Topic: is Castlevania: OoE possibly better than Symphony?

[DraimanBelieve]

So I finally finished off Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia which I actually bought when it was first released (I pre-ordered it). After getting my DS broke not long after I bought the game and then getting my DS back from Nintendo not even 2 or 3 weeks ago I have started playing it again. I just beat the game at 100% with all 14 boss medals and most of the items and every glyph in the game there is very little else for me to do except to play through the different Modes that you unlock. This game has gotten a lot of unfair criticism from some people and I feel its somewhat underrated. This is the best Castlevania game since Symphony of the Night hit the PS1 and in a lot of ways it might just be better.

Its definitely next to Symphony but its real close on which game is better? Its basically a lot like Simon's Quest from the old NES but with a lot of Symphony of the Night's elements and features thrown in. Everything from the storyline to even the way the graphics look is really neat. I loved the new environments and I feel that the bosses were just epic and hard for once. Some people griped that the "stages" were too short and felt disjointed compared to the castle I felt that it was really cool.

Of course some of the stages just felt like one huge corridor to another area but even then they served their purpose. Basically you can't please everyone all people did was complain about how Castlevania's 2D series was starting to run out of steam because they kept using the same formula since Symphony over and over and over again and releasing new games based off that game. This game is just epic and it was really new and fresh. It felt familiar but in a other ways it felt fresh and new. The glyph system I felt worked better than the Soul System in the previous games because of how you could combine different glyphs and do different "Glyph Union" attacks and combos. I also liked how they put a female as the lead character instead of Alucard or a Belmont for once in the game.

The music was amazing from start to finish from the beginning to the end. I think that its got some of the strongest music in the series since Symphony. Its just a great game kills Portrait of Ruin and I think its a little bit better than Dawn and Aria of Sorrow. Symphony of the Night is one of those games thats really hard to top but this game actually gets closer to toppling it but I can't say if it actually does. Symphony of the Night is up on this pedestal as the one of the greatest CV games ever but if this game isn't better than SotN then its at least very close or on par with it. I would personally give it a 10/10 there really isn't anything I can find wrong with the game.

[Saner]

personally I feel OoE is better. but SOTN has the advantage cause it's on console and much greater impact playing it on a good TV and good controller.

SOTN's castle(s) are much bigger but OoE feels like a more complete adventure because there are so many locations and the castle itself wasn't tiny like in CV2 where the last part was just a brief trek to fight Dracula.

the only thing I thought woulda been better is if OoE used
classic tracks after the plot twist and final location appeared on the map,  the previous locations should of been given classic music,  like the village should of
been given the CV2 town theme.  and one of the forest levels should of been given bloody tears, and stuff.
That woulda made the last hours feel more like Castlevania.

but both are great. 

[redrum]

just because it has a town doesn't make it anything like cv2

oh and sotn sucks!  have a nice day!

[darkwzrd4]

I personally think that they are equal. 

[silvermoonlight]

Interesting perspectives. I personally still enjoy SOTN a little more than OOE, although OOE is definitely a close second, followed by DOS. In my mind there's still no trumping SOTN though.

[Saner]

well SOTN is great in some ways, but it's sooo tearfully TOO EASY!   even The Bouncer is harder than SOTN.

[Battler Ushiromiya]

Interesting perspectives. I personally still enjoy SOTN a little more than OOE, although OOE is definitely a close second, followed by DOS. In my mind there's still no trumping SOTN though.

You're joking, right? DoS wasn't that good of a CV. Hell, Portrait was a better game that DoS, for the most part (DoS had a better scriptwriter, but that's it). If anything, DoS was possibly one of the worst Metroidvanias, since it was basically just a repeat of Aria of Sorrow. It didn't really give us anything new at all, except for the seals which IMO, sucked.

[Saner]

yeah DoS is vastly overrated.  it's just popular because of the who the main character is, which is actually kinda lame, they might as well just make a Castlevania where the original CV Dracula is playable and he just goes on a rampage destroying a rival vampire's castle.  :p

[Dr. Mario]

Weird. I don't even see OoE as really a great game or anything. I mean it's the best CV in about 10 years (basically post SotN), but that isn't really saying much. I mean it's the only one of the hand held CVs that I actually enjoyed playing somewhat. I will say that I think the gripe about the stages is pretty legitimate. I like the idea of the stages, but I wouldn't mind more exploration to them. I mean most of the stages really felt like a long corridor to me.

Basically though, my thoughts on OoE are that it's a step in the right direction. The idea of having some pretty distinctly different new areas, while still having a decent sized castle is nice. I also liked the strategy needed with the glyphs. You couldn't just strap on the strongest one you have at the time and tear through the castle. You have to use certain ones for certain enemies. I liked that. I think it just really still didn't feel fresh enough for me. When it comes down to it, it's still just another platformer with RPG elements.

[Rugal]

yeah DoS is vastly overrated.

I say the same about SotN. As far as I'm concerned, CoD kicks the crap out of it.

[DraimanBelieve]

I always felt that Aria was better than DoS but DoS did things that Aria didn't.

[The Last Belmont]

nope

[Battler Ushiromiya]

In Reply To #12

...Nope to what?

[The Last Belmont]

In Reply To #12

...Nope to what?

to the initial question. OOE while a good solid game doesn't compare to SOTN.

[Profbeanburrito]

I like them both equally. I've been waiting for a Castlevania game that did what OoE did. Have plenty of different types of areas to explore as well as a massive Castlevania map. Plus, its harder difficulty was needed.

But I still do love SotN. The atmosphere of the castle, the music, the castles layout and levels is just so well put together that it'll always remain high on my list