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[SantaC]

CotM is the hardest Metroidvania out there. It's not that difficult, but neither of the SotN and its clones are.

 

[DarthWoo]

I'm just completely lost and wandering aimlessly in Dawn of Sorrow now. I have the bad feeling that maybe I'm supposed to find some breakable wall or something, because none of the souls I have are useful in accessing any of the areas I still can't get into.

 

[SantaC]

I'm just completely lost and wandering aimlessly in Dawn of Sorrow now. I have the bad feeling that maybe I'm supposed to find some breakable wall or something, because none of the souls I have are useful in accessing any of the areas I still can't get into.

have you tried the bonearc soul?

 

[thetrin]

Qft. That sealed caused me to die once. I wasn't really leveled high, and, since at that point i didn't give a damn about souls(my first run), I was playing with the best of my abilities. I managed to get him down to the seal part, and, messed it up with a stray line. He came back and hit me with the Skull attack and I game overed -_-..

:lol Love your new avatar.

 

[CajoleJuice]

None of the Metroidvania's (I haven't played SOTN though)have been too hard in difficulty IMO. Although, I have been lost in trying to find out where to go next, much like DarthWoo right now. Maybe I'm a skillful moron.

 

[DarthWoo]

have you tried the bonearc soul?

Don't think I've even seen one yet.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I'm at the point in DoS where I get the end credits after fighting the hunchback dude. I know where I need to go to fight the last bosses, but I need a stupid soul (ax something or other).

Do I just keep going in and out of the room where they are and hope that I get their soul?

Also, how does fusing weapons w/ souls work? I've done a number of times, but wasn't clear on when I had the option to do so or not.

 

[Ranger X]

I'm just completely lost and wandering aimlessly in Dawn of Sorrow now. I have the bad feeling that maybe I'm supposed to find some breakable wall or something, because none of the souls I have are useful in accessing any of the areas I still can't get into.

Nah, it's just something you miss. There is never something as shabby as having to find a breakeable wall to find to continue the game.
Must be something some place you don't remember you had to go or something.

 

[castle007]

One question:

How am I supposed to open that door at the bottom of the tower in Julius Mode in DoS? It's the door,

Spoiler

which Julius opens when struggling for the 3rd ending.

Spoiler

I think that you have to beat every boss in the castle, and then the black mist will disappear and allow you to go.

 

[Aurora]

Hmm that never really happens to me. There will be the occasional boss that takes many tries to beat but never results in me having to level grind.

Having said that, I often end up grinding a bit on enemies outside Save Points for quick and easy EXP - and that is usually enough to get me through the game.

 

[Gio_CoD]

You'll do fine if you actually kill enemies as you encounter them. Don't go out of your way to level grind, but don't skip enemies, and you'll find that you level accordingly.

Also with Dawn of Sorrow, look VERY closely at that map screen. I was stuck for about two hours swearing that I must have missed some vital soul somewhere only to realize there was actually a section that I had not yet explored.

 

[Schnicktick]

Spoiler

I think that you have to beat every boss in the castle, and then the black mist will disappear and allow you to go.

I thought that, too, and have already done it. But nothing changed...

 

[Gattsu25]

Because trolling means "having a different opinion than yours"... *rolleyes*

On another note,
Did you read what i think about difficulty?

Yeah, I did

Levelling up isn't challenge. It's just [hassle]. If you take your time, kills lots of ennemies while exploring, get the souls and such [this IS powerleveling, just without the intent bein on gaining exp, btw], you should NEVER need to level up.


Difficulty should lies in boss paterns, how you use your abilities, different ennemi attack, tougher plaforming, etc. [in a sense, and I'm not saying this just to get a rile out of you, you are describing what I enjoy most about CotM. You can beat any boss in that game (and other Metroidvania games, don't get me wrong) without powerleveling (or soul hunting, which is essentially the exact same thing)] Circle of the Moon needed unnecessary levelling.

 

[Ranger X]

I suppose it's because i didn't give an effort maybe. When i don't really like a game i may suck at it.
Sadly, the graphics, music and controls didn't meet my "standards" (lol) in COTM

 

[Gattsu25]

I suppose it's because i didn't give an effort maybe. When i don't really like a game i may suck at it.
Sadly, the graphics, music and controls didn't meet my "standards" (lol) in COTM

What the ****, mate? The music in CotM is the best of all the portables

I'll easily give you the graphics and controls (though to be honest I *did* like the double tap run)

I'd say HoD had the "best" controls...but they were too good in a sense, you could thoughtlessly dodge almost anything the game threw at you, and obviously AoS and especially DoS had the best visuals

 

[nincompoop]

Sadly, the graphics, music and controls didn't meet my "standards" (lol) in COTM

You're obviously lying, if you put up with the controls in the pre-SotN Castlevanias then you must not have any standards for controls. The main reason that those games (especially the NES ones) were challenging was because the controls were so poor. I disliked CotM's controls at first too but they grew on me very quickly, and the music and graphics were excellent (unless you were playing on a non-backlit GBA), so I'm not sure what your problem with them is.

 

[bjork]

You'll do fine if you actually kill enemies as you encounter them. Don't go out of your way to level grind, but don't skip enemies, and you'll find that you level accordingly.

Also with Dawn of Sorrow, look VERY closely at that map screen. I was stuck for about two hours swearing that I must have missed some vital soul somewhere only to realize there was actually a section that I had not yet explored.

^ fact. I played through my first DoS runthrough without ever going to

Spoiler

the area with the fish boss

 

[Ranger X]

You're obviously lying, if you put up with the controls in the pre-SotN Castlevanias then you must not have any standards for controls.

COTM came after SOTN and shares the same type of design therefore it should have got controls like SOTN. They got it right at Aria of Sorrow.

 

[nincompoop]

CotM did control like SotN, you just had to double tap to move as fast.

 

[sublime085]

I'm not an expert or anything, DoS was my fourth Castlevania.But, I found that leveled up Axe Armor/ Skelerang is a must for boss fights. You can hit both the head and the knee of the final boss fight with one attack if you line it up properly.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Castlevania? Hard? Requiring level grinding?

Loon beat the game at level 28 on Julius mode. (Which is only fighting bosses... no regular enemies).

You can just make out the level there. He's going to take another picture tonight with Drac exploding.

 

[SantaC]

Loon is the shit!

 

[Error]

that pic gives me motivation to try a low level run in julius mode.

and yeah that's level 28 alright. I beat julius mode at level 44 iirc

 

[Dragona Akehi]

that pic gives me motivation to try a low level run in julius mode.

and yeah that's level 28 alright. I beat julius mode at level 44 iirc

This also includes him fighting and beating Paranoia. He might do a lower level run by skipping Paranoia, but then he says he enjoys fighting him too much.

 

[Koomaster]

I must be a total n00b since I had no clue you could level up in the Castlevania games. I just popped in my copy of DoS and sure enough, I'm at level 71. Have no idea what level I beat the game at tho, but certainly never had to (or thought of) level grinding.

The only thing I "leveled up" was my weapons. But always good to have this info, I will be sure to use it with PoR! :lol

 

[castle007]

I must be a total n00b since I had no clue you could level up in the Castlevania games. I just popped in my copy of DoS and sure enough, I'm at level 71. Have no idea what level I beat the game at tho, but certainly never had to (or thought of) level grinding.

The only thing I "leveled up" was my weapons. But always good to have this info, I will be sure to use it with PoR! :lol

WTF. The phrase "level up" flashes on the screen everytime you level up

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

that pic gives me motivation to try a low level run in julius mode.

and yeah that's level 28 alright. I beat julius mode at level 44 iirc

You and me both Soon as i finish this wallpaper I'm working on, i'll hop to it.

I must be a total n00b since I had no clue you could level up in the Castlevania games. I just popped in my copy of DoS and sure enough, I'm at level 71. Have no idea what level I beat the game at tho, but certainly never had to (or thought of) level grinding.

The only thing I "leveled up" was my weapons. But always good to have this info, I will be sure to use it with PoR! :lol

Lmfao. It tells you that you level up. You didn't see it? LOL

 

[Koomaster]

I guess I must not be THAT observant. :lol

I seriously clicked on this topic and read just to wonder - wtf are these people talking about leveling up?

Really don't know how I could have missed it, but swear this is the first I've heard of it.

 

[Valtox]

I lose myself into the map so I end up to level 50 even if I don't want to, trying to find my way among the enemies and the floors of the map.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

that pic gives me motivation to try a low level run in julius mode.

and yeah that's level 28 alright. I beat julius mode at level 44 iirc

Have you started yet. I haven't played in a while and keep getting lost, but so far, I've beaten:

The Puppet Master
First Boss
Dario (the fire guy if the name is wrong)


No regular enemies killed. This is cake now that I've gotten Alucard. My problem will probably come when I get to death or Abbadon.

Edit: I'm at lvl 12. I don't recall killing anyone, but if its to high, let me know. Once I finish this run, I'm going to try a no save bosses only one.

 

[Llyranor]

Does any online store still sell Dawn of Sorrow? This game is pretty much impossible to find.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

OMFG...

I keep dieing at Death because of stupid shit. The fight isn't even that bad, its just that I keep making dumbass mistakes. Shit like touching a piece of his cloth, or sliding into his psythe pull on his second form, is getting me Gameovers. All the other crap, i can manage to dodge, but little ass mistakes is getting me killed. I would have had him like four times now...~_~

Oh yea...right now I'm at death at Lvl 23. Skipped Paranoia and killed the other bosses.

 

[DarthWoo]

Is there any other way to get the Soul Eater Ring other than buying it in Hammer's Shop? I found the Gold Ring, so accumulating the cash is no problem, but just wonder if it'll show up anywhere else. Also, does the Soul Eater actually make souls appear noticeably more frequently?

 

[Ranger X]

Is there any other way to get the Soul Eater Ring other than buying it in Hammer's Shop? I found the Gold Ring, so accumulating the cash is no problem, but just wonder if it'll show up anywhere else. Also, does the Soul Eater actually make souls appear noticeably more frequently?

Only way to get the ring yes. And the ring DOES help but it's not like you'll need to kill the ennemi only one time to get the soul there.

 

[Mejilan]

Souleater Ring starts to make a big difference in the long run, yes.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

Once you get it...

Soul Eater Ring, 777 shirt, and Ghost Dancer lvl 9 (i think). To answer your question. Yes it does.

 

[lyre]

Once you get it...

Soul Eater Ring, 777 shirt, and Ghost Dancer lvl 9 (i think). To answer your question. Yes it does.

And don't forget Joyeuse (gold sword), which ups your Luck stat by 5 points as well. Of if you really want, set Flying Humanoid soul as your Guardian soul and hold down the trigger for that until your luck maxes out, though it'll completely drain your mp.

OMFG...

I keep dieing at Death because of stupid shit. The fight isn't even that bad, its just that I keep making dumbass mistakes. Shit like touching a piece of his cloth, or sliding into his psythe pull on his second form, is getting me Gameovers. All the other crap, i can manage to dodge, but little ass mistakes is getting me killed. I would have had him like four times now...~_~

Oh yea...right now I'm at death at Lvl 23. Skipped Paranoia and killed the other bosses.

Old post I know but which boss did you start with first?

Whenever I start up Julius mode, I go straight to Dario first. Nothing like beating him at level1 (your level jumps to 8 or 9 from just killing him). Second thing I do is pick up Alucard and then never change from him again, it's funner that way. The next boss I do would be Gergoth, then Zephyr, and then Aguni. All other bosses after these few until you hit Death will be cake. And Abaddon is cake if you know how to properly super jump. The real challenge IMO was trying to get from the first Abyss save point to the save point just before you fight Abaddon. So many things just keep getting thrown at you. And the rippers, which seem like useless annoyances in another other scenerio, can easily kill you.

 

[Plissken]

Does any online store still sell Dawn of Sorrow? This game is pretty much impossible to find.

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009Z3K9E/?tag=neogaf0e-20

EB Games - http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product_id=180024

 

[Tabris]

In my opinion, grinding in Castlevania ruins the gameplay.

Don't grind and it will be a fun experience.

If you spent more than 10-15 mins grinding in SOTN, the rest of the game becomes a cakewalk.

 

[lyre]

Even if you don't grind, don't use magic, don't use items, don't use familiars, don't use Alucard's family heirlooms, purposely run into enemies, and probably a whole laundry list of other things, SotN is a cakewalk. You literally have to have Alucard be naked, with the luck code and not get anything else, not even the Holy Ashes subweapon, which is the most useless sub in the game IMO, will the game be even remotely be considered challenging.

And I would assume soul grinding would be done after you beat the final boss.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

And don't forget Joyeuse (gold sword), which ups your Luck stat by 5 points as well. Of if you really want, set Flying Humanoid soul as your Guardian soul and hold down the trigger for that until your luck maxes out, though it'll completely drain your mp.


Old post I know but which boss did you start with first?

Whenever I start up Julius mode, I go straight to Dario first. Nothing like beating him at level1 (your level jumps to 8 or 9 from just killing him).

I started off normal to get a feel for things. Since you mentioned it being a fun fight, I'll start another run of this and go there first.

Second thing I do is pick up Alucard and then never change from him again, it's funner that way.

As soon as I got Alucard, I was using him for getting from place to place in a timely fashion. Backdashing SOTN style helped speed things along. I did use him to fight Death,

Spoiler

Soma

, and a couple other bosses.

Spoiler

The next boss I do would be Gergoth, then Zephyr, and then Aguni. All other bosses after these few until you hit Death will be cake. And Abaddon is cake if you know how to properly super jump.

Yep! Death proved to be a super fun fight. I was getting my ass handed to me for awhile. I started off using Yoko and would get him down to his second form and switch between her and Julius. I don't know how I did it, but, one time when I was using Yoko, I hit the wrong button when he did the skull moves. I switched characters right as the skulls touched, and kept doing it. Evidently it nullified the move and I didn't lose any life. I got sick of getting beat and switched to good old Alucard and OWNED Death.

I couldn't beat Addadon with anyone but Julius though. Cross Crashed him like two/three times. I'll have to go back and try it with Alucard.

The real challenge IMO was trying to get from the first Abyss save point to the save point just before you fight Abaddon. So many things just keep getting thrown at you. And the rippers, which seem like useless annoyances in another other scenerio, can easily kill you.

OMFG YES! No boss killed me as many times as this area did. Once I got past the rippers, everything was smooth sailing. I figured that the best thing would be to wait for the fire, try and slide under the rippers and let one of them hit you and make you flinch through the flames. Then switching to Alucard got me through the rest of things..


SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Playing like that was a thousand times better than the main game.

I ended up with Level 27 when I finished. I'm not sure if you can go lower.

 

[lyre]

Nope, don't think you can go any lower than 27 by skipping Paranoia, afterall you only kill bosses and no enemies whatsoever.

Also, after beating Dario and getting Alucard, I never change from him (except to break those ice blocks with Julius' whip). Even when fighting Rahab, which Yoko would be really useful in this fight, I would still stick with him. It's 'funner' anyway. Alucard is more than capable of wittling down all the bosses HP other than Dario who gets in the your way of getting to Alucard.

Anyways, my old walkthrough, though it could use an update (it mentions killing two Treants and gaining 3 levels, which I didn't have to do the last two times I played Julius mode).

Maybe I should try beating Julius mode with just Yoko (due to her weak basic attack).

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

I might try the same. Alucard is the man though. Shame he got nerfed so much.




About a month or two until the next installment of CV

 

[Llyranor]

I thought DoS was very well-balanced for me. It wasn't impossibly hard, nor was it a cakewalk. I didn't grind or purposely avoid fights. I occasionally got killed in my travels, so that was challenging enough. The real awesomeness was from the boss fights. All of them (save the very first one) killed me at least a few times (and many many times for a few of them). It just got me to rethink my strategy and experiment with different souls, rather than go out and grind to gain a few more levels. Much more rewarding experience. DoS' bosses are awesome. I found their balance to be quite excellent.

 

[lyre]

Nerfed Alucard still owns the other two characters handily.

Can't wait to play as Kid Maria again.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

True.

I can't wait to play with mother effin Richter!

 

[bjork]

Wait, what? Richter and Maria are in PoR?

 

[Llyranor]

As an extra set of characters, yes. There's also a third pair available.