The original Castle Oblivion by kelarly back in 2008 was what got me interested with RPG Maker. It introduced me to the world of RPG Maker and along with other games from kelarly is my inspiration in game making. Even though now it can be seen as an unbalanced game with many flaws, I really enjoyed it back then and will always remember it as a great game. I was overjoyed when I heard about a remake and had high hopes for it. I was wondering how it will work out and I must admit that it definitely met my expactations.

Story
Two friends, Vincent and Azen were hit by a rainstorm during their travel. They decided to take shelter in a mysterious castle they stumbled upon. Inside they
met a man named Gilgamesh who offered them to stay, however they didn't know he wanted to keep them in he castle forever. After he captured Azen, Vincent, scared to death, managed to escape somehow. Now, many years later, he plans to return to the Castle and battle Gilgamesh to save his friend he once betrayed.
This is how the story begins. It's quite simple, however Luiishu tells it in an interesting way and along with the13thsecret expands a lot on writing compared to the original. Main characters have their own motivations, interesting backstories and undergo a lot of character development, which is great. Among the villains the one who shines the most is without a doubt Gilgamesh. We can see him change and hesitate about the rightfulness of his actions troughout the game. Other bad guys are interesting too.

Graphics and Music
In the original mapping was pretty poor. There were a lot of empty spaces and locations looked medicore at best. However that changes in the Remake.
Luiishu uses mostly RTP graphics, but in his hands they look magnificent. I'm really impressed with his mapping skills. The maps look simply great and are designed pretty well.
As for the Music the Remake uses, just like the original, mostly Kingdom Hearts OSTs. BGMs suit places and scenes they're used in really well and KH music is just good, though I'm sure there are people that may not like it.
Overall the game both looks and sounds nice. Every floor is different and interesting so the player doesn't get bored with locations. They're quite climatic and some of them I will definitely remember(especially my favourite, Dark Void).

Gameplay
Gameplay is very similar to the original however greatly expanded. We have 11 Floors to travel and they're pretty big. The first thing that should be mentioned is that exploration is really rewarding in this game! There is something to find around almost every corner. It really pays off to search every nook and cranny.
That's really a good feature, because it makes the player look around all the time and not just walk from point A to point B mindlessly.
There are also some really interesting puzzles every now and then. They're fun and not too hard so the player doesn't get stuck.
Another change in comparison to original is addition of Skill Books and Remembrance Swords. Both give our characters some useful skills. There are also crystals that can heal your party, but they can also be broken for some stat up items.
Now for the most important part of gameplay - battles. I must really praise Luiishu as he handled them really well. Mashing attack is getting you nowhere in this game. Enemies are no pushovers, but aren't overpowered either. I'd say that battles' balance is great (opposite to original's poor one). Boss fights are especially interesting. It takes strategy to beat them. It's also one of not many games I've played that debuffs are actually very useful, not only for random encounters, but also for boss fights.
The only downside may be that battles take quite some time and resources so I had to run away from many of them. It's not a big problem though.
There are also a couple of secret bosses that are both fun to fight and rewarding, so it's worth searching for them.

Summary
I don't regret any minute of those 20+ hours I spent with this game. This is truly a great remake. It eliminates all flaws of the original and surpasses it in practically every aspect, but still feels like the good old Castle Oblivion that many people loved. It's a great way to introduce new players to this amazing classic series and it holds it's own not only as a remake, but as a stand-alone game too. I really recommend it to everyone and for original's fans I believe it's a must-play.

Final Score
4.5/5