100%. They didn't need a game to become the next Fortnite in terms of player count in order for it to be a success, not every release was this life and death scenario for studios. They didn't take 8 years to make either. There was a lot more experimentation in games we seemingly get only from indies now.
This is also on the gamers. Cheap games could be made, but SO MANY gamers require modern/lifelike graphics and take simpler graphics as a sign of failure in upcoming games, regardless of studio size. If people stopped generating outrage over graphics and would support indies/retro graphics more widely, there would be less risk in experimenting like that.
How I feel about Kya: Dark Lineage for PS2. It's like... looks like the 3D Rayman games, has a lot of platforming, yet has a surprisingly in-depth combat system that i've seen some describe as a mini-tekken. Solid game of which I hope it one day gets a second chance to fully live up to all that it has to offer.
Lament of Innocence is the perfect Weekend Game. It isn't terribly long, it presents these bite-sized Metroidvania maps that end in great bosses and story beats, and the bonus content isn't too hard to find. Just a tight, focused package that doesn't overstay its welcome, and leaves you hungry for more Castlevania.
I loved this game, too, but it's often overlooked or underrated. Too many people wrote it off as an inferior DMC clone. Glad to see someone finally give it a fair shake.
One thing that always stuck with me was the stage play like presentation of LoI. The beginning text scrawl with the narrator setting up the plot. The soapy like drama of the cutscenes. In my head it's Dracula teaching Alucard how this beef started. Tell me Dracula isn't a drama king with his iconic "what is a man?" He's so petty he'd have an army of doppelgangers just so he could have an elaborate stage play. Now that'd be a dope Castlevania Premise!
I remember back in Demon's Souls, running through the Gates of Boletaria area, thinking, "This feels so much like Castlevania," when it introduced the individual phalanx mobs. And then we circle around and come out the doors on the other side, I thought, "This feels like Super Metroid." Watching this video about the shortcomings like a lack of interconnection, etc, and thinking how could this be done better now, it'd be a Soulslike Metroidvania. It'd be great to get a new good Castlevania, but oh well. Good video.
Yeah, my dream is a Castlevania with the level of interconnectivity of Souls, and with Sekiro jump and grappling hook adding vertical level design into the mix, it became more obvious how the ideal 3D Castlevania should be
I've said for awhile that Bloodborne might be the best successor to Castlevania as an aesthetic and ideology. Nailing the gothic setting, having an interconnected game world, even the unforgiving difficulty is something Castlevania was once known for.
@@pointeaxiscastlevania doesn't need the stupid frustration associated with souls games. I would take one in a visual style of souls but if they were to use the gameplay style and souls system for leveling I'd be out. Castlevania shouldn't be following trends it should be setting them still, at least if Konami still cared that is
@@WAR3600Me too, me too. We need a Souls like that takes place inside a massive monolithic structure. Get creative like Hellpoint where it's on a big vessel of sorts!
@@WAR3600Me too, me too. We need a Souls like that takes place inside a massive monolithic structure. Get creative like Hellpoint where it's on a big vessel of sorts!
I absolutely loved this game, but I'll admit that I think it was the music which really kept me going. Some of the platforming segments were a bit frustrating in 3D, but the music kept me from getting frustrated.
Oh, I've played this game waaaay back then during highschool alongside Curse of Darkness, I actually got surprised by the 3D gameplay instead of side scrolling, unorthodox, yet fun! Especially with the whole "The Belmont clan will hunt the night!", it's like opening a history book about one of your favorite historical figure and learning the whole thing that made them who they were at that time
Thank you for making this. This is one of my favorite games of all time and I've beaten it at least 20 times, but it gets a lot of hate or dismissal from what I see on forums and boards. All of its weaknesses you mentioned are what I love about it. I like the long corridors, the lack of platforming and no strict ability upgrades required for progression. One things games simply don't do anymore is SIMPLE. I like that this game isn't ginormous and has its own style. Anyways, thanks for making this, this is my favorite castlevania game, but I've never really typed it online for fear of backlash and scorn.
The music in this game is phenomenal. It does a lot for those moments where you're walking down long corridors or even backtracking to places you've already been. I've beaten this game like maybe 10 times, and I've always enjoyed replaying it. Started playing it in Highschool and was obsessed with how charming and simple the gameplay is. It's a lot like a rollercoaster, but you have the option to switch levers along the way to see whatever sights you want. Leon's shouts and the cracking of the whip on enemies skulls is very satisfying. The orbs adding extra flavor for combat along with the sub-weapons makes it a bit more fun as well. Holy Water + Red Orb for Roaring Flames was one of my favorites. I really wish we lived in a world where we could get a remake of this game, or hell even just a port. But we don't live in a perfect world and Konami still sucks ass.
Castlevania is one of the greatest franchises of all time, most of the video games in it’s franchise are great games, it has a lot of different styles, gameplay mechanics and genres throughout it’s history. I loved the early platformers of the franchise, with Super Castlevania IV being my absolute favorite greatest Castlevania game of all time in my opinion, & 2nd in my top 10 greatest and favorite video games of all time list. I love Lament of Innocence so much, it’s my 2nd favorite Castlevania game of all time and Super Castlevania IV being my number 1. I love the story the most, it started the whole legendary original Castlevania story timeline in terms of the main story lore. Leon was the very first Belmont, and had every reason to head straight into the most dangerous Castle to challenge the most strongest and deadly Vampire of that time period in order to rescue his betrothed Sara. It is still heartbreaking that we never got a brand new Castlevania game in a very long time, and since we haven’t been getting new Castlevania games anymore by Konami, a lot of us then discovered the FromSoft Soulsbourne video games & those kept the spirit of Castlevania alive with their aesthetic, gameplay, characters, creatures and beautiful Medieval and Victorian backdrops, locations and style.
I prefer Curse of Darkness, but Lament gets a lot of undue hatred as well. All the 3D Castlevanias got undue hate around then because Symphony. I love Symphony but yeah...
I’m a diehard castlevania fan, I’ve played so *so* much Castlevania, and this has been in my top 5 ever since I played it. Such a great and immensely underappreciated game. Probably my favorite story in the series, Leon is my second favorite Belmont, the music is so good, and it’s just a ton of fun. Need to play it again soon
Curse of darkness is really great too. My top 5 is Symphony Cv1 Rondo of Blood Aria of sorrow Lament of innocence But COD is probably my #6 if I had to extend my list
I can't quite explain it, but this is my favorite Castelevania game. I think maybe because it had little fanfare when it came out, as the video points out many great titles came out during the same time period and got most of the spotlight. It really was a quiet release. But it came out around my birthday and I think I love it because it's so under the radar. The soundtrack is top notch, graphics look excellent for it's time period, and I would argue the gameplay with the light+heavy attacks took Devil May Cry combo system to the next level and might(?) have inspired God of Wars attack system. Either way, would love to see a Castlevania 3D collection for modern consoles. This, added with Curse of Darkness, with either Castlevania 64 or Castlevania Judgement. ALSO: I'd vote for Leon Belmont for Playstation All Stars 2 (if and ever it happens.) Would be a great deep-cut if it ever happened.
This and Curse are the best blueprint for a 3D Castlevania, along with Souls games. The main thing it's missing is interesting level design and platforming. A new game should be like this but probably more akin to something like Metroid Prime when it comes to the map design.
I have the same opinion. I was expecting Castlevania: Lament of Innocence to be at least be better than Castlevania 64, but was pleasantly surprised with how the game came out. Its a underrated game, very under the radar. The opinion of the game being similar to DMC is more or less correct, but you must understand it from a mechanics perspective. Lament of Innocence is an action game like DMC, and has the combo system of DMC. Lament is similar to a Metroidvania, yes, but not quite. There are quadrant locations that require you to stay in one place and unlock doors via Metroidvania style colored doors. The graphics are clean. There are some flaws like repeating textures being reused here and there. I think you and everyone forget that camera angle is very unique. It has the Resident Evil-ish "stuck" camera, but I argue its similar to... "Diablo" with how the camera is positioned.
I remember when I first played this game, just got the PS2 and the gaming landscape was still finding its roots. I got frustrated with the controls because you HAD to use the analog sticks and item changing was real time aside from equipping via the menu. Little did I know this was where games were headed. Gotta try this game out once more to see how much my opinions have changed.
pumpkid or whatever he was called was s fun to play. practically all the sub weapons were made into pumpkins of some kind and he was super strong from the start. it was so long ago but i think the ending with him was a little silly. little sad you didn't mention The Forgotten One.
I got this game a long time ago when I was just becoming a fan of the franchise. I had previously bought "Dracula X Chronicles" for the PSP (so I could play the most complete version of Symphony of the Night available), and after getting hooked on that, I picked up Castlevania Chronicles for the PS1 and Lament of Innocence for the PS2. "Lament" certainly isn't a perfect game (and Curse of Darkness is MOST ASSUREDLY better in almost every way), but it's still quite the fun time that deserves at least one run-through. Playing those games made me exceptionally fond of the series. I haven't played all of the ones I own now, but jumping back into the series when I'm in the mood for gothic, vampire whipping fun is always a great time. ... Except for Lords of Shadow...
Good to hear someone give some love to this game. I’m glad I kept it. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s my favorite franchises were Castlevania and Mega Man. I had a love/hate relarelationship with the 3D Castlevania games but I really did enjoy this one. The reboot LOS was great and then after the first game went downhill.
It's always awesome seeing newer Castlevania fans. I love that you went in with no preconceptions of this underrated game that quite honestly, got a bad rap when it came out.
Lament is in my top 10 easily. I wasn't happy w/the art style and tone the games took in the DS/Wii era. The PS2 games, and Ecclesia, were the final games that truly filled the Vania void for me. I like how Lament can stand on its own w/the dungeon crawling action gameplay and air-tight pacing. Can easily feel like a random gem amongst the PS2 library while filling its role as a Castlevania prequel. The atmosphere is great, performances are full of charm, story has philosophical beats, and gameplay is addictive. The level select gives a ton of replay value since enemies and bosses have weaknesses you can gain (basically Megaman). Graphics are also great, even if the level designs are repetitive. 60fps is nice on PS2. Satisfying to 100% and fight the optional boss. It's a great game, shamed by comparisons. On it's own anyone can enjoy it.
Castlvania algorithm brought ne here 🫶 Love the video dude. I'm a newer Castlevania fan too and have since played every 2D Castlvania game from the first one to order of Ecclesia, but i never got to play any of the 3D ones
There aren't many, the two on N64 are essentially the same game, this on Ps2 was probably the best 3D one, and Cuse of Darkness is basically Castlevania+Pokemon... it just works. Lords of Shadow can hardly be considered a castlevania game tbh.
i loved playing this game and getting 100% on every relic and orb. The only problem with it for me was the repetition in design for some areas and how hard some of the secrets were to find, but i loved the game.
Lament of Innocence is the only 3D Castlevania game I found really enjoyable. I played through it and was itching to play another one, so I bought Curse of Darkness afterwards which I thought both looked worse and was much more boring than Lament. The only thing that was better about it was that you could control the camera. After watching this I am keen on booting Lament up again on my PS2.
CoD was definitely a significant step back visually, but there was much more going on so it's a fair trade. The crafting system and devil forging made for an interesting experience. On top of that you can replay the game as Trevor.
I have fairly fond memories of both the PS2 Castlevania titles, but I've never been able to look past the overly horizontal and repetitive level design that, for some reason, only got worse with Curse of Darkness, which really does feel like jogging down nothing more than decorated hallways. Someone else in the comments section mentioned Demon's Souls, and yeah -- that was, for me, the moment where something about what I'd envisioned for Castlevania in 3D seemed to have been realized in a substantial way. Even so, there are occasions in Lament of Innocence where the set dressing and music combine to exquisite effect, and those are the times when the game's otherwise lacking design feels both the most distressing, yet trivial.
I thought this was a great game when it came out and I love returning to it periodically for a playthrough. The visual and audial aesthetic is awesome and I enjoy the combo system and skills. People kept calling LoS a God of War ripoff, but I felt it was more like a continuation and expansion of this style with more direct and unique stages. Minus the aesthetic. I do love the first Lords or Shadow game as well. I also appreciate that the extra characters have their own endings despite overall lack of story. Makes it feel like real alternate canon instead of just being dropped in for no reason.
Never clicked on a video so fast in my entire life. I hyped the release of this game enough to power an entire solar system. I was like, 11 or 12 years old, and I must have watched that one trailer hundreds of times leading up to release, obsessed with the idea of using a whip in a 3D environment and fighting that golem boss in the trailer. My love for the game lead to me revisiting the original Devil May Cry for the fifth or sixth time and it finally clicking with me; which lead to me hyping DMC3 enough to power an entire fucking galaxy.
i played this recently on high school back in 2022 on my phone lol 😆 but i really enjoyed every moment of it and i got 100% map and relics and i love it
I played this game a lot back in the day and Cursed of darkness as a Castlevania fan. I wish Konami give these games an HD remastered for new consoles! Loves theses two games!
It was great. Arguably the best 3d Castlevania to date. Not that LOS isn't better as a game... But it doesn't feel like it's truly Castlevania. So the true Castlevania 3d game... Is this one in my opinion. But I like LOS more as an epic adventure mood setting game
I enjoyed this, but didn't love it back when it was current. I'm pretty sure I would have a harder time getting into it today since the platforming is such a big thing I love about Castlevania.
Great game, slept on like many great titles for the PS2 like you mentioned. Like you mentioned, lots of blemishes but I remember being so hyped when I saw the cover for the first time.
I love this game so much, actually im playing it again on my PS3 since my ps2 died (yes , im one of those that buys the same game several times on diferent platforms).
I was really disappointed with Lords of shadow, and when I expressed that, so many of the other Castlevania fans were like 'well of course it's bad, it's 3d'. I ALWAYS disputed them that LoI and CoD were effing great, and they were 3d too. I don't know why Castlevania fans ignore these two games.
Lament of Innocence gang rise up! This game isn't the best or most in depth action game, but it has IMPECCABLE vibes and I'm glad more and more people are speaking up for it. It reviewed middlingly in its time, a victim of the review culture that denounced anything that wasn't pushing an envelope or re-inventing the wheel. Anyway, I'm glad you appreciate its very uniquely PS2-styled aesthetics, the high-enough fidelity and simple geometry resulting in such unique looks for games. Lament of Innocence, Samurai Western, Devil May Cry, Red Dead Revolver, all using that mix of baked in hard lighting and texturing with burgeoning dynamic lighting technology. The water motifs in Lament especially, how they shimmer and shine in that almost divine, otherworldly way only a PS2 game can. Love that shit.
ahh.. I remember playing this through a PS2 demo disc, always wanted to play this fully, really liked Castlevania with this release. (edit, I played the demo of Curse of Darkness NOT lament of innocence, still I'd really like to play both!
One of my fav PS2 games! Love it to the bones, would love for Konami to make a remake ala MGS Delta! Also after all the trashing the game got it was refreshing to see Netflix's Castlevania series redeeming Lamment of Innocence by seeing Leon as the first Belmont!! ❤
If you havent, check out lords of shadow 1. Its god of war in the castlevania setting but its great to play and the story kills as a PRECURSOR to this game.
Lords of Shadow is fucking great. The sequel is unfortunately a nightmare. I still remember tweeting the game’s director and thanking him for fucking it up, as quite a few articles reported on, and him just going “you welcome.” 😂
@@Ghooly @glase is right; no matter how much you love the first game, HIGHLY avoid 2. Its not like dmc2 where its just lame. It tries and fails to do new things and after the first game being so cool, it is a different type, imo worse, of disaapointment. At least dmc2 can be cheesed in like 3 hours lol.
@@TheBrotherGrimThe first thing I did after unlocking Joachim was run straight to Anti Souls Mystery Lab to test his speed. Blew my mind beating that collapsible bridge without wolf foot 😂
About dmc comparison, hideki kamiya is a fan of castlevania, and his creation dmc 1 is take alot of inspiration from castlevania, so its not castevania LOC that look like dmc 1 but dmc 1 who look like castlevania
@@Ghooly lol yea, you said it a good bit lol. Metroidvania is a genre are you need to get items/abilities to unlock new areas with the ability to back track. Resident evil 1&2 are good examples. It was a great video.
@@killshock360 thank you! Imo lament does classify as a metroidvania because you do indeed *technically* get new abilities to get different items. It's just that the game only asks you to do it like twice and I think it's only with the Wolf's Foot iirc. So it's a metroidvania by my definition but not a very good one if you were to actually compare it to others. Plus there's backtracking with the coloured keys, secret bosses to find, etc. Mega Man is a very good comparison though and probably the best one to make.
Now play Curse of Darkness! Sorry, it's obligatory. The PS2 Castlevanias don't get enough appreciation, least of all their music. Also, CoD has a sidequest of sorts where your goal is to plant your rear in various seats all across the game. Yes - you're collecting chairs by sitting in them. Some of the chairs are quite ridiculous.
Alright man, I subscribed. This is the part where I blackmail you to play and cover the other one, Curse of Darkness, on PS2. I actually like it significantly BETTER than Lament of Innocence. Bow to my request and whims or face the consequences, parasocial relationship haver!
I really got bored with the simplistic combo trees and the story is frankly crap. Not gonna spoil here but the whole "where did the vampire killer whip come from???" was the most prequelly thing about this game. The main thing going for this game for me was the box art and music but Curse of Darkness? woooooo boy i got obsessed with breeding new devil companions and mastering fighting along side them
Psssssp if you haven't look up Gian's CoD enhanced edition. Improves the combat with more attacks, improves IDs AI and aggression, tweaks, additions such as classes inspired by Circle of the Moon! It's beautiful.
The PS2 era was peak gaming because it didn’t take a bajillion dollars to make a game, and as a result more interesting things could just exist
100%. They didn't need a game to become the next Fortnite in terms of player count in order for it to be a success, not every release was this life and death scenario for studios. They didn't take 8 years to make either. There was a lot more experimentation in games we seemingly get only from indies now.
This is also on the gamers. Cheap games could be made, but SO MANY gamers require modern/lifelike graphics and take simpler graphics as a sign of failure in upcoming games, regardless of studio size. If people stopped generating outrage over graphics and would support indies/retro graphics more widely, there would be less risk in experimenting like that.
I absolutely loved this game, but it felt like no one else played it.
It's severely underrated and needs so much more love. If I can get at least one other person to play it I'll be very happy.
How I feel about Kya: Dark Lineage for PS2.
It's like... looks like the 3D Rayman games, has a lot of platforming, yet has a surprisingly in-depth combat system that i've seen some describe as a mini-tekken.
Solid game of which I hope it one day gets a second chance to fully live up to all that it has to offer.
Shid played the hell out of it. Playing it now😂😂Thts how good it is
I got it on release, and it's still a favorite. Joachim is my dude
@@TheBrotherGrim up until you play as him on NG+
BTW Pumpkin 4 life
"But I'm beloved by the night."
"I'll kill you AND the night!"
Lament of Innocence is the perfect Weekend Game. It isn't terribly long, it presents these bite-sized Metroidvania maps that end in great bosses and story beats, and the bonus content isn't too hard to find. Just a tight, focused package that doesn't overstay its welcome, and leaves you hungry for more Castlevania.
I loved this game, too, but it's often overlooked or underrated. Too many people wrote it off as an inferior DMC clone. Glad to see someone finally give it a fair shake.
One thing that always stuck with me was the stage play like presentation of LoI. The beginning text scrawl with the narrator setting up the plot. The soapy like drama of the cutscenes. In my head it's Dracula teaching Alucard how this beef started. Tell me Dracula isn't a drama king with his iconic "what is a man?" He's so petty he'd have an army of doppelgangers just so he could have an elaborate stage play. Now that'd be a dope Castlevania Premise!
I remember back in Demon's Souls, running through the Gates of Boletaria area, thinking, "This feels so much like Castlevania," when it introduced the individual phalanx mobs. And then we circle around and come out the doors on the other side, I thought, "This feels like Super Metroid." Watching this video about the shortcomings like a lack of interconnection, etc, and thinking how could this be done better now, it'd be a Soulslike Metroidvania. It'd be great to get a new good Castlevania, but oh well. Good video.
Yeah, my dream is a Castlevania with the level of interconnectivity of Souls, and with Sekiro jump and grappling hook adding vertical level design into the mix, it became more obvious how the ideal 3D Castlevania should be
I've said for awhile that Bloodborne might be the best successor to Castlevania as an aesthetic and ideology. Nailing the gothic setting, having an interconnected game world, even the unforgiving difficulty is something Castlevania was once known for.
@@pointeaxiscastlevania doesn't need the stupid frustration associated with souls games. I would take one in a visual style of souls but if they were to use the gameplay style and souls system for leveling I'd be out. Castlevania shouldn't be following trends it should be setting them still, at least if Konami still cared that is
@@WAR3600Me too, me too. We need a Souls like that takes place inside a massive monolithic structure. Get creative like Hellpoint where it's on a big vessel of sorts!
@@WAR3600Me too, me too. We need a Souls like that takes place inside a massive monolithic structure. Get creative like Hellpoint where it's on a big vessel of sorts!
The soundtrack in this game is godlike.
It has such a unique feel to the series. The blend of strong castlevania melodies and a more atmospheric tone at once is so memorable
I loved that game, that secret giant cuffed boss, the atmosphere and... that ost! The ost truly carries the game.
The soundtrack is so peak!
THEY WERE COOKING!
House of Sacred Remains is the best shit ever, man
I absolutely love this game and is my favorite 3D castlevania game. Severely underrated gem 💎
I absolutely loved this game, but I'll admit that I think it was the music which really kept me going. Some of the platforming segments were a bit frustrating in 3D, but the music kept me from getting frustrated.
I'm still listening to the music right now it's so good.
also worth mentioning that this game has like, 80% cheesy voice acting and it really adds to the experience. really loved this game
This and CoD are solid entries in the series.
These 3d entries don’t get enough love
I absolutely loved this game when it came out. Still have my original copy.
I miss replaying this masterpiece ❤
This is your sign to go replay it again!
Here’s hoping Konami puts out a 3D collection with LoI and Curse of Darkness, maybe with Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness bundled in, too.
Oh, I've played this game waaaay back then during highschool alongside Curse of Darkness, I actually got surprised by the 3D gameplay instead of side scrolling, unorthodox, yet fun! Especially with the whole "The Belmont clan will hunt the night!", it's like opening a history book about one of your favorite historical figure and learning the whole thing that made them who they were at that time
The garden song was fire
Thank you for making this. This is one of my favorite games of all time and I've beaten it at least 20 times, but it gets a lot of hate or dismissal from what I see on forums and boards. All of its weaknesses you mentioned are what I love about it. I like the long corridors, the lack of platforming and no strict ability upgrades required for progression. One things games simply don't do anymore is SIMPLE. I like that this game isn't ginormous and has its own style. Anyways, thanks for making this, this is my favorite castlevania game, but I've never really typed it online for fear of backlash and scorn.
The music in this game is phenomenal. It does a lot for those moments where you're walking down long corridors or even backtracking to places you've already been.
I've beaten this game like maybe 10 times, and I've always enjoyed replaying it. Started playing it in Highschool and was obsessed with how charming and simple the gameplay is.
It's a lot like a rollercoaster, but you have the option to switch levers along the way to see whatever sights you want.
Leon's shouts and the cracking of the whip on enemies skulls is very satisfying. The orbs adding extra flavor for combat along with the sub-weapons makes it a bit more fun as well.
Holy Water + Red Orb for Roaring Flames was one of my favorites.
I really wish we lived in a world where we could get a remake of this game, or hell even just a port. But we don't live in a perfect world and Konami still sucks ass.
Castlevania is one of the greatest franchises of all time, most of the video games in it’s franchise are great games, it has a lot of different styles, gameplay mechanics and genres throughout it’s history.
I loved the early platformers of the franchise, with Super Castlevania IV being my absolute favorite greatest Castlevania game of all time in my opinion, & 2nd in my top 10 greatest and favorite video games of all time list.
I love Lament of Innocence so much, it’s my 2nd favorite Castlevania game of all time and Super Castlevania IV being my number 1.
I love the story the most, it started the whole legendary original Castlevania story timeline in terms of the main story lore.
Leon was the very first Belmont, and had every reason to head straight into the most dangerous Castle to challenge the most strongest and deadly Vampire of that time period in order to rescue his betrothed Sara.
It is still heartbreaking that we never got a brand new Castlevania game in a very long time, and since we haven’t been getting new Castlevania games anymore by Konami, a lot of us then discovered the FromSoft Soulsbourne video games & those kept the spirit of Castlevania alive with their aesthetic, gameplay, characters, creatures and beautiful Medieval and Victorian backdrops, locations and style.
My favorite OST in the series
Gigachad confirmed
I prefer Curse of Darkness, but Lament gets a lot of undue hatred as well.
All the 3D Castlevanias got undue hate around then because Symphony.
I love Symphony but yeah...
I’m a diehard castlevania fan, I’ve played so *so* much Castlevania, and this has been in my top 5 ever since I played it. Such a great and immensely underappreciated game. Probably my favorite story in the series, Leon is my second favorite Belmont, the music is so good, and it’s just a ton of fun. Need to play it again soon
Curse of darkness is really great too. My top 5 is
Symphony
Cv1
Rondo of Blood
Aria of sorrow
Lament of innocence
But COD is probably my #6 if I had to extend my list
I can't quite explain it, but this is my favorite Castelevania game. I think maybe because it had little fanfare when it came out, as the video points out many great titles came out during the same time period and got most of the spotlight. It really was a quiet release. But it came out around my birthday and I think I love it because it's so under the radar. The soundtrack is top notch, graphics look excellent for it's time period, and I would argue the gameplay with the light+heavy attacks took Devil May Cry combo system to the next level and might(?) have inspired God of Wars attack system.
Either way, would love to see a Castlevania 3D collection for modern consoles. This, added with Curse of Darkness, with either Castlevania 64 or Castlevania Judgement.
ALSO: I'd vote for Leon Belmont for Playstation All Stars 2 (if and ever it happens.) Would be a great deep-cut if it ever happened.
This and Curse are the best blueprint for a 3D Castlevania, along with Souls games. The main thing it's missing is interesting level design and platforming. A new game should be like this but probably more akin to something like Metroid Prime when it comes to the map design.
aaah man, I had this one for ps2 when i was a kid...so good to chill and spend hours swinging that whip xD
I have the same opinion. I was expecting Castlevania: Lament of Innocence to be at least be better than Castlevania 64, but was pleasantly surprised with how the game came out.
Its a underrated game, very under the radar.
The opinion of the game being similar to DMC is more or less correct, but you must understand it from a mechanics perspective. Lament of Innocence is an action game like DMC, and has the combo system of DMC.
Lament is similar to a Metroidvania, yes, but not quite. There are quadrant locations that require you to stay in one place and unlock doors via Metroidvania style colored doors.
The graphics are clean. There are some flaws like repeating textures being reused here and there.
I think you and everyone forget that camera angle is very unique. It has the Resident Evil-ish "stuck" camera, but I argue its similar to... "Diablo" with how the camera is positioned.
Thank you! Lament of Innocence was incredibly slept on in the franchise!
I remember when I first played this game, just got the PS2 and the gaming landscape was still finding its roots. I got frustrated with the controls because you HAD to use the analog sticks and item changing was real time aside from equipping via the menu. Little did I know this was where games were headed. Gotta try this game out once more to see how much my opinions have changed.
I dont have anything to add except Leon yelling "I'll kill you AND the night!" is the most distilled essence of what Castlevania is to me.
One of the most bone shivering lines I've ever heard in anything I'll be honest
Who would have thought that the Ps2 limitations served the Castlevania atmosphere way better
than the Ps3 higher fidelity and better lighting
pumpkid or whatever he was called was s fun to play. practically all the sub weapons were made into pumpkins of some kind and he was super strong from the start. it was so long ago but i think the ending with him was a little silly. little sad you didn't mention The Forgotten One.
I got this game a long time ago when I was just becoming a fan of the franchise. I had previously bought "Dracula X Chronicles" for the PSP (so I could play the most complete version of Symphony of the Night available), and after getting hooked on that, I picked up Castlevania Chronicles for the PS1 and Lament of Innocence for the PS2. "Lament" certainly isn't a perfect game (and Curse of Darkness is MOST ASSUREDLY better in almost every way), but it's still quite the fun time that deserves at least one run-through.
Playing those games made me exceptionally fond of the series. I haven't played all of the ones I own now, but jumping back into the series when I'm in the mood for gothic, vampire whipping fun is always a great time.
... Except for Lords of Shadow...
Lords of Shadow is more of a dark fantasy take on the franchise rather than being gothic.
Good to hear someone give some love to this game. I’m glad I kept it. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s my favorite franchises were Castlevania and Mega Man. I had a love/hate relarelationship with the 3D Castlevania games but I really did enjoy this one. The reboot LOS was great and then after the first game went downhill.
The most correct opinion ever, you get it man, I'm so happy to see Lament of Innocence being appreciated
It's always awesome seeing newer Castlevania fans. I love that you went in with no preconceptions of this underrated game that quite honestly, got a bad rap when it came out.
Lament is in my top 10 easily. I wasn't happy w/the art style and tone the games took in the DS/Wii era. The PS2 games, and Ecclesia, were the final games that truly filled the Vania void for me.
I like how Lament can stand on its own w/the dungeon crawling action gameplay and air-tight pacing. Can easily feel like a random gem amongst the PS2 library while filling its role as a Castlevania prequel. The atmosphere is great, performances are full of charm, story has philosophical beats, and gameplay is addictive. The level select gives a ton of replay value since enemies and bosses have weaknesses you can gain (basically Megaman). Graphics are also great, even if the level designs are repetitive. 60fps is nice on PS2. Satisfying to 100% and fight the optional boss. It's a great game, shamed by comparisons. On it's own anyone can enjoy it.
Castlvania algorithm brought ne here 🫶
Love the video dude. I'm a newer Castlevania fan too and have since played every 2D Castlvania game from the first one to order of Ecclesia, but i never got to play any of the 3D ones
Thank you! I'mgonna get started on some of the 2D ones soon hopefully once I've knocked some other games off the list
There aren't many, the two on N64 are essentially the same game, this on Ps2 was probably the best 3D one, and Cuse of Darkness is basically Castlevania+Pokemon... it just works.
Lords of Shadow can hardly be considered a castlevania game tbh.
"subscribe for more ps2 sounds".well you got me there
i loved playing this game and getting 100% on every relic and orb. The only problem with it for me was the repetition in design for some areas and how hard some of the secrets were to find, but i loved the game.
Lament of Innocence is the only 3D Castlevania game I found really enjoyable. I played through it and was itching to play another one, so I bought Curse of Darkness afterwards which I thought both looked worse and was much more boring than Lament. The only thing that was better about it was that you could control the camera. After watching this I am keen on booting Lament up again on my PS2.
I recommend playing it on Crazy Mode for a much tougher game.
Damn, for me it's the opposite curse of darkness is pretty much better in every single way possible,i was bored playing lament
CoD was definitely a significant step back visually, but there was much more going on so it's a fair trade. The crafting system and devil forging made for an interesting experience. On top of that you can replay the game as Trevor.
I agree, *Lament of Innocence* is a fantastic game-amazing gameplay, impressive graphics, captivating story, and an outstanding soundtrack. I love it!
Honestly this game and Curse of Darkness need to be remade THE most!
damn i wish they'd put this on steam deck !
Emudeck runs ps2 games pretty amazingly on the Steam Deck. Ive been using it to revisit some old favorites lately
@@TheBrotherGrim that sounds amazing, could you please point me in the right direction to get the Emudeck and find Lament of innocence ? thank you
@@MorbidManoeuvres it is on steam deck bro! Don't let them fool you. Lol Search for all the right words on the search sites. I believe in you!
RUclips is your friend for guides. For the game file? Vimm’s Lair
since you mentioned Devil May Cry a few times, isn't it cool how this game introduced a block/parry system *before* DMC3? thought that was fun to see
Good point! Didn't think about that that's really cool
One of my personal favorite Castlevania games, and I had it as a child. I spent so much time on it playing.
Glad someone remembers this lost gem
I have fairly fond memories of both the PS2 Castlevania titles, but I've never been able to look past the overly horizontal and repetitive level design that, for some reason, only got worse with Curse of Darkness, which really does feel like jogging down nothing more than decorated hallways. Someone else in the comments section mentioned Demon's Souls, and yeah -- that was, for me, the moment where something about what I'd envisioned for Castlevania in 3D seemed to have been realized in a substantial way. Even so, there are occasions in Lament of Innocence where the set dressing and music combine to exquisite effect, and those are the times when the game's otherwise lacking design feels both the most distressing, yet trivial.
Lament has some of the best music in the series
I thought this was a great game when it came out and I love returning to it periodically for a playthrough. The visual and audial aesthetic is awesome and I enjoy the combo system and skills. People kept calling LoS a God of War ripoff, but I felt it was more like a continuation and expansion of this style with more direct and unique stages. Minus the aesthetic. I do love the first Lords or Shadow game as well.
I also appreciate that the extra characters have their own endings despite overall lack of story. Makes it feel like real alternate canon instead of just being dropped in for no reason.
Never clicked on a video so fast in my entire life. I hyped the release of this game enough to power an entire solar system. I was like, 11 or 12 years old, and I must have watched that one trailer hundreds of times leading up to release, obsessed with the idea of using a whip in a 3D environment and fighting that golem boss in the trailer. My love for the game lead to me revisiting the original Devil May Cry for the fifth or sixth time and it finally clicking with me; which lead to me hyping DMC3 enough to power an entire fucking galaxy.
I thought I was the only one who loved the PS2 Castlevanias . I even like the N64 ones
I love this game i used to play this game to death but after that Konami decided not to remaster this game for some odd reason so underrated.
Yes, very underrated game. Played it a ton myself.
Lock enemies mechanic would have been handy in this game
i played this recently on high school back in 2022 on my phone lol 😆 but i really enjoyed every moment of it and i got 100% map and relics and i love it
I played this game a lot back in the day and Cursed of darkness as a Castlevania fan. I wish Konami give these games an HD remastered for new consoles! Loves theses two games!
It was great. Arguably the best 3d Castlevania to date. Not that LOS isn't better as a game... But it doesn't feel like it's truly Castlevania. So the true Castlevania 3d game... Is this one in my opinion. But I like LOS more as an epic adventure mood setting game
I enjoyed this, but didn't love it back when it was current. I'm pretty sure I would have a harder time getting into it today since the platforming is such a big thing I love about Castlevania.
Great game, slept on like many great titles for the PS2 like you mentioned. Like you mentioned, lots of blemishes but I remember being so hyped when I saw the cover for the first time.
I love this game so much, actually im playing it again on my PS3 since my ps2 died (yes , im one of those that buys the same game several times on diferent platforms).
This is my favorite Castlevania
I played it for the first time recently, and I loved it too. It has its flaws, but it's still really good
Just found your channel.
Nice work man, subscribed
I enjoyed playing as Joachim.
I was really disappointed with Lords of shadow, and when I expressed that, so many of the other Castlevania fans were like 'well of course it's bad, it's 3d'. I ALWAYS disputed them that LoI and CoD were effing great, and they were 3d too. I don't know why Castlevania fans ignore these two games.
Lament of Innocence gang rise up! This game isn't the best or most in depth action game, but it has IMPECCABLE vibes and I'm glad more and more people are speaking up for it. It reviewed middlingly in its time, a victim of the review culture that denounced anything that wasn't pushing an envelope or re-inventing the wheel.
Anyway, I'm glad you appreciate its very uniquely PS2-styled aesthetics, the high-enough fidelity and simple geometry resulting in such unique looks for games. Lament of Innocence, Samurai Western, Devil May Cry, Red Dead Revolver, all using that mix of baked in hard lighting and texturing with burgeoning dynamic lighting technology. The water motifs in Lament especially, how they shimmer and shine in that almost divine, otherworldly way only a PS2 game can. Love that shit.
ahh.. I remember playing this through a PS2 demo disc, always wanted to play this fully, really liked Castlevania with this release. (edit, I played the demo of Curse of Darkness NOT lament of innocence, still I'd really like to play both!
I always thought Symphony was what it was to 2D Castlevanias, what lament is to 3D Castlevania
Wow. My family experienced this upon release. 1997 / 1998 -ish.
Referencing #SOTN
I got to death as a kid but I never beat it
Maybe its time to try again.
I hated this game when I was a kid but it grew on me when I played it later in life, honestly sotn spoiled my experience when I was younger.
Finally someone is giving this game some goddamn love. I think it's a masterpiece and I'm as hardcore a CV fan as they come.
Wonderful video! If you haven’t played Van Helsing on PS2 I highly recommend it. Great little gothic action game
It's on the list! Very excited to get to it
One of my fav PS2 games! Love it to the bones, would love for Konami to make a remake ala MGS Delta!
Also after all the trashing the game got it was refreshing to see Netflix's Castlevania series redeeming Lamment of Innocence by seeing Leon as the first Belmont!! ❤
Fantastic game but damn did it need a free rotating camera like in Curse of Darkness.
If you havent, check out lords of shadow 1. Its god of war in the castlevania setting but its great to play and the story kills as a PRECURSOR to this game.
Planning on covering it sometime this year for sure. Excited to finally try it out properly
Lords of Shadow is fucking great. The sequel is unfortunately a nightmare. I still remember tweeting the game’s director and thanking him for fucking it up, as quite a few articles reported on, and him just going “you welcome.” 😂
@@GlazeonthewickeR no lies detected. Lords of Shadow 2 straight up made me sad lol
@@Ghooly @glase is right; no matter how much you love the first game, HIGHLY avoid 2.
Its not like dmc2 where its just lame. It tries and fails to do new things and after the first game being so cool, it is a different type, imo worse, of disaapointment.
At least dmc2 can be cheesed in like 3 hours lol.
I really loved this game. I even had the strategy guide. It had some dope secrets. I liked playing as Joaquin.
Joachim was easily my favorite character in the game. I adored his boss fight, and finding out later you could play as him made me so happy
@@TheBrotherGrimThe first thing I did after unlocking Joachim was run straight to Anti Souls Mystery Lab to test his speed. Blew my mind beating that collapsible bridge without wolf foot 😂
About dmc comparison, hideki kamiya is a fan of castlevania, and his creation dmc 1 is take alot of inspiration from castlevania, so its not castevania LOC that look like dmc 1 but dmc 1 who look like castlevania
Liked, subbed and commenting for the algo.
Imagine castlevania gameplay style elden rings
Me too - this game was awesome
Shit rare and expensive holy
The best 3D Castlevania imo
Curse of Darkness>>>>
@@LightingOfTheRedHawk I like both but prefer Lament
I do remember this game> it almost looks like Hades
First good 3D castlevania and the music is amazing.
Check out Chronicles of the Wolf!
I think just me and you think this is a good game .
The sequel is even better. I beat it in a few nights
Small correction, lament of innocence is not a Metroidvania. It's closer to mega man
Knew I shouldn't have cut the line about that from the script
@@Ghooly lol yea, you said it a good bit lol. Metroidvania is a genre are you need to get items/abilities to unlock new areas with the ability to back track. Resident evil 1&2 are good examples. It was a great video.
@@killshock360 thank you! Imo lament does classify as a metroidvania because you do indeed *technically* get new abilities to get different items. It's just that the game only asks you to do it like twice and I think it's only with the Wolf's Foot iirc. So it's a metroidvania by my definition but not a very good one if you were to actually compare it to others. Plus there's backtracking with the coloured keys, secret bosses to find, etc. Mega Man is a very good comparison though and probably the best one to make.
The titles too long so ill fix it:
Castlevania Lame
me too..
Lament of Inossence is not a DMC copy.... its just DMC came first...
Correct. That is why I was *comparing* them to avoid anyone saying that it *is* a DMC clone.
Agreed
Now play Curse of Darkness!
Sorry, it's obligatory. The PS2 Castlevanias don't get enough appreciation, least of all their music.
Also, CoD has a sidequest of sorts where your goal is to plant your rear in various seats all across the game. Yes - you're collecting chairs by sitting in them. Some of the chairs are quite ridiculous.
Curse of Darkness is the next video on the list!
Alright man, I subscribed. This is the part where I blackmail you to play and cover the other one, Curse of Darkness, on PS2. I actually like it significantly BETTER than Lament of Innocence. Bow to my request and whims or face the consequences, parasocial relationship haver!
HA! I'm already working on a Curse of Darkness video so I win this day!
@@Ghooly...You haven't seen the last of me, Ghooly!
...I subscribed, so. Great. Can't wait to see it
someone was emo at school
Well duh of course I was
I really got bored with the simplistic combo trees and the story is frankly crap. Not gonna spoil here but the whole "where did the vampire killer whip come from???" was the most prequelly thing about this game. The main thing going for this game for me was the box art and music
but Curse of Darkness? woooooo boy i got obsessed with breeding new devil companions and mastering fighting along side them
Perfectly valid! I'm so excited to start up Curse of Darkness soon too that'll be a real treat
Psssssp if you haven't look up Gian's CoD enhanced edition. Improves the combat with more attacks, improves IDs AI and aggression, tweaks, additions such as classes inspired by Circle of the Moon! It's beautiful.
@@DooDoo-f4v oooooh? That sounds cool. I'll play through the game vanilla first but that sounds awesome for a replay
banger