Great!
It's the first time the shipment is so fast!

Excellent in many ways, decidedly mediocre in one.
LOI features flawless controls, fast-paced and addictive combat, and a SOTN-surpassing soundtrack that could make the worst game worth owning. The game's atmospheric visuals are frequently beautiful, as well. Where the developers got it right, there's very little to complain about in LOI. For the most part it's as technically sound and artistically sophisticated as you'd expect of a modern Castlevania.

Unfortunately, unlike nearly every other aspect of the game, LOI's level designs are seriously lacking in craft. You'll spend almost the entire game battling hordes of monsters in beautiful-yet-empty square rooms, linked by beautiful-yet-empty corridors. There is, technically, some platforming, but only in the form of strictly self-contained jumping tasks. LOI's map is dominated by flat, vacant spaces.

There are occasional flashes of individuality, but for the most part the levels are simply formulaic, aside from superficial details. This approach may befit a 100% action, "a to b in the shortest, bloodiest time possible" game like Shinobi (PS2), but it detracts from an action-adventure game like LOI badly. Devil May Cry's elaborately detailed castle settings put LOI's to shame.

Castlevania 64 heavily referenced the classic CV death-by-pit aspect, in its action levels; sidelining combat and exploration in favour of linear paths littered with treacherous jumps, meddling enemies and abundant pit death.

Conversely, despite the absence of levelling and weapon-collecting, LOI is Castlevania post-SOTN; all combat and exploration. But these level designs are simply too bland to support the "exploration" side of the game. Although there is a strong secret-finding aspect to LOI, the highlight of which is a brilliantly alluring sealed dungeon, it feels superimposed onto the dullness of the overall level designs. Indeed, the chase is often better than the catch as you'll discover the same, stock "secret room" many times over the course of the game.

Combat is left to pick up the slack, making LOI more a dungeon-crawler/beat 'em up hybrid than a Metroidvania in 3D. As the castle isn't one cohesive map, but several separate areas accessed from a central warp point, exploration is diminished even further. Progressing through LOI's myriad vacant rooms and corridors is rarely an entertaining activity in itself.

Combat is thankfully excellent. It's not the most challenging or deep 3D action, but it's some of the most consistently rewarding, replayable and solid-feeling. I found myself demolishing the same roomfull of monsters repeatedly, just for the destructive fun of it. Leon attacks, dodges and blocks with absolute precision and a brutal flair, making him an exceptionally fun character to rip apart a mob of enemies with. Although his double-dodge maneuver is maybe a little too forgiving, it's simply fun and stylish as hell; a good call by the dev team. LOI also features an array of offensive and defensive subweapon options, and a reward system for perfectly-timed blocks, making combat even more varied and entertaining.

It's not a truly demanding 3D action game, but LOI conveys the classic theme of a fearless Belmont trashing an army of monsters excellently.

Also worth noting is the game's real-time menu system; no more clumsily equipping health items in place of weapons (SOTN) or using them from the safety of the pause menu (COTM). If you want to use an item, you do so in real-time, which is both more convenient and much less safe than in past CVs. It's a small detail, but a very nice one that eliminates the awkward stop-start process of item use during heated battles.

Along with the excellent visuals and soundtrack, LOI's more integral strengths easily made up for the uninteresting level designs in my case. It's a shame "@crazy" (or as you may find:"@entirely reasonable") mode wasn't the default difficulty, as it really brings out the best in both LOI's combat and its incredibly responsive controls.

If this review seems a little too negative to justify the four-star score, it's because I consider LOI a consistently excellent game shackled to mediocre level design. If you're not as fond of the game's incessant combat as I am, or if you've got a low tolerance for near-constant room-to-room battling, you may be less willing to overlook LOI's markedly uncreative level designs.