Perhaps you're just not as bothered by basic home security when you've harnessed sinister, otherworldly energies and have a legion of vampires at your command. Who's going to march into the Lord of Shadow's spooky castle and tell him, "Sir, leaving the key to your front door in the garden maze outside isn't the smartest thing you've ever done." And what Lord of Shadow is going to believe his advisors when they tell him, "Look, there's this pissed off vampire hunter coming and he's going to demolish every single candelabra in your house. Yes, the nice ones with holy water in them."

Like some of the best video games, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow conceives its world around a hero, obfuscating illogical weirdness with empowerment and an old-fashioned sense of adventure. You might fall off a few cliffs or get trampled by a troll every now and then, but there's no doubting your eventual success. During the course of your journey, you'll get all the training, weapons and abilities you need to best the forces of evil. No jump will ever be too far and no enemy will truly be invincible.