way you dodge, you get hit. Blocking is pointless, since you still receive tonnes of damage. So your only chance is to keep hitting the enemies and hope you kill them before your health bar depletes.

    I've fought a couple of bosses as well, and although they do provide some interesting combat situations, they have an overblown amount of HP, meaning you just have to chip away their enormous health bit by bit via the same technique.

    I eventually got stuck trying to ride an elevator platform that kept repeatedly getting destroyed by a gargoyle. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, I had to consult a walkthrough. Turns out there was some kind of a magical companion I had to find to help me with this section, except I've no idea where in the castle it is. The locations are all so boring and forgetable that it's no fun at all having to backtrack and re-explore them again (something that was fun with the previous Castlevania games). Once I've had enough exploring the same stone-grey areas, I decided to leave it there.

    Mirror of Fate is not a bad game, but it lacks all the charm that made the Castlevania series so good. Every single aspect of it was a step down. Visuals, music, gameplay, even atmosphere felt subpar. It's by no means comparable to the likes of Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. I am starting to think that the only thing still left of the old gold Castlevania is the name.    … Expand
  3. kch3691
    Apr 8, 2018
    5
    A PC port of a 3DS game isn't something that happens very often and this game is as limited as you would think. Ugly graphics and boring combat make this one worth passing.
  4. Geralt123
    Dec 17, 2022
    7
    To be honest, this game is much better than Lords Of Shadow 2. LoS1 is the best, then comes MoF and then LoS2.

    It is "only" a sidescroller, yes, but the atmosphere is very unique and the cartoon-like cutscenes are very good. Music is also great. Boss fights are fun, sometimes a little unfair.

    Some levels have annoying backtracking, but so be it.

    Overall yes I can recommend it!
  5. Nekrips
    Jul 24, 2022
    7
    A pretty good 2.5D Castlevania-style platformer game, which reveals and expands on the story of the previous part and perfectly connects it with Lords of Shadow 2.

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. PC Gamer UK
    Jun 2, 2014
    72
    Like the series itself, there's satisfaction to be had in sticking to the well-worm path. [June 2014, p.91]
  2. Metro GameCentral
    Mar 31, 2014
    80
    A vastly better game than Lords Of Shadow 2, that smooths the rough edges from the 3DS original and proves that Castlevania need not revert back to a niche retro franchise.
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