DeVuego

That's really the biggest shame in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2: It carries over all of the original game's weaknesses but fails to live up to its strengths. Three years ago, it seemed like MercurySteam had an intriguing vision for its rebooted Castlevania universe. But what we're left with at the end of the trilogy is a couple of cool ideas with no momentum. It's not payoff — it's anticlimax.

There's something almost clever about how rigidly Mirror of Fate sticks to its name. It's a reflection: reversed repetition of the same tricks and plot twists employed to greater effect in 2010's Lords of Shadow; a muddied misunderstanding of the structure and design of Castlevanias past. Mirror of Fate fails to build an identity of its own, but more damningly it fails to create a believable likeness of its lineage.