Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Crying Freeman on November 13, 2015, 01:39:22 PM
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Seems like CotM used to be the overlooked GBA CV, but now seems like people talk about it and Aria. HoD is shoved aside, or ive heard some people hate it. Most complaints are about its music quality, but I think people might find it boring too. I hate to say I think it is as well.
I'm not sure where everyone here generally stands on HoD, but I had to force myself to beat it. It has a lot of good, the graphics, controls(though not as tight as CotM, besides the default speed), and while the quality sucks the music compositions are good. But whats keeping me? I've started playing it like twice years after beating it and I can't get past 50% without losing interest and stopping.
I'd like to say it might be the weapons, as you only have the vmapire killer that you can fit with different tips, but CotM didn't even have that; just the DSS system, which kept things interesting. Here, it takes soooo long to get the different tips and you're sick of using the same short whip. In CotM, besides the DSS, the whip was way longer, more powerful, the control made combat way more fun, and I think it's old school difficulty helped keep things interesting. Those all combined just make the game addictive. Then we have the generally faster paced progression of SotN and Aria, not to mention how they fedd you weapons and items all day. Many complain SotN has too many useless weapons and item, citing it as a flaw, but it gives you a feeling of always doing something, getting something, and progression, so you don't get bored and feel like you aren't doing anything. It hightens your senses of doing.
CotM had a feeling of danger around every corner, no friends, while HoD feels more like Super lonely, and I actually really like the quiet moments of HoD, gives the game a really cool "exploring this abandonned place" feel. Also feel like the game was too long. I've said I don't like the inverted castle, but not to the point I'd rate SotN any lower, because it's more of the game we love, and you can't argue against that. HoD is more of the slow paced novel that we have to read for class. Igas first GBA outing was a bore, but hey, all is redeemed in Aria B)
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I used to dislike it, and still think it's deeply flawed, but I've come to the conclusion it's not that bad. Still my least favorite of the Metroidvanias in the series though. As like you I don't care for the music, probably mostly because of the scratchy quality, and I think the game is a bit too easy while being a little confusing at times.
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HoD is kinda whimsical and psychedelic in a way and the two castles are somewhat confusing to navigate. But I love it nonethless. It's the strangest metroidvania IMO but it's also the most unique and has the most "personality" (debatable, I know). Good or bad; It's a matter of taste. Just don't go in expecting the same level of polish and user friendly mainstreamness of Aria or the DS games.
But yeah, I do love it.
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I used to dislike it, and still think it's deeply flawed, but I've come to the conclusion it's not that bad. Still my least favorite of the Metroidvanias in the series though. As like you I don't care for the music, probably mostly because of the scratchy quality, and I think the game is a bit too easy while being a little confusing at times.
Extremely confusing. I felt stupid going around the same areas in that game lol. Just gets so boring. I do like the boss rush and Maxim mode, not to mention playing as Simon in boss rush. Plus the dashing is really fun in it.
Btw, has anyone played the hacks for the Japanese version? They let you play as Simon, Mario, Megaman, and an evil sword weilding Juste in single player and it looks WICKED awesome!
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HoD is kinda whimsical and psychedelic in a way and the two castles are somewhat confusing to navigate. But I love it nonethless. It's the strangest metroidvania IMO but it's also the most unique and has the most "personality" (debatable, I know). Good or bad; It's a matter of taste. Just don't go in expecting the same level of polish and user friendly mainstreamness of Aria or the DS games.
But yeah, I do love it.
Nobody can be wrong on an opinion, man, and I get what you mean by that "psychadelic" feel, especially in the underground areas. Hell, I really like Legends and admit it's flaws piss me off to no end lol.
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I like Harmony quite a bit. I did get a little bored with it the last time I played, but that's because I've played it soooo many times. The same thing happens with SotN and Super Metroid, not that I would put Harmony in the same tier as those two. It's too bad the music brings Harmony down so much though. That seems to be the chief complaint, and it should never be a complaint in a Castlevania (that goes for you too, Lords of Shadow series).
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I feel like HoD is the CV game people complain a lot about for being a SOTN clone, unclear in its direction (where they player is supposed to go), bad graphics, bad music, low difficulty etc.
This doesn't so much annoy me, but I personally can say very similar things about much more beloved CV titles for which I feel people would automatically react in a negative manner.
The Good:
I place HoD up there for immersion. The first area of the Castle has a really catchy and memorable track that makes me feel immersed into that context of vampire folklore. I find this nostalgic and immersive. Not all the tracks are memorable but some are atmospheric, as is the Castle and the way it's progressed through. I actually also found the more goth/electric sounding-semi-bad quality tracks to be akin to something like Wu-Tang's beats that were purposely made with 'scratchy quality' like they were in some kind of old neglected basement buried like ancient artefacts.
The gameplay is good, fun to play and it learned from Cotm's mistake of not having a faster run/forward dash / backdash.
I never had issues on where I was supposed to go (though this seems to be a common issue)
Sprites are very colourful and characters stand out against the background.
Maxim is an interesting character.
The art is beautiful, one of my favourite.
The only game to do boss rush with 8 bit Simon, a nice touch imo.
The Bad
It's too easy, the game is broken with the use of sub weapons and spells. Maxim is OP also.
Gameplay is simple but also a bit simplistic. Strictly VK in a SOTN style game is a bit ott imo.
The main thing the story has going for it is its reach back to CVII, which is an eerie game. It made the game feel creepy as it does when dealing with Dracula's body parts, good as this is it's latching onto previous success with CVII (story)/SOTN (Castle)
The Uncertain
I will say this as well as being open and vast, there's not a whole heap to do beside the main story.
You could really call it the Twilight Princess of Castlevania, a game which also has a 'dual world' aspect.
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It wasn't that long ago that I played HoD for the first time - and when I was playing it, I enjoyed it but I wasn't overly 'wowed' by it. Their didn't seem to be enough variety between the two different castles and it felt a bit like it was 'going through the motions' more than the other games I had played... which is particularly bad when it was the first of the Metroidvania's that I had actually played. I did like it though - the story was good, the graphics were nice, it played perfectly fine.
But then, just a few games later I hit SotM and realized just how much HoD wants to be like it's older sibling. And then I hit CotM and it has a similar story with whole jealous love... er, I mean friend being manipulated by Dracula/Dracula's evil, and it was also a Metroidvania where you just have a whip as your main weapon... even the idea of collecting Dracula's relics leans heavily on SotN and Simon's Quest (although I liked that call back).
All that said, I did like it and I think my first opinion of it still stands - a solid game but one that mostly feels like it's 'going through the motions.'
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I just want to add something.
Playing all of these games in context is more important to give a critical review. By this I also mean on the consoles they were intended to be played on.
In the context of GBA, Cotm is praised by all CV fans alike. Quite honestly it was revolutionary at the time of release, being a Metroidvania for GBA of all consoles. Being able to roam a castle and superjump/ slide your way around with a game that still embodied "classicvania" with its level of challenge was a step in the right direction.
One thing I'd like to touch upon - and maybe people have differing opinions - is the DSS card system.
I've played Cotm through twice, and on the first playthrough I collected a grand total of about 5-7 DSS cards, most of which did nothing when combined. No matter how much I played, how many enemies I killed, DSS drops were never evident and I sometimes wonder if my game cartridge wasn't faulty or something. Any items to increase luck were equipped but to no avail.
I didn't mind this as I beat the game mostly using subweapons, and the only DSS abilities I had were:
Healing (albeit slowly)
Thorn Whip
Flame Whip/ Sword
Poison Cloud/ Whip
That was about it. On my play(s)through I didn't even really know what the cards were or whether they were of importance (prior to all things being on "the internet"). Still i finished the game and found it a good challenge. The characters and artwork were decent, the final boss was tough (particularly with the lack of DSS abilities) and the Coliseum was a fantastic challenge. the dual dragon boss was one of the more creative boss fights I've experienced.
Things that irked me were the visuals, not graphics but the dimness of the screen the gba suffered from, not cool when fighting bosses or platforming.
I know this is a 2dvania on gba but the sprites were fairly poor even for back then. Some of the enemies looked quite "flat" drawn completely side-on rather than with any depth (like "were-bear" or "arachne") and re-coloured from previous sprites, which although happens in CV the level of blatancy is more typical of the 3d Cv titles, namely LOI/ COD. Boss sprites were far superior imo.
Some of the music felt okay, but some was bad, some recycled from other CV's. I think the clocktower was my favourite.
I also felt like I had to griiiiiind to level up prior to the fight with Hugh, which I still maintain as one of the harder boss fights. Devils seemed to have a high amount of hp compared to previous enemies.
Lastly, the castle didn't feel overly immersive to me, it felt a little bit dark and somewhat dead. Maybe this was constriction of graphics, music or the plain fact that it was Carmilla's castle and not Dracula's. I don't know but it just didn't reach out and grab me the way SOTN's previously had.
I think in context as having Cotm as a predecessor, was HoD a better game as a successor?
It's subjective to how one defines Castlevania.
All these points I've mentioned above - some of which are issues - are they improved on in HoD?
Immersion (in general) - Yes
Character sprites (quality, graphics etc) - Yes
Graphics in general (brightness of sprites, screen etc) - Yes
Items drops or the like - Yes (not that it mattered as much in HoD)
Fairer in terms of challenge, grinding etc - No (too much so imo)
Music - Yes
Story - Much the same with throwbacks to previous entries
Artwork (not mentioned above) - Yes
Just my 2 cents, AoS>HoD>Cotm
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It really is a personal preference thing - but I do agree that context of the original consoles is important, as is context of when the games came out in relation to each other. My play through order throws the second point out the window, but I have been playing on original hardware whenever i can... except, I played CotM and HoD on the DS, not on the original GBA. But I felt like the Castle in CotM was much more immersive than the one in HoD, which was probably also because it was a lot easier and more enjoyable to just run around the CotM castle (well, easier in a navigational sense - CotM had more of a difficulty level than HoD, IMO). And even if you played them in release order... HoD still feels more like a grab bag of elements from other games, put together expertly, but still with a 'be there, done that' feeling for me.
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I think for critical reviews, original consoles are important, however, whether you like the game better or not then I don't think it really matters what it's played on. I'd tried Cotm and HoD on roms prior to buying the physical copies, and I didn't even mind playing Cv on a keyboard (HoD being easier due to dashing) but I decided to buy the hard copies and I'm glad I did.
I think on today's standards playing them on a DS even for a critical review is fine, why reinvent the wheel and pedal backwards afterall.
And even if you played them in release order... HoD still feels more like a grab bag of elements from other games, put together expertly, but still with a 'be there, done that' feeling for me.
Well quite honestly every CV has reached back to another game and I do not say this lightly.
SOTN> CVII: An explorable world, collecting Dracula's remains (relics in SOTN)
COTM>SOTN: An explorable Castle
HOD>CVII/ COTM: Gathering Dracula's remains/ Similar story but with a potential 'love interest' driving the plot,
LOI>HOD: Character art designs/ story similar to HOD; Leon = Juste, Mathias = Maxim, a third interest Lydie/ Sara is involved and in danger.
AOS>SOTN: Less obvious but still an explorable castle, which some areas felt similar to SOTN. More original of the GBA titles.
COD>SOTN/CVII: Explorable world, connecting areas, leveling up, familiars and so forth.
LOS> OOE: The notion of "The order" trying to resurrect Dracula, Separate stages with a few alternate places to explore, as well as 1 Castle.
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Oh yes indeed, it's very hard to have such a long running series without having call backs to previous titles. I mean, you can't even really have a series at all without call backs and reusing themes and elements. HoD, to me, just didn't feel like it brought anything else that was truly new to the table though - even the whole Light Castle/Dark Castle angle is an incredibly over-used cliche in video games... but then, maybe that is just Legend of Zelda fatigue speaking, where the concept has been especially over-played! Does it suck? No, I don't think it sucks... it just feels a bit bland compared to other games in the series.
On a slightly different note - the inclusion of Maxim Mode was good, but I really wish they had taken it to the next level and added in some new dialogue and a new ending and made it a prequel to the main story of HoD. That would have rocked!
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Oh yes indeed, it's very hard to have such a long running series without having call backs to previous titles. I mean, you can't even really have a series at all without call backs and reusing themes and elements. HoD, to me, just didn't feel like it brought anything else that was truly new to the table though - even the whole Light Castle/Dark Castle angle is an incredibly over-used cliche in video games... but then, maybe that is just Legend of Zelda fatigue speaking, where the concept has been especially over-played! Does it suck? No, I don't think it sucks... it just feels a bit bland compared to other games in the series.
The problem with Juste is that to the unattentive gamer he's basically Alucard with a whip and less memorable.
On a slightly different note - the inclusion of Maxim Mode was good, but I really wish they had taken it to the next level and added in some new dialogue and a new ending and made it a prequel to the main story of HoD. That would have rocked!
Maxim is so OP and broken, but he's an awesome character.
It would've been cool, RE4 with Ada's game ("Separate Ways") did something really cool in explaining how she was in all the areas prior to Leon (not the Belmont!)
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It would've been cool, RE4 with Ada's game ("Separate Ways") did something really cool in explaining how she was in all the areas prior to Leon (not the Belmont!)
Yeah I like it when the extra modes go that extra mile and include actual stories or alternate stories/prequels. I think the only two that actually do that, though, are in games I haven't gotten up to yet (Sisters Mode in PoR and Julius Mode in DoS). Well, I guess there was Joachim Mode in LoI, but apart from it's alternate ending it is more just like Maxim Mode.
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Joachim mode is just really an alternate outcome which canonically would have to happen prior to any of the Leon/ Mathias hoohah. But it would never happen realistically as Walter was too powerful.
DoS' alternate mode makes the most sense canonically if an alternate outcome was to occur.
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For me HoD sucks and yet it doesn't suck. The castle environments were definitely a few steps up from CotM however there were some distant backdrops beyond the backgrounds that felt cheap and rushed. Like the lava rivers to name one such backdrop.
Juste overall does not come off as unique to me. He very much resembles Alucard in Belmont form. From his white hair and tailcoat, to his pale skin complexion. That, and leaves behind a blue energy streak like Alucard does. I think much more thought could have gone into him rather then virtually cloning Alucard's design.
His whip was a tad too short. Kinda reminds me of Sonia's whip. Why are they a tad too short? The vampirekiller isn't a short whip, it's got range and it's very deadly when it hits something. At least CotM had range.
The magic system was far more limited then CotM's DSS system. So much so that, to be honest, I've never even used it. I got more enjoyment out of LoI's magic system and it's almost the same concept with regards to the sub-weapons. And in LoI you are almost forced to use it if you want to survive certain fights. An example would be against the Forgotten One.
The Music...sadly due to the limited space on the cart at that time it had to take the big hit. Is the music in HoD better then CotM? Personally I'd have to give this a definite no. Sure CotM has reused tracks but at least they are decent and even catchy which helps to keep one engaged in the game. For some reason HoD's tracks almost make me feel board and that has absolutely nothing to do with their quality either. I don't have a problem with chip tunes so long as they're engaging and catchy. HoD just didn't do it for me. The better attempt was done in AoS and that game could afford better music quality.
The sounds were good. No question about that. Although I think that was one of the reasons why the music quality had to take a backseat. There were also some brief voice clips that also took away from the music being better then it was.
The animations for the characters (Boss armors mainly) were animated like they were in SotN and I also feel this lead to the lack in music quality. Sprite Vectoring would suck up a lot of memory if I'm not mistaken. Juste's animations, sadly, were not as smooth, nor done well as they could have been. He looked awkward to me. Nathan's animations in CotM (though more limited) were better executed and flowed more naturally.
The story here is nothing new. It's the old cliche love tale of two friends rescuing someone very dear to them. Although given my severe dislike for love triangles, this story isn't nearly as bad as most others (Judgement's being the worst for reasons I've stated in the past). The way it is done is more along the lines of good friends rescuing a very dear friend and we don't see the love triangle BS overtaking or overshadowing everything else. So IMO the story is passable for me. It's nothing new or groundbreaking but it works for what it is. Although I think almost everyone knows who Lydie eventually shacks up with and it's not Maxim. Sorry Maxim fans ;D
The Mirrored castle was a bit of an odd duck. It's like the inverted castle but is not flipped on its head. This felt really tedious having to go through the same castle a second time. They didn't even give it it's own music to make it stand out. At least SotN's inverted castle was something that was just a little different so It kept me engaged enough.
Over all HoD is passable for me but it doesn't beat CotM with really anything new. AoS was much better at this and is, by far, more closer to SotN quality on a handheld.
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It's definitely my least favorite out of the 3 castlevania games on the gba and thats mostly due to it having terrible music quality.
Other than that the game is great for me, although I wish it was possible to collect and use swords/spears/clubs etc as weapons in the game like Portrait of Ruin did but still keep the main focus and most powerful weapon as the vampire killer.
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Btw, has anyone played the hacks for the Japanese version? They let you play as Simon, Mario, Megaman, and an evil sword weilding Juste in single player and it looks WICKED awesome!
The hack/mod just rocks my soul. I'll never forget such a great hack, called Castlevania Revenge On The Findesiecle.
Heard about that the hack is still in update progress and my soul is filled with hope and light
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I played that hack a long time ago and it was very, very buggy. However it was an awesome attempt to add in more characters for you to play. Unfortunately due to the nature of said characters I could progress very far into the castle. Hopefully they will fix that.
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I played that hack a long time ago and it was very, very buggy. However it was an awesome attempt to add in more characters for you to play. Unfortunately due to the nature of said characters I could progress very far into the castle. Hopefully they will fix that.
Makes sense it'd be buggy, its an ambitious project. Plus, like you mentioned, some characters cant progress due to jump hight or speed.
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HoD is weeeeeeeeird. I don't necessarily think it's great or horrible, just...weird. That's the best way I can describe it. The whole game just feels off to me, but in an interesting way. It just has this experimental feel to it.
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HoD is weeeeeeeeird. I don't necessarily think it's great or horrible, just...weird. That's the best way I can describe it. The whole game just feels off to me, but in an interesting way. It just has this experimental feel to it.
I think your description hit the nail on the head. I believe the incarnation of CV is also the most abstract. Something about the Castle is really eerie to me.
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Well, to me, HoD is a great game, Because the musics, Graphics and scenario give it a Strong identity.
Ive saw a lot of people complaining about the music, because its 8-bit-like, the weird story, etc. To me, it make the game very original, Its one of my favorites and i love it.
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The only thing that really bugs me about this game is that, apparently, IGA sat with his team and said "What... What if Alucard had only a whip and could dash forward?????"
And people complain about the inverted castle not being creative, but Castle B is the epitome of lazyness.
I like the rest in varying degrees. The music is 8-bit, but I love my chiptunes, and this game's chiptunes are very well composed. The color choices bug me a bit, I much prefer Aria's palette, but I can live with them.
I like the enemy choices too, but I dislike how they lack a proper background info.
Dunno... I feel like this game is a "What if SotN were made by someone less experienced in making games?" somewhat.
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The only thing that really bugs me about this game is that, apparently, IGA sat with his team and said "What... What if Alucard had only a whip and could dash forward?????"
And people complain about the inverted castle not being creative, but Castle B is the epitome of lazyness.
I like the rest in varying degrees. The music is 8-bit, but I love my chiptunes, and this game's chiptunes are very well composed. The color choices bug me a bit, I much prefer Aria's palette, but I can live with them.
I like the enemy choices too, but I dislike how they lack a proper background info.
Dunno... I feel like this game is a "What if SotN were made by someone less experienced in making games?" somewhat.
Castle B is crap. The Castle in SOTN was at least designed in a way that made playing the map upside down playable. CASTLE b is literally copy paste. Obviously not THAT easy in development, but pretty much.
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The only thing that really bugs me about this game is that, apparently, IGA sat with his team and said "What... What if Alucard had only a whip and could dash forward?????"
Funny that they still made him a Belmont.
I think it's ironic fans bitch about SOTN's inverted castle when Castle B is a hell of a lot lazier in design.
I think HoD was actually an experimental game for LOI.
If you look at the story about Maxim being possessed by Dracula's remains, luring Lydie into the Castle, Juste following suit etc as well as Maxim and Juste compared with Mathias and Leon (even simply at an artwork level) I think 'experiment' is the correct term.
Also Juste = Alucard with a whip... Because Leon + Belnades blood
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I think HoD was actually an experimental game for LOI.
Yeah I've heard a rumor that HoD was originally planned to be a PS2 game though the info source is not very clear
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Yeah I've heard a rumor that HoD was originally planned to be a PS2 game though the info source is not very clear
I'll bite, who/ what was the source?
Very interesting indeed.
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I've heard that too, and I want to say it came from an interview, but I really don't feel like searching through dozens of interviews to find it, so I'm not going to say that (but I just did!).
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I imagine if HOD was a Consolevania (yes, I went there ;P) the Castle A/B scenario would've been similar to Soul Reaver: Legacy of Kain, which had two alternate dimensions from memory.
Personally since consolevania's seemed to need to be 3d I'm relieved HoD was for the GBA.
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I think that HoD could really use a remake. It has a lot of flaws, but it's so cool from a conceptual standpoint, and the story is actually pretty good despite being the typical "the girl has been abducted go save girl" fare.
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I think that HoD could really use a remake. It has a lot of flaws, but it's so cool from a conceptual standpoint, and the story is actually pretty good despite being the typical "the girl has been abducted go save girl" fare.
I can see that being really good. PoR gave you the whip and weapon pick ups so it can be done. Either that or make more tips for the whip to find through the game and build the game more around the whip feeling like what the games built around, ie strategy by using certain tips in certain places for better results.
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HoD is amazing (at least for me). The only thing that it is lacking is the New Game+ mode. This is the best thing in every Castlevania game that has it :)
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HoD does what Konami don't
That's right... I went there 8)
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Playing through HOD and LOI atm, and I hate the fact I started this topic cus I actually am digging the game now... Guess too long since I played it (like 5 years ago) and when I was younger I wasn't as good at the metroidvanias, like I never equiped new gear, I just sorta run and gunned with the weapons I had.
The dashing system is TONS better than SOTN, and it makes going through environments really fun and satisfying.
The whip is actually fun to use with the occasional upgrades.
Next to Castlevania 4, HOD is my second favorite in terms of atmosphere. It's creepy, cinematic, and invokes the feeling of being in an inescapable, danger everywhere, one slip up you're screwed environment with tons of history behind it, something I think CV4 did the best. Game seems to have been inspired by our SNES buddy.
The music, while I thought was a bit weird being like chiptunes, is extremely awesome, especially while playing. The castle entrance, sort of "doomed" song(can't name it off the top of my head) and clocktower themes are fantastic.
So far the stories good, and I like the characters. It's nothing amazing, but they're likable and the stories interesting. I also love Juste's need to decorate that room, makes me laugh, good lighthearted humor.
Only thing negative so far are the controls and some sprites. The control isn't as good as other metroidvanias and the sprites look a bit underwhelming, though I suppose it makes them pop out more against the fantastic looking environments.
Yeah, I went back on my word... Fuck it, I think it's a great game lol.
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Playing through HOD and LOI atm, and I hate the fact I started this topic cus I actually am digging the game now... Guess too long since I played it (like 5 years ago) and when I was younger I wasn't as good at the metroidvanias, like I never equiped new gear, I just sorta run and gunned with the weapons I had.
A decent way of making these games harder for any who dare to dabble.
The dashing system is TONS better than SOTN, and it makes going through environments really fun and satisfying.
Agree, I found Sotn's dash pretty slow and useless, still better than not having it. Forward dashing was the best prior to AoS getting Black Panther.
Next to Castlevania 4, HOD is my second favorite in terms of atmosphere. It's creepy, cinematic, and invokes the feeling of being in an inescapable, danger everywhere, one slip up you're screwed environment with tons of history behind it, something I think CV4 did the best. Game seems to have been inspired by our SNES buddy.
It's got that 'campy' Dracula horror film feel without being a "horror" game.
The music, while I thought was a bit weird being like chiptunes, is extremely awesome, especially while playing. The castle entrance, sort of "doomed" song(can't name it off the top of my head) and clocktower themes are fantastic.
Marble Gallery's Offense and Defense is my favourite. Like Jorge's Arrangement too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsV113dfnI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zsV113dfnI)
Only thing negative so far are the controls and some sprites. The control isn't as good as other metroidvanias and the sprites look a bit underwhelming, though I suppose it makes them pop out more against the fantastic looking environments.
The blue outline makes Juste look like a smurf, but seriously on the first GBA it was so hard to see while playing Cotm (one criticism that seems to escape it) that when you picked this up you knew exactly why. It also looks much different on a handheld.
Yeah, I went back on my word... Fuck it, I think it's a great game lol.
Simply because a game isn't executed as well as others or doesn't have the production, sure doesn't prevent us from liking what we like. Out of Cotm/ HoD I know Cotm is technically a better game in a lot of aspects but I'd prefer HoD in a heartbeat (aka savepoint). Same dea with LOI/ COD. Imo LOI is the better game but I'd much rather play COD. (I must have a thing for chairs and decorating rooms)
I was actually quite blown away at the time of HoD that konami had tried to emulate Sotn and done a pretty decent job on GBA of all consoles at its time of release.
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I was actually quite blown away at the time of HoD that konami had tried to emulate Sotn and done a pretty decent job on GBA of all consoles at its time of release.
I know exactly what u mean. It's like with movies; A film like Casino Royale is definitely better than a film like Moonraker, but CR is a film you have to be invested in and it means something while Moonraker is purely fun entertainment.
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Yeah, I went back on my word... Fuck it, I think it's a great game lol.
And all is right with the world again.
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And all is right with the world again.
It must be, I started playing Maxim mode last night :)
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This discussion has inspired me.
I have decided to embark on a 'hardgame' playthrough of HoD.
I'm not picking up any Life/ MP/ Heart-Max up's and I'm abstaining from equipping ANY gear: tunic, mail, whip tips, boots, etc.
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This discussion has inspired me.
I have decided to embark on a 'hardgame' playthrough of HoD.
I'm not picking up any Life/ MP/ Heart-Max up's and I'm abstaining from equipping ANY gear: tunic, mail, whip tips, boots, etc.
Good luck, man. I know I'd tare my hair out if I attempted that in any metroidvania XD
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Thanks Freeman. Beat the bat end boss last night and have died a few times trying to get out of dead ends. 64 hp and 37 hearts isn't exactly a lot :)
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Thanks Freeman. Beat the bat end boss last night and have died a few times trying to get out of dead ends. 64 hp and 37 hearts isn't exactly a lot :)
Any time, man. And no, that aint quite enough ;D
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Yeah, yeah it sucks. It's like Symphony of the Night with serial numbers filed off and minus the quality.
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The thing I don't like is that there are a lot of dead ends and it's quite linear in essence while playing as Juste.
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The thing I don't like is that there are a lot of dead ends and it's quite linear in essence while playing as Juste.
The dead ends were one of the things that bothered me. I'm having a lot of "wtf do I go" moments so far
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The dead ends were one of the things that bothered me. I'm having a lot of "wtf do I go" moments so far
This was a definite problem for the game. When I had almost basically finished the game for the first time I couldn't figure out where to go next. Out of all the remains I didn't even have Dracula's Heart which was needed for the final push to home plate. Because of this I thought my copy of HoD was broken, lol. Once I did manage to get the heart then the rest of the game opened up for me. But man, I gotta tell you that was annoying for a while.
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This was a definite problem for the game. When I had almost basically finished the game for the first time I couldn't figure out where to go next. Out of all the remains I didn't even have Dracula's Heart which was needed for the final push to home plate. Because of this I thought my copy of HoD was broken, lol. Once I did manage to get the heart then the rest of the game opened up for me. But man, I gotta tell you that was annoying for a while.
I'm starting to notice a fee design flaws and they're mostly to do with the castle tbh.
The fact there is nothing similar to SOTN's library card is frustrating.
What I am liking is the gameplay, but fuck me Juste's jump is so floaty. There's no half jump when trying to jump forward and attack. The result is jumping into enemies and bosses unless you're really careful. I tend to only jump straight up to attack or just use the dash system.
Maxim's jumping feels better imo, which is a shame. This aside gameplay = good.
Boss fights are actually challenging on this run.
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Not to change discussion, but I malsk having the same issue with LOI. I'm lost and will look up a walkthrough, with both HOD and LOI
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I was getting frustrated with HoD's incessant dungeon crawling/ trolling but I finally found the skywalk last night! Up to the Devil boss now.