I HATE the story in this game. hate with a capital H. The gameplay is AMAZINGLY fun. But the story has little or nothing to do with Castlevania itself.
You play as Gabriel Belmont, oh but he isn't actually a Belmont; he was orphaned in front of the most hilariously useless order of...something? They call themselves The Broterhood of Light (cliche) yet one of the founders was a woman.
Gabriel Belmont uses The Combat Cross which later is dubbed Vampire Killer by a bunch of hillbilly peasants, because it can kill vampires. But..it also kills trolls, werewolves, Titans a dragon at one point, and various other undead...so that automatically makes me roll my eyes.
The Levels are extremely linear, but this isn't a bad thing, though a lot of old-school gamers are used to the exploration-based Castlevania, this isn't bad. Levels can be fun, and this game proved it.
Gameplay:
Okay, this is where the game really shines. Combat is excellent and flowing, although a good half of your moves are fairly useless by the time you can afford them because enemy's don't always flinch, letting them interupt your combo's, so you'll probably find yourself using a lot of the same moves over and over again.
Still that aspect of the game is fun. The sub weapons are, like the main combat system, half useless. You get 4 sub-weapons: a Dark Crystal (couldn't you come up with a better name?) Fairy's, Holy Water and Silver Daggers.
The Only REALLY useful weapons are the Dark Crystal and The Holy Water. The Other two are largely useless.
Music:
Truly beautiful, though mildly repetive at times. However I can't really complain as the chants and heavy Gothic theme is realized in a treat to the ears. However...Vampire Killer NEVER plays. Not once, and not even a rendition of it.
Storyline:
Where Do I begin?
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
This game has NO similarities to a game about Killing Vampires. The vampire level pops in about halfway through the game in a castle that I suppose is supposed to be Castlevania, but isn't. It has all the trademarks of Castlevania; the inside changes arbitrarily, it has a clockwork tower, it has a freakish science laboratory and so on and so forth.
However, it isn't acknowledged as Castlevania, the Throne room (The ONLY place that never changes) is nothing like the throne room we know it to be, and oh yes: it has Portal "Cake is a Lie" requisite joke (which had NO business being there. it was purely a throw-away joke)
Second. The Vampire Killer (not the whip, the song) as I said earlier, does NOT play. Never. This is the THEME of the game. It's a readily recognizable theme song that plays in every Castlevania and it isn't present!
Thirdly: The game is about Dracula, ultimately. THAT is who you're looking forward to. That is what the game is building up to.
GUESS WHO ISN'T IN THE GAME!?
He makes ONE cameo appearance in the final cinema, which felt forced and contrived and had absolutely no relevance to the story whatsoever. It felt totally out of place, especially when they tried to make him 'sympathetic'. But here's the thing...HE'S THE LORD OF DARKNESS! Dracula ISN'T supposed to be sympathetic! Now I don't mind re-imagining him, but this makes no sense whatsoever!
Instead, who do we get for a final boss?
Satan.
The fucking Devil. it's NOT epic, it's stupid. Especially since he's easily the easiest fight in the whole game. Bar None. The easily, pushover battles come at the very end of the game, battles that should be hard! Battles that should test your skills, and I beat them all before lunch.
So ultimately? The story is extremely weak, it has nothing that's unpredictable (except for the devil bit).
I did not enjoy the story of this game, and I doubt many other castlevania fans will as well. No Vampire Killer, No Dracula, No Castlevania.
Oh and you can turn Gabriel Belmont into Solid Snake if you beat the game on progressive difficulties.
OVERALL OPINION:
This game is okay...but it has little bearing on the actual Castlevania storyline. I'd say it was a prequel based on the last cinema, but even then it doesn't make much sense as Dracula already had a story, and this guy wasn't part of it, AND the final Cinema isn't explained in the slightest.
So, get it if you enjoy a challenge, but if you're expecting a Castlevania story; I'd avoid it.
You play as Gabriel Belmont, oh but he isn't actually a Belmont; he was orphaned in front of the most hilariously useless order of...something? They call themselves The Broterhood of Light (cliche) yet one of the founders was a woman.
Gabriel Belmont uses The Combat Cross which later is dubbed Vampire Killer by a bunch of hillbilly peasants, because it can kill vampires. But..it also kills trolls, werewolves, Titans a dragon at one point, and various other undead...so that automatically makes me roll my eyes.
The Levels are extremely linear, but this isn't a bad thing, though a lot of old-school gamers are used to the exploration-based Castlevania, this isn't bad. Levels can be fun, and this game proved it.
Gameplay:
Okay, this is where the game really shines. Combat is excellent and flowing, although a good half of your moves are fairly useless by the time you can afford them because enemy's don't always flinch, letting them interupt your combo's, so you'll probably find yourself using a lot of the same moves over and over again.
Still that aspect of the game is fun. The sub weapons are, like the main combat system, half useless. You get 4 sub-weapons: a Dark Crystal (couldn't you come up with a better name?) Fairy's, Holy Water and Silver Daggers.
The Only REALLY useful weapons are the Dark Crystal and The Holy Water. The Other two are largely useless.
Music:
Truly beautiful, though mildly repetive at times. However I can't really complain as the chants and heavy Gothic theme is realized in a treat to the ears. However...Vampire Killer NEVER plays. Not once, and not even a rendition of it.
Storyline:
Where Do I begin?
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
This game has NO similarities to a game about Killing Vampires. The vampire level pops in about halfway through the game in a castle that I suppose is supposed to be Castlevania, but isn't. It has all the trademarks of Castlevania; the inside changes arbitrarily, it has a clockwork tower, it has a freakish science laboratory and so on and so forth.
However, it isn't acknowledged as Castlevania, the Throne room (The ONLY place that never changes) is nothing like the throne room we know it to be, and oh yes: it has Portal "Cake is a Lie" requisite joke (which had NO business being there. it was purely a throw-away joke)
Second. The Vampire Killer (not the whip, the song) as I said earlier, does NOT play. Never. This is the THEME of the game. It's a readily recognizable theme song that plays in every Castlevania and it isn't present!
Thirdly: The game is about Dracula, ultimately. THAT is who you're looking forward to. That is what the game is building up to.
GUESS WHO ISN'T IN THE GAME!?
He makes ONE cameo appearance in the final cinema, which felt forced and contrived and had absolutely no relevance to the story whatsoever. It felt totally out of place, especially when they tried to make him 'sympathetic'. But here's the thing...HE'S THE LORD OF DARKNESS! Dracula ISN'T supposed to be sympathetic! Now I don't mind re-imagining him, but this makes no sense whatsoever!
Instead, who do we get for a final boss?
Satan.
The fucking Devil. it's NOT epic, it's stupid. Especially since he's easily the easiest fight in the whole game. Bar None. The easily, pushover battles come at the very end of the game, battles that should be hard! Battles that should test your skills, and I beat them all before lunch.
So ultimately? The story is extremely weak, it has nothing that's unpredictable (except for the devil bit).
I did not enjoy the story of this game, and I doubt many other castlevania fans will as well. No Vampire Killer, No Dracula, No Castlevania.
Oh and you can turn Gabriel Belmont into Solid Snake if you beat the game on progressive difficulties.
OVERALL OPINION:
This game is okay...but it has little bearing on the actual Castlevania storyline. I'd say it was a prequel based on the last cinema, but even then it doesn't make much sense as Dracula already had a story, and this guy wasn't part of it, AND the final Cinema isn't explained in the slightest.
So, get it if you enjoy a challenge, but if you're expecting a Castlevania story; I'd avoid it.
.