One of the last great Castlevania games
923929
One of the last great Castlevania games, if you prefer classic style Castevania instead of the newer action-y ones on the ps2 or ps3... it has that Symphony of the Night feel to it, so if you were a fan of that game you'd probably love this one. Dawn of Sorrow and the GBA game Aria of Sorrow are the closest Castlevania games I've played to SotN, which was in my opinion one of the best in the series. The newer Castlevania games that came out on the ps2 and ps3 just don't have that classic Castlevania feel to them anymore....
855945
The formula for the game is that you are working for your father, the Devil to aid in his return by collecting the holy artifacts sealing him away.  You do this by luring the owners to your castle and unleashing horrible traps to eliminate them.

I've played one of the previous games in the series, so this was something I knew and remembered.  A very enjoyable addition to the series.  A+++
1637893
An excellent port of the Playstation 2 classic. Everything you know and like from the original game is here, whether it's the bizarre story, the dozens of character classes, the dark assembly, teacher-pupil relationships, reincarnation, or the item world. There is also the option to select things on the battlefield using the stylus, which is a neat touch (though I confess, I seldom made use of the feature myself).

There are a couple of small concessions that Nippon Ichi made to the new format (presumably to save space on the cartridge). First, the samples used in the game's music are of noticeably lower quality than in the original game, resulting in a tinny, almost MIDI-like sound to the music. It's a little annoying, but not unbearable. Second, most of the voice-over work that used to accompany the game's between-battle cut scenes has been stripped out. This is sad, because I *loved* the voice-overs in the original game--but if space considerations forced them to cut anything, I can understand why it would've been this.

All in all, a 4/5. I'd love to see NIS release a remastered version with the full audio experience for 3DS or the Switch!
3386556
The other DS Castlevania games were a lot more fun.
This one is for the die-hard Castlevania fans... and... you may be dissapointed.
A fun romp, but, with none of the style or class of the others.
Decent and interesting story though, and a bit more challenging than the other games.
3990738
This game is simply one of the best castlevania games i played

you get help of three different spirits, have to choose different paths avery time you play and the music is the best of the old NES games .
2313805
The 3D CastleVanias on N64 have been getting a lot of heat from the CastleVania "fans" that have compared it and have deemed it sub-par against the "oh-so-great" Symphony of the Night(SotN).
First off, SotN wasn't all that great in my opinion, a 3 out of 5 at the most.  Legacy of Darkness is far deeper than SotN could ever hope to be.
First off, your basic storyline.  You are Cornell, a man-beast(werewolf), you have been training for a long time and when you return to your village, its set aflame and your sister, your only blood relative, has been kidnapped.  You track the scent of her blood to the ominous Castlevania, and so begins your quest.
Trust me, this game has one of, if not the deepsest stories of all the Castlevanias.  Unlike SotN, which you really need only see the intro and the ending and you have pretty much the entire story, LoD has twists, rivalries, and even a backstory for some of the NPCs.  Not only that, but the game is comprised of three storylines (the fourth is little more than fun mini-game used to unlock various things including the second and third stories).  The first storyline, Cornell's, sets up the events that occur eight years later in Carrie and Reinhardt's games (the original Castlevania 64) which you unlock by playing Henry's game, which also ties into Cornell's.
Now, some poeple complain about how the graphics are sub-par, even when comparing it to SotN.  I myself have to say that this game beats SotN flat out, graphically, in every way.  Whereas in SotN, you could get really artsy enemies and chars, they were still little more than flat sprites.  In LoD, you really get a sense of size and depth of your enemies.  The possesed suits of armor look much more impressive in 3D than their 2D counterparts.  And in the final battle with Dracula, you really, really, notice his size.  Sure in SotN, he takes up the entire screen, but in SotN, you can run about 500 feet away from him and he still fills up like half the screen.  And trust me, there are few sights in games more beautiful than the Tower of Sorcery.
SotN became a hit by incorporating RPG elements by equiping weapons and gaining levels and such.  That was all well and good for it, but let's face it, CastleVania was not an RPG to begin with, it was an Action/Adventure game, which this game succeeds in recapturing.  No fancy weapons or armor to equip.  No strength to level up.  Just you and your enemies.  SotN had spells and abilities that were left out of LoD.  Why?  Because they were uneccessary in the first place.  LoD isn't designed to work around your abilities, its linear, so you just play through level after level, which may seem a bit old, but works just fine for this game.  Now, you can upgrade not only your reqular weapons like in old school CV games, you can also upgrade your secondary weapons (knife, axe, cross, holy water) so they do more damage, and look cooler too!  The Axe, for example, is just a regular axe at first, but as you upgrade, the axe does its damage then summons a lightning bolt to strike at your opponent.
Now, some poeple complain that the werewolf form is useless as you can't revert back until you've drained your jewels(jewels replace hearts in this game).  The werewolf form adds a very noticable difference in attack and defense strength.  Thing about the werewolf form is that it must be used strategically.  Boss battles are the best choice as you'll revert back to normal when the battle is over and so not waste all your jewels.
Lastly, I'll cover music.  SotN is considered the apex of CV music for a reason that is beyond me.  I only enjoy 4 or 5 songs and the rest just sounds the same.  LoD doesn't use music to overide the game, LoD uses music to enhance the game.  The music is now more ambient, which has some fans pissed.  Thing is, the ambient music now adds a subliminal touch to each of the levels.  The song, "Silent Madness" in the Villa, for example, adds a disturbing undertone to the level.
459115
Resident Evil 7 is an amazing callback to how RE games of old use to be, especially Resident Evil 3 Nemesis. Great puzzles, amazing atmosphere, great graphics, and very simple game play, allowing for more survival horror to take over. There is really no point through the game where you feel overpowered, or even equal with any enemies or bosses in the game. Speaking of the bosses, that may be my favorite part about the game, multiple "Nemesis" style characters where you really have no idea of how to beat them, sometimes you are actually fighting them for the last time, others are just bullet sponge segments, sometimes you are just suppose to hide and sneak around whenever you can, other times you are suppose to take them head on. I see that almost as a negative when it comes to multiple play throughs, where it could probably come off as annoying when you know which part you are in when fighting the bosses, but during this first play through, it is really very exciting. This is still a great Resident Evil game, it is probably my favorite after 4 and 2, which says a lot for me as a fan of the Resident Evil games since the beginning, and is not an experience that should be missed.
2898547
Alright, the very first thing I'm going to say is this:  those of you who came into this game with a jaded mindset, thinking that it was going to be like all the other Castlevania titles, should really be ashamed of yourselves for giving this game low marks.  Your bad reviews for this game should never be taken into consideration because you let your biased opinions get in the way of your judgment.  Lords of Shadow is NOT like any other Castlevania game, and it must be judged on its own.

Secondly, those of you who give this game sub-par reviews for its lack of originality and "derivative gameplay" should also be chastised severely.  Yes, it borrows from previous titles (God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, etc.), but SO WHAT?  It WORKS.  It's a great game with an awesome storyline...enough said.  The graphics are beautiful, the cutscenes are gorgeous, and you really get the most bang for your buck.  LoS clocks in at between 15 and 20 hours worth of gameplay, and it's enough to actually keep you interested.  Until the day comes when a "new" style of gameplay is introduced, we just have to deal with this type of action-combat-hack n slash format.  So just deal with it, learn to love it, and shut up!

One last comment that I'd like to make about Lords of Shadow refers to the voice acting.  All of the major actors play great roles and read their lines well...BUT, I'm a little annoyed at Patrick Stewart's performance.  His presence in this game was actually the number one reason that caused me to purchase LoS...me being a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan and all.  But I must say that Patrick should have read his lines with a little more emotional "oomph" during the opening scroll scenes for the chapters. During those introductory scenes, it just feels as if he falls flat when saying certain lines, with a couple of long and drawn out sections.

Also, my favorite word that I LOVE hearing him say is "artifacts."  Not ONCE did he mention this word in the game!  In the scroll scenes, the word "relic(s)" pops up like 10 or 15 times.  WHY couldn't they have replaced that word with "artifact(s)"?  I was so annoyed by that that I had to write to Patrick Stewart myself and also send a comment about it to Hideo Kojima Productions.  The only time I felt that Patrick really hit his stride was during the very last chapter of the game.  Only then did I hear any REAL performance from him.

So there you have it.  Should you buy it or rent it?  Buy it!  The game has plenty of replay value since you have to complete all the trials if you want to collect some silver trophies.  You will also have to replay some of the levels if you want to find any weapons upgrades.  All in all, the game is great.
2744819
I just started playing this this morning and played it all day. its addictive and a great castlevania chapter. don't start playing this if youve got anything else to do that day
2762420
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis is the third game in the series (though it was not intended to be, that was supposed to be Code Veronica, but whatever) and it is the third best. And that is NOTHING to be ashamed of.

This game had a lot to live up to coming on the heels of what is arguably the best game for the entire playstation system, Resident Evil 2.

Does it? Yes and no. It is an amazing game. Jill is hot. The graphics are nice, the music is great and Nemesis is awesome. The only thing this game had going against it was the length felt a bit rushed. There's not quite as much substance here as in Resident Evil 1 and 2.

But Capcom has made up for that with the live decisions that alter gameplay and even endings and the randomness of the game in terms of enemies and items. You never know quite what you'll get on any given play through.

Bottom line, get this game only after getting the first 2 in the series, but please get it. It is much better than Capcom's lackluster effort at modern Resident Evil games.

This game still has soul.
2246719
Although I love the old style RPG's you eventually want to know how they would appear with modern updates. Having grown up on the Final Fantasy series, I found this one to be the first that had a coherent world and characters that were not just throw away charactures (except for FFV,to me, that one was a miss). They appeared to make small improvements to the dialogue, fighting and mapping systems. Still an overall fun game.
My only complaint is that I wish they would have fleshed out the world and characters. You could tell that it was an old SNES game with mostly updated graphics. One tip off is how small some castles and towns are.
This game is still worth playing again. I would kill for a remake of FFVI. The greatest of the old style FF games.
857201
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is truly a remarkable game that surpasses many of my expectations. It's quite obvious to the novice of gamers that this game borrows a lot of elements from many of the top games in the industry today. Spend a couple of hours with it and you'll most likely be pondering "Now where have I seen that before?" Some of the influences which are noticeable from recently released games seem to incorporate themselves well here, while others seem kind of out of place. There was that awesome fight with the giant golem where you're required to climb and jump from one of its limb to another in your attempt to reach and destroy its weakness points, all the while it tries to shake you off. The Titan as it was called was very similar to the gargantuan creatures we had seen and fought before in "Shadow of the Colossus". Then there was that old temple ruin set in the backdrop of a jungle that looks like its been visited many times before in games like "Uncharted" and "Lara Croft: Underworld". And every so often you'll find yourself hanging from ledges, jumping from one platform to another, and those wall climbing moments will remind you of your adventures in "Prince of Persia". And the battle system and fighting styles as well as the ability to mount huge beasts to make them break through walls and obliterate all that's around you obviously mimic "God of War" and "Dante's Inferno". The thing that seems lacking during battles is the annoying camera angle which isn't rotatable, making it frustrating at times to see who you're fighting. The goods are excellent sound and voice-acting, beautiful up to date next generation graphics that rival anything out there these days, and clever puzzles. Speaking of puzzles, you'll come across one that looks like it was inspired by "Resident Evil 5" involving mirrors and reflecting beams. Story-wise, it's your typical Castlevania adventure where your journey involves fighting werewolves and vampires (what else right?)as you go hunting for the ever infamous Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula, except it's no longer your 2D Castlevania. I also want to comment on the Limited Edition version of this game, which I bought and terribly regret. For an extra $20, all you really get is a few additional pages of artwork that's attached to the game case, which means it's kind of hard to leave the pages open. The music is not as good as some claim it to be. Therefore, the soundtrack that comes included seems like a waste since I probably won't be using that extra disc often enough to make that extra $20 worth it.
2392239
Fighting game gurus and highly competitive gamers would probably want to stay away from this one due to it's very simplistic and unbalanced fighting system. However, if you're a Castlevania fan, this game is definitely worth a look at. Some may not like the new character designs that were done by the same artist of the Death Note anime series, but I think they're pretty cool. The music is true to the series and sounds as great as ever. The game modes were somewhat interesting, but I found them to be a bit lacking. They really could've added a lot more to some of the game modes, especially the "Castle Mode", which I found to be fun, but extremely short lived and lacking in content. As for the fighting system itself, it takes a little bit to get the hang of it(even with the classic controller), but once you do, you'll find that it could be a bit repetitive, which makes this feel a bit more like a KOEI("Dynasty Warriors" type) game rather then a fighting game. Like I said though, if you're a Castlevania fan, it really wasn't all THAT bad and was actually a bit entertaining. Plus, if you have the Order of Ecclesia game on the DS, you'll be able to unlock content both for this game AND the DS game, which was pretty neat.
88120
Any true fan of the Legacy of Kain/ Soul Reaver series must place this game at the top of their list in the series, as not only did this entry set the tone and the pace for the rest of the series, but it was a turning point for well done voice acting incorporated with a twisting and turning plot, which leaves you guessing until the very end. First things first though, this game has some of if not the worst loading times of all time in my honest opinion. However, if you can imagine the top down perspective of Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past with the graphics that were full of drab dark colors, creating an almost gothic overtone, you might realize why this game was pushing the Playstation 1 to its proverbial limits. The music is equally as enthraling, with a mixture of orchestral quality dynamics, and haunting sounds that will stay with you long after the game is turned off.

Overall the game is one of the best role plaing/action games on the system, and combined with one of the most engaging storylines ever devised, as well as some of the most gut wrenching and blood filled cinemas , the game pushed the limits of what could be allowed on Playstation (look at the censoring of the original Resident Evil for example). But it is not just this eclectic mixture that gives this game top honors in my book; it is more so in its ability to draw the player into Kains soul, witnessing his will being torn apart at the seams as he attempts to confront his own personal demons, upon being turned into a vampire at the beginning of the game. Upon awakening in his sanctuary, Kain finds the world much more to his liking, although the further he continues into his quest the more he questions his original willingness to become a vampire. Epic in every sense of the word, I dar anyone who says they are a videogame junkie to complet this game 100%, as this is a true test of patience, as well as utter skill. Its shortcomings are easily overlooked, once you realize just how engaging this game truly is, with completly different weapons at your disposal (you just can't forget the hum of the Soul Reaver the first time you acquire it) to the numerous types of armor, and magic you acquire, this game is an overlooked gem. Stick with it and you will not be dissappointed. Enjoy your nightmares.
730769
AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Every time i play i get my face rocked. AGHHHHH!!!! SO FREKING HARD!!!

Castlevania wasn't yur ordinary game.most games u bolted through. beat it in mabye in hour. BUT!!! no!!! castlevania planed every thing around the path of hurring through. Either u stopped and thoght the situation through or u got yur balls rocked.
3087161
This is by far one of the greatest games ever made for the PSX, or any system for that matter.  Yes, it's a side scroller, but a side-scroller has never been done better.  With plenty of excellent action, RPG elements, multiple endings, hidden modes, great classic Castlevania action, and much, much more, this game is a sure fire winner.  You really can't pick a better game except with a few (hence the word few) exceptions.  You definitely cannot go wrong.  This a must have for any collection.  If you don't own a PSX, buy this game and find a friend who has one because no one should miss out on a game this incredible.
3367150
Although I had problems with the ending, the game has brains and heart, and I can't praise it enough. In terms of story, characters, music and gameplay, it recalls the high water mark set by the first game in the series while introducing a darker, more ambiguous tone. In many ways, VC3 represents lessons learned by the developers over the years; the tedious grinding for randomly-awarded certificates that Valkyria Chronicles 2 introduced is gone. In its place is a greater emphasis on the backgrounds of your squadmates, who are presented as more fully fleshed-out characters than those of the previous entries. You come to genuinely care about your squadmates over the course of the game and to make the Nameless' fight your own.