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Seeing as Castlevania: Lord of Shadows is sneaking it's way on to PC at the end of August and it's sequel currently in the works I have personally been on a Castlevania binge. Just like it's kissing cousin Metroid I have only just discovered this franchise in the past few years and am really late to the party but I am hoping that new and old fans can get together and have some general talk of past, present and future for one of the most influential gothic adventure series in video game history. After seeing some online retrospectives I am astonished at how much trivia the franchise is steeped in. From the first Castlevania game being the first ever Konami game on a Nintendo console, the difficulty of transferring to 3D and how Lord of Shadows was not going to be a Castlevania game half way through development. So I am hoping their is something to banter about like whips... rear end hard bosses... convoluted story time line or some poo poo. Here are some purdy pictures and links you already know about. Castlevania Wiki Lord of Shadows official site Castlevania Crypt fan site Castlevania Retrospective 
Ronnie fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Aug 3, 2013 |
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Aug 3, 2013 19:02
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Does anyone still play Harmony of Despair? I was almost done maxing out Julius, and then finding a game became an impossible nightmare. And the game is no fun solo.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:04
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I could have sworn that I saw an interview saying that Lords of Shadow was always intended to be a Castlevania game. They just said that so that it wouldn't detract from Castlevania Judgment.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:13
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Still waiting for a game set in 1999.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:16
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blackguy32 posted:I could have sworn that I saw an interview saying that Lords of Shadow was always intended to be a Castlevania game. They just said that so that it wouldn't detract from Castlevania Judgment. Well from what I dug up the game was intended to be a Castlevania game then the big wigs at Konami got concerned and decided to make it its own IP but when Mercurysteam went to the head offices and showed them what they had done so far they were really impressed and put the Castlevania name back on the title. Konami has found it rather difficult in the late nineties/early two thousands to put the games in a third dimension they invested a lot of money in to the projects and never got the sales figures they were hoping for. I feel technology and game mechanics of today can now finally give Castlevania the polish it deserves Batman Arkham Asylum comes to mind.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:26
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Should I take it that the upcoming Steam release is actually a good game? The only 3d Castlevania I've played was the one on N64, can someone describe what Lord of Shadows is like? I think a 3d Castlevania that was more Dark Souls than Devil May Cry would be incredible, which end of the spectrum is this one on? e: Oh, hey, there's a demo. I guess I'll just play that!
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Aug 4, 2013 00:38
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crazkylo posted:Does anyone still play Harmony of Despair? I was almost done maxing out Julius, and then finding a game became an impossible nightmare. And the game is no fun solo. It's my go to game for curing boredom. I'll help you out if you're on PS3.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:46
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Blunt Force Trauma posted:Should I take it that the upcoming Steam release is actually a good game? The only 3d Castlevania I've played was the one on N64, can someone describe what Lord of Shadows is like? I think a 3d Castlevania that was more Dark Souls than Devil May Cry would be incredible, which end of the spectrum is this one on? It's really more God of War in terms of combat and gameplay, but with more platforming than God of War. It's a really fun game that happens to have Patrick Stewart hamming it the hell up and it's wonderful.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:47
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Hungry Bit posted:Still waiting for a game set in 1999. loving seriously, I want the goddamn game where we get to for real kill Dracula.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:49
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I like how even setting Dawn of Sorrow 30 years in the future you still just run around a medieval castle using swords and basic weapons. Goes to show it doesn't matter what year you set the games in it's core theme and aesthetic still makes you feel like its the 14th century. Well apart from all the animu they add in to the first two DS games because it sells better in Japan.
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Aug 4, 2013 00:57
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Part of that comes from the clockwork/steampunk influences the games have had at least since the 16-bit era. Adding mechanical-type enemies isn't anything particularly new, and Dawn of Sorrow would have had to add more explicitly "modern day" things to change the feel of it. Soma had the swank wardrobe and a pistol but that's about as far as they went with it. (and a laser cannon weapon, iirc)
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Aug 4, 2013 04:05
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I honestly thought that the storyline would be full on stupid after I saw the epilogue of Lords of Shadow, but I think they managed to make it work somehow. I kind of want to see how it plays out in Lords of Shadow 2.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:00
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I really like Aria of Sorrow. The souls system worked well, the castle was big without being overwhelming, and the controls were more responsive than I'm used to in the Metroidvania releases. (Going back and seeing how stiff Alucard controls in comparison in SotN is really surprising.) I felt Dawn of Sorrow had its moments, but the Seals system felt like a clumsy, tacked-on excuse to use the touchscreen and the weapon upgrade system would've been great if it hadn't been basically mandatory. AoS had a ton of weapons lying around the castle to find, but DoS clearly wants you to grind for souls to upgrade the lower-end weapons, and honestly, gently caress that. I keep hoping for another Soma Cruz game, but it looks like they're not going in that direction with the series anymore.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:17
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Blunt Force Trauma posted:Should I take it that the upcoming Steam release is actually a good game? The only 3d Castlevania I've played was the one on N64, can someone describe what Lord of Shadows is like? I think a 3d Castlevania that was more Dark Souls than Devil May Cry would be incredible, which end of the spectrum is this one on? It's the best of the 3D Castlevania games but it's pretty obviously just some other game with the Castlevania name tacked on. It's reasonably pretty, it's very lengthy (too long, even, and horribly paced) and as far as western-developed action games go it's not as braindead as the likes of God of War or Heavenly Sword or whatever.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:25
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How about some classicvania chat? Namely, Rondo of Blood, which I recently bought on the Wii VC. It's my first time really playing a castlevania game and let me tell you it's one hell of an introduction. Fantastic music, tight level design, and naturally hard as balls. I had to resort to using Maria to beat Dracula but one day I will be back and really learn his patterns with Richter. I'm also still not entirely sure how to do that loving bridge section in level 7 with richter...
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Aug 4, 2013 09:34
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Hungry Bit posted:Still waiting for a game set in 1999. This would likely make Konami plenty of money, as I haven't really seen the demand for a 2D Castlevania go away, whereas I haven't seen the demand for a 3D Castlevania rise at all. Lords of Shadows might have done well enough to warrant a sequel, but they have to know that their fanbase is just waiting for a great 2D game again. It's been way too long since Aria of Sorrow (the last GREAT 2D game). Order of Ecclesia was fine, but it was no SotN. Aria was the last game I could even start to compare to SotN. EDIT: Rondo was an excellent game, the perfect bridge between a Metroidvania and classic Castlevania gameplay. It's easily the best game in the series.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:34
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Pyroxene Stigma posted:Lords of Shadows might have done well enough to warrant a sequel, but they have to know that their fanbase is just waiting for a great 2D game again. I feel really alone in liking Mirror of Fate all of a sudden.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:38
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Lords of Shadow did better than every other Castlevania game, or at least that's the line the PR people keep repeating. Even if the developers (MercurySteam) do move on from Lords of Shadow after the next game, I can't imagine we'll ever see a true return to either the SOTN-style games or the classic games.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:57
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alcharagia posted:I feel really alone in liking Mirror of Fate all of a sudden. Sorry, don't have a 3DS, I left that out of my commentary. It may have been a fantastic game.
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Aug 4, 2013 09:59
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Pyroxene Stigma posted:Sorry, don't have a 3DS, I left that out of my commentary. It may have been a fantastic game. It really wasn't.
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Aug 4, 2013 10:04
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Anyone played Curse of Darkness on PS2? That game is not often mentioned but I thought it was great. Also I'm waiting for a new IGAvania on 3DS, is it too much to ask for? 
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Aug 4, 2013 10:14
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As much as I can appreciate the series from its pure platforming days, every post-SotN Metroidvania-style Castlevania has been goddamned amazing to me. SotN, of course, is goddamn near perfection and started off the whole style. The GBA titles, while the first two are flawed, are fantastic in spite of the limitations of the hardware. Then the 3 on the DS are PHENOMENAL, just absolutely the best games of the genre, period, especially Dawn and Portrait. I seriously wish there were more 2D Castlevanias headed down the pipeline, since they're easily the best gaming experiences I've had in the last decade or so. Curse of Darkness owns, too. It feels quite 'right' in spite of being 3D. They took all the right elements from the Metroidvania style set up with SotN and ported it to the then-current generation. I still play Curse of Darkness on PCSX2 whenever I need a good fix of that style.
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Aug 4, 2013 10:32
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I got all excited at the mention of a Castlevania game coming to PC... and then saw everybody talking about 3D.  I'll probably try it anyways, but drat it, just because 2D graphics aren't that demanding doesn't mean they should be the exclusive domain of handhelds.
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Aug 4, 2013 10:36
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Apoplexy posted:Then the 3 on the DS are PHENOMENAL, just absolutely the best games of the genre, period, especially Dawn and Portrait. Dawn of Sorrow wasn't great even compared to Aria of Sorrow. Portrait was great fun, but it still didn't take the crown from SotN. PaletteSwappedNinja posted:It really wasn't. Looking at it on Youtube, it seems like the combat was adept, and the 2.5D style added something SotN couldn't compete with. I'm not trying to defend a game I haven't played, but it looks significantly more fun than Harmony of Dissonance?
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Aug 4, 2013 10:37
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Pyroxene Stigma posted:Dawn of Sorrow wasn't great even compared to Aria of Sorrow. I'm sure SotN reflects better for those who grew up on it, but I started my Metroidvania addiction with trying Dawn of Sorrow at random and falling in love. That said, Aria was perfect for the GBA. Dawn is perfect if you ignore the seals. Only flaw in an otherwise-perfect game. Portrait is still my favorite of all time, though, since I loving love every single part of it, with the only stipulation of how it could be better is if there were unique art assets for each world instead of having all of them re-used for a later portrait world. That and the castle needs to be bigger, with a much larger emphasis, as opposed to the portrait worlds seeming to be. Still, though, amazing. OoE didn't exactly do anything different that made it stand out, like PoR did with its twin characters or the Sorrows did with the souls system.
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Aug 4, 2013 10:47
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I played SOTN again last year and it's just as good as it ever was. Holy poo poo, that game. Also I fully expect to never see a game like that on a big console ever again. Hell, maybe not even on a portable. Soon we'll see Castlevania the browser game and know that the dream is over. edit: I've played Guacamelee and some of the other recent Metroidvania games but for me, the quiet gloominess is part of that genre, and it just isn't anywhere to be found.
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Aug 4, 2013 10:50
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I'm still waiting to be able to kill Draculas with guns. I want a fusion between Contra, Metal Slug and Castlevania, it must be done at least once....just to see what would happen.
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Aug 4, 2013 11:00
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WendigoJohnson posted:I'm still waiting to be able to kill Draculas with guns. I've never gone through the whole game with Albus in Order of Ecclesia but if you want to shoot Dracula in the face with a hand gun that is a thing you could do.
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Aug 4, 2013 11:56
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WendigoJohnson posted:I'm still waiting to be able to kill Draculas with guns. Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission replaced the floaty movement of the first three games with controls that felt as tight as Contra. Zero Mission is also designed for sequence breaking, and the controls are even faster and more responsive than before to encourage speed running.
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Aug 4, 2013 13:35
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Kurtofan posted:Anyone played Curse of Darkness on PS2? That game is not often mentioned but I thought it was great. It also has one hell of an awesome soundtrack to boot, I only wish that they would have refined some of the design and game-play mechanics a bit more, it really needs to cut the need for grinding in half and add some sort of a run button so you don't have to dodge-roll everywhere to travel at a decent speed Examples of kickin' rad music here, here, and here NoodleBox fucked around with this message at 13:48 on Aug 4, 2013 |
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Aug 4, 2013 13:41
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ParliamentOfDogs posted:I've never gone through the whole game with Albus in Order of Ecclesia but if you want to shoot Dracula in the face with a hand gun that is a thing you could do. Further proof that this is the raddest Castlevania. I wish I actually owned it instead of borrowing it once. 
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Aug 4, 2013 13:57
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I just played through Vampire:Master of Darkness on the 3DS virtual console. If you're really desperate for a classic Castlevania that you aren't above competent but not as polished knock-offs you should check it out. Haven't played Mirror of Fate yet. Been waiting for it to hit 20 bucks, since I haven't heard anything especially positive about it.
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Aug 4, 2013 14:11
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NoodleBox posted:It also has one hell of an awesome soundtrack to boot, I only wish that they would have refined some of the design and game-play mechanics a bit more, it really needs to cut the need for grinding in half and add some sort of a run button so you don't have to dodge-roll everywhere to travel at a decent speed It's a shame that the levels are so long that the music loops into eternity. The music for the first Dracula fight is probably my favorite in the whole game.
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Aug 4, 2013 16:31
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TheKingofSprings posted:Further proof that this is the raddest Castlevania. I wish I actually owned it instead of borrowing it once. I've found it extremely hard to find a copy of OoE. I never knew it was so rare. Which is too bad, because i think shanoa is awesome.
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Aug 4, 2013 16:33
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Pyroxene Stigma posted:This would likely make Konami plenty of money, as I haven't really seen the demand for a 2D Castlevania go away, whereas I haven't seen the demand for a 3D Castlevania rise at all. I'm sure if the 2D games made money, we would get more of them. Especially now that it seems just about every franchise is getting some lovely phone / tablet game made to cash in. edit: I do like the 2D games, but it does start to get stale after X iterations of the same basic formula. Not that Lords of Shadow was that much better as it was just a competent, but nothing special, brawler. Clearly Konami needs to hand Castlevania over to Platinum games.
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Aug 4, 2013 16:35
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I loved the bold direction the latest Castlevania game got. It was a little weird that they ditched the whole Dracula angle, and it really didn't matter what you made your character look like, but they went back to being NES hard. The whole soul system was pretty cool, and the invasion system is starting to get copied in everything next gen. I can't wait for the continuation in March.
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Aug 4, 2013 16:52
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Marogareh posted:It's my go to game for curing boredom. I'll help you out if you're on PS3. if I'm lucky I get into a game with a bunch of japanese players who seem to desync from meDid anyone play the Saturn Version of SOTN? I hear it had more content to it, and that you could play as Maria. Or maybe that was just a schoolyard myth.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:05
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crazkylo posted:360 It does indeed have Maria, all her abilities have her doing stuff with little animals (like double jump had some little birds lift her, etc) The extra content was some garden/greenhouse thing if I remember, not that great of an addition.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:28
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Doji Sekushi posted:It does indeed have Maria, all her abilities have her doing stuff with little animals (like double jump had some little birds lift her, etc) Oh, Looking into it a bit it seems it was a Japan only release. And people want $100 for it. I'll stick with my old ps1 copy, or maybe the xbox arcade version I downloaded so I can be lazy and not have to hook up my playstation.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:41
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Mirror of Fate was clumsy and janky where the old 2D 'vanias were sharp and pixel-perfect. The gulf between the two in terms of playability was enormous.
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Aug 4, 2013 17:42
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