Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (good times!)

[farplaner]

Any other enthusiasts of this game in particular? I never really got into the earlier games, but I got this one a few years back, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. ...Also, I'm waiting for Curse of Darkness to drop below "8 million dollars" before I pick it up, so I haven't played it yet.

I just popped L.o.I. in the PS2 again the other day to run through it in attempt to quell my impatience for FFXII's release. Aside from this current file, I have beaten it in normal mode, collected all monster-dropped items, relics, and orbs. I have done the same (SPOILER)in allskill mode, crazy mode, and with pumpkin, and I've done all that can be done with Joachim.

Like I said, I wasn't big into the earlier games, so I had no strict expectations. I thought the gameplay was decent, the battle system- smooth, the graphics- very agreeable, the music- very appropriate and well-written (loops, though they are). All in all, I'd give this game something like 8.5 out of 10.

So...your thoughts? Feel very free to elaborate beyond "it was good/ bad."

*awaits post reading: "It was good/ bad."

[Sephex]

I am a big fan of "traditional" Castlevania games and I still enjoyed this game a lot despite annoying things like bland enviroments. Hell, the soundtrack alone makes me want to play this game.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

I didn't get too far with this post before I realized I have many more bad things to say about LoI than good things. But yeah, the soundtrack is pretty wonderful.

[RiseToFall]

Played it, beat it, and I just didn't enjoy it. The game is by no means bad, it's just that this is Castlevania and after SoTN the series was never the same. I would love to see another 2d Castlevania on a console, since I don't own any handhelds I was never able to play the other 2d games.

[Moon Rabbits]

I didn't get too far with this post before I realized I have many more bad things to say about LoI than good things. But yeah, the soundtrack is pretty wonderful.

That's pretty much all the game has going for it.

[vorpal blade]

This game was by no means great. But then, it is very far from awful. The graphics were good, the music awesome, the environments were decent (though i enjoyed the paintings in the game) and the gameplay was simple and fun for a while. Unfortunately, the gameplay is too simple, and the script is... rather lame. but it is good enough to buy and beat with no regrets. Perhaps a score of 7.5-8 of 10. Not nearly as good as the 2d games, and not quite as fun as Curse of Darkness, but an enjoyable game nontheless.

[Moon Rabbits]

This game was by no means great. But then, it is very far from awful. The graphics were good, the music awesome, the environments were decent (though i enjoyed the paintings in the game) and the gameplay was simple and fun for a while. Unfortunately, the gameplay is too simple, and the script is... rather lame. but it is good enough to buy and beat with no regrets. Perhaps a score of 7.5-8 of 10. Not nearly as good as the 2d games, and not quite as fun as Curse of Darkness, but an enjoyable game nontheless.

Environments sucked and gameplay got repetitive after 20 minutes. !

I wasted my 28 dollars on it just because it had the name Castlevania!

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

The art design on display within the environments was great, showing off the precise kind of beautifully detailed imagery that Castlevania fans have come to expect ever since Symphony of the Night. Unfortunately, the environments themselves were nothing more than a vapid series of flat, straightforward hallways, which were then copy-pasted into oblivion.

[farplaner]

well, there goes most of the wind from my sails...

It's true, the gameplay is limited and the environments pretty straight-forward, but not totally. Palace of Waterfalls takes you on a round-about sort of course, and the Ghostly Theatre splits the route in two, in addition to some secret corridors throughout the castle.

I'm the kind of gamer who likes to complete everything to its fullest, so good graphics and artwork and an inspired soundtrack make my task more enjoyable.

Plus it's fun to (SPOILER)equip the Mobius' Brooch, enable the red orb and crystal sub-weapon, and gorge on shatter plane.

....ah well.

[vorpal blade]

This game was by no means great. But then, it is very far from awful. The graphics were good, the music awesome, the environments were decent (though i enjoyed the paintings in the game) and the gameplay was simple and fun for a while. Unfortunately, the gameplay is too simple, and the script is... rather lame. but it is good enough to buy and beat with no regrets. Perhaps a score of 7.5-8 of 10. Not nearly as good as the 2d games, and not quite as fun as Curse of Darkness, but an enjoyable game nontheless.

Environments sucked and gameplay got repetitive after 20 minutes. !

I wasted my 28 dollars on it just because it had the name Castlevania!

Yeah, when I said "the environments were decent...and the gameplay was simple and fun for a while" i meant that the environments were good-looking, graphically speaking and that the gameplay was fun fo a short while. I just didn't say it like that because I didn't want ot be too critical of the game.

[deathdealer2046]

i just bought the game, and its alright, it is honestly the first Castlevania game that i have played so far, but its fun, i think im stuck right now...if i remember, i havnt played it in a couple days, im still in the beginning just searching around i guess, but ill have to wait till i beat it to give it a rating, but so far so good, i really like the graphics, and the storyline ^_^

[edczxcvbnm]

They castle was basically a really big 1 story building. You didn't climb up stairs to get to the second floor. You went through a door. Metroid showed how to do this type of platforming world correctly...or at least better. Metroid Prime was still a bit too horizantal to me. ANYWAYS, one would have thought they would have fixed this in Curse of Darkness...WRONG! Instead they made the game so damn big it sucked even more. They really had no clue what people hated about the first game and it shows big time.

[vorpal blade]

No, I liked the largeness of COD. Granted, it can be a real pain to go from area to area, even with the transporters, but I still liked it. But I do like the 2D sidescrolling games better. The next 3D castlevania game needs to have more platforming elements in it, more secrets (secret weapons, areas, monsters, etc) and should take place in a castle and the area just outside it. But there will never be a 3D one as good as SOTN.

[Ramza Beoulve]

But there will never be a 3D one as good as SOTN.

True, LoI is really a good game, but I like more SotN, because it was and it is the greatest of the Castlevania's games, but the sound in LoI did a good work

[Rinion]

After playing Symphony of the Night, I had such great expectations. Sadly, this game did not live up to them. Badass soundtrack and mediocre graphics at best.

However, I found Curse of Darkness to be even worse. It was just the same thing, with little change at all. My two pieces of gold.