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XBLA - Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

M

MightyHedgehog

Member
2j61kid.jpg

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Sounds like fun time...crossing my fingers.
 
P

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
So I guess the bigger a person's screen is the better the advantage? (In navigating the area, to get quickly to the boss that is.)
 
A

Ashkeloth

Member
As someone who never really hopped on the Castlevania train for more than a quick stop (I played the PS2 Castlevania, and that's it), I don't really know what to expect with this.

I know about the basic super metroid styling with the map and the hidden rooms, and the using new abilities in old areas to access new ones, and that's about it.

That said, from that preview, it seems like they're trying to combine the super metroid formula with the monster hunter one of placing a time limit on you and making you rush to the end of an area to kill a boss.

Sounds pretty cool, but it may get in the way of the exploring that a lot of people like to do in these sorts of games so they can get over 100% map completion.

Also, forgive me if it's been covered and I've missed, but is there any sort of offline coop? it seems like the meat of the game is in the multiple characters at a time thing, but I have no interest in playing with strangers or children. It seems like it would be a massive and senseless missed opportunity to not let people play together offline too.
 
K

kazuo

Member
andymcc said:
i love some of IGA's games, don't get me wrong, dracula X is one of my favorite games of all time, but he has been a detriment to the series for a long time now.
Click to expand...

Igarashi had nothing to do with Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Unless you are referring to that shitty "3D" remake.

If you're referring to Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight, Toru Hagihara was Director/Producer and Igarashi was Assistant Director.

Hagihara was the main man responsible for Rondo of Blood.

I have no clue why people continue to prop up Igarashi as some sort of genius who revitalized Castlevania, when in reality all he did was run the franchise into the ground with his endless re-hashes of SotN, cheapening the "Castlevania" name and going toward a cartoonish Anime-inspired style.

Ugh.

The new game looks like shit, BTW. But I'm going to reserve judgment on whether it is good or not until I've actually played it.

PS - if Chemo got banned for his comments in this thread, that's bullshit and he needs to be unbanned. You shouldn't ban people for being brutally honest and right.
 
strideramc

strideramc

Member
The trailer looked interesting. I'll most likely pick up this game unless the reviews that come in here at Gaf are more negative them positive.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
kazuo said:
Igarashi had nothing to do with Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Unless you are referring to that shitty "3D" remake.

If you're referring to Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight, Toru Hagihara was Director/Producer and Igarashi was Assistant Director.

Hagihara was the main man responsible for Rondo of Blood.

I have no clue why people continue to prop up Igarashi as some sort of genius who revitalized Castlevania, when in reality all he did was run the franchise into the ground with his endless re-hashes of SotN, cheapening the "Castlevania" name and going toward a cartoonish Anime-inspired style.

Ugh.

The new game looks like shit, BTW. But I'm going to reserve judgment on whether it is good or not until I've actually played it.

PS - if Chemo got banned for his comments in this thread, that's bullshit and he needs to be unbanned. You shouldn't ban people for being brutally honest and right.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Igarashi assistant director to Hagihara in SotN as well?
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
kazuo said:
I have no clue why people continue to prop up Igarashi as some sort of genius who revitalized Castlevania, when in reality all he did was run the franchise into the ground with his endless re-hashes of SotN, cheapening the "Castlevania" name and going toward a cartoonish Anime-inspired style.
Click to expand...
You're giving him too much credit. The rehashing was his fanservicey side project.

His real job was:

Tokimeki Memorial 1&2
->Transfer to Castlevania

Assistant on SotN
Creation of the series canon
Fanservicey Castlevania Chronicles port
->Promotion

Retconning
Lament of Innocence
Nanobreaker
Curse of Darkness
Deathnotevania
More retconning

->Demotion to fanservicey side projects

_dementia said:
Wasn't Igarashi assistant director to Hagihara in SotN as well?
Click to expand...
SotN = Dracula X2: Nocturne in the Moonlight
 
C

cartman414

Member
kazuo said:
Igarashi had nothing to do with Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Unless you are referring to that shitty "3D" remake.

If you're referring to Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight, Toru Hagihara was Director/Producer and Igarashi was Assistant Director.

Hagihara was the main man responsible for Rondo of Blood.

I have no clue why people continue to prop up Igarashi as some sort of genius who revitalized Castlevania, when in reality all he did was run the franchise into the ground with his endless re-hashes of SotN, cheapening the "Castlevania" name and going toward a cartoonish Anime-inspired style.

Ugh.

The new game looks like shit, BTW. But I'm going to reserve judgment on whether it is good or not until I've actually played it.

PS - if Chemo got banned for his comments in this thread, that's bullshit and he needs to be unbanned. You shouldn't ban people for being brutally honest and right.
Click to expand...

Chemo banned is a bit much, but he is deluded, as is the notion that Iga's Metroidvanias were uniformly rehashes. People, please stop putting SotN up on a pedestal. It's not like it didn't have its share of crap, which subsequent games by Iga fixed at least somewhat.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
kazuo said:
I have no clue why people continue to prop up Igarashi as some sort of genius who revitalized Castlevania, when in reality all he did was run the franchise into the ground with his endless re-hashes of SotN, cheapening the "Castlevania" name and going toward a cartoonish Anime-inspired style.
Click to expand...
I'll disagree with this part too. Castlevania's artstyle was originally and I think rightly "Conan the Barbarian". Toru Hagihara himself made Rondo of Blood with a definite anime style (and I think it worked). Iga can't even wrap his head around the pic of Richter and Maria rocking it out 80's style, and doesn't know why Hagaihara did that. And Hagihara wasn't the only one. Castlevania Legends on the GameBoy was anime as well. The N64 games used CG as their art style.

Hagihara and/or Iga decided on Ayami Kojima for SotN, and since then Iga has considered her to be part of the Holy Trinity of Castlevania, along with himself and Michiru Yamane. The DS games had anime instead of Kojima because they were cheap. Iga even replaced Rondo's anime with Kojima art in his sub-par remake. I can't say that Iga has committed any crimes towards Kojima fans in favor of anime, at least not until Deathnotevania (which was even a crime against Takeshi Obata fans). In fact, I'd say that Iga is mostly responsible for the existence of Ayami Kojima fans. Without his inability to move beyond SotN, she would've been a one-hit wonder, rather than the art style people today most commonly associate with Castlevania.

More importantly though, I think Iga can't envision any in-game art style for Castlevania beyond (heavily recycled) 16-bit pixel art.
 
C

cartman414

Member
ruby_onix said:
I'll disagree with this part too. Castlevania's artstyle was originally and I think rightly "Conan the Barbarian". Toru Hagihara himself made Rondo of Blood with a definite anime style (and I think it worked). Iga can't even wrap his head around the pic of Richter and Maria rocking it out 80's style, and doesn't know why Hagaihara did that. And Hagihara wasn't the only one. Castlevania Legends on the GameBoy was anime as well. The N64 games used CG as their art style.

Hagihara and/or Iga decided on Ayami Kojima for SotN, and since then Iga has considered her to be part of the Holy Trinity of Castlevania, along with himself and Michiru Yamane. The DS games had anime instead of Kojima because they were cheap. Iga even replaced Rondo's anime with Kojima art in his sub-par remake. I can't say that Iga has committed any crimes towards Kojima fans in favor of anime, at least not until Deathnotevania (which was even a crime against Takeshi Obata fans). In fact, I'd say that Iga is mostly responsible for the existence of Ayami Kojima fans. Without his inability to move beyond SotN, she would've been a one-hit wonder, rather than the art style people today most commonly associate with Castlevania.

More importantly though, I think Iga can't envision any in-game art style for Castlevania beyond (heavily recycled) 16-bit pixel art.
Click to expand...

I'd say that the respective artworks were more a sign of the times deal, rather than a factor of creator alone. When Rondo was created, manly '80s anime designs were all the rage. By Symphony, the bishie era was dawning.
 
LowParry

LowParry

Member
If this were more focused on 2 player co-op and single player campaign material, I'd be hyped on it but all I see is stages meshed together with 6 people running around. It looks alright. I'm sure it can be fun but I don't see many people playing this after a couple of months.
 
J

Jangaroo

Always the tag bridesmaid, never the tag bride.
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I... think I'm going to buy it.

I can't explain why. It looks bad. I doubt I'll get the chance to play it multiplayer. The graphics are terrible. There's nothing indicating the gameplay will be fun... and yet I want it for some reason.
 
S

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
If it hits at 800 pts, I think it'll be a very easy purchase. The music does a good job of getting one pumped, and the party aspect sounds fun, as long as one keeps in mind that this is very much a random sidestory, lol. The idea of mixing everyones pros and cons together actually sounds very viable, and really actually... makes sense, given the uniqueness of each protagonist.

It's also suprising how well zooming out for the map works... it's not all THAT jarring, and it really does make sense as a full view map. Could this be a prototype for a map style for a future full 2D Castlevania game? With a "Fog of Dracula" added to it, the idea could actually work well.

Another Vid from Gametrailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-castlevania-harmony/700392

CcrooK said:
I don't see many people playing this after a couple of months.
Click to expand...

And y'know what? That sounds perfectly fine! A couple of MONTHS of Co-Op Castlevania would be worth the price of admission, with some occassional revisits between new releases.
 
R

RevenantKioku

PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Face, tits and ass, etc, etc.
When is it out?
 
J

Jangaroo

Always the tag bridesmaid, never the tag bride.
Stumpokapow said:
I... think I'm going to buy it.

I can't explain why. It looks bad. I doubt I'll get the chance to play it multiplayer. The graphics are terrible. There's nothing indicating the gameplay will be fun... and yet I want it for some reason.
Click to expand...
Iga strike again.
 
LowParry

LowParry

Member
Stumpokapow said:
something about his unironed shirt, uneven mustache, terrible hair, and poorly fitting cowboy hat. *sigh*
Click to expand...

Don't you mean his desperate plea for people to support and buy the game? ;)
 
M

Minamu

Member
IGA's Metroidvanias are the fucking best DS games available, hands down. Screw the haters :) Will buy. That IGN leak confirmation makes it sound really interesting.
 
S

SiegfriedFM

Member
It's funny how you can play six people but there's only five characters to choose from. Would it KILL them to add Richter or Julius?
 
M

MechaX

Member
It doesn't look completely unplayable, so I'll probably buy it. Hopefully this game won't become the Reshelled of this XBLA Summer. At least if I buy it, there's a good chance that IGA can do another XBLA/PSN release of a proper 2D Castlevania game with an actual budget this time around.
 
Z

Zonar

Member
Minamu said:
IGA's Metroidvanias are the fucking best DS games available, hands down. Screw the haters :) Will buy. That IGN leak confirmation makes it sound really interesting.
Click to expand...
link please?
 
T

TreIII

Member
7Th said:
Anyone that prefers older Castlevania art to Ayami Kojima's stuff is totally blinded by nostalgia.
Click to expand...

Or....maybe we just prefer the older style because it fits our perception of the CV world better. :lol

Kojima's androgynous males, and her overall "beautiful gothic" never did anything for me. I personally preferred CV when it was more of a "gothic horror/80s-90s manly" montage. To this day, I despise her rendition of Simon Belmont. It's right up there with Obata's design in CV: Judgement. :lol
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
MechaX said:
At least if I buy it, there's a good chance that IGA can do another XBLA/PSN release of a proper 2D Castlevania game with an actual budget this time around.
Click to expand...
Or you could enable them to make another one like this.
 
H

Henchmen21

Banned
TreIII said:
Or....maybe we just prefer the older style because it fits our perception of the CV world better. :lol

Kojima's androgynous males, and her overall "beautiful gothic" never did anything for me. I personally preferred CV when it was more of a "gothic horror/80s-90s manly" montage. To this day, I despise her rendition of Simon Belmont. It's right up there with Obata's design in CV: Judgement. :lol
Click to expand...
This post is Smexy and I endorse it 100%
 
Y

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
So 5 playable characters but 6 player support?

Am I reading it wrong or does this mean what I think it means?
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Y2Kev said:
So 5 playable characters but 6 player support?

Am I reading it wrong or does this mean what I think it means?
Click to expand...

It means that two people are going to play as palette swapped 15 year old recycled Alucard sprites while fighting palette swapped 15 year old recycled medusa head sprites, yes.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
Looks like you can choose from a set of color schemes for your selected character, but it sounds like there's also a possibility that there will be more than what is being shown at E3 for character choices in the final game.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
Stumpokapow said:
It means that two people are going to play as palette swapped 15 year old recycled Alucard sprites while fighting palette swapped 15 year old recycled medusa head sprites, yes.
Click to expand...
you're wrong

the medusa heads are older than that
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
Y2Kev said:
So 5 playable characters but 6 player support?

Am I reading it wrong or does this mean what I think it means?
Click to expand...
Iga might make some more player characters as DLC if people buy the game.
He might also make some new levels as DLC if people buy the game.
... please buy the game... (sob)

[/Iga]
 
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