Support NeoGAF

[Blablurn]

Well just started the game and I am positive, that its better than DoS, because it feels like Circle of the Moon. That Duofeature rocks and the first boss is very strong so far.

 

[fallengorn]

I was like level 25 or so when I beat him, and the damage was really small (1 or 2 per hit?). I just hammered the buttons and managed to beat him.

Wow, how long did that take?

I ended up just using Nebula and the miser ring with around 2 million bucks. It was like I was using the royal sword.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Wow @ all the negative impressions in the thread.

I dunno; I got it for Christmas day and have been playing pretty hard since then. I like it a lot better than DoS so far, but, for me this is largely due to it feeling a lot more polished. It doesn't feel like corners were cut here and there to "squeeze" it into a portable system. I also like more of the music than DoS, and personally found the art in the various areas much more interesting than most of the DoS art.

Regardless of whether or not it is "easy", I like the dual character system so far and am just having lots of fun experimenting with who to use. As Charlotte gets better stuff, I'm using her more and more.

Considering how much praise DoS got as "best 2d game evar" and such, I find it hard to believe PoR seems SO inferior to so many, when so much work was put into polishing up even DoS's rough edges, but there's no accounting for taste!

 

[bumpkin]

I wrapped up PoR a few days ago, though I got the crappy ending.

How do I not get the "our princess is in another castle" ending? :lol

 

[TheCardPlayer]

I wrapped up PoR a few days ago, though I got the crappy ending.

How do I not get the "our princess is in another castle" ending? :lol

Spoiler

Use the Sanctuary spell on the sisters

 

[lyre]

Spoiler

And the Sanctuary spell is in the Egypt level where the boulders are. You'll need the Toad Morph spell to get it, which you should already have by now. You don't need to attack the sisters at all, just distract them long enough for the spell to take effect, about 30 seconds.

Although it's not necessary for us to tell you if you paid a visit to Wind and the shopkeeper every so often.

 

[lyre]

Just started a

Spoiler

Sisters mode

new game and WTF?!!?? There's no options for lefthanders? Yes while I realise you don't do any detailed drawring or waggling or anything but wtf?!? Playing this will be more of an excercise of trying not get annoyed than screwing around with a neat new gameplay feature.

In addition to lack of customisable button setup for

Spoiler

Richiter mode

these extras are really starting to disappoint me.

 

[firex]

how the hell are you supposed to defeat

Spoiler

Richter??

to get

Spoiler

The true power of the VK. I am pretty sure that you fight other belmonts after him, but I need help with Richter. He is very fast

I just wanted to reply to this because of the really fun way I beat him: I used the pie subweapon. It's a dark-elemental attack (at least I think it is) and takes like no MP to cast, and it's not too different from holy water in terms of how you use it. So I did a lot of jumping and throwing pies in his face. They did like 25-30 damage for me, and I think I was at level 40 or so then. Given that you can spam this and basically not run out of MP, and it's a quick animation you can move out of fast, it's actually pretty effective. It takes awhile, probably a lot longer than using the dark elemental whip you can get, but it's so fun (and funny) to beat that boss by hitting him in the face with pies over and over again.

 

[bjork]

Just started a

Spoiler

Sisters mode

new game and WTF?!!?? There's no options for lefthanders? Yes while I realise you don't do any detailed drawring or waggling or anything but wtf?!? Playing this will be more of an excercise of trying not get annoyed than screwing around with a neat new gameplay feature.

I agree with this and it's why I don't like most stylus-driven parts of some DS games. Luckily, the sisters are kinda overpowered, so even if it gets hectic, you can manage. I tried to do a 0-kill run, but I ended up fighting Death as my first enemy... he went down in like 20 seconds, heh.

But yeah... throw us lefties a bone, goddamn!

 

[lyre]

Try with the level 1 cap on. >

I just wanted to reply to this because of the really fun way I beat him: I used the pie subweapon. It's a dark-elemental attack (at least I think it is) and takes like no MP to cast, and it's not too different from holy water in terms of how you use it.

Dark element and blunt attribute. But agreed, beat the legendary vampire slayer with a few hundred pies in the face is ultimate humiliation. Works much better than any standard weapon.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Wow @ all the negative impressions in the thread.

I dunno; I got it for Christmas day and have been playing pretty hard since then. I like it a lot better than DoS so far, but, for me this is largely due to it feeling a lot more polished. It doesn't feel like corners were cut here and there to "squeeze" it into a portable system. I also like more of the music than DoS, and personally found the art in the various areas much more interesting than most of the DoS art.

Regardless of whether or not it is "easy", I like the dual character system so far and am just having lots of fun experimenting with who to use. As Charlotte gets better stuff, I'm using her more and more.

Considering how much praise DoS got as "best 2d game evar" and such, I find it hard to believe PoR seems SO inferior to so many, when so much work was put into polishing up even DoS's rough edges, but there's no accounting for taste!

I don't get the negative impressions either. I am nearing the end, and I'm enjoying it far more than DoS and any of the GBA ones.

 

[Gigglepoo]

I don't get the negative impressions either. I am nearing the end, and I'm enjoying it far more than DoS and any of the GBA ones.

It's just too same-y for me. I have now played though four of these Metroidvania games. SotN, of course, was novel. There wasn't anything else like it in 1997. It was great. CotM came out four years later. It was great. Hadn't played anything like it in years. I missed the next two games, but played DoS last year. It was great. Hadn't played anything like it in four years. And then, two days ago, I finished PoR. It was... average? Boring? The same game as CotM, SotN and DoS?

I am very much against yearly sequels in every form. I would rather wait a few years for the next Castlevania game and experience something really good and different. Castlevania deserves better than yearly rehashes. PoR felt completely uninspired. I understand games like this help fund bigger projects like MGS4, but it's tough, as a gamer and critic, to stomach the same game year in and year out.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

Soo...what is the fastest you all beat the game at? I can't wait to see the times people post! I didn't finish because I started watching a movie, but, on normal (with

Spoiler

richter

) I managed to clear three portraits, the sister, and death in little under 20 minutes. I made a ton of mistakes though :/ I could probably get through it a lot faster if I dodge like I'm playing with the lvl 1 cap on, and don't stop for saves. I didn't pick up any health upgrades either. I did get lost a few times >_> too...


Cruising through Death is fun!

I'll try this again in the morning...

 

[Victrix]

Getting bored of this game. I'll probably play it through to completion, but I think I'm pretty much done with the endless sotn rehashes.

Normally, if a game/series is really fun, I don't mind sequelitis, but they're approaching megaman levels with it

And team castlevania's steps into 3d are stumbling ones at best :/

 

[Sagitario]

Question: is the critical art (R,R+Y) supposedly hard to pull? I can't make it to work (yes, it's activated in the relics menu).
First, I thought my D-pad was broken or something, but then I realized that I can do the spinning art (R,D,L,R+Y) and the martial art (U,L,D,R+Y) with almost no problems (or at least I can execute them)...

 

[Nozi]

Only played a little way in so far but I love the atmosphere and feel of the game. So far it's more Symphony of the Night than any other Castlevania game and I love it... can't wait to see more of the levels.

 

[Peter303]

I've seen a couple of weird things when returning to the game after putting it to sleep (shutting the lid), Anyone else seen them and know what they do?

Spoiler

The first time, Simon was turned into an orange frog, i'm guessing there's not much you can do as he returns to normal after a short while. The second thing was a bit more interesting, a clock was hovering above Simon and Charlotte and a timer was counting down. I never figured it out.

I'm hoping they're not too important, i'd hate to have to start grinding the lid on my DS:lol

 

[Devo]

I just picked it up the other day, and so far I'm lovin' it. I like it more then DoS, but thats probably because my DoS save was corrupt.

 

[Blablurn]

Damn its the best ****ing Castlevania I ever played. There are World between this and DoS.
Amazing game.

 

[boutrosinit]

Spoiler

Wind = Eric Lu Carde which sounds like... ?

When you complete the spear quest, he says "I'll give you my spear" and it's Alucard's Spear

The fact some of you diehards missed this saddens the castle bats.

 

[Pimpbaa]

It's just too same-y for me. I have now played though four of these Metroidvania games. SotN, of course, was novel. There wasn't anything else like it in 1997. It was great. CotM came out four years later. It was great. Hadn't played anything like it in years. I missed the next two games, but played DoS last year. It was great. Hadn't played anything like it in four years. And then, two days ago, I finished PoR. It was... average? Boring? The same game as CotM, SotN and DoS?

I am very much against yearly sequels in every form. I would rather wait a few years for the next Castlevania game and experience something really good and different. Castlevania deserves better than yearly rehashes. PoR felt completely uninspired. I understand games like this help fund bigger projects like MGS4, but it's tough, as a gamer and critic, to stomach the same game year in and year out.

I played them all too (except aria of sorrow, damn konami and their limited print runs of castlevania games for GBA). While I don't think it's as good as SOTN, I liked it more than the other 2 GBA "metroidvania" games and DoS. I think some people are just burnt out on this formula and wouldn't like it no matter how good it was. Although I agree that they shouldn't do yearly sequels. Space them out more and make a bigger and more polished game (and perhaps with with a completely new gameplay design other than the SOTN design). What'd I'd like to see is a Simon Quest's like design (except for some of the broken and poorly translated elements that were in that game). Hell I'd go ape shit with excitement if they did a "metroidvania" for a console and not a portable with 3D graphics and 2D gameplay. But I'm personally glad we get to see any new 2D castlevanias at all this day and age. There isn't a whole lot of other 2D game series that continue to get sequels. The DS may very well be the last bastion for 2D games. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

boutrosinit:

Spoiler

He isn't Alucard, he's dead. Alucard is obviously not dead and he's not the father of anyone either. That Eric LEcarde carries the Alucard Spear is an old fact from Castlevania Bloodlines and may just be an old fact/mistranslation that they're sticking with.

 

[boutrosinit]

boutrosinit:

Spoiler

He isn't Alucard, he's dead. Alucard is obviously not dead and he's not the father of anyone either. That Eric LEcarde carries the Alucard Spear is an old fact from Castlevania Bloodlines and may just be an old fact/mistranslation that they're sticking with.

How completely weird. The castle bats are happy again and enjoying much sheep neck in celebration.

Thank you for informing me oh Siegfried the Wise.

 

[lyre]

boutrosinit:

Spoiler

He isn't Alucard, he's dead. Alucard is obviously not dead and he's not the father of anyone either. That Eric LEcarde carries the Alucard Spear is an old fact from Castlevania Bloodlines and may just be an old fact/mistranslation that they're sticking with.

Spoiler

Indeed ...

 

[Sagitario]

Question: is the critical art (R,R+Y) supposedly hard to pull? I can't make it to work (yes, it's activated in the relics menu).
First, I thought my D-pad was broken or something, but then I realized that I can do the spinning art (R,D,L,R+Y) and the martial art (U,L,D,R+Y) with almost no problems (or at least I can execute them)...

Anyone?

 

[Red Scarlet]

Woohoo, now that I got the internet back, I can post about going through this. I got the game the day after Christmas, and more or less finished it as good as I'm going to do on my own without looking anything up. I guess I'll go through the thread and see what people have gotten that I missed in my playthrough.

Here's my final stats:

Spoiler

Time: 11:32:48
Level 47
999.3% (got 100% in all the smaller castles but apparently missed a room or two somewhere)
Boss Rush
Course 1: 00:38:25
Course 2: 02:44:65
Course 3: 02:21:41

I got a couple items that I don't know what they do exactly (like the records), some cross is in a zone that I don't know what to do, and I have no idea how to play using the other people.

All in all, I thought the game was really good. I didn't really get 'stuck' anywhere, mainly due to going ahead a little bit at some places and using the

Spoiler

frog

to find the

Spoiler

'story spell'.

Some bosses were pretty tough and I died several times on a couple early on and then later on, and in a couple later areas. Usually this was solved by some more practice against the boss and/or buying some potion from the priest guy.

I really enjoyed the team aspect, it reminded me of Castlevania 3, which is one of or my favorite of the level-based games in the series. If the co-op mode is for the whole game to be played by 2 people, I would be really interested in giving that a try sometime in the future. I played the game with Charlotte mostly, but brought Jonathan out at a couple of spots and used him on some things later on.

I liked the maps overall, but the

Spoiler

two pyramid

type places just kind of annoy me these days. Without the other portraits, the main castle in this is pretty small and weak overall. The quests were interesting and although I did not get them all (probably missed about 15 or some more) figured out, they seem like a good idea in this style of game. My biggest gripes with the game really is the lack of main weapons for Charlotte (I think I got 5 or 6), I stuck with a couple spells (Ice Fang is great), and the sub-weapons were too numerous and how they build up made them overall pretty useless for me (I mainly stuck with the Axe for the whole game and its level was like 235/1000).

There are sooooooo many badguys and even bosses based off of Rondo (Frankenstein's Monster sprite, Dogether, the Behemoth that chases you, Dullahan) and stuff it seems like this game is the third of the Rondo series and maybe finishing it off?

Oh well, I enjoyed the game quite a bit and some parts were tough, but I eventually got through, which is the difficulty I enjoy most. Fun game, and hopefully Konami will bring a 1999 Julius game around soon.

Farore:
Only Jonathan seems to be able to do that, and it seems easy enough to do. I think I was only able to do it while standing on the ground, and I'd hit forward and Y at the same time at the 2nd forward.

 

[Error]

scarlet you should try richter mode but with the level 1 cap I dunno of you like that kind of stuff (one hit=dead) but imo it's awesome since you gotta be careful with practically EVERY single enemy in the game and it helps the game has a bunch of warp points plus the boss fights are sweet Im still stuck in legion that bitch.

I should try the nest of evil thing, sounds.

 

[Red Scarlet]

scarlet you should try richter mode but with the level 1 cap I dunno of you like that kind of stuff (one hit=dead) but imo it's awesome since you gotta be careful with practically EVERY single enemy in the game and it helps the game has a bunch of warp points plus the boss fights are sweet Im still stuck in legion that bitch.

I should try the nest of evil thing, sounds.

Oops, I was thinking too hard on how to unlock it. I'm going to try on Normal then work my way down, I'm not an uberfan of 1 hit death in these kinds of games (cause I'm so clumsy).

I'd like to try the

Spoiler

sisters mode

but being a lefty it's a little odd using my right thumb for the dpad and left for the pen, and vice versa would be just as weird. :/

 

[Error]

the sisters mode is alright it's a cool diversion but nothing really amazing imo. I havent tried the 5th character tho.

and yeah I think it'll be weird being a lefty to play the sisters mode.

 

[bjork]

I'm playing Sister Mode right now and I'm a lefty... it's not too tough, except for

Spoiler

those goddamn gold skeletons in the nest of evil

... good lord

 

[Sagitario]

Oh well, I enjoyed the game quite a bit and some parts were tough, but I eventually got through, which is the difficulty I enjoy most. Fun game, and hopefully Konami will bring a 1999 Julius game around soon.

Same here, some tough but fun parts... but I'm not done yet.
I'm really hoping for the Julius game too...

Farore:
Only Jonathan seems to be able to do that, and it seems easy enough to do. I think I was only able to do it while standing on the ground, and I'd hit forward and Y at the same time at the 2nd forward.

I know it seems pretty easy, but I'm not able to do the critical move doing just that: R+(R+Y)
But I found a way: (R+Y)+(R+Y). Yep, forward and Y at the same time twice...
That's how I can perform the critical move... if I don't do it like that, no critical move for me... don't know why...

 

[Red Scarlet]

Ah, I'm on an old DS so maybe it's easier for me to use the dpad.

I'm about done with the sisters on normal; sometimes I smack L on accident or don't move too well. I'm liking them both pretty well, though I can keep my MP at max with Stella by doing / / / /.

 

[Sagitario]

I'm using a DS Fat too ...

I also found that the bug Mejilan discovered not only works for getting items, it works for getting extra MP too ...

 

[yoopoo]

What do you have to do in the Javelin quest?

 

[fallengorn]

What do you have to do in the Javelin quest?

You just have to master it... I think you need 1500 points for it?

 

[yoopoo]

So just keep killing with the Javelin?

 

[firex]

Master the javelin subweapon. The best way to do this is just hit some tougher enemies with the javelin, then kill them normally. As long as you get a hit, you get the points added in. I was dumb and didn't realize you got more points for tougher enemies until late in the game, so early on I was using it to kill enemies instead.

 

[lyre]

Keep killing stuff with the Javelin until you get 1500 points/kills to master it. If you want a suggestion, and don't want/can't use a pair of Master rings, this is what I did:

Go to the Market (first form of 13th Street, don't have DSL with me right now)
Go to the area where Zombies constantly respawn

Spoiler

(the same area where you can find the Wraith enemy, the uber-zombie)

and just keep throwing Javelins at zombies back and forth until you grind enough to master that subweapon.
Eventually the Zombies will stop respawning so just exit the area and reenter and they'll respawn again. And to refilll on magic, collecting hearts is much less painful than going to a save area I find.

Spoiler

To do another quest you have to master 3 other weapons as well, I'd imagine this would suffice as well.

Hope you have the time to grind 1500 kills.


And just how many lefties are on this board? >_<

Regardless, the last time I played the Sister's mode (with a level cap no less), I wound up just using my right index to do slashing etc. It's obtrusive, excessive and feels completely wrong in the worst possibly ways (like I'm fingering my DSL >_< ), but unfortunately, that's the way it goes.

I'm still trying to do Nest of Evil with my first run and the first room after the 4th boss is sort of tricky (lvl37 should provide more than enough health, but then again I don't use items). I really should get back to the game.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

I would love to see someone speedrun this thing without saving, while using Richter. I was messing around and got all the way up to Brauner at around 40 minutes (got lost, saved, etc...) and got pwnt HARD. I was in my lower 20's and damn. I went from killing him in like 30 seconds, to getting pwnt if my finger slipped. Maria's dark soul move, is like a Godsend. IT hits a couple of times for 87+ damage. I was using the main man himself as a summon (Cross Crash) and switching when I had to dodge those dumb souls (or whatever the huge things are).

I can only imagine the final boss. >_< This is on normal too. XD

 

[Blablurn]

is there i trick to beat the death? i'm level 24 and just attack the black one with magic and the white one with a morningstar.
But that when his weapon is flying around, its kinda impossible to analyze where it flies next.. hm

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

is there i trick to beat the death? i'm level 24 and just attack the black one with magic and the white one with a morningstar.
But that when his weapon is flying around, its kinda impossible to analyze where it flies next.. hm

Spoiler

black = attack with weapons
White = attack with magic

 

[lyre]

That's the problem with the scythe. You the first 3 or 4 ricochets then afterwards it's all based on luck. The best strategy to beating Death is to just kill him as soon as you can and not bothering to learn how the 'physics' work due to most of the cage going off screen screwing you further.

 

[castle007]

n/m

 

[Blablurn]

Spoiler

hmm. white takes more damage, when i attack with weapons and black, when i attack with magic. or is this to confuse me?

 

[lyre]

The only thing you need to know:

Spoiler

White Death: use 1,000 Blades next to a door. Don't even bother wasting your mp on magic with the other form.

.

 

[Red Scarlet]

Well, I beat sisters mode (on normal), so now I'll take a break with the game and go back to it after a couple days or so.

Have you found out a route, OSG?

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

Well, I beat sisters mode (on normal), so now I'll take a break with the game and go back to it after a couple days or so.

Have you found out a route, OSG?

Somewhat. I usually go straight to the City of haze (I think the Rondo Boss comes first), then to the Nation of fools. After that its a straight run to the sandy grave. I think I skipped over the green boss and killed him on the way back. The sandy grave literally takes like a half a minute to beat. After that I think i beat stella, then went to the forest of doom. Beat that and dropped down like a level or two and super jumped all the way up to Death. Beat him and rode the elevator down like two levels and went straight to the sister fight. The remix stages take a little more time to beat, and thats only because the fact that you have a low level sets in. Beat them and got stuck at Brauner.

Sorry my directions suck so bad at the moment. I'll make a map showing where I went tomorrow when I get off of work.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I posted this at SDA too, but it seems to work out alright (I beat the sisters at around 7:00 on the timer before saving on Level 1 cap Hard; I guess I found the 'trick' or easy way to beat them). I'll just paste my post from there (with some barely improved times from a retry).

Well, I've only been plotting a low level or Richter/Maria Lv1 hard route for some people, and I've tried it out for Dracula's Castle. By going to the save points by each portrait, my times were: 1:10, 2:00, 3:12, 4:20, 5:46 at each save. I can get by with killing just 3 badguys, although usually a 4th too. I haven't tried initial plotting of portrait routes for it yet, but how does this look? It seems to work fine for Lv1 Hard Richter/Maria to get to each portrait and then to the sisters (only boss I have to fight, unless after you beat them you cannot go into the other portraits without specfic other bosses having to be beaten first, which I'll check out).

I shamelessly grabbed the Dracula's Castle map from Gamefaqs and made some little route lines.

Each section is cut up and I saved at the save point closest to each portrait to get the times (time DOES tick when you pause the game with Richter/Maria and the sisters).


1:10

You can get a boost from the Behemoth after it crashes through the wall, but it hurts a LOT.


2:00

One enemy I have dodged here once, a Hill Guard early on. So that is the 'maybe' badguy that can be dodged, but seems to be difficult to. Every other badguy I dodge in this section.

3:12

I make sure to go to the screen with the warp below Nation of Fools here (don't have to enter it for it to get activated, just go to the screen and that's fine). Right before the portrait to Sandy Grave, there are some Persephones; I kill the 2nd and 4th one and jump over everything else.


4:20

I avoid everything here.

5:46

This one's interesting; I jump over those Succubi and at the big elevator shortly after, sometimes I cant get INTO the elevator. I don't know what the problem is there, so I reset (I save at the save point next to Forest of Doom). I am able to get through this part and to the sisters just killing one enemy. In the room with 4 of those Razor Bats and 2 of those weird alien looking things (Malachis), I kill the very first Razor Bat, then have Richter do his super jump past the first Malachi and second Razor Bat, then run on the ground. Hopefully the 2nd Malachi turns around and goes to the ground, then I just have Richter do the super jump above it and the other two Razor Bats. Near the end, the obvious choice is to take the lower path; just slide underneath the three enemies there instead of running into the Final Guard.

How does this sound so far for Dracula's Castle, aka to/from the paintings for Richter/Maria (with a level cap i guess or without)?

Also, someone didn't know, so I figured I'd say here in case others didn't, with Richter's super jump, you basically have infinite normal jumps too. You can jump again 1 more time after any super jump, so doing a normal jump could shave off some time for some jumps I would imagine (instead of doing another super jump). It also looks like that with practice you can get normal hits out pretty fast if you switch between Richter and Maria quickly while spamming the normal attack button.

I tried again with the Hard Level 1 cap and beat Stella and Loretta and saved with 7:12 on the clock, so if there's some fast ways to get through the pictures, that's pretty good.

I will look at the portraits themselves tomorrow and give them a whirl.

 

[Error]

I cant get past those damn archers

 

[Red Scarlet]

Are you jumping over them with Maria? Single jumps work if the archer is crouched, doubles are risky if the archer above you is above the one at the same level as you.