Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

nice game

Soundtrack still one of the best, plus any diehard castlevania fan loves a great story about Dracula.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 – A Bold and Ambitious Farewell

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a dark, ambitious sequel that dares to take the franchise in a bold new direction—and for those willing to embrace its gothic storytelling and refined combat, it’s an experience well worth sinking your teeth into.

One of the game’s greatest strengths lies in its protagonist: Gabriel Belmont, now fully transformed into Dracula. This internal struggle—between man and monster—is a rich narrative thread that gives the story emotional weight. Robert Carlyle once again brings gravitas and nuance to Dracula, making him one of the more compelling antiheroes in modern gaming.

Visually, Lords of Shadow 2 is stunning. The contrast between the sprawling, ruined modern-day city and the haunting, baroque interiors of Dracula’s castle provides a gorgeous and varied backdrop. MercurySteam’s attention to detail is evident in every crumbling cathedral, bloodstained corridor, and storm-swept rooftop.

Combat feels more fluid and refined than its predecessor, offering a deep and rewarding system. Switching between the Void Sword, Chaos Claws, and Shadow Whip adds tactical variety, making battles feel fast-paced and dynamic. Boss fights in particular are standout moments—creative, challenging, and cinematic.

The soundtrack, composed by Óscar Araujo, is another high point. Sweeping orchestral pieces heighten the drama and underscore the game’s most intense moments. It complements the atmosphere beautifully and ties the entire experience together.

While some might critique the stealth segments or the tonal shift to a more modern setting, these elements show MercurySteam's willingness to take risks and evolve the franchise beyond its roots. It doesn’t always hit perfectly, but it’s a fascinating attempt that gives the game its unique identity.

In conclusion, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a worthy sendoff to the Lords of Shadow saga. It combines a richly dark narrative, thrilling combat, and gothic grandeur to deliver a memorable journey through the eyes of gaming’s most iconic vampire. If you’re a fan of the series—or just love moody, atmospheric action games—it’s absolutely worth playing.

7 out of 10

the best

:D

A great game indeed with an interesting story and conclusion of how in attempt to fight monsters you can become one of them. In fact, this is the third game of the Lords of Shadow saga preceded by Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Castlevania: Mirror of Fate. And, if I am not wrong, the first Castlevania 3D game. There are few moments that the game becomes boring, but when you pass those areas, the story of the game makes you more involved and challenged to see the end.
A great game with very good story, music and characters overral.

Yes.

Very good game, story is the best part imo (still trying to beat it). Don't enjoy combat so much, 1 hit and most of the time you get thrown around, so either get good at dodging or good at parying. Also, if you play with KBM like me, good luck.

what i like about this games is that its awesome

I LOVE VAMPIRES

an okay game, not bad 6.5/10

good game still pretty annoying

I know a game, made by ONE dev, who managed to pull off a 3D castlevania XP MUCH MUCH MUCH better.

so good

Pretty good

Being Dracula and kicking butt? Not gonna lie... but eat your heart out Bela Lugosi!!

Lords Of Shadow 2, diferente do primeiro jogo, tem um tom sombrio e melancólico tendo o principal vilão da série como personagem principal. A premissa parece tentadora, mas a execução não foi das melhores. Não é grande e épico como o antecessor... tem um escopo mais reduzido e centrado em dois planos paralelos: uma cidade no mundo moderno e o castelo do Drácula. Os momentos na cidade não me agradaram muito (não combinam com o universo de Castlevania, na minha opinião). Já as missões no castelo são mais interessantes (com destaque para a sequência com os marionetes). As boas mecânicas de combate do antecessor ainda são mantidas, assim como as batalhas contra os "chefes" que são divertidas e desafiadoras (sem te fazer arrancar os cabelos). A dublagem e trilha sonora estão boas. O enredo não é nada demais, e quase redondo. Um ponto negativo é que ele encaminha o personsagem principal em determinadas linhas de pensamento, e depois as decarta no final (não ficou coerente). Tentaram enriquecê-lo com uma grande variedade de pergaminhos contendo relatos de sobreviventes do castelo do Drácula, mas a maioria tem um conteúdo longo e desinteressante (eu deixei de lê-los antes da metade da campanha). Apesar dos títulos dessa série terem o foco em combate (hack and slash), eles também trazem um pouco de plataforma, quebra-cabeças e até colossos (a lá Shadow of The Colossus). Nesse segundo título tiraram os colossos e colocaram momentos de furtividade (stealth), que apesar de fazerem sentido no começo da campanha, não fazem mais para o final (além do fato de não serem interessantes como jogos focados nesse tema). Os quebra-cabeças estão bem simplórios. Fizeram este aqui com uma proposta meia "mundo aberto" que na minha experiência não fez diferença: o jogo é bem linear e o "open world" fica mais para coletar determinados itens que não puderam ser coletados em determinado momento devido a falta de alguma habilidade (a lá "metroidvania"). Adicionaram também uma "loja de itens" no mapa, que na minha experiência, eu usei uma vez ! (ficou 95% do tempo de lado no meu tempo de campanha. Não vende nada muito significativo, e que você não consiga se esforçando minimamente). Por fim, em relação aos gráficos: tem cenários e personagens que ainda chamam a atenção, mas em geral estão um pouco datados para 2025.

O DLC "Revelations" ficou legal porque usamos outro personsagem que demanda uma estratégia de combate diferente, habilidades diferentes, quebra-cabeças mais elaborados e foca exclusivamente no castelo (que é o ponto alto deste jogo). O enredo em gira em torno de uma parte não explicada da campanha, e complementa a experiência. Uma pena que é curto (em torno de 3-4 horas)

É difícil recomendar Lords Of Shadow 2 se comparado ao primeiro. O fã da série deve encontrar algo aqui que o satisfaça, afinal você joga como o Drácula dessa vez. Apesar dos muitos pesares, não é um jogo de todo ruim e a campanha me segurou até o final.

Completei o jogo em um sistema Linux utilizando o SteamPlay (Próton 9.0-4) sem problemas.

🎭 Pros:
✔ Stunning gothic environments and atmospheric visuals.
✔ Fluid combat system with varied weapon choices (Void Sword, Chaos Claws).
✔ Robert Carlyle’s voice acting as Dracula is fantastic.
✔ Interesting story continuation from Lords of Shadow.

💀 Cons:
✖ Clunky stealth sections that feel out of place.
✖ Open-world design feels empty and uninspired.
✖ Some repetitive enemy encounters.

Final Verdict: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a mixed bag. The combat is fun and polished, and the darker Dracula-focused story is intriguing. However, the forced stealth mechanics and lackluster open-world design drag it down. If you loved the first game, it’s worth a try, but don’t expect a perfect sequel.

🩸 Rating: 6.5/10 – Good, but not great.

juegazp

Is this game better than LoS1? Yes. Does that make it good? NO, NO IT DOES NOT.
Let me just be fair for a moment and say this game does fix many problems found in the first game; the enemies are way less tanky, yet still tough, the movement and platforming is much better, and the climbing sections have become much clearer and faster to navigate, this contains some Metroidvania elements, with abilities you unlock, and the "light" and "shadow" medallions (now renamed to chaos and void magic) are distinct instead of just being "Blue magic heals you and red make you stronger", as now they both change into unique weapons that interact with the environment and enemies differently, making it fun to switch between them, and purposeful too. However, this is where my complements end, and my critiques start.
First of all, the story sucks. The first game's story was bad enough, but this one is somehow worse. Much worse. This game takes place almost 1000 years after the first game, but also 400 (if I remember right) after the events of the spin off game that isn't actually a spin off. What's that? You didn't know there was a 3DS game that was made that takes place before this one and is also important to know so you understand why Alucard is here? Too bad! (also this isn't a spoiler, he shows up and is directly referenced in the opening and is shown in the game's demo, so yeah, I'm not spoiling anything). Anyways this game expects you to know there's an important spin off game so I'm going to pretend you already know about it (It's called Mirror of Fate in case you're curious, and yes, it's on Steam. It's the only good game in this series). After the opening, Gabriel (or Dracula as he now prefers to be called) awakes in the near future of 2030 something, and Zobek (who somehow survived the ending of the first game) finds out about it. He sends out his lacky to invite you over to discuss what he missed over the time he was missing, and then he tells you to go and kill Satan's children. Odd direction to take I must say. After a little while, Dracula finds himself whisked away back into his castle, despite it being demolished centuries ago, and the time you're in here is easily the best part of the game, since it not only actually looks and feels like a proper Castlevania game. Good job LoS2! This is also where the story is actually good, since shortly after going through some of it, Dracula finds his son in there (yeah, remember Mirror of Fate how Dracula found out he had a son that was taken from hi- oh right, this was all in the spin off). This part of the game and the interactions he has with Trevor and Marie are easily the best parts of the story, but again, if you didn't play Mirror of Fate, you won't understand what's going on. I don't wanna remain on this subject for too much longer, so I'll just quickly say that the castle segments are the best part of the game, the city segments are awful aesthetic wise, the story is a jumbled mess, Gabriel as a character is butchered here (he was quite likable in the first game, and yeah, the problems started in MoF, but at least it was explained there, here it's just made worse), and it relies way too much on the spin off for it's plot points.
But what about the gameplay? Yeah, it's the best part of the game, though that's not saying much. It's overall quite simple, and the items and abilities are overall rather useless. Unlike the first game, you're given tons of items, but most of them become useless the further into the game you get. One gives you the ability to use all weapon skills for a short period of time, but once you unlock enough weapon skills, this becomes useless since you already have a set of attacks you're familiar with that you will be spamming. Another item is something that points out where hidden upgrades are. However, unless you're going for 100% completion, this item is useless. The only few useful items are one that gives you infinite Chaos and Void magic for a limited period of time, one that is basically Dark Souls Estus Flask, and one that instant kills all weak enemies near you and crippling any large enemy. As for unlockable skills, you only have three; one which allow you to warp between set points and stun enemies (but only one at a time), another which allows you to turn into a swarm of bats which sounds cool in concept, but all it amouts to is allowing you to pass through certain areas and escape grapples, and the blood daggers (which in standard form are worthless, and drain your Chaos and Void magic, so basically worthless except for specific scenarios). These abilities are almost never used, as it's better to just keep your items equipped instead. With these being so bland and useless, this means every fight ends up the same: Mash until the enemies die, which was the same strategy in the first game, but it's much better here since the enemies are much weaker in this game.
Last is the level design. Simply put, it's basically just a big straight line with occasional offshoots for secret items. This makes traversing the map quite lame, since you just run around until you hit a wall, find the item you need in the castle, go back into the city to get past the obstical, rinse and repeat.

So overall we have a game with a worse story than the first game, gameplay that is vast as the ocean, deep as a puddle, which is still somehow better than the first game, and the unimpressive map. It is better than the first game, but that doesn't make it good. And no, don't waste your money on the DLC for this game. All the DLC adds is an hour of extra content that's superior to the main game, but ends as soon as you start it. The story for it is also lame and unimportant, so just save your money.

It has some rough edges like the stealth mechanic and a strange fixation to use blood to open passages and secrets but overall it's a good game

Very fun game, nice continuation of the first and once you start to know what you're doing you really feel powerful.
The stealth parts are... ehhhh At first it make sense, you are severly weakened, but at the end you are dracula in full power its not logic. Even more when you shit on the thing you had to avoid just after taking a elevator...

Despite the first Lords having a very solid gameplay structure, I would say I like the second part more. Ignoring questionable stealth moments it has great battle and upgrade systems and beautiful graphics. The story partially repeats itself but nevertheless, it has depth and doesn't feel like a rip-off. I really wish Konami would allow to make another Castlevania like Lords of Shadow 1 and 2.

It's a simple and straightforward game but it is loads of fun if you like anything to do with Vampires and action games. Great art direction and world building, and the story is really fun. The only real complaint I have is that it holds your hand too much even with the hints turned off. This is the game that introduced me to the Castlevania series and I loved it at launch, and I still love it now more than a decade later.

cool game

Don't buy this use your money for something else please

the game had a good chance to be good, but oh god how bad is the controls

I didn't have any technical issues like some of the others, but I refunded it due to the QTE's that absolutely infest this game. QTE's were always bad game design and I'm happy to see that they've kinda disappeared in recent games. Maybe Steam needs a tag for games that indicated that there are QTE's.

If the level design had been smarter, it could have definitely competed with Devil May Cry. The artistic graphics still look stunning even after all these years, and the enemies are quite engaging. As was common in games of that era, the camera can be extremely frustrating, but overall, it still delivers an enjoyable experience.

combat fun, liked the cringey story, is too short of game compared to the first one as if they overcorrected

2/10
weird retcon of the original game, bad hitboxes, bad pc port of the game, gamepad is mandatory or else you'll be limited to access the upgrade menu when it's suggests, anti-intuitive and unlogical pathways and resolutions. I Regret buying this, if only i knew it was this bad

hell yeah: the game 2

Thanks to this game I bought my 1st controller! Game is fun!

继续给水银蒸气当练功房了呗还说啥呢，都记吧哥们，超密重置都靠你了。

Game is good!

Not recommended. Game crashes to desctop when you pick up the first relic!

All things Castlevania must be loved until Konami ends my suffering! END MY SUFFERING, KONAMI!

I've always loved Castlevania for its great storyline, awesome characters, and fun gameplay. Even though it’s an older game, the graphics still hold up and are definitely a 10/10. I wish they would either make more titles or even consider a remaster. Alucard's DLC was a lot of fun, though a bit short, but I really enjoyed the experience. The character designs are absolutely fantastic. ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

My friend who I play CS 2 with said if I post a review on this game and it gets 202 likes and 69 Awards that he will buy me a RTX 3060 and 2 Kilos of canned ham. So I'm just gonna leave this here. Help a brotha!

Great story, and a lot of improvements over an already good first game.
If you're into the genre, then you'll love this just like you did the prequel. Besides an exellent story and a good combat system, this game also offers some things to do after completing the story for completionists and achievement hoarders alike.

if you love vampire stories and Draculas story, you should give it a try. Romanians people will be proud😉

dracul...
m

awsome

Maybe i'm just getting old, but the camera shake on enemy hit is crazy in this game. It's pretty disorienting for me.

It is a great hack and slash game with beautiful missions

It' Castlevania, those who know, know, it's a 15 out of 10, great game.

You can turn into a rat in this game.

This is a subpar sequel, the stealth sections, the non sensical story, the jarring art style of having a pharmeceutical company as the modern location, the mediocre and confusing open map, Dracula saying "bitch".

If you liked LOS1 like I did, don't bother with this.

Older game but a great game.Story is fantastic.