Dear Konami:

Please release Symphony of the Night on Steam.

Mirror of Fate is the second of three entries in the Lords of Shadow alternate universe of the long established Castlevania franchise. Even while being a handheld port it performs extremely well in both gameplay, mechanics as well as very responsive controls and it is able to scale up to 4k without looking too shabby.

The game is divided into three different arcs, each ark having another main protagonist of the Belmont family with intersecting story segments and a story told in snips and bits which are going backwards in time like the movie Memento, which is a very nice and interesting tale-telling-mechanic.

As for the gameplay, Mirror of Fate features easy to learn and hard to master controls, a good dozen bossfights, interesting enemy design, great art design, a good soundtrack and a reasonably ok storyline. The game is a tie-in between Lords of Shadow 1 and Lords of Shadow 2 and shines a lot of backstory on the protagonists from the both main games, but it has the same amount of soul and depth and shouldn't be overlooked at all.

All in all, a brilliant combat platformer which deserves a lot more recognition than it got upon release. Do recommend.

As a big fan of Castlevania since Rondo of Blood, I was stoked that Konami is porting over Castlevania games to Steam, even though they aren't the stellar IGA-vanias like Order of Ecclesia and Symphony of the Night, but my fingers are crossed. Hopefully Konami shall at least grace Steam with Harmony of Despair if the sales do well.

Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate is a great blend of the classic Castlevania mixed with the later Metroidvania exploration, all wrapped in a solid combat system.

The Pros:
- Great atmosphere
-Great art and music
-Combat is fluid and rewarding
-The pacing is pretty good.
-Character designs and animations are pretty damn awesome.
-Doesn't have all the QTE's breaking up combat. There are a few, but not as many as on the DS version.
-Alucard with a whip, need I say more?

The Cons:
-Sometimes suffers brief slowdowns when entering a new area, even with a top-notch gaming rig.
-Hit registration and enemy invicibility frames can be really random and wonky.
-The various character's combat styles aren't very unique aside from spells and subweapons.
-As in classic Castlevania style: Expect plenty of B.S. deaths, so your patience may be tried.
-Blocking system is good but needs reworking, not enough reward for timing a perfect block.
-The controls are awkward at first and take getting used to. It is strictly keyboard, and doesn't offer much customization.

Overall it is definitely worth a buy if you like 2.5D action platformers. The art is fantastic, and the combat has weight to it. Most of the flaws can be easily circumvented and the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Hopefully this isn't the last time Steam picks up another Castlevania.

In Short - This is actually a pretty good game once it gets going, but it's design is at odds with itself and its bad opening make it impossible to recommend to all but the most hardcore Castlevania fans, and maybe game design students who are looking for an example of how devs can fail to mix genres well.

At Length - Steam only allows positive or negative recommendations, but this is one where I'd say it's a "Conditional No." The primary condition for changing that "No" to a "Yes" is the following:

1) You're a HUGE Castlevania fan generally and you like the first Lords of Shadow specifically.
2) You have the patience to sit through a game that starts terribly but gets a lot better as it goes.
3) You don't mind giving Konami money despite all their BS.

Because this game has some BIG issues. The primary one is that it has two different design ethos' and they're extremely at odds with each other.

Basically, half this game is a "Character Action" game or "Spectacle Brawler" like DMC or God of War (or in this case, Shank) where you pull off flashy combos against enemy hordes between big, showy boss battles. Lords of Shadow is in this genre and Mirror of Fate emulates it, just in 2D. In this genre, combat segments and exploration segments are very separated from each other. You fight enemies in arenas, then you get some simple platforming and everything is very guided and directed for the player. But the other half of the game is trying to be a Metroidvania, where generally, the combat and exploration and hazard avoidance segments all mix together at the same time and the platforming is free form and there's an emphasis on player freedom generally.

The problem is that the Spectacle Brawler elements prevent the Metroidvania elements from working well, because you don't have to worry about many enemies getting in the way while you explore or dodge hazards, and the design to most of the exploration extremely signposted with a bunch of glowing sparkles all over the map. So it becomes fairly braindead in terms of actual, you know, exploration, and is extremely simple as a platformer.

Additionally, this game is basically a Lords of Shadow rewrite of 3 older Castlevanias: Castlevania 1, Symphony of the Night, and Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse so you play as Simon, Alucard, and Trevor Belmont respectively. But because this game doesn't trust you to know what you're doing even though it has a prologue tutorial chapter, Simon's whole first segment is incredibly simple and feels like a very extended set of tutorials. The game doesn't even begin to get good until Alucard's chapter, which is a third of the way through. At that point, you finally have enough movement abilities that the exploration becomes more complex, and they take away the training wheels on the combat so it's much more engaging.

Even then though, the backtracking is particularly bad here, because the devs want you to basically run through 90% of the level to get all of each characters tools and upgrades, and then turn back around before the last boss of the segment to pick up upgrades. Because again, they're following a mold of a Spectacle Brawler where your upgrades are doled out through progress, not through exploration in a free-form method. So backtracking almost never results in anything substantial like a unique ability (it happens exactly once) and instead only gets you a bunch of incremental upgrades and journal entries instead.

Still, the story is pretty good for fans who liked Lords of Shadow. Even though the "Big Twist" is obvious, it has interesting implications if you're a long time Castlevania buff. And again, once you're in the Alucard and Trevor chapters, the game actually starts to become fun to play.

I actually met all three of the conditions above. Partly because I originally bought this game when it launched on Steam in 2014 before Konami really started their shenanigans. But I uninstalled it after finishing Simon's chapter back then because it was just SO dull, only coming back to it this year after getting hooked on the show and realizing this was the ONLY actual Castlevania Metroidvania on here (since Bloodstained is "inspired by" and SoTN doesn't have a port). I'm kind of glad I finally finished it to cross it off my list, but really, there are good reasons I dropped it back then.

Enjoyed with a caveat. I never finished MOF. The game is sub-divided into three episodes where you play a different protagonist. My issue is the episodes are not presented in chronological order. The third episode chronologically is the first. You know the story and the ending and having been presented with such you are likely not to care about finishing episode three. YMMV.

Mirror of Fate is the bridge between the two Lord of Shadows installments. Lord of Shadows was epic. Castlevania purists have derided the title though there is no denying the epic nature of the title and the well spun story though the rushed dlc was certainly controversial even by the publishers standards.

MOF is a 2D action combat metroidvania adventure and in its own clothes the title succeeds. The combat is satisfying, the story bridges the two LOS games well. The mechanics are precise, well-developed and supported well by unlockables.

Love the story, like the games. +++

Being a long time fan of Castlevania since the late '90's, I was eager to pick up Mirror of Fate HD due to its classic side scrolling gameplay which reminded me of Symphony of the Night. Whether you are a new or old player, this game is nothing short of a blast! The story is intriuging, the combat fun, and the graphics are brilliant (for being a 3DS Port)! I enjoyed how the gameplay consisted mostly of exploration and the very layed back atmosphere made it more enjoyable than stressful and overly intense.

This game in particular gives great nods to the past with certain key rooms and areas that remind me of the older games: something I really appreciated. Although Castlevania has had a facelift, the series is still thriving!

No matter who plays Mirror of Fate, I assure you that this title is an instant classic to be enjoyed for years to come!

+ For a Nintendo DS port the graphics look surprisingly nice, and you can go up to 4K if you wish.
+ The music is great.
+ The atmosphere is KILLER! It's darker, gloomier, and more gothic than any other CLoS.
+ The split between three different characters works well.
+ The gameplay is fast and fluent.
+ The bosses tend to be hard and there's a boss rush mode.
+ Lots of secrets and hidden rooms.
+ Cell-shaded comicbook-style cutscenes look great.
+ A lot of memorable locations.
+ It's interesting to see what happened before, after and inbetween CLoS and CLoS 2.
+ Interesting special powers and abilities (like slowing down time).
+Overlapping events from the story with 3 different perspectives. Cool.
+ A proper gothic horror.


- The controls are kinda stiff, and many actions are performed through weird button combinations (due to the fact that it was once a portable title).
- In some areas it's easy to be lost even with the map.
- The three protagonists don't feel very different gameplay-wise.
- The voice-acting is in most cases funny instead of being good.
- There's so many secrets one might lost count (as I did).
- It's surprisingly short.


~ No matter the resolution setting there are always thick, black bars on every side of the screen as if the game was presented in a window smaller than the monitor...

8h

You like classic Castlevania, gothic horror, Dracula, Nosferatu, etc., and you liked the LoS series.

Ok : first thing to note, I'm a Castlevania fan, and I mean, I finished ALL castlevania games before this one, I finished Castlevania 1 on NES back when I was younger, etc

So, honestly, I can say without much doubt : terrible Castlevania game.

1) Story : overall ok, though it only serves as a "bridge" between LoS and LoS2, so don't expect too much, though the "final twist" could be interesting if you are kinda slow to catch on things (pretty obvious really quickly actually).

2) Combat system : LoS, but way more basic, no depth, mash friendly and very very dull enemy battles, to the point you run past them, since it's so boring after a while.

3) Gameplay : if you love inaccurate jumps and grabbing more edges than Lara Croft in all of the TR games, you might enjoy this. Again : extremely basic.

4) Main characters : you can play 3 characters, all play EXACTLY the same (Alucard uses a whip, even as a Wolf, if that doesn't spell lazy for you, idk what does), they only differ by using a few powers / extra items (doesn't change much, 1 power for defense / health, 1 power for extra damage and items are just basic Castlevania relics like boomerang etc).
Dull ...

5) Lasting appeal : I was bored after 3 hours, and honestly, I was almost ready to let go and watch the rest on a youtube "gameplay movie". Just wanted to finish it, and seriously, it was a CHORE, passed through most monsters (they only appear in some preset arenas, once you beat them once, you can run through them), rushed to the final cutscene as quickly as possible. NO WAY I'm gonna play this again. This is nowhere near any Metroidvania game like SotN / AoS / OoE where you can spend a lot of time gathering items / complete your map / etc. Here, you don't want to come back and complete the map for some "scrolls and mp / hp upgrades" ... who cares about that ?

You get a "special" cutscene for getting 100% : advice here, watch it on YouTube, especially since it lasts 1min and you'll laugh at how useless it is.


Only get this game if you are REALLY into the LoS series, and only if you want to get to know better what happened between LoS and LoS2 ... even though the cs when you start LoS2 does almost the job just as well :)

And get it during a sale !

Terrible game ... 3/10

If you're looking for a classic revival of Castlevania in its Metroidvania incarnation you're not going to find it here. While it may look like a 2.5D "get new abilities to access new areas" adventure it is anything but. It's actually pretty linear and any exploration you want to do with your new powers is completely optional. It's a decent little game but it's really only for those who are invested in the Lords of Shadow lore and want to know what happened inbetween Lords of Shadow and Lords of Shadow 2.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD is a HD remake of the 3DS game that was released in 2013. Being a 3DS game, it returns to the original format of being a side scrolling platformer (a very pretty platformer), rather than a 3rd person action adventure.

Mirror of Fate happens directly after the first game, and really sets up Dracula and Alucards story for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. The story is very dark, and really changed my perception of most of the main players from the first game. Please note that the following spolier section covers the plot from the first game and this game, so skip past if you don't want the surprise ruined. Lord of Shadow ended with Gabriel turning into a Vampire (still fighting for humanity) and it was only after he absorbed The Forgotten Ones power was he fully corrupted. The Brotherhood of Light is painted as a murderous cult, they have created a new monster to fight to continue the war. The Mirror of Fate shows them what would happen to Gabriel and later Trevor, but they still sent both of them to their fate and continue to send knights to their death knowing they won’t survive. Marie (Gabriel’s deceased wife) who was a tragic figure in the first game is depicted to be directly responsible for most of characters misfortune in this game. She is responsible for Trevor’s grim upbringing by the Brotherhood (knowing what will happen to herself and Gabriel) and eventual fate (by withholding the news of his birth). Simon’s life up to this point has been shaped by the previous events, the town he is in is razed by Dracula in revenge for the Brotherhood of Light’s attacks and manipulation of his family.

The game is split into 3 different timelines, following 4 different people. You play as Gabriel Belmont for the prologue (who I thought was Trevor Belmont as they are virtual identical), and then switches to Simon 30 years later. After you have finished Simons Arc, you play as Alucard and after that, you play as Trevor 30 years in the past to find out his fate and bring the whole plot together. I thought the way the game split the characters up was very well done, and it was good that it focuses on one character right to the end of their arc before moving onto the next character. As each character moves through Dracula’s tower they damage or destroy parts of it, which the next character has to deal with- I thought that was excellent stage design. As in all Castlevania games there are plenty of upgrades to collect all over the map, many which need different skills to collect. I liked that the game incorporates a feature to mark the map so you know where to come back to when you want to collect the upgrade. Many of the area’s are interconnected, and as you progress you open up shortcuts and multiple exits to many of the stages. There are also Teleporters that can take you to set points on the map for quick travel, very handy when trying to get the missed collectables.

The fighting is a simple affair with some secondary attacks and specials thrown in. Each character has their own list of secondary attacks, which inflict extra damage on certain enemies. The fighting itself is broken down into combos and counter attacks, with new combos being unlocked each time you level up. Each character has different specials and moves differently around the map (Alucard being able to mist through grates and use his gauntlets to climb scratches in the wall for example. Once you master an enemies moves they become easy to beat as you know when the dodge, counter attack or combo. I never felt the need to grind (you should hit level 10 with each character in one play through.

For a side scrolling platformer I thought the game was visually very good. Both the foreground and background were drawn very well, and the 2.5D graphics were very nice. All of the environments have that dark Castlevania feel, as do the creatures that inhabit the castle. The creature sound and music were both good, though I do miss the narration by Patrick Stewart for each level. It’s good that they kept Gabriel voice actor for this game

If you are chasing 100% achievements then it’s tricky as it requires multiple playthroughs, (speed-run, finishing the game on Hardcore mode and completing boss rush in hardcore).

For more reviews please visit https://store.steampowered.com/curator/31327216/