Castlevania: Lament of Innocence

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Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Cover art
Developer(s) Konami/KCET
Publisher(s) Konami
Designer(s) Koji Igarashi (producer)
Series Castlevania
Aspect ratio 480i (SDTV)
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Release date NA October 21, 2003
JPN November 27, 2003
EU February 11, 2004
AUS February 20, 2004
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Mature 17+
CERO: 15+
PEGI: 12+
OFLC: M
Media 1 DVD
Input methods DualShock 2

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (commonly abbreviated as LoI) is a video game created by Konami for the Sony PlayStation 2 console. It was originally released in Japan in 2003 and Europe in 2004 as Castlevania (キャッスルヴァニア Kyassuruvania?). Lament of Innocence is set in 1094, making it the first chronological installment of the Castlevania series.

Contents

[edit] Plot

There was once a company of knights that was said to be invincible due to two men: Leon Belmont, a masterful warrior; and Mathias Cronqvist, a genius tactician and friend of Leon.

One day, an army of monsters suddenly appeared in Leon's domain. Mathias told Leon that the monsters were related to a vampire named Walter Bernhard who lived in a castle in a forest named 'Eternal Night'. Mathias said Leon's betrothed, Sara Trantoul, was kidnapped by this vampire and brought to his castle. Leon traveled to this forest to slay the vampire. In the forest he met Rinaldo Gandolfi, an old alchemist who lived there. Rinaldo gave Leon a whip crafted by alchemy to assist him. Thanking him, Leon left with the Whip of Alchemy.

When Leon reached Walter’s quarters, he rescued Sara and tried to slay Walter with the whip. Unfortunately, it had no effect on Walter, so Leon was forced to flee. Concerned, Leon took Sara back to Rinaldo's cottage. But after examining her, Rinaldo discovered bite marks on her neck. According to Rinaldo, the only way to undo the curse was to defeat Walter. Rinaldo knew a way to make Leon’s whip effective against Walter, but it involved killing Sara. Knowing that she was changing into a vampire, she volunteered to be sacrificed if it would stop others from suffering the same curse. Despite Leon's objections, he reluctantly completed the ritual. The Vampire Killer was created.

Leon ran into the Castle's Keep and confronted Walter. After Leon defeated Walter, Mathias appeared. Mathias had used everyone and orchestrated everything that happened to get Walter out of the way. After his wife died, Mathias felt betrayed by God. He defied mortal life and forever cursed God. Mathias then offered Leon to join him. Leon refused, vowing that he and his family would do all in their power to destroy Mathias.

Mathias escaped to foreign lands. Eventually, he would become known as 'Dracula', the series' main antoganist.

[edit] Gameplay

Normally, Leon will use the Whip of Alchemy that Rinaldo gives him. Later on, after he conquers each elemental boss; namely Flame Elemental, Thunder Elemental and Frost Elemental, he will gain the special elemental whips from each of them. These elemental whips will provide special effects and be required for certain scenes. For instance, Frost Elemental Whip and Flame Elemental Whip are required to break the white giant figure in Anti-Soul lab stage to get an access to a secret room.

After the death of Sara, Leon will gain a new whip called Vampire Killer which is enhanced by Sara's soul. This whip is more destructive to vampires, and is required to kill Walter, the vampire master.

In addition, Leon is able to use the sub-weapons, the combination of special charms and orbs. It proves to be the alternative strong weapon to hunt down monsters and ghosts in the game. However, using sub-weapons absorbs hearts every time, unless Leon gains the special item nullifying the use of hearts.

Joachim, the additional playable character, uses his five flying swords as his weapon, just like when he appears as a boss fighting with Leon. His flying swords can alter into two styles; rotating around him or flying behind him. In the rotating configuration, the swords will slash out in sequence at the designated target(s) while they launch out as ranged projectiles when lined up behind Joachim. The attack button can be held down to power up a single slash or projectile.

Unlike Leon, he cannot use sub-weapons, and also cannot use potions or items selling from Rinaldo's shop. However Joachim has access to two magic attacks in the place of sub-weapons which depends on sword configuration.

Another additional playable character is Pumpkin, who uses the whip in the same way as Leon. In addition to serving as a humorous counterpart for Leon, he comes with all whip and defensive skills prelearned, does more damage than Leon, and has his own unique pumpkin subweapon that can be powered with orbs gained from bosses as in Leon's game. When Pumpkin stands still for a long time, he will hum the tune of Joachim's theme song.

[edit] Graphics

Graphically, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is on par with other Playstation 2 titles. The graphics are rendered in 480i (progressive mode is not supported) and the animation runs at a fluid 60 frames per second.

[edit] Characters

  • Leon Belmont: The earliest known member of the Belmont clan family. He is the protagonist of the game. A crusader knight in 11th-century Europe, he is betrothed to Sara Trantoul, and fights alongside the cunning Mathias Cronqvist. When Sara is kidnapped by Walter Bernhard, he renounces his title of Baron and ventures alone into the Forest of Eternal Night.
  • Walter Bernhard: A vampire of unknown age. He is the antagonist of the game, luring the protagonist Baron Leon Belmont to his castle by kidnapping his fiancee, Sara Trantoul. The forest where he lives is called Eternal Night, as it is covered in unending darkness by the means of a jewel called the "Ebony Stone".
  • Mathias Cronqvist: A tactician who has helped Leon Belmont's company of knights to defend the Holy Land. He is married to Elisabetha, who dies in 1093. Mathias becomes bedridden, and orchestrates a plan to become immortal, cursing the God he once defended. It is also revealed that he is the wielder of the Crimson Stone, once he acquires Walter Bernhard's Vampiric Soul, he becomes Dracula
  • Elisabetha Cronqvist: The wife of Mathias Cronqvist. She dies under unknown circumstances in 1093, a year before the events of the game. Mathias is overcome with grief and rage. It is Elisabetha's death that is indirectly responsible for the creation of Dracula.
  • Sara Trantoul: The fiancée of Leon Belmont. She is kidnapped by Walter Bernhard and bitten. Not wanting to become a vampire, she sacrifices herself to create the Vampire Killer whip.
  • Rinaldo Gandolfi: An alchemist whose daughter was taken and vampirised by Walter Bernhard. He now lives in a small hut in the Forest of Eternal Night. Rinaldo creates the Whip of Alchemy for Leon to use in Walter's castle. This whip is later fused with the soul of Sara Trantoul to create the Vampire Killer, which would be present, in one form or another, in every Castlevania game.
  • Joachim Armster: Another vampire human who is kept prisoner by Walter in his castle. Joachim is sort of the tragic hero type character for he has a hatred for Walter and what he has done to him. As well as being a minor boss character, the game includes an unlockable secret mode where Joachim is a playable character; he has the ability to summon flying swords of darkness.
  • Pumpkin: Pumpkin is a secret playable character who is only unlockable after the game is beaten as Joachim. His controls are the same as Leon's, but he moves faster, jumps higher, and wields the Vampire Killer immediately. He also makes a comical squeaking sound when walking, which has been known to irritate the player.
  • Death: The Grim Reaper. He currently serves Walter Bernhard, keeping him alive, but only because Walter possesses the Ebony Stone. When the Crimson Stone is found to have been kept by Mathias, Death sacrifices Walter and gives his allegiance to the wielder of the more powerful Crimson Stone.

[edit] Enemies

Bosses
  • Leon Fake (counterpart of the real Leon Belmont)
  • Golem
  • Medusa
  • Undead Parasite
  • Doppelgänger (counterpart of the real Joachim Armster)
  • Joachim Armster (playable)
  • Succubus
  • Walter Bernhard
  • Death
Optional Bosses
  • Forgotten One
  • Flame Elemental (fire)
  • Thunder Elemental (electric)
  • Frost Elemental (ice)

The three elemental bosses are optional. They are not required to be defeated in order to win the game. However, the special elemental whip will be gained after conquering each of them accordingly. These elemental whips prove to have special attributions and required in certain scenes. It is recommended to conquer these elemental bosses. The Forgotten One is also an optional boss, and an orb is rewarded for its defeat.

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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] Development

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (February 2008)

[edit] Music

Michiru Yamane is the composer for Lament of Innocence's soundtrack. Yamane also scored Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Castlevania: Bloodlines. Although Yamane does not put out as much diversity as in her Symphony of the Night OST, the styles are still similar. There are many classical influences in the compositions, sometimes fused with a type of powerful, dance-like beat, or slightly breakbeat-like backup, and choirs.

The only song in the game that has a rock guitar in it is Castlevania Reincarnation, a remix of Dracula's Castle and Black Banquet from Symphony of the Night.

[edit] Reaction

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence has generally received positive reviews since its release. On Game Rankings, the game has an average score of 78%, based on 59 reviews.[1] On Metacritic, the game has an average score of 79 out of 100, based on 45 reviews.[2]

X-Play gave it a 3 out of 5, calling it a Devil May Cry clone, while EGM gave it 8.0, 7.5, and 7.5 (out of ten). On the other hand, GamePro gave it a 5.0 (their highest score) on the fun factor, stating that it was the first successful 3-D Castlevania game.[3] IGN gave it an outstanding score of 9.0 (out of ten) calling it the most stylish Castlevania game to date, with a brilliant musical score and many game options.[4] 1up.com described it as returning to Castlevania's action-heavy roots in order to ease its transition to 3-D.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Castlevania: Lament of Innocence - PS2. Game Rankings. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  2. ^ Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (ps2: 2003): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
  3. ^ MAJORMIKE (May 2nd, 2006). Review: Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. GamePro. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  4. ^ Jeremy Dunham (October 20th, 2003). Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  5. ^ Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2). 1up.com (May 9th, 2004). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.

[edit] External links

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