Funny - when CastleVania: SotN first came out, just about everyone initially criticized it for not going to 3D like the rest of the video game bandwagons. Now it's legendary even in 2D form as compared to the sea of mediocre 3D titles all of which were forgettable that came out at about the same time. Then CastleVania goes 3D on N64 and met less than thrilling reviews. On PS2, it goes 3D again . . . and everyone is weary of a repeat.
I wanted to like this game more than its PS1 2D predecessor - not because I didn't like SotN; rather, because just about every review will read, `. . . but it's not as good as SotN.' When a game in a series is successful, every successor will forever be compared whether or not fair, and quite a few of those reviewers never really give the game a chance.
Unfortunately, as much as I liked Lament, it's simply not quite as fun, not quite as deep, and doesn't even come close to surpassing the game that came before it. Lament is still a good game, a good entry in the CastleVania series for any die-hard fan, but it is not Symphony of the Night 2.
It does try very hard to re-capture the 2D exploration/whip-the-hell-out-of-monsters feel of its 2D predecessors which is admirable and meets with varying degrees of success. But the emphasis of the game seems a bit shifted due to the new dimension that gives Lament its own feel. The biggest drawback for me was lack of any reason to re-explore any areas even to acquire missed items. You never get any new special abilities/items that let you access an area you previously couldn't get to unless its for an extra little item that makes no real impact on the rest of the game other than to say, `Cleared it 7 hours and I found 100% of the items in the game!' I felt most of the cutscenes were a bit too long and drawn out. The intro cutscene is definitely longer than an intro cutscene should be (which, from the few games I've played, is becoming a trend . . . ). This is CastleVania--I really don't care *this much* about plot. Especially since, for the most part, it's just a regurgitation of something we've all seen/heard/played before. Give me an excuse to fight the vampire and point me towards the demon castle and I'll be happy. The `whip's completion' cutscene was nicely done and fine, but everything before it could've been cut down for time and everything afterwards was extraneous.
My greatest delight came with returning character illustrator, Ayame Kojima, and composer, Michiru Yamane, both of whom are bursting at the seams with talent have refined CastleVania's already unique gothic look and feel and properly ascended the series above your typical game art/music. Kojima & Yamane's contributions combined give their CastleVania titles a very stylish and atmospheric feel surpassing entries that lack them on the creative team. But the look and sound of a game alone hasn't made CastleVania the flagship series of Konami's that it is . . . it's a fun game.
Lament is actually a really really good game compared to the rest of the industry, but it bears the CastleVania name which has yielded some of the greatest games on just about every system since its conception on the NES over a decade ago. Not the greatest of the series, but the series as a whole stands above most of the gaming industry.
