Well, this was quite a waste of potential. Dracula vs Satan in the fantastic/futuristic modern day setting among the apocalypse – sounds exciting. Plays boring.
First LoS was a really boring game, but at least the story was coherent, the art style was beautiful and it truly tried. It felt like it was trying to be a good an exciting game. Usually it wasn’t. But it’s the thought that counts. Mirror of Fate was surprisingly fantastic, falling slightly flat from what people expect from the 2D Castlevania, but a fun mix of classic games in the series with gameplay elements of LoS.
LoS 2 tries to improve. It looks better technologically, tries to rebalance some things in a good way, makes camera mostly good, removes the linear level progress in favor of the open world and makes soundtrack especially nice. And then adds forced stealth sections. And boring bland looking levels. And “secrets” which usually feel like pointless stuff. And incoherent storytelling without any conflict you can feel (but it’s there, honest!).
This feels like Blood Omen 2 recreated in LoS universe. Except Blood Omen 2 was still a pretty okay game with some excitement and Kain, while this game just… is. LoS 1 was boring, this game just exists. It’s just there. And you can play it. But you really shouldn’t.
P.S. Playing as Alucard in the DLC is fun, but that’s about all there is to the DLC. It tells nothing new at all, despite the title.