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[Freedom Gate Co.]

Harmony of dissonance is more SOTN then aria or Dawn.

 

[Michele]

Not to offend the OP, but the post is really long, and perhaps a little confusing. Can I get a TLDR here?

 

[Alexios]

Not to offend the OP, but the post is really long, and perhaps a little confusing. Can I get a TLDR here?

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night will suck because they're taking way too long for my liking to make it even though other games from other devs in other eras didn't take so long to make and I loved those.

Also even though they gave people a damn awesome appetizer in the form of the retro style Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (iirc backers got this for free, outside some hicups with getting codes late).

 

[JunkerWoland]

Also even though they gave people a damn awesome appetizer in the form of the retro style Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (iirc backers got this for free, outside some hicups with getting codes late).

Curse of the Moon is a fine little game, but it was always a $4.5 million stretch goal and a reward item as part of the campaign successfully funded by the backers; the game was also always planned to be sold separately to the general public. This is to say, Curse of the Moon was not provided to backers as some free gift, outside the scope of the crowdfunding campaign.

Because Inti Creates (the game's developer) was also the publisher, they were able to put Curse of the Moon on sale, before securing download codes for backers, many of whom didn't receive access until weeks after release.

 

[xAlucardx]

some of my Favorite MetroVania Games are:

Dust: An Elysian amazing visual art and Level Design, cute characters this is a great example of how to make a great MetroVania, for a job done by one man,m this is a masterpiece, Happy it was ported For Nintendo Switch


The Messenger Great Music, clever way of using 8-Bit and 16-Bit art style together, you start with 8-bit then when it flips to 16-bit you truly see how good it is, Highly recommended!


Ori and the Blind Forest Great Visual Art and Level Design very slow paced, looking forward to the Sequel.


OutLand amazing visuals and really Solid gameplay with an Ikaruga-like polarity switching mechanic and light Prince of persia Sword fights


Axiom Verge is a clone of Super Metroid with 8-Bit NES Graphics, great game, not a fan of 8-Bit style, love its HR Giger Visual aesthetic art style though finished it in one playthrough! was a great experience loved every part of it especially the 8-bit midi tunes!


Shadow Complex had a great foundation of a good Castlevania/Metroid but i Despise 3D or 2.5 Graphics on Metrovania style Games all its atmosphere and rooms felt the same no mater where i went and the story and suit where all generic designs..i lost interest halfway through and never finished it and really can not help to know the book the game is loosely based around is bad. But in all Honesty if this game can be Re-Textured to Metroid ill believe it and say its the best Metroid game ever after Super Metroid! and will still say wish it was 2D! becuase Samus Returns on 3DS proved that 3D Metrovania is shit...dont get me started with Other M too.....


Hollow Knight Great level design and animation, Art Direction reminds me of doodle god....can't take the game serious with its Art aesthetic but the gameplay is solid and feels like a mix of Metroid+Darksouls 2d game done right


LA-MULANA2 the Remake of the first game was very Hard.......it could become frustrating to beat, the second is easier to manage, Great Music, not a fan of chibi small characters but the game is solid and fun to play

and for something Very Special for me is

Maze of Galious Remake (FAN Remake) original played it on MSX its graphics hasn't aged well or not at all!, i Discovered a fan remake with multiple art styles you can change anytime, same way they have done it for Monkey island remasters, very addictive gameplay, you are free to go everywhere you want from the beginning of the game, you start in castle and you have to find the keys that open the doors to go to each of the worlds has incredible Music, Boss themes unforgettable Music! Highly Recommend it for everyone who likes Metrovania style

i still have a special place for SOTN in my heart and not even those combined can Dethrone it, it will take lots of Black Sorcery magic and Gothic Art and Dracula to make make a True Successor.

i would say that Castlevania: Circle of the Moon a game not Done by Koji Igarashi is a Great example of Metrovania, that game has a lot of charm and addicting gameplay & Music, beautiful Backgrounds and level design, it didn't have the smooth Animations from SOTN and felt like it was a slide show frames compared to it, still it was a complete experience and highly recommend playing it. the irony of igarashi removing it from Castelvania Lore Canon Universe is enough to make you want to check it out.

ill give him Credit for making Aria of Sorrow & Down of Sorrow, but not for Order of Ecclesial (Generic open map Design with portals ) or Portrait of ruin, reused assets uninteresting Characters and story.

Dracula isn't an Exclusive patent, Might as well make a 2d game starring him and be done with it

at this pint in my life i really want Platinum Games to make a 2D Bayonetta or Devil May Cry since Dante's first Game on PS2 was a true 3d castlevania more then (Lament+Curse on ps2)

next time ill post a short list of how not to make a MetroVania game

Happy Holidays!

 

[Razzorn34]

Team Cherry came out of nowhere with Hollow Knight, which I feel has taken the crown.

Easily. That game is a masterpiece.

 

[ClanOfNone]

I was shocked by how good it was, and post launch support has only made it better. Bought it on pc, ps4, and Switch.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

ill give him Credit for making Aria of Sorrow & Down of Sorrow, but not for Order of Ecclesial (Generic open map Design with portals )

oof that's a shame, OOE is probably the best playing Castlevania since Rondo of Blood. somehow they captured the exploratory nature of SOTN but brought back the challenge of Classicvania.

of course it suffers from re-use of assets but that's why people have to spend years and years working on a game like Bloodstained. to make new assets. if you want them to finish a game quickly then they have to re-use assets. there's a reason those games had quick turn-arounds (alongside the money/infrastructure of a big name company like Konami)

 

[El_Belmondo]

i would say that Castlevania: Circle of the Moon a game not Done by Koji Igarashi is a Great example of Metrovania, that game has a lot of charm and addicting gameplay & Music, beautiful Backgrounds and level design, it didn't have the smooth Animations from SOTN and felt like it was a slide show frames compared to it, still it was a complete experience and highly recommend playing it. the irony of igarashi removing it from Castelvania Lore Canon Universe is enough to make you want to check it out.

ill give him Credit for making Aria of Sorrow & Down of Sorrow, but not for Order of Ecclesial (Generic open map Design with portals ) or Portrait of ruin, reused assets uninteresting Characters and story.

I'm not a fan of Iga, but you're mostly wrong i think.

Sure, Charlotte Aulin is an annoying sidekick and Jonathan Morris' story and daddy issues are very cliché, but there's a lot of potential in the vampire sisters and Brauner himself, and then you have the second to most epic final battle ever in a Castlevania.

Also, i find it quite Ironic to criticize a game for reusing assets in a serie that asset flips itself so bad it has become almost a meme.

Order of Eclessia goes back to the Simon's Quest feeling and it shows. Sure, some locations are uninteresting and the ost is mostly forgettable, but not only it tries to do something different, it also manages to get back the Castlevania difficulty and it features the second best Drácula of the series (Sorry, that title goes to Smash Ultimate's Drácula. It’s a blast to fight it)

And yes, Konami Kobe were the best thing to ever happen to Castlevania and i'll always mourn their disbanding. My wish at the time was having them developing a Castlevania for Gamecube while Iga takes care of the PS2 entries. Sadly that never happened

 

[Fuz]

Timespinner is decent, but not THAT good. Valdis Story is a better metroidvania.

@@Viliger
Hollow Knight isnt better then SOTN and please don’t compare The majestic Alucard and its unforgettable Gothic Style to Hollow Knight's Cartoonish Baby Chbi Ugly Character Designs to Alucard!

The horrible flash style graphics is the only reason I never played Hollow Knight.

 

[xAlucardx]

i recently started playing Timespinner this Game draws a lot from Castlevania on DS even more from Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia you got multiple story paths and multiple weapon loadouts

if you’ve been burnt by some of the more recent MetroVanias this is a welcome change, soundtrack is nice but nothing is special about it, controls are a little stiff and the combat shares a Lot with what SOTN has from the menu design down to Relics, Multiple weapon slots and accessories and a familiar. That is pretty much where the positive stuff end.

things i don't like in some parts he copied the map layout straight from Castlevania SoTN bits like having an exact layout of the map down to where the library old man office is or down to the tower elevator, i could swear the developer is using assets from SOTN like the Fog, and its annoying that there isn't a special dedicated button to see the map, i have to press start and choose it from the menu and its 4:3 aspect ratio with optional bars from the side, he didn't have to go all that retro it isn't great

your character cant walk or swim underwater which is annoying
The enemies are too easy and boring to the point that i think i am fighting enemies from Kirby Games, its mostly Birds, Fat birds, small birds X large bird, XX Large bird then mega large boss chicken and repeated use of boring spiders, mostly all bosses have some cute looking animal Reference, cats dogs, chickens, i don't understand what was his source of inspiration in a game about Revenge and war and time travel....

its still better then many games that came out this year, if anyone says Hollow Knight is better, he clearly didn't play this game or the DS castlevania games because this follows that style of Gameplay and Aesthetics

for a one man show, he did a great job

i still enjoy playing it though, it really is a clone of Gameboy Advance or DS castlevania with more terrible Character designs and story, i still prefer this to playing a Hollow Knight that game looks like its assets are taken from a New Grounds Flash Games, i hate all flash style cartoonish characters

 

[El_Belmondo]

What's up with all the Hollow Knight shitting? Sure, it doesn't use Pixel art, so what? It does not look like a flash game as it's a wonderful metroidvania.

You can praise one game without shitting over another one, you know.

 

[iconmaster]

The horrible flash style graphics is the only reason I never played Hollow Knight.

I had this opinion of Hollow Knight as well, based on screenshots. When I finally played it I realized those shots were misleading. In motion, a combination of effects elevate the presentation. I can’t convey it exactly; I can only recommend you give the game in spite of how it appears in still images.

 

[cartman414]

I disagree that Aria and Dawn play better than SOTN. Curious to see specific thoughts about this. What makes the gameplay in them better? It's definitely open to debate. I think the atmosphere, music, and art in SOTN is clearly the best, though.

Already posted an example of the space filling hallways/shafts that add clutter to the overall castle design in SotN and make it too backtrack-y.

Harmony of dissonance is more SOTN then aria or Dawn.

In the wrong ways though. It overdid things in mimicking the dual castle design. The castle is even more oversized to begin with, and there still not being enough warp points doesn't help.

 

[xAlucardx]

Dark Flame is an upcoming one man show Game, its using assets from SOTN
what he did is simply what i wished to see for a follow up, it has sharper visuals new places to visit new music and a new setting to explore retaining all the qualities without downgrading any visuals or music (i am looking at you Harmony of Dissonance...)

unfortunately the game has been in development for 2 Years and had a failed Funding Through Kickstarter his Steam Page no longer updates for over an Year, game had an October 2016 release window but Half year into Development he changed Game Engine from Xbox XNA and joined Square Collective and no news for 5 months now, he Tweeted something about Timespinner and that was it, Hoping he doesn't abandon the Project and for it to become success, an interview about his work if anyone is interested

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

I do think SOTN is the best of the Metroidvanias, however Aria and Dawn are absolutely phenomenal as well and the rest are very, very good too (Harmony of Dissonance is the also ran, but it's still good too)

For me it comes down to the fact that SOTN has the best graphics, the best music and the most well rounded themes of the environments of the castle itself, it hits all the right notes of want you'd want to see in a gothic castle.

And keep in mind I actually played SOTN after all the others, so that's not nostalgia speaking.

Although I do think it's a toss up between SOTN and Aria of Sorrow for the best for me.

 

[El_Belmondo]

For me SotN is near bottom tier. It may have to do with my initial dissapointment when a friend invited me to play it, but in the metroidvania list for me is only above Harmony of Dissonance.

I consider it having been bested in all regards. Compared to any other metroidvania aside of CotM Alucard feels clunky now, the soundtrack is good but it doesn't feel as a good Castlevania soundtrack, the map design is odd and lacks sense some times and the graphics, while beautiful, doesn't look so cohesive now. It feels like a mixed package to me that didn't catch the Castlevania spirit correctly.

I see Dawn of Sorrow as the successor of SotN and PoR+OoE as experiments gone right. Special mention to the Kobevanias wich, while clunky, capture the Classicvania essence way better than any other game developed by Iga.

PS: I'm replaying Por for New year and it's more agile and fun than SotN will ever be, and it has Yuzo Koshiro.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

SOTN does lack a certain polish the later games have, it's true.

 

[El_Belmondo]

Oh and by the way, someone up there asked how the characters from newer Castlevanias control better than Alucard in SotN. I think i have a rough idea how.

You see, something i have always loved about Castlevania is the weight of the character. The mc in question is HEAVY, the fall is fast and the jump is slightly floaty/slow. That's something misunderstood in SotN, Alucard is floaty in general, the jump is slow, he stays on the peak point of the jump longer than any other Castlevania character and the fall is slow AND have progressive acceleration (You can see this if you jump and then take a long fall, like in that high waterfall or in the chapel stairs), he is also sent flying easily and hits slowly (Some swords are slower than others, but the default swing is slow) wich makes the crissaegrim such a godsend.

Harmony of Dissonance is almost a carbon copy of this so it feels equally bad, and then there's the fact that SotN doesn't have this

Nor this

First of all, the attack animations per weapon add lots of gameplay styles and options. Do you want to have antiaerial attacks? Heavy weapons got you covered. Slow animations that can hit twice per attack? Try the spears, if you can time them correcty. Fast, low range, one hit attacks? Katanas, and so on.

And the Soul System, heir of Konami Kobe's DSS system, allows for more versality in attack. Want to set traps? Ukoback. Huge, multihit attack? Chutulhu. Instant, homing attack? Rycuda. Adding to that stat buffs and extra abilities wich are both offensive and deffensive.

So yes, i can agree on SotN being a great, beautiful game, but on the gameplay departament first and foremost it was bested almost inmediatly, and got stomped by the Sorrow arc.

 

[Alexios]

Dark Flame is an upcoming one man show Game, its using assets from SOTN
what he did is simply what i wished to see for a follow up, it has sharper visuals new places to visit new music and a new setting to explore retaining all the qualities without downgrading any visuals or music (i am looking at you Harmony of Dissonance...)

unfortunately the game has been in development for 2 Years and had a failed Funding Through Kickstarter his Steam Page no longer updates for over an Year, game had an October 2016 release window but Half year into Development he changed Game Engine from Xbox XNA and joined Square Collective and no news for 5 months now, he Tweeted something about Timespinner and that was it, Hoping he doesn't abandon the Project and for it to become success, an interview about his work if anyone is interested

Why would he even try to get money or a publisher like Square involved for a project that's actually ripping other companies' protected assets? I'm fine with free fan games and rom hacks, the works, (obviously, who isn't fine with those, if they're bad it's whatever and if they're good then we get another cool game to play through, haha) but that's just silly. Or did you mean to say it's not using CV assets?

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Oh and by the way, someone up there asked how the characters from newer Castlevanias control better than Alucard in SotN. I think i have a rough idea how.

You see, something i have always loved about Castlevania is the weight of the character. The mc in question is HEAVY, the fall is fast and the jump is slightly floaty/slow. That's something misunderstood in SotN, Alucard is floaty in general, the jump is slow, he stays on the peak point of the jump longer than any other Castlevania character and the fall is slow AND have progressive acceleration (You can see this if you jump and then take a long fall, like in that high waterfall or in the chapel stairs), he is also sent flying easily and hits slowly (Some swords are slower than others, but the default swing is slow) wich makes the crissaegrim such a godsend.

Harmony of Dissonance is almost a carbon copy of this so it feels equally bad, and then there's the fact that SotN doesn't have this

Nor this

First of all, the attack animations per weapon add lots of gameplay styles and options. Do you want to have antiaerial attacks? Heavy weapons got you covered. Slow animations that can hit twice per attack? Try the spears, if you can time them correcty. Fast, low range, one hit attacks? Katanas, and so on.

And the Soul System, heir of Konami Kobe's DSS system, allows for more versality in attack. Want to set traps? Ukoback. Huge, multihit attack? Chutulhu. Instant, homing attack? Rycuda. Adding to that stat buffs and extra abilities wich are both offensive and deffensive.

So yes, i can agree on SotN being a great, beautiful game, but on the gameplay departament first and foremost it was bested almost inmediatly, and got stomped by the Sorrow arc.

Yeah, I guess Aria is overall the most well rounded of the series, while it lacks some of the visual pizazz of SOTN it does have the best gameplay and the Soul System was a stroke of utter genius, in fact it's sad to think we may not see another games that utilizes that.

Dawn of Sorrow is basically a souped up Aria of Sorrow, I love DS too of course but you have to give the nod to Aria for being more original.

Aria also features my favorite story of the series.

Still, SOTN is definitely still way up there.

 

[Alexios]

Aria seemed way short and easy to me rather than an epic sprawling and dangerous (don't grind for overpowered weapons you wouldn't know exist without a guide guys, just play it like a first timer would, if it's your first time) adventure like SOTN, even if the latter had its low/slow points. Maybe I was just better at these games by then? Those Alucard control quirks are things that make him different to, not worse than other characters. Long drops like the waterfall were intentionally done like that for the cool factor I think. Plus the guy's a half vampire, he can do what he wants with physics, no need to bring realism into it >_>

 

[El_Belmondo]

Dawn of Sorrow is basically a souped up Aria of Sorrow, I love DS too of course but you have to give the nod to Aria for being more original.

Aria also features my favorite story of the series.

Well, you see, i don't think the Sorrow arc plot is particularly great story wise, each one is basically the arc of a Shonen manga, power of friendship and everything.

The reason i ignore Aria in favor of Dawn is the same reason why the original Castlevania is ignored in favor of Dracula's Curse: In the end, it is the more polished product and the one that really shines. I won't deny Aria's merit though.

About SotN, in the end is a matter of tastes, i know people that in fact loves Alucard's floaty gameplay and despises DoS extra mode for applying DoS' physics to him, so to each its own.

Aria seemed way short and easy to me rather than an epic sprawling adventure like SOTN, even if the latter had its low/slow points. Maybe I was just better at these games by then?

I don't think those Alucard control quirks are issues so much as just things that make him different to other characters in the series. The waterfall was intentionally faster to drop for the cool factor I think.

More like you were infatuated by the game. SotN IS easy, i would say it is as easy as Aria but it has a peak of difficulty in the inverted castle near the end of the game (But then Dracula is perfectly defeatable using divekicks as i did) that Aria lacks (That chaos dimension was their chance, but they got out of time it seems)

Alucard quirks seems to be a honest mistake in my opinion, since they fixed them in DoS. Liking them or not is something personal, but it strays too far from the series' physics, and so does Harmony of Dissonance.

 

[caffeware]

Belmondo what do you think of Rondo of Blood?

 

[Alexios]

Alucard quirks seems to be a honest mistake in my opinion, since they fixed them in DoS. Liking them or not is something personal, but it strays too far from the series' physics, and so does Harmony of Dissonance.

Meh, it did many things different to the series up to that point, all intentionally.

 

[El_Belmondo]

Belmondo what do you think of Rondo of Blood?

Really good, but kinda overrated. I always found ironic in any case for Dawn and Portrait to be despised for being anime games and for Rondo to be lauded precisely for being an anime game.

I love the fact that it is a polished Dracula's Curse in a lot of ways, but i think that there are better classicvanias.

Meh, it did many things different to the series up to that point, all intentionally.

I know, but the series' signature physics is something that shouldn't have been modified so drastically.

 

[xAlucardx]

Why would he even try to get money or a publisher like Square involved for a project that's actually ripping other companies' protected assets? I'm fine with free fan games and rom hacks, the works, (obviously, who isn't fine with those, if they're bad it's whatever and if they're good then we get another cool game to play through, haha) but that's just silly. Or did you mean to say it's not using CV assets?

he insists that he didn't rip any assets, but after playing the alpha demo i found it hard to believe him Because he has a 1:1 jump and slash speed mechanic down to every pixel, as for the visual game assets he has hired someone to do it for him, he had plain generic looking visuals in the alpha demo, after he joined square collective he upgraded the vusuals to match or surpass SOTN

honestly i dont care what he does becuase KONAMI has been only making Downgrades to Graphics since SOTN, i love my GBA and DS games if Aria of Sorrow was done with equal Graphics Quality to SOTN and orchestrated music i ill say its better, although i Love Alucard character Design and Ayami Kojima's Art so ill always prefer him to be the antagonist and also he has the longest animation spirit sheet of any Castlevania character.

@ El_Belmondo They were great in their own ways and were restricted to the GBA and DS formats while its true the DS games have improved controls they are still lower quality in Graphic and Music, they play better and have more interesting stories, and i really don't like the fact that they use anime in DOS and then use Ayami Kojima style inside the game portraits. i want this series to stay from away from anime style, Kojima gave it a semi realist Gothic Bishojo style, but to each his own, everybody has a different taste

he could have made a visually upgraded engine and made a Down of Sorrow Spiritual Successor, and he could have taken less then 2 years to build its 2D assets, he will never recapture SOTN magic in 3D

same with Super Mario Wii U and Mario Maker i refuse to play Mario 2d games with a 3D Visual Aesthetic, Mario maker was a blessing for having an option to play in SNES style

i don't know how to explain to you why i hate Igarashi but i can give you an example that you will agree on, he butchered Rondo of Blood when he Remade it into 3d for PSP, that was the ugliest Castlevania ever released. Rondo physics is very heavy and controls are already stiff, he could have smoothed out the animation instead of masking the old game 1:1 with shit 3d visuals, and i am one of those who don't like the DOW physics to Alucard or the changes made to his move set, HOD was a fine game with downgraded graphics and terrible midi music i did enjoy the game but constantly annoyed by knowing it could have been better game if it was made for PSP or PSOne. and to this day we have not had anything with an improved Pixel over SOTN, the DS Games don't Count, i have them on emulator and SOTN still looks better even with its uneven Art, they had CGi rooms and Pixel Drawn Rooms mixed throughout the Game it. the game still looks amazing to this day, if you can mod your switch, load it on PSXrearmed or in PC Retroarch, it looks better then the ps4 release.......

also another thing we can agree on, i can Play SOTN on Smartphone, any Rasperi portable devices, Car Dashboard, ipads, ipods, iphones, Fridge Touchsceens etc etc the game is immortal to be played anywhere.

Down of Sorrow and POR+OOE has 2 screens and will only be good to play on wii U or 3DS and smartphones with controller accessories

saying that, i have the modded DOW with no Touch Controls everywhere i can play it. and that's one of the reasons many like SOTN, its easy to play on many systems Legit or Not.

 

[Alexios]

Well I think they downgraded cos the GBA was lower resolution and things had to remain readable so they went with some design and silhouette simplifications, never mind other lesser than the PS1 capabilities it had, I doubt they could do things like the near full screen fog with transprency effects in the same way and quality, just fake them in some other manner for example. Well, I dunno, they look pretty alright still. The DS games are certainly sharper and more micro detailed in some ways than the GBA games, that's for sure.

 

[xAlucardx]

Well I think they downgraded cos the GBA was lower resolution and things had to remain readable so they went with some design and silhouette simplifications, never mind other lesser than the PS1 capabilities it had, I doubt they could do things like the near full screen fog with transparency effects in the same way and quality, just fake them in some other manner for example. Well, I dunno, they look pretty alright still. The DS games are certainly sharper and more micro detailed in some ways than the GBA games, that's for sure.

which game has been re released several times for the past decade?

it was SOTN for psp, Xbox 360, PS4, also can still be bought for ps Vita

they keep releasing it over and over because they know we will buy it again

no protables ports anywhere and it will never Happen because they don't bother, their Resolution will not hold up on a 1080p HDTV, the Wii U DOS port was Pathetic, it was more playable after modding it to full screen

and going to Portables for over a decade is not an excuse, they could have done a new game on PSN or any of the consoles released over the past 15 years (3D garbage doesn't count)

 

[Haeleos]

I'm ok with them taking their time on it, since there are a ton of options in the genre to play through atm. (Currently playing through Hollow Knight, Sundered and Dead Cells). Hopefully WayForward can carry the torch and lend their expertise in the meantime.

 

[Alexios]

which game has been re released several times for the past decade?

it was SOTN for psp, Xbox 360, PS4, also can still be bought for ps Vita

they keep releasing it over and over because they know we will buy it again

no protables ports anywhere and it will never Happen because they don't bother, their Resolution will not hold up on a 1080p HDTV, the Wii U DOS port was Pathetic, it was more playable after modding it to full screen

and going to Portables for over a decade is not an excuse, they could have done a new game on PSN or any of the consoles released over the past 15 years (3D garbage doesn't count)

Well ports wouldn't change their graphics, the GBA is a bit too low res and has all the other issues you mentioned which I think were partly due to its low res and screen size and quality and the DS games have all the touch stuff on top so they'd have to do more than a mere port if it was gonna be for a home system as they don't use dual screens or even the Switch now while the 3DS could just play the cartridges already so they didn't need to port to that... And it's not like they have paid homage to SOTN all that much, some of the ports were pretty sub par efforts... But yes even regardless of their quality none of them would ever get the classic status of SOTN no matter what tbh, I mean, it basically made the genre for most and remains as the example template.

 

[xAlucardx]

anyone played this DSi/Ware Title originally released on Smartphones but with a Vertical Resolution
Soul of Darkness is a 10 year old game, very short too, beautiful 2d Graphics, really wished if Gameloft made a full fledged game for ps vita...
there is another Game that i suspect was made by the same team which i have no idea who they are

i haven't played this one yet but both games have almost a mix 1:1 movement from Alucard and Soma down to every pixel

if anyone knows who was the Developer please share your info, i am too lazy to research it

another great game for smartphones was Lemegeton this one felt like Dracula X- 3D from PSP has nice music

also this one



was very cheap looking but was fun to play

keep in mind these games are 10 years old, now move forward to 2019 we have a Portable castlevania on smartphone with Alucard, this game will destroy any good fond memories you have had for Alucard the moment you see him in game....

this is the most Degrading way to handle a great IP, its like this game was made by a startup mobile developer who has never seen or heard about Castlevania Games.

 

[cartman414]

Really good, but kinda overrated. I always found ironic in any case for Dawn and Portrait to be despised for being anime games and for Rondo to be lauded precisely for being an anime game.

I love the fact that it is a polished Dracula's Curse in a lot of ways, but i think that there are better classicvanias.

Rondo was the best Classicvania, and by extension, the best in the series IMO. Best balance of challenge, and as you mentioned, an evolution of the nonlinearity of DC.

Rondo's art maintained some of the grit, being of the vintage early '90s anime vibe. DoS and PoR came off as too bright.

 

[cartman414]

The reason i ignore Aria in favor of Dawn is the same reason why the original Castlevania is ignored in favor of Dracula's Curse: In the end, it is the more polished product and the one that really shines. I won't deny Aria's merit though.

About SotN, in the end is a matter of tastes, i know people that in fact loves Alucard's floaty gameplay and despises DoS extra mode for applying DoS' physics to him, so to each its own.

More like you were infatuated by the game. SotN IS easy, i would say it is as easy as Aria but it has a peak of difficulty in the inverted castle near the end of the game (But then Dracula is perfectly defeatable using divekicks as i did) that Aria lacks (That chaos dimension was their chance, but they got out of time it seems)

If they remade the Sorrow duo (and perhaps got to do a battle of 1999 prequel), I wonder what they could do with an expanded chaos dimension.

 

[xAlucardx]

somoene is remaking SOTN using Unity, i made a new post and hoping one of the mods share it for me

he wasn't clear as if he is releasing a full remake or just releasing a game maker engine with SOTN Remade assets, i would support him as he is doing a better job then what is shown in Bloodsteined, he reteain the same feel of the old game with added depth and flow to the animation, also the concept art for the levels is enough to make Bloodsteind look like an amatures fan game from a legendary series

 

[Alexios]

If you're talking about this that's quite the hyperbole. I give it A for effort if they keep it up but it certainly looks like a fan game, it still uses various original assets and music so is taking additional shortcuts on top of the major shortcut being that it merely has to copy over existing design rather than device anything of its own and it doesn't make Bloodstained look bad either. I'll try it if it gets near completion though.

 

[xAlucardx]

If you're talking about this that's quite the hyperbole. I give it A for effort if they keep it up but it certainly looks like a fan game, it still uses various original assets and music so is taking additional shortcuts on top of the major shortcut being that it merely has to copy over existing design rather than device anything of its own and it doesn't make Bloodstained look bad either. I'll try it if it gets near completion though.

@ Alexios

No, i made a New Post for A castlevania Remake as this man deserve to be known and supported, please watch the entire videoto understand the scope of his project

i have been following him for 6+ years, he released a demo long time ago that used the same assets from PSOne but with Alucard having more Moves, since then he has hired an artist and redid all of alucard Spiritwork from scratch and hired another for level backgrounds, i look at his work as the true remake of SOTN regardless of the methood he took to achieve it, he spent 8 years working on it and he has come a long way since then, hoping his work doesn't stop and gets rewarded like Street Fighter HD and Sonic Mania since those 2 were done by fans hired by the original IP owner. i am sure many here will recognize this man from looking at his Blog page and many of you has played his 5+ year old SOTN hacked fan demo...watch the Wolf and Bat form and you will see he is adding a lot of effort, i have forgotten about him for years and was surprised when i saw his post on my youtube feed

few years ago an Artist showcased an idea for Alucard intro in his Blog Comments, this artist now i believe is helping him with the game as i recall that's his Richter Animations Rework

 

[#Phonepunk#]

people do realize that SOTN lifted a ton of sprites from Rondo of Blood?

SOTN was the culmination of a series that had tons of art and level design to pull from. Bloodstained is a new IP, they have to make everything from the ground up. they can't just re-use enemies, character design, and sprites from previous games and concentrate on new background art.

it is useless to compare development times imo. like comparing apples and oranges. SOTN was pretty much the last game in a series and had tons of previous work to mine from, this is some brand new stuff, but with many of the original creators involved.

yes if we had a time machine to go back to the 90s and force Playstation to make more 2D games i would be down but that's just not going to happen.

 

[xAlucardx]

this remake doesn't

people do realize that SOTN lifted a ton of sprites from Rondo of Blood?

SOTN was the culmination of a series that had tons of art and level design to pull from. Bloodstained is a new IP, they have to make everything from the ground up. they can't just re-use enemies, character design, and sprites from previous games and concentrate on new background art.

it is useless to compare development times imo. like comparing apples and oranges. SOTN was pretty much the last game in a series and had tons of previous work to mine from, this is some brand new stuff, but with many of the original creators involved.

yes if we had a time machine to go back to the 90s and force Playstation to make more 2D games i would be down but that's just not going to happen.

watch the whole video and you would mistake this as an official Remake or Sequel to SOTN, the animation is impossible to be done on original PSOne hardware, this is following the Design Rules of the original and improving everything

and yes we can compare this to Bloodsteined, they have the man responsible for making SOTN along with the level and map designer, they could easily make something better then Hollow night and Dead cells and valid's Story since i see many users here defending these titles as something that is better then SOTN, those users fail to understand the visual appeal of SOTN and come to compare it with Hollow Knight...that is comparing Apples to Bananas

no one can debate the quality and authenticity this project, not even Konami

 

[Alexios]

Ok that does look a lot better than the one I had seen (which is still cool for trying to be more faithful in gameplay but being in higher resolution graphics recreating the original pixel frames. somehow I didn't expect pixel art for a fan remake but that looks sweet and the animations are lovely, it reminds me of River City Ransom: Underground which managed to have so many cool combos and moves within so few pixels for each character. This is still not comparable and it takes many liberties that some may not like or want to see in every Metroidvania as objectively better. Not everyone wants DMC style combat and combos in such games, you even agree Valdis Story is too different to SOTN to compare yet it has such things like juggles. When we played SOTN we didn't think oh I wish it controlled like Guardian Heroes in the battles instead but the PS1 is too weak for 2D to offer that so they gave us this trash or something, we loved it as it was even if we had played other games that had deeper combo based combat. I'll still try that one also if it releases finished but it's neither a faithful remake nor comparable to Bloostained. I mean, you even agree other metroidvania games can't be compared to original SOTN because they differ but now this thing differs so much to both SOTN and Bloodstained and you do compare it. Even after talking about how it took 8 years to get to that point. Yeah, a passion project can afford that. Let's see how long it takes to actually fully release with the bosses and every other enemy updated enough to match the new combat animations and possibilities like juggling. Anyway, you can lift people up without putting others down, Bloodstained can be a good game even if it's not a SOTN remake or with DMC in 2D style combat a la Valdis Story nor would most people expect or want that from the creators. We'll see.

 

[xAlucardx]

faithful in look and feel (not cartoony, chibi, Hollow Knighty!)
improves on old
just like what DS games done after SOTN, this game can play as DMC or street fighter as far as i am concerned as long as it retains the DNA of SOTN, if you played his first 2 Demo's you will know its not juggling, he is giving you so many options on how to kill the enemies my advice is to try his old demos because you are writing without even trying his project

you also didn't wacth the video fully, i can tell that much!

 

[dalekjay]

Answering to OP, it may take 10 years if it gets 99% close to SOTN doesn’t even need to be better

 

[cartman414]

people do realize that SOTN lifted a ton of sprites from Rondo of Blood?

SOTN was the culmination of a series that had tons of art and level design to pull from. Bloodstained is a new IP, they have to make everything from the ground up. they can't just re-use enemies, character design, and sprites from previous games and concentrate on new background art.

it is useless to compare development times imo. like comparing apples and oranges. SOTN was pretty much the last game in a series and had tons of previous work to mine from, this is some brand new stuff, but with many of the original creators involved.

yes if we had a time machine to go back to the 90s and force Playstation to make more 2D games i would be down but that's just not going to happen.

I'd def. ask for more RAM and/or expansion cart to match Saturn 2d. The ground up 2d games (i. e. Gradius Gaiden) would be even better!

 

[KOMANI]

IGA said something like 3 years with a dev team as little as 3 and as large as 11 at times. I got it from here

 

[dirthead]

people do realize that SOTN lifted a ton of sprites from Rondo of Blood?

SOTN was the culmination of a series that had tons of art and level design to pull from. Bloodstained is a new IP, they have to make everything from the ground up. they can't just re-use enemies, character design, and sprites from previous games and concentrate on new background art.

it is useless to compare development times imo. like comparing apples and oranges. SOTN was pretty much the last game in a series and had tons of previous work to mine from, this is some brand new stuff, but with many of the original creators involved.

yes if we had a time machine to go back to the 90s and force Playstation to make more 2D games i would be down but that's just not going to happen.

Oh please. What they've shown so far has been outclassed by fan games. For a commercial game with a supposedly good pedigree, the end result so far is actually embarrassing.

 

[cireza]

Personally, I am not backing a project from Japanese developers ever again.

 

[Pot Meet Kettle]

I will bite.

Bloodstained 5 years and still no release? How many years did it take for SOTN ?

SOTN didn't come from nowhere. A huge chunk of its assets were reused from Rondo of Blood (TG-16, 1993) and the cancelled Bloodletting (X32/Saturn, 1996). Even after Symphony came and went, most entries on GBA and DS in the series used straight sprite rips from it and Rondo. This isn't mere speculation, there are graphics from Rondo even in Portrait of Ruin.
Rabbit hole goes even further down. The Castlevania metroidvanias borrowed from (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Radical Rescure) and to (Shaman King Master of Spirits, Gegege no Kitarou miniseries) graphical assets, level design, and entire game engines.

IGA can't really afford that anymore. He is doing everything from scratch but it's obvious the project wasn't done favors by the 2.5D look and emphasis on customization (much more expensive) and the lack of experience of the developers he is working with (considering he is, at the end, mainly a game designer) It should also be said IGA has collaborated with another Japanese developer on a second game development project (Sega, on Revolve2) However overall, this project, while a troubled one, is in a much better shape than Mighty No. 09

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Oh please. What they've shown so far has been outclassed by fan games. For a commercial game with a supposedly good pedigree, the end result so far is actually embarrassing.

Ok I’ll bite. Please go ahead and name a castlevania fangame better than Curse of the Moon. I can’t wait to play it. Original 2d artwork to surpass the official entries? Sign me up. Ive played my share of cv fangame and they are almost always buggy or partially unfinished and just rip stuff from early games. Im looking forward to playing an amazing fangame. Just name one.

 

[Viliger]

Hollow Knight isnt better then SOTN and please don’t compare The majestic Alucard and its unforgettable Gothic Style to Hollow Knight's Cartoonish Baby Chbi Ugly Character Designs to Alucard!
same with Salt & Sanctuary:Great Great Great Gameplay and level design But Has the worst Artwork of all games metrovanias

You honestly need to start using comas, your posts are hard to read.
If we are talking purely from art standpoint, then yes, Timespinner is spiritual successor to SoTN in every way, the music, the art, it is all there. Too bad the gameplay is subpar.