Makoto Yuki
Banned
Hell yeah!
PoR and OoE are both incredible, absolutely fantastic games. DoS was great, but I feel like the later two DS games were superior.
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Castlevania Community Thread | What is a man?!
- Thread starter Kokonoe
- Start date
Hell yeah!
PoR and OoE are both incredible, absolutely fantastic games. DoS was great, but I feel like the later two DS games were superior.
GeekyDad
Member
well i broke down and already started portrait of Ruin
So far I love the graphics... much improved from Dawn of Sorrow.
Yeah, it's probably the prettiest of the three. They added some really nice, subtle polygonal stuff here and there. DoS will always be my favorite of the three, but of all of them I much prefer the dodge animation (of all things) in OoE. About to start up a new file of OoE in the next couple of days. Been a while.
drhankmccoyphd
Member
Is there a way to load a save game into the PS3 to play as Richter in SOTN? I have the classics PS1 but I don't have the time to 180% the game.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Just create a save file called "RICHTER", I don't think you need a clear save file?
spyhunterzero
Member
He may need to clear the game once for it to unlock though. I think the only one that let you play straight out from the beginning was the Saturn version.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Oh hmm, maybe. 
Perhaps he could find a clear saved file on Gamefaqs or something...
Perhaps he could find a clear saved file on Gamefaqs or something...
Chinbo37
Member
Ok guys I did it! Beat Portrait of Ruin. Got 1000% on the main game and also beat the Richter mode. I played a bit of the Sisters mode but I didnt really like the touch controls so I think Ill skip that.
I dont own OoE so I need to get that, but probably not for a while. I also own Harmony of Dissonance and a DS Lite so I might play that next as I never played it before. Thoughts on that Game? I played Circle of the Moon years ago on an old school non backlit Advance but none of the other advance games.
I dont own OoE so I need to get that, but probably not for a while. I also own Harmony of Dissonance and a DS Lite so I might play that next as I never played it before. Thoughts on that Game? I played Circle of the Moon years ago on an old school non backlit Advance but none of the other advance games.
I very recently completed Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, and a long-overdue replay of Symphony of the Night. Dracula X Madness up in here! Here're some thoughts.
Rondo of Blood
Holy cow what a video game! I was never quite enamoured with Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania: Bloodlines, so my notion of Old-School Castlevania went something like this: A Pair of Superlatively Good NES Games, A Good Genesis Game, An Okay SNES Game, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Some Weird Import Game For A System Nobody I Knew Ever Owned But People Say Is Good.
Well, I've played Rondo and let me tell you, those people sure were right! It was love at first play. It had that tightness and heft that I associated with the (good) NES games and found lacking in the SNES/Genesis iterations, which no amount of flailing your floppy flaccid whip around could ever hope to replace. It felt like a weird 16-Bit Remaster of Castlevania 1 (In that the physics and moveset felt, for all intents and purposes, the exact same) with a couple added mechanics (Backflips, Jumping On/Off Stairs, Item Crash and an OP Bible Item), which, in hindsight, was exactly what I'd always wanted. They even had a beautiful fake-out with Stage 1 being a loose reinterpretation of CV1's first stage, and you get to the room where you ought to fight the Bat but instead it's just an empty room with tense pre-boss music playing. You go through the next door and fight a crazy-fast, crazy-aggressive werewolf instead, and you know the game's starting for real.
The game is balls-hard, but true to the Series' reputation, is just so darn tense and fun the whole way through that you will happily beat your head against the game's many walls until you persevere (Side note: My understanding is that the game is considerably easier if you play as Maria. I have not-once played as Maria. Richter4Lyfe.) The level design is practically perfect throughout, presenting extremely punishing challenges and obstacles to overcome without ever resorting to straight bullshit.
P.S: Oh my god, the music. It's so good, dude!
I don't know, maybe I'll make people mad when I say this, but I very much feel like Rondo of Blood is the "real" Castlevania IV. As of this writing (more specifically, as of my completion of the game,) I feel quite confident calling Rondo of Blood my favorite game in the series that I have played thus far. I'm not sure it will ever be knocked from that position unless my opinion of it should somehow decay severely. It's fitting that this game should be such a perfect ode to Classic Castlevania before its sequel came along and "fucked everything up" (this is a joke.)
Symphony of the Night
I'm going to have a bit less to say on this because it was by no means my first time playing SotN, just the first time in a few years (and the first time since playing Rondo). I still like this game a lot, and it's still probably my third-favorite game in the series (CV1 sits at second.) It still has some things I dislike, though.
I don't like how easy it gets once Alucard has levelled/geared up a bit. Boss fights in particular feel way less-tight than the classic games, you can take so many hits from many of the bosses that at a certain point it devolves to just standing beside them and mashing Square, with little attention paid to dodging their attacks (unless you feel like it). Sub-weapons don't scale particularly well and reach a point where most of them are hardly worth using. The inverted castle is way less interesting/exciting than the regular castle, because at that point you can just fly across every room as a bat and it basically becomes an exercise in mindlessly filling out a map and fighting bosses as you come across them.
I still like how generally non-linear the game is (compared to, say, a Metroid game, where you acquire 10ish upgrades throughout the game which open up new areas, SotN only really has 4 or 5 upgrades that affect your ability to progress. Everything else is a matter of how well-prepared you are to deal with the enemies in an area, which will vary from player to player depending on skill level.) I like how atmospheric the game can be, and the soundtrack is also really good. As much as I loved Rondo's music, which liberally uses themes from older games, I equally appreciated SotN's bold decision to use a majority of original compositions, many of which were tonally quite different from the usual series fare. I can now appreciate how great it is that they used Bloodlines as the Richter Battle Theme though.
Ultimately, if Rondo of Blood feels like a realization of Castlevania 1's true potential as a video game (which, I feel, it does,) then Symphony of the Night is a triumphant realization of Castlevania II's real potential (in the sense that SotN is an actually-great video game.) I liked the throwback to the eye, rib, etc of Dracula in the Inverted Castle, it really hit home the idea that this game was trying to make right on CV2's ideas.
In closing: Richter is best Belmont and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me IRL.
Rondo of Blood
Holy cow what a video game! I was never quite enamoured with Super Castlevania IV or Castlevania: Bloodlines, so my notion of Old-School Castlevania went something like this: A Pair of Superlatively Good NES Games, A Good Genesis Game, An Okay SNES Game, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Some Weird Import Game For A System Nobody I Knew Ever Owned But People Say Is Good.
Well, I've played Rondo and let me tell you, those people sure were right! It was love at first play. It had that tightness and heft that I associated with the (good) NES games and found lacking in the SNES/Genesis iterations, which no amount of flailing your floppy flaccid whip around could ever hope to replace. It felt like a weird 16-Bit Remaster of Castlevania 1 (In that the physics and moveset felt, for all intents and purposes, the exact same) with a couple added mechanics (Backflips, Jumping On/Off Stairs, Item Crash and an OP Bible Item), which, in hindsight, was exactly what I'd always wanted. They even had a beautiful fake-out with Stage 1 being a loose reinterpretation of CV1's first stage, and you get to the room where you ought to fight the Bat but instead it's just an empty room with tense pre-boss music playing. You go through the next door and fight a crazy-fast, crazy-aggressive werewolf instead, and you know the game's starting for real.
The game is balls-hard, but true to the Series' reputation, is just so darn tense and fun the whole way through that you will happily beat your head against the game's many walls until you persevere (Side note: My understanding is that the game is considerably easier if you play as Maria. I have not-once played as Maria. Richter4Lyfe.) The level design is practically perfect throughout, presenting extremely punishing challenges and obstacles to overcome without ever resorting to straight bullshit.
P.S: Oh my god, the music. It's so good, dude!
I don't know, maybe I'll make people mad when I say this, but I very much feel like Rondo of Blood is the "real" Castlevania IV. As of this writing (more specifically, as of my completion of the game,) I feel quite confident calling Rondo of Blood my favorite game in the series that I have played thus far. I'm not sure it will ever be knocked from that position unless my opinion of it should somehow decay severely. It's fitting that this game should be such a perfect ode to Classic Castlevania before its sequel came along and "fucked everything up" (this is a joke.)
Symphony of the Night
I'm going to have a bit less to say on this because it was by no means my first time playing SotN, just the first time in a few years (and the first time since playing Rondo). I still like this game a lot, and it's still probably my third-favorite game in the series (CV1 sits at second.) It still has some things I dislike, though.
I don't like how easy it gets once Alucard has levelled/geared up a bit. Boss fights in particular feel way less-tight than the classic games, you can take so many hits from many of the bosses that at a certain point it devolves to just standing beside them and mashing Square, with little attention paid to dodging their attacks (unless you feel like it). Sub-weapons don't scale particularly well and reach a point where most of them are hardly worth using. The inverted castle is way less interesting/exciting than the regular castle, because at that point you can just fly across every room as a bat and it basically becomes an exercise in mindlessly filling out a map and fighting bosses as you come across them.
I still like how generally non-linear the game is (compared to, say, a Metroid game, where you acquire 10ish upgrades throughout the game which open up new areas, SotN only really has 4 or 5 upgrades that affect your ability to progress. Everything else is a matter of how well-prepared you are to deal with the enemies in an area, which will vary from player to player depending on skill level.) I like how atmospheric the game can be, and the soundtrack is also really good. As much as I loved Rondo's music, which liberally uses themes from older games, I equally appreciated SotN's bold decision to use a majority of original compositions, many of which were tonally quite different from the usual series fare. I can now appreciate how great it is that they used Bloodlines as the Richter Battle Theme though.
Ultimately, if Rondo of Blood feels like a realization of Castlevania 1's true potential as a video game (which, I feel, it does,) then Symphony of the Night is a triumphant realization of Castlevania II's real potential (in the sense that SotN is an actually-great video game.) I liked the throwback to the eye, rib, etc of Dracula in the Inverted Castle, it really hit home the idea that this game was trying to make right on CV2's ideas.
In closing: Richter is best Belmont and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me IRL.
spyhunterzero
Member
HoD is an ok game at best. it just felt so off Coming off of CoTM ANd then pretty badly done after playing AoS. The music is not bad and I did like that they showed off the Belnades side of the Belmonts with all those different spell books.
Also, Julius is best Belmont as Richter is just an overrated Belmont.
Chinbo37
Member
Lol I see what you mean. I played about 40% of the castle and so far nothing has grabbed me about the game.
Going from Portrait to this game though is tough, I know its the previous gen but teh graphics for HoD are pretty simple.
Chinbo37
Member
I disagree with your assessment of Super Castlevania IV, for me this is the ultimate in ClassicVania. However I have not yet played Rondo of Blood. I have it for the Wii Virtual Console but I am saving it, just waiting lol. I know it is going to be amazing when I finally get to it.
Nocturnowl
Member
Rondo of Blood has never clicked with me as much as the other classic entries, I still see it as good but there's something I just can't put me finger on, perhaps it's a lack of stun lock when hitting enemies, I might replay it to refresh my memory.
spyhunterzero
Member
RoB is good, I just feel it's in between Classicvania and Modernvania. That and I loved the remake.
I didn't notice the thread was revived!
Yes! I loved Rondo of Blood. It's my most favorite of the ClassicVanias. Not to say that SCIV wasn't just as good though. I agree that it had a lot of interesting design aspects with the controllability and everything but I guess I like Rondo more. The game was just great, had some challenging levels and that presentation really wins out for me. Plus, I had the weirdest problem with the controls of SCIV. It's mostly my fault but I still hate that I kept doing it.
Yes! I loved Rondo of Blood. It's my most favorite of the ClassicVanias. Not to say that SCIV wasn't just as good though. I agree that it had a lot of interesting design aspects with the controllability and everything but I guess I like Rondo more. The game was just great, had some challenging levels and that presentation really wins out for me. Plus, I had the weirdest problem with the controls of SCIV. It's mostly my fault but I still hate that I kept doing it.
Nocturnowl
Member
You know you're rusty when the first axe knight in Rondo of Blood's second stage delivers a deathly beatdown....twice! he was screwing with my internal CV logic by having the high thrown axes still clip your head when ducking and occasionally bum rushing you in a flailing frenzy,"Grant Me Strength" indeed.
The big pursuing boar thing killing itself by slowly strolling into a stone wall is just fantastic, I don't know how it managed to get decapitated from that act but I love it all the same. Following this the high pitched werewolf is a pretty nifty fellow for a second boss, out of curiosity afterwards went and replayed this stage in the Dracula X Chronicles remake and it's a a lot easier to handle.
I've forgotten a lot about some of these stages due to the branching paths and what not, like that bit in the third stage of the standard route (chapel) where fleamen ride these iron balls down a series of staircases, I'm reminded that for the most part RoB prioritises action over the platforming element which I guess is the main reason I tend to favour the other entries, on top of this the game is snappier and a bit faster paced to match the larger emphasis and whip cracking action, still good fun though.
The big pursuing boar thing killing itself by slowly strolling into a stone wall is just fantastic, I don't know how it managed to get decapitated from that act but I love it all the same. Following this the high pitched werewolf is a pretty nifty fellow for a second boss, out of curiosity afterwards went and replayed this stage in the Dracula X Chronicles remake and it's a a lot easier to handle.
I've forgotten a lot about some of these stages due to the branching paths and what not, like that bit in the third stage of the standard route (chapel) where fleamen ride these iron balls down a series of staircases, I'm reminded that for the most part RoB prioritises action over the platforming element which I guess is the main reason I tend to favour the other entries, on top of this the game is snappier and a bit faster paced to match the larger emphasis and whip cracking action, still good fun though.
CrazyTank940
Member
Man reading these posts is giving me Rondo of Blood urges again, guess I'm gonna download Dracula X Chronicles to my Vita again so I can get more of that classic Rondo goodness.
GeekyDad
Member
Been quite a while, but I'm well into another playthrough of Ecclesia. Really love the game in spite of its imperfections. Main downer, though, is the in ability to have equipment presets. Kinda regretful they didn't do like Dawn of Sorrow and link the glyph presets with armor presets. You've got equipment that is geared completely toward str or magic attacks.
But still such a joy to play. Love the vibe of the game.
But still such a joy to play. Love the vibe of the game.
spyhunterzero
Member
Anyone here play/stil play Castlevania HD? I might run some games tomorrow just for old times sake on PS3 and wonder if anyone might join me.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Oh damn. I could join you in the afternoon. Where are you located? My timezone is PST.
spyhunterzero
Member
Texas. CST timezone.
CrazyTank940
Member
Depending on how things work out for me tomorrow I'll probably be down to play too
Chinbo37
Member
Man I really want to play HD, I need to get that ASAP.
Well just an update on my mobile Castlevania a-thon. As a reminder in the last couple of weeks I beat Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. I then fired up Harmony of Dissonance. I hadnt played any of those games before.
Well I finished Harmony of Dissonance (HoD). I 200%ed the castle and I am playing through now with the second character. I have to say this game was not great. It wasnt terrible but the graphics and more importantly the control is such a big step back from the DS games. I played Circle of the Moon a long time ago and I dont remember hte graphics and control being that bad but maybe I am just misremembering.
For example the jumping seems really floaty. Also the 2 castle mechanic was a bit clumsy. The layout of the castle was a bit cumbersome as well. It was really difficult to get from some places to others without going through ALL of the castle. Bascially the warp system was a bit messed up.
All in all at the end it was not a bad game, however out of the 4 GBA/DS games I have played, this is definitely on the bottom. I need to get on Ebay and order Aria of Sorrow and OoE, the last 2 for me to play!
Well just an update on my mobile Castlevania a-thon. As a reminder in the last couple of weeks I beat Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. I then fired up Harmony of Dissonance. I hadnt played any of those games before.
Well I finished Harmony of Dissonance (HoD). I 200%ed the castle and I am playing through now with the second character. I have to say this game was not great. It wasnt terrible but the graphics and more importantly the control is such a big step back from the DS games. I played Circle of the Moon a long time ago and I dont remember hte graphics and control being that bad but maybe I am just misremembering.
For example the jumping seems really floaty. Also the 2 castle mechanic was a bit clumsy. The layout of the castle was a bit cumbersome as well. It was really difficult to get from some places to others without going through ALL of the castle. Bascially the warp system was a bit messed up.
All in all at the end it was not a bad game, however out of the 4 GBA/DS games I have played, this is definitely on the bottom. I need to get on Ebay and order Aria of Sorrow and OoE, the last 2 for me to play!
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Over here is quarter to 5. In half an hour I'll go online and play for like a hour/hour and a half. Hopefully I'll bump into some of you online!
spyhunterzero
Member
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Oh well.
At least on my first run I got the Acerbatus glyph, which never fucking dropped when I was playing this regularly.
spyhunterzero
Member
It's no biggie. i might do some more runs tomorrow if you are still interest. I guess it would be good to set up a time.
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Unfortunately I can't for the rest of the week. But next week around the same time would be sick for me. Hopefully you won't be too annoyed at the fact that I don't have the Winged Boots (aka I'm slow as fuck).
spyhunterzero
Member
Do you have Sonic or Mercury boots?
J
Jotamide
Unconfirmed Member
Nope. My drops suck.
DracoBlade
Member
I'm nearing completion of Harmony of Dissonance and though much more enjoyable than people perpetuate, I've never gotten lost as much in a castevania than this one, really not a fan of the castle layout.
Especially Castle A+B oddities.
Chinbo37
Member
Ya the castle layout is done really poorly, a LOT of backtracking.
Is level 7 from castlevania III the longest stage in the game? The stage is not hard (minus the bat part with the moving platforms), but the falling blocks part really takes a long time. I clocked it, and it was 3 minutes of automated movements after knowing the pattern, lol.
Thinking of going back to an older location and taking the syph path. Is that recommended, or should I continue with alucard's path?
The game was on the easy side (even the alucard path), until I hit this stage, lol.
Thinking of going back to an older location and taking the syph path. Is that recommended, or should I continue with alucard's path?
The game was on the easy side (even the alucard path), until I hit this stage, lol.
Nocturnowl
Member
Falling block stage is quite possibly the worst stage in CV3 thinking back off the top of my head just for how overly drawn out that section is (I guess this also makes it the longest stage for that reason), though I wouldn't say its worth turning back at this point, save Sypha for a replay.
Rest assured any fears of ease within the game will be eliminated when you reach stage 9.
Rest assured any fears of ease within the game will be eliminated when you reach stage 9.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
That's why Alucard is the best, you can cheat your way past the falling blocks. Or, thanks to the game's multiple paths, you could just skip it entirely.
Nocturnowl
Member
The falling blocks bit seems like a product of its time in a sense, that being they were so pleased that they managed to pull off the idea of the level building itself up as both a way of progression and a hazard that they never bothered to stop and think about how fun it actually was to play.
Good thing it does turn up in Alucard's path, that's the silver lining right there.
Good thing it does turn up in Alucard's path, that's the silver lining right there.
Just reached stage 9, and it is still more fun than the falling platforms part. I think this is the last stage, correct?
Also, finished the 7th stage in one go without dying once. Was really satisfying to pull that off.
Sadly, I did not have the bat at that moment. Also, alucard is just a sitting duck, I use Trevor exclusively.
It is the one thing in this game that did not age well. The entire game is pure gaming bliss, but that falling platforms part is really boring and tedious. It brings the entire game to a halt. It is also only a matter of knowing the pattern.
On the subject of Super Castlevania IV and Nintendo being kiddy:
People can say what they want about Nintendo being kiddy, but damn if this isnt the only Castlevania game thats legitimately creepy. From the music style (which still manages to be catchy yet somewhat orchestral...if i'm using that in the right way) to the general color scheme and design of the environments. Its certainly more realistic than most Castlevania games.
I know the English version was censored compared to the Japanese version ( i'm playing the JP version since I got it for cheap long ago) but I cant see it being so censored to where the overall design didnt stand out.
People can say what they want about Nintendo being kiddy, but damn if this isnt the only Castlevania game thats legitimately creepy. From the music style (which still manages to be catchy yet somewhat orchestral...if i'm using that in the right way) to the general color scheme and design of the environments. Its certainly more realistic than most Castlevania games.
I know the English version was censored compared to the Japanese version ( i'm playing the JP version since I got it for cheap long ago) but I cant see it being so censored to where the overall design didnt stand out.
Nocturnowl
Member
There's one more stage afterwards but it's significantly shorter and for the most part a lot easier to handle, though the final boss is part of the same stage so game overs will have you thrown back to the beginning of stage 10 which is a pain, especially as I think the Japanese version is a bit more lenient here.
I'd love to play through that version, the difficulty sounds a bit more balanced and you get the slightly superior sound quality.
Yep, it's a shame but as far as blemishes on the game go it's at least not as bad as it could be.
Yes, the chandelier scene (even though...definitely some outlandishly big ass chandeliers lol) really drove that point. The accompanying music makes the platforming that much more precarious.
I'm in the torture chamber now and everything feels so tense. I really hope whatever the next new Castlevania release is, it takes more inspiration from Castlevania IV (and not in the way that Lords of Shadow claimed it did). I'm trying to play the games in release order so I can get a better feel for how things progressed.
Definitely agree with how you classified the different entries style. Havent had the chance to spend much time with Bloodlines, but thats next up so looking forward to it.
I'm in the torture chamber now and everything feels so tense. I really hope whatever the next new Castlevania release is, it takes more inspiration from Castlevania IV (and not in the way that Lords of Shadow claimed it did). I'm trying to play the games in release order so I can get a better feel for how things progressed.
Definitely agree with how you classified the different entries style. Havent had the chance to spend much time with Bloodlines, but thats next up so looking forward to it.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
A greatest hits kinda revival? I think Adventure Rebirth was kinda like that
Yea, I guess it was. It's great as well. I just want one that follows SC4's level and mechanic design.
After; SotN was 1997, CV64 and Legacy of Darkness were 1999.
I am actually playing the Japanese version of the game because of the superior sound quality. English translated too.
I played through my copies of Super Castlevania IV (JPN) and then I played Dracula X (US). God I'll never forget how awesome Super Castlevania IV is.... I did a no sub-weapon run, then I did a lot of holy water & Axe using... Never really used those things in my play throughs of the game.
Dracula X is hilariously broken and none of the screen transitions really fit the previous environments... hahaha... I love it in a bad kind of way, though. Like a cheesy horror film that screams it's a knock-off.
Dracula X is hilariously broken and none of the screen transitions really fit the previous environments... hahaha... I love it in a bad kind of way, though. Like a cheesy horror film that screams it's a knock-off.
Krustentier7
Banned
Uh, I have a rather weird question for you guys, and this seems to be as good a place as any: is there a way to change the music in Harmony of Dissonance, or at least play with sound effects only? You know, like, a rom hack or something? The OST is just ear-gratingly abysmal. Kind of a shame, actually, because the game seems pretty cool overall.
Btw, absolutely LOVING Order of Ecclesia right now. Not only is the music ridiculously awesome (I'd even say it tops SotN to be honest), it's also really challenging. This is probably the first Igavania where I'm actually getting my balls rocked, and I'm loving every minute of it. They really put a lot of thought into the game's combat.
Nintendo really need to step their game up when it comes to the DS Virtual Console. I'd love to play this (and DoS / PoR) on a TV.
Btw, absolutely LOVING Order of Ecclesia right now. Not only is the music ridiculously awesome (I'd even say it tops SotN to be honest), it's also really challenging. This is probably the first Igavania where I'm actually getting my balls rocked, and I'm loving every minute of it. They really put a lot of thought into the game's combat.
Nintendo really need to step their game up when it comes to the DS Virtual Console. I'd love to play this (and DoS / PoR) on a TV.
StarCreator
Member
So in the wake of all the Twitch policy changeups lately, I've started exporting stuff from Twitch to YouTube. This Castlevania HD video from years back is a classic, and I figured you guys might enjoy it.
Hi, Dracula
Hi, Dracula