>>11378779
>pretty easy
If you didn't play it with a guide like you did OP it's not an easy game.

>>11378779
this is an ongoing discussion in the other castlevania sotn thread. there is no need to duplicate it except to agitate and bait for more (you)s. you’re a troll. it’s obvious in the other thread

>>11378779
The game would have benefitted from a system where you pick your level up stats like in Zelda 2 rather than it being random - most characters average out to be the same. The most varied weapons are the ones you get late-game.

Also there's some weird distribution. The first real fist weapons you get are in the underground which is late into the first castle. If you want to be a fist guy, you need to get the jewel knuckles (a nearly end-game weapon) or jsut go bare knuckle which doesn't feel right. Meanwhile you get sword after sword.

Rapiers are rare and most don't even notice them. Most of the katana are only going to be noticed end-game.

And so forth. So a bit of an issue with progression where you are almost guarnateed the standard short sword to gladius onwards since those are the big never miss weapons the game wants, but everything else is rare drops or obscure corners.

Have you ever tried to get a rare weapon early game? I wanted blue knuckles, which have a unique uppercut attack and they drop from an enemy in the caverns. That meant rushing down there and spending 40 minutes attacking frogs and toads until they dropped. But why bother with these when the Basilard, Jewel Knuckle, and Combat knife are easier to get?

Conversely, I think the solution would be the librarian having all the tier-1 weapons. If you go to the list of weapons and armors, many are very unique and have interesting properties but the majority of people will never get them.

https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night/Weapons

>>11378846
Didn't know there already was a sotn thread when I made this.

>>11378861
yes you did, you making the exact sane points yoy made 50 times in the other thread. the entire thread is discussion about how you think the game is easy. dishonest troll. one more reason to not use this board.

>>11378779
use the cheat code that keeps you level 1, it'll force you to think about builds. it's great fun.

>>11378779
Jesus Christ it's another fucking le take down of SOTN thread. No one thinks your special you fucking retard give it a rest already
FF7 is also easy a fuck and it's one of the most popular games on the PlayStation

>>11378875
>wields two Nauglamir so nothing can damage you
>spams soul steal
>has sword familliar

Even with level 1 being enforced, you can become neigh invulnerable by the end game. It is only difficult for the early game.

>>11378785
I didn't use a guide and it was by far the easiest metroidvania I ever played.

>>11378892
>Spam soul steal
>When most things will instantly kill you so healing won't be that useful
Great retarded plan

>>11378895
sounds like you have played metroidvanias

>>11378902
By mid to end-game? You still find HP UP potions, you still have armor, and as I outlined two Nauglimers is a whopping +30 DEF on top of the armor and other equipment you get. Your dragon helm lowers enemy defenses, which is a defacto bonus to your attack. The list goes on and on.

end-game Alucard is a magic man of death in all versiosn. If anything, level 1 just feels like normal mode.

The game just plain old isn't that good.
Great music, cool graphics (even though 20% of them are recycled from Rondo of Blood), but the gameplay just isn't developed.

>>11378895
You did use a guide or watched a playthrough, I bet your that faggot from the other thread claiming you beat it in 3 hours upon release kek

>>11378936
meds

>>11378947
stfu scumbag troll

>>11378930
It has some Castlevania IV as well (Slogra, Gaibon and a handful of other enemies)

>>11378930
>just plain old isn't that good.
but enough about your life

>>11378779
It's a sandbox. It gives you a ton of different ways to play.
>But all the choices are irrelevant because it's too easy.
It doesn't matter. It's fun to try different things and come up with your own challenges.
SoTN is one of the games I call a "zoomer filter."
For whatever reasons, zoomers are completely unable to understand games as something that are played for fun.
Whenever they evaluate a game, they always start talking about "balance" and shit like that.
It's the same reason they can't comprehend summons in older FF games.
>It's just a spell that takes longer
To them it's inconceivable that something would be put into a game just because it's cool or for its own sake, or that players would enjoy it just to see the effect on the screen.

>>11379109
they don’t enjoy anything, they rush through games just to finish them. they feel a debt to these old classics but also resent them for not being shiny new games so they hurru to beat it, the concept of just patiently relishing the game experience is not there. it’s not all zoomers, it especially is spergs. and ths board is filled with zoomer spergs.

>>11378891
This is something I don’t get. Playing through ff7 right now, the game is easy as fuck and most spells are useless. I suppose castlevania fans have different expectations.

>>11378779
>the movement, tho not bad, is a far cry from Super metroids greatness
Okay but you've actually just not played it enough
It's crazy what you can learn to do when you play this a lot
On my fourth randomizer playthrough, I just learned you can use the wolf transformation (transforming into and then out of it) to chain gravity jumps without the leap stone (you can't do infinite gravity jumps usually unless you have the leap stone, which you'd usually always have if not for the randomizer)
you can also use the wolf transformation to use the divekick without the leap stone

>>11379178
sotn and ff7 are a mainstreaming of the series so that more players could finish the games whereas ff6 many people could not beat in those days, or bloodlines, unless you were into those games. 7 and sotn made it so your brother who never could figure out the games and play to the end now had a chance to experience all that was put into the game. this was part of the readon why these games were more beloved, because they invited in more players. i said this more or less in the other sotn thread. you zoomer motherfuckers don’t know a fucking thing about the games and don’t seem to get that without sotn the cv series was dead, and without 7 selling massively there wouldn’t be 30 other rpg series imported to us/uk. and these games aren’t easy per se to newcomers. people still got lost or didn’t level up enough. in order to truly understand these games you must see it through the lens of when they came out. after sega genesis and snes games thst were harder, and at a moment when they wanted to make the games have wider appeal and see if they could actually have more people see the full game they put so much time into, and that meant mainstreaming the difficulty. they are still super fucking fun. ease is not a fun killer

>>11378779
>>due to the low difficulty, little to non build vatiety, and linear world progression, the game lacks any kind of replay value
Again, no. There's so many items. Even if you don't feel inspired to play the normal game again but this time grinding out a Chakram or Rune Sword, you can just play randomizers in which you're basically guaranteed to find something cool you never knew about until then.

>>11379192
to be fair bloodlines is arguably the hardest castlevania, if you're not good enough to never get hit and keep the special subweapon you're definitely not good enough to beat bosses without it

>>11378779
>>11378895
Easy? Go fight Galamoth.

Gonna be honest, I never got why Super Metroid's movement is so heavily lauded. Samus feels very floaty and she's too large for how small the environments are.

>>11379178
Metroidvania fans like the exploration and mechanical depth.

>>11378913
>Your dragon helm lowers enemy defenses
I really wish shit like this was stated in game, hidden properties in vidya always pisses me off.

>>11379209
He's the easiest boss in the game, just get the Beryl Circlet and whale on him.

>>11379232
Or drink one of the 218390 thunder resist potions collecting dust in your inventory and shit down his throat.

>>11379232
hey he’s the easiest boss ever just use an invincibility cheat!

>>11379232
Or use the shield rod and alucard shield.

>>11378864
Meds

>>11379226
>I really wish shit like this was stated in game, hidden properties in vidya always pisses me off.

The official description is:
>Frightens enemy, lowers DEF

The actual in-game effect:
>Effect: Reduces enemies' DEF by half

Best helm in the game and there's no reason to use anything else. It's almost cheating like most end-game equipment. It's actually more of a challenge to not use it!

>>11379356
One of these days I need to do a naked Alucard run with zero gear.

>>11378913
>end-game Alucard is a magic man of death in all versiosn
I wonder if that's supposed to be the lore of this game. That Alucard is really that OP.

>>11379109
>finding a game to be too easy is a zoomer thing
Lol

>Alucard names himself his father's name backwards to show his opposite values
By this logic, shouldn't the chief enemy of God be named Dog?

>>11379359
I mean he's the son of the strongest force of evil in existence (who regularly gets bodied by buff gigachads with whips, but still)

>>11379359
Yes, if you were to freeze Alucard's level and prevent him from having his equipment stolen and only used what he started with the game would be quite easy.

>>11379194
You know what, maybe sotn rando is a good idea. Maybe the game will click for me then.

>>11378895
It's not even the easiest Igavania.

>>11379361
The weird part is that "Alucard" works perfectly as a name so you don't really even think about it. Many just assume it's some real European name. The earliest reference I can find is a 1943 film, which means in theory the name would be copyrighted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Dracula_(1943_film)

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>>11379461
I don't even understand the people who pay attention to shit like that. It's like faggots on /v/ bitching about ecelebs and video essays, just stop fucking watching them. If you hate the taste of shit, stop eating it.

>>11379423
>>11379443
>>11379461
retards

>>11379482
The anons or the zoomers?

>>11379363
>prevent him from having his equipment stolen
you can cheat death

>>11378779
>this again
SOTN has easily the best (retro), CV map and best gameplay mechanics. I think only the non-retro first two DS games matched SOTN. Aria was great but for 2003 it could have been even better if Konami had let the team develop it on consoles. The budget series was a success and 2D games were still a bit strong at the time. But Konami, right?

>>11379209
All the bosses are tricky because the bosses and enemies can easily stunlock you. People cry about this game being “easy” because they're overleveled. Where being overleveled and having the right gear trivializes any CV game. I'd say they overlook that SOTN has this problem that doesn't happen in any of the handheld games maybe (not retro), except for ecclesia. No Souls Aria >>> Luck Mode SOTN

>>11379612
Also the people who complain about the game being easy tend to be on like their 5th playthrough.

>>11378785
That's wrong, I thought it was pretty easy back when I first played it, and I never found the cheese weapons then.

>>11378858
You can get the MJ glove quite early.

>>11379209
Galamoth is mildly tough until you find the Beryl Circlet, then he becomes a complete joke.

>>11379624
I don't even know how many times I've played it by now, but I don't resent it for being easy. I wish it had a proper hard mode or something, in addition to luck mode, but it's still a pretty fun game which I'm fond of.

>>11379247
The game hands you means to make shit easy left and right. The thunder resist potions mentioned aren't exactly rare or obscure, you'd be unlikely to not have them by that point.

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>>11379247
>Hmm, this big bad thunder boss is kicking my ass.
>I wonder if I should use one of these items which defend me against thunder?
>Oh, he's a joke now.
>NOOOOOO THAT'S CHEATING!!!
Did Galamoth make this post? I'm very fond of Symphony, but design decisions like these are not exactly stellar, if he's supposed to be the toughest boss in the game he should outright get to nullify lightning resistance in part, just to make sure he can't be walked over with common items.
Things like these are why I consider Symphony a flawed gem, if yet still a precious one to treasure, there's various things which make the game feel like they didn't get to quite work out all the critical parts to satisfaction.

Another is the upside down castle as a whole, which is an awesome concept, but somewhat uneven in execution.

>>11379649
Most people are too retarded to even know what a circlet is or where to get it.
First of all it's in a secret room
Then you would have to actually check it in the menu and read what it does
Then you would have to find Galamoth
Then you would have to realize he is hitting you with lightning
Then you would have to do 2 + 2 = 4 and remember you have this item that would be good in this situation
This sequence of events is already far beyond the mental capabilities of most normalfags. So it's kind of hard to complain that this item exists and is extremely useful in this specific circumstance. If SoTN was a modern game, the Beryl Circlet would be laying on the floor right outside Galamoth's room, then there would be a 15 minute cutscene explaining how you should equip it, and then the door to his room would not open until you equipped it.

>>11379668
shut up you dumb faggot

>>11379670
I'll keep posting and you'll keep seething. I'm not demoralized by the difference between our post lengths. It actually reaffirms my conviction that you are a stupid person and this is the best you can manage.

>>11379602
The map layout sucks and has to resort to the cop-out of having teleporter rooms instead of having a truly well designed and interconnected world. As far as metroidvanias go it has one of the worst maps.

>>11379676
ok pleb retard. name the better maps

>>11379668
i’ve been playing sotn since 1997 and i didn’t know about this. what i didvto beat him was find the crissaegrim and that enabled me to beat him after a ton of leveling up. the zoomer spergs on this board have access to every possible item and used guides for all the strategies and *then* call it easy. they are the most detestable, cocky little snots on the face of the earth

>>11379679
Super Metroid, and the many great hacks of that game that do an even better job with the map.

Hollow Knight, Ori 1 and 2, Shadow Complex, all the GBA/DS castlevanias, Cave Story, Metroid Dread, Axiom Verge...

>>11379680
You're extremely, hilariously bad at video games if you needed to do anything other than learn his attack patterns to beat him.

Galamoth is a 2/10 in terms of tough video game bosses. God help you ever playing a Metal Slug game.

>>11379676
I've never had a problem with backtracking in SOTN. But COTM and especially HOD had a lot of backtracking

>>11379679
Metroid: Zero Mission
Super Metroid
tbqh Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

>>11379690
The game doesn't have the variety of options for routing like a lot of metroidvanias do. That's why the game doesn't have as strong of a speedrunning community as SM. It also doesn't require as much dexterity to do the various tricks to cut time.

Of course, that's because the game was never designed with speed in mind like Super Metroid was, which specifically rewards the player with different endings based on clear time and gives a concrete number.

IMHO the game (SOTN) feels rather like the developers were having a lot of fun with the disc space and ram available to them (way more ram than the PCE-CD) and were more interested in creating as many cool sprites and rocking tracks as possible with the quality of the castlevania-style gameplay being secondary. The anon who called it a castle tour sim was on the right track. It feels like Alucard taking a brisk tour of his dad's castle whilst being not-too-troubled and the player gets to roleplay in his shoes as this overpowered dhampyr character.
It really comes across as a Castlevania game made for people who don't want to be bothered by the traditional classicvania challenge but just want to take in the music and the atmosphere of the games.

>>11379693
and why are these better maps?

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>>11379668
>Most people are too retarded to even know what a circlet is or where to get it.
The game gives you plenty of Resist Lightning potions, with Galamoth being the only enemy which makes you feel like you would probably need to use them.

>Then you would have to realize he is hitting you with lightning
I BEG YOUR FUCKING PARDON? What the fuck else would those big crackling arcs of lightning with thunder sound effects be? Fire? Poison?
This has to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen any person ever say about this game, this statement absolutely floors me.

>Then you would have to do 2 + 2 = 4 and remember you have this item that would be good in this situation
Why the fuck would you forget? Are you a goldfish?

>This sequence of events is already far beyond the mental capabilities of most normalfags.
No it isn't, this is you making up a bunch of conjecture to make yourself feel better.

>>11379706
i love it because the castle is so massive and it never gets old going through it all rhe way to 200% year after year. super mario world is not very challenging to me but i’m not saying it’s brisk. it’s an exaggeration to say you are just touring, the game us just a combo of exploration to find secrets and items as much as it is fighting. the grandeur of the music, layout and amount of items, enemies, rooms is insane. it’s a blast to play. i don’t see any need to compare it to other games and knock it down or boost it by contrast. it is its own game. you maniacs trying desperately to tear it down are running up against a brick wall. symphony of the night is immortal.

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>>11379649
WHAPWHAPWHAPWHAP

>>11379680
I first played this in the 2000s and I never looked up guides or even used Crissaegrim (my brother had me play the game and the upside down castle blew my fucking mind), I just used the Thunder Resists I had been sitting on because he was zapping the fuck out of me, and it was the most obvious thing to do.

>>11379729
So your devotion to the game is purely nostalgic attachment. Got it.

>>11379735
What a stupid conclusion.

>>11379735
Maybe a bit of nostalgia drives it for me, but honestly the game is just fun with its different ways to fight. I like Luck Mode the best because it makes you really weak at the start, so you need to be really methodical and careful, and it feels great when you make progress without getting your half-vampire hole gaped open by low tier trash enemies.

I replay once or twice every few years or so. Haven't yet done a Richter playthrough and I should do that.

>>11379735
you are an obnoxious pissant and you are writing like a twitter journalist who uses reddit. i told you what i like about it, that’s not all i like about it but i gave a summary. your full of hate. you should be banned for flamewars, you’re a fucking nuisance to serious discussion and all you have is strawman faggotry.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9je7sc-wI

>>11379742
luck mode pushes people to learn the real SOTN where you learn spells and optimize your movement. Like in a casual playthrough you won't use speedrun tech in Super Metroid it's not required and if you try the game puts up roadblocks it's like they knew people would try to exploit the game.

>>11378779
how much time is it of though?

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>>11379753
What I like about Luck Mode is not just that it forces you to think more about tactics for at least the first half of the game, you're also going to get much more varied and interesting drops, giving you much more things to work with for figuring that out.

Like you'll get stuff you might not even have realized existed before because of their low drop rates (depending on how many times you've played before I guess). First time for me, I discovered Fist Of Tulkas and thought it was cool as fuck.
It also means you get much more of the Dynamite and other throwing weapons, so you can use them more.

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>>11379732
>>11379752

>>11379680
Sotn is easy without guides, you're fucking tripping over powerful shit throughout the game. That's fun, I get enjoyment out of the HOMM3 school of thought for items, but it does erase a lot of the challenge, and why the game is more entertaining in luck mode, because you get the fun powerful shit (more of it even), but you need to be a bit more thoughtful and strategic.

>>11379118
Piss-poor take by the guy who claims debate rules are so important lmao.

>they don’t enjoy anything, they rush through games just to finish them. they feel a debt to these old classics but also resent them for not being shiny new games so they hurru to beat it
This is entirely supposition. It also doesn't apply, since many people who do not like SotN still really enjoy Castlevania 1, 3, and Rondo, to name a handful.

>>11379461
So to summarize:
>Analyzing video games
Bad!
>Psychoanalyzing the people who analyze video games
Based!

Agreed.
t. retard

>>11379219
>Samus feels very floaty
That's the reason. Because in early Castlevanias you could not control the character while in the air. So having this control was "lauded".

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The sound design of SOTN is so unbelievably crunchy and satisfying in so many ways. Every single little sound be it from sound library or something they made themselves is just perfect. The hit effects are just so crunchy and strong, and the magic chimes for using soul steal or the sound effect on the magic rods are great. The sound that plays when you see the HP up potion materialize after beating a boss. All the crazy fire explosion sounds when you kill enemies. Part of the reason why the game is so fun to play.

>>11378779
>the movement is a far cry from Super metroids greatness
This doesn't even make sense.

>>11378779
>So why does everyone love this game so much?
Because it's one of the most fun games ever made. Soulless zoomers like you shouldn't even try. Seriously, what motivates you turds?

>>11378779
it's probably loved because it's easy so even the most casual people can progress.

I like it because it has great graphics and music. Exploring the castle as an overpowered vampire and finding tons of cool items is fun

>>11379359
He sure as hell wasn't in CV3.

>>11378779
>and linear world progression
That's not entirely true, once you can get past the sealed doors, you've got two ways to get to Drac's crib, once you get to inverted castle, you've got an entire castle open to you (as annoying to travel as it is)

I agree with everything else though, also I'll add that there's TONS of weapons and since you don't know what they do on a 1st playthrough, you'll check if they differ in any way (most of them don't).
Konami should've given only one weapon to Alucard and give out swappable upgrades like in Harmony of Dissonance instead.

>>11379668
>Then you would have to actually check it in the menu and read what it does
You mean like you would do with literally every piece of equipment and item in the game after a few hours?

>>11378785
>>11378964
git gud

>>11380635
You don't even need to be a top gamer, Symphony is fairly gentle and forgiving for the most part. One of the few enemies which can truly wreck you even at high levels is the Beam Skeletons with their massive beamcocks, but that's if you're reckless.

>>11380658
yeah i probably had to retry a boss a few times but it's one of the easiest games i've played.

All this bitching about difficulty. Yeah, sotn is kinda easy. But that and its fucking huge amount of toys to play with makes it the best castlevania to kick back and just enjoy dicking around in. Like this time, imma play fists only. Or subweapons only. Or only use the familiar sword for boss kills.
You want challenge, you get a hard mode or randomizer romhack, or grow some balls and play classic-vania. Base game is for casual sandbox fun, and I fail to see the issue with that.

>>11379649
I think a big issue with SotN is that even if you totally ignore all the rpg aspects, pretty much every boss besides Galamoth is still just a joke to fight. None of the bosses are particularly challenging even if you play it like a classic platformer and just have Alucard whacking shit while totally ignoring all the other mechanics. Then if you actually do shit like use magic (soul steal), equip yourself properly for the fight or buff yourself it turns into an absolute joke. It's an arpg where the a is already pretty easy.

>>11379668
Anon if you can't mentally process all of those "then you" statements you just listed in under a second, you would legitimately be mentally retarded. That's not even a normalfag issue, that's a full blown Flowers for Algernon tier total lack of basic comprehension and strategy. People like that should not be catered to because unless they actually have a disability they have no excuse.

>>11379680
>you need to be a zoomer reading a walkthrough to understand basic gear attributes or chugging a potion for a buff before a fight
If you are grinding for fucking levels in SotN to progress, you are doing something critically wrong.

Anyone bitching about SotN being too easy or not forcing the player to engage with resistances and vulnerabilities enough should play OoE, because that game DOES force you to do it or else you will eat shit.

My biggest problem with SotN was how damn janky the bosses were. I remember when I fought Death, he got stuck in a behavior loop so I could just stand in one spot stabbing him.

>>11381054
kek

>>11378779
The movement Is so much better than super Metroid movement
>Inb4 muh Sequence breaking

>>11379668
this reads like someone who's actually mentally retarded trying to comprehend something that an average person can just intuit in a few seconds. a much more reasonable series of events:
>damn the lightning attacks on this guy are brutal
>wait didn't i get a potion that resists lightning attacks, let me try using it
>now this fight is going way more smoothly
the only thing potentially disrupting this simple series of events is that you're likely not used to having to actually plan out a strategy in sotn
>>11381054
it is kind of fucking comical how easily death goes down in this game, each of his phases went down in less than 15 seconds for me. i don't even know what attacks he does, and i was going into the fight with fairly mundane weaponry (i think i was using the bastard sword, which is just a gimme near the start of the inverted castle) while occasionally chucking a bible

>>11381036
The person which anon describes would have a high likelihood of being widely regarded as special needs, unless they are a rather young child.
He's just desperately grasping at straws to try to affirm his position because he has no actual arguments, he had to invent this idea.

I'll once again reaffirm that I do still like this game, in spite of it being pretty easy, I don't know why he has to insist that it's not.

>>11379668
>"heh, I'm so much smarter than all those normalfags"
>invents some kind of ridiculous cartoon character in his mind to use an example for a flagrant bullshit argument
You're at the very best 10iq over the median, if we set aside the implied social ineptitude. Come down to earth with the rest of us.

>>11379668
>Then you would have to actually check it in the menu and read what it does
>Then you would have to find Galamoth
>Then you would have to realize he is hitting you with lightning
>Then you would have to do 2 + 2 = 4 and remember you have this item that would be good in this situation

why are you typing this out in longform as if to imply it's even remotely mentally taxing?

>>11379626
Same, excepting FINDING the second castle. That was because some older kids at the arcade I used to go to were taking about it. I mentioned this here a few times.
But yeah, after being told how to get to the inverted castle, the rest was entirely on my own, even 200+% it. It's a fairly straightforward game, friend.

>>11379680
This makes me think you never actually played the game back then. I did. Excepting the fact that I recall that boss being fairly difficult, I don't remember how I beat him. Probably the resist lightning things others have mentioned. I don't think I bothered equipping anything to beat him, but that's a possibility. What I recall is possibly standing somewhere he can't hit and thwacking him from there. idky, but the image of Alucard crouched and thwacking his ankle keeps popping into my head as well as remembering how silly the boss's movements were. iirc, I thought it looked shoddy when the boss changed the direction it was facing, but then I'm second guessing myself that he never actually changes direction at all? idfr, I haven't played the game in over 25 years.

>>11379357
Did it once, I mostly just had to do a lot of grinding, but once you do that it's not awful. Trying it without grinding is a real challenge on some bosses. But most of the hardest bosses are optional so it's not a huge deal.

>>11378779
>Easy
Hard agree there, could have some harder parts here and there
>Movement worse than Super Metroid
Disagree. There is way more variety and inputs
>Why does everyone love this game
To me it was a very unique experience. I run through it again from time to time because of the godly pixel art, art direction in general and the godlike soundtrack and sound effects

>>11378892
>spams soul steal
you control the buttons you press

>>11378861
You have the same catalog as everyone else.

>>11378779
>So why does everyone love this game so much?
Because:
1 - they absolutely fucking suck at classic Castlevania (it's not pretty and they can't muster the effort to learn to deal with stiff controls)
2 - pretty visuals and nice music and a game that doesn't ask them to do any effort to complete it.

>Is it just the music and art direction?
Mostly. Take away that and you're left with Harmony of Dissonance, and nobody cares about that one.

>>11378785
>it's not an easy game
What's not easy? Finding your way by figuring out where the next key trinket is? Just like Castlevania 2?

>>11378779
Music and art direction carry the game a lot but the movement options, controls, and exploration are also excellent. Being an "easy" game is a big sin to Castlevania fans, and this game being the most popular game in the series makes some fans upset.

>>11379357
It won't make the game more interesting to play, just more tedious and grindy. SotN issue isn't in the stats balance, it's the overall design.

>>11379630
>Galamoth is mildly tough
Galamoth isn't tough at all, his patterns are not hard to grasp and moving to the proper spots with the mist require little practice.

>>11379209
Galamoth requiring from a player a modicum of effort just goes to show how piss easy the game is if this boss has to be used to make a point.

>>11378892
>It is only difficult for the early game
The most interesting part of the game is fighting the minotaur+werewolf boss asap. Olrox is also fine if not overleveled. The rest of the game is nothing but bloat for the sake of it.

>>11382767
Saying Galamoth isn't tough is forgetting that Galamoth is a massive fast moving object that keeps moving around firing projectiles with the room designed to trap you in corners with his firing speed. He is basically what happens when the devs realize Death's style can be improved and decided to do it.

>>11382895
>Saying Galamoth isn't tough is forgetting that Galamoth is a massive fast moving object
Galamoth has easy to read patterns
>Death's style can be improved and decided to do it
The hell are you even talking about? It's a repetitive and boring fight that has nothing to with how Death was handled in previous games.

>>11378779
i don’t play this game for challenge. i don’t give a fuck about metroid. i don’t give a fuck about what you consider replay value. i just fucking love this game. the way you retards try desperately to tear down masterpieces and have flaming edgelord wars is goddamn embarrassing. you’re only making me love the game more, and now i want to replay it and i definitely will begin doing so very soon. i’ll be having fun. you’ll be pulling out your hair tryinv to come up with ways to say it sucks and wasting your time and energy, and frankly wasting whatever your life is being miserable over others’ happiness and contentment with a videogame from 1997. get a grip

>>11382559
You're bitter.

>>11382767
Galamoth isn't hard in any real sense, but he's more agressive, harder hitting, and resilient than other bosses.
As said though, popping a Resist Thunder basically defangs the guy so that you don't even really need to fight him smartly.

>>11381209
Why are you obsessed with Thunder Resist potions?
Is this some kind of joke you're obsessed with or are you like trying to carve out a personality for yourself on the board? You've brought them up like 20 times in the thread.

>>11381230
It's funny that everyone is mocking me for that post when I have been compulsively watching blind SoTN playthroughs on youtube for like 10 years so I probably have more insight into the normalfag mind than anyone else here and I know for a fact how they play this game and what stuff trips them up. What I described is objectively correct.

>>11379649
>Things like these are why I consider Symphony a flawed gem
That's because you're missing the big idea. It was never about any kind of balance or challenge. The anons that say this is a sandbox are right. That was the whole point. They built a toy box for you to dick around in. It was never supposed to be a well crafted challenge with carefully thought out difficulty spikes like a classic game. It was another attempt at getting around the whole rental problem other than just making games balls hard.

SotN is about maximalism. There is so much shit to discover in it and discovery is the joy of gameplay. The opulent art direction and music complement that. On repeat playthroughs it's a very fun game to optimize.

>>11379109
>>11380740
>>11384268
Okay, when we roll with the argument that sotn is a sandbox, than why is it so damn hard to actually make a cool build? Whenever I play this game I get the same types of weapons, even until the end when you gdy some variety I thought thry were samey. Is all the unique and cool shit hidden/a random drop where you have to grind? If so then why is this "make-your-own-fun" kinda game, making it so hard to make your own fun?

>>11384290
>SotN is about
aimless bloat.

>The opulent art direction and music
are used as a distraction and the game would be utterly forgotten if not for those.

>>11384342
Idk, many of people have fun with the game even 20 years later, sounds like a you problem.

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>>11378779
>So why does everyone love this game so much? Is it just the music and art direction?
Pretty much. I love it, but going into it expecting it to be Rondo Of Blood meets Super Metroid was setting my expectations far too high. Had I played it as a kid, I probably would have loved it from the word go, but as a jaded adult, it was an acquired taste that I had to learn to love. A hot mess if ever there was one, but I do truly adore it.

>>11379109
>It gives you a ton of different ways to play
Which doesn't matter since the game is not designed to provide any challenge (but still insists on key items to control your progression) meaning different ways to play ranges from easy to braindead.

>>11384396
Then don't play it, lol.

>>11384401
At least you didn't disagree.

>>11384402
What you wrote has been addressed multiple times already in this thread and in the thousands of other SoTN threads you spergs constantly make.

>>11382626
It is very telling of gamers on a whole though that the two most beloved old Castlevanias, that is IV and SotN, are also by far the easiest. Retro fans that actually appreciate challenge and adversity are a small minority.

t. Castlevania III enjoyer

>>11384412
Difficulty and replayability are in opposition to each other as metrics for assessing a game's value.
The more you replay a game, the less difficult it will be to you. You can't say you like a game because it is both difficult and replayable. That makes zero sense.

>>11384407
So braindead is your style.

>>11384415
This is the dumbest take I read in a while on here. High difficulty creates replay value, because you can keep replaying the game to get better at it. Hence why an easy game is less replayable in that way, because you'll reach the skill ceiling very quickly.

>>11384415
>>11384428
Also, the same argument could be made about something like build-variety: "once you tried every build, the game stops being replayble, because you did everything.

>>11384428
If difficulty is how you create replay value then all you're saying is you like games that take longer for you to exhaust their replay value. Which is a stupid and self-defeating way to evaluate games. You eventually arrive at the same end point as an "easy" game, it just took you longer. What you're saying is the most bugman way of describing video games I've ever seen.

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>>11384415
Fillingness and tastiness are in opposition to each other as metrics for assessing a food's value.
The more you eat of a food, the less tasty it will be to you. You can't say you like a food item because it is both filling and tasty. That makes zero sense.

>>11378779
OP are you ok?
do you need a hug?

im a badass gamer that only play hard games

>>11384443
OP is actually talking common sense.

>>11384415
You're assuming that skill level remains the same after putting a game down. This is obviously the case for something that SotN that demands so little from the player, but if you actually happened to be familiar with the Castlavenia games that came before you'd realize that they remain challenging on replay.

Classic Castlavenia games are so fresh because they managed to balance diffculty with playstyles. The games ask you to understand AND master the mechanics.

>>11384436
My man, in EVERY game replay value will eventually be exhausted. See >>11384434. That being said, high difficulty is a great way to create near infinite replay value. In a game like ketsui, even moglar, the world record high score holder in that game hasn't exhausted this 23 y/o game yet. Not to mention how far away from the skill ceiling the average ketsui player is.

>>11384486
i’ve played sotn and super mario world 20-30 times each, it’s an annual thing with me taking a few years off since they came out. you may believe your definition of a game’s replayability is a set thing but it’s not the same for everyone. there’s nothing left to ‘get’ out of the games but me having fun and experiencing the game again. for me, the games don’t get old or less fun just because i don’t have new things to do. hard to imagine this needs to be said but hey this board is very autistic and thickheaded

>>11384572
You are actually retarded, aren't ya? Obviously you can replay a game that you simply like tons of times,but we were talking about replay value, meaning a property of a game that incentivises you directly to do consecutive playthroughs, do you understand?

>>11384443
>someone offers perfectly reasonable arguments that just happen to be unpopular
>"Who hurt you?"
Feminine behavior, tbqh familia.

>>11384390
why does dracula's castle have a church in it I thought he was allergic to crosses

>>11384259
I also brought up Thunder Resists, and probably because they're relevant to the subject of fighting Galamoth, you asshurt fuckhead.

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>>11384364
>your game having really strong presentation makes a difference and makes people remember it many years later

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>>11384415
>Difficulty and replayability are in opposition to each other as metrics for assessing a game's value.
God, NO, what a completely stupid statement.
Symphony being an easy game doesn't make it bad, but the challenge that a game puts up is by NO means irrelevant to a game's quality or replayability, and CERTAINLY not oppositional or inversely proportional to it.

Look at a game such as Wild Guns on SNES, which is completely different from SoTN. It's not very long, but it's fast paced and fun, has fantastic presentation, and it's tough. More importantly, it's a really fair kind of tough where the game isn't ever cheap, and you can even play it pretty casually if you don't mind surrendering your score to get to the end.
Part of why it's so fun is because of how good it feels to best the game, so even if beating the game only takes about an hour, it's really fun to come back to time and time again. Going from Easy, to Normal, to Hard, really getting into the groove of he game, it's a hoot.

Returning to Castlevania, the ClassicVanias are certainly all harder than Symphony in basically all ways, but they're pretty damn solid games which are very enjoyable and worth coming back to, and part of that is that they put up tough challenges which are fun to best.

>zoomie mentality: i beat it so it sucks
there’s no explaining games to zoombies they have no sovl. when you read a book and enjoy it it’s not because it’s hard to read. you don’t read books to accomplish being well read. you read books because you enjoy the characters or atmosphere or plots. there was a time when games were about creating fun experiences. just stick to geometry dash you adrenaline addicted click monkeys

>>11385396
So that people who serve him can still do their usual life routine. Makes it seem like he cares for them.

>>11385451
Who are you talking to?
OP is complaining that SOTN is easy, and it IS, but it's obviously still a fun game, contrary to his conclusion.

>>11385407
The point being that without the pretty graphics and nice music, you wouldn't bother defending this game, nor would you care about it in the first place, because it has no substance below the superficial layer.

>>11385451
You seem to have forgotten the game part of video games.

Sorry but SOTN is awesome

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>>11385396
Crosses ain't shit to Dracula

>>11385591
It's time to stop pretending that graphics, music, and sound design aren't important to the enjoyment of a game. It's also fun to play on top of all of these things but a game can't be good if it's easy according to you.

>>11385707
What about a string of three boomerang crosses all lined up with his stupid head?

>>11385742
Your criticisms aren't particularly articulate.

>>11385750
>mine
It starts with OP.

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>>11378779
>muh difficulty
not everything has to be difficult to be fun anon, FUN have you heard of it?

>>11378779
>So why does everyone love this game so much? Is it just the music and art direction?
Yes, mostly. And the feeling that that gives you as you play. The controls are fairly clunky, you're right about that, but I guess there's a sense of accomplishment when you learn to make it smooth.

>>11387137
everything is fucking clunky to you people

>>11387143
I mean, I'm from the '80s, most platformers were clunky compared to super mario world and its extreme momentum.
SotN was on the better end, with some momentum and responsive controls. There were a lot of platformers in the 90s where you had to wait for an animation to finish before a button press would register and SotN isn't that bad. I'm just saying it's not perfect mostly because of the controls and jumping, still easily 9/10.

>>11387148
>you had to wait for an animation to finish before a button press would register
see that is what qualifies as clunky to me, sotn has very responsive controls

>>11378779
What is it about this game that some people are so adamant to try and bring it down? Is it just Metroid fans not liking Symphony being held up to its level to the point of the genre being a portmanteau of both series? Classicvania fans who don't like where the series went? Ritcher fans who don't like their husband being shafted?

>>11387217
It's just a bored troll. Next week he picks a different beloved classic to try to bring down

>>11387217
>What is it about this game that some people are so adamant to try and bring it down?
OP literally spelled it out loud.

Most of you pussies get filtered by Dracula X SNES and I love that fuckin' game, and I also know SotN is GOATed at the same time. Suck it

>>11387578
>Dracula X SNES
Replayed it just yesterday, I used to dislike it until I figured the game was designed to be played with the axe. And while it's clearly not as polished as Rondo, it's far more interesting to play than SotN.

>>11384120
Notice you didn't say he was wrong.

>>11387217
It gets put up as the GOAT castlevania game when it isn't even top five.
It occasionally get mentioned in the GOAT video games in general which it has no business being anywhere near.

>>11378779
I like SOTN but it bugs me that the "vania" part of "metroidvania" resulted from this when the formula was perfected in Super Metroid before it was ever in a Castlevania game.

Yes I know about Simon's Quest.

>>11387137
>>11387148
It's literally the opposite of clunky

>>11385396
because it looks nice and also the castle rearranges itself like a living organism iirc so Dracula may have little input on what's being built.

>>11378858
>which doesn't feel right
Unarmed is actually strangely overpowered at the beginning since for whatever reason you land two hits up close.

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>>11378779
>pretty easy
Stop playing games that you find easy anon because no one cares about your experience.

>>11388257
I feel like the "vania" half should entail the RPG elements Symphony introduced yet most of them are just Metroid clones.

>>11389338
You clearly care.

>>11379219
SM is tight and precise when you sprint and time your jumps right. Takes more skill, yes, it won't connect right off the bat, but it feels so much better once it clicks.
I guess zoomers not liking it boils down to the same argument of them not getting tank controls. It isn't a standardized McMechanic, so it fries their brains.

>>11384259
do you think that only one person would bring up using an item to resist thunder attacks on the boss with electric attacks that are (for sotn standards) intimidating to deal with? lol

>>11387217
Same deal with Super IV. It's highly praised and that makes contrarians mad.

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>>11389393
I care about the interesting things to do with the game than listening to people complaining about how easy or how hard the challenge is. Difficulty is the most boring thing to talk about any game. Mario jumps are more interesting to talk about than difficulty, that's how boring the subject is.

>>11384390
Oh fug me I never saw that it was a proper full chapel in the background. I wondered why it was called the Chapel section but I didn't see any. I saw the stain glass but not that it's a full chapel.

So Dracula's Castle has a house of worship for god within it? What a mockery! It even contains the only holy element enemies in the game. And speaking of, the game's internal mechanics are shockingly complex and nuanced for the era, yet it hardly matters. Get out a pen and paper to eek out a bit more damage by exploiting the enemies elemental weaknesses, or just use a strong sword and rip through everything?

>>11384261
No it isn't lmao.

>>11379668
The thing is you can't expect the player to come up with any sort of strategy against a boss when everything else that came before was simply begging you to beat them into a pulp.

>>11388192
>when it isn't even top five
It's probably closest to bottom five actually.

>>11390771
Eh? Maybe? Even if you fought all other bosses the most braindead of ways, Galamoth will zap you hard, so he's the most likely to force even a less smart than average player to have to think about how to beat him.

The whole "normalfags are too stupid lol" doesn't hold up considering basic elemental resistance considerations are staples of games like Pokémon, which for the most part are very easy and normalfag friendly (the most profitable IP in the world to this day), it's extremely rudimentary and straightforward logic which even a mildly dumb kid can figure out, even if maybe not immediately. Flowers For Algernon is an apt comparison, it would take someone well below the median to be stonewalled by this, particularly when Resist Thunder would then let you fight Galamoth the mindless way.

>>11388192
We get it, you hate MetroidVanias and you're angry that people like them.

I started this game Saturday i believe and apparently i just finished it as im typing this. Isnt this short as fuck? I feel like the ending came so sudden, i must have not explored enough.
Guess ill have to replay it and explore more, game is pretty cool, definitely on the easier side

>>11391484
Did you kill Richter?

>>11391534
yes ofc, thats the ending.
If i knew i would have kept exploring, i thought the ending would be Dracula kek

>>11391484
You probably only completed the regular castle and didn't meet the requirements to get to the godawful inverted one.

>>11391546
In that case, consider going back and using Bat form to sweep the rest of the castle and see what new directions can be found.

>>11391552
Yes i will either do that or just start a new save

>>11391554
Restarting isn't needed. You just need to dig deeper. As in underground.

Why do some people hate the inverted castle?
I thought it was really cool when I got there, and the platforms being a bit out of reach and awkward to navigate actually gives this really cool feeling that the place is dangerous and not fit for humans to be in

>>11391609
Yeah ive been exploring and ive found that area

>>11391630
>Why do some people hate the inverted castle?
It's obvious it's a mid development idea as the flipped castle is incredibly tedious to navigate for the most simple reasons. Also the other castle of HoD just goes to show that having more layers of the same place is completely worthless and time and resources should be put in other places.

>>11391630
I don't hate it but the music should've been more varied and shouldn't reset every time you stop by a save room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeM7paJ17YM

>>11378779
So how do you even play this nowadays? Emulation? What version to emulate?

>>11391923
The deepest CV cut that Vampire Survivors makes in the entire DLC.

>>11391985
Emulate PS1 version pretty much
The other versions are also fine but a little gay in different ways, just stick with the PS1 version 2bdesu

>>11391985
PS1 with the quality hack which gives it widescreen support and a few non-intrusive adjustments.
PSP and SEGA sloppa have unnecessary clutter. Modern ports are ruined by sovless VA and inexcusably glitchy sound effects.

>>11392048
What emulators are kool kids using these days?
>>11392050
>quality hack which gives it widescreen support and a few non-intrusive adjustments
This thing?
>https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3606/

>>11392053
>What emulators are kool kids using these days?
Retroarch is the definitive emulator. Not gonna lie, it is not friendly for new users, but once you understand it, it is a smooth ride. Otherwise just get Swanstation if you just wanna play PS1 games.

>This thing?
Ye. there's even a prepatched version somewhere out there if you look it up properly.

>>11392053
>What emulators are kool kids using these days?
Beetle PSX on Retroarch
Any works though I don't think SOTN is exactly a problem case for emulators

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>>11392053
>>11392061
>>11392050
Personally I'd forego the "quality" hack, it patches this very fun bug
I guess it doesn't matter for a first play but it matters to me

>>11392093
>>11392061
Seems I got it working. Fuck, it's so nostalgic hearing the PS1 boot sound...
I'm at the patching the game part now, I got 3 files instead of an ISO and PPF O Matic can't recognise the CUE file. Should I download another game file hoping to get and ISO or this is what it is?

>>11392106
I believe for SOTN you just have to patch the track 1 BIN file, since that's where the game data is (I think track 2 is just music, and the cue is just instructions for how to run it and it's what you actually run in the emulator)

>>11392118
It's working.
Now I'm off to look for that old controller I had...
Thanks a lot.

>>11392093
>don't think SOTN is exactly a problem case for emulators
can confirm; my laptop is a shit but it ran SotN on ePSXe with no problem. if you actually struggle running anything older than a 5th generation game, you're probably using a certified shitbox

>>11391985
>What version to emulate?
Playstation is vanilla, Saturn has EXTRA contents but is a shoddy port, PSP has a new dub and an alternate Maria mode that plays differently from Saturn.

>>11378785
I thought that difficulty was used to corral and direct the player too much. Going the 'right' way was fairly easy. Wanna sequence break? The difficulty becomes insane in places. Still fun but it harms replay value unnecessarily to some extent.

>>11378858
Weapon variety could improve, I agree. Seems like this was addressed in later games.

>>11380013
Lol at the size of his right hand

>>11378846
>over 200 replies
You lost.

>>11378779
you are correct yes, those ae all real flaws that needed fixing, still a great game on style alone tho