I'm sure this won't be a poular opinion, but it is honest, and from my viewpoint. Obviously others see it differently. What I liked: The art is good The weapons feel different from each other and seem to fit many possible play styles The sound is nice and fits the atmosphere Controls are responsive Not so much: Kind of just, well. Dull. Shoe-box level design Mobs and boss miss-match for play styles, though I know this isn't uncommon I've played most Castlevania games since they've been coming out (American versions anyway), but I've never been a die-hard fan or anything. Play them, enjoy them or don't, move on. This one certainly feels like CV, I guess (walk left and right, smash latterns, meet enemy and note thier pattern, kill them, move on), but I didn't find anything compelling to keep playing. I've asked for a refund - if I can't find a game enjoyable in teh first hour (sorry, that's plenty of time to clear the galleon and fight the boss three or four times), then i'm not going to waste further time on something that eventually gets good. I have way too many games in various libraries (Steam, GoG, Epic, Ubi, Origins, yadda yadda...) for that nonsense. Personally I would rate this a 2 or 2.5, but it obviously speaks to a lot of players, it just isn't my cuppa.
I don't particularly care for Point and click games. Genreally the Lunar Logic present in such games is a huge turn off to me; plus, if I'm being honest, I lack the patience to get through them. But, so far, I love this game. I'm only a few hours in, but I am hooked. The interaction is fairly minimal, and it almost feels like a 'choose your own adventure' model, but I've only just begun and the detective elements promise to deepen the gameplay. Music Outstanding. Beautiful, fitting, and helps to sell the atmosphere. UI Very clean and well integrated. You can see several elemetns in the screenshot - it is clean, easy to use/intuitive, and thematic. Voice Acting Excellent. So far I have heard about a dozen characters speak; the accents seem spot-on (to my untrained ear), fitting to the character, and it doesn't sound/feel like only a handful of voice actors did all of the parts. Characters Most are tropish, but fitting. Each character (visual, voice, acting) just... well... fits. Colorful and entertaining. Story I'm no expert, but I read a ton, watch a little, and believe there is no such thing as an original story. It is all in how the story is told - so far, this story is told very well! Okay, so I've been singing the praises, now for the cons; keeping in mind these are subjective. The tutrorials are good, once in a while though you 'll have to do somehting that isn't explained very well (for instance, to reload your revolver, right-click. Easy to figure out, but they don't tell you that - or, at least, it didn't for me). Be prepared to get comfy and watch. There is a ton of dialog; I'm not knocking this (it is excellent dialog!), but it doesn't feel like I'm playing so much as watching. Therefore, I play in short spurts. The good far outweighs the, I hesitate to call it 'bad', I haven't found any 'bad', really. Just nitpicks. TL;DR Excellent atmosphere Beautiful music Fun and engaging dialog Cohesive art direction
I'm lazy; I admit it. I work in tech all day, I want to come home, unwind, and play an old game. Not come home from work fixing software issue and work on fixing software issues. Installed and tried to play Blood II on Windows 10. It crashes. I did the usual, set compatability, checked for patches. Seems there may be three or four to install that *might* get the game running. And some additional settings within those patches. That you may have to make everytime you want to play. I didn't see this in any of the reviews and it would have definitely affected my purchasing decision. So I am not here to throw a tantrum or anything. I may eventually get around to patching it up and giving it a go... but I have libraries full of games that actually work, and many more coming out, so I can't see wasting my time repairing an old product. Putting a couple of hours into fixing a game that I may only play for an hour or so is a very poor return on investment, no matter the price. If you purchase this you may already anticipate these requirements, but if not, just be prepared.
