If you have not played the DLCs, please do not read any further. I do not want to shape your opinion before you even see or play the DLC. It would be unfair to dissuade would be players.
Also, I want to start off by saying I am a HUGE fan of CLOS. It is why I scrambled like a madwoman to get the DLCs the moment they dropped. I also don’t want to come off sounding ungrateful because I did enjoy the extra gameplay with one of the most awesome characters ever created. But it breaks my heart to go all ‘Annie Wilkes’ on something that captivated me so much in the beginning but managed to dishearten one moment later.
First, the good things about the DLCs:
The superbly rendered graphics were STILL beautiful and up to par with CLOS. The gameplay was very much the same, albeit the enemies were much more challenging. I happened to LOVE the new puzzles. Playing as Laura was also a good deal of fun and makes me even more insanely excited for the upcoming games, CLOSMOF and CLOS2. And Gabriel’s voice actor, Robert Carlyle could give Sir Patrick a run for his money. No lie.
Now the bad things about the DLCs:
Generally, I understand that a huge part of Gabriel’s story (his fall) had to be told within only two new chapters. I am assuming a great deal that this is why the story/plotline was so rushed and not fleshed out leaving numerous plot holes and backtracking. To me, this made the premise very generic and read like really bad fan fiction. I realize I may be stepping on the writer’s toes with this, and I truly apologize especially, if the writer/s is/are the same responsible for the game. However, if the writer is not the same responsible for the game… I speak for everyone who was disappointed; “BAD, stand in writer, BAD!”.
Let me explain.
Throughout the game, it was fully impressed upon the player time and time again that Gabriel was slipping, that Gabriel’s fate was sealed, that Gabriel would fall. Pan says it, Cornell hints towards it, Carmilla warns him, Zobek spells it out for him, and Satan reaffirms it. Gabriel is known in unsavory circles and those who know him all know he is going to be taken over by darkness. I daresay that the entire game was building up to this inevitable fall. Let me reiterate, ‘inevitable’ as in… will definitely happen. By the end of these DLCs I was not imparted with the idea of inevitability. It was so very painfully obvious that Gabriel still made a choice rather than fall unknowingly or unfathomably from grace.
And he made a choice that did not correspond with THE character Gabriel Belmont. It was a very foolish and dare I say stupid decision. More on that later.
Breaking it down to expose the bones:
Gabriel at end game is stuck in the Abyss or Undead Underworld. He was sent there by Baba’s magic. Baba is dead now. How does Gabriel get out of the Abyss? I suppose to say that since both Zobek (Death/Necromancer) and Satan are defeated then perhaps the Abyss returns to its natural state on an earthly plane. The explanation is lacking and I found it distracting.
I did notice in the DLCs that considerable time had passed between end game and when he arrived at the castle to treat with Laura. There was more ice built up in the hall and more decay had taken place (rotted rugs and rotted banners). But even through this amount of time, just how much of Gabriel’s personality would have changed enough that he would concede to being turned into a vampire. To be honest, I just don’t see it.
So let’s say, Gabriel makes it out of the Abyss, makes his way to Laura because his sense of honor is intact. It is true she spared his life that time. When he arrives she explains that a very powerful demon is making its way out of its prison because when he killed Carmilla, the bonds that kept the demon trapped were weakened. So this implies that it is his fault that the demon is coming free. This is another stab at his honor. But the catch is that he has to be transformed into a creature of darkness to enter the place the demon is breaking free of.
At first glance, sure, it’s hard to swallow but plausible enough to be passable. But then you get to thinking. Gabriel managed to combine the 3 powers. He recovered the mask and defeated the devil himself. He was more than capable of destroying the demon the moment it broke free from its prison. This is a major plothole right here. Therefore being embraced by Laura is null and void. There was no need for it.
Also, didn’t Gabriel want to die? Be reunited with Marie? Why did he care if he died or not?
According to the CLOS vampire lore: -- A Vampire can be born from many different creatures; the ceremony itself involves the exchange of blood between the 'host' and the soon-to-be Vampire, however, vampirism has to be accepted by the recipient, so it remains exclusive to intelligent creatures. Young Vampires are bestial in appearance. The lowest ranked Vampires usually take the form of a creature with bat-like appearance. Over the centuries, as they become more powerful, Vampires appear more human-like and are able to transform at will from hideous creatures into human form. One can usually ascertain the power of a Vampire by it's appearance and any Vampires that appear totally human are usually incredibly powerful and extremely dangerous. Indeed, many of the oldest Vampires are mistaken for high-born aristocracy.--
According to their own vampire lore, when Gabriel was turned he did not become bestial in appearance. I am not sure why, but I think it is because Gabriel killed Laura in the process. Maybe that is why he did not become grotesque. Even if this was the case, Gabriel was turned by a lesser vampire and he agreed by his own free will.
Also, in his new vampire form, how was he able to use his holy weapons?
I am still left waiting for the impending ‘doom’ that Gabriel was meant to suffer.
It was announced that Gabriel’s embrace would be revisited in CLOS2. I hope it is refined as well. For all of my nagging and picking apart the DLCs I am hoping to make a valid point. I have some ideas to remedy some of these plot holes.
It was recently announced that the Belmont line would certainly continue through Gabriel and his late wife Marie. This was a huge concern for me when I finished CLOS and the DLCs. How could Castlevania exist without the Belmont bloodline?
Because of the knowledge of Gabriel’s impending doom and fall into darkness, they hid his son, Trevor, away. Yet, knowing that Gabriel would fall, they allowed him to live on to defeat the Lords of Shadow because ONLY Gabriel could. Something about this revelation makes the Brotherhood, Pan, and Marie seem like manipulative betrayers of their own right. This is why Gabriel ends up loathing the Brotherhood I suppose but what of Pan and Marie?
I think it is vital to stress the inevitability of Gabriel’s decline. Reveal the helplessness of Gabriel, that all happened in a guided manner. The powers that be had been working to position Gabriel exactly where he was needed. Where that is… that’s up to the CLOS2 writers. The guys at Mercurysteam have the Dracul mythos at their disposal and there is no limit to where they can go with it.
But at the same time I really hope they do not backtrack and reshape or remold Gabriel’s personality to fit a hurried and asinine event (his embrace) that does not track or as I say ‘jive’ with the rest of the game.
Major loose ends:
Who are Gabriel’s parents? Is this related to why Gabriel is foretold ‘pure hearted warrior’?
What exactly happened when Gabriel defeated Satan?
In the Epilogue of CLOS, Dracula/Gabriel states that he cannot die. Nor can he really live. In the game, Gabriel easily kills Carmilla (Vampire Lord) and in the DLC he kills Laura as well. Carmilla and Laura, both vampires, Laura (embraced by Carmilla) are dead. That’s it. Dead. If Gabriel was turned by Laura (by all rights a weaker vampire than say, Carmilla) how is it that he cannot die when his progenitors died just fine?
Sure, it is possible, that when he took the powers of “The Forgotten One” Gabriel also imbibed the demon’s immortality. But the whole idea of being turned (embraced) in order to fight the forgotten one is so weak it bypasses this possibility.
I have my theories but alas, I must wait for all to be revealed.
Sorry for the length but I truly hope this little bit helps to bring about creative thought and re-vision.
If you agree, please share this whenever and wherever you can. (i have a very small hope of getting the storyline in the DLCs retconned and re-visited for CLOS2) That, and I'm batshit crazy.
If you disagree, that is good too but as you can see… we disagree, respectively.