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Trevor Belmont’s mission in Mirror of Fate is to kill Dracula, his father

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate sends Trevor Belmont to kill his father Dracula, and it ends badly. A review of the 2013 3DS game.

By mitch·3 min read
A Belmont wields his whip amid the shadowed halls of a ruined castle.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate asks Trevor Belmont to kill his own father. It does not go well for him.

Trailer, via Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Trevor Belmont’s Mission

MercurySteam built Mirror of Fate as a direct sequel to its 2010 reboot, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The game launched in 2013 on the Nintendo 3DS, published by Konami. That was 13 years ago. Players control Gabriel Belmont, his son Trevor, Trevor’s son Simon, and Alucard across a side-scrolling castle.

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The story starts one year before Gabriel becomes Dracula. He sleeps with his wife Marie, then leaves with four Order knights to hunt a Lycan. While he is away, Marie gives birth to Trevor. The Order takes the baby, fearing a prophecy, and raises him in its custody.

Years later, Trevor learns he is Dracula’s son. He says goodbye to his wife and young son Simon, leaving Simon a medallion from the Order. Then he sets out for the castle.

Robert Carlyle and Richard Madden Lead the Cast

Robert Carlyle voices Gabriel. Richard Madden voices Trevor. Michael Maloney plays a Shade who warns Trevor he will die before he kills Dracula. Richard Ridings voices the Daemon Lord, a chimera.

Trevor breaks the Shade’s face and leaves it mute. He collects medallions from fallen Order knights and learns light and dark magic. He fights his way to the throne room, swears to avenge Marie, and cuts off Dracula’s hands.

Both fall. Trevor tries to drive his Combat Cross into Dracula mid-air and impales himself instead. Dracula gloats, then learns the truth: this is his son. He tries to turn Trevor into a vampire to save him. Trevor is already dead. Dracula builds him a coffin and carves the name “Alucard” into it.

A Castle Built for Side-Scrolling

Chapter Playable character Role
Gabriel Gabriel Belmont Dracula before the turn
Trevor Trevor Belmont Son, avenger
Simon Simon Belmont Trevor’s son
Alucard Alucard Trevor, renamed in death
Version Platforms Release
Mirror of Fate Nintendo 3DS 2013
Mirror of Fate HD Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows Digital

What the Castle Gets Right

The combat and the visuals earned praise. The side-scrolling return to classic Castlevania structure works. The castle is a labyrinth, and the game uses it well.

The story is where Mirror of Fate stumbles. Trevor’s death should land hard. Instead it arrives inside a plot that keeps explaining itself.

The Father-Son Fight Is the Whole Game

Dracula’s grief is the best thing here. He tries to save a son he just killed. He carves the wrong name into the coffin. That is a real ending.

Everything around it is thinner. The four-character structure splits attention when the story needs one thread pulled tight.

Where Mirror of Fate Sits

This is a middle chapter. It bridges Lords of Shadow and its sequel, and it plays like it knows that. MercurySteam had a strong idea — a father who destroys his own bloodline — and buried it under collectibles and backtracking.

The HD version moved the game to bigger screens, and in this paper’s view the pacing still drags.

Score: 7.2 of 10, the IGDB critic aggregate across 10 outlets.

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