Topic: The new games make me want to cry

[Long John Silver]

Dunno, i think the cotm artist did pretty well. Too bad the game itself kind of sucked with its poor controls and very repetitive enemy recolors, though it had a very high difficulty, something not seen in any other castleroid.

Even por's level 1 caps are just poor imitations.

[Abnormal Freak]

I don't understand the statement that the DS provides nothing but entertainment for children. I'm a young man well beyond my childhood years and I love the little machine. I also can't imagine a kid being into a game like Hotel Dusk.

Have you played Mega Man ZX? If you're disappointed in the recent CV games (as I am), this game's a nice place to find solace. It's basically the classic MM/MMX gameplay (complete with a boss in every area that gives you powers) fused with free-roaming and separate rooms a la SOTN. But unlike SOTN and the GBA/DS games, it's actually a platformer, and pretty tough to boot. Only complaint I have about it is the really odd map system. They should have just gone the route of the Super Metroid/SOTN map.

I wish Castlevania would do something like MMZX. Classic Castlevania platforming gameplay (with a whip, by golly) but with the nonlinear direction of SOTN. Bring some platforming fun and toughness back into the series already. That's what Castlevania WAS, a platformer! And sure, Simon's Quest kind of fits the bill, but that game has a lot of flaws.

[crisis]

In Reply To #15
I understand where you're coming from, but you're just simply reiterating what's been said over and over for the past few years now. Castlevania isn't what it used to be, OK we get the point. There's nothing we could do about it until the next producer comes along.

I wish Castlevania would do something like MMZX.

I just hope people won't start calling it CastlevaniaZX lol.

[Abnormal Freak]

I just hope people won't start calling it CastlevaniaZX lol.

Yeah. :o I hate the Metroidvania name--which, by the way, is so much better and more descriptive than Castleroid. Seriously, Castleroid? What?

[ProtoBelmont]

Yeah. I hate the Metroidvania name--which, by the way, is so much better and more descriptive than Castleroid. Seriously, Castleroid? What?

That's what the technical term of getting hemorrhoids, from playing and getting irritated by the recent Castlevania games! If one develops symptoms of having Castleroids, one either needs to, (a)Stop playing them and stop complaining about them, (b)See a doctor, or (c)Get the Castleroid Hemorrhoid Cream

[Marto]

In Reply To #19

Sounds like an STD, huh? 

And perhaps I was a bit harsh on calling the DS kids' entertainment, but it is mainly a system geared toward younger audience, unlike the PSP, which tends to have more T, and M rated games.

Oh, and I got that mega man game yesterday coincidentally, and it's very enjoyable.

And yes, maybe I should ask my physician for Casteroid Cream. What was it called...Cast-away?

[Abnormal Freak]

And perhaps I was a bit harsh on calling the DS kids' entertainment, but it is mainly a system geared toward younger audience, unlike the PSP, which tends to have more T, and M rated games.

Regardless, the DS has a much larger library of worthwhile games. :P New Super Mario Bros. is rated E, sure, but so what? It's one of the finest games ever made.

[gamegrinder]

Well, I actually like Dawn.  Portrait was a bit of a let-down but I actually thought Harmony was the best one for GBA. 

I'm not one of those guys that think the series totally sucks without Kojima but my faith in it has waivered slightly since playing Portrait. 

To me, Castlevania is really a series that should follow the rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Slayer]

In Reply To #15

Uh, DoS and PoR were pretty "well taken"...

[S10nett]

Wow, I sat and read this entire thread and I have to disagree with the DOS and POR bashing I'm sorry.

In my own defense, in every sense of the word though, I am a fan. Have been since CV's inception.

Granted, yes LOI and COD were both very much darker and sinister games which took the feel and dread of vania visually to another level. Compared to the 64's, I still don't think any 3d game can hold a candle to the 64's (or meat for that matter)

Ok, maybe the DS games were directed toward a younger audience, you know Koji hasn't made it a secret that he has tried to capture the interest of new audiences and not just old farts like us.

But in DOS and POR's defense, they were both solid games. In my opinion which doesn't go for much, POR was pretty brilliant in its dual-gameplay mechanics: kinda reinventing Dracula's Curse gameplay.

Yes the story was a bit childish but I was as enthrawled as I ever was in any CV game as bits and pieces of the story were revealed. Very enjoyable for me. I think what was more disappointing though, was that my expectations for the console CV's was so high that I was a bit let down with both. Still love'em though.

Finally, I actually preferred Aria to Dawn. It just seems to me that they tried to recreate the experience of the original and COULD NOT capture it. Aria was f'ING great!.

Peace.

[Marto]

Wow, I sat and read this entire thread and I have to disagree with the DOS and POR bashing I'm sorry.

In my own defense, in every sense of the word though, I am a fan. Have been since CV's inception.

Granted, yes LOI and COD were both very much darker and sinister games which took the feel and dread of vania visually to another level. Compared to the 64's, I still don't think any 3d game can hold a candle to the 64's (or meat for that matter)

Ok, maybe the DS games were directed toward a younger audience, you know Koji hasn't made it a secret that he has tried to capture the interest of new audiences and not just old farts like us.

But in DOS and POR's defense, they were both solid games. In my opinion which doesn't go for much, POR was pretty brilliant in its dual-gameplay mechanics: kinda reinventing Dracula's Curse gameplay.

Yes the story was a bit childish but I was as enthrawled as I ever was in any CV game as bits and pieces of the story were revealed. Very enjoyable for me. I think what was more disappointing though, was that my expectations for the console CV's was so high that I was a bit let down with both. Still love'em though.

Finally, I actually preferred Aria to Dawn. It just seems to me that they tried to recreate the experience of the original and COULD NOT capture it. Aria was f'ING great!.

Peace.

Portrait or Ruin was good gameplay ideas, but felt like they based difficulty on 'hey lets throw lots of monsters on the screen to show off the power of the system. If felt a little bit TOO young. And not only, but who gives a vampire killer about younger audience? The game's the game, and there's not need to change something that's already well established in its mood.

And yes, I'm one of those guys that thinks Castlevania's all about the mood, or else it might as well not be CV.

As for the consolevanias, I personally thought they were both very good, and a nice take on Castlevania, despite not quite being like the 2-D games in their feel. I loved LoI, and really liked CoD. Reason is, while I'd prefer replaying CoD over LoI due to gameplay, the music and stages were all pretty damn cool in LoI, while there were MANY parts in CoD that made me want to just ditch the game, and the only reason I played on was due to me being a fan, and nothing more. Example being: Infinite Corridor, and Dracula's Castle. Dracula's Castle was like a disease that just didn't want to go away. It was nauseatingly annoying. 

As for Aria over Dawn, it's because Dawn was far more happy, while Aria was perhaps one of the most dark and morbid of the Castlevanias, with its white mood casting a sense of desolation and ultimacy. Dawn felt colorful, playful, gothic at times, but more Symphonyish in its carry-out, so I do agree with you on Aria being better.

And I don't agree that Dawn at all tried to capture the Aria feel. In my opinion, they put no thought into doing so, aside from using the soul system. That's not a bad thing, considering it gave us a good, new Castlevania. ...Sans the shitty art, bubbly music (save few tracks), and horrible plotline that came out of a saturday morning cartoon suited for Yu-Gi-Oh.

[Azmodan]

I agree with Marto. DoS and PoR had their strong points, but conveying the mood that is Castlevania is not one of them. Play PoR. Then play SCIV. Their respective atmospheres are too different for my liking. If younger kids aren't into Castlevania, fine. You don't see the Silent Hill series try to attract kids with horrible artwork and plotlines that insult the average I.Q.
If it's not geared for kids, then that's the way things are.
Adding cheap childish gimmicks can do more harm than good; it's easy to alienate the older fansbase to where they think to themselves "What has happened to Castlevania?" And though as mediocre as CoD was, it's grim plot at least showed that Konami at least wasn't trying to go kiddie with the entire series.

[Esco]

They also need to stop OVERKILLING on the number of options available to characters. PErfect example: SOTN's Alucard... let's review the list:

3 forms he can change to.... neat. But wait! What about!?

Spells: Summon Spirit, Tetra Spirit, Dark Metamorphosis, hellfire, souls steal, sword brothers, wolf charge, wing smash....

Those were all fine.. but then we have...

Shield rod spells.... one for each shield.

Slight overkill there.... but okay. BUT THEN we HAVE....

9 Sub weapons....

And don't get me wrong.... I like sub weapons... but what about.

One time use weapons... shuriken (4 types), boomerang (2 types), Pentagram (2 types), power of sire, Monster Vials (3 types), bwaka knife, javelin, tnt, dynamite, iron ball, etc. etc. blah blah.

And let's not forget...

5-7 FAMILIARS ALSO!

And then look what richter has....

9 sub weapons...
About 6 specials....
10 item crashes.

AND THAT'S IT! Tell me, who in the fukkin world is gonna use ALL THOSE THINGS FOR ALUCARD!? And for WHAT REASON? It's juts overkill. And then poor richter, gets not even 1/5th the number of things.

And as For DOS... same issue.... look how many souls, and weapons, etc. Soma gets? Whereas Alucard, Julius, and Sypha 93 more characters) all get 2 things... jack and shit. WONDERFUL! Real balanced there.

Then in POR.... I can't even count how many sub weapons Jonathen has... and he also has swords, spears, axes, whips, daggers, etc. And he even has some spell likes moves, and extra special techs.

Meanwhile all Charlotte gets is books. BUT WAIT! They also give her a TON of spells... most of which she will NEVER USE!

And then look at dual crashes.... Charlotte and Johnathan have about 8-10 of them... most of which again will NEVER be used.

Yet when we look at Maria and Richter.... they don't even get all their cool moves and crashes (Richter got TOTALLY raped here)... they get a few of them.

Oh sure, Richter now has assault and spin kick, and his dive kick. And heck.... even a backstep. But at the cost of 9 item crashes... and of all those, all they give him is that shitty ass grand cruz!? WHY? WTF was Konami thinking?

[Marto]

In Reply To #28

Esco, to be honest, I don't think you get it: Variety's good, not because it means you'll use everything, but because it means you PERSONALIZE YOUR GAMEPLAY.  : Common sense?

Not only, but that's also one of the reasons Symphony of the Night is perhaps the Castlevania that tends to get replayed the most, aside form everything else that made is so miraculous.

[Esco]

In Reply To #28

Esco, to be honest, I don't think you get it:

I'm probably 5-10 years older than you, and have been playing castlevania games since 1985, and I ALSO have looked into the programming and AI for several of them.... so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and ask if your high or something? Cuz you  must be to say that to me. :

Variety's good, not because it means you'll use everything, but because it means you PERSONALIZE YOUR GAMEPLAY.

....... great. So let me get this right.... having one character with over 100 moves, while another one has about 20, is a good thing? Yeah real good balancing there. You couldn't "personalize" it if each of them instead had 50 moves, I guess. Riiiiiight..... :

You shouldn't play my hack when it comes out then... you won't like it.  :

Common sense?

.......... anytime you want to talk that junk, feel free to meet me in the WORST ghetto of a city we agree on in the US. That's the best way of proving "common sense." Bet I'll come out better than you will. 

Getting past the fact, that this is hardly an argument of "common sense" I'll state the obvious.... this debate is a matter of opinion. Thus no one side is correct.

And with that that aside here's some advice... you should try to use proper terminology, and keep your arrogance to yourself in the future. Capische?

Not only, but that's also one of the reasons Symphony of the Night is perhaps the Castlevania that tends to get replayed the most, aside form everything else that made is so miraculous.

Not correct.... most people don't even use 75% of the stuff alucard has, because the game is too easy and it's not needed. So it just becomes obscure... also no one wants to keep switching back and forth to the menu. It's annoying at least IMHO.