Castlevania: Lament of Innocence – Review

For almost two decades now, Konami's seminal Castlevania series has been a vivid example of just how far the Dracula mythos can be stretched. Their "anything goes" motto in regards to expanding on the original source material has been a staple ever since the series first emerged in 1986 (then called Vampire Killer but later retitled for its released on the Nintendo Entertainment System [NES].) Since that time, the various designers that have helmed the series have taken the story and concept of Dracula and tempered it with a myriad of bizarre liberties. It has been mixed with bits of various mythologies from around the world, been given a dose of science fiction here and there, and, most unforgettably, doused with liberal amounts of pop-rock and goth-rock music. The result seems so familiar by now that for most gamers it probably fails to register as what it is: a remarkably weird pop-cultural anomaly. Where else could an androgynous knight in 11th century Romania fight Medusa with an electric bullwhip to the strains of a techno soundtrack all for the sake of saving his Japanese bride?

Only in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, the newest installment in the now classic series. It's been a long time in coming, but Lament marks the first time the series has been ported to the newest generation of consoles, and, in some ways, marks the series' first real foray into the world the three dimensions. Previously, the series had a somewhat lackluster introduction to 3D on the Nintendo 64 (called, imaginatively, Castlevania 64) a venture that garnered almost unanimous negative criticism. Now, after several years of lying low, the Castlevania series has finally returned to give 3D another chance, this time on the Playstation 2. And while it doubtlessly fares better than its ill-fated predecessor, it still suffers a number of curious faults most of them, ironically, growing out of its calculated desire to do the opposite of Castlevania 64 at almost every turn.

Lament of Innocence is set during the Crusades and involves the exploits of Leon Belmont, a knight recently returned from a successful campaign in the East. In what might seem like a pathetic clich, his beloved is kidnapped and taken to a mysterious castle in the Romanian wilderness, to which he goes, of course, to save her. For reasons that can't quite be explained here, he ends up with an enchanted whip and a series of magic items that are his only weapons against the monsters within the castle, a place dominated by the dark powers of a vampire named Walter. Yes, Walter. Terrifying, no? Dracula is nowhere to be seen at first, but that's because Lament is, after all, designed to be the origin story of Dracula according to the Castlevania version of the mythos. It dedicates itself to retroactively explaining all the core conventions of the series, both in terms of story and gameplay. While this may seem gimmicky to some, I personally find it very interesting. This trend can be seen in almost all the most recent incarnations of classic videogame series, as if with the maturing standards of videogame storytelling game makers feel compelled to justify the hokey conventions that define yet date some of the older franchises. In Lament's case, the origins of the Belmont Clan's famous whip are explored at length, with results that are predictably boring. Better faring are some cute explanations of the Castlevania formula itself that cleverly rationalize some of its more repetitive elements, such as the purpose of "levels," "bosses," and even the kidnapping of the token female at the game's beginning. All these set the stage for a game that is, in some ways, a deliberately modest attempt to get back to the roots of the series: a straight-forward trek through a spooky castle in which the player fights through hordes of monsters with a whip and little else.

That isn't to say that Lament doesn't add some nice variation to the mix. Similar to traditional Castlevania games, players have essentially a series of stages to go through before they can finally face Walter. Lament manages to strike a nice middle ground between linearity and open-endedness. The main gate and courtyard of the castle itself can be visited at any time. From there the player has access to a series of additional areas that are self-contained and can be explored at will. Each of these areas has their own look and personality, as well as various hidden nooks and crannies to discover in addition to the basic task of reaching and defeating the boss. Throughout these areas players can upgrade Leon's abilities by gathering items and fighting enemies. By equipping magical relics and learning new, athletic moves through combat experience Leon evolves over the course of the game into demon-slaying martial artist with a nice set of elegant yet deadly tactics at his disposal. This, combined with the sensible castle design, paves the way for a genuinely balanced and enjoyable experience

Or at least it seems like it should. I'm sure Lament of Innocence looked great on paper, and indeed if you separate out its elements they all seem like good ideas. It's basically incorporating all the concepts (non-linear castle exploration, upgradable character, etc.) that worked so well in the latter 2D installments of the series and transporting them, virtually unchanged, to 3D. But this is a mistake. What made for good exploration in 2D doesn't necessarily work in 3D, and while it seems smart on the surface to avoid the design decisions of Castlevania 64, Lament actually shoots itself in the foot by failing to realize that perhaps it should have tried to correct some of its predecessor's mistakes rather than try to avoid them completely.

Lament's biggest problem is that, unlike Castlevania 64, it basically takes the castle design of its 2D predecessors and does little more than flip it on its side. Instead of running along corridors and fighting undead monsters from a side-view, players now look down on the character from a top-view. Functionally, that's the extent of the change. Otherwise, it's the same as it was in 2D, which means that the repetitive "corridor, room, corridor, room" pattern of the 2D Castlevanias remains intact. In the 2D games this wasn't a problem for two reasons. First of all, the simple up/down/left/right navigation of 2D made walking along corridors effortless. And second, because the view was from the side there was a much greater opportunity for dramatic vistas and other background visuals to give the spaces personality. In Lament, however, these two key advantages of 2D gaming are lost. In an effort to prevent confusion in combat, the designers have placed the camera almost always at a high angle, which means that about 70% of the time the player is looking at the floor and not much else. This might not have been so bad if there was at least an option to move or manipulate the camera in some way, but there isn't. This results in many ridiculous moments where, if players wish to get a sense of what a room looks like, they have to jump around like a kangaroo. However, the ultimate disappointment lies in the loss of the epic, romantic scenery that was so prevalent in previous games of the series. Lament occasionally tries to make things more interesting by angling the camera slightly upward towards windows that have striking backgrounds, but the overall feeling of claustrophobia is inescapable. This is all the more noticeable because of how tedious navigation can be. The camera reorients itself every single time Leon enters a new room, which makes quick navigation impossible, since the player is required to look at the map every few seconds to find out which way Leon is facing. This also isn't helped by the fact that there are lots and lots of corridors, many of which seem to have no purpose except to make the game longer. Say what you will about Castlevania 64, it at least made an attempt to reinvent the geography of the series into believable, logical spaces. Although the puzzles players were forced to solve in it were stupid and agonizing, the layout of the world itself wasn't just a carbon copy of 2D Castlevania but an attempt to improve things by designing buildings more like real spaces and less like mazes. If the makers of Lament of Innocence had bothered to notice this, they might have been able to combine the superior aesthetic and combat of this game with the sensible architectural ambitions of its predecessor. Instead, we have a game that feels less like 3D and more like playing a 2D Castlevania sideways.

It's a shame, because otherwise the game is excellent. The combat is exceedingly well-done, combining spot-on play control with a nice sense of variation. In terms of style, Lament handsomely retains the lush, romantic (and erotic) character designs that have been such a welcome addition to the series in recent years. The same goes for the music, which is as rich and emotionally compelling as videogame scores get. And the story, while fairly simplistic, manages to work its way around to a surprising conclusion that nicely puts the whole series in perspective. If it just weren't for the awkward castle design and camera that hinders exploration for the sake of improving combat, Lament of Innocence might have been a better-than-average game. As is, it represents somewhat of a mixed bag, a mass of good and bad ideas that vie for dominance as the experience alternates between genuine fun and genuine tedium. While in the end I had enough fun that I don't regret playing it, its many flaws leave a paling impression that feels completely needless, yet calculated in its effort to avoid association with its faltered legacy. Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence – Consumer Guide

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

Parents may or may not want their kids playing Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Although it is heavily stylized, it is also incredibly bloody though it should be noted that none of the graphic violence is directed towards human beings.

Fans of the Castlevania series might like Lament because of its return to classic gameplay concepts, yet those looking for any substantial innovation might be disappointed.

People who enjoy exploration games such as Zelda will probably dislike Lament. Its exploration elements are rather tedious since their involve lots of silly backtracking, yet finding the many secret areas the game has to offer can be engaging.

Fans of fast-paced action games will probably like Lament. Its combat system is very solid, and its brawls can become quite interesting although I can't imagine recommending it over a truly innovative action game like Viewtiful Joe.

Fans of Dracula or vampires in general might get a kick out of Lament. In terms of gameplay, it's much better than other recent vampire games such as Legacy of Kain 2: Defiance.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing players probably won't have much of a problem with Lament. It's cut-scenes have optional sub-titles, yet there are occasional moments during gameplay where, because of the limited camera, hearing enemies approach from off-screen becomes valuable though by no means absolutely necessary.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence – Second Opinion

It's been years and most of an entire console generation since one of the great franchises in videogame history has seen the light of day on a major console. The Castlevania franchise's undead second life on the Game Boy Advance (GBA) was successful enough that it is surprising to see Konami try to leave the comfortable crypt of handheld gaming. Since the Nintendo 64 titles were reduced to critical dust, it makes sense that the new entry in the series, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, is a tentative toe-dip into the potentially deadly running waters of 3D (Okay, I'll knock it off with the vampire references, I swear). As Matt notes, Konami was not likely to try and recreate the 3D levels seen on the N64, even if that means that Lament is considerably less complex from a design sense, and that the giant non-linear areas are smoothed out and the item system is simplified as well. To attempt to compensate for this, the action interface of the game has grown more complex, with the main character capable of numerous combos and special attacks. The special attacks are worth a special mention, as they truly manage to recreate the feel of the original Castlevania special weapons while adding enough flexibility to create an enjoyable control scheme that, like the best fighting games, manages to be both accessible and deep.

So, why isn't Lament an unqualified success?

First of all, the camera is, as Matt mentioned, mildly troublesome at the least and a full-on tear-your-hair-out game-killer at the worst. I will admit I am not usually a fan of non-manual camera systems, and the cameras that mainly rely on static angles like those in Devil May Cry, Resident Evil and Lament practically make me break out in hives. The aspect of this particular camera system that I found most aggravating was that when the player enters a room, the camera is focused on the player's entrance. This causes two bad things to happen. Firstly, since the camera is viewing the avatar from a head-on perspective, it's pretty hard to get a sense of what the room might look like and what enemies it holds. Secondly, since the camera takes the head-on view no matter what door was used, and considering that there are multiple doors in most rooms, it becomes frightfully hard to maintain a coherent mental image of the level. For those of us who do not relish checking the map screen after going through every door or fighting every battle, becoming lost is just a matter of time.

As for the level structure, I did not find the room-corridor-corridor-room nature of Lament as annoying as Matt did. At worst, I was only bothered by the lack of real platforming elements. Although there are some vertical sections in the game, Lament feels very flat, which is a jarring change from every other installment in the series (with the exception of the first two Castlevanias).

What I did find quite annoying were the "secret" areas scattered through the levels. Those players who have embraced the exploration-heavy mechanical themes of the post-Super Castlevania titles will be especially irritated by the level design, simply because it's a tease. Yes, Lament is a switch from the recent Castlevanias in that it is almost entirely about smashing through a level and then toppling some boss. But it's not as though a linear game is inherently a bad game and, linearity and all, Lament is an average-to-above-average 3D action game. So what's the problem? It's the addition of the secret areas that disrupts the level design by drawing attention away from the linear level goals. It would be excusable if there were more to them, but these areas are neither expansive nor difficult enough to sate the appetite of those who are used to the comparatively large and mysterious game worlds offered up in the GBA Castlevanias. Instead, they serve only to remind the player of what the game does not have. It's a picture of a roast (or a roast squash, depending on one's preferences) held before a starving man. But there is hope here. The hope is that by creating a no-frills but fully 3D Castlevania game, the development team will be better prepared to create something more sprawling and ambitious. The groundwork is definitely there, ready to be whipped (ha!) into shape.

Although the non-linearity has gone by the wayside, Lament of Innocence isn't a complete detour for the series. Rather than using the Castlevania mythos as an excuse to make another cookie-cutter sequel, the development team has taken both the aesthetic and mechanical foundations of the series to create a game that both looks and feels like Castlevania. It might not be anything new under the sun and it may not satisfy the hardcore fans of the franchise, but it is a decent action game that's laid the groundwork for something more pleasing to the children of the night (Couldn't resist, sorry). Rating: 6 out of 10