Castlevania Series

[Bizarro]

With two new games on the horizon now is a good a time as any to introduce a Castlevania thread.

Easily one of my favorite game series ever, I've been a huge fan of the metroidvania style releases ever since I first played SotN years ago. The art direction, the gameplay, and the music make this series near and dear to my heart.

I played the recent series reboot Lords of Shadow and while it wasn't the most creative gameplay wise it was a great game overall, especially once you get a few hours in and the moveset really opens up. But the biggest surprise was how they handled the story. I love a good brooding anti-hero story as much as any 90's child and the easter egg at the end was like crack to me. I watched that video countless times with a dumb smile on my face. So it's no surprise with it's success that we are slated to get a sequel. We'll also be getting a new sidescrolling return to form for the 3DS that will tie LoS and the sequel together. Link


So what do you guys think? Are you a fan of the series? If so what's your favorite? Playing through one now? Did you enjoy the most recent attempt at 3D? Are you as exciting as I am about a sequel? Which game are you most looking forward to the 2D or 3D offering or both? Who's your favorite Belmont/protagonist(the correct answer is Alucard)?

[Caostotale]

I've never played any of the 3D ones, but the 2D ones I've played (I, II, III, IV, Bloodlines, Circle of the Moon, and Harmony of Dissonance) are all solid games. Of those, III and CotM are my favorites in terms of gameplay/challenge and IV has the best presentation/music. I have all of the other side-scrolling entries for the DS, PS1, and PSP but I just haven't gotten around to playing them all, having decided that I'd rather space them out over the next several years.

Trying to tease out some kind of overarching story in the Castlevania series is as frustrating and useless as trying to do the same with the Zelda series. For me, the love of the series is grounded in a love for the batshit insanity of the games' basic set-ups. I like how Dracula always has some ridiculously large castle filled with all kinds of ridiculous traps, convoluted clock towers with no clocks on top, movie monsters, walls that have roasted meat platters inside, etc... The series was an early high water mark for shameless and awesome video-gaming non-logic.

I was initially skeptical about the whole Metroidvania thing, but CotM blew me away by including enough technical challenge that grinding couldn't be used as a crutch. The game's best villains still required the player to perform some acrobatics and learn some patterns (god-damned meteor showers during the fight with Dracula). I'm not sure if I can say the same for Harmony of Dissonance. That game was fun, but it was too easy and required so much backtracking that it almost forced grinding on the player.

Konami's music team has always been my favorite amongst all video-game companies, and the Castlevania series arguably features their best work. During the NES era, the series produced an ungodly amount of memorable tunes ("Vampire Killer", "Bloody Tears", "Silence in the Daylight", "Aquarius", "Beginning", and so-on and so-forth) and it reached even greater heights when Bloodlines and IV came out. Many fans despise the GBA soundtracks because that system had a lacking sound quality, but the music in CotM and HoD is excellent. The latter title has some of the darkest and jazziest gaming songs I've ever heard.

So yeah, it's definitely one of my favorite gaming series, alongside the Mega Man series and Konami's loosely-affiliated collection of shmups from the 90s.

[Bizarro]

I agree the Metroidvania games are best played when spaced out over time. Everyone since SotN has repeated the same basic formula with a few tweaks here and there, adding a level system, upgradable weapons, a rune system that replaces weapons/spells etc. However I can't bring myself to knock the series for this, why mess with something that works?

Couldn't agree more as far as story goes, it's a convoluted mess when it's not left completely unexplained. But part of me loves the absurdity of the premise. I think the story, or lack thereof is why I didn't mind at all when they announced the reboot. If anything it's a chance to flesh out some of the lore, who knows it might even make sense this time around!

I'm currently playing though Dawn of Sorrow for the first time, and it's a great title as far as gameplay goes but I'm a bit disappointed in the art direction. It's a bit too grey for my taste but a good game at it's core. The most recent Order of Ecclessia is also worth a try, though it's a bit easier than most earlier entries. Still it's polished to a shine and for the first time in the series doesn't exclusively take place in Dracula's Castle, giving you an overworld and various unique areas. It's also contains the rune system I mentioned earlier which is one of my favorite weapon systems of the franchise. But hands down the best of the bunch, and I won't be breaking any new ground by saying this, is Symphony of the Night. There is a reason that every game since has utilized it's basic formula. I recommend anyone who hasn't played a game in the series and is interested to start with that and work their way through the series from there however they see fit. That game get's it right on just about every level. Some of the best enemies and boss fights. At no point is it reduced to a grindathon which a couple entries seem to reward. It also takes place in one of my favorite iterations of Dracula's Castle. Alucards has some of the coolest abilities in the series and is one of the most versatile of any of the games. Tons of different weapons, spells, you can morph into a bat/wolf/mist. Just talking about that game is making me want to jump back in and start a new playthrough.


TL;DR I like this series alot. If you haven't already try out Symphony of the Night for the PS or Xbox Live you won't be disappointed.

[Caostotale]

I bought that Dracula X Chronicles game for the PSP because I wanted to try Rondo of Blood and it has Symphony of the Night as well. I'm probably going to play through Aria of Sorrow first, just so I can finish out the GBA entries.

[digtastik]

I played through the first one last year and made it through without continues in some silly amount of time. As a kid, it took me forever and we'd leave the NES paused overnight.

[Caostotale]

I played through the first one last year and made it through without continues in some silly amount of time. As a kid, it took me forever and we'd leave the NES paused overnight.

I never owned a copy of that one, but I should probably give it another go. When I was a kid, I sucked at it and couldn't get very far. Trying Castlevania III again after a long interim was pretty rough. I always try to beat the game with the wall-climbing guy and the last few levels get vicious. I hate the doppelganger fight. Of course, these days you can watch a video of somebody beating the final boss with the witch without using spells or taking damage.

Just plugged in the Genesis to play Bloodlines again. That game's music is amazing and the enemy sprites are really well-done. I also like that they included a three-part Dracula battle at the end. For all of Castlevania IV's excellence, that game's last battle was not nearly as dramatic as it should have been. I did like how Dracula was like 12 feet tall compared to Simon's sprite, but he should have grown into some massive demon or something.

[Bizarro]

Some new details concerning the upcoming 3DS title

The game is primarily played from a 2D / 2.5D perspective, although every so often the environment will open up to allow for combat in 3D space. Still, the adventure is more exploration-based than its combat-focused predecessor, so it should offer a nice balance between the modern style and the beloved "Metroidvania" style.

The big news is the opportunity to play as four characters. Though I mentioned Trevor Belmont in my previous post, the subscriber-exclusive Nintendo Power cover I shared features Simon Belmont, Trevor's descendant and OG Castlevania pimp. Apparently, the story of Mirror of Fate spans across the ages, placing you in the role of various heroes as they explore Dracula's domain, each with exclusive abilities that will open up different areas of the castle.

Not sure how the 2D/3D mash-up is going to work out. I'm hoping some thought has gone into it and it's not just a gimmick to promote the platform(the glyph tracing minigame in DoS springs to mind). As long as it doesn't encroach too much on my sidescrolling ass kickery I'll be ok. Whatever the case we should be getting more details soon with E3 right around the corner. In the meantime I remain cautiously optimistic.

[ARCofWrestling]

Ive never really played a Castlevania game up until last year on Wii. Was at a friends house and couldnt get past the 1st level in Super Castlevania IV lol. Ive tried the demo for Lords of Shadow on 360 and from what ive played i kinda enjoyed it.

[Bizarro]

Super late update!

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 E3 Trailer:

WARNING: If you haven't completed LoS you may want to avoid this trailer as it could be potentially spoilerific.



Offical website for LoS2 and MoF

The site is pretty light on details but it's been confirmed you'll play as Dracula in LoS 2, and it's centered around his castle. No gameplay footage yet though. From the premiere trailer it looks like Alucard might make an appearance.

MoF look to include four playable characters spanning different periods of time, switching up at predetermined points. Gear and some abilities transfer but certain special abilities unique to characters do not. So far Trevor, Simon and Alucard are confirmed as three of the four playable characters. Though the majority of the game has a side-scrolling view it takes place on a 2.5D plane while combat is a mash-up of previous side-scrolling titles and LoS-style combat. There will be aspects of exploration similar to previous Metroidvania titles, sub-weapons also return. MoF is designed to bridge the gap between LoS and intends to act as a setup for the sequel.

Several previews I've read of the 3DS offering have brought up concerns about sluggish movement and attacks with an attempt to add more weight to them however this could be tweaked before release.

[Arttemis]

I need to try LoS now that it's cheaper. Its combat mechanics didn't seem that fantastic, and mostly reminiscent to an even simpler GoW, but the story sounds great, and the environment/atmosphere seem right.

[Bizarro]

It's true the game didn't take a whole lot of risks gameplay-wise and it borrowed from DMC and GoW liberally but it's not without it's merits. The last two boss fights in particular are excellent. The story has a few twists and turns, some predictable, some not so. Gabriel is your average stoic protagonist with inner demons tasked with fulfilling a prophesy and redeeming himself yada yada...but it works and I found myself sympathizing with him by the end. Overall it's a good game and definitely worth a play-through.


Here's some combat that might win you over:

[Aethon]

I love the Castlevania series, but I just can't get in to LoS. It couldn't hook me for some reason. The similarity in gameplay/combat to other 3rd person brawlers doesn't bother me as the gameplay in GoW and DmC work really well for this style of game. It just didn't feel like a Castlevania game to me. Even though I wasn't a big fan of the 3d Castlevanias, Castlevania 64 and Lament of Innocence still felt like they were Castlevania games. I made it a bit more than halfway before setting it down and never picking it back up. Maybe it's due to being a departure from the rest of the series in terms of art and music direction, and storytelling. Maybe it was Patrick Stewart's rather deadpan performance and apparent disinterest in his narration. Maybe it just took itself too seriously? It seemed to lack the campy charm of the rest of the series, trading in for a darker and more seemingly more realistic angle on the classic monsters.

Symphony of the Night is still my favorite of the series, with III being a close second. I've torn through all the metroidvanias but I'd love to see a return to the old fashioned linearvania games. They're a completely different type of challenge to beat and can be incredibly frustrating, but so much more rewarding when you get through them knowing that you as a player had to improve rather than your character.

I'm not sure how I feel about a sequel to LoS. Hopefully I'll find it delivers better than LoS did on putting a new spin on Castlevania without removing the feeling and charm of the classic series.

[Edd Strid]

LoS didn't have the feel of a Castlevania game, but it was a good game in it's own right. I found it to be a welcome revamp of a franchise although I still prefer the old style.

Apart from the DLC boss that took about 20 minutes of chipping away it's health and no minor cock ups at all to beat on Paladin.

[Bizarro]

I love the Castlevania series, but I just can't get in to LoS. It couldn't hook me for some reason. The similarity in gameplay/combat to other 3rd person brawlers doesn't bother me as the gameplay in GoW and DmC work really well for this style of game. It just didn't feel like a Castlevania game to me. Even though I wasn't a big fan of the 3d Castlevanias, Castlevania 64 and Lament of Innocence still felt like they were Castlevania games. I made it a bit more than halfway before setting it down and never picking it back up. Maybe it's due to being a departure from the rest of the series in terms of art and music direction, and storytelling. Maybe it was Patrick Stewart's rather deadpan performance and apparent disinterest in his narration. Maybe it just took itself too seriously? It seemed to lack the campy charm of the rest of the series, trading in for a darker and more seemingly more realistic angle on the classic monsters.

I see that disconnect you're talking about. The new spin-off has a darker, more serious tone for sure. Personally I still like it but there's no doubt it's a different style.

In other news, I'm diving into my backlog and returned to Dawn of Sorrow recently, I'm almost at the real ending but got sidetracked by the 'Julius mode' which seems to be a test of the character swap dynamic they introduced in Portrait of Ruin. It's a nice touch, it's always fun running through the castle again as a bonus character or three.

Overall the main game is not without it's issues, it's grindy as hell if you want to collect every soul and get every item, and the forced use of the touch pad to end every boss fight is stupefying and completely unnecessary. I'm also not a huge fan of the anime-ish style getting all mixed up with the medieval/horror campiness of the series either. However, despite these flaws it's still a decent Metroidvania title. I give it 3 SotN's out of 5.

You're better off just playing SotN instead.

[RobertoPlankton]

sorry for the comparativley hasty post: SotN really did set a standard. I even bought the Dracula x Chronicles for the psp just in order to play this masterpiece again ( as others did too, i suppose. I did not care for Rondo of Blood much, though). Since this was a very recent impulse purchase i just had to express my joy. i love this game.
(LoS: not so much, no)

[PurpleHair_Link]

no love for Simon's Quest?? loll

Never was really into the 3D games & the XBLA had a good concept but mehh - SoTN ofcourse is legendary, would say my faves have to be Aria of Sorrow (GBA)