Castlevania: Lament of Innocence PS2 Review | The Origin of Leon Belmont
772Castlevania Lament of Innocence PS2 review. Not everyone knows that there were two Castlevania games on the PS2. When Castlevania Lament of Innocence launched in 2003, Castlevania had little pedigree on consoles. The Lament of Innocence PS2 budget would have been very limited but Castlevania: Lament of Innocence ended up as a real PS2 diamond in the rough.
Series producer Koji Igarashi originally conceived of Castlevania Lament of Innocence as a sort of soft reboot, telling the origin story of the Castlevania series. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence explains the origin of the Belmont clan, the Vampire Killer whip and Count Dracula himself. Lament of Innocence is about Leon Belmont, the original Belmont. Leon Belmont is the founder of the Belmont clan and Lament of Innocence PS2 is Leon Belmont's origin. Leon Belmont was originally an ordained knight but Leon turns his back the church to hunt Walter Bernhard, a vampire who stole his girlfriend.
Leon Belmont finds that Walter’s castle is divided into five stages, linked by a central hub room. This is really cool and unique among Castlevania games. Leon Belmont can tackle the stages in any order and each stage is different. Each location has your classic Castlevania baddies and in classic Castlevania fashion you’ve got pretty big levels and big bosses. Regrouping on the PS2 and focusing on what makes Castlevania Castlevania gave Konami the opportunity to realise a true 3D Castlevania on PS2. This time working with the hardware instead of fighting against it and spending the smart money due to that budget constraint.
Action, level design, creature design, sound and music is where Lament of Innocence is strongest. Castlevania Lament of Innocence is classic Castlevania gameplay on the PS2. Explorating a spooky castle and whipping a ton of skeletons. Where Lament of Innocence departs from the classic Castlevania formula is by adding the hallmarks of the PS2 3D platformer.
There’s a lot of content, but it’s not bloaty. Castlevania Lament of Innocence’s levels aren’t enormous but there’s enough to them that you can get to the boss without fully exploring. Revisiting the dungeons and mopping up collectables gives you some of the most authentic Metroidvania gameplay on PS2 and became the most addictive part of Castlevania: Lament of Innocence.
Castlevania Lament of Innocence was released late in 2003 worldwide, early 2004 here in the UK. Castlevania’s launch marketing must have been done on a shoestring because I don’t even remember hearing about a Castlevania game on PS2. PS2 reviews at the time gave Castlevania a solid “alright”. Your 7s and 8s. Lament of Innocence didn’t set the world on fire but it did make enough to warrant Konami making a sequel which is a small victory in itself.
Taking what worked about Castlevania and updating it to a modern 3D platformer is what Konami tried with the N64 Castlevania games, but they couldn’t nail it. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is Konami hitting their stride with a PS2 3D action game, despite the obvious lack of resources. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence isn’t the best PS2 game from 2003. Nor is it isn't the prettiest PS2 game from 2003. But having just enough money to make a focused action game kept Konami dialled in on a small range of achievable goals. I’ve played Castlevania Lament of Innocence through twice and there’s no fat on it. I recommend you try it, especially if you’ve already played those flashier titles from 2003.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050311061512/
https://web.archive.org/web/20121008173757/
http://archive.gamespy.com/interviews/october03/castlevania/index.shtml
http://palgn.com.au/3703/franchise-mode-11-castlevania-part-2/
https://castlevaniadungeon.net/games/loi.html
#castlevania #playstation2 #retrogaming
"House of Sacred Remains" and "Dark Palace of Waterfalls" by Michiru Yamane appear courtesy of the Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Official Soundtrack.
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