Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

Overview

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate (known in Japan as Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Sadame no Makyou) is a 2.5D horror-fantasy side-scrolling platformer-adventure game developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami for the Nintendo 3DS on March 5, 2013.

A follow-up game to the 2010 game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate builds up events for the game's sequel while establishing the Castlevania series's most prominent characters for the "Lords of Shadow" continuity. The gameplay returns to the main series' side-scrolling platformer roots, combining the combat engine from Lords of Shadow with the backtrack-focused exploration of later 2D Castlevania games (such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night).

The game is set in 1101, decades after Gabriel Belmont, a holy knight in the Brotherhood of Light, defeated the Lords of Shadow and The Forgotten One (while turning into the dark and powerful vampire "Dracula"). Unbeknown to him, his wife Marie bears a child, Trevor, who is kept hidden from Gabriel in the Brotherhood of Light after learning of his fate (through a fragment of the titular "Mirror of Fate"). Split into three main Acts, players control three separate protagonists:

• Act I has players controlling Simon Belmont, the orphaned son of Trevor Belmont who was raised by mountain natives as a powerful barbarian. Armed with his leather whip (the "Beast Hunter"), he infiltrates Dracula's castle to seek vengeance for the fate of his parents.

• Act II has players controlling Alucard, a mysterious vampire knight who awakens from a tomb in Dracula's castle unknown of his past. After learning of his fate (from the full Mirror of Fate), he arms himself with a cursed version of the Combat Cross (the "Dark Pain") and traverses the castle to seek revenge.

• Act III, set 38 years earlier, has players controlling Trevor himself, who became a holy knight in the Brotherhood of Light like his father. After learning of his full lineage, he ventures towards his father's castle and, armed with his Combat Cross, vows to vanquish him.

Both Simon and Alucard's story intertwine, with some actions in one story aiding the protagonist in the other. Along the way, all three protagonists encounter a mysterious spirit (known as the Lost Soul), who advises and assists them throughout the game.

A high-definition version of the game, known as Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD, was later released digitally for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 31, 2013, with a PC version later released on March 27, 2014.