Recent reviews by Stratagus

This following feedback is based on the game's design.

Pros:
- Rich visual world
- An acceptable amount of weapons to play with (also in Cons though)
- Wars, Outpost Rush and Invasions are pretty fun
- Housing and freedom over the game economy
- Combat mechanics "�  la Dark Souls" - also requires the players playing a range weapon to actually aim

Cons:
- Quests are boring and repetitive
- Faction quests are even worse
- Exploration is not encouraged and not rewarded, you just waste your time whenever you want to explore. Exploring is also a pain with the fast mob respawn rate.
- 11 weapons are available. 9 DPS weapons, only 1 for tanking, and only 1 for healing... You made tanking and healing boring. Yes, I understand that some other melee weapons can be used for tanking and getting aggro in PvE but they are not as reliable as the Sword and Shield.
- PvP Quests lack variety. This is lazy. I feel like doing a routine job every time I take these quests.
- Lack of PvP features, other than Wars (+Fortress) and Outpost Rush, what else? The boring repetitive PvP Quests? No arena, no PvP tournaments, no three way battle - you got three factions in the game, do something different and unique with it.

I totally get the old school mmo vibes of this game and that's why I am still playing it but I just stick to the few features that will keep it fun for me. I feel like the majority of its content and design comes from someone who doesn't have much experience in video game development. Having a vision is nice but you can't forget that you are making a product for hundreds of thousands out there.

I will not mention the bugs and exploits players found while playing the game. This is a normal thing in gaming - in time, people will find ways to make their life easier in game. Some of these bugs could've been found by the QA team though. Think outside the box, guys.

I am reluctant to recommend the game because of the issues and design flaws surrounding it but if you like this kind of game, give it a try until you hit level 60 and done most of the activities before giving your thumbs up or down. I would wait till it's on sale though.

Unlike its predecessors, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 in overall did not move me as much I was expecting it. Gameplay wise, it's gone back to the dungeon crawling genre which could be great for some of the gamers out there. The abilities are quite similar to what we experienced in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow however with different type of weapons and upgrades. There is a larger selection of secondary items that can help, but in my personal experience, they were rarely used. Some events were quite interesting but I must agree with most people that the stealth feature should have been scrapped and put focus on the platforming and puzzles.
As you might have guessed, the storyline begins with Dracula or formerly Gabriel Belmont fight the Brotherhood of Light then ends with Alucard appearing. You then jump through time into a modern technological world, and start with the ridiculous stealth feature �  la Metal Gear Solid. So, your objectives are basically to fight various bosses and repossess old powers which Dracula has lost through time. Pretty much like any dungeon crawling game.
Unfortunately, there is little content about the storyline which was pretty disappointing. Characters, including Dracula and Alucard were uninteresting, emotionless. The exception is when Dracula returns to his castle throughout the playthrough. I finished this game without any emotion and with lots of questionning.

Do I recommend this game? I will for the people who like Castlevania, the old dungeon crawling genre. But, you must expect some disappointment if you want to know the rest of the story. Cheers.