Lament Of Innocence succesfully brings the Castlevania series into the 3D realm, though not flawless.
The Bad: The camera drives you nuts after a bit of playing; some of the enemies are just too hard to beat.
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For years, the Castlevania series received poor or middle-quality games. Though it was in the PSOne that the Castlevania series received its definitive episode: Symphony Of Night. The game mixed good combat, great variety of challenges, smart puzzle solving, great weapon selection and fairly good graphics (though the game was in 2D). After that, only portable games were released, but the series was ready to face a new change: the next Castlevania game was going to be in 3D. That news disappointed lots of people, though brought hope for many others.
Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence ia the result of all of Konami's hard work and experience. The game offers, at the first view, great graphics and Castlevania-style environments. The environments are all dark, creepy and superbly-detailed with an enormous amount of polygons. The character's designs are outrageous, with a huge amount of detail and animation to it. The facial work may not be the best you've seen, but it does its job. The movements feel natural and elegant, and the fabric designs and animation are truly unforgettable. Inside the castle, you'll see rooms with all kinds of rugs, wall paintings, chandeliers and other "accessories". There'll be several times which you will encounter 6 or more enemies in a single, tight room. I haven't experienced any, but some people say that some slowdowns may occur, but they're really light and don't last long, so it's not a huge bother.
The lighting effects are also great, with a huge amount of work put into it. The enemies animations are great too, with a very high detail quantity and their animation don't need any comments... just perfect. The fire and water in the game are pretty good for a PS2 game, being very well animated and beautiful. Lament Of Innocence is really one of the best-looking games for the PS2 ever.
The game's music is arguably the best feature of this game. The songs follow exactly the room's pace and look. If you're on the House Of Sacred Remains, for example, you'll have a Cathedral-like song, with organ and stuff. In the Garden Forgotten By Time, you'll have a well-paced song, that really matches the garden. The music was well thought, and the pieces they've put in the game are awesome. Though when you finish the game and obtain the Music Box item, you can listen to all of the game's songs in the main menu. The special effects, such as your whip slashes or the enemies' growlings are amazing, a delighting auditive experience.
The game's gameplay core is basically run, jump and swing your whip. Though it might look simple, the gameplay is much more than fun, with a huge variety of different combos and techniques for you to learn while you play. As soon as Leon does some new stuff or kill a certain amount of enemies, he gains a new skill. Though some of the initial earned skills might be useless, when you earn some advanced skills, you can combine all of your attacks into a devastating combo.
There are also your sub-weapons, that you collect from the yellow-glowing chandeliers. They are almost useless when used by themselves, so that's when the Orbs come into place. After you defeat a certain boss (or find it, in the case of the White orb), you'll earn a magical orb. Each of them got different colors, to distinguish them. Each of them when combined with your current sub-weapon can create a special magical attack. Each orb with each sub-weapon has its exclusive attack, so the game has 7 orbs, with 5 sub-weapons... you have 35 options of sub-weapon attacks at all. They're great in defeating bosses, since some of them can keep attacking them while you damage them yourself. It's up to you to find the special sub-attack that suits yourself and create your own strategy.
The only thing I can complain about is that the camera isn't as good as it should be. For 3rd person action/adventure games, you must see what you're doing now and what you'll do next. You must get a clear view of your surroundings, enemies and stuff, to get an idea of what you'll do. Unfortunatelly, the game's camera usually makes a drastical heading change, forcing you to equal the camera's movement with the left analog stick. This can be frustrating at some points, especially in the middle of the combat.
The game offers some good, yet simple puzzle solving. They consist in pushing the right buttons in the right order to open a certain door or climb a platform and wait for a moving platform. When you're onto it, you'll have to time your jump so you'll land on the right platform. Or, you'll have to find a secret switch to go to a key's room. It's all very simple, but keeps the game away from the hack n' slash hype.
In the end, Lament Of Innocence succesfully brings the Castlevania series into the 3D realm, though not flawless. The camera problems might be an annoyance sometimes, but you'll be so focused on the amazing graphics and beautiful sound that you'll forgive it. The solid gameplay is another feature you'll be very concentrated, so don't even mind with it. Just play it, play it. You'll won't regret it.