Castlevania - What a horrible night to have a curse - The Bear and Badger

hylian_elf

JonB wrote:

Speaking of which, Harmony of Dissonance is one of the best game names ever.

I've played quite a few of the Castlevanias, starting with IV, then moving on to SotN and varous handheld versions, and then Lords of Shadow.

The Metroidvania style ones have never been able to hit the highs of SotN again, although Dawn of Sorrow was rather good. I don't think it's possible because game design has to be too user friendly nowadays - it can't just leave you to get lost like in SotN, and in the end that was it's greatest strength. The last DS one, Order of Ecclesia, was very tired and it would take a real reinvention to get me interested in the 2D games again. I'll keep an eye on the sequel to Lords of Shadow though, as the first was well put together.

I find myself agreeing with absolutely everything in this here post. My order of preference of the 2D games since SotN happens to be the order of release. I got bored by the time of Ecclesia and never actually finished it. LoS was a welcome change and refreshing, and I loved the origin reboot story.

Smang

i am a life failer as i never finished SotN.

retroking1981

Some good Castlevania videos from the AVGN here:

regmcfly

My 3DS one and posters arrived today. Hooray

retroking1981

Nice, let us know what you think please. Thinking of picking it up myself.

regmcfly

Will do. Between that and Vita stuff, I'm handheld only for the foreseeable

stellavista

I have a 10 hour flight coming up and fancy some Castlevania action in my 3DS. Can someone recommend best version please?

Dawn of Sorrow seems to be the one. Right/Wrong?

hylian_elf

Yep, best of the DS lot.

stellavista

Dawn of Sorrow it is, cheers.

regmcfly

Played about an hour of mirror of fate. It's a solid castlevania game. Two great things going for it-

1) current champ of best looking 3DS game. Considering Kid Icky, Resi Rev and MGS3D that's saying sommat.

2) no slowdown at all so far, so demo issues don't appear to be here.

But yep, it's some Simon Belmont ass action

retroking1981

Cheers reg. I'm sold, will pick it up!

davyK

Castlevania IV is the first I played and my favourite.

Never really got into SOTN as I prefer it when its linear.

I enjoyed Chronicles on PS1 which is a port of a JPN only Sharp computer version - and it unlocks a TT mode when you complete it which is addictive to the likes of me.

The only other ones I've played are the excellent if short WiiWare Castlevania Rebirth and the PC-Engine Rondo of Blood which we played as part of the retro thread.

Overall the music is the star of the show when it comes to this series.

MattyJ

I've never played Castlevania.

retroking1981

davyK wrote:

Castlevania IV is the first I played and my favourite.

Never really got into SOTN as I prefer it when its linear.

I enjoyed Chronicles on PS1 which is a port of a JPN only Sharp computer version - and it unlocks a TT mode when you complete it which is addictive to the likes of me.

The only other ones I've played are the excellent if short WiiWare Castlevania Rebirth and the PC-Engine Rondo of Blood which we played as part of the retro thread.

Overall the music is the star of the show when it comes to this series.

Agree with you 100% here davyK!

Good shout on Chronicles, not a lot of people know about that one, came out at the death of the PS1 from what I remember.

Also... Rebirth! I think your the first person I know of thats actually played it. Most don't even know if it's existence. It's literally Mega Man 9 but for Castlevania.

I'd recommend you check out Bloodlines for the Mega Drive, it's probably my 3rd/4th favourite one and your tastes in CV seem similar to mine.

Tempy

MattyJ wrote:

I've never played Castlevania.

Change that if you can

MattyJ

Tempy wrote:

MattyJ wrote:

I've never played Castlevania.

Change that if you can

If I get a 3DS XL I willlllllll.

Tempy

Get Symphony of the Night on XBLA, it's one of the best.

Nina

Urgh, Castlevania is one of those series I'd love to get every (main) version for on one system, but always feel. Only have 2 on the GBA (Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow I think), Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow on the DS. Huge fan of the artwork, there's so much little detail in everything.

I hated the 2 people that bought the 3DS version this week, only because I can't afford it now. It did hurt a bit that that were the only 2 copy's I've seen at my till.

Got the SNES version as well, bought then when I was still unfamiliar with all this, but a local gameshop had it for cheap, and I heard good things about the series. Definitely got some big points from Bas for owning it. It is his favorite, but he never got his own copy.

Played the second one on the NES a couple of years ago, with a walkthrough. Was impossible without one, Â mainly because I didn't have hours and hours of free time to figure it all out.

davyK

My SNES copy is complete in box with manual and in very good nick....have seen similar go for Â£80 on eBay....just thought I'd share that.

retroking1981

I had every PAL release up until the first DS one at one point, sold most of them off for a decent price as they were all complete in mint/near mint condition.

All I have now are:
I, II, III (NES)
IV, Dracula X (SNES NTSC)
Chronicles (PS)
Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
LoS (PS3)

and the 3DS one in the post.

EDIT: and digitally Rebirth & Rondo of Blood

Nina

My Snes IV copy is an ex rental, so has a plastic hardcover case, in stead of the original carton box. Doesn't matter that much to me, it's complete and it works.

Noticed last night that the 3DS Castlevania is on the eshop as well. Means I don't have to miss it if I actually want to buy it at a later date. Those games never drop in prices anyway.

retroking1981

How much is it on the eShop?

regmcfly

Â£39.99

Nina

45,- euros. That's the some as the retail price, will probably be cheaper if you start looking online.

retroking1981

regmcfly wrote:

Â£39.99

Thought it might be. The eshop in the UK is pointless for retail games imo. Â£29.99 on shopto and you get some free Castlevania posters. If they were the same I'd probably start going digital.

retroking1981

I've just played the first hour or so of the 3DS LoS game, very good so far I think.

Only gripes I have so far is sometimes it seems like the camera is too close up to the action and you can get attacked by an enemy off screen and not have enough time to react. Not a massive problem so far but on latter stages when the difficulty is ramped up I can see that being frustrating.

Worst part so far for me is the cut scenes, there's no/very little lip movement and it doesn't use the in game graphics. Very minor complaint that but it is what it is.

3D effects are superb, some of the best I've yet seen on the 3DS. As with every other 3DS game I've played though, I only tend to have it up during cut scenes as my hands move around to much during action which distorts the effect.

Seems like a mish mash of past CV titles so far. The combat of LoS with the platforming of the 8/16bit titles and some Metrovania thrown in for good measure. Having said that it does appear to be a jack of all trades master of none scenario, which can be both a good and bad thing I guess.

Anyone else playing this? How far have you got? What are your thoughts?

regmcfly

I'm with you. I'm about 6 hours in. Best thing is the pacing of upgrades - new ability every 20-40 minutes. Keeps me going

hylian_elf

I'll get onto it as soon as I've gotten over my addiction of Revengeance. Could play on daily commute, but mag/paper/Vita taking priority.

retroking1981

Just a tad over 3hrs in now, at the start of Alucard's Act.

It's definitely not as linear as I first thought, as I needed to back track to pick up certain abilities to progress.

You played anymore @regmcfly?

I got 100% on the Gabriel prologue and 81% on the Simon Belmont Act.

retroking1981

nice touch...

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