Topic: CASTLEVANIA THE LECARDE CHRONICLES II April 2017

[Chernabogue]

Sub'd to you Mr. Montoya! Any chance for you to release some MIDIs from LC2?

[Belmontoya]

Sub'd to you Mr. Montoya! Any chance for you to release some MIDIs from LC2?

Thanks man!

I won't be releasing MIDI files publicly but I will share them privately with some of the other composers on this forum, you included of course!

If there's something you're interested in feel free to PM me.

[Chernabogue]

If there's something you're interested in feel free to PM me.

If you have anything you'd like to see remixed, send it over.

LC2 remix album anyone?

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Abandoned Pit ReArrange was great stuff.
Just thought I'd share.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

If you guys from LC2 wanna grab some MIDI files from me and use them for ReArrangements, let me know.

[Aceearly1993]

Also there're two locations that I noticed (slightly) broken background...

Missed another one

(click to show/hide)

The Holy Water can't find a better usage in the game (especially Boss Rush).
The hit detection of its hitbox is questionable: The hitbox is not exist for the flame part, is it also intentional?

[Chernabogue]

Check my remix of "Say a Prayer" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF57d9Wd9_0

[Belmontoya]

Check my remix of "Say a Prayer" here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF57d9Wd9_0

Great job man! Nice choice on brining the organ in. Very cool remix!

[FeRcHuLeS]

What happened here, I can't progress the game beyond this point

(click to show/hide)

The Piano combination shows rectangles instead of arrows is this the combination up, right, down, left, left, down, right?? 

[Jop]

What happened here, I can't progress the game beyond this point

(click to show/hide)

The Piano combination shows rectangles instead of arrows is this the combination up, right, down, left, left, down, right?? 

(click to show/hide)

If i remember it was  up, left, down, right, down, left, up.

[Zuljaras]

Played most of the game.
I am on the final boss.
So given that I could give my input for the team involved in making this game.

Graphics: Solid 10/10
The levels, the backgrounds. They are just incredible. Sometimes I just stopped to look at the levels and admire the creativity of the designer.
Here and there are some enemy sprites that I did not like but that will not hurt the score for this aspect of the game.

Sound: Solid 10/10

Why is the music of the game so damn good!?! Why?!?! Damn you for making such nice music AND remastering some of the original CV tracks. The CV Circle of the Moon opening in the D'Albaret monastery entrance was such a flashback, just as the Gondre mine music (Abandoned mine from SotN). The voice acting was also perfect and very nice edition!

Characters: 8/10

All characters are nice. Efrain is super cool. The 3 district Main villains were cool. The connection with Von Viltheim dead bride was super cool as well.
I only wish Alucard could play a more vital role to the game. But we only see him he gives us some game progressing item and then leaves.

Gameplay: 6/10

It was good for the most part but there were some very bad moments for me.
Some parts were pretty unfair and I had to replay them 6-7 times. For example  the backtrack from the university -> aurablast -> town. That was a pain!
It is nice to give Efrain different weapons but well they were not so different after all. They have the same attack, same speed just slightly different sprite animation/slash color and power.

No attributes like fire, lightning, darkness, holy etc. There were some special items like the Circlet of Light that is used to illuminate dark rooms, Mask of Zoe that enables you to see invisible enemies, and that was nice.
No different weapon types 2-handed slow swinging, fist weapons or fast small weapons.
No leveling system - but I get that you did not want people to power level and breeze through the game. So that is fair.

The puzzles were cool.

Story: 10/10

I was surprised by how good the story was. Really I liked all the small things and the big picture. The 3 districts the final castle. The theater was such a unique thing. The cemetery's atmosphere was amazing and it really made the impression that this place had a history! Really, bravo!

Also the final, final boss was cool lore wise!!!

Overall this game should be accepted by Konami and sold on the gaming market!!!

My humble final verdict is 44/50.

PS: I liked Lecarde Chronicles 2 more than 1 but Lecarde Chronicles 1 makes the 2nd part richer in lore.

[FeRcHuLeS]

That actually worked thanks @Jop, it seems I haven't installed the arrow characters, Does anyone know how to install them??

[DraculaCronqvist]

There, now that I have completed the game (took my sweet time with it), I can honestly say, this was a fantastic game, better than it's predecessor. But let me review it like a proper game, as it deserves.

Gameplay: 9/10
There is not much to say here other than it was great. Aside from a little wonky controls (attacking down while crouching didn't work 100 % of the time) and one abominable room in the Clocktower, with the Medusa Heads and the climable chains, the gameplay was stellar. The difficulty was just right, not too easy, but never feeling as if it was impossible. Some bosses (like the Necromancer once you walk past the beams) were too easy, but the majority of the bosses and all of the enemies were well scaled from a difficulty standpoint. The Aura Blast system, I was not fond of and found little use for it despite some mandatory parts the game forces you to use it. The only other negative critique in gameplay regard would be some of the items, like most rings and pendants, for example, I found to be completely useless. The majority of the weapons obtained were an upgrade and only twice, I found new weapons that were of no use to me whatsoever (not counting the Le Carde sword, but meaning Tyrfing and Nothung). However, this did not affect the enjoyment of the game negatively.

Graphics: 10/10
Aside from two aforementioned slight graphical issues, which I didn't even notice in my own playthrough of the game, the graphics were simply stellar. The sprites all look wonderful, the animation is fluent and the effects of flames, beams, shadows and the like all underscore the atmosphere of the game perfectly. The only, very, very minor complaint I have was that there was no working windowed mode and that the opening and closing of the menu and map took maybe a second too long (limitations of the engine, I imagine). Nothing that took away from the enjoyment or the rating of the game, however.

Sound: 8/10
The vast majority of tracks, both original and arranged/remixed I found to be excellent. Perhaps I would have liked a few more classical tracks, such as Vampire Killer or Beginnig, but the decision to not include too many original CV tracks was probably a deliberate one and understandable. The voice acting was, for a fan game, good indeed, though perhaps not done as professionally as I would have liked, given that everything else was done in such perfect detail. However, none of the voices were worse than "average" and nothing ruined the atmosphere. The only other minor complaint is that sometimes, the music and the sound effects were too loud and overshadowed the voices, making it difficult to hear what they say (for instance, the fight against Anna von Viltheim is pretty noisy, making it difficult to hear what she's saying sometimes). All in all, the music is fantastic, the voice acting satisfactory, especially for a fan project.

Story 6/10
Now the story is the only thing I found to be average. Granted, Castlevania has never had a strong story, but some points in LC2 seemed to not fit quite right, in my mind, at least. I, for one, would have left out Alucard completely (though I understand that, given the opportunity to have Robert Belgrade in your game was probably a chance you just couldn't let go without including Alucard), because at the end, he served little purpose. Indeed, his awakening prior to Nocturne in the Moonlight/Symphony of the Night doesn't really fit, to me - but if Alucard had to be included, I would have liked his involvement to be bigger, with Efrain being handed the Alucard spear (and Efrain using spears as main weapons throughout the game) in the game proper, rather than it being mentioned in the epilogue as a mere mention (unless, of course, a third game LC3 is in the making which would make the adventure in the letter by Alucard the central theme). The corrupted nobles were a good touch and a nice way to have aristocratic villains without having to rely, recycle or change already existing CV-characters. Efrain could have stood a bit more character development, or any dialogue really, but having a silent protagonist was probably also done on purpose. Not having Dracula as the main villain made sense, as this game is intended as a side story, but a few more mentions of him I would have liked a lot. Having Lucifer as the main villain was odd, in my opinion. Although he does address Dracula as "Lord", I would have preferred it to be more explicit that Lucifer is just another servant of Dracula, rather than something like an equal or even superior.
Still, despite these complaints, the story set in a different part of a world, with a corrupted group of nobles who doomed their people to a grisly fate worked well and the atmosphere of having to roam the lands (which was very reminiscent of CV2 and Stolen Seal/Order of Ecclesia) was very enjoyable.

All in all, the game was excellent and whatever complaints I have are very minor. The only reason I voice these complaints at all is because of the high quality standard of the final product and as such, I feel it deserves to be rated and reviewed like the professional game it is. Will definitely play this for a long time to come, again and again. Thanks to the team for giving the fans this revitalizing cup of Castlevania-water in a dry desert left behind by Konami.

Overall rating: 9/10

P.S.: Picture of my save file for those who care/want proof.

[mgfcortez]

There, now that I have completed the game (took my sweet time with it), I can honestly say, this was a fantastic game, better than it's predecessor. But let me review it like a proper game, as it deserves.

Gameplay: 9/10
There is not much to say here other than it was great. Aside from a little wonky controls (attacking down while crouching didn't work 100 % of the time) and one abominable room in the Clocktower, with the Medusa Heads and the climable chains, the gameplay was stellar. The difficulty was just right, not too easy, but never feeling as if it was impossible. Some bosses (like the Necromancer once you walk past the beams) were too easy, but the majority of the bosses and all of the enemies were well scaled from a difficulty standpoint. The Aura Blast system, I was not fond of and found little use for it despite some mandatory parts the game forces you to use it. The only other negative critique in gameplay regard would be some of the items, like most rings and pendants, for example, I found to be completely useless. The majority of the weapons obtained were an upgrade and only twice, I found new weapons that were of no use to me whatsoever (not counting the Le Carde sword, but meaning Tyrfing and Nothung). However, this did not affect the enjoyment of the game negatively.

Graphics: 10/10
Aside from two aforementioned slight graphical issues, which I didn't even notice in my own playthrough of the game, the graphics were simply stellar. The sprites all look wonderful, the animation is fluent and the effects of flames, beams, shadows and the like all underscore the atmosphere of the game perfectly. The only, very, very minor complaint I have was that there was no working windowed mode and that the opening and closing of the menu and map took maybe a second too long (limitations of the engine, I imagine). Nothing that took away from the enjoyment or the rating of the game, however.

Sound: 8/10
The vast majority of tracks, both original and arranged/remixed I found to be excellent. Perhaps I would have liked a few more classical tracks, such as Vampire Killer or Beginnig, but the decision to not include too many original CV tracks was probably a deliberate one and understandable. The voice acting was, for a fan game, good indeed, though perhaps not done as professionally as I would have liked, given that everything else was done in such perfect detail. However, none of the voices were worse than "average" and nothing ruined the atmosphere. The only other minor complaint is that sometimes, the music and the sound effects were too loud and overshadowed the voices, making it difficult to hear what they say (for instance, the fight against Anna von Viltheim is pretty noisy, making it difficult to hear what she's saying sometimes). All in all, the music is fantastic, the voice acting satisfactory, especially for a fan project.

Story 6/10
Now the story is the only thing I found to be average. Granted, Castlevania has never had a strong story, but some points in LC2 seemed to not fit quite right, in my mind, at least. I, for one, would have left out Alucard completely (though I understand that, given the opportunity to have Robert Belgrade in your game was probably a chance you just couldn't let go without including Alucard), because at the end, he served little purpose. Indeed, his awakening prior to Nocturne in the Moonlight/Symphony of the Night doesn't really fit, to me - but if Alucard had to be included, I would have liked his involvement to be bigger, with Efrain being handed the Alucard spear (and Efrain using spears as main weapons throughout the game) in the game proper, rather than it being mentioned in the epilogue as a mere mention (unless, of course, a third game LC3 is in the making which would make the adventure in the letter by Alucard the central theme). The corrupted nobles were a good touch and a nice way to have aristocratic villains without having to rely, recycle or change already existing CV-characters. Efrain could have stood a bit more character development, or any dialogue really, but having a silent protagonist was probably also done on purpose. Not having Dracula as the main villain made sense, as this game is intended as a side story, but a few more mentions of him I would have liked a lot. Having Lucifer as the main villain was odd, in my opinion. Although he does address Dracula as "Lord", I would have preferred it to be more explicit that Lucifer is just another servant of Dracula, rather than something like an equal or even superior.
Still, despite these complaints, the story set in a different part of a world, with a corrupted group of nobles who doomed their people to a grisly fate worked well and the atmosphere of having to roam the lands (which was very reminiscent of CV2 and Stolen Seal/Order of Ecclesia) was very enjoyable.

All in all, the game was excellent and whatever complaints I have are very minor. The only reason I voice these complaints at all is because of the high quality standard of the final product and as such, I feel it deserves to be rated and reviewed like the professional game it is. Will definitely play this for a long time to come, again and again. Thanks to the team for giving the fans this revitalizing cup of Castlevania-water in a dry desert left behind by Konami.

Overall rating: 9/10

P.S.: Picture of my save file for those who care/want proof.

i can agree the story was not the strongest point as well as Alucard needed a better part, he was wasted IMO. but far as the devil being under Dracula no i can not agree with such a out look, as that is a LOS2 kinda thing only and not Castlevania base IMO Dracula will always be under the devil so in this Mig had a better end boss than most Castlevania games

[DraculaCronqvist]

But in the original Castlevania, Dracula is the counterpart to god. The Devil doesn't even exist there. But this game inserted him into it, and since he calls Dracula "Lord" it is clear that Lucifer is subservient to Dracula.