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Tips for a newcomer to the Castlevania series?

As a person living in Ireland I never really noticed Castlevania growing up and have only got into the series in the last year after watching Vinny of Giantbomb.com (its a website... about videogames!) play through the first. I got on board and played it alongside and was hooked since. I am still going through them all and this is the order I have played so far.

Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (this game is great, play with a FAQ opened and enjoy)
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: Dracula X
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (just finished this 200.6% last week, what a game!)
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (I have only started this)

I think this was the best way to play them, I have skipped out on the Gameboy games and Haunted Castle (the stupidly hard arcade game) but I may go back to them when I finish the last game on the DS. So far I haven't burnt out. I may also avoid the N64 and PS2 games in the series. So far the hardest was definitely CVIII, easiest was SOTN. Favourite so far is a toss up between the original and SOTN and least is Adventure Rebirth.
 
Greddleok said:
I recently tried playing the PSone versions. They don't hold up at all. Terrible UI, terrible animation and cheesey as fuck.

The DS ones are pretty good though. Jump in with those and ignore the rest.
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Worst first post in the history of GAF. If I were you OP, I would play them in chronological order and if you have access to a Wii U play the GBA ones before. Sprinkle some SotN in between and you are golden.

As for Classicvania, check out Rondo, Rebirth, and Bloodlines.
 
As far as DS goes play them in order...

Then:

Castlevania NES
Catslevania Simon's quest :redacted edition, as it fixes so much stuff
Casltevania III

Then:
Castlevania IV Snes
Castlevania Bloodlines (different but still a solid entry)
Castlevania : Rondo of blood (PC Engine) This is my personal favorite and the best "classic" vania IMHO

SOTN is overrated, yes I said it, shoot me, but it's still worth a play.

After that you are on your own, oh and rebirth give that a go...
 
I'd say play the 3 NES Castlevania games or at least Super Castlevania on the SNES first. The DS games are Metroidvania games and quite a bit different than the original in style, gameplay and aesthetics.

If you are just going to play DS, play them in chronological order. The stories aren't all that connected and completely forgettable. It's all about the gameplay, leveling, finding items and the boss fights which makes them enjoyable.
 
OP, If you do get around to SOTN, I recommend playing on some sort of system that gives you save states, as the game is fairly difficult and saving isn't as common as it should be.
 
Know that there's three different types of Castlevania games.

Classicvania - 2D Platformers at heart, with a focus on using a primary weapon (usually a whip) and a subset of items (Holy Water, Cross, etc.) to traverse through traditional sidescrolling stages, usually with a boss at the end.

Classicvanias:

Castlevania
Castlevania II
Castlevania III
Super Castlevania IV
Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth

Metroidvania - A spin on the classic formula, these games feature Metroid style map exploration in favor of the stage-to-stage mechanic seen in the classic games. They also feature several RPG elements, such as inventory management, leveling up, gaining experience, shops, and being able to equip various weapons and armor. Your player character and enemies all have HP, and your attacks do numerical damage.

Metroidvanias:

Symphony of the Night
Circle of the Moon
Harmony of Dissonance
Aria of Sorrow
Dawn of Sorrow
Portrait of Ruin
Order of Ecclesia

3Dvanias: Castlevania adapted to a 3D space. These are the black sheeps of the series, and play largely similar to hack n' slashes with the added exploration seen in Metroidvania games.

3Dvanias:

Castlevania 64
Legacy of Darkness
Lament of Innocence
Curse of Darkness

I named the big name titles from each genre, but there's also several other, smaller titles (Castlevania Chronicles, a remake of CV1, for example). The ones mentioned are the ones definitely worth checking out, however. I also left out Lords of Shadow as that is a different beast altogether, and more like a pseudo God of War clone with a Castlevania feel and more emphasis on exploration than fighting. It also takes place in another timeline entirely, having nothing to do with the rest of the series.

In my opinion, the highlights of each category, the first game you should play in each to give you a good impression of the series, are Rondo of Blood for Classicvanias, Symphony of the Night for Metroidvanias, and Curse of Darkness for 3Dvanias, although I personally find none of the 3Dvanias particularly fun despite having some of the best music in the series.

Metroidvanias are my personal favorite, and you can't really go wrong with any of them. Circle of the Moon is noticeably more difficult and weirder than the others, and has mechanics you won't see in any other CV game (wall jumping) but is still worth checking out. Harmony of Dissonance is by far the weakest entry in that category, but still a fun game that will scratch that Castlevania itch.
 
There's one particular bit of fanservice in Aria/Dawn that's gonna be a total no sale for you, but you might enjoy going in reverse, to Symphony and eventually Dracula's Curse. Those two are the best of their respective generations, as well.

FlyingSaucer said:
BLOODLINES.
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This is a good and right opinion. Bloodlines stands all on it's own in a LOT of ways, makes a very memorable game from the era when Konami was at their peak.
 
MillionStabs said:
OP, If you do get around to SOTN, I recommend playing on some sort of system that gives you save states, as the game is fairly difficult and saving isn't as common as it should be.
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I couldn't disagree with this more.

At least try it with the original challenges in place, OP. It's a pretty forgiving game and I suggest not throwing out the relatively small amount of tension it has.
 
If you can, play Aria of Sorrow before Dawn since Dawn is it's sequel, and Aria is easily one of the best.

That being said if you can't, then Dawn, Portrait, Order. Then Symphony if you don't get bored with the metroidvania style. If you do, Rondo of Blood would be a great intro into the non metroidvania style. The PSP version, (The Dracula X Chronicles) is great, and I think comes with the classic version right away? Might need to be unlocked first. Can be played on the Vita!

Above all, enjoy!
 
there are missables in order of eclessia. some magics can only be gotten from bosses so if you forget them you will permanently miss the magic. The magic gained from what I think was the second last boss is especially effective in the secret challenge dungeon. It's the magic that shoots small purple balls that bounce around the environment
 
You can pick either the NES or the MSX version of Castlevania 1. Notice that they play different. MSX version has a lot of backtracking since you need keys to open the doors and some stages feel like a maze. Due to hardware limitation, one screen at a time is displayed. Also the encounter with Dracula is different.

NES version converts the game to a straight sidescrolling action platformer.
 
Seraph_Nicholas said:
This is a good and right opinion. Bloodlines stands all on it's own in a LOT of ways, makes a very memorable game from the era when Konami was at their peak.
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I like to see in it a late resurgence from the action-packed early days of the franchise, before the series metroidvania turned full-metroidvania...
 
Hi guys!

I've completed Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin so far and I just LOVE these games. Can't believe I've never played this series before. I think I'm about halfway through Order of Ecclesia and while the game is still great, I don't like the fact that there is not a main stage.

So is Symphony of the Night the way to go next? Thank you. :)
 
MillionStabs said:
OP, If you do get around to SOTN, I recommend playing on some sort of system that gives you save states, as the game is fairly difficult and saving isn't as common as it should be.
Click to expand...
I disagree with you, SOTN isn't very difficult. IMO it's the best Castlevania but it's enjoyment doesnt come from crushing hard difficulty like Classicvanias.

As for my advice avoid 3Dvania games and Simon's quest. You should do your best to play Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night.
 
Rondo of Blood > OoE > Aria > DoS > CV4 > everything else > The bad everything else.

Yeah, that's right, SoTN with everything else. Game was awesome for its time but is hilariously broken, requiring an abyssmal amount of time to grind for even the simplest of items, and a tiny bit more grinding gets you hilariously broken items. The other games are better at this point.
I don't like the fact that there is not a main stage.
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Then you aren't halfway through yet.
 
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