GAME REVIEW: CASTLEVANIA- LORDS OF SHADOW- MIRRORS OF FATE

Castlevania Mirrors of Fate is a flawed game that had allot of potential. It is based on the classic Castlevania style system that has you exploring a castle and working towards facing Dracula. 

Mirrors of Fate is a 2D platformer with 3D elements and backgrounds. This doesn’t really work compared to the plain 2D environments. Sometimes it is confusing to see what is in the background compared to the foreground. Also the close-ups of the characters look pretty horrendous. 

The combat is pretty good for the most part. You control multiple characters but they all end up feeling the same with no cool abilities of their own. There are some different combos and enemies have varying attacks which keep things fresh, and the bosses are pretty good. However the camera feels far too close into the action for allot of combats to make you use the environment during combat. 

The story is perhaps the biggest misstep of the whole game. This doesn’t feel like a standalone game in the series. Enemies, characters and plot points really don’t work unless you have prior knowledge of the series. For example the toy maker shows up as a protagonist but you never face or interact with him. 

All in all this game is a miss in the Castlevania series. The graphics and story aren’t very good and the combat feels okay although you don’t have too many cool abilities or standout combat moments. 

2 out of 5 bloodsucking waffles. 

CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW – MIRROR OF FATE

I’ve personal owned almost every Nintendo handheld. There also been one game beside Mario game that I’ve played on a almost every hand held. That would be Castlevania (I have played Dawn of Sorrow, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow and also Symphony of the Night). So after a rather lengthy hiatus from the Nintendo's portable systems. 

I was rather excited to see Castlevania: Lords of Shadow- Mirror of Fate that I picked it up without hesitant because I would be a great game.My first indication that the game might not been great was the name. Mirror of Fate just didn't have the same level of fantasy inspired stupidity of Harmony of Dissonance or Aria of Sorrow. I wasn't fired up by the idea of a mirror of fate, all I could think of was the main character sitting in front of a mirror getting their hair brushed by the hand of fate. Any other time I read a castlevania title its more meet with a WFT is a Harmony of Dissonance ??. I dont know but I want to punch in the face then throw holy water all over just to make sure its dead.

This iteration of Castlevania was very heavy on daddy issue. You play almost each generation of the Belmont clan in this game as they fight their way through the mysterious castle to either battle their father. You play as three separate characters: Simon, Alucard, and Trevor split into three Acts, one for each character, and you explore different sections of the castle at different points in history. It plays out in a nonlinear fashion, like some kind of Quentin Tarantino's movie. Also one of the main problems of the game. Its builds up to three separate climaxes, so by the time you reach the end of the Act III, the impact of the final battle lacks any real tension. It also doesn't help that the "twist" ending was telegraphed all the way back in Act I. The way the characters' stories tangle together was satisfying for me but story has never been the main reason to play Castlevania. You play this game to whip evil.

It did take me awhile to get into the game visual style. I’ve always loved the 2d drawn style of the previous games. I got annoyed several times at the 3D backgrounds that clearly showed door that look like I should be able to walk down them to explore. Really just there for decoration and atmosphere. The infusion of God of War like quick time events where a nice addition that helped spice the game up just when I was getting bored of whipping things. 

 The combo system feels nice to play, it is responsive, and the new moves/powers make you feel more powerful as the game advances. Boss fights are decent and require different tactics to defeat. Think this is the first game where boss fights had in fight save points, that would ensnaring you in a perpetual animation loop. 

Only got annoy a few times. The biggest negative points are the repetitive soundtrack,backtracking and leveling up. Could easily have fixed the backtracking with hub areas to connect the castle sections. Previous castlevania games had robust leveling up system. Feels like the developers decided getting the chance to play as the same character 3 times would make up for that. Least they were smart enough to give each character enough distinctive move set to distinguish each of them. Since when were the Belmonts Scottish? pretty sure Scotland and Transylvania are very nearly on opposite ends of the continent.

Mirror of Fate does have some high notes. The graphics are most definitely among the best on the 3DS, and the stereoscopic effect is likewise top notch. In fact, this is the first 3DS title for which I left the 3D slider on max from start to finish. Even more impressive than the in-game visuals are the cut-scenes, The only knock against it is that the characters' mouths weren't animated to sync with their speech. It like watching an old kung-fu movie bad.If you  enjoy adventuring through mysterious castle of daddy issue awaiting you. I highly recommend the ridiculous named CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW – MIRROR OF FATE.

3 and a half mysterious Scottish whipping vampire killing waffles.

Video Game Review: Pokemon X and Pokemon Y (Nintendo 3DS)

 
After 15 years of capturing crazy critters, Pokemon X and Y finally shows some minor evolutions in gameplay, visuals and story. Nintendo and Game Freak seem to have acquired a new weapon, possibly a stick lying around their offices, to beat an old horse with. Nintendo might have also possibly painted this horse up as a Rapidash. So on that note, we move onto what we thought about the latest iteration of this classic gaming franchise.

Gameplay:





The core gameplay of Pokemon remains the same in that you still capture (or trade) monsters called Pokemon to then battle other trainers and wild Pokemon. The difference between this game and the previous games is that their felt like there was a big focus on keeping the pace and progress up. The game definitely does not feel as challenging as it predecessors, but things like being able to use TM’s (to teach Pokemon new moves) as much as you want and poison not affecting you outside of battle did feel like welcome changes, however.

The menu system suffers from unnecessary navigation. Even the simplest tasks feel cumbersome as you have to choose from one or two sub-menus. It’s like Windows Vista, asking you unnecessary steps and commands of “are you sure” in order to do anything.

Pokemon X and Y also feels like it misses allot of opportunities. Sky Battles are just like normal battles but with flying types only, and why can’t you ever chose to have double Pokémon battles in the single player campaign. The online features are excellent. Trading and battling online has a fair few options for those who feel inclined to go online and give it a go.

Visuals


The 3D effects felt very underused. Navigating around the world maps was mostly done in 2D, while the battle animations and cut-scenes were done in 3D. It was nice to see the battles play out in 3D, especially seeing as the Pokemon are animated as opposed to the sprites they used to be. The battles are more consistent with Pokemon Colosseum for the Nintendo 64 and we finally get to see the ass-end of all our favourite Pokemon in glorious 3D. Battles still look like two lifeless hessian sacks with eyes drawn on standing around and throwing party streamers at each other until one of them falls over.

The towns felt like they lacked variety. All the towns felt, for the most part, interchangeable. All the towns had the same-looking Pokemon Centre, Cafe and Boutique shop. The exception is the large, Paris-esque type city in the middle. Here, as in several other areas, the viewpoint switches to a third-person view. These sections were very confusing to navigate and I try to avoid the main city whenever I can.

The new Pokemon are, like previous generations, a mixed bag. Some of them look cool, some of them look lame, and some of them look like they asked a toddler to draw a squiggle and then chose a random word to make a new Pokemon. After they turned a keychain into a Pokemon, I felt that they should’ve upgraded from the Toddler to Mr Squiggle.

Story:

Our hero is still a mute who issues commands via his psychic-love attachment to his indentured Pokemon slaves. With this set of unique skills he goes about saving the world from an evil environmental pyramid scheme run by some otherwise nice Canadians. Your absentee mother and father are not too concerned with you playing with these Canadians and you even manage to drag your generic friends (the fat one, the nerdy one, the love interest and the rival) along for the ride.

There is a distinct lack of variety in what you can do with your Pokemon. There aren’t any more beauty contests, not really any side missions and the map and areas to explore feel much smaller and more streamlined than previous Pokemon games. The story is only there to make sure you see the world in all of its non-3D detail.

We found that the story is allot better when you are discussing of the subtext that happens in the story, while drinking expensive rum with your friends. We understand that Pokemon has a specific demographic appeal. Maybe next time instead they can make a kids and adult Pokemon adventure, complete with a date of birth verification.

Overall:

Pokemon is a game that has finally decided to experiment with using crayons to write. It feels like it is too grown up for pencils, but Nintendo has not trusted it with using pens yet. If you liked the previous Pokemon games, this is allot more of the same. It is disappointing that things like character customisation, mega-evolutions, horde and sky battles felt like they weren’t fully thought out. Although there are new Pokemon (including the starters looking half-decent for the first time in a while) and the battle system is still solid fun, it would have been good if the world and story felt a bit fresher and larger.

3.5 mega-evolved waffles out of 5.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR POTENTIAL POKEMON X & Y TRAINERS

1. Always beat little kids and steal their lunch money (especially kindergardeners).

2. Make sure your team is balanced like a Special K breakfast.

3. The story is more enjoyable drunk. Or if you set it to a language you do not speak.

4. Moon Blast is cheap. Using a gun during a Pokemon battle is also cheap.

5. You can’t die. Only feint. But Nurse Joy has ways of making you better.

6. Some Pokemon seem to delight in looking hyper-sexualised. I’m winking at you, Jynx.

7. Choose a television show or game to name your Pokemon after. Or just call all of them Doug.

8. I wonder what would happen if you fell off the hopping rocks. They seem awfully dangerous.

9. Level 2 PIdgey’s have no fear. They will attack you even if you have the legendary Pokemon who created the world.

10. It is important that your relationship with your parents is very disfuntional. Otherwise they might send you to school or care about your future.

Fire Emblem: Awakening revolves around two things: Complex tactical combat and sweet, sweet romance. It’s a turn-based tactical role-playing game like Final Fantasy Tactics, but with a twist: As your combatants fight alongside one another, they can fall in love. If you keep them paired up, they’ll boost one another’s stats, have conversations (called Support here) and they can even get married and have kids in a weird Back to the Future kind of way.

One of the biggest downside of the game is the story. I still have no idea what the story in Fire Emblem: Awakening revolves around at all. After the first pretty 3D intro I just would skip any story element, and then proceed to just create my own disjointed Game of Thrones like story instead with hookers, blackjack and a journey to get rum and raisin ice cream. So it might have been more a Harold and Kumar meets Game of Thrones like story. Every Once in awhile I did return to the games actually story, only to skip immediately to continue with my own. 

The Support conversations are pretty fun and give a bit of insight into characters. Each one is charming in their own special way although sometimes they border on the cliché. In reality it is just the Fire Emblem hook-up mechanic. After being paired up to a certain character long enough the 2 character decided its time to get married. Then some way in the middle of the game this romance of characters pays off.As the game introduce time travel to the story, you can get special future children. So after spend about 2/3 of the game leveling normal characters you are given new ones with similar stats but at a significantly lower level (which means better everything pretty much as they level up to an equivalent level), so you are forced to level your old characters  a bit or find almost immediately worthless in the coming chapters. I’m looking forward to doing another play through to get to see all the combinations of children that your bunch of romantic time warriors can produce. 

The combat revolves around a pretty a simple system. The usual strategy game rock beats scissors beats paper beats rock kind-of system. Once you really get down to grinding, it's a perfect balance of time consuming and rewarding. I've restarted a fair bit because of permadeath. It's fun, but it's frustrating fun not happy go lucky fun.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is an immaculately designed, rewarding, and difficult strategy game. With all the love and marriage, it offers something fresh and it is one of the best strategy games on any system, and certainly one of the best games on the 3DS.

3.5/5  Future Waffle Children.