In all seriousness, I love Circle of the Moon. It's a very nice looking and sounding game with a steady stream of new things to do in enough variety for the entire runtime. There's never a point where I stop seeking out breakable walls and side paths for stat upgrades and equipment, and the map manages to have all this while also not being a series of hallways that dead end you until you find the one progression path. It often mixes overt platforming with deliberate enemy placement that function more like knockback-enabled walls than something to kill. I like the intended gigantic pure skill-based sequence break that leaves you underleveled, and I can't recall another game that does this off the top of my head. The game can be as hard as you want it to be. The most crucial cards are easy to grind for and I don't recall spending more than 10 or so minutes on the worst ones (besides fallen angel and the battle arena cards) on any of my normal mode playthroughs, and the three that are a bitch to get have more applicability in magician mode where you have all the cards anyway. The screen attack action card which is nigh required for not wanting to eat your system fighting eye Dracula is an easy grind. There are so many effects that I usually find myself using something new just for fun and occasionally finding something powerful, so it doesn't matter that a few are duds, and all the enemies that benefit from being attacked with an elemental advantage have obvious tells as to what they'd be weak to. My only major problems are the fact there's zero leniency on letting go of a direction while running, so you have to double tap every time you turn around, and the limit of one card combination at a time is a little inhibiting. Having two or three action cards active at any one time would have inbuilt balancing in MP drain rate>tldrHobby gamers have a habit of saying "it's shit" at the first sign of a problem without balancing said problem against any positives a game has
>>12062645I like it more than Aria I don't care that Aria is vastly more popular. Also has one of the best final fights and probably the best final boss design and final boss music in the series. My one problem with it is the tapping twice to run. It's really not functional in the SOTN model of giant maps where you're constantly changing directions and not solely crawling forward in a single direction most of the time like all the ones aside from SOTN before it.
>>12062645>I like the first, least popular installment of [vidya trilogy]. The rest are redditslop.stunning and brave
>>12062684Harmony of Dissonance is by far the least popular.
>>12062684>The rest are redditslop.I didn't say this. I like Harmony and Aria is objectively the better game, I just like a few particular things about CotM more>>12062680>Also has one of the best final fights and probably the best final boss design and final boss music in the seriesAlso one of the hardest in the series if you don't have the levels and cards for it. Proof of Blood is one of the best gaming soundtracks ever made
>>12062692Final Dracula is mostly a test on how well you know your mobility options.>Poison Clouds - Whip spin them away>Lasers - Stay on the high ledges>Meteors - Stay under the high ledges and watch out for the ones angled right for you>Death charge - Super jump the moment you see him flash and be ready to repeat several times
>>12062732You can make that phase much faster and riskier by attacking him while dodging poison clouds on reaction or using an AoE card effect and quickly dropping and throwing a cross between lasers. Phase 2 is AIDS that I had to farm summon cards for
>>12062645Better than zero mission I can say that. Look how shit the backgrounds are in this game
>>12062825>filtered by pure ludo over backgroundsyou missed out
>>12062854I've played it before you mong, and it's nothing special
>>12062645It' doesn't have the polish of Aria but it definitely is a better game. It's basically the anti SotN, no fancy visuals, no fancy music, no fancy animation, not a mindless cakewalk about picking gazillions of trinkets through unending backtracking and a second half that's literally a terrible romhack, just a solid dungeon crawler.>The game can be as hard as you want it to beI really enjoyed that, the extra modes really change the experience.>>12062685For good reasons.>>12062825I'm replaying it right now after completing the original NES game, it is so fucking boring, it's like it was made for retards.
>>12062645>>12062680yea i like both of those games desui had aria and circle as a kid and played the shit out of boththen someone told me there was another handheld one on GBA that i missed, harmony of dissonance, and that it sucked. but then i played it, and found out they were fucking wrong. then, ;later on, i heard there were a trilogy of DS ones that came out, but everyone said they sucked cuz the art. and while the art DID kinda suck compared to the older artstyle, i played those too, and they were really fucking good tooCV games are just always pretty fucking good, at minimumeven the """bad""" ones like 2 are still pretty fun
>>12062692>Aria is objectively the better gameI actually don't agree with this at all, Circle of the Moon is a more impressive game and the best designed of all the Metroid-clone Castlevania games.The castle design is phenomenal and has my vote for the best of the GBA era. It perfectly captures that classic Castlevania flow, where the journey between checkpoints is often a long and perilous trek. The enemies actually fight back and hit hard at that, which forces you to be on your game and play consistently well. You frequently move through older areas to make your way to new ones, a design choice that really reinforces the castle's layout in your head. Every area is so memorable and well-done, and unlike in some later games where you might suddenly find yourself in a random garden or a circus tent, here you truly feel like you’re delving deeper into dangerous, cohesive territory with each step.The gameplay itself is also incredibly focused, especially compared to SotN and other games in the series after it. There aren't endless item drops that mostly amount to nothing to grind for. Instead, the game is built around the DSS card system. The ability to combine cards to create different powers makes every playthrough feel unique, and the abilities themselves feel well-balanced for the most part. This ties into the difficulty, which is a fair bit higher than most of the other "Igavanias", and that's a good thing. The grind in this game feels satisfying and purposeful, whether you're hunting for upgrades, the cards themselves or stocking up on consumables to survive that brutal colosseum gauntlet.And it's so refreshing to see sprite work on a 32-bit Casltevania game that is wholly original and has its own distinct identity, without recycled sprites from even fucking Rondo and completely separate from the aesthetic that would define the Igarashi-produced titles. It gives the game a unique and gritty atmosphere that stands on its own.
>>12062645>There's never a point where I stop seeking out breakable walls and side paths for stat upgrades and equipmentThere are 40 secret rooms in COTM taking up 56 map squares, it wouldn't surprise me if that was more than the rest of the series combined. 5.7% of the map is secret rooms.
>>12063827Another factor is the game's high difficulty make grabbing as many of the bonuses as possible something you want to do
>>12063746>Instead, the game is built around the DSS card system.not at all. >The ability to combine cards to create different powers makes every playthrough feel unique,this is only true to the extent that you might end up with some pointless gimmicks, a little trinket. played in a reasonable way without outside information you aren't going to end up with anything substantial enough to actually make choices. >and the abilities themselves feel well-balanced for the most partthere's a single optimal choice you have no reason to take off unless you're powergaming with a guide, put on the 25% boost and forget the system exists.
>>12062645Good
>>12062645It's probably the best "entry point" Castlevania for people who never played one and want to know what the series is all about.The issue with the best ones (SotN or Aria) is that you don't play as a whip user, let alone a Belmont. Circle of the Moon at least has the trademark whipping and not being canon means there's no extra lore bullshit to confuse newcomers with. And the story is Harmony of Dissonance but better.
HUTHO
>>12062645It's a decent gameFuck the battle arena though
>>12063910>there's a single optimal choice you have no reason to take off unless you're powergaming with a guide, put on the 25% boost and forget the system exists.>you'll never use anything but the cards a guide says to use unless you're using a guideThis is why people hate SotN>did you know this game that already has balancing issues is stupid easy if you use a guide that gives you busted gear in 15 minutes?And besides all that, there are many reasons to use other cards, especially the weapon, damage absorption, whip effect, projectile, summon, and misc ones
>>12062645it's okay but it's my least favourite of gba/ds vanias
>>12064240>>you'll never use anything but the cards a guide says to use unless you're using a guidethe point I'm making is that drop rates are so terrible without any indication of enemies that carry cards that in a realistic playthrough without going through a nauseating amount of grinding you're likely going to end up with few meaningful options. you're going to mess around with a handful of gimmicks and then naturally go back to the 25% damage boost.
>>12064275I found probably half naturally on my first playthrough. There are a few really bad ones, however the working luck stat and significant backtracking/level grinding get the rest well. And there's nothing wrong with using a card-specific guide for this game, as I consider it in the same league of using a guide to avoid Final Fantasy's bugged spells, basically required
>>12064275>the point I'm making is that drop rates are so terribleThat's why you are rewarded with Magician mode. Play that and you'll notice how the game is built around DSS. In fact, play all the other modes and you'll notice how well thought out the entire gameplay system is, because each one is a completely new experience that forces you to approach the game differently.This, in turn, is much better than the alternate character modes provided in the other Castlevania games, which let you toy around with a new overpowered character in empty maps.
I just want to play thief mode without having to beat the game four times.
>>12062854The backgrounds ain't the worst of a GBA game, but they were basically 2000s punk art when it's just an image converted to index and recolored via the GBA palettes, as opposed to actual sprite work, and GBA had some HIDEOUS background backdrops, and I don't just meant because of the bright colors, I mean, they got lazy with many of the backgrounds.
>>12063285You liked Eclessia? The worst IGAvania?
>>12063827>>12063839>>12063746Play the Card Hack, it makes the cards into items to find in place of many of the Upgrade Power ups, also gives you more Health Drops.
>>12064321>fuck it play the game again and we'll give you a debug mode, that's good design right?
>>12064275>drop rates are so terrible CotM actually has a functioning luck system unlike Aria and even Dawn, try taking advantage of it next time.>>12064401I only use the auto-dash hack or the randomizer myself. I don't mind not getting all the cards, plus you can use whatever you want through the DSS glitch anyway.>>12064445CotM's special modes all force you to engage the game in different ways without sacrificing the core progression or underminining the original game design. This is called replay value.
>>12064445>a debug modeThanks for confirming you've never played anything other than vampire killer mode in CotM.
>>12063946>The issue with the best ones (SotN or Aria)SotN is not only massively anti castlevania, it also happens to be anti castlevania because of critical design issues (more precisely the lack of design altogether), which basically makes it the best nothing.
>>12062645Looks good. Absolute legendary
>>12062645>I like the intended gigantic pure skill-based sequence break that leaves you underleveledWhat's that? Going to the waterway without the water purifier?
>>12065927Yes
>>12062645I like Harmony of Dissonance. The music and sprite art are fantastic.
>>12062645I barely remember the first time I played it a few years ago, but I'm playing it again now and I actually love it. I played a little of SotN side-by-side and I honestly like this more.I think a big part of that is that I like the whip more than the weapon drops, though.
>>12062645This game came out early in the gbas life cycle, if this wasn't part of your modest library back in the day you were gay.
>>12066239I was busy being not born for another year>underageI'm 23
>Contrarian of the Moon
>>12066348>Pajeet of Dissonance
>>12066714>Aria of S0ÿlent
>>12062645In all seriousness. Circle of the Moon is dogshit
>>12067495Then everything else is as well.
I used to have CotM and OoE as my favorites, but as time has gone on, I've learnt to appreciate how the GBA and DS games all bring something unique to the formula, and just play whatever suits best for the mood, lately I actually revisited HoD and PoE. HoD I've really looked at it in a more favorable light with replays, the atmosphere is pretty good and I really enjoy the feel of the areas that have an hostile atmosphere, and to think of it, all three GBA games have areas like this>pretty much every area of CotM>inverted castle, clock tower, that one early area that's full of crystals, the sewers >the arena, those areas in the chapel and inner quarters where you can see a storm raging outside, the floating area, top floorMy only gripe is that the tension is gone after your first visit of the area, since you'll have leveled up enough that in revisits you won't have too much trouble. I played some Aria romhacks that increase enemy damage and have nonsensical maps, they're fun for a ride but pretty whack.>>12062825>>12064363My guess is they tried to keep the feel of black void backgrounds of NEStroid, but they do end up feeling half baked when compared to Crateria, Chozodia and Fusion's map
>>12062645>It's a very nice lookingIf you've got a backlight screen, sure. I had an original GBA and HoD/AoS were a revelation in being able to see what was happening
>>12070285DS Lite counts as original hardware
i'm farming a fallen angel for the saturn cardthe fallen angel enemy is a bitch
>>12070591i've just been hitting it with axesthe saturn card just dropped too
>>12062680>I like it more than Aria I don't care that Aria is vastly more popularAria is more "popular" because it's for sissy casuals.
>>12062684>least popularCotM was the only handheld game to break 500k launch sales. Harmony of Dissonance flopped.
>>12070619There were no games. It benefitted from nogame syndrome.
>>12070627>moving goalpostsDon't care, pure revisionism to say it's the least popular. Was always liked. And the 64 games were always shit, while I'm at it. Revisionist zoomers fuck off.
>>12066242>born 2002But 4chan just came out in 2003, that doesn't make sense.
>>12070645What happens whenever a system launches?Dumb people buy it and like 5 new games. Then it all goes in the closet.
>>12065965>>12065927I've not fought Death in my last four playthroughs.
>>12062645I agree. My favorite Castlevania game of all time, in fact. It's got perfect atmosphere, fun level design, fun bosses, fun DSS card system, and almost never gets boring. It's one of those games you can just throw on and enjoy casually for a few minutes.>>12062692>>12062732It's been years since I've played all the way through, but I remember the game being piss easy in general and don't recall Dracula being an exception to that. But I definitely had all the DSS cards.
>>12070645>And the 64 games were always shit, while I'm at it.Wrong, they and CotM are both Kobe bangers.
>>12072112Original N64 is quite underbaked.
