Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD

I remember playing the demo for this when it came out on the 3DS in 2012 and not being interested and I was more right than I knew. Fast forward to 2026 and I played through all the GBA and DS Castlevanias and wanted to give this a shot. Unfortunately my hunches were correct and this wasn't quite what I was hoping for. There are some cool ideas and I see the vision, it does a very good classic God of War impression, but while it can be interesting aesthetically, the gameplay is very unfun in practice. It wants you to be very precise, both platforming and combat-wise but feels janky in both cases. I think its because yes there are lots of QTE sequences, but even the moment to moment gameplay "feels" like its asking you to do a million invisible QTEs, which is reinforced by the unforgiving but tedious platforming and combat. There's even fall damage. The game is absolutely linear and even though you can teleport around I found myself barely wanting to go through an area once, much less return to one. I could see being more forgiving of this if playing on the 3DS but on Steam Deck in 2026 I found myself begging for the game to be over with. I'd say pick it up on sale for $3 if yo…

Absolute gem! After LoS1, this game surprised me with snappier, more reactive combat, cleaner platforming, tighter pacing, and a much more engaging story. There's also fun references to classic Castlevania titles that familiar players will appreciate. Each character’s chapter feels its own and meaningful, with different abilities and intertwined stories giving the game great depth and emotional weight. By the time I finished, I was actually sad it ended because I wanted more. The atmosphere, music, voice acting, 2.5D gameplay shift, and cinematics all feel polished and inviting, and the puzzles and exploration add just enough tasteful variety without slowing the momentum. I haven’t started LoS2 yet, but as the bridge in the trilogy, it was well thought out and very well done. MoF is the polished, punchy, lore-deepening experience I was hoping for, and a game I'd be happy to play again!

Continua a brilhante história de Castlevania Lords of Shadow, embora que de forma muito mais modesta. Esse jogo de 3DS pode ficar em um meio termo um tanto estranho para alguns; não é um jogo de ação rápida, mas também não é o melhor exemplo de metroidvania que temos na série. O objetivo aqui é resumir o que a série Castlevania é, com muito mais personagens clássicos que o primeiro Lords of Shadow (Trevor, Simon, Alucard, Sypha...) , itens recarregáveis com corações, exploração do castelo objetivando mandar o Dráculão pro couro de satanás, mapas, backtracking e jogabilidade 2D, mas dessa vez, com a jogabilidade do primeiro LoS. Pode parecer estranho mas, eles conseguiram traduzir muito bem a jogabilidade do primeiro jogo de 360 em 3D pra esse cara 2D aqui. Porém... sim, a execução desses elementos nem sempre é perfeita. A exploração segue um padrão um pouco previsível, ainda mais quando repetida entre 3 personagens (que jogam de forma idêntica, apenas com itens e artefatos diferentes), a história é um pouco convoluta e um tanto desperdiçada (sendo até mesmo facilmente resumida na introdução de Lords of Shadow 2 depois, em um minutinho apenas), a jogabilidade (embora bem traduzida…

I very much enjoyed this. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did but I'm glad I gave it a shot. It's a simple metroidvania game with a cool story and a boss rush and hardcore mode once you clear the game. I definitely recommend it was very enjoyable!

In all honesty, this was pretty much one fun ride from start to finish. I´ve never experienced classic castlevania games before and after LoS1, I really wasn´t expecting that the sequel to that would be 2D title but, anyway. It was fun, can totally recommend! Even though i didn´t liked playing as Simon, the moment game went from Simon to Alucard I was instantly hooked and later playing as Trevor was fun as well. Soundtrack is as always in this series phenomenal, art style is pretty good as well. Storywise i think it could have been handled better but otherwise i can´t say i encountered any bug or anything. Looking for all the secrets was fun and often it was on places i wouldn´t normally search. It´s solid 7.5/10 for me

genially one of the best reboots i have played. always loved both Metroid and castlevania series. cant say i liked LOS 1 very much but i love the unique take. the way the y decided to reboot the games i honestly which this was the start because even though this was a ds game i feel like this is the best game in the LOS universe and i feel like the exploration and different ability's was cool. also playing as a different character in each act was nice for Varity as well. honestly makes me which the entire lords of shadow franchise was made in this 2.5d gameplay instead of going for a more 3d approach in los 1 and 2.