Castlevania

[Dai]

Right, so, since the last topic has not been touched in four years, I thought I'd go and make a new one.

So, I've liked the series for a few years now. At most I'd say, maybe 2009-10 is when I started really diving into this series. Sounds pretty sad, I know. I'm not a big horror junkie, but I'd say this game is a bit of an exception for me.

I've played the first Castlevania over at a friend's, but I never beat it. It rocks my shit too hard, I'm afraid.

I touched upon Castlevania III and Super Castlevania IV, but I've never gotten that far.

I played Aria of Sorrow and nearly beat it. Loved that game quite a bit. Soma's an okay protagonist for me, but the gameplay I enjoyed quite a bit. I mean, hell. It's a lot of fun beating the snot out of enemies, ripping out their souls and using their powers to my own ends. I think my favorite soul was the one that allowed you to run really, really frickin' fast. And maybe the bat soul that allowed you to fly. It was adorable.

There was also Harmony of Dissonance. Juste was pretty cool, although I never understood why he had white hair. Was he albino? I don't know. I think I got close to beating that one. I liked using the Item Crushes, or whatever it was called. My favorite was the cross barrier, I think.

I own Order of Ecclesia, and it's by far my most favorite, perhaps. I love Shanoa. She's by far one of the most attractive protagonists I've seen in any video game, and she's a very enjoyable character. The story is pretty nice...I was surprised by the twist or two that it had(it's been a while since I played it, though, so my memory is shoddy). My favorite Glyph I believe is the one that allowed you to fly. As for attacking Glyphs...possibly the rapier glyphs. Just because they're so quick.

I also own Dracula X Chronicles on PSP, but I...haven't gotten too far in that one. It's...really difficult for me. Maybe I just suck with Richter Belmont, in spite of him being one of my favorite Belmonts(for some reason). I'm a lot better with Maria, even though she supposedly makes the game easy mode. I've unlocked Symphony of the Night, but haven't done anything with that one, yet.

Now...for the more controversial games.

Okay, Lords of Shadow. I'm gonna be honest with y'all. I've never played God of War, Devil May Cry, or even Shadow of the Colossus. Generally, any game this one supposedly rips off, I most likely haven't had contact with save for a Let's Play series of Shadow of the Colossus. I will concede that the Titans of this game are pretty much brought in from Colossus, but then again...how the hell else WOULD you fight a titanic monstrosity that takes up the entirety of the screen, and more? Perhaps someone has a method, but I don't know. As for the rest of the gameplay...I think it suits a whip-based fighter quite well, even if it is probably waaay too much like another series.

Now, I LOVE Lords of Shadow. Like, seriously. It may not be my absolute favorite Castlevania, but it's pretty high up there for me. I love the gameplay, and even though the story is...kind of slow and the worlds linear, I love both. They're very good in my opinion. I mean, shit, the world looks AMAZING, and it's nice not to be limited to just a castle like most of the Castlevania games took place. As for the story...I felt that it was pretty good, and Gabriel is just a pretty awesome badass.

Hence why I'm looking forward to Mirror of Fate(which I've had pre-ordered or a year. Seriously, I was frustrated that it didn't come out in October like it initially was announced. But, I can wait 'til Tuesday. I've played the demo, and it makes me want the game even more. One of my favorite moments in the demo is when I noticed a treasure chest on the opposite side of a massive gate during my first playthrough. I was looking forward to finding out its contents, and when I did a later playthrough, I discovered how to get the chest(which contained a subweapon upgrade), and I was ecstatic. It certainly does play like a portable Lords of Shadow(not Symphony of the Night, which I know a lot of people in comment sections on videos are disappointed by, though some are surprisingly relieved), and I like it, even though it's taken me a while to get used to. I want Lords of Shadow 2, but I need the money first off. I like the idea of playing as Dracula. At least, one that's not reincarnated, and, even if it isn't the same Igarashi Dracula, this one still seems like a mighty force to be reckoned with.

So, what about you guys? Am I the only one who likes LoS-style(Although I do love the SotN, to an extent)? Even if I am, I'm not too upset about that. Everyone likes different things.

[Gryz]

I have quite the experience with the Castlevania franchise.

There's a lot of games so I'll try to keep it brief.

Also note that this series has some odd naming conventions: Castlevania Dracula X, Castlevania Chronicles, and Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles are 3 different games.

NES

Castlevania 1: Like it.

Castlevania 2: Hate it.

Castlevania 3: Like it.

SNES

Castlevania 4: Hate it.

Castlevania Dracula X (basically a really watered-down port of Rondo of Blood): Hate it.

GENESIS

Castlevania Bloodlines: Like it.

N64

Castlevania 64: BARF!!! Skeletons on motorcycles in the 1800's!!!

Legacy of Darkness: What the...!? Did they just re-release Castlevania 64 but with a different main character!?

PLAYSTATION

Symphony of the Night: Ehh... I give it props for being the first game to decently use RPG/adventure elements, but I think this game is heavily overrated.

Castlevania Chronicles (the port of the X68000 game): Like it. I've beaten this one many, many times.

PLAYSTATION2

Lament of Innocence: Bleh. It also has a laughably terrible story for being the first game in the timeline.

Curse of Darkness: No. Rented. Played for about 30 minutes. Stopped.

WII

Castlevania The Adventure ReBirth (downloadable game): Like it.

GAMEBOY

Castlevania The Adventure: Blah.

Castlevania Belmont's Revenge: Like it.

Castlevania Legends: Hate it.

GBA

Circle of the Moon: Like it, but I can understand why it's not liked so much.

Harmony of Dissonance: Hate it.

Aria of Sorrow: Like it. My favorite story of the series.

DS

Dawn of Sorrow: Like it. But I dislike the new anime art style.

Portrait of Ruin: Like it. Keeps the anime art, boo. But has a super crazy hard mode, yay.

Order of Ecclesia: Like it. No more anime art, yay. Also keeps the super crazy hard mode.

PSP

Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles (Rondo of Blood remake): Like it.

Don't care about Judgement (the fighting game) or Harmony of Despair (the multiplayer game).

And I really have no interest in any of the Lord of Shadow games.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Revenant

[Aleph]

Revenant's post looks like pretty similar opinions to my own, at least for the games I've played (CotM and beyond).

I have to add that Harmony of Despair is easily one of the best CV games, though. I would put it up there with Ecclesia, which is probably my favourite. Dawn is pretty up there too.

I like how innovative Portrait was but the gameplay just isn't as fluid to me as the others'. Backdash canceling ftw

[Dai]

I started up SotN before Tuesday. I managed to fill in the entirety of the map of the first castle, and I dispersed the curse on Richter. That's been put on hold for a while(Though I could just beat the game like today, 'cuz I did the first half in a short sitting.)

So I got Mirror of Fate...and I beat it last night. Yeah, I was on a roll, 'cuz I beat it with everything (100%) obtained at 14:00 flat.

This game exceeded my expectations. Seriously, I had a blast. The combat, much like LoS, was absolutely outstanding. They did a great job taking the style of the previous game and putting it in 2-D, and it doesn't feel clunky. Especially when you get good enough to pull off some serious combos. My favorite is air-juggling enemies.

The sub-weapons are pretty neat, and I like that they're different for each character, the same with the magic. I think Simon's magic is by far my favorite, though.

The graphics are pretty nice, but I'm not too big on graphics, so I'll just move on.

The story is really great, too. I admit, I was a bit confused by how they ordered it...Simon first, Alucard second, and Trevor third...but it does work out pretty well in the end. It makes me hyped for Lords of Shadow 2.

My only gripe is that one certain recurring 'boss'...isn't exactly fought how I expected the other two times.

By the way, this game has New Game Plus. 100%=Hardcore Mode? More like softcore.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Dai

[BrightBow]

I am also currently playing Mirror of Fate and so far I am having a very fun time.

I had some issues at the beginning. Enemies seemed to take forever to kill. But once I got the hang of the sub weapons and the combos, I can dish out some decent damage, so I no longer get hit only because the tedium makes me lower my guard.

I also love the atmosphere. The castle really feels actually big, mysterious and dangerous for once. The music helps too. It actually enhances the atmosphere rather then feeling like a completely disconnected entity.

Once I got the hang of combat, the fights got very exiting. And MoF platforming works surprisingly well. And I just love using the whip as a tool to get through the castle.

Only downside so far are all those quick action commands. And I am confused about the arrangement of the game's Acts as well but I am not entirely through yet, so maybe it will make sense at the end.

Well, and the game crashed on me once when trying to feed bats to a certain boss. Hopefully I just got unlucky.

However, I think Legacy of Darkness will still be my favorite. I still find it's atmosphere to be unmatched. Besides, exploring big, scary castle's in 3D makes you appreciate a lot more that it's a big scary castle.

I just wish you didn't have to play Cornell's story before unlocking Reinhardt and Carrie. I think Cornell is horribly designed.

[Ein]

Portrait of Ruin, Lament of Innocence, and Curse of Darkness are definitely my faves.

Only one I despise would be Lords of Shadow. It's dreadfully boring.

[PKLucas531]

I prefer the Metroidvania type ones(as much as I dislike that term) because I really have to sit down and want to play the oldschool ones since they don't have saves and stuff.

I also really liked Harmony of Despair and would like to see something like that again, Hard Mode Co-op was amazingly fun until a Soma rolled in breaking the game(then it got fun again, when everyone went Soma w/ Valmanway)

[peener weener]

i'm surprised someone can like lords of shadow, but hey, whatever floats your boat

[Dai]

i'm surprised someone can like lords of shadow, but hey, whatever floats your boat

I think it's less the gameplay that I like(even though I REALLY do like it) and more the story and characters that has me hooked. I mean, for one thing...I like Mirror of Fate's reasoning for the Belmonts (that have appeared thus far) fighting Dracula than I do Lament of Innocence's.

[spoiler=For those that actually do mind them...]I mean, they both share a theme of vengeance, but Trevor/Alucard and Simon in Mirror of Fate seem to have a more potent reason to despise Dracula and desire his death than Leon's descendants...I mean...yes, Leon loved Sara, but...why would his descendants continue to share that hatred against Dracula for the loss of Sara? Because Leon said so? I mean, am I missing something here(I most likely am.)? It also makes more sense to me that Dracula's own bloodline would be better able to handle him than someone else's.

I am looking forward to Lords of Shadow 2, in spite of it concluding that portion of the series(As far as I know. I'd be more than happy to see something like, separate games spanning the full adventures of whatever Belmonts fight against Dracula in 2, because the game DOES supposedly take place over many centuries.)

[Constable Reggie]

My personal favorites are Order of Ecclesia, Super Castlevania 4, and Symphony of the Night, in that order. I thought Portrait of Ruin, Aria of Sorrow, 1, 3, and Bloodlines were pretty good, while Dracula X, Dawn of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon, and Harmony of Dissonance were okay. I haven't played the rest.

[Ice Sage]

My personal favs gotta be Rondo of blood, Symphony of the Night, and Super Castlevania 4. The music was so good. games were really fun

Lords of shadow was meh imo

[Jedi]

I got into the Castlevania series only a few years ago at the insistance of a really good friend. She is like a master of Symphony of the Night lol.

Anyways my first Castlevania was Aria of Sorrow and I got hooked on the rest of the series going forwards and backwards from it. My personal favorites are probably, Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, Rondo of Blood, Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania III. I don't particularly hate any of the games, I have yet to play any of the 3-D ones though. I have been meaning to grab the 2 PS2 ones for some time now

[Dai]

Okay...imps are just about the worst enemy ever. I don't appreciate the developers putting a creature that can control the player into a game. It's just...ridiculously stupid. (Playing Symphony of the Night) Some of the crap they put in here just seems stupid cheap.

[Jedi]

Okay...imps are just about the worst enemy ever. I don't appreciate the developers putting a creature that can control the player into a game. It's just...ridiculously stupid. (Playing Symphony of the Night) Some of the crap they put in here just seems stupid cheap.

Well hey, it's not like bottomless pits exist in SoTN I didn't find Imps to be all that annoying at all personally. They just make you go funky for a couple seconds and that's it, then you smack them in the face lol

[Dai]

For some reason, the imps hit me with freaking a minute or more on the funky scale. It's ridiculous. Also, I thought the Beryl Circlet was supposed to PROTECT you from the lightning that Galamoth fucks you up with. Any reason it's not doing that in spite of having it equipped?

[Superbus]

There are people who dislike SOTN and Super Castlevania IV?

I've always been partial to the older games, for obvious reasons (read: I'm fucking OLD), but Dracula's Curse is something else for me. Rondo of Blood is also outstanding; I was emulating it in Magic Engine long before the PSP version came out (which is, in itself, a must-own). The Metroidvania games are all pretty similar in how they come together, but Circle of the Moon is my favourite of that bunch; I'm shocked that people dislike that game. For some reason, I hated Portrait of Ruin.

The less said about the 3D games, the better.

[Ein]

I dunno man.

Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness are pretty spiffy.

[redturtle806]

Bloodlines: 3/5: I always liked the metroidvania style more, but this game was pretty and challenging

Rondo of Blood 4/5: Great and challenging game overall, also loved the characters

Sotn Over 9000: Probably one of my top 5 games of all time.

Dos: 5/5: Really good for an earlyish DS game, liked the soul system.

Por: 4/5: I really liked the Victorian, Circus, and Ruin levels; Desert ones not so much.

OoE: 4/5: Main game isn't that great, but I enjoyed Abus mode a lot.

Judgement 3/5: Actually a decent game. Granted it's a fighter but me and my mate used to play it a bunch

Castlevania is a great series, although I don't care much for the 3d editions.Also all the gba ones are good, but they all kinda run together in my memory so I won't rate them.

Edited March 17, 2013 by redturtle806

[Balcerzak]

Just finished 100% on Mirrors of Fate on Normal Difficulty yesterday. I was surprisingly pleased with the game, considering some of the bad impressions a few other people had been giving me. It was essentially 2-D Metroidvania, despite the use of models and well, maybe 2.5D environment. The story played out fabulously. I honestly don't regret the purchase.

[BrightBow]

I'm still surprised how well Mirror of Fate works. I always thought that 2.5D platformers with such an realistic artstyle would look awful. But everything looks absolutely beautiful.

I also thought that falling damage couldn't possibly work either but I was also proven wrong. It makes the progression in the castle so tense and exiting.

I just wish that you could restart every act instead of having to restart the whole thing. Well, and the constant checkpoints were a letdown. I got so used that they were everywhere, that I eventually stopped paying attention to the lifebar. There needs to be at least some penalty for death.

Edited March 22, 2013 by BrightBow

[Dai]

Sooo...anyone else see the E3 trailer for Lords of Shadow 2? Anyone else excited? 'Cuz I'm excited.

One of the biggest things I'm curious about is the Belmont that's rumored to show in the modern age. Will it be someone like Julius? That'd be cool. I'd love to see other Belmonts throughout history as well. Heck, I'd actually like it if some Belmonts were like bosses in the flashbacks throughout Gabriel's history. I also can't wait to see more of Alucard's sword. I'm curious to know if it will take equal parts the broken stake of the original Combat Cross and parts of Dark Pain. It'd be neat, I think.

I'm also curious to see more of Gabriel's power as Dracul(which he refers to himself as). I hope he has more up his sleeve aside from Mist, that sword, and his claws. It'd be cool if we could have epic battles against titans whilst in his dragon form, too.