Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Nagumo on February 23, 2012, 01:49:59 PM
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When looking back at your past years of being a Castlevania fan, which period do you have the most fond memories of ?
Personally, my favorite time of being a fan was roughly from when Order of Ecclesia was announced until the end of that year, but especially the summer months and October. Which would be 2008. I was already acquainted with the series for about three years, but back then I was more of a casual fan, only reading things about on fan websites and playing Harmony of Dissonance from time to time.
Around that time I first began joining forums which always keeps one up to date about the latest news. A lot of Castlevania related things were announced back then, which is very excited for someone who just got into a series, and a lot of the times it were things I did not expect and pleasantly suprised me : a Castlevania fighting game, a radio drama sequel to Symphony of the Night, a Castlevania arcade game, Cornell announced to be in Judgment, etc.
I remember also first beginning to play through Castlevania 3 for the first time and I was delighted how creepy and intense the atmosphere of that game was. That was in June or July. The summer is still my favorite time to play this game, especially during the evening.
On top of that I remembered that during that summer it was really nice weather in my country and I often went out to fantasise about the new announcements that were made or think how to get past a difficult part in Castlevania 3.
Unfortunately Lords of Shadow was announced to be a Castlevania game the very next year. I really hope to relive such a period again.
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The beginning, I guess. Unwrapping the first NES game, playing it for hours and slowly discovering the little tricks and treasures - like being able to skip the second stage's second portion's door-to-door area by jumping on a Medusa Head. Waking up an hour or so earlier before school to play the game. And then making it to Drac and..losing :D
Moral of the story? Now I think I could probably make it through the game with a maximum of three lives. Even though I haven't played CV in about five years.
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Uhm... I think some years ago, sometime before the OOE leak (good days) I was just obssessed with the saga, playing all the backlog, then hoping for Ecclesia to be the best thing ever (and it was arguably the best Cv to date when it launched) and oh, playing COD... I loved the time, COD was just released, I was playing it rediscovering CV in 7 years.. great, it was the best game for me at the time, exploring my memories in 3D, god I loved COD.
Then LoS, perhaps, before the launch I wasn't that thrilled, but when I played it like 3 weeks after release with my friends.. I never came back.
God I just love CV ;D
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Also, when I stumbled upon the site I work for and thought: "man, Castlevania is pretty good" and then set my sights on getting SotN. That was when I started being a Vaniac.
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My favorite period would be during the time when the NES was at it's height and CVIII had come out maybe a year prior. During the weekends I'd go over to my friend's house (very early in the morning) and we would play games till the sun came up. I didn't have a NES during that time so it was a very memorable experience for me. Of course we didn't just play games. We'd also watch super Mario Bros 3 on TV ;D
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When they were making Castlevania games and not focusing all their efforts on more stupid Metal Gear and Love Plus games.
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I guess the GBA games. All three were consistently interesting in both their graphical presentations, music, artwork, and sheer atmosphere. While the DS games, especially DoS and PoR, were too 'similar' for my liking, CotM, HoD, and AoS were all highly different from each other. Each had their own charm and nuances that makes each playthrough rather fresh in comparison to their forefather that is SotN.
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I'd say mine was the sort of "dry spell" when LoD was announced, and Resurrection wasn't quite cancelled. Sure, there was a dry spell, but at the time I was picking up all of the old games (NES and GB trilogies) and having a blast playing the shit out of them, even though I usually got my ass kicked.
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stupid Metal Gear and Love Plus games.
Urge to start massive quality-control debate rising!
My favorite CV has got to be SCVIV, without a doubt. While I'll always have feelings for the original and new gems alike, SCVIV just had this overwhelmingly deep atmosphere to it that leaked through the fourth wall before Psycho Mantis performed his now-legendary controller trick. I remember the Castle Entryway stage, with all the creepy shifting plants and all the flying goblins and harpies, and the haunting, yet almost-silent music. God, the music. I could go on and on about SCVIV's music fitting every environment it's played in, but the Entryway deserves special mention for me, since the first time I played that stage was in the dark at about 10:30 at night, and I kept getting the feeling I was going to turn around and see skeleton with a chain. It was very surreal, and VERY creepy, and little things like that are what makes SCVIV the best for me.
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the 16-bit era.it gave us super cv4, rondo of blood, bloodlines, all with qualities i have always valued
super cv4 - cheers for whip lashes in all 8 common directions! cheers for swinging with your whip! cheers for great boss music and better controls overall!
rondo of blood, real cutscenes at last! thanks to the pc engine super cdrom2's voice/music/graphics capabilities! also hooray for introducing maria and her animal friends (especially her cat subweapon!)
bloodlines - it gave us navigation all over europe, swinging from john's whip below any ceiling, eric lecarde, "reincarnated soul," "iron blue intention"
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Actually, I think the past year or so, up to right now, have been the most memorable for me. I don't think I've ever been more immersed in the series than I am now. Keeping on mind that it's not reflective of the series' current direction necessarily (I prefer the classic games more than anything else), but I have more interest in the series now than I ever have.
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I would say Lament of Innocence is my favorite period. I'm not sure if I could get bored of it.
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Well, as a late comer to the Castlevania series, Portrait of Ruin was my first game, and the only other games I have the other DS titles. I do have a soft spot for PoR, even though it's short, easy, has repeated backgrounds in the final part and the tag team aspect could've been better utilized.
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Three periods:
- When Super Castlevania IV first came out and my cousin had it. I played the heck out of that game.
- When my brother got Symphony of the Night (like a year after release)—mind.blown.
- When I bought a GXTV, N64, and Castlevania 64. Somehow, it was my love for the '64 game (and, well, having a job and being able to buy stuff more regularly) which spurred me to pick up the rest of the old ones, which I'd never played aside from a short bit of Simon's Quest when I was 5 or something. Imagine my excitement when Legacy of Darkness came out and I bought it. I'm serious—I love that game, and was so thrilled to bring this "special edition" home. Remember the day well, the store I bought it, the beautiful route my mom took on the ride back...
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Well, as a late comer to the Castlevania series, Portrait of Ruin was my first game, and the only other games I have the other DS titles. I do have a soft spot for PoR, even though it's short, easy, has repeated backgrounds in the final part and the tag team aspect could've been better utilized.
If you like the DS games, I recommend the GBA games. As any of us would. Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow especially.
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If you like the DS games, I recommend the GBA games. As any of us would. Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow especially.
I'd personally recommend starting off with AoS first, as HoD's castle(s?) can get pretty confusing.
Oh, and you can get both games in one cart (or ROM if you use an emulator like I do).
As for the best period, I think the Castlevania franchise shone at its brightest during the 16-bit era (SNES, Genesis, PCE), like crimsonmist said.
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My favourite period in gaming will always probably be back on the MSX in 1986/87, when games like Penguin Adventure, Maze of Galious, Nemesis 2 and Salamander really made a mark, and of which I have fond memories.
But let's skip for a year or so from then: I knew Vampire Killer was coming out on the MSX2 but the MSX2 was too expensive. When our folks bought us a NES one Christmas, first thing to do was buy Castlevania (and Kid Icarus as happened)! Unforgettable, the mood and atmosphere, the smooth scrolling, what an experience! Then came news of a sequel in Nintendo Power, Simon's Quest. Great times!
Agree with crimsonmist too, that 16-bit era was special. Castlevania IV, Ganbare Goemon, Parodius, Contra III, Cybernator, Axelay . . . they were all quality games, Konami on the top of their game I think. I imported the JAP version of Castlevania IV for £60 (having to sell older NES games to fund the cash)—was well worth it though.
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I'd personally recommend starting off with AoS first, as HoD's castle(s?) can get pretty confusing.
Oh, and you can get both games in one cart (or ROM if you use an emulator like I do).
As for the best period, I think the Castlevania franchise shone at its brightest during the 16-bit era (SNES, Genesis, PCE), like crimsonmist said.
I know. I want the GBA games, but they're hard to find and I'd rather not use an emulator if I don't have to.
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Maria's period, when she became a woman and stopped being an annoying brat that played with a bunch of animals.
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No smartass remarks in my topics.
>:(
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I know. I want the GBA games, but they're hard to find and I'd rather not use an emulator if I don't have to.
I understand COMPLETELY. Emulators just don't have the right feel for a Castlevania game. CV needs to stay far, far away from keyboards until the end of time.
As for my favorite period, I'd say the 2000's. The series had kind of hit it's stride, and was pretty damn popular. Despite a lot of the more vocal fans concerning games from Igarashi's "wonder era", games in the series around this time at least seemed to be pretty well received and sold decently. It was when the franchise became a bit more complex in terms of story, and Igarashi began really linking the different narratives together in earnest.
2006 was when I bought Curse of Darkness and the Castlevania Double Pack, my first Castlevania games. My life would never again be the same.
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I understand COMPLETELY. Emulators just don't have the right feel for a Castlevania game. CV needs to stay far, far away from keyboards until the end of time.
Sadly, it's nigh-impossible to get the full experience over here, so I just make do with a 360 pad. :(
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I understand COMPLETELY. Emulators just don't have the right feel for a Castlevania game. CV needs to stay far, far away from keyboards until the end of time.
http://www.amazon.com/PS2-USB-Dual-Controller-Adapter-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY (http://www.amazon.com/PS2-USB-Dual-Controller-Adapter-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY)
It's $5. Seriously.
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My favorite period may have been the stretch between Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow. I replayed those games to death back then and had a lot of fun experimenting with new ways to play them using cheat codes.
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The NES games definitely for me. I mean, technically, I've only played up through the PS1 games, and seen an LP of Order of Ecclessia (spelled wrong?), but I still like the NES games best. Symphony sure was fun, but there was a lot of running around and back tracking. Simon's Quest did the same thing, but Simon's Quest is a lot shorter of a game, it's meant to be played in one sitting, so it's not asking too much for you to run back 10 minutes to reach the third dungeon (although, it is still annoying.... really annoying). Then again, unless I'm playing an RPG, I only like Linear game play, so my opinion is biased (that's a bit redundant, don't you think?), so the NES games, specifically 1 and 3, are the funnest to me. Also, Castlevania 1 is the only one I played when I was really young, so it has a Nostalgia factor for me.
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I don't have favorite period, since I learned that there are more games in Castlevania series than NES trilogy, only in 2003 (around the time, when LOI had some previews in gaming magazines).
In retrospective my most favorite period in Castlevania history was somewhere between SCV4 and SOTN. It was interesting time of experiments, when new ideas and visual styles were tossed around.
However, in general, my favorite games in the series comes from entirely different periods of Castlevania history.
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When I first played Symphony of the Night - I knew about it and how awesome it was, but never got to touch it (or any other Metroidvania) until college, when a friend had a PS1. Since this was 2000, everything was new to me, and online guides were mostly tarable and written by goobers.
Oh, the joys of actually DYING in some sections! Of hearing the world's worst voice acting and loving it! of discovering new secrets! Of not figuring out how to get to Olrox's quarters for a week! Of killing Schmoos for hours just because I heard they dropped a cool weapon ( and accidentally levaing the room before I could snag that criss). Of having no idea what to do with the shield rod when I got it! Of letting a fairy waste all my healing items before Galamoth! Of finally facing down Shaft, and-what? he's dead already?
Also, the nudity. Sweet, sweet nudity.
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Also, the nudity. Sweet, sweet nudity.
Yes. Those dongs in the warp rooms sure are nice, aren't they?
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Oh, totally.
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the NES period is my favorite nothing brings back memories then Playing any of the 3. I still remember just how lost me and a friend would get after beating the 3rd mansion and wonder how the hell do you proceed. thank god for Nintendo Power.
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http://www.amazon.com/PS2-USB-Dual-Controller-Adapter-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY (http://www.amazon.com/PS2-USB-Dual-Controller-Adapter-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY)
It's $5. Seriously.
1. I don't have a PS2 controller (never had a Sony console), and 2. I don't have a credit card.
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My Castlevania resurgence began in 2001 after years playng no Castlevania other than SCV4 since 1996. During the holidays I saw a GBA commercial and saw a ad for Circle of the Moon and got that for Christmas (along with Golden Sun). It was my first exposure to the Metroidvania format and while it felt different at first it felt awesome (I had no prior knowledge of Symphony of The Night untill the summer of 2002 so this was new to me). So yeah 2001-present is my favorite era now that I can play the Castlevania games I may have missed out on.
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Just buy a wired xbox 360 controller, you can just plug in and play and don't even need too download any drivers.