Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Castlevania: Lords of Shadow with the full thousand points. I have to say I'm impressed. This is how you do a reboot in my opinion. The limited edition of Portrait of Ruin came with a chart that had the timeline of the previous series explained in detail. That's how convoluted the story for the series had become. You needed a freaking chart to attempt to make any sense of it. Konami has done away with all that and MercurySteam has started over, at the beginning, before even Dracula exists. MercurySteam tell a very straight story. A story of love, betrayal, corruption, and the nature of good and evil. They also don't shy away from the religious overtones. They tackle everything head-on. I also was also initially sort of perplexed by the pacing but came to really enjoy it. They take their time. Something not many video game stories have the guts or the skill to do. You don't even get to the castle itself until the middle third of the game. And you'll be done with it before the final third of the game. This isn't your father's Castlevania. It feels entirely fresh. And I have to say that the after the credits tease is about the best one I've ever seen. It answers some questions, raises a bunch more, and shocks. Konami has had trouble creating 3D versions of the series. In a post God of War action game world, the solution became a little clearer. I really liked the combat of the game. Sure it's a God of War clone, but it does everything very well. The combat feels visceral and I enjoyed the light and shadow aspects to the battle system. The controls work perfectly and they pace the learning of new techniques rather well. You're constantly having to deal with new mechanics. I also came to really like the chapter system and the trials provided good challenges and a reason to replay every stage. Graphically the game is just impressive. It's perhaps the best looking game on the system. It still suffers a bit from that too shiny aspect of this generation's overall graphic design. The art direction is stellar. Everything just looks cool from environmental to creature and character designs. The voice work was also well done all the way around. Not a bad voice in the bunch and Patrick Stewart lends a bit of class to the game as with most voiceover work he's done. I truly enjoyed my time with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and I'm giving it a 9. I can't wait for a sequel, especially after that tease after the credits. Now, what to play next...