I owe this game an apology. Spoilers ahead.

Ages ago, I wrote a review of sorts after playing the demo of this on 3DS. At the time I was just getting into the DS Castlevania games and relishing their impeccable pixel art and precision gameplay. Let’s just say I thought this didn’t measure up. But now, I’m playing it in its proper context and able to appreciate it for what it is: a translation of the cinematic style of Lords of Shadow, hybridised with some “classic” 2D exploration/search action/Metroidvania/whatever structure, and at that it’s quite successful!

Putting things on a 2D plane makes the combat and platforming more manageable and fun, for me. It streamlines your actions, and you don’t get overwhelmed in fights. And to compare it to the earlier pixel-based games of the series, the fights are fewer and more involved, especially when you add in the finishing moves, counters, and variants of LoS’s magic mechanics.

Apart from the overall gameplay style, the big design choice with this game is the odd divided structure. It takes place in three “acts” (plus a prologue as Gabriel). In each, you take control of a different character with their own set of utility and mobility powers to newly unlock… but some progression carries over, like health extensions and combat unlocks from experience points. Essentially it’s like three mini-Metroidvanias in a row.

This is a fine idea and lets them explore three slightly different gameplay styles. All have variations of offensive/defensive magic states and two unique subweapons, while their other skills have some overlap (they all still use a combat cross, for example). The other goal of this is to tell a generation-spanning story; great in theory, but needlessly obfuscated in practice.

It’s the order of things that baffles me. You first play Simon’s story, 57 years after the original game. Then you jump into a parallel story as Alucard (the coolest one thanks to his vampiric powers), finishing at the same point as the first act. Finally you’re booted 30 years into the past to play through a prequel story as Trevor up to his transformation into Alucard. It means the game builds up to an event that already happened where our hero loses, and you play the last third of the game as the character who is mechanically most like Gabriel and so the least interesting.

I guess this is to facilitate an abundance of twists and revelations, but I spoiled myself on this game’s story years ago and I don’t think it’s even told well in the game. As with LoS itself, the supposed themes aren’t delivered on satisfactorily, and the non-chronological storytelling just confuses things. There’s a mysterious “Lost Soul” character who through it all remains frustratingly vague and talk of destiny and such, but the actual narrative is straightforward unless you purposefully tell it out of order like the game does. I don’t know, it felt like a very misguided choice to me but maybe I’m too hung up on linearity.

Since the purpose of my playing this is to prepare for Metroid Dread, it was interesting to see ideas here that lead directly into Samus Returns and its upcoming successor, like the counter system or the Aeon abilities being similar to the magic toggles, as well as the general feel of these characters in 2D space. Maybe the bell escape sequence is similar to the Diggernaut chase? Anyway, I think a strength of MercurySteam’s CV work is the detailed environments that evoke a good sense of place, and I hope to see more of that in Dread.

A final note is that I played the HD version, an upgraded port of the 3DS original. It obviously looks and sounds better (although you can tell on both counts that this is still in essence a lower-budget handheld game), but also they apparently removed a lot of QTE demands from this remaster, for which I profusely thank them. The few times a cinematic setpiece did require them cheesed me off, but failing only sets you a few seconds back, none of the repeated boss phases here that LoS had. Also, I played on Easy mode for maximum checkpoints and map friendliness, and I don’t regret it.