Castlevania Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate HD V-Z

Ostensibly the second in MercurySteam's reboot of the Castlevania timeline — a side story taking place between 2010's Lords of Shadow and its upcoming sequel — Mirror of Fate is a bizarre amalgam of bits and pieces from throughout the series' history. But each of these pieces is a faint mirage of what made those individual games special.

Mirror of Fate drops hints in a number of promising directions — a splash of Symphony of the Night's emphasis on exploration, a touch of the creepy aesthetic of the 8-bit Castlevania games — but for all the classics it pays tribute to, Mirror of Fate never adds up to a great game itself.

Mirror of Fate picks up from a major plot twist at the end of 2010's Lords of Shadow: Demon-hunting protagonist Gabriel Belmont — one of the earliest members of the Belmont clan — has been turned into Dracula, the vampire destined to become the Belmonts' eternal enemy. In Mirror of Fate, multiple generations of Belmonts take up arms against their ancestor, including Simon, his father Trevor, and a mysterious third playable character.
Though they have some minor differences, each of the characters share the same core gameplay: exploring Dracula's castle, fighting off his minions and solving small puzzles. Mirror of Fate mostly operates on a 2D plane, but there's some depth to the backgrounds, with enemies sometimes approaching or attacking from behind. This strange middle ground between 2D and 3D leaves the movement feeling loose, both in and out of combat. The platforming is rarely complex, but it's hard to get a consistent feel for the length of jumps; combat, on the other hand, can be very challenging and is only made more so by the game's frustrating dodge move.

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