Tell me about this game

The game's title is "Castlevania: Lament of Innocence." It was released for the Playstation 2 by Konami and it was rated M by the USRB.

Attached: 1647196570011.jpg (495x619, 43.35K)

Great art direction and music, nice graphics, okay gameplay but incredibly boring level design.

It's a... uhh. game, from Konami, for the PS2. I have totally played it, yeah. Beat the final boss. Story is uhhh cool I guess, I enjoyed the uhhh gameplay, yeah.

Excellent soundtrack and decent combat with three playable characters(two of which play the mostly the same but with a few cosmetic differences and stats).One of its bigger strengths though is the ability to choose which level you want to go to. Each stage has its own gimmick to work out getting to the end of it, none of which are too hard and do enough to differentiate them despite them mostly just being hallways filled with enemies. The camera is the biggest enemy as it wants to focus on a specific spot in each room, making it hard to find some hidden rooms and treasure, along with making some fights more annoying. If you like the series then its worth giving it a shot.

It's a translation of metroidvania type gameplay into a 3D environment, minus getting a bunch of unique cool abilities.
Turns out that the flaws of Igavanias are more obvious in a 3D environment.
And no, the 2nd game isn't really an improvement.

The best thing about this game is it's approach to level structure. It's kind of not really a metroidvania but after the first real level, you can approach the other 4 levels in any order and that's pretty fucking nifty

Attached: 107a4487a2ccc5075637da4d005fbdb3.jpg (650x1000, 134.17K)

I consider it the best attempt so far at a Classicvania in 3D.
It has a fantastic soundtrack, a great Belmont protagonist with a solid story, pretty alright level design so far, solid whip action with plenty of throwbacks to older games as you can use your whip as a pseudograppling hook on ledges and other dedicated parts of the environments, pretty decent combat with nice item design and mechanics and overall very classic Castlevania enemy design that were also competently adapted to 3D environments.
It has many flaws however, namely some obnoxious and overly copypasted parts of the levels when it comes to navigation, not many bosses at all, a main villain that is just kinda there and not as compelling as Drac and a pretty awful ENG voice acting outside of a couple of people (namely Medusa, Sarah and Mathias), but I still consider it the best 3D Castlevania and a very solid entry in the series, probably one of IGA's best games really, Leon's last words after the final battle are pretty legendary.

Attached: 1633077869819.jpg (280x200, 16.04K)

>best attempt so far at a Classicvania in 3D
Been done with Castlevania 64

>God of War
>2005
Nice try dude.

Wish I could make a 3D castlevania. I 100% think it could work

Garbage game that shits all over the (then) established Castlevania lore, that is nevertheless remembered somewhat fondly because it's aesthetics and great OST. In an ideal world, it should be retconned out of existence.

>Castlevania 64
That's a no from me

dude how fucking pathetic do you have to be to care about lore in castlevania games

>the (then) established Castlevania lore
lol

okay game, it's far better than the diarrhea we got on the N64
the best 3D CV game is Curse Of Darkness i highly recommend it

It's a DMC1 clone with a whip. Even the jump feels the same. One of the bosses is Alastor too.

curse of darkness is worse unless you really like the grindy familiar mechanics

>the bad thing about the game doesn't matter because I don't care for it
Huh

Nigga the 2 pages of "lore" from previous games don't get contradicted by it

COD is far better than LOI, better combat better level design, better environments, variety of enemies, better camera, and it actually have variety of weapons and armors making it more similar to SOTN (best game in the series) while LOI just a 3D circle of the moon (worst game in the series)
sorry you have shit taste

It was the first time Castlevania wasn't completely abhorrent in 3D. It's not great, not terrible. Fuck the Ghostly Theater, hated that stage. Music is pretty good, I can still hear Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab.

>I can still hear Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab.
youtube.com/watch?v=5skhBmzOS90

Attached: 1643214901092.gif (220x220, 441.98K)

>Enjoyed it more than CoD
Excuse the fuck me, CoD is easily one of the best Metroidvanias out there. Only downside is running back and forth without a decent movement upgrade like the DS metroidvanias.

Attached: 1627184418416.png (691x461, 411.47K)

So am I the only one who thinks the souls game were what the 3D castlevania should've been?
>Level up system
>Different weapons
>Spells
>Interconnected level design with shortcuts
>Checkpoints that also act as teleporation points
Honestly Bloodborne was the closest thing we got to 3D metroidvania, minus the iconic OST

>Redditborne
all those dodging simulators threads in the catalog but you choose this sacred Castlevania thread to shit up? please fuck off

It's the only 3D Castlevania I like.

Not him but I don't like CoD that much either, and LoI is more Classicvania than Metroidvania in the first place, whether you like one or the other mostly depends on the type of formula you prefer.

>better combat
>better level design
>"circle of the moon is the worst game in the series"
You should kill yourself NOW.

>CoD is easily one of the best Metroidvanias out there
based COD chad!
fun fact: did you notice the save theme music in COD is actually from Silent Hill 2

youtube.com/watch?v=dcvZpDx4NDs

>CoD is easily one of the best Metroidvanias out there
It really isn't, and you probably only think so because of nostalgia goggles.

Its corny-kino. Watching the cutscenes almost has that "local theatre" feeling. I love it personally, especially all the scenes with Walter and Mathias. Amazing soundtrack to go along with it too, probably one of the best in the series and that's saying a lot.

I think its the most polished 3D Vania, even if I personally feel that Castlevania 64 is much more successful at capturing the essence of "Castlevania" (for one it has meaningful platforming, which no other 3D Vania has). Lament of Innocence has nice gothic visuals, good level variety and decent enough gameplay. You can't go wrong with it, it doesn't overstay its welcome.

combat is dumbed down, with you having less offensive options, CoD feels smoother sure but that's about it. level design..lol? Neither game has good level design but there's nothing better about CoDs except having to walk around for much longer periods of time. I straight up just started skipping combat encounters because it was so boring.

Rest of the stuff, sure, I guess. Not like better enemy variety matters when they're still piss easy to kill. Having to point out that SotN is the best just makes you come off as really childish.
>i-it shares similar mechanic to another game so that means it's good!
Weapon variety doesn't mean anything when they all play nearly identical. It technically has more armor items but why are you pretending that makes it better? LoI had armor and accessories too it just didn't feel the need to bloat the game with them the same way CoD does.

Attached: 1576372997931.jpg (194x190, 11.71K)

>it's another COM contrarian
that games is fucking garbage even Konami knows it hence why they made IGA make all the future CV games
COM was developed by the same hacks who behind CV64 and it wasn't a coincidence they were the worst 2D and 3D castlevania games respectively

Dark Souls has great level design, it's a metroidvania in practicality but with level design far better than any 2D game with Hollow Knight unironically being the only one that comes close.

Dark Souls might have some castlevania influence but nothing else about it is super similar other than the games having simplistic combat and enemies being easy to defeat if you're not braindead

Dark Souls has almost no platforming and the few platforming sections in those games are the worst designed parts that get the most complaints. Platforming is at a MINIMUM half of the soul behind Castlevania. The only 3D game that even tried to do that right was Castlevania 64.

>with you having less offensive options
variety of different weapons with different moves and skills >>>>> one fucking dull ass weapon
>there's nothing better about CoDs except having to walk around for much longer periods of time
there was also backtracking in LOI however COD was vastly a bigger game
LOI = one castle
COD = a castle + forest + town + many more different levels

you don't like COD? it's okay not all people have good taste in games however denying it's superiority over LOI is mental illness and contrarianism at it's finest

>that games is fucking garbage
Why? This game is fun. The only problem I have with it is DDS autism, but it's not nearly bad enough to consider this game the worst in the series.

To be fair, Elden Ring adding actual jump mechanics and true platforming on top of certain levels really having that Castlevania vibe I was really feeling it, to the point I muted the garbage music and put on my Castlevania albums over it and lo and behold, it was five time more entertaining.
Nothing like having Aquarius playing while you explore Raya Lucaria's academy.

>to the point I muted the garbage music and put on my Castlevania albums over it
Are you me?

Attached: UQDL57_DT7M.jpg (685x315, 32.77K)

If it was nostalgia goggles I would be saying Super Metroid or SotN were the best, hell one of my favorite moments was discovering the hidden room in the clocktower in SotN and running to my brothers telling them weird stuff is happening, and then we found out about the upside down castle.
CoD is great because it brings the fun parts of exploration and discovering new weapons to mess with to 3D so well.
If you want my top 3 Metroidvanias are probably CoD, Valdis Story, then SotN in that order.

Attached: 1624099376140.png (317x285, 228.86K)

>CoD is great because it brings the fun parts of exploration and discovering new weapons to mess with to 3D so well.
I wish I enjoyed these parts of CoD as much as you did, but I respect your opinion.

I might be.

Attached: 1632210980378.png (200x200, 45.74K)

That guy is retarded, Circle of the Moon is based as fuck and has some of the best arranges in the series history.

variety of weapons doesn't matter when you can only use one weapon at a time. You're a weirdo, you have a real love boner for CoD and I suspect you're the guy crying that LoI ruined castlevanias lore too.

That's not being fair because Elden Rings level design is dog shit. Completely inexcusable. I was actually a little hype when I saw jumping was in because it meant I could kind of do a castlevania cosplay with the whip but the whip gameplay fucking sucks

Attached: 1649112421187.png (551x747, 370.68K)

>it's not nearly bad enough to consider this game the worst in the series
well it's not the worst game since CV64 exists
but it's still one of the worst title, other than the DDS shit there is also the retarded ''press forward twice to run'' mechanic, no shops making you waste your time grind healing/poison/curse potions which is frustrating as hell, controls were shit, the combat was dull and boring....
it was a massive stepback after SOTN, it sold very well when it came on the GBA because people were under the assumption it's SOTN but on the GBA but they were disappointed and didn't bother buying the future games which is a shame because AOS and the NDS games were what people wanted from the start but thanx to the COM fuck up the sales never recovered and as a result CV died and was given to a literal who Spanish developers

Elden Ring is a step in the right direction if you want to have 3D Castlevania, just take Stormveil/Raya Lucaria/Volcano Manor etc and make them way bigger and have that be the whole game, and add a lot more vertical elements + aerial mobility and you're pretty close.

>variety of weapons doesn't matter when you can only use one weapon at a time
the fantastic familiar system cover this up and makes it more enjoyable than the whip spamming in LOI
>the guy crying that LoI ruined castlevanias lore too.
don't give a shit about the lore, if it did i would have mentioned COD having a better plot than LOI as one of the reasons to why it's better

Isn't that what made the 2D Metroidvanias so great? I loved finding new wacky weapons in SotN and the Soma series, which frankly killed OoE for me, idk why that one gets such high praises.
Exploration wise the 2D ones have CoD beat which is no surprise, it's easier to make a 2D environment more beautiful and artistic looking than 3D, especially during the PS2 era.

Attached: 1650216981153.png (507x509, 251.48K)

Castlevania 64 isn't even the worst, its significantly better than the gameboy games are. I think its better than Harmony of Disoonance too, but I also think 64 is overhated because of an AVGN video which has misinformation in it and the fact that very few people played it on the controller it was designed for.

No it isn't because the game is still slow as shit with clunky combat and bad level design.
If there's going to be a 3D castlevania, I want it to actually fully make use of it being 3D

Circle of the Moon's only issue was the double tap to sprint, as far as I'm concerned it's a solid game with great music, quite surprisingly despite the garbage GBA chip, as Harmony of Dissonance showed.
I still think it has some the best versions of both Aquarius and Sinking Old Sanctuary.
youtube.com/watch?v=Y5uABtjvCuU&list=PLmAjrkj1KHpLVvrA9EihagVRD5fpNfWHo&index=11
youtube.com/watch?v=jq7lg6hjoM4&list=PLmAjrkj1KHpLVvrA9EihagVRD5fpNfWHo&index=6
ER level design is pretty decent imo, it finally has actual platforming sections and verticality coming from the older games, and there's quite a few interesting shortcuts and level sections overall, even the "overworld" was interesting to navigate, a massive step forward coming from the older games and even Sekiro, which was terribly weak in terms of levels despite having better jump mechanics and mobility in general.

>Isn't that what made the 2D Metroidvanias so great?
It is. What I was trying to say is that personally I didn't like how CoD handled these elements. Exploration felt boring and unrewarding and the variety of weapons had little value for me because I didn't like the combat either.

>its significantly better than the gameboy games are
no it's not lol, maybe it's better than the first adventures game but legends and especially adventures 2 are better than the atrocity of CV64
>I think its better than Harmony of Disoonance too
HAHAHAHAHAHA
this is the worst CV opinion i ever heard
i'd understand if you were one of those contrarian believing that piece of shit COM is better than HOD but you picked fucking CV64?! lmao

the level design is decent by gaming standards but i'd say in contrast to DeS and DaS1 it's really really bad. That's not to mention the actual open world itself.
To make it short, level design is filled with too many dead ends, pointless areas, gotcha moments, and the fast travel system is a poor bandaid fix + makes the levels much less memorable and meaningful. Mini-dungeons are also pretty bad, with how heavy they re-use assets among them and feel borderline randomly generated with few exceptions.

>the retarded ''press forward twice to run'' mechanic
Valid complaint, but it's minor annoyance at worst.
>no shops making you waste your time grind healing/poison/curse potions
Sounds like a (You) problem, but ok. Personally, I never had to farm for potions.
>the combat was dull and boring
Was it? Played almost like classic Castlevanias

>Played almost like classic Castlevanias
Without the tight, thought out level design that made encounters challenging and fun.
CoM is filled with hallways with enemies lazily plopped down in them and the truth is, that applies to most igavanias even sotn but at least the other games have more than a fucking whip to use. You can barely do shit in CoM so those lazy combat encounters feel that much more dull

Acquire taste.

I don't think a single level in DeS outside of maybe Boletaria and Tower of Latria can compete with anything in ER, same with DS1, or really anything from DS in general.
You can complain about ER not being constant in quality, with a couple of stinkers like Redmane Castle or the Perfumer's Grotto, but overall it's very competently designed, and it's not like the previous games were constant either, same with your average Castlevania, which always has that one level you don't wanna go through again.
>level design is filled with too many dead ends
???
Stormveil alone has not a single dead end and that's the first big legacy dungeon of the game, Raya Lucaria is the same, even Farum Azula cycles onto itself, the only dungeon that has actual dead ends is Elphael, mostly because it's a straight descent with a couple of hard stops because you just cannot go any lower.
And this isn't really something Castlevania itself isn't guilty of either, especially the Igavanias, look at something like OoE for instance, or really just LoI to stay on topic, both have plenty of dead end rooms, so did SoTN.
>Mini-dungeons are also pretty bad
Hard disagree, a single catacomb or Hero's Grave has more interesting gimmicks, traps and layouts than 90% of the content in the previous games.