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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Classic Castlevania Threads => Topic started by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 01, 2015, 03:51:01 PM

Title: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 01, 2015, 03:51:01 PM
So I just started thinking about this, especially as many more casual fans who joined in the franchise in the mid-2000's like me tend to identify Castlevania as more of a handheld series (console releases were a little sparse in that period).

So, which is your favorite?

There's a maximum of two votes per user, as I myself am evenly split between Circle of the Moon and Order of Ecclesia.

Both are noticeably more difficult than their peers, and really hammer home the high-gothic aesthetic with their art style. The music is impressive for each, although I'm giving Circle of the Moon the best arrangement award for being a collection of Castlevania's greatest musical hits, and Proof of Blood remains one of the most impressive boss themes the series has ever seen (I'm annoyed that it didn't show up in Lords of Shadow 2, actually, as it would have made the final boss far more epic).

Order of Ecclesia punches well at each level, and combat has a great breezy and fluid pace without compromising challenge.

I find both are excellent games, though neither is the best in the series, and both rank as my favorite handheld titles.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 01, 2015, 04:25:52 PM
I think I shouldn't vote twice, because my second vote would be split between 2 games.
Favourite by far is OOE, I've played most if not all entries and it's the best Castlevania game I have played.
I won't go into the main games but of the Portavania's it's got the nicest of all worlds; artwork, music, graphics, gameplay/ system, ambience, levels(s) of challenge, the only canon female protagonist and I quite dig the 'hub' and exploration aspect.

A close second for me would either be AoS/ DoS, but I think AoS would just slightly inch it out.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: BLOOD MONKEY on December 01, 2015, 10:02:24 PM
where the fuck is order of shadows

that game was amazing
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 01, 2015, 11:15:41 PM
where the fuck is order of shadows

that game was amazing

I agree, but I think maybe 18 people here have actually played it through to completion, so I couldn't really include it because when I ask about it, most Castlemaniacs just go "Huh? Wtf is Order of Shadows?"

If it were more widespread, I'd have included it.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Aceearly1993 on December 02, 2015, 07:00:14 AM
Voted Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin. Their graphics are really detailed as DS games and there're lots of contents inside. The control scheme is almost perfect for a 2D action game and the sound effect that weapons cut through animal's flesh (in DoS) is pretty good

And thanks to the researchers developed glitches we can get chaos ring + cross /holy water/grand cross combo to kick some stuff here and there
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: X on December 02, 2015, 10:06:34 AM
Only two options..?  :'(

That makes it difficult. Ah, well. I chose CotM as my favorite metroidvania and Belmont's revenge as my favorite Classicvania.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 03, 2015, 12:28:47 AM
Belmont's revenge as my favorite Classicvania.

Kind of an obvious choice, innit? XD

To be fair, that's less about how good Belmont's Revenge is and more how terrible the others are by comparison imo.

Give me the GBA port of the original Castlevania any day of the week.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 03, 2015, 05:11:13 PM
Interesting that Legends is getting no love despite its (oc)cult following.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: X on December 03, 2015, 06:02:48 PM
Quote
Interesting that Legends is getting no love despite its (oc)cult following.

lol, saw what you did there XD

I was going to put in Legends, however I could only put in two selections. It was a tough decision  :-\
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 03, 2015, 07:02:12 PM
I love Legends, but the fanficcy plot just killed any chance of it getting a vote from me. It's just embarrassing to read.

Still, how 'bout those trick candles, guvnah?
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 10, 2015, 12:25:57 AM
Neck and neck, damn if we can vote twice, can we cast two votes for the same game? Only fair right..
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on December 10, 2015, 03:04:21 PM
Belmonts Revenge and Legends for me. I know Legends is the second most flawed of them (at least Adventure, even with its sluggishness and powerup losing, the game was built around the characters ability. Legends put enemies in unavoidable places (even using the soul powers)), and the metroidvanias are infinitely better, but I prefer the classicvania over the metroidvanias.

Still a lot I love in Legends. Sonia is my second favorite Belmont and I'd say better than Leon, but like everyone has said, the fanficy story is quite ugh. I think if it was a new character and not Alucard, it would've been better. Plus I wish we got a back story scroll or cutscene showing Sonia's family being killed, because everything about the story minus Alucard and the plotholes for Lisa's death are pretty good, especially for a classicvania.

I also haven't played any metroidvanias besides SOTN for years. I started HOD but got stuck and haven't played since. CotM I love, but it isn't as pick up and play, which is also good to be a deeper gaming experience, and Aria was sinply amazing, but again haven't played it in years.

Barely played DOS, never played POR, and I was gonna vote for OoE, as I'm playing through it rn and loving it, but I haven't beaten it yet, so for now,BR and Legends
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Neobelmont on December 10, 2015, 07:21:11 PM
So with little time in between class at points quick games were one that I really like and Belmont's revenge fits this need for me. Not only that but I think the soundtrack is severely underrated.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Belmontoya on December 10, 2015, 08:48:55 PM
I had to vote dawn of sorrow. I played it so much when it came out.

Anyways I actually prefer Rondo of Blood but not the chronicles version. I'll always consider it a console game as well. So it seems out of place to me.

 
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: EstebanT on December 10, 2015, 10:12:07 PM
Am I the only one who prefers Dracula X Chronicles to Rondo of Blood?
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: shelverton. on December 10, 2015, 10:30:12 PM
It's Dawn of Sorrow for me. I do love a lot of those games though (CotM and Belmont's Revenge have recently seen A LOT of playtime here), so it really depends on what mood I'm in. But DoS has a level of polish that I didn't find in either PoR or OoE. The anime art is boring though, and it has my least favorite soundtrack of all the metroidvanias, but the game itself totally makes up for it. It may very well be my favorite DS game ever.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 11, 2015, 12:57:45 AM
It's Dawn of Sorrow for me. I do love a lot of those games though (CotM and Belmont's Revenge have recently seen A LOT of playtime here), so it really depends on what mood I'm in. But DoS has a level of polish that I didn't find in either PoR or OoE. The anime art is boring though, and it has my least favorite soundtrack of all the metroidvanias, but the game itself totally makes up for it. It may very well be my favorite DS game ever.

Level of polish being Gameplay, Graphics, Castle Design, enemy placement and overall production quality?


I do like Yoko's anime design, because although I love AoS' artwork the proportions of Yoko's bust in the artwork (head, neck and chest) seem out of scale to me. http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/0/01/Yoko.png/revision/latest?cb=20140926045128 (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/0/01/Yoko.png/revision/latest?cb=20140926045128)
She's either got really big low breasts or a very small head, not that there's anything wrong with that. (I once knew a woman like this, she was a size 4 and yes her breasts were natural and bigger than her head)

I admit the anime style of DoS is off-putting, if they'd used Aria's art style the game could surpass AoS imo. Having said this I find the Castle design substantially better and more immersive in AoS.

I would actually say my top 3 DS games have been OoE>DoS>PoR
If I had to say top 5 I might add Phoenix Wright: Justice for All and Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: X on December 11, 2015, 10:08:26 AM
Quote
I do like Yoko's anime design, because although I love AoS' artwork the proportions of Yoko's bust in the artwork (head, neck and chest) seem out of scale to me. http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/0/01/Yoko.png/revision/latest?cb=20140926045128 (http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/castlevania/images/0/01/Yoko.png/revision/latest?cb=20140926045128)
She's either got really big low breasts or a very small head, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Sadly Kojima's art-style, for the past few games, suffers from scale inadequacy. I'd have to say the first time I noticed it was in CoD. Hector's head is too small for his body (on the front box cover), plus you also have the infamous scissor-legs Trevor Belmont. And now that zangetsu468 has pointed out~Yoko's head to body ratio. There should have been another artist there to proof-check her sketches before they were finalized. Kinda like how IGA should have had another writer on board to help proof-check his stories before they were finalized to help greatly lessen the plotholes.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 11, 2015, 05:38:34 PM
Sadly Kojima's art-style, for the past few games, suffers from scale inadequacy. I'd have to say the first time I noticed it was in CoD. Hector's head is too small for his body (on the front box cover), plus you also have the infamous scissor-legs Trevor Belmont. And now that zangetsu468 has pointed out~Yoko's head to body ratio. There should have been another artist there to proof-check her sketches before they were finalized. Kinda like how IGA should have had another writer on board to help proof-check his stories before they were finalized to help greatly lessen the plotholes.

Goddamn, I agree entirely.

Kojima's art is great and detailed, and defines her era of the series, but seriously started losing all sense of bodily proportions as she went on (even though some of Symphony's art also suffers from it, like Alucard's MONDO giant hand on the cover art). I think Lament of Innocence is kind of her sweet spot as far as art goes.

And IGA really did lose his touch with storywriting later. Let's not forget Dawn and Portrait's incredibly wooden story and writing, and the fact that his final game in the series, Harmony of Despair, didn't even bother with one really and was just a bunch of randomly recycled crap that catered to the lowest common gameplay denominator and had none of the fire of his earlier works (although how much of that can be directly said to be his fault is debatable). The prog-rock covers of Castlevania staple music was pretty good though.

We talk on and on, waxing nostalgic about the good old days when IGA, Yamane, and Kojima were the heart and soul of the series, but we've got some seriously rose-colored glasses on when we do.

Ecclesia aside, a lot of their final works were derivative and paint by numbers and tended to underperform. We, the fans, eviscerated many of his later games for not meeting prior standards ourselves (and were often harsher than we probably should have been).

Looking back, there's a clear reason his Alucard game was passed up in favor of Lords' fresh new take.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 11, 2015, 06:02:19 PM
Sadly Kojima's art-style, for the past few games, suffers from scale inadequacy. I'd have to say the first time I noticed it was in CoD. Hector's head is too small for his body (on the front box cover), plus you also have the infamous scissor-legs Trevor Belmont. And now that zangetsu468 has pointed out~Yoko's head to body ratio. There should have been another artist there to proof-check her sketches before they were finalized. Kinda like how IGA should have had another writer on board to help proof-check his stories before they were finalized to help greatly lessen the plotholes.

I'm glad someone else sees this. Since the AoS trailer (Japanese) where they showed the full art of each character I always thought "..massive breasts much or does something look off?"
Correct me if I'm wrong but the in-game dialogue boxes only use the head, so maybe they just needed to get the game released and they didn't care.
It is still technically better than DoS' art style, but judging from DoS' art Yoko's actually quite slim, fit and her breasts are supposed to be around a larger B - smaller C cup. AoS' art has her in the DD region.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: EstebanT on December 11, 2015, 08:14:00 PM
She looks terrible in both but Harmony of Despair Yoko looks fantastic. But so did every singe character. Even Jonathan and Charlotte
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on December 11, 2015, 08:53:46 PM
Yeah, the character art was the other really cool thing about Harmony of Despair.

I don't recall definitively hearing whether Kojima "got gud" again or if someone else was brought in who was just really good at imitating her style.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 11, 2015, 09:17:42 PM
She looks terrible in both but Harmony of Despair Yoko looks fantastic.

Terrible is an overstatement to me, I think there's a huge difference between proportion and quality. If AoS Yoko's bust drawing was in proportion I think she'd look vastly better to HOD and DoS. I really dig AoS' art but it's just the proportions that don't add up.

Yeah, the character art was the other really cool thing about Harmony of Despair.

I don't recall definitively hearing whether Kojima "got gud" again or if someone else was brought in who was just really good at imitating her style.

I'd be shocked, it doesn't look like the same artist to me.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on December 12, 2015, 04:20:03 PM
Am I the only one who prefers Dracula X Chronicles to Rondo of Blood?

You're not. I loved DXC, but when I played Rondo I didn't enjoy it as much. The whip in Rondo lacks the punch that it has in other games, which DXC and DracXX fixed by adding a more punchy sound to your hits.

 I'm also someone who prefers DracXX over Rondo, wish it was included in DXC, but its already a superb package
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on December 12, 2015, 04:22:24 PM
So with little time in between class at points quick games were one that I really like and Belmont's revenge fits this need for me. Not only that but I think the soundtrack is severely underrated.

BR is the perfect portable CV. Selectable levels, 2 sub weapons, not super difficult, great in quick bursts but also a good game to give a good playthrough.

And the soundtrack is just too tier, probably the best I've personally heard on GB
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: BLOOD MONKEY on December 12, 2015, 06:48:48 PM
No love for HoD? You guys suck. :P
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on December 12, 2015, 07:55:20 PM
No love for HoD? You guys suck. :P

Well I just played it through so I still have love for it :)
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: DoctaMario on January 17, 2016, 12:24:36 AM
Gotta go DXC. And as for Rondo vs DXC, they're both so different it's like comparing apples to oranges.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on January 17, 2016, 12:40:55 AM
I gotta confess, I'm slightly surprised to see Dawn so well regarded. I thought it played all its really cool cards too soon, and then played its ace (the revamped Julius Mode) too late. The character portraits were silly, the writing was a weaker rehash of Aria, and the touchscreen functions felt forced and unhelpful.

It's not a bad game, it just felt very unremarkable to me (in much the same ways as Portrait of Ruin, too), so I'm kind of puzzled as to its relatively good reputation here.

I'd kind of expected Order of Ecclesia and the GBA trilogy to dominate here (with maybe Belmont's Revenge putting up a decent 5th place), so these results are interesting.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on January 17, 2016, 01:02:58 AM
I gotta confess, I'm slightly surprised to see Dawn so well regarded. I thought it played all its really cool cards too soon, and then played its ace (the revamped Julius Mode) too late. The character portraits were silly, the writing was a weaker rehash of Aria, and the touchscreen functions felt forced and unhelpful.

It's not a bad game, it just felt very unremarkable to me (in much the same ways as Portrait of Ruin, too), so I'm kind of puzzled as to its relatively good reputation here.

I'd kind of expected Order of Ecclesia and the GBA trilogy to dominate here (with maybe Belmont's Revenge putting up a decent 5th place), so these results are interesting.

Dawn is up there with Aria for me because of its Julius mode which felt more like an entirely new mode with some effort put into the characters not being overpowered. I thought it was almost as good as Soma mode, but was nice it felt like a new game and some of the ost was different.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Shiroi Koumori on January 17, 2016, 03:35:25 AM
Dawn and Aria both played the gotta catch em all gimick that i always fall for. Haha. And Julius mode is really great. And maybe they are both easy in terms of the gameplay of the regular mode.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: piscesdreams on January 17, 2016, 07:08:02 AM
Hands down Dracula X Chronicles is my favorite, but Order of Ecclesia is a very close 2nd place. That game felt the freshest the series ever did in a long time. At least the metroidvania style went out on a high note. :/
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on January 17, 2016, 07:37:34 AM
Am I the only one who prefers Dracula X Chronicles to Rondo of Blood?

Nope. For me, I'd go Kojima's art over the anime any day for CV (excluding her redesign for Simon), the attacks in Rondo felt weak and pathetic because the hit noise accompanying them were tiny little fly shits hitting the ground rather than a thud or whipping sound(something DXX improved on). Plus you have the different boss battles with Annette and Dracula, which is an awesome edition. And CV in 2.5D isn't too shabby.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on January 17, 2016, 07:54:46 AM
the attacks in Rondo felt weak and pathetic because the hit noise accompanying them were tiny little fly shits hitting the ground

Hahahaha I know wtf was with that. In DXX you got the whip snap-crackle-&popping on contact. I feel bad for RoB Richter, even though I have to admit that I believe DXX>RoB, RoB is the more polished and cohesive(all-in-all) game presentation-wise. I still give the DXX Artwork and certain tracks a better rating than RoB though.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: piscesdreams on January 17, 2016, 10:02:28 AM
The whip in RoB always felt like it just rolled out and playfully slapped the enemy, and your only follow up action was to run away giggling gleefully.  That was also the first Castlevania game to not feature the "manly" presentation.  There was certainly no "weight" to the whipping animation and the SFX did NOT help.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on January 17, 2016, 06:36:08 PM
The whip in RoB always felt like it just rolled out and playfully slapped the enemy, and your only follow up action was to run away giggling gleefully.  That was also the first Castlevania game to not feature the "manly" presentation.  There was certainly no "weight" to the whipping animation and the SFX did NOT help.

That was, running on a complete tangent here, one of the things I liked about the first Lords of Shadow: hits felt like they had a weight to them they'd never had in the 3D entries, as opposed to seductively brushing enemies with your leather tendril like you're Christian Grey.

DXC properly nailed the feel of the whip, and Kojima's artwork and redesign of Richter created continuity with Symphony of the Night, which was something I was glad to see as well.

Maria's artwork still creeps me out though.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on January 18, 2016, 02:37:35 PM
Hahahaha I know wtf was with that. In DXX you got the whip snap-crackle-&popping on contact. I feel bad for RoB Richter, even though I have to admit that I believe DXX>RoB, RoB is the more polished and cohesive(all-in-all) game presentation-wise. I still give the DXX Artwork and certain tracks a better rating than RoB though.

I also prefer DXX, and the polish is the main thing RoB wins out on. I'd say RoB feels the most complete and well made in terms of the polish and general "make" of the game. DXX, as mentioned before in discussions, has some weird sloppiness to it(Richter appearing in the next room, but nothing in that room to signify he walked in). I just wish the attacks felt more grand, which DXC fixed
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on January 18, 2016, 02:39:40 PM
The whip in RoB always felt like it just rolled out and playfully slapped the enemy, and your only follow up action was to run away giggling gleefully.  That was also the first Castlevania game to not feature the "manly" presentation.  There was certainly no "weight" to the whipping animation and the SFX did NOT help.

I understand they were going for something different with the art, but in an anime the artists and sound designers do their best to make every attack feel as hard hitting as possible, even in the more light-hearted ones RoB was aiming for. But that is a perfect description of it  ;D
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Mike Belmont on January 25, 2016, 10:29:12 PM
From the classic games, I choose Belmont's Revenge, cause the old school difficult and great music. As for the metroidvania style, Portrait of Ruin is very enjoyable to me, 'cause of the music and two-player gameplay.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: yamabigdog on February 18, 2016, 02:33:17 AM
As a pure handheld experience, I have to go with CotM.  It was the first CastleVania, after SotN, to do the Metroidvania style.  It managed to feel almost as epic, and really nailed the score.  At that time, GBA was pretty impressive hardware.  The stereo sound capabilities helped it immensely.  Did I mention that soundtrack!? :P  The lack of a backlight sucked, but the dark GFX really assisted with immersion.  Especially playing it now on a 55" HDTV, no more sitting under a lamp!

My 2nd vote was a no brainer for me.  DXC for PSP.  I could fill a book with the adoration I have for the original PSP 1001 model.  I was very active in the PSP Hardware modding community.  It was actually the first time I got the original RoB to work thru an emulator, since I first experienced it back in '93.  I basically forced myself to figure it out(Japanese Menus didn't exactly help) over the course of several days, but the payoff was sublime.  8)

Needless to say when I learned of the remake, I was beyond thrilled.  The package consisting of 3 top tier games was pretty amazing.  The small differences in RoB were detracting, but the combined package is just too much gaming goodness crammed onto one UMD(disc).  The value to hour ratio has to be tops amongst handheld CastleVanias.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lelygax on February 18, 2016, 08:37:19 AM
It is very hard to choose, but if I go by the definition of which one I've played more it will be Harmony of Dissonance and Portrait of Ruin. I've played a LOT of Rondo, but since I lack a PSP and a good emulator for it is a recent thing from some years ago, I've played Dracula X Chronicles less times than thesse two.

Since we're talking so much about Rondo and DXC, the one big complain that I have is that they changed Den for Moon Fight for no apparent reason and I love Den:



IMO it mixes all good about CV adding a bit of tension and a "final showdown is nearing" feel. I  like Moon Fight too BTW but its no Den.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on February 18, 2016, 06:06:53 PM
So according to the poll, DXC holds the RoB voters as well?

Seems a bit biased doesn't it.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Crying Freeman on February 18, 2016, 06:31:49 PM
It is very hard to choose, but if I go by the definition of which one I've played more it will be Harmony of Dissonance and Portrait of Ruin. I've played a LOT of Rondo, but since I lack a PSP and a good emulator for it is a recent thing from some years ago, I've played Dracula X Chronicles less times than thesse two.

Since we're talking so much about Rondo and DXC, the one big complain that I have is that they changed Den for Moon Fight for no apparent reason and I love Den:



IMO it mixes all good about CV adding a bit of tension and a "final showdown is nearing" feel. I  like Moon Fight too BTW but its no Den.

Its weird that they did that. I love the X68000 rendition of moon fight (definitely in my top 5 CV songs), but hearing it here after playing RoB, it jumped out lol. Den was an awesome track too, especially in DXX.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: zangetsu468 on February 18, 2016, 09:33:46 PM
Its weird that they did that. I love the X68000 rendition of moon fight (definitely in my top 5 CV songs), but hearing it here after playing RoB, it jumped out lol. Den was an awesome track too, especially in DXX.

The end is like an acid trip portrayed instrumentally.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lelygax on February 18, 2016, 10:46:08 PM
So according to the poll, DXC holds the RoB voters as well?

Seems a bit biased doesn't it.

Not exactly the poll fault :P
But think about that, it is even worse, since it holds SotN too! Hahahahahahaha...! *disappears in shadows while laughing like Richter on Coliseum*
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Aceearly1993 on February 18, 2016, 11:58:13 PM
Den actually has an arranged version for DXC but I just don't like what they did to the arrangement. Too much Vampire killer jingle added to the very front of the tune
I think they also saw the problem and abandoned the tune for unlockables

Similar situation also happens with stage 5', but the arranged version of O.P 13 has no such problem like Den
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Dia on January 24, 2017, 08:11:37 PM
I went for CotM and DXC, myself, those were the games that killed the most time for me in middle school and High school.

Circle of the moon, at the time, was one of the most difficult games I had ever played. I was actually proud of myself when I finally beat it, also, dat soundtrack.

DXC introduced me to Symphony of the night, since I didn't have the old psx growing up. Because I'm a sucker for Metroidvania, I felt unlocking it during Rondo of Blood as a 'buy one get one free' deal. And because they directly tied with each other, I was satisfied.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Dracula9 on January 24, 2017, 09:04:07 PM
Circle, then Aria/Ecclesia tying for second, with BR at third. The rest follow in whatever order, really.

Circle takes the top I think due to how tired I never get of it. Soundtrack, SFX, visuals, everything's just so clean and vibrant.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: Lumi Kløvstad on January 28, 2017, 01:34:28 AM
Circle, then Aria/Ecclesia tying for second, with BR at third. The rest follow in whatever order, really.

Circle takes the top I think due to how tired I never get of it. Soundtrack, SFX, visuals, everything's just so clean and vibrant.

I really hope all the Nintendo-licensed Castlevanias are playable on the Switch for pretty much exactly that reason. Just an aside.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: suomynona on January 28, 2017, 04:09:54 AM
Aria, most definitely. It's my all-time best Metroidvania. Harmony of Dissonance is a good game as for playability, with pathetic music quality (not music itself) and graphics getting in the way.

I like the DS games much, but I didn't had chance to play Ecclesia and other two had to be let down with mediocre graphics for Castlevania (expected a SotN quality) and that damn artwork.
Title: Re: Favorite portable 'Vania?
Post by: TheTextGuy on January 29, 2017, 07:27:25 PM
I'd say my favourite is DXC, mainly because it's three (four if you count the joke minigame) games in one.  Second would be Order of Ecclesia, since that's prolly the only other portable game I've played (haven't played much of the Metroidvanias... should fix that).  Honourable mention goes to Castelvania Chronicles, since if you buy it as a PSN classic you can play it on the PSP.  Countless hours sunk into that... and countless lives sunk into that one pit in the last stage!