This time it's on PC with all the grafix turned up to eleven instead of a potato PS3. But I have some thoughts.
One: WOW. Gabriel Belmont is the gruntiest climber in videogame history. It seriously bothers me how much this man grunts when he's climbing and shimmying along narrow ledges. It bothers me even more that they sound like they were recorded by an entirely different voice actor.
Two: This is hands down the best combat system in any Castlevania, full stop. It's actually quite simple to master, but still requires skill and situational awareness to stay badass at, and it punishes carelessness. It's no Bloodborne or Dark Souls, but the learning curve is excellent and it does a great job of respecting the player's skill levels. My only gripe is that enemy telegraphs for regular vs power attacks are inadequately differentiated about half the time, causing me to reflexively block when I ought to dodge and vice versa, and this game's combat system shines brightest when you can play it on pure instinct and reflex.
Two (and a half): I like that the combat system gives me
OPTIONS. Once you hit a certain level of skill, you can elect to tell the game's notions of how you should fight to go screw themselves with a cactus, barring certain boss fights and mega-mooks that can only be defeated in one particular manner. At this point my block and counter game is so strong I often forget that I even have magic or subweapons, but the game is relatively generous on magic and ammo drops so really the emphasis on how you fight is entirely up to you.
Three: Atmosphere.
GODDAMN. I haven't played a Castlevania game that sets the stage visually and aurally this well since Curse of Darkness, and this one easily makes my top five for atmosphere.
Three (and a half): This game released in 2013 yet on PC with all the graphics maxed out, it's clear MercurySteam put their heart and souls into making this thing look damn fine. I'm still wowed by the graphics like I was on day one. And as if that wasn't enough, the sound design is still sharp as a knife in my studio headphones.
Four: This is my fourth playthrough of the game, and it FINALLY feels like a Castlevania game. Like, a proper one. Not in the manner of any of the more iconic games do, but in the way that Castlevania 64/Legacy of Darkness did or Symphony of the Night did at release: something that take bold strikes at the formula and changes the vast majority of it but still manages to preserve just enough that it feels, against all possible odds, that it belongs. That being said, setting it in it's own universe was one of the best production decisions MercurySteam might have possibly made. Imagine the brouhaha if they'd tried to wedge this plot into Iga's already convoluted canon!
Five: This is mostly a gripe about the whole LOS saga, but whatevs. I'm mad that the Lords of Shadow universe never produced decent side-stories (or any at all). Given the similarity in appearance and tone to that of The Witcher and other dark fantasy cycles, this was a world and history that was begging to be explored further, but we don't even get the flashcards version due to how the nature of the saga's narrative myopically focuses on Gabriel long past the point where he's interesting as a protaganist -- he'd have been more effective as a tragic anti-villain who opposes other playable heroes like Simon, Alucard, and Victor, who in their comparatively brief times onscreen hint at far more interesting viewpoints than what we were handed. In particular, the father-son relationship between Alucard and Dracula would have been much better explored from Alucard's perspective. In addition, we know NOTHING about anything else happening that has nothing to do with Gabriel. Like, what was the Brotherhood's War on Dracula like? How many campaigns did it involve? Did they lay siege to other fortresses as they worked their way towards Castlevania? How must it have felt to have been the very last Brotherhood Corpse that Trevor found on his way to fight Dracula, to have gotten so far and trip at the finish line? Or those Brotherhood Knights who made it all the way to Zobek's lair before Gabriel did? They had to have been badasses or they wouldn't have gotten anywhere NEAR as far as they did, but we just pick up a third-of-a-page scroll or a gem from them and head on our merry ways. Lords of Shadow 2 has many memorials and plaques that hint at a fabulously rich history with a wealth of side-story material, but this is all only ever hinted at. We never see any of it.
That makes me an angry panda.
Anyway. Had to get that all off my chest.
And seriously guys, Gabriel grunts a LOT.