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Castlevania Community Thread | What is a man?!

Best bosses in Castlevania:

Beelzebub_%28Castlevania%29.gif


Legion,_Castlevania.gif

Lord of Flies and The One Who is Many. Two of my favorite stages from Harmony of Despair :D
 
If I love Castlevania and fighting games, should I get Judgement? I heard it's garbage though? Also I do not have a working Wii. I may be able to play it once i get a WiiU later on.
 

Creaking

He touched the black heart of a mod
If I love Castlevania and fighting games, should I get Judgement? I heard it's garbage though? Also I do not have a working Wii. I may be able to play it once i get a WiiU later on.

Are you aware of the... uh, liberties, that Judgement takes with the Castlevania cast and aesthetic?

That aside, I've heard it's not too great mechanically either, but having not played it myself, I couldn't give a solid lowdown on that end of the board.
 
If I love Castlevania and fighting games, should I get Judgement? I heard it's garbage though? Also I do not have a working Wii. I may be able to play it once i get a WiiU later on.

Castlevania: Judgement is a fine game. It's a fun arena style brawler.The only real problem with it is the art style, with characters (perhaps unrecognisably) redrawn by Takeshi Obata of Death Note fame.
 

Sadist

Member
Love Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. Some of the best Castlevania games ever made.

I like OoE as well, but I just can't beat the wolf boss :(
 
You know what? I'm inspired. I'm going to do a top 10 series tracks if this topic's alive by the end of August.
Edit: I'll do it THIS WEEK. The music is too good!
Cool, I anticipate this, hell maybe i'll throw in my own list.

Mirror of Fate is probably my least favourite of the 2D Castlevanias I've played, but I liked it better than its 3D big brother. Dunno if it was just perspective bias or something but it flowed better and felt more like an adventure compared to the sponge beating console counterpart.
It does flow a lot better, enemies die faster, there's less interruptions to the gameplay and it wraps up significantly less time compared to its big brother which has more flash but also a lot more filler.
The game is as average as they come but it's consistently average in a way that's kind of enjoyable, there was no point where I actually disliked playing the game so I still enjoyed it for what it was.

Best bosses in Castlevania:
These are probably my least favourite bosses to actually fight in SotN, conceptually they're pretty cool but damn are they sort of fiddly to hit, I swear those flies are like some of the deadliest things in the inverted castle.

Love Aria and Dawn of Sorrow. Some of the best Castlevania games ever made.

I like OoE as well, but I just can't beat the wolf boss :(
If you mean the shadow dude you should look up how to get the onyx earrings or whatever they were that allow you to reduce dark element damage, it's a reliable way to help cheese that fight.
 
The game is as average as they come but it's consistently average in a way that's kind of enjoyable, there was no point where I actually disliked playing the game so I still enjoyed it for what it was.

That pretty much sums it up perfectly, actually. I wasn't really sold on the demo but got the full game from the So Many Games promo partially out of brand loyalty, partially 'cause I'd bought everything else I was interested in.

I got my eight hours enjoyment from it, things kept moving and never really overstayed their lengh. Only thing was the chronological pointlessness I mentioned earlier.

I dunno that I'd've been so kind if I'd've spent any real sort of money on it, though. Definitely a budget pickup.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
The only deadly thing in SotN is the Crissaegrim sword. :)
 

TentPole

Member
I actually liked Mirror of Fate more than any of the post SOTN IGAvanias barring Order of Ecclasia (which easily blows it out of the water).

It at least felt like I was exploring a real tangible location instead of a bunch of identical square rooms slap dashed so haphazardly as to feel procedurally generated. Plus it was just nice to have actual platforming back in a Castlevania game for a change.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Yet another thread that hath wronged the majestic beauty of castlevania 64. What with its precision 3D platforming, fun stories, creative adventure game style levels, great sense of pacing and progression, and (skeletons on motorbikes notwithstanding) good enemy design is the best 3D castlevania and I WANT TO KNOW WHY KOBOMBI WON'T RELEASE IT ANYWHERE
 

LeleSocho

Banned
Harmony of DIssonance is NOT a bad game/Castlevania!
There... i said it.

Also want to know why I prefer DoS over AoS? The animations in AoS sucks terribly and some of the souls aren't as cool as DoS ones... but it's mainly because of the animations.


Agree on CV64 being a great (but flawed) game.
 

Bedlam

Member
I like to pretend that LoS series does not exist. MoF alone is probably the worst 2D game released. Terrible.
Haha, no you don't. You're clearly bothered to no end by the fact that LoS (the main game) has a pretty good rep, is even loved by many - outside of the little die-hard hater bubble, of course, which is why you're using every opportunity to voice your displeasure with this great game. In this thread alone several of your posts are concerned with LoS. So see you in the next Castlevania/LoS thread! ;)
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Sorry but HoD > CoM.

After playing SotN, I had a hard time going back to classicvania.
 

Arkanius

Member
This thread made me change my Avatar to an old one I used back when OoE came out.
Thanks guys for refuelling my inner Castlevania
 
Also
Castlevania Adventure Rebirth (Wiiware) is missing too, I just started this one this weekend :p

Castlevania Adventure Rebirth is great. I've only ever gotten a few stages in but I love what I've played. Fantastic fe imagining of the GB game.

In fact, it's largely a new experience. Basically nothing to do with the handheld game.
 

Kenka

Member
Yet another thread that hath wronged the majestic beauty of castlevania 64. What with its precision 3D platforming, fun stories, creative adventure game style levels, great sense of pacing and progression, and (skeletons on motorbikes notwithstanding) good enemy design is the best 3D castlevania and I WANT TO KNOW WHY KOBOMBI WON'T RELEASE IT ANYWHERE
I liked it but only because I was playing it at the zenith of my love for the franchise. But even then, it felt extremely cheap and I felt insulted while playing it.

Compare Castlevnia 64 with SOTN and you'll understand that Nintendo users were merely more than pigs in the eye of Konami.
 

Arkanius

Member
When we say there will be no more Igavanias
What exactly happened in Konami?

And can we have a serious discussion on why Lords of Shadow is shunned by everyone? I seriously loved that game, and I'm a fan from the classivanias to the Metroidvanias. I really can't understand why the vocal fans hate it. It's a fresh take on the mythology, the gameplay was good, the scenarios were WONDERFUL (That game had such a beautiful art design) and the voice acting was good. The story was good as well (Even though we could predict that twist).

Mirrors of Fate has more reasons to be hated and people are "ok" with it. Why?
 

Ahasverus

Member
Really ?!, compared to 3D shouldn't it be less expensive ?!

They needed $300K to make a single character sprites in skullgirlls (a fighter game)

Yeah...

Mirrors of Fate has more reasons to be hated and people are "ok" with it. Why?
Heh, it was always a B game and we have the big one just around the corner, it's not as offensive as, say, Castlevania 64
 

Maedhros

Member
I actually liked Mirror of Fate more than any of the post SOTN IGAvanias barring Order of Ecclasia (which easily blows it out of the water).

It at least felt like I was exploring a real tangible location instead of a bunch of identical square rooms slap dashed so haphazardly as to feel procedurally generated. Plus it was just nice to have actual platforming back in a Castlevania game for a change.

lol

MoF is linear as fuck. There 0 to no exploration in there...
 

Arkanius

Member
They needed 300K no make a single character sprites in skullgirlls (a fighter game)

Yeah...

Except, those 300k didnt really go just for the art alone.
It's a fighting game, you have to test your characters, develop a skillset, make it balanced, debug, etc etc.

Which sounds more expensive than the art team drawing all the required sprites.
 

Tadale

Member
I love pretty much all of the takes on the Castlevania series.

My favorite classic style games are Super 4, Rondo, and the original. The best metroid style games are SotN and Dawn of Sorrow. The only good 3D game is LoS, even though I did play a lot of Castlevania 64 because I was crazy.
 

Ahasverus

Member
Except, those 300k didnt really go just for the art alone.
It's a fighting game, you have to test your characters, develop a skillset, make it balanced, debug, etc etc.

Which sounds more expensive than the art team drawing all the required sprites.

Imagine balancing a game of 150 HD sprites and designing a level crafted to each of them, that's without talking about the stage hazards.

Or if you're IGA, just imagine the cost of the upscaler for the Rondo of Blood sprites and the replacement of ctrl, v and c keys on your keyboard you'll need.
 
I love pretty much all of the takes on the Castlevania series.

My favorite classic style games are Super 4, Rondo, and the original. The best metroid style games are SotN and Dawn of Sorrow. The only good 3D game is LoS, even though I did play a lot of Castlevania 64 because I was crazy.

CV64 had awesome atmosphere and I loved how dark and horror-y it felt. Maybe that's why I don't care that Lords of Shadow had a gloomier mood and soundtrack, I don't require that Castlevania be upbeat all the damn time. Although I love that too.
 

thelatestmodel

Junior, please.
All I want is a new 2D Castlevania that isn't on a handheld. Symphony of the Night 2.

But we all know about Konami's recent track record, so I'm resigned to the fact that this is never, ever, ever going to happen.
 

Refyref

Member
WOW, so in the end even an HD 2D CV will cost millions.

High-quality 2D animation is more expensive than 3D, seeing as with 3D models, animating is easy, while you need to make another sprite for each frame in 2D.
On the other hand, a Castlevania game would not require animation anywhere near the level of detail the Skullgirls need. And, of course, they could always make a handheld game. They're great at that, after all.

I know IGA got the boot, but what happened with his team?

IGA is still at Konami, just not actually doing anything.
 

Refyref

Member
I dont get this. Look at metacritic or gamerankings, and all his 2D castlevanias has very high praise. And it is not like he got a huge budget to work with either.

This is Konami we are talking about.
But, actually, his games weren't actually selling that well, so even with a small budget, they probably didn't make much money. Certainly not as much as LoS.
 
Just now getting into Harmony of Despair.


We need a SotN 2 with this HD engine, like, yesterday. Or at least release the handheld games on PSN/XBLA.
 
The only thing missing from Super Castlevania 4 was Dracula's epic demonic transformation. After I destroyed him I expected him to transform into that epic beast. Such a let down after the 3 boss gauntlet fight the level before.
 

Dremark

Banned
When we say there will be no more Igavanias
What exactly happened in Konami?

And can we have a serious discussion on why Lords of Shadow is shunned by everyone? I seriously loved that game, and I'm a fan from the classivanias to the Metroidvanias. I really can't understand why the vocal fans hate it. It's a fresh take on the mythology, the gameplay was good, the scenarios were WONDERFUL (That game had such a beautiful art design) and the voice acting was good. The story was good as well (Even though we could predict that twist).

Mirrors of Fate has more reasons to be hated and people are "ok" with it. Why?

People are saying there will be no more Igavanias because Konami removed Igarashi as Producer for the series cancelled the game he was working on and took a game which was previously shelved and made it into a Castlevania reboot.

I personally see no reason to touch the Lords of Shadow series as I do not see any reason why the series needed to be rebooted. Had Mercury Steam written a story that fit into existing lore I would have been okay with it, but as it stands it's a different series that I am not interested in as I was not before they put the Castlevania branding on it.
 
I dont get this. Look at metacritic or gamerankings, and all his 2D castlevanias has very high praise. And it is not like he got a huge budget to work with either.

Basically Konami wanted another big IP, instead of relying eternally on PES and MGS. So Kojima and David Cox took the reigns of Castlevania and decided to make a God of War clone, without realizing that only GoW sells as much in that genre and other attempts got lackluster sales. They stripped Castlevania of all his charm and just to get 1 million copies or so sold.

Iga got relegated to very minor projects like Leedmees for Kinect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyHpDIR_w_4
 

ToastyFrog

Inexplicable Treasure Hate
goddamn, that's how you do an OP. so reading that in detail later today.

any impressions on Jeremy Parish's Anatomy of Castlevania? price is steep, but dude's awesome on Retronauts, really curious how this one turned out!

You can read the full contents (besides sidebars) online: http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/anatomy-of-a-game/

And if you click the cover on the bookstore you can get a sense of the layout: http://www.blurb.com/b/4082536-the-anatomy-of-castlevania-hardback
 

LeleSocho

Banned
Ok guys since i've just finished it...
You know what is the best metroidvania game? Cave Story.

C'mon now, Circle of the Moon is way more deserving of a spot in OP than Harmony of Despair.

Eh i don't know about that...
also:
FYI: Some games weren't included in the main list (although they were in the final list) because I wanted to relax for the day, I didn't pick favorites. I've never actually played Castlevania 64.
 

Agate

Neo Member
Awesome thread OP -- brings back some good memories.

Earlier this year I had a chance to meet Kinuyo Yamashita at MAGFest. My older brother is much more of a diehard Castlevania fan than I ever was..and I never had a chance to get him a gift...so I managed to find this awesome 3D portrait at the dealer's room and had it autographed by her. Yuzo Koshiro was there as well, who also singed my old pair of training gloves...all and all a good day, my older brother lost it when he saw it the first time.. :p

711473_10151161356112821_133008545_n.jpg


This will always be a cherished series for me. My personal highlights were Symphony of the Night (of course) and Castlevania Chronicles...the re-imagined soundtrack as simply amazing..!
 

Dremark

Banned
This is Konami we are talking about.
But, actually, his games weren't actually selling that well, so even with a small budget, they probably didn't make much money. Certainly not as much as LoS.

The impression I was under was that they were somewhat profitable but that the profit margin was dropping with the aging fanbase. IIRC here is an old interview with Igarashi where he discusses this.
 

Refyref

Member
The impression I was under was that they were somewhat profitable but that the profit margin was dropping with the aging fanbase. IIRC here is an old interview with Igarashi where he discusses this.

I didn't mean it wasn't profitable, just, as you said, that the profit was dropping. LoS was probably much more profitable.
 
Basically Konami wanted another big IP, instead of relying eternally on PES and MGS. So Kojima and David Cox took the reigns of Castlevania and decided to make a God of War clone, without realizing that only GoW sells as much in that genre and other attempts got lackluster sales. They stripped Castlevania of all his charm and just to get 1 million copies or so sold.

Iga got relegated to very minor projects like Leedmees for Kinect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyHpDIR_w_4

Sad indeed. Didnt MoF bomb though?

What is MoF sales vs the IGAvanias?
 
High-quality 2D animation is more expensive than 3D, seeing as with 3D models, animating is easy, while you need to make another sprite for each frame in 2D.
On the other hand, a Castlevania game would not require animation anywhere near the level of detail the Skullgirls need. And, of course, they could always make a handheld game. They're great at that, after all.

I see.

well indeed there is handheld, but I thought people wanted it HD on consoles.

Maybe they indeed need to open more to handheld.
 
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