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Offline Pfil

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #30 on: August 08, 2013, 06:00:26 PM »
0




Anyway, agreed. But if we continue this conversation we will enter in the same giant conversation again doesnt you think?
Haha! Ok, let's continue the original topic, or if we must derail it let's do it by talking about H-games  ;)
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Offline Lelygax

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #31 on: August 08, 2013, 07:16:56 PM »
+1
Ok then, someone have a link to Unholy Sanctuary? lol

On-topic: no one said anything about Vampire Killer for MSX or Tiger Eletronics Simon's Quest, really?
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Offline Maedhros

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #32 on: August 08, 2013, 07:40:55 PM »
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I totally forgot about this. Should've added it.

But then I realized that deep-down, as much as I came to enjoy LOS from a gameplay perspective... part of me feels (or is that knows?) it's not truly a Castlevania game.  :-\
Yup, it's a good action game. I approach it thinking it's a generic action game (as in a new IP) and try not to cringe with the history or names being thrown there. Or the shitty platforming.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2013, 07:48:32 PM by Maedhros »

Offline VladCT

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #33 on: August 08, 2013, 07:46:32 PM »
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On-topic: no one said anything about Vampire Killer for MSX or Tiger Eletronics Simon's Quest, really?
Probably because not many have actually played them?
It is precisely because it never cared, that people do care.  It's something which it's lacking, because that which it has, it has lackluster of.
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Offline Maedhros

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #34 on: August 08, 2013, 07:49:49 PM »
+1
The MSX Castlevania is a terrible, terrible game. I finished it only with savestates and in the end it wasn't that fun at all... =/

Offline Zetheraxza

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #35 on: August 08, 2013, 11:58:54 PM »
+1
I have to say, any Classicvania game I played over the years. My first Castlevania games were Metroidvanias so the broken knees, one-second delays whippin' and onceyoujumpyouhavecommitteditandnogoing back jumping turned me off, but I grew to love them for what they were and the challenge it gave.

Honestly speaking though, If it weren't for LoS, I wouldn't have looked back at the classic games. In my opinion, LoS true did give me the feel of the Classic Games regardless of it having the Classic Castlevania in the game which most fans complain about.

Offline Lelygax

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #36 on: August 09, 2013, 01:10:34 PM »
+1
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Offline Pfil

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #37 on: August 09, 2013, 02:24:21 PM »
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Yup, it's a good action game. I approach it thinking it's a generic action game (as in a new IP) and try not to cringe with the history or names being thrown there. Or the shitty platforming.
It would have been as OK game with some nice scenery and good story if it hadn't had Castlevania on the title.
My opinion today would be different. I still wouldn't like the music, though. But I wouldn't hate it so much, either, because I never would have thought about CV music while playing.

On-topic: no one said anything about Vampire Killer for MSX or Tiger Eletronics Simon's Quest, really?
I never got the chance of playing any of the Electronic games (Simon's Quest or SotN).
But I did played the MSX game, and I thought it was OK. It's kind of a the first little step of Castlevania in the direction of games focusing on exploration. It didn't work that much on that one, but it established an idea that perhaps influenced Simon's Quest being born later. And then, many years later, Rondo kind of continued that trend, until Symphony arrived and changed it all.
I didn't read anything about how the game was received back in 1986, however.
For me, though I prefer the exploration games, in this case I prefer CV 1, because the MSX version's approach kind of takes away some of the CV 1 feeling of the NES. It's a little boring to have to find all that little keys sometimes.
And the jazzy theme at the ending is cool, but not very Castlevania-like in my opinion.
Now I'm tired, eternally walking... forever dying, and never stopping. I feel in sorrow, all I see is white. I’m following a blind way beneath a sad sky.


Offline Ratty

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #38 on: August 10, 2013, 01:23:47 PM »
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Oh forgot to mention Lament of Innocence here. Though the "soon" part doesn't really apply since I really disliked the game for a few years and tried to play it a few times. Then the last time I did it clicked and I enjoyed it. Still not as good as the 64 titles but an alright game with good music.

Offline beingthehero

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #39 on: September 02, 2013, 04:52:20 PM »
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Curse of Darkness. When I first played it, I was almost bored to tears by the cave section in the Abandoned Castle. But by the time I got to that stage's end boss, I just grew to love slashing everything and sending blood and bones everywhere. It was by far the most mindless of all Castlevania games, but there was just something addictive about hacking your way through hordes of enemies. It had legitimately great bosses, too, and one of the greatest Dracula fights besides OoE.

Offline Pfil

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #40 on: September 02, 2013, 10:15:52 PM »
+1
When I first played CoD I only liked the soundtrack. I expected another LoD but instead I got something else.
I didn't even finished it. I left in the final stage.
On a 2nd playthrough, though, I earned all the extras and everything the games have available, and I really enjoyed the aesthetic, one of the most beautiful worlds I've ever seen in a game.
Now I'm tired, eternally walking... forever dying, and never stopping. I feel in sorrow, all I see is white. I’m following a blind way beneath a sad sky.


Offline Intersection

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #41 on: September 03, 2013, 02:35:48 AM »
+1
When I first played CoD I only liked the soundtrack. I expected another LoD but instead I got something else.
I didn't even finished it. I left in the final stage.
On a 2nd playthrough, though, I earned all the extras and everything the games have available, and I really enjoyed the aesthetic, one of the most beautiful worlds I've ever seen in a game.

Couldn't agree more.
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Offline JILost

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #42 on: September 03, 2013, 09:39:20 PM »
+1
I never really approached any Castlevania game with dislike (so there are quite a few "games I liked at first but soon grew to dislike") but Castlevania 64 was highly dissatisfying and awkward the first few times, which encompassed only the first few levels.

There was no music (blasphemy in the Castlevania world) and when there was it was overly simple and unmelodic (equal or worse blasphemy), the camera was mentally challenged, the platforming was tedious rather than fun, Bloody Tears was present for all of about 5 seconds (which is not only blasphemy but a giant tease), and the 3D was sometimes disorienting and confusing.

Then I discovered the Villa and would have been elated if the whole rest of the game took place in a larger version of that stage. Then I discovered the Castle Center and felt the designers were getting a LOT closer to "what Castlevania should be", again finding myself wanting that stage to be the rest of the game. Over time, I grew to accept the faults and differences and just enjoy the game - but not without feeling it wasn't a Castlevania game.

A few years later, I was introducing Castlevania to my then-girlfriend game by game, and of course we eventually got around to 64. This time through, after pointing out some of my issues with it, I experienced not only some nostalgia for the better parts but also a sense of the game through the eyes of a Castlevania fan and a horror movie buff (those being hers) and really, really enjoyed myself.

A few years later, I lost my N64, due to not labeling my "going to storage" box as such and having it get thrown out instead - along with several other systems. I wasn't incredibly worried since most of my games were on the Gamecube or Virtual Console...but then I remembered the Castlevania games and downloaded some emulation stuff for the PC. For the first stage or two, I had some kind of schoolgirlish glee over having my lost games reproduced so beautifully without the real hardware. The glee managed to go on for a while, at which point I realized I was 5 stages in and the emulation accuracy novelty had worn off - I was actually enjoying the game A LOT. More than I even thought I would. Part of it was nostalgia, part was the accuracy, part was the horror-movie-esque vibe, part was that I'd recently experienced Curse of Darkness for the first time and was glad to not be playing that again, and part was knowing that even years later, the game was still one of a kind and would probably never be duplicated with spiritual successors or even released on Virtual Console - this was it, the one and only. And I was damn proud to have experienced it when it was current, in its 1999 context, and without any expectations built up from years of MetroidVanias and series plot messes - in 1999, I'd had zero exposure to the online fan community and wouldn't even play Symphony of the Night for two or three more years yet. My last Castlevania was Dracula XX. Point being, the nostalgia I felt emulating wasn't just a "glimpse into the past" "retro" kind of thing, or nostalgia for that period in my life, but a "this thing will only ever happen once and I was there when it happened" feeling.

Now it's one of my favorite Castlevania games and I'm of the opinion that it was the only 3D 'vania to "get it right", in spite of its camera with a single-digit IQ. I've found I even prefer 64 to LoD - not just because of level layouts or music versions, but right down to the inferior graphics and clunkier camera. There's just something about that specific combination of elements that brings me all of the above feelings where even Reinhardt's quest in LoD just doesn't as much. I actually bought LoS on Day 1 (soundtrack CD and all) because Cox's advertising gave the impression it was essentially Castlevania 64 with modern graphics and much more classic Castlevania feel; then I played LoS for half an hour and felt thoroughly let down and betrayed because it -wasn't- like 64. At all. (Bear in mind I'd also just had my first experience with God of War not even 48 hours before my first experience with LoS, driving the betrayal deeper.) It's been said that LoS "alienated" old fans - compared to the expectation of a new CV64, LoS felt -extremely- alien to me. But I digress.

That, I'd say, is basically the extreme of "dismissed at first but grew to like" - I went from being among the "this isn't a Castlevania game" crowd to "this is the best and only true 3D Castlevania" over the course of 10 years.

Offline Pfil

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #43 on: September 03, 2013, 10:15:44 PM »
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Nice read!  :)
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Offline JILost

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Re: Castlevania Games that you dismissed at first but soon grew to like.
« Reply #44 on: September 03, 2013, 10:31:50 PM »
+1
Thanks! It's nice to be getting respect from you in particular - I don't post much (if any), but I've read tons of your posts and tend to respect and/or agree with them (especially the ones comparing LoS's music to the old stuff). I was actually watching a longplay of Portrait of Ruin the other day and earned a new respect for it from all the love you seem to have for it - It's still not my favorite or anything, but I see it differently now; so thanks for the input. :p

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