Topic: What did Castlevania fans think of Judgement?

I don't want to pass JUDGEMENT on it.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH

I know this is an OLD thread, but I just have to have my say about this gem. I actually had a comment here before, stating that the game was "alright" or something when I tried it back in the day, but lately, I've been obsessed with Castlevania and decided to give this one another try. (I deleted that old comment of mine).

I think it was released at the same time as Lords of Shadow back in the day, and then everyone thought LoS would be a lot better game. After all, Judgement was just a fighter, right? Well...

I just have to say that Lords of Shadow- the entire series- didn't feel like Castlevania at all, the music was generic Lords of the Ring stuff and the gameplay was very tedious, copying from God of War and Shadow of Colossus in a bad way. I hated those games and still do. Judgement, however, is a truly Good Game. Now that I tried it again, I just couldn't stop playing it. I had to complete all the story modes with all characters and go through the Castle conquering mode, in one sitting.

I think this is one of my favorite fighting games ever. It might even be my most favorite one. I love how you can move in battle arenas freely, instead of being locked on to your opponent at all times. Every character feels good and the moves are not too hard to execute. Dracula is not shown too much, which is a good decision- he's the final boss only in Alucard's story mode and the Castle mode. When you get to play him, he's a powerhouse using mostly devastating magical attacks, suitable for the character.

The character designs were criticized back in the day, but I found myself loving almost all of them, especially Dracula. The only bad apple design-wise is Simon Belmont, which appears on the cover of the game. Trevor, for example, looks almost like his counterpart on the Netflix series.

Playing with a Classic Controller, this game is, as I already stated, a gem. The music is fantastic, borrowing from multiple entries (no Lords of Shadow crap here). I found myself liking especially the Castlevania 64 themes playing on Cornell's stages.

All in all, I would recommend this to everyone who likes Castlevania. Just don't go expecting it to be what it's not- it's a fighter game at the core after all.