QUICKIE -- Castlevania (Netflix Exclusive) - Seasons 1 & 2

Castlevania is an American adult animated web television series based on the 1989 Japanese video game Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse by Konami. The series follows Trevor Belmont, who defends the nation of Wallachia from Dracula and his minions.

The series was originally planned as a film, developed by producer Kevin Kolde and his company Project 51, and subsequently by Frederator Studios when Kolde joined the same company in 2005. Kolde had a contract for a script with writer Warren Ellis in 2007; the project entered development hell until about 2015, where it finally found a global home on Netflix. Animation studio Powerhouse Animation Studios joined the team and production commenced. Its art style is heavily influenced by that of Japanese anime and Ayami Kojima's artwork in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, with the production team including staff members who worked in the Japanese anime industry. The series premiered on the Netflix streaming service on July 7, 2017, and was renewed for an expanded second season of eight episodes on the same day; the second season premiered on October 26, 2018.

According to lead voice actor Richard Armitage, a third season has been greenlit by Netflix.

Premise:

When his wife is burned at the stake after being falsely accused of witchcraft, the vampire Count Vlad Dracula Țepeș declares all the people of Wallachia will pay with their lives. He summons an army of monsters and demons which overruns the country, causing the people to live lives of fear and distrust. To combat this, the outcast monster hunter Trevor Belmont takes up arms against Dracula's forces, aided by the magician Sypha Belnades and Dracula's dhampir son Alucard.

Voice Cast:

Richard Armitage as Trevor Belmont, the last living member of the Belmont clan, an excommunicated family of monster hunters.
James Callis as Adrian Țepeș/Alucard, the dhampir son of Dracula and Lisa Țepeș, who seeks to protect humanity from his father.
Graham McTavish as Vlad Dracula Țepeș, a vampire who swears vengeance on humanity for the death of his wife Lisa, summoning an army of monsters to destroy all the people of Wallachia.
Alejandra Reynoso as Sypha Belnades, a Speaker and the Elder's granddaughter who wields powerful magic.
Tony Amendola as The Elder, the leader of a group of Speakers aiding the people of Gresit whom Trevor befriends. (season 1)
Matt Frewer as The Bishop, a clergyman who orders the burning of Lisa Țepeș for witchcraft, later being named the bishop of Gresit before being killed by Dracula's demons and later reanimated by Hector to serve a role in Carmilla's agenda. (season 1 - 2)
Emily Swallow as Lisa Țepeș, Dracula's beloved wife who is burned at the stake after being falsely accused of witchcraft.
Theo James as Hector, a Devil Forgemaster called upon to serve Dracula in his war against humanity who with Isaac have turned against their own kind and are called upon to lead Dracula’s army against Wallachia. (season 2 - present)
Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Isaac, the other Devil Forgemaster and partner of Hector, who helps to lead Dracula’s army. (season 2 - present)
Jaime Murray as Carmilla, a scheming vampire mistress who joins Dracula in his war against humans, although her political machinations reveal questionable loyalties and cynicism towards his plans. (season 2 - present)
Peter Stormare as Godbrand, a barbarian vampire warlord called upon to serve Dracula in the battle against Wallachia. (season 2)

Episode Summaries:

Season 1 (2017)

1 "Witchbottle"

In Wallachia in 1455, a young woman named Lisa who wishes to be a doctor seeks out Vlad Dracula Țepeș, a vampire with advanced scientific knowledge. Intrigued by her courage and ambition, Dracula agrees to teach her, while she in turn offers to help him reconnect with humanity. The two eventually fall in love and marry. Twenty years later (1475), in the town of Târgoviște, Lisa is burned at the stake after a Bishop discovers scientific equipment in her home and accuses her of witchcraft. Dracula is devastated and furious upon learning of his wife's death and declares the people have one year to make their peace, after which every human in Wallachia will die by his hand. His son Alucard tells him to instead go after the man responsible instead of all of humanity, but Dracula refuses to listen and attacks him. One year later, the Archbishop hosts a celebration in defiance of Dracula. As promised, Dracula kills the Archbishop, destroys the church and orders his demon army to kill every person left in Wallachia. As the army spreads across the land, the people place the blame on the kingdom's noble families, including the Belmonts.

2 "Necropolis"

Following an altercation at a pub, Trevor Belmont seeks food and respite in the city of Gresit, which has been besieged by Dracula's forces every night. As he passes through town, he learns that the townspeople blame a group of magic users known as the Speakers for Dracula's assault. He saves their Elder from a pair of corrupt priests, who brings him back to his home to meet his fellow Speakers. Trevor insists they leave the city for their own safety, but the Elder refuses, as his grandchild has gone missing after venturing into the catacombs below the city in search of the "sleeping soldier", a legendary hero who they believe can defeat Dracula. Begrudgingly, Trevor agrees to retrieve the missing grandchild.

3 "Labyrinth"

Any long-time Castlevania fan can tell you that Sypha's magical arts are the stuff of legends within Castlevania lore. Her spellcasting is more than a match for what both Trevor and Alucard bring to the table in combat.

Exploring the catacombs, Trevor realizes that they have been unusually constructed and contain devices matching old family descriptions of devices within Dracula's castle. Finding a stone statue in the visage of a Speaker, Trevor is attacked by a giant Cyclops. He defeats the creature, releasing its curse, and rescues the Elder's grandchild, Sypha Belnades. After returning Sypha to her grandfather, Trevor is summoned to the church by the local Bishop, revealed to be the same Bishop who ordered Lisa's execution. The Bishop orders Trevor to leave Gresit before sundown, as they plan to lead a mob to kill the Speakers, offering to spare Trevor and restore his family name in exchange. With the Speakers refusing to retreat, Trevor has them hidden in the Cyclops' chamber and takes on the priests leading the mob before escaping into the city.

4 "Monument"

One of the best sequences of the entire first season.

Night falls as Dracula's army descends upon Gresit, killing the Bishop. As Trevor continues his escape, Sypha appears to aid him, revealing herself as a powerful magic user. Trevor exposes the clergy's actions as the true reason for Dracula's invasion and assists the people in mounting a defense against the demons. During the battle, the floor crumbles beneath Trevor and Sypha and they fall deep into the submerged catacombs of the city. Making their way in deeper, they find the "sleeping soldier", revealed to be Alucard, who has spent a year healing from his last fight with Dracula. Trevor and Alucard engage in battle, but after seeing his and Sypha's resolve, Alucard relents and offers his aid, and the three prepare to challenge Dracula and end the conflict for good.

Season 2 (2018)

1 "War Council" October 26, 2018

In a flashback to January 1475 in the Wallachian village of Lupu, Dracula’s wife Lisa (Emily Swallow) is tending to an old woman, Mrs. Djuvara, and gives her medicine. Lisa's home is invaded by the Bishop (Matt Frewer) and his priests who accuse her of witchcraft after finding an advanced medical device in her laboratory. They plan to subject her to an inquisition and burn her home, ignoring her warnings that her husband will kill them all. Back to the present day, Dracula (Graham McTavish) assembles his war council of generals which includes six vampire overlords from different parts of the world including the viking Godbrand (Peter Stormare), and two human necromancers, Hector (Theo James) and Isaac (Adetokumboh M'Cormack), to whom he declares his war against humanity. Dracula then talks with the necromancers privately, which irritates Godbrand who believes Dracula should rely on his fellow vampires, not humans. Hector and Isaac thank Dracula for trusting them and Dracula assures them their status as humans is more advantageous to his council than the bloodthirsty generals. Elsewhere in Gresit, Sypha (Alejandra Reynoso) with Trevor Belmont (Richard Armitage) bids farewell to her grandfather and fellow Speakers in order to join Dracula’s son, Alucard, to save humanity from total extinction. Meanwhile, Alucard (James Callis) is seen at the Speakers’ former home reminiscing about his parents and his decision to forget his former identity as Adrian Tepes and embrace his new identity as Alucard and honor his mother by killing his father. At the castle, Godbrand talks to Hector in his necromancer forging room and airs his opinion that the war is being fought with no strategy apart from wanton destruction. He believes a war should have some order to it while Hector merely implies that Dracula simply wants all humans dead no matter the methods used. This still does not sit well with Godbrand. Dracula begins relocating the castle to a different location.

2 "Old Homes"

Trevor and Sypha reunite with Alucard and ask how to locate Dracula's castle when it can move from place to place. Trevor recommends revisiting his old family estate since the Belmont Hold underneath the ruins has a store of magical artefacts and information about monsters the Belmonts collected over generations. They leave Gresit immediately. At Dracula’s castle, the war hall is in shambles as the vampires question why they must follow orders from Hector and Isaac. The vampire mistress Carmilla (Jaime Murray) enters and takes her place among the council where she proceeds to criticise his approach to the war and even asks why Dracula never made Lisa a vampire, angering him greatly. The two talk in private where Carmilla explains she tried to give Dracula a chance to explain his decisions to his generals, though she appears to have ulterior motives. Alucard tells Trevor and Sypha the story of his parents and how his mother hoped to use Dracula's knowledge to help humanity, but with her death all his scientific knowledge is now lost and humans may soon cease to exist. Dracula’s creatures suddenly attack and are all slain except one flying demon which was only injured and escaped. At the castle, Isaac is seen whipping himself with a spiked belt while flashbacks show of his past being abused by his master until eventually he killed his master by piercing his eyes with his bare hands. Godbrand then arrives with the injured demon, now dead, in order to have Isaac extract information from the creature with his necromancy. At another assembly the generals argue whether to continue their attack on Arges or move the siege towards Braila at Carmilla's suggestion. Isaac informs everyone of his findings and concludes Alucard may have killed the demon and it is likely that a Belmont is with him. This urges Carmilla to tell Dracula to watch over the ancestral home of the Belmonts, since there could be secrets found their that could lead to their own elimination.

3 "Shadow Battles"

In a flashback, a young Hector resurrects a dog. In the present day, he continues to create night creatures. Carmilla tries to convince him to create creatures to send to the Belmont house and to encourage Dracula to next attack Braila. In another flashback scene, Hector reveals that Dracula found him in the east of Rhodes and he agreed to raise an army for him, though he asked for a humane cull of humans rather than a cruel genocide. Trevor, Sypha and Alucard travel to the ruined Belmont house and Trevor reveals details of his childhood and family history. They find the entrance to the extensive underground library and Sypha magically opens the door. Sypha is very impressed by the collection and Trevor is happy to have rediscovered ‘The Morning Star’ weapon, but Alucard is clearly unhappy about the ‘museum dedicated to the extermination of [his] people’. Back at Dracula’s castle, Godbrand expresses his dissatisfaction with the plan to exterminate the human race and Dracula responds with anger. Carmilla tells Godbrand that Dracula must take the castle to Braila and reveals how she killed the vampire who turned her after he became mad and cruel, saying that Dracula too has become mad and old.

4 "Broken Mast"

In a dream, Godbrand kills a number of fleeing soldiers, and he awakes wanting blood. When he is brought a live pig instead of human blood he comes to agree with Carmilla that Dracula is mad and something must be done to change his plans. At the Belmont library, Trevor discovers a magical mirror which allows them to see things far away. Trevor and Alucard continue to irritate each other. Carmilla continues to try to recruit Hector, criticizing Dracula for not turning Lisa into a vampire and casting aspersions on his sanity. She reveals to him that it is her intention to unseat Dracula if the castle is moved to Braila. In a flashback, Isaac recalls how Dracula saved his life and Dracula recruits him to create an army to end the human race. Back at the castle, Godbrand and the other vampire generals are fed up of living without human blood and set out on demonic horses to a nearby village. Dracula speaks to Isaac about the war hall turning against him and confesses he lied to Hector about his intent to exterminate all humans. The vampire generals terrorize and slaughter the population of the nearby village. At the Belmont library, Sypha and Trevor talk about Alucard and loneliness. As Isaac is whipping himself with a spiked belt, Godbrand appears and suggests that they should pursue the war without Dracula. Proving his loyalty, Isaac kills Godbrand by strangling him with his belt and stabbing him in the heart.

5 "Last Spell"

Isaac releases Godbrand’s ashes from the castle rooftop. Carmilla commands her troops to assemble at Braila. At the Belmont library, Alucard discusses his concerns about Trevor with Sypha and she points out that both of them are immature. Hector and Isaac go for a walk and Hector convinces Isaac to agree to attack Braila next. Hector feeds this back to Carmilla and informs her that the night creatures he made for her are nearly at the Belmont residence. Isaac talks to Dracula about Hector’s request for the move on Braila but asserts that there is no betrayal to be concerned about. Dracula reminisces about a time he enjoyed killing 40 merchants in Kronstadt who disrespected him, and notes that he is tired and no longer takes pleasure in the details of death. Carmilla and Hector go to Dracula and get him to agree to move the castle to Braila. Afterwards, Carmilla turns on Hector and reveals her real disdain for him and everyone else in the castle, but tells him that he is too implicated in her betrayal of Dracula to turn back on her plan now. At the Belmont library, Sypha discovers most of a locking spell that could be used to trap the castle in one place and says that she can complete it herself. The room starts to shake as Hector’s night creatures have arrived and try to break in.

6 "The River"

With great effort, Hector’s night creatures destroy the stone door to the underground library. Trevor fights off the demons whilst Alucard uses the distance mirror to search for Dracula’s castle and Sypha attempts to complete the spell. Alucard finds the castle in time to watch as Dracula moves it to Braila. In Braila, most of the vampire generals lead troops across the bridge to attack the town. Meanwhile, Carmilla and Hector leave the castle by another door and go down to the river with the Bishop, who Hector has reanimated, to make the Bishop bless the river. As Dracula’s army reaches the other side of the bridge, Carmilla’s troops reveal themselves and bring down the bridge, dropping many of Dracula’s soldiers into the now-holy water and destroying them. The remnants of Dracula’s army retreat to the castle whilst Carmilla’s soldiers cross the river on makeshift bridges. Hector is hesitant to go with Carmilla but she reminds him that he has betrayed Dracula and the two of them cross away from Dracula’s castle. Back at the library, Sypha finishes the spell just as Trevor is battling the final demon. Whilst Alucard focuses on the castle in the mirror, she starts to cast the spell to bring the castle to them. At the castle, battle between Carmilla’s and Dracula’s forces rages in the main hall. In the library, Trevor kills the last night creature just as Sypha starts to move the castle. In her struggle to move it, the castle jumps around Braila and lands in the river, sending holy water rushing into the hall and around the town, killing most of the soldiers, with Carmilla and Hector narrowly avoiding damage. Finally, she succeeds, and the castle moves to land above the Belmont underground library.

7 "For Love"

In the castle, fighting still rages. Sypha creates a large platform of ice to lift herself, Trevor, and Alucard out of the library to ground level now that the staircase has been destroyed by the night creatures. The three enter the castle and Dracula’s and Carmilla’s remaining forces turn to focus on them instead. Together, Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha defeat everyone in the hall and the remaining night creatures. Dracula retreats to his study with Isaac. Isaac professes that he will defend Dracula to the death to preserve his wisdom but Dracula, saying that Isaac is the best of his kind, refuses to let Isaac die for him and sends him through a magic mirror back to the desert he came from. Alucard, Trevor and Sypha arrive at the study and Alucard tells Dracula that the war must end. Each of them attacks Dracula but is initially overpowered by him. Angered by the use of the Morning Star whip, Dracula creates a large fireball, which Sypha, Trevor and Alucard fight to push back towards him. Together they manage to send him backwards through the wall into the next room, where Alucard and Dracula engage in hand-to-hand combat. The two are closely matched, rapidly moving around the castle, and Alucard asserts that Dracula wants him to win because Dracula has been wanting death since Lisa died. Eventually the two end in Alucard’s childhood room, and Dracula realizes that he has been trying to kill his son, saying that he must already be dead if he is trying to destroy Lisa’s greatest gift to him. No longer angry, he allows Alucard to stake him through the heart. Trevor arrives to cut off his head and Sypha burns the remains, leaving only his wedding ring undestroyed. Alucard is upset about having killed his father, but Trevor and Sypha reassure him it was the right thing to do, and the three walk out of the castle into the sunshine.

8 "End Times"

Alucard, Sypha and Trevor walk around the ruins of Dracula's castle. Alucard expresses the intention to make the castle his grave, but Trevor gives him the Belmont hold and encourages him to protect them and make something out of them. In the desert, Isaac is accosted by a group of strangers who talk about kidnapping him, selling him or eating him. He attacks and kills them, turning them into night creatures. Sypha talks to Trevor about continuing to fight and explore with him, saying that the war seems to have been good for him. Hector and Carmilla are still in Braila. Once the sun goes down, Carmilla says she will return to Styria, and then chains up and beats Hector with her few remaining soldiers. She tells him she will keep him as a pet so he can forge her an army as after Dracula's death there is a power vacuum in the vampire world that she wants to take advantage of. Trevor and Sypha bid farewell to Alucard and set off to find the Speakers. Alone in the castle, Alucard reflects on the family he no longer has, and sheds tears in his grief.

The Verdict:

I watched Season One back when it first release. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, that short length of a mere four episodes didn't justify me doing a review on it at that time. Now that the whole "trilogy" of sorts has come full circle with Season Two on this pseudo-adaptation of the events from Castlevania III, I felt the need to do a write-up of this. I'm no expert on the whole Castlevania timeline and lore in terms of what's canon or not canon anymore following Hideo Kojima's reimagining of those events with his Lords of Shadow prequel trilogy, but I thought that what Adi Shankar and his team did here was excellent work and served as an amazing adaptation to the classic Castlevania mythos.

Animation/Action

There's great fluid action to be found here and nostalgic anime fans can easily see the influences from Vampire Hunter D while fans of Castlevania video games can see influences from the series' older artwork and concept art, notably from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night if you look at Alucard's general design.

There's so much attention to detail that this series shows in regard to the source material of Castlevania lore, even though Adi Shankar and his team took some personal liberties with this adaptation. The instance that definitely stuck out to me was seeing Gaibon and Slogra attack Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha in tandem like they did when Alucard faced them as a boss in Symphony of the Night. There's so many great moments like that across both seasons of this series that any Castlevania fan would just eat all of this up. You don't even have to be a fan of Castlevania or even be knowledgeable of the video game's history either to enjoy some kick-ass demon slaying.



In terms of action, just watch this fight...

If that's not good enough there's plenty more great action in this series from the start to the finish, including that marvelous, yet stylish duel between Alucard and Trevor at the end of Season One. They definitely didn't pull any punches in that regard, nor for majority of the action in this series.

Narrative & Characters

I thought Dracula was fleshed out wonderfully throughout the course of both seasons. They didn't even have to drag this out. His fellow vampires and lieutenants even had sensible motivations, even though Carmilla's motivations seemed to be a bit of a detour from her usual demeanor in Castlevania lore. I couldn't think for the life of me where did Hector and Isaac come from until I went back to refresh myself on the Castlevania: Curse of Darkness stuff, but I didn't mind their characters in the least. It makes perfect sense to have necromancers in service to him to create him an army of undead soldiers. It matters not that those necromancers were human as long as they possessed the talents to get the job done.

Out of Dracula's lieutenants, Godbrand comes off as the most bland, generic, and cliched of the bunch within his armies. I was a little biased towards Carmilla since I was fan of her character in the older Castlevania games and even more so with her revision in the Lords of Shadow trilogy.

I thought both seasons did a great job with what we were given here. The first season was a retelling of how the Belmont family fell from the good graces of the people and how Trevor came to terms with honoring the legacy that his family has for slaying vampires and other various vampires for generations. The second season chronicles Dracula's continued downward spiral as he sought out vengeance for the murder of his human wife while simultaneously painting him more as a tragic figure than a mere cliched monster trope.

Watch it or Don't Bother?

Both seasons of this animated adaptation of Castlevania simply amazing and stunning to watch. I cannot recommend this enough to fans and newcomers alike. I want to say more about this series, but it's just that good. It sells itself if you've seen any of the trailers and teasers.

REVIEW -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is an action-adventure game, the sequel to the 2010 game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and part of the Castlevania franchise. The game was developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami. It was released late February 2014 in both North America and Europe and on March 2014 in Australia. A Japanese release was released on September 4, 2014. A downloadable chapter has also been released in March from the same year.

The story is set in both medieval and modern worlds and follows a weakened Dracula who is on a quest to defeat his former enemy, Satan. Gameplay takes after the original Lords of Shadow but this time through an open world. The player controls Dracula who uses multiple powers and weapons to achieve his goals.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

The game starts out with a recap of Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate, detailing Gabriel Belmont's (Robert Carlyle) transformation into Dracula and his encounters with his son, Trevor (Richard Madden), whom he kills and subsequently resurrects, and grandson, Simon. The game starts proper with knights attacking Dracula's castle. He swiftly dispatches all of them before being confronted by the revived Trevor, now known as Alucard.

A thousand years have passed and Dracula awakens in a cathedral in modern times, weak from starvation and with no memory of the circumstances that led him there. He is warned by his former enemy, Zobek (Patrick Stewart), of the return of Satan, who until then was deterred from doing so by Dracula himself. Zobek offers him his old weapon, the Vampire Killer, the only relic capable of ending his cursed existence, in exchange for him vanquishing the people trying to bring Satan (Jason Isaacs) back, his acolytes. The key to him regaining his power lies in his castle, which the cursed blood that kept it alive for centuries attempts to deter Dracula of his quest. Throughout his journey, Dracula is aided by various allies, including Zobek's bodyguard and specters of his deceased wife Marie (Natascha McElhone) and a younger Trevor. He also encounters the Brotherhood of Light and its current leader, Victor Belmont (Anthony Howell).

Having destroyed two of the acolytes and tracked down the third, Dracula prepares to ambush him but is stopped by the bodyguard, flashbacking to his last encounter with Alucard. It is revealed that centuries ago, Alucard had come to Dracula with a plan to destroy both Zobek and Satan, using his sword, the Crissaegrim, on him to induce a deep sleep and thus setting the current events into motion. The truth now known, the bodyguard reveals himself to be Alucard. Zobek discovers their treachery and angrily confronts them both. Dracula kills him just as the third acolyte summons Satan, who proceeds to summon a flying monster to destroy the human world. Dracula and Alucard are able to kill the beast, only for Satan to possess the latter, forcing father and son to battle. Dracula gains the upper hand and prepares to stake Alucard with the Vampire Killer, despite Satan's insistence that he would not and forcing him to vacate the body. Having anticipated this, Dracula kills Satan once and for all while saving his son. Dracula then destroys the Mirror of Fate and walks back inside his cathedral with Alucard as the sun rises on the city.

The Verdict:

Those of you who know me personally should know that the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was definitely one of my personal favorite gaming experiences from 2010 and I thoroughly enjoyed the follow-up Castlevania: Lords Shadow - Mirror of Fate. You can revisit and experience BOTH of those games (along with the Reverie and Resurrection DLC) as part of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's Ultimate Edition for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC if you would like a refresher on this universe before jumping into this game.

Lords of Shadow 2 expects you to be familiar with this universe right off the bat and does very little to instruct you on Dracula's abilities. The introduction tutorials only serve as helpful reminders on your abilities from the previous title that will be expanded upon in this game.

Narrative:

Lords of Shadow 2 builds onto the solid foundation that the original Lords of Shadow established and continued in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. I felt a little sorry for players who skipped over the original Lords of Shadow's DLC ("Reverie" and "Resurrection") and Mirror of Fate (remember I reviewed that game as well...) as they might be a little lost jumping into this game immediately following the events of the original game. Konami/Mercurystream could have given players a brief Cliff Notes-style recap on the events between games. I'm sure that small gesture would have been appreciated.

Too bad we don't get any filler on the other Belmont family tree other than Gabriel (now Dracula), Trevor/Alucard, and Victor. I wanted to know what happened to Simon Belmont after the events of Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Superb voice acting cast doesn't disappoint in the least.

Gameplay:

I suggest installing the game to your console's hard drive right off the bat. The load times (especially on Xbox 360) are INSANELY long upon booting up the game and between retries after dying.

Combat:

The Void Sword and Chaos Claws replace Light and Dark magic from the original Lords of Shadow, while the Blood Whip functions just like the Combat Cross.

The use of projectiles are a welcome addition in combat and it adds a new layer of depth that was needed in the original Lords of Shadow's combat.

I HIGHLY recommend that veterans of the original Lords of Shadow to start the game on Hard right off the bat. Otherwise, the game won't be much of a challenge. That being said, players are able to disable/turn off Quick Time Events (QTEs). I remember laughing at my older brother when I let him try out the original Lords of Shadow only to see him throw his controller in frustration at the QTEs in the original game. I'm sure players like him will be relieved to know that this feature can be turned off right off the bat here. Players can also move the camera in this sequel as that was my biggest gripe with the original Lords of Shadow. I'm glad that issue was remedied here.

Lords of Shadow 2 improved on my gripe with the original game - not enough bosses. LoS2 is littered with climatic encounters that makes about almost every enemy type a dramatic affair to have players on the edge of their seats. Too bad the last boss was a bit of a letdown, but the ending gives hope that Mercurysteam might not be finished with Dracula's journey just yet. If it ends here then I'm fine with this trilogy. It was the welcome breath of fresh air that the Castlevania series needed in this console generation.

(Whistles) The game literally FORCES you to finish the game as the endgame enemies on the map won't allow you to get much backtracking done until you face them head on. That being said, the game's enemy AI is already aggressive and ruthless enough with their ozikeme (attacks on players while rising from the ground) techniques and WILL take advantage of your moments of weakness. The enemy AI will force players to play smart and be on their toes at all times. I highly recommend learning how to quick recover from knockdowns and the three methods of defense (blocking/just guard, dodging on the ground, and air dodging).

Stealth Sections:

These portions of the game are the source of the negativity geared towards this game, along with the sections where Dracula has to transform into a swarm of rats to maneuver around obstacles and potential hazards. Sounds like those critics were fans of Twilight's version of vampires instead of the "real" deal here.

I personally found them to be rather hit or miss. They are a matter of trial and error that will have you replaying that section a few times until you have an eureka moment when you figure out what you have to do and where you have to go. I found almost all of these sections to be more annoying than enjoyable. Let's be serious here, why would you introduce Metal Gear Solid-esque gameplay elements into a game that is commonly known for it's action-oriented gameplay? C'mon, Hideo Kojima, you have to get Metal Gear Solid off your brain eventually...

As for that Argeus stealth section that EVERYONE loathes, I suggest watching a video of it on YouTube. Keep in mind that you can use the Mist ability to hide from Argeus when he is alerted to your location. Stay away from the leaves at all costs. That was one HUGE oversight in terms of game design that the game didn't even inform players that you could use the Mist ability in this section.

Misc:

The game is praised by critics for having an "open world" but I have a problem with that statement. It's not as much of an "open world" than any other Castlevania game to date that you may have played in this franchise's history. Sure, you can always venture off and do something else other than the main story, but given the difficulty setting and what abilities you have, you can't do much exploration and venturing on your own period without the abilities you acquire towards the halfway point and towards near the end of the game. To be fair, the game is an "open world" in comparison to the original Lords of Shadow's linear episodic gameplay. You're still guiding Gabriel to main mission objectives throughout the city and castle environments without the episodes themselves slowing you down nor hindering your means of exploration.

I desperately crave and miss the ability to leave notes on the World Map for secrets like in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD. That would have made backtracking and hunting for secrets less of a hassle without a guide.

The Map Rooms helps somewhat but backtracking is a complete chore than it was in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Keep in mind that you are free to explore the city at your leisure in post-game to acquire collectibles, complete challenges, and acquire upgrades before moving onto New Game+ or higher difficulties (Prince of Darkness).

The Upgrades/Skill Tree is a much better replacement than the Skill Tree from the original Lords of Shadow. Here, you can afford the flashy and more powerful attacks early, yet have the means to upgrade them even further. This also gives players the means to experiment with what works for them in combat as you have to use particular attacks frequently to truly "master" your weapons, so players will be encouraged to experiment and find what works for them in combat in terms of preference.

Rent It? Buy It? Or Don't Bother?

If you enjoyed the original Lords of Shadow, there's more to enjoy here, so there's no harm in buying it. Some gamers may be turned off by the stealth sections (those are far and few), but at the end of the day, the game comes down to patience - much like the original Lords of Shadow to conquer than reckless abandon. While it's not as long, nor as monumental as it's predecessor, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is another great chapter in this trilogy.

If Mercurysteam and Konami want to end it here, I'm fine with that but I wouldn't mind more from this reimagining of the Castlevania lore.

QUICKIE -- Dracula Untold (2014)

Dracula Untold (previously known as Dracula: Year Zero) is a 2014 American dark fantasy action horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Rather than focus on Irish novelist Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, the film creates an origin story for its title character, Count Dracula, by re-imagining the story of Vlad the Impaler.

Cast:

Luke Evans as Vlad III Țepeș, the man who becomes the mythological Dracula
Sarah Gadon as Mirena / Mina Murray, wife of Vlad
Dominic Cooper as Mehmed II
Art Parkinson as Ingeras, son of Vlad / Dracula
Charles Dance as Master Vampire, the one who turns Vlad into a vampire. Charlie Cox was originally cast in the role but was replaced by Charles Dance and as a result his scenes as Master Vampire were reshot.
William Houston as Cazan
Ferdinand Kingsley as Hamza Bey
Noah Huntley as Captain Petru
Paul Kaye as Brother Lucian
Zach McGowan as Shkelgim, a gypsy chief
Ronan Vibert as Simion "The Wise"
Diarmaid Murtagh as Dumitru
Thor Kristjansson as Bright Eyes, a former slave who is now an assassin in the Ottoman Army
Joseph Long as Ömer
Samantha Barks as Baba Yaga; her scenes were later cut from the film

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

In the Middle Ages, Vlad the Impaler is the prince of Transylvania. As a child, he was enslaved by the Turkish Empire and trained to be a soldier in the Sultan's elite Janissary corp, where he became their most feared warrior, nicknamed the Impaler, after slaughtering thousands. Eventually sickened by his acts, he put aside his past and returned to rule Transylvania in peace. One day in the forest, Vlad and his soldiers discover a Turkish helmet in a stream, and fear that a Turkish scouting party is preparing the way for invasion. They follow the stream to a high mountain cave. Inside, the ground is carpeted in crushed bone, and they are attacked in the dark by an unknown creature. While his men are killed, Vlad escapes the cave into the sunlight, and the creature does not follow. Returning to his castle, Vlad finds out from a local monk that the creature is a vampire, once a man who made a pact with a demon in return for special powers.

The next day, as Vlad celebrates Easter with his wife Mirena, his son Ingeras, and his subjects, a Turkish contingent arrives unexpectedly at the castle. Vlad offers them the usual tribute payment of silver coins, but the emissary notes that a battalion of Turkish scouts has gone missing, implying that Vlad has had them killed, and demands an additional tribute of 1,000 boys for the Janissaries. Vlad refuses, but his army is small and no match for the Turks. He approaches the Turkish Sultan, Mehmed the Conqueror, offering himself in place of the boys, but the Sultan refuses, and demands Vlad's son in addition. In desperation, Vlad returns to the vampire's cave to seek help. The vampire offers him some of his blood, which will temporarily give Vlad the powers of a vampire. If he resists the intense urge to drink blood, after three days, he will turn back into a human. Otherwise, he will remain a vampire forever, and will one day be called upon to help his maker. Vlad accepts the offer and drinks the vampire's blood.

Waking up in the forest afterwards, Vlad discovers he has been granted heightened senses, increased strength, and the ability to transform into a flock of bats, but his skin slowly burns in direct sunlight. When he returns to Castle Dracula, the Turkish army attack, but Vlad single-handedly kills them all. He then sends most of the castle's subjects to Cozia Monastery, which is situated on the edge of a mountain. During the journey, Mirena learns of Vlad's curse, but accepts that he will regain his mortality once the Turks are defeated. A gypsy named Shkelgim, who knows Vlad is a vampire, proclaims himself as his servant and offers his own blood, but Vlad resists. As they near the monastery, the Transylvanians are ambushed by Turkish soldiers, and while Vlad and his men successfully repel them, Vlad's sudden increased strength arouses suspicion among his subjects. The next day at the monastery, a monk learns of the curse and leads the Transylvanians to turn on Vlad, trapping him in a burning building. Black smoke blocks out the sun, allowing an outraged Vlad to escape the fire, and he angrily reveals that he became a vampire for the sole purpose of protecting his people from the Turks.

That night, the Turkish army marches on the monastery. Vlad commands an enormous swarm of bats to repel them; however, the soldiers are actually a decoy force, allowing a handful of Turks to infiltrate the monastery and kidnap Ingeras. Mirena tries to defend her son, and falls from the edge of the monastery wall. Dying, Mirena pleads with Vlad to drink her blood before the sun rises to give him the strength to save their son. Vlad reluctantly drinks her blood, triggering his final transformation into a full-blooded vampire and granting him even greater powers. Vlad returns to the monastery and turns a small group of survivors into vampires as well. At the Turkish camp, Mehmed prepares for a massive invasion of Europe. Vlad's vampires arrive and massacre the soldiers, while Vlad himself goes after Mehmed, who is holding Ingeras captive. Aware that vampires are weakened by silver, Mehmed has lined the floor of his tent with silver coins and fights Vlad with a silver sword. He overpowers Vlad and prepares to impale his heart with a wooden stake, but Vlad turns into a flock of bats and evades him. Taking the name "Dracula, Son of the Devil", he kills Mehmed and drinks his blood.

As they leave Mehmed's tent, Dracula and Ingeras are confronted by the other vampires, who demand that his son be killed because he is human. The monk who had previously led the Transylvanians against Vlad appears and keeps the vampires at bay with the Christian Cross. Dracula orders the monk to take Ingeras away, then uses his power to clear the black clouds in the sky. The sunlight burns the vampires into dust, while Dracula collapses into a charred corpse. With Europe saved from invasion, Ingeras is crowned the new Prince of Transylvania, and Vlad the Impaler is presumed dead. However, Shkelgim secretly takes Dracula into the shadows and revives him with his blood.

In the present day, Vlad meets a woman named Mina, who strikingly resembles Mirena, in the streets of a modern city, and they have a conversation about a line of poetry they have in common. The vampire who cursed Vlad watches them from afar, and anticipates what he has planned for Dracula in the future, saying, "Let the games begin".

The Verdict:

Let's watch that awesome trailer for this film one more time before I get to the actual review:

Now that's out of the way, let's get down to business shall we? Don't worry this review is going to be a quickie - short and sweet.

Pros

Insert some iconic Castlevania music and give Luke Evans a whip and
we have a film adaptation of Castlevania on our hands...

Dracula Untold is a film that doesn't drag along nor beat around the brush. It has a tight, cohesive narrative that gets straight to the point without any filler or unnecessary bullshit to extend the runtime. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Transformers: Age of Extinction. However, any gamer who has played Mercurysteam's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy that featured Hideo Kojima's personal reimagining of the classic Castlevania lore, you can easily identify a lot of the influences on this narrative. I refuse to believe that this film was made out of pure coincidence when there are far too many similarities to Dracula's origin story here and Gabriel Belmont's fall from grace in that video game. I would love to know how Hideo Kojima felt about this film.

You cannot help but adore Luke Evans and Sarah Gadon's natural romantic chemistry onscreen. The duo makes a charming yet captivating couple that assists in drawing viewers into their romance. Luke Evans effortlessly swaps from between a merciless warrior to compassionate and loving husband as Vlad/Dracula throughout each scene while Sarah Gadon's Mirena acts his emotional anchor to aid him in maintaining the last remnants of his humanity. When Mirena is lost, that is when Vlad truly transforms into a monster - mind, body, and soul.

Great action sequences, tons of Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit flashbacks and nostalgia.

Luke Evans makes completely believable Dracula. He is empathetic as anti-hero and terrifying as a villain when needed. That being said, this film had a great cast from top to bottom. Marvel's Agent Carter and Captain America: The First Avenger's own Dominic Cooper stars as the villainous Mehmed II in this film while Game of Thrones' Charles Dance rounds off this stellar cast.

Cons

The film is a little TOO short. It barely comes close to a 90 min. runtime, leaving a huge "That's it??" impression on most viewers.

Sadly, the narrative is VERY predictable, especially if you have ever seen a Dracula film over the last 30+ decades you know how his origin plays out. From the start, viewers should know that you have known this film wouldn't have a "happy" ending.

Last but not least, the film's ending/cliffhanger teaser shows next to NO originality. Whether you are in the same boat as me with this film ripping off elements from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow or not, the teaser just confirms that any possible sequels will just merely recycle more Dracula/Nosferatu lore and literature that has been done over and over again by Hollywood. I don't know about anyone else, but I was looking for something a bit more fresh here in terms of a tease for a sequel. A part of me was quietly craving that they would confirm the connection to the Castlevania video game franchise and make the sequel an appropriate live adaptation of that video game.

Hey... that's a MUCH better idea than those rumors of letting Paul W.S. Anderson direct a possible Castlevania film... (shudders)

Buy It, Rent It, Or Don't Bother?

I'm honestly floating between rent it or don't bother. It's a rather short film and I'm pretty sure it would be shown on television in no time, but if you want that vampire fix that doesn't involve the "sparkly" vampires of Twilight then give this a shot. 

The cliffhanger ending teases a sequel, so it wouldn't hurt to see this first entry in a potential trilogy.