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Offline zangetsu468

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #75 on: October 27, 2014, 04:37:08 PM »
0
Not quite. Juste had collected all the body parts in the game, however it was Maxim that first collected them in order to grant his wish. Not sure what that wish was about as it is never followed up. It might have been wanting to become stronger then Juste so he could relieve him of his fate as a hunter. Who knows. It was coincidental that the evil spirit created by Maxim's will coupled with Dracula's remains, sensed the body parts Juste had on him and used them to create itself a new body to inhibit. Hence the Dracula wraith.

I understand but I'm saying in his final form, Dracula's physiognomy is comprised of the organs collected by Juste.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<[Judgement]>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

                              
                **<<<<<SuperCVIV>COTM<<<<<<<<+
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v                 ^
                                 ^      l   v  ^    +<<<<<<<BE
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v                 ^  
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v     BE>>> VK<**   
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v     ^          ^   
            +<<<<<Legends>HC>OOS>LOD>64       ^
            v                           l              ^                ^
            v                           l     BE>> * <<<BE    RE
            v                           l      ^               ^       ^
LOI>CVIII>COD>AR>BR>CVC>CVII>HOD>ROB>SOTN>OOE>BL>POR>AOS>DOS>>>KD
                                                                          v
                                                                         BE>*  
BE=Bad Ending
RE=Richter Ending

Offline PFG9000

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #76 on: October 27, 2014, 05:52:02 PM »
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Unfortunately, I'm one of those people who isn't a big fan of HoD. It is the easily the worst of the GBA/DS titles for me. I bought it at release and remember feeling very let down that it looked and sounded so much worse than COTM, which I was a big fan of. Other than Juste's main theme/castle entrance theme, I don't really like any of the music in HoD. Some of it is actually unpleasant to me and I'd rather it not even be there. Juste looking like Alucard isn't a huge deal for me, even if it is a bit "Hey, look, it's like Symphony!". The characters/story weren't really that interesting for me, either. I played the game to completion once, and haven't gone back ever since.
Could you clarify how Harmony of Dissonance looks much worse than Circle of the Moon?  I think the general consensus is that it looks much better.  In fact, the high quality graphics are often used as the reason the sound quality took such a hit.  I understand Harmony is brighter, but if you compare Harmony to Circle on the original, non-backlit GBA, I think Harmony looks much better.  Because you can hardly see Circle on the original GBA unless you're sitting right under a strong light source.

I've always thought Harmony has the best graphics of the three GBA Castlevanias.  They scaled the graphics down a bit for Aria, but in doing so they struck a great balance between graphics and sound quality.

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #77 on: October 27, 2014, 06:41:49 PM »
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Quote
I understand but I'm saying in his final form, Dracula's physiognomy is comprised of the organs collected by Juste.

Oh definitely that of course. That was a weird looking final form.

Quote
Maxim didn't collect them to get a wish as though Dracula was some sort of genie.

Not sure where this conclusion came from but it's not what I meant in my post.

Quote
His 'wish' was to be better than Juste and destroy Dracula.

This is what I meant. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

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Offline zangetsu468

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #78 on: October 28, 2014, 05:58:52 PM »
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Could you clarify how Harmony of Dissonance looks much worse than Circle of the Moon?  I think the general consensus is that it looks much better.  In fact, the high quality graphics are often used as the reason the sound quality took such a hit.  I understand Harmony is brighter, but if you compare Harmony to Circle on the original, non-backlit GBA, I think Harmony looks much better.  Because you can hardly see Circle on the original GBA unless you're sitting right under a strong light source.

I've always thought Harmony has the best graphics of the three GBA Castlevanias.  They scaled the graphics down a bit for Aria, but in doing so they struck a great balance between graphics and sound quality.

Your post is taking me back... waaaaay back. I remember being so psyched for COTM and buying a gba. I had this massive fluorescent tube light in my bedroom, and only under this light could COTM be seen clearly with no relection. (possibly the only place in the world) There were those crappy lights they used to sell at retailers that hooked around the screen with 2 light bulbs, man they were terrible - all they did was reflect light off the screen! 

HoD probably had the most vibrant colours, but I would not say the graphics were better than AOS. For one thing the sprites were smaller, and less detailed. Juste also has that horrible outline around him,
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<[Judgement]>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

                              
                **<<<<<SuperCVIV>COTM<<<<<<<<+
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v                 ^
                                 ^      l   v  ^    +<<<<<<<BE
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v                 ^  
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v     BE>>> VK<**   
                                 ^      l   v  ^    v     ^          ^   
            +<<<<<Legends>HC>OOS>LOD>64       ^
            v                           l              ^                ^
            v                           l     BE>> * <<<BE    RE
            v                           l      ^               ^       ^
LOI>CVIII>COD>AR>BR>CVC>CVII>HOD>ROB>SOTN>OOE>BL>POR>AOS>DOS>>>KD
                                                                          v
                                                                         BE>*  
BE=Bad Ending
RE=Richter Ending

Offline theANdROId

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #79 on: October 28, 2014, 08:58:24 PM »
0
Maybe it's just the brightness that makes people say they're worse?  (or the outline!  I liked the shadow/echo thing, but the outline...UGH!)

For a short time I had what I felt was a really good light for the GBA (it somehow made it more like a backlit screen), but then I got a GBA SP which was even better.  Either way, I never felt like I was struggling to see what was on my GBA/SP screen, and liked the look of CotM best...and really, comparing the three GBA titles, I'd still pick CotM as best in my opinion.  Throw in the DS titles though, and I think OoE may have it beat!

Offline Sumez

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Re: Why does the majority seem to dislike Harmony of Dissonance?
« Reply #80 on: October 29, 2014, 03:44:45 AM »
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Man I don't understand "SOTN clone" as a negative point. In a perfect world we would have TONS of SOTN clones and they would battle each other for supremacy =)

A proper SOTN clone would be a great thing. But HoD only has the framework, and pretty much nothing of what made SOTN great.

I remember when COTM came out everyone was ecstatic because we'd FINALLY get a new SOTN! After playing the game, it turned out to be a much more straight forward, linear game, disguised as a metroidvania, and a lot of people were disappointed by that, myself included (I've later learned to appreciate the game for what it is, one of the best portable CV's in fact).

So when HOD followed up on COTM, history repeated - THIS would be the SOTN "sequel" we had been waiting for. So I don't mind it coming across as a "clone". And I really liked the smooth controls with a button for each dash direction, but as a whole the game was just extremely repetitive and uninteresting in its design, and the complete lack of any kind of challenge resulted in no real memorable moments from the game.
It's by no means a bad game, but looking back at it today, I'd say HOD is without a doubt the worst of the handheld Castlevania games. Every game since HOD has been an improvement of the formula, and COTM was an incredible one off for what it was.

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