O Igarashi, where art thou?
As a game critic, it can be extremely difficult to set your expectations aside when playing a game for review. At this point in my “career,” I’ve become quite adept at seeing a game for what it’s worth and reviewing it without allowing my expectations to impact my assessment. I found this extremely tough to do with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate. I, like many others, expected something similar to a post-Symphony of the Night 2D Castlevania, but Mirror of Fate only resembles these titles on the surface. Digging deeper, it’s clear that Mercurysteam has merely converted the Lords of Shadow experience into 2D, placing the larger focus on combat, with only a minor emphasis on puzzles and exploration.
Bust out your headphones, this one’s for the music fans.
Great news! Well, for me anyway - I’m on vacation. What this means is we won’t be talking about Darksiders this week. Instead, I’ve decided to solo this podcast and talk about one of my favorite things about modern gaming: the music.
Available now from the Nintendo 3DS eShop.
AKA Nintendo Circus, depending on who you ask
Like many of you out there, I wasn’t terribly impressed by Nintendo’s press conference at this year’s E3. One of the things they touted as being a major showpiece was a game called Nintendo Land. Much like Wii Sports, the aim of this title is to introduce players to a new controller--in this case the Wii U GamePad--through a virtual theme park bursting with references to classic Nintendo franchises. At each attraction, your mii will don an appropriate costume and partake in a challenge that teaches the player a new way to use the Wii U GamePad. Nintendo’s hope is that this game will do for the Wii U what Wii Sports did for the Wii, and explain to new players exactly what the Wii U is all about.
Traverse the Belmont bloodline and battle Dracula himself.
2D Castlevania games have been on a short hiatus since the release of Order of Ecclesia on the Nintendo DS in 2008. Four years later and we’re finally seeing a new title, this one for the Nintendo 3DS. Development has shifted hands to Mercury Stream, the same team behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Fittingly, the brand new title, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate is set 25 years after the events of the original game, telling the tale of Gabriel’s descendants.