Spooky month is just around the corner, so it's time for a Castlevania thread.
>>11275612Aria of Sorrow is my favourite IGAvania, Dawn of Sorrow felt like a bloated downgrade.
>>11275612III>>>I>>Kid Dracula>>Rondo>>Bloodlines>>IVEvery other game in the series (and I mean ALL of them) are shit.
>>11275612Basic bitch answer, but I loved Symphony of the Night. Though since I'm a boomer with little time and motivation, I usually do the Death skip glitch and keep my starting weapons.
>>11275612I was about to post a Castlevania thread on /v/ then I remembered discussing it there always led to a trolling shitshow.
>>11275650I can't think of a bad /vr/ Castlevania besides Haunted Castle. Even Simon's Quest is good (with a guide). Castlevania had a phenomenal track record.I think my favorite would have to be the original though. Castlevania 1 did everything right from the start and I love the atmosphere, music and color palette. It might be my favorite NES game period.>>11275682Might as well watch a youtube lets play at that point.
>>11275694Blame /tv/ and /co/ tourists.>>11275695>Might as well watch a youtube lets play at that point.I played the game over and over over the course of 17 years, so I just play to relax now.
>>112756953 and 1 are really close for me, I give 3 the edge because the music (especially JP version) is some of the best chip tunes ever made, graphics are peak NES and I like the multiple paths/characters adding tons of replay value. I can respect anyone saying 1 is the best game though. Any answer besides 1 and 3 is just objectively wrong though
>>11275696That’s fair, can’t knock someone for going comfy mode in these trying times.
>>11275704Thanks, I pretty much know the game 100% so it feels like a comforting return every time.
>>11275682I played it again back in 2020 on my Vita to get the taste of Netflixvania S3 out of my mouth, man, I feel like an idiot for thinking the show in general was entertaining.
>>11275719Has /vr/ taught you nothing?Old good.New bad.That is the ultimate truth and anyone who says this facetiously is merely tired of hearing the truth.Stop consuming new thing. It isn’t made for you. It isn’t even made for people.I hope you learned your lesson.
>>11275719>spoilers inside the spoilersI kneel, didn't know you could do that
>>11275725Well, we only talk about older games and 2006-2008 is apparently too new to discuss.
>>11275719>spoilerEww, don't remind me, it made talking about SOTN a fucking nightmare anywhere else and sometimes here.
>>11275748Only 08 is. 07 is on the table as long as it had a PC version because the rules here are retarded.You can start a Crysis thread right now.
>>11275792Huh, I didn't know that. Kinda weird.
>>11275786>it made talking about SOTN a fucking nightmareIt's like, 2 "le ebin" trolls at most.
>>11275796You can talk about games up until 2007 as long as they were on hardware made on or before 2001, which is why there is the Crysis loophole since "PC" is considered hardware before 2001.
>>11275809pretty wild that ds and psp are old enough to buy beer but still not retro.
>>11275809At least I can talk about Devil May Cry here for the most part, recent developments in the franchise have been too much of a shitshow to discuss anywhere else.
>>11275818>>11275818Didn't everyone relevant to the franchise leave Capcom? Also, that schizo that hates Dante's VA is gonna be extra annoying now.
>>11275818Devil May Cry 2 is a good game and I'm tired of pretending it isn't. I bought it release month and loved it.
How's the PS2 3Dvanias? I didn't like the previous attempts for Castlevania in 3D.
>>11275904Better than the N64 games but still not "awesome" tier. You don't hear people talk about them alot because they are middle of the road but I liked lament of innocence one a lot back when it was new.I think it was difficult for them to transfer the atmosphere of the 2D games to 3D, because they have never made a 3D castlevania that captures that feel.They try being super super serious anda touch anime in the PS2 ones instead of being Hammer-film corny.
>>11275612Castlevania games on gba look kinda shit
>>11275904Lament of Innocence is pretty good. It lets you play the first five levels in any order which opens up some really interesting routing strategy. The zoomed-out perspective is a little weird though.Curse of Darkness has a lot of very involved grind-heavy systems so it's rough on replay but not bad for a single play-through. Worth playing as an interesting novelty and to enjoy the gayest villain in video game history.
>>11275695>I can't think of a bad /vr/ Castlevania besides Haunted CastleIt did bring us some pretty bitchin tunes though, like Crucifix Held Close and Don't Wait Until Night.
>>11275923I'm not usually excited for nugame...but man, the new Castlevania collection having that Haunted Castle remake/re-imagining really has me tempted.Has anyone played it? Is it worth 25 bucks?I must say, I'm impressed it looks as good as it does and that they gave any attention at all to Haunted Castle. This is absolutely an appeal to oldfags from Konami to get them back on board again. I think I will get it just to support this kind of game continuing to be made but what's the verdict?
>>11275930If you told me the first Castlevania game we got in years was a remake of Haunted Castle, the worst game in the franchise, I would have kicked you in the nuts and called you crazy and yet, here we are.
>>11275874I enjoyed it for the most part, the final boss was great.
>>11275943It was a brave and bold move. A welcome surprise truly. It's kind of so awesome it hasn't even registered with me yet since I'm so used to back to back disappointment in gaming for like 15 years, like there is now way this can be real.Who's played it? Is it mostly a 1:1 remake or did they add stuff? What's the average complete time?
>>11275949Yeah, it caught everyone by surprise, really and it gave us a sign that Castlevania still has a pulse. I watched a playthrough and it's a complete remake.
>>11275949>>11275951I swear to God, everytime people are like "lol Castlevania is dead", Konami does something to remind us that it still exists.
>>11275949It's not a drastically game different as Adventure Rebirth was, but it does have some noticeable differences. The floating brick section from Stage 1 in the original Haunted Castle is replaced in the remake. The final stage also got changed from the straight line slog to Dracula in the original. It's on the shorter side, only took me a little over 30 minutes.
>>11275951>>11275960Neat. I'm probably going to wait for a sale since I don't have much interest in the DS games, but I'll see.>>11275957Castlevania is in DbD now too. So they must be gearing up to announce a new AAA Castlevania or something. Did they? Or is it just more Konami weirdness?I mean they do have Silent Hill 2 remake coming out in a week, and MGS3 remake is coming... so this Castlevania PR push has to be for something right?
>>11275970I think all the crossovers, collections and the mobile game are all leading up to something, a reputable leaker, the same guy who leaked the MGS3 remake and Silent hill games said that a Castlevania "reimagining" possible a CV3 remake since the cast is popular is in the works and it was supposed to be announced at E3 last year before the event was cancelled altogether. Only time will tell if we get said game.
>>11275971Ooooo. That would be cool to remake the prequel first (CV3), then do the first game (CV1) to get the re-imaginings in chronological order.There would be a pattern there too if that's what they are planning for MGS3 (to remake 1 or 2 after 3). Then they could redo Simon's Quest as an open world action rpg. That could be kino.We'll see I guess, I forever keep my expectations dirt low because that's what the industry has trained us to do these last two generations. MGS3 remake does look promising since it's 1:1 down to the cutscenes and using the original VA recordings...if not a little disappointing for being "too much" like the original game.
>>11275990I think Castlevania might adapt Capcom's "remakeverse" approach to Resident Evil to be honest, though that might be a controversial thing here since remakes are often frowned upon, but I personally wouldn't mind, if they were sticking to the OG chronology, I wouldn't mind a 1999 or 3rd Sorrow game.Yeah, especially with Castlevania, we've been burned too often and man, it's been a decade since the last big game in the franchise, though the mobile game's characterisation is fun.
>>11275971>>11275990>CV3 remakeI'd like it if they added elements of Curse of Darkness, maybe Hector as a bonus character with his own campaign.
>>11276002>>11276006I think lorewise, it would be very easy to remake the classicvanias to fit into the OG timeline.
Playing dawn of sorrow for the first time. It's pretty fun except I can't get the souls I need for any good weapons. Also fuck the magic symbols.
>>11276029The luck stat is bugged and you need some boss souls to get the more powerful weapons, so that interferes with getting the Chaos Ring in your first playthrough, so I recommend levelling up spears, rapiers, katanas and axes only up to the Golden Axe.
>>11276029>>11276031Swords, too up to Caladbolg, save getting Valmanway for the next playthrough.
>>11276029>>11276031>>11276034I really hate Dawn of Sorrow's weapon synthesis, I miss it when it was like Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow where you were forced to use whatever you picked up from the ground or bought in the shop.
>>11275971>>11275990There was this one aggressive schizo that would throw a hissyfit anytime anyone mentioned Castlevania being alive, or maybe it was two schizos, I forget.
>>11276040Dawn seems to have less items in general. I never powered up weapons or levels too much as you can blow through the game at level 40.
>>11276062Yeah, Dawn's easier than Aria in that department, though I did multiple playthroughs to get all the items because autism.
>>11275816It's almost like retro games are a style and have nothing to do with age.
>>11276074Would you consider the two Bloodstained spinoffs retro?
>>11276052I think there were two, one avatarfagged with a Cross Ange image and went on a crazy rampage and accused another anon of trying to brainwash him when he said agree to disagree and there's another one who just hates anyone who says the franchise is still alive and he was here recently and got his posts deleted and he threw a tantrum because of it.
>>11276074>>11276076NTA but I would gladly take retro throwback games being allowed here over 6th genThe CotM and Shovel Knights of the world are far more in keeping with the spirit of this board than GTA3 and Halo
>>11276104Yeah, I agree, same goes for the Haunted Castle remake, not exactly retro, but still welcome.
>>11276103>he was here recently and got his posts deleted and he threw a tantrum because of it.I remember him, he was still seething over what some random anon said 4 years ago, pretty pathetic.
>>11276074The board would be filmed to the brim with so many basedgames using the calarts analogue to spritework and that would be a terrible change.
>>11276121Not gonna lie, I get disappointed everytime I see a new 2D game and it looks like cutesy bullshit with small and stubby sprites.
>>11276125Yeah, Haunted Castle revisited is an outlier here because the artists went for recreating traditional sprite work, not the 30 animation frames Mario meme with the bouncing hat.I’m not saying all post 07 throwback games have bad spritework, I’m saying 95 percent of them do, especially any released in the last decade.
>>11276135Yeah, I agree, Haunted Castle was an exception since most modern 2D games, mostly indies are trying to go for that old Final Fantasy style, which doesn't go well with metroidvanias in my opinion, that, or they try to rip off souls games.
>>11276138>that, or they try to rip off souls games.Order of Ecclesia was arguably what inspired them in a sense.
>>11276156A guy made a video about IGAvanias being the precursors to the Souls games, too bad he became a grifter.
>>11275612>Spooky monthfuck off redditor
>>11275930The Haunted Castle game itself is not worth $25 but the 3 DS games could be if you haven't played them.
>>11276229I want to get it for Haunted Castle, but I still have the DS games at 100% completion and a functioning 3DS, so maybe I'll wait for a sale.
>>11275637I never played DoS past 10 minutes in. The yugiho-like artstyle put me off and felt really a step down from AoS
>>11276240Aside from the art style it has a bugged luck stat, a forced crafting system and a story that feels like a glorified epilogue, I say this as someone who 100% completed it back in the day.
>>11275949It's not 1:1, there's more content, and it's pretty easy for arcade standards, I've done a no death run without much practice, but that was on Normal mode, which is clearly there to cater to zoomers and no-skill igavania players, I still need to check out Hard mode. All in all, it's very good.
>>11275637Aria of Sorrow is over too fast for me to really enjoy it. The first time I played it to the real ending, I was going "That's it?".>>11276246>bugged luck statMore like intentionally sabotaged by Konami because the fixed stat triggers so many soul and item drops that it breaks the game.
>>11276246They should have done a Castlevania 99 game to round out the trilogy.
>>11276296Yeah, it's a quick game, which was good when the collection came out because I hardly have any free time now.Shit, the luck stat was rigged? I didn't know that.>>11276315I hope that's still in the cards, maybe that and a third Sorrow game can conclude the OG timeline so they can reboot again, but this time, do it right.
>>11276296>Aria of Sorrow is over too fast for me to really enjoy it. The first time I played it to the real ending, I was going "That's it?".The Chaotic Realm did feel like a rushed version of the Inverted Castle. Still love the game, though.
>>11276296so many handheld games that felt huge and immersive when riding on the bus, feel small and short up on the big screeni noticed this with peacewalker, every level is a 12 foot long hallway with 2 guys to sneak past
>>11275874>>11275818Hard truth: DMC1 kinda sucks, DMC2 is barely a game, and DMC3 is the best one by miles. It's not even close.
>>11275650Why did you call Bloodlines not shit? It really fucking sucks. I wouldn't even think it was Castlevania if the name wasn't attached, it feels like some bootleg game. I'm tired of people defending this piece of shit game when it isn't good at all. I remember nothing about Bloodlines besides how painfully mediocre it was.
>>11276434DMC3 is peak and I feel it shouldn't be remade since it's already perfect as it is, especially the Switch version with the style switcher. Speaking of DMC, man, I hope the Netflix show doesn't suck and bring in faggots like Netflixvania did, but I won't hold my breath.
what do we think of Circle of the Moon
>>11276440Haven't played it yet, but I really want to.
>>11275904Not very good. Lament is the better of the two probably but the level design is mindnumbing. Great soundtrack, bad or mediocre everywhere else. I love that era of 3D action-adventure games and I've still never managed to finish Lament of Innocence.It's easy to dismiss the PS2vanias when you put them up against all their late 90s-to-mid 00s competition, but the bigger issue is that they flop on their own merits too. They just don't excel anywhere.
>>11276439Nero voicing Dante is still so weird to me, though he did audition for Dante back in the day for DMC3, so I guess he's living his dream.
>HoD5/10 good story, bad level design>AoS8/10 dumb story, great design except halfway through the game i was able to afford the dragon slayer sword from the shop which was so strong that almost every new weapon found after that was very underwhelming
>Soma can't pull Excalibur out of the stone>"lol, I'll just use the stone as a mace"I love this game.
>>11276367It's a known fact that the Luck stat in Dawn of Sorrow is a lot weaker than it's supposed to be due to a single misplaced decimal point, but when a fan-hack fixed it, item drops got to be very constant after the stat got high enough. I suspect that the "bug" was a short-term adjustment due to the staff not having time to lower every separate drop rate before release.
>>11276519Man, that's unfortunate, they didn't even fix it for the Dominus Collection.
>>11276523They literally didn't fix anything, yet they had no issue with making pointless dialogue changes (i.e. Jonathan in Portrait now says "No problemo!" as his catchphrase instead of just "No problem!").
>>11276538>yet they had no issue with making pointless dialogue changesThat's fucking weird.
>>11276523On PC you can just use cheat engine to make it normal.
>>11276542That's true.
>>11276519Yeah the item drop rate in DoS is basically identical as in the other games, but the "fix" makes it so by the end of the game almost every enemy drops an item, it's stupid.
>>11276296>Aria of Sorrow is over too fast for me to really enjoy it. The first time I played it to the real ending, I was going "That's it?".AoS' biggest flaw was that the first four bosses were just big enemies; Creaking Skull, Manticore, Great Armor, Golem. You don't get a boss proper until Head Hunter.>>11276538There's some really strange stuff you can do in PoR because they didn't fix anything.With a fresh save, using the touch-screen bug I was able to equip invalid Dual Crushes like "Summon Frog", which later in the game changed to "HP" with the description from resetting your control scheme.Actually using the Dual Crush does nothing except locking Jonathan and Charlotte into their poses whilst holding up, and you lose all control of them. Only thing left is to pause the game and use the Suspend option.
>>11276568Yes, I recall that with the fix, farming Arc Demons for Demon's Mail is a viable strategy for making money due to how generous the item drops become.Part of the issue is the implementation of the Rare Ring and Soul Eater Ring; they double the base drop rate of items or souls.
>>11276580What sucks is that other than the Soul Eater Ring, there's really no special item that's worth farming money for.
Did anyone else cheese Portrait of Ruin by farming gold then buying an endgame weapon in the online shop?
