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Castlevania: Rondo of Blood. Just a perfect game from start to finish. But what is everyone's fav Vania here?

R

Reizo Ryuu

Member
My Favourite is harmony of despair; it's dummy good and one of my most played games of all time.
Aside from that it's:
Castlevania (because Wicked Child is unbeatable)
Order of ecclesia
Portrait of Ruin
Dawn of sorrow
SOTN
Aria of sorrow (heart of fire!)

Castlevania 3 gets an honorable mention just because of Aquarius
 
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SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Super Castlevania 4 held the title
Castlevania SoTN took the title
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia took the title and is still the reigning champ.
 
Mato

Mato

Member
It's a tie between Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night. I wish I could enjoy Rondo of Blood and IV but they are just too linear. It feels like going through the motions.
 
Sojiro

Sojiro

Member
Its funny, for as great as I know Rondo of Blood is supposed to be, I have never played it, so I can't vouch for it. I have played the SNES inferior port Dracula X, which is pretty good imo, but I know not as good as RoB, but I think its a decent game. For the Classicvania games, my favorite would be Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, any other day I could say Castlevania: Bloodlines, as its phenomenal as well. For the Metroidvania ones, I would have to side with Symphony of the Night, but Order of Ecclesia would be a close second as well. I don't really care enough for any of the 3D ones I have played to pick a favorite.
 
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Darkmakaimura

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Dawn of Sorrow and Lament of Innocence are probably my favorite. I also really love Bloodstained especially the first 8-bit game.
 
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NeoIkaruGAF

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Rondo is the best Classicvania, hands down. Superb spritework and animations, LEGENDARY music, multiple paths, fantastic boss fights, animated cutscenes with voiceover, and the smoothest gameplay the series knew before branching off into Metroid territory.
It’s already amazing as Richter, but it’s really Maria with her speed and extra attacks that turns this from an excellent game to a true reference of 2D action games. Some of Maria’s suppleness spilled over into the Metroidvania characters, freeing the series from the tanky movement of the Belmonts and their trademark strut.

I discovered Rondo on the Wii, and it was love at first sight. I can’t count the times I played this game on my Wii. This needs to be ported to every gaming platform under the sun.
 
Saber

Saber

Gold Member
VGEsoterica said:
I think the dual screen keeps it at bay. I have all three on DS in my collection and damn have them shot up in price
Click to expand...

Used to think like that, but Kingdom Hearts DDD proved they can change the game to adapt to a new console. Its just a question of interest and effort, something I doubt Konami has. They would probably go for the cheapest route.
 
VGEsoterica

VGEsoterica

Member
Saber said:
Used to think like that, but Kingdom Hearts DDD proved they can change the game to adapt to a new console. Its just a question of interest and effort, something I doubt Konami has. They would probably go for the cheapest route.
Click to expand...
Also Konami hates us and doesn’t want us to be happy lol
 
Dr. Suchong

Dr. Suchong

Member
Sotn, Rondo, and IV 👍
Sotn overall for me.
In my local Cex I saw the psone version of Sotn going for £400 (Standard edition)
I have the Special edition with music c.d and art/comic book.
I'll NEVER part with it. I'll be buried with that masterpiece.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Sojiro said:
Its funny, for as great as I know Rondo of Blood is supposed to be, I have never played it, so I can't vouch for it. I have played the SNES inferior port Dracula X, which is pretty good imo, but I know not as good as RoB, but I think its a decent game. For the Classicvania games, my favorite would be Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, any other day I could say Castlevania: Bloodlines, as its phenomenal as well. For the Metroidvania ones, I would have to side with Symphony of the Night, but Order of Ecclesia would be a close second as well. I don't really care enough for any of the 3D ones I have played to pick a favorite.
Click to expand...

I actually prefer the SNES port to the actual Rondo as crazy as that sounds.
 
swarley64

swarley64

Member
Castlevania 3, something about the movement in those NES games is hypnotic and perfect. And 3 was the best of that bunch. Also the alternate characters in 3 were different but still felt like they belonged in Castlevania…. Whereas Maria seemed like a weird easy mode

I do want to play Rondo again though, I only played it once and I was kind of in a rush to get through it.
 
Zannegan

Zannegan

Member
For my money, Aria of Sorrow perfected the form. At first it seemed like an odd break from the rest of the series or even a soft reboot with its near-future storyline, non-Belmont protagonist, and new mechanics. The more you play, though, the more everything from story to mechanics dovetails into one slick, innovative, and yet surprisingly faithful Castlevania. Love that game.
 
Rran

Rran

Member
I agree, SCIV is amazing. I can go back to it over and over and just drink in its awesome soundtrack and rich atmosphere. There's really nothing like it since the series kind of branched off afterward. Rondo is my second-favorite, closely followed by the original CV.
 
Rran

Rran

Member
BennyBlanco said:
SoTN is a top 5 game of all time to me but there’s lots of good ones. Bloodlines is kinda slept on.
Click to expand...
I played this through the CV collection and it was cool. I do think the game's second stage (Atlantis) is kind of a big hurdle to get through with some slightly frustrating elements. The audiovisual elements are good and it kind of has its own vibe to it which I liked.
 
Ceadeus

Ceadeus

Member
All of them but I especially like the Igarashi Castlevania. They're masterworks all, you can't go wrong!

Bloodstained is insane too.


inject that shit directly into my veins GIF by MOST EXPENSIVEST
 
Sojiro

Sojiro

Member
kunonabi said:
I actually prefer the SNES port to the actual Rondo as crazy as that sounds.
Click to expand...
It's a good game! I mean I only go off the high praise Rondo gets when I compared the two, since I havent played it, but Dracula X is a good game. Personally, I would put it on equal footing with IV, which is good, but not the best of the series. I know that probably isn't a popular opinion lol.
 
VGEsoterica

VGEsoterica

Member
Sojiro said:
It's a good game! I mean I only go off the high praise Rondo gets when I compared the two, since I havent played it, but Dracula X is a good game. Personally, I would put it on equal footing with IV, which is good, but not the best of the series. I know that probably isn't a popular opinion lol.
Click to expand...
X is a good game and doesn’t deserve the hate it gets. It’s also not as good as Rondo
 
CamHostage

CamHostage

Member
I really like the PSP Rondo 2.5D remake Dracula X Chronicles, but I know that isn't the right answer...

6784-DracX2-1.jpg


For me, Castlevania 3 is the best. Great control, outstanding level design, interesting character variety, lots of challenge, amazing music (especially with the Famicom version, though the NES version still holds a place in my heart.)

hqdefault.jpg
 
alabtrosMyster

alabtrosMyster

Banned
Rondo of Blood PCE CD and SoTN are the only two castlevania games I like... and I really love them both, so don't ask me to choose.

I always wondered what the 16-bit SoTN would have been like!
 
S0ULZB0URNE

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
Hard to pick so I will name my favorites in no order...

Top Tier Tie
Castlevania 2(yes I love it)
Castlevania III
Dracula X
Castlevania Bloodlines
SOTN


Next tier below them
Castlevania
Castlevania 4
Lord of the Shadows
 
names are for friends

names are for friends

Member
Rondo of Blood is the best Castlevania imo

I finished the original Castlevania and I don't think it really holds up, but to be fair it was probably mad fun back then

Never finished Castlevania 3 so I can't have any opinion

Bloodlines is good. Super Castlevania 4 is worse but I don't hate it.

Symphony is a completely different thing... I have low patience for Metroidvania games but it's one of the best examples imo.
 
Ceadeus

Ceadeus

Member
VGEsoterica said:
I need to replay Bloodstained. I Day 1 started and finished that weekend but it was a bit of a buggy mess so I was left feeling “good but not great”…should give it another go
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It had a bunch of update, it's worth it imo.

It's not a perfect game by any mean but we get igavania so rarely that I didn't care.

Btw, I'm getting a steam deck soon, I'll be replaying Lord's of Shadow 1&2. And see how they hold up.
 
Majormaxxx

Majormaxxx

Member
Lords of shadow was gorgeous on 24 inch screen on my 360.only complaint is some of the Boss battles were really tough.

I also enjoyed curse of the moon on my ps4 slim. Currently started curse 2.

Next I will try rondo. Great call.
 
E

EricB

Member
Well well, it just so happens that Castlevania Requiem (which includes Rondo) and the Castlevania Collection are on sale for $3.99 each on PSN at the moment.
 
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B

BlakeofT

Member
SotN, the GBA games (especially CotM since it was a launch game and I desperately wanted a GBA when it released) and the DS games are all special to me. Really tough to pick a favorite among SotN and the DS games.
 
C

crackajack

Member
Never liked a Castlevania so far.
I think the last and only Castlevania I properly tried to have fun with was the one for the GameBoy. Tried the demo for Symphony ot the Night, did not like it. And started Lords of Shadow Mirrors of Fate, thinking it is Lords of Shadow, which wasn't included on PS+ then and is probably a very different game, but quickly lost interest in that janky garbage. Vampire stuff would be very much my thing, but I just can't like it as a sidescroller, it seems, and Lords of Shadow might be the deviation I need.
 
VGEsoterica

VGEsoterica

Member
crackajack said:
Never liked a Castlevania so far.
I think the last and only Castlevania I properly tried to have fun with was the one for the GameBoy. Tried the demo for Symphony ot the Night, did not like it. And started Lords of Shadow Mirrors of Fate, thinking it is Lords of Shadow, which wasn't included on PS+ then and is probably a very different game, but quickly lost interest in that janky garbage. Vampire stuff would be very much my thing, but I just can't like it as a sidescroller, it seems, and Lords of Shadow might be the deviation I need.
Click to expand...
That's gonna prove to be an unpopular opinion haha. But hey...you are allowed it!
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Only played a handful of Castlevania games.... C2, C4, Bloodlines, SOTN. And I dabbled with I think Castlevania 5 on SNES emulator.

SOTN is easily the best I played.

I never played the 3D ones since I had already played DMC and GoW games, so didn't bother.
 
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Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch

Member
For modern consoles - Rondo of Blood is only on PS4 that im aware of.
It needs to be on Xbox and Switch.
Another Castlevania Collection from Konami would be ideal.

Rondo is the pinnicle of 2D gameplay and graphics in my eyes. SOTN is way too easy - as much as I like the game - you have to force yourself to use weaker equipment to make it not a snoozefest. Rondo is hardcore to the max.

I tried Rondo on Retropie but I dont trust the emulation and I have trouble making it fill the screen properly.
 
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