Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD

Mirror of Fate HD is the PC port of the sequel of Lords of Shadow. Like its predecessor, Mirror of Fate stays true to the codes that define a good Castlevania game but this time the game was made to be more like the "Metroidvania" branch. So instead of a linear Action/Adventure game with Beat'em All fights, it's side-scrolling with a lot of exploration based on the abilities you unlock during your travel. With beautiful 2.5D graphics, Mirror of Fate makes us control Trevor and Simon, heirs of the Belmont legacy, but also Alucard and the Prince of Evil : Dracula (Gabriel Belmont) The gameplay is nicely focused on platforming, combat and exploration while the soundtrack is still as epic as in Lords of Shadow.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD bridges the gap between Lords of Shadow and Lords of Shadow 2. The difference between those games and this one is while the are full 3d games, Mirror of Fate is a 2D side-scrolling adventure with 3d-ish graphics. The gameplay is surprisingly fun and uses the same type of combat style from the other games in the series. The only negative is that while the story does bridge the gap between the other two games, it isn't really needed and you could really skip this game if you wanted. Overall, Mirror of Fate is a good pickup for the Lords of Shadow completionists.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD is a kind of "1.5" game in the series, filling in the gaps and expanding the story to bridge to the second game, Lords of Shadow 2. Coming from the handheld market, this is an "HD" port to the PC that operates pretty well all things considered. The game is a 2D style platformer with close to 3 dimensional characters and backgrounds. Typical jumps and combat are in place here, with the powers and abilities those familiar with the new Castlevania games will feel right at home with. Action is fun enough, and the bosses are interesting, but it's nothing overly special. Most of the controls and movement through the levels are frustration free, but have their own issues here and there. The game shifts between multiple narratives/characters, and this layered story works well enough but can be a bit unfocused. For example, any abilities you have carry over between characters, even though the game might move back in time to transition to the next character and they should be completely unrelated. All in all, this is a casual platformer for those that are wanting the extra story and Castlevania material between games. It's not bad, but is ultimately average.

Originally, Mirror Of Fate was a game developed for the Nintendo 3DS by MercurySteam as a direct sequel to the events seen in Lords Of Shadow (a reboot for the Castlevania series), and later released with improved graphics in HD on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, and now on the PC platform. For this game, the levels designed in 3-D are played in a 2-D perspective (a "2.5-D" game), very much like the classic old titles in the series, especially using the standard set by the game Symphony Of The Night but with the combat style seen in Lords Of Shadow, and as expected for the PC version, this version in HD looks really good with gorgeous details and with soft and fluent animations, although sometimes you can still notice the handheld origins in the textures, and the cinematics have a cel-shading style. The sound is also good and the soundtrack is like always in the series, great. Although sometimes there's no music or a very subtle melody when the situation is calmed. But when there's action involved, the music shines with it. The control is also good and the game supports a gamepad. With an Xbox 360 controller, the control is very accurate. You will be in the Dracula Castle during the entire game, with very long levels with beautiful backgrounds and plenty of checkpoints in between. And as always, you will have the chance to return to a previous point and use a different ability to reach some items or new places with more secrets to find. Set around 25 years later after Lords Of Shadow, we play with 4 different characters in different periods of time: Gabriel Belmont, his son Trevor, his grandson and Trevor's son Simon, and Alucard. The story can be a little hard to follow for some people, because it's set during different periods, and only after completing these acts we can understand the whole story completely. We can also witness the origin of Alucard and the events that happened before the -already released- sequel Lords Of Shadow 2, where this character has a very important part in its story. If you are a fan of the Castlevania series from a long time, you shouldn't miss this game. It's practically the Castlevania you ever wanted to play since Symphony Of The Night. And if you don't, but enjoyed Lords Of Shadow, this is a worthy game in the series as part of the new cannon established by Lords Of Shadow and using the old gameplay. Although the game is a little easy compared with the classic titles, is not a short experience and you'll need around 10-12 hours just to complete the main campaign, and much more if you'll also plan to look for the secrets in the castle. It's one of the best Castlevania games I have ever played, and I've played almost all of them since the Nintendo NES era. Totally recommended. MercurySteam did a great job, again.