Topic: Curse of Darkness

[beingthehero]

What do you all think of this game nowadays?

Frankly, it's a bad game. Yet for some reason, and I have no idea why, I always get the urge to play it from time to time. And just as well, I actually have a decent amount of mindless fun. Some places like the Mortvia Aqueduct and Cordova Town are hectic enough that it's actually quite entertaining to slash enemies and see the crazy amounts of blood fly all over the screen. And some places like the Garibaldi Temple and the Abandoned Castle still retain that definitive CV mood despite how obnoxiously repetitive they are.

On the other hand, that otherworldly place where you fight Dullahan and 98% of Dracula's castle are pure tedium. The game's greatest challenge is forcing yourself to slowly power-jog through every samey hallway. The game definitely has Takeda Takashi's hallmarks: cram much "stuff" into the game as possible regardless of the fun factor. He got away with it in Harmony of Dissonance, where flat, monotonous areas were confined to just the Aqueduct of Dragons and some parts of the Castle Keep (also degraded sound for quasi-32 bit graphics on a 16-bit system), but here...ughghgh. Curse is definitely a huge game, but it's huge, flat, and monotonous. The Clock Tower is also possibly the worst thing, even though the beginning parts are kind of fun.

On the other hand, the art and music are amazing. Both were definitely darker than Lament, and it's easy to see how the game injected a rather morbid feel back into the series, probably to counterbalance Dawn's pre-teen anime presentation. Issac is also one of the best of the 'other' Castlevania villains.

Even though he was rather flat, I actually like Hector as a character. ;_;

[X]

I actually enjoyed play CoD and even today I still get that odd craving every now and then. I've never fully completed the game (as in getting/making everything possible) but I have finished it. What leaves me disappointed with it is that Hector is able to kill Dracula. Another attempt brought on by IGA to discount the Belmont's main role in the series. As almost everyone knows; Any person who lacks the Belmont blood cannot kill the count. This was established long ago in CV's early history (the only exception I'll ever allow is Alucard). IGA has conveniently thrown this out the window in favor of his own "personal" creativity. This opinion is also backed up by the fact that Issac had stabbed Trevor in order to remove him as a threat...more like IGA had him stabbed to remove him from being the hero once more. But this doesn't make any real sense since Trevor should sensed Issac was in the room with him and thus, dodged the near-fatal attack. It would have been much more acceptable to have the game end with fighting Death instead as Death is nowhere near to the level of power that Dracula is. The graphics were one of the unfortunate victims of this game as they don't have much of the clear detail that was present in LoI. The music is perhaps the highlight of the whole game itself and is perhaps one of, if not the only reason I still play it. I also found the lack of breakable walls and power-up items to be a disappointment too. LoI had these things coming out the wazoo, but in CoD they are scarce to the point of near none-existence. Another thing that kinda bothered me at first but not so much anymore was the steal ability. The enemies have to be manipulated in such a way as to allow you to steal from them. As if the game's other issues weren't annoying enough. I'd personally would rather just steal from them and be done with it or have the enemies just drop random items period. The final aspects of the game is both the overly long areas and the twin dual towers. The levels didn't need to be this long. They could've been shorter which would prevent the player from feeling bored after a time. The dual tower segments I feel have no real purpose what-so-ever. They don't contribute to the game as anything really important. It's just a fight fest that could've easily had it's own separate selection in the start menu. With the levels cropped down and the towers removed completely I think the game would've been much better and would allow for some more important implements in the game such as sharper graphics. The voice acting I felt was much better then in LoI. The CG characters, their movements and the scripts ran smooth and more natural. I also liked how they got one of the the voice actors from 'Ghost in the Shell: Standalone complex' to play as Hector. I felt he did a great job. The Character St. Germain I felt had no reason to be in the game either. In fact I'd rather not have time travelers in any CV game unless it was the very focus of the game itself. In short: I like this game but it has lots of flaws and is ultimately a failed sequel to one of the best NES CV games of all time. It had potential, but IGA failed to let it shine.

[FerryMANsAJEDI]

I much prefer Lament of innocence fixed camera as well  because in COD sometimes the camera flies all over the place.

 

[Nagumo]

This game always depresses me. The game's world is so gray and dull, it can suck away your excitement for the Castlevania series for a while if your not careful.  Perhaps they were kind of going for a depressing feel because of Dracula's curse and all that, but I prefer the victorian gothic type of atmosphere I felt Lament pulled off very well. The game is also very ugly compared to Lament, and it barely focuses on decorations and little details in the background. Garibaldi Temple was ok in that regard I suppose, but the rest of the stages are certainly not. I do dig the combat, though. It's the reason why I think this game can still be mindless fun.

This might be a bit off-topic, but the plot of this game was also a bit random sometimes. What was the deal with St. Germain exactly? I don't think the game explained that very well. It might be a result of IGA's contrived way of storytelling, but I don't know. What he deliberately meant to be an enigma? If somebody could tell why exactly he was involved in the plot, I would be very interested in hearing that.                 

[Munchy]

Wasn't too keen on this game. The weapon forging and ID leveling were pretty fun to mess with though.

I would love either a 2D Metroidvania to use those two systems, or for some crazy fuck to somehow "romhack" the original to have fun levels.

[JR]

I think X described perfectly why I didn't like this game. I tried to get into it, even playing through twice and getting everything the second time (I aimed to do this on the first playthrough, but I ended up wanting to get Dracula's Castle over with as soon as possible after being in there for 10 minutes).

There was so much in this game that just seemed unnecessary or incomplete, almost like they threw their hands up at some point and said "screw this shit" in disgust and just called it a day.

I know this is the only game in the series that I can safely say I'll never play again. This probably isn't the worst game in the series, but I didn't really have fun with it at all.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

As much as I love the game, it's impossible to ignore every fault, and hoo boy, the game has plenty of them.

The plot feels rather like Iga and his team took every unused Castlevania plot device since Symphony, slathered some glue on them, and flung them from a bucket onto a storyboard.

The Dynasty Warriors combat was DREADFUL. It's easily the worst attempt at 3D combat in the series.

"PRESS THESE TWO BUTTONS OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO WIN."

Real smooth, Konami.

"Oh, and there may be some blocking and dodging involved."

Thanks for the brilliant gameplay.

That said, the game has some pretty tight boss battles, with Isaac, Trevor, and surprisingly Dracula all offering amazing boss entries in the series, but that doesn't stop Hector/Trevor's very limited movesets from growing endlessly stale.

The stages are dull, tedious, and invariably boring, though there is room for some occasional pretty; as often as Garibaldi Cathedral is talked about, the Abandoned Castle at the beginning left a very strong impression on me.

The music is all around great, with the sole exception of the Infinite Corridor, where the music is more tedious than the stage. But that dud aside, it's my top Castlevania soundtrack of all time. I wish I could use it for Lords of Shadow; it would have made it a much better game.

The voice acting also tends towards the strong side, with Hector, Isaac, Zead, Saint Germaine, and Dracula all having top notch performances. I wish Julia and Trevor's voices packed a bit more dramatic OOMPH, especially Julia's.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this game's strength lies more or less entirely in its presentation, rather than the gameplay itself. The music, voices, and art all amaze all these years later, but the game itself is sadly beneath the other 3D titles, especially Lords, which is basically Curse's opposite: while Curse looks the part but flops in the gameplay department, Lords plays great, but doesn't look at all like a Castlevania should.

Curse got half the formula right, but getting half the recipe right still results in a crappy cake.

That said, I still love the game for the half it gets right. So, woohoo!

[Koutei]

CoD is my worst Igavania.

Dracula

[excuse]Since Dracula's soul possessed Isaac's body, Dracula was not perfect power.[/excuse]

[Chernabogue]

The only big problem I encountered with CoD is the fact that Hector is very, very slow. Some environments are also a bit empty.

Otherwise, CoD is nice game IMO. I love the combat system, the forging stuff and ID evolution. And the music is by far my favorite CV soundtrack.

[beingthehero]

Yeah X-sama, that wasn't really Dracula. It was just his weakened soul possessing Issac's body. Castlevania itself was really just the product of Issac and Hector's forgerin'.

That's also why Alucard, Hector, LeCarde, John and Jonathan Morris were able to kill him as well, because he was just resurrected outside the 100 year timeframe. Jonathan even mentions that he's relieved because Dracula isn't at his full power yet, because then it would've been impossible for him to kill him. As this goes all the way back to Bloodlines in '94, this is hardly IGA's doing or without precedent. Nobody is invincible in this series, after all; even Alucard, IGA's favorite character, is defeated by Dmitri before Soma gets there.

Incapacitating Trevor (but pointedly not killing him) was meant as a way to make the player feel overwhelmed, really. Right before you go inside Dracula's castle, Hector tells Julia that they need Trevor and his whip, since he killed Dracula last time (before 'alas he is recovering having his weak point hit with massive damage also go alone pls'). 

It's when Dracula resurrects at his 100-year-power that only a Belmont can destroy him (Simon, Christopher, Julius, Richter, etc). Also the whole 'IGA hates all the old heroes, ruuuuu!' is as old and dumb as saying Nathan Graves was the manifestation of KO-G's hate for all the Belmonts and past CVs in favor of his own 'personal' creativity.

[beingthehero]

Though on the other hand, Trevor is now condemned to being the star of the Pachislot games, so I guess he did get a bum deal after all.

[Nagumo]

That depends on how you look at it, Hero-kun. According to the producer of the pachislots, Pachislot I and II take place in an alternate timeline where Trevor gets to be the hero of CoD instead of Hector.     

[X]

The only big problem I encountered with CoD is the fact that Hector is very, very slow.

I knew I'd forgotten something 

[darkmanx_429]

That depends on how you look at it, Hero-kun. According to the producer of the pachislots, Pachislot I and II take place in an alternate timeline where Trevor gets to be the hero of CoD instead of Hector.     

You can play as Trevor in COD when you beat the game..."@TREVOR"

[Las]

For me personally i will say both Lament and CoD were both very well done i enjoyed both of them. CoD was a better game all around for me and for various reason. IT almost had the appeal of a sotn 3d type game. Which is cool, but the story line was also cool imo. The fact dracula hand a right and left hand lackey's was a cool concept. Also the story has a pretty positive ending. I prefer those like many. Unfortuenly for the first of the cv game on ps2 Lament's ending was not bad but it did not impress me, for the fact that everyone in the game ends up losing something without gaining a thing. No happy,fairytale ending, same can be said their of with LoS. But i do feel like they left room for more in LoS, if they make a sequel i wouldnt' be suprised. You almost get the feeling something got left out in that game. I almost woulda like to see them cut the ending of right at the credits. That,even though sad, would have been a perfect ending for that game. Overall with lament and curse of darkness i kinda wish they put in more baddies and more bosses for certain areas and not have to many regurgated enemies in the same areas like fishmen for example or puking zombie ghouls. But the level design,gameplay, characters are all stellar as hell and at the time gave players differnt options to choose from a couple whip weilders, a demon summoner who's weaponarey is off the charts, and yeah the option to float around as a vampire. I have almost no complaints at all about the ps2 games they were awesome all around the board. Like i said with LoS the ending sorta got to me. I like the gameplay, the zelda ish type feel, new enemies,bosses all, and some of the storyline(although at times it became a bit wierd). The level design in LoS and graphics,was beyond what i would have expected for even a ps3 game. Awesome on that part! So yeah i enjoyed them all. Probably goes CoD,Lament and LoS. Did anyone catch Christopher lee narrating Lament and Hayden Christensen(anakin skywalker) as leon belmont, or was that just me? Sure as hell sounds like them anyways? Obviously Patrick Stewart narrates LoS, that was a dead give away from Star Trek series.