Topic: First Impressions (warning: LONG OP!)

[JR]

Think I may have told some or all of this before, but here goes:

My first game of the series was CV1 as a kid, probably first played it in '87, I guess. Sometimes, when my dad would rent movies, he'd let me rent a game or two. When renting Wizards & Warriors (for like the third time), I grabbed Castlevania along with it. I remember before that, always looking at the bosses and stage layouts in The Official Nintendo Player's Guide and thinking how awesome it all looked. Didn't leave a huge impact on me when I did play it, but I still liked the games. Maybe difficulty had to do with it, since I had more trouble with this game than Ninja Gaiden (probably because I actually had that one at home). But I played nearly every release from then on, being a casual fan at best.

It wasn't until Lament of Innocence was released that I really got into the series, though. I saw the commercials, and my younger sister happened to buy it new for my birthday...I think she vaguely remembered I played some of the games years ago. I dove headfirst into the series after that. Went back and beat CV1 for the first time. Dug up a Genesis and a copy of Bloodlines from my mom's house. Finally played Dracula's Curse after all these years. Found out that two other games were released for the Game Boy, and three more were released for a handheld that I hadn't even heard of up to that point. And that's probably about the time that I started coming here, too.

I blame it all on Rinaldo.

[TheouAegis]

OMG I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT BOOK!!!!

My childhood buddy had it and I'd borrow it from him. During the summer I'd sit outside under the big pine tree in our front yard and read that book. You're absolutely right! I hadn't played Castlevania prior to that day I finally got to play it on my cousin's C64, but that was the first time I learned about the game -- from The Nintendo Power Player's Guide! I remember looking over Castlevania day after day. And Goonies II. My god, all the time I spent reading the Goonies II chapter!

Oh god you flooded my mind with nostalgia. Damn you JR!

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

First Castlevania game I actually played was Super Castlevania 4.

Afterwards I would go on to play others like Castlevania Bloodlines and Castlevanai 64 but it wasn't until I played Symphony of the night that I finally became interested in the series as a whole and decided to go back and play all the others I had missed.

[Puwexil]

I'd always been peripherally aware of the series' existence through game magazines etc., but my earliest first-hand experience with it was through emulating Super Castlevania IV in the late '90s. Back then, it was just a game among others, though I enjoyed it from the start. I don't think I ever made it past the sunken ruins, at the time, but I would call this the point where the seeds of my fandom were sown.

The proper push off the slippery slope was playing Circle of the Moon in '03 or so. My current opinion of the game notwithstanding, it was enough to have me begin scouring the Internet for resources and information about the series. I didn't really stop until I'd absorbed it all and played most every game there was, a years-long process obviously. But it was a treat for most of it; enrichening and revelatory at the best of times.

The thing about Castlevania is that I will always care about it, very literally whether I like it or not, so I live in the hope of it reclaiming some of the allure that once drew me to it.

[Soulsteal]

CV2. I liked it. Alot.
You started out having NO IDEA where to go, to this day I can beat it without a walkthrough 2 hours min, 3 hours tops. Even less without grinding.

[Archangel]

What a wonderful thread

Okay,....where do I start? It needed a loooooog time since I finally got aware of Castlevania, to be honest.

It must have been during the mid-nineties. My uncle buyed me a Gameboy Game Guide on a flea market. Even though it covered only like 4 games I actually posessed, it was still fun to read about the other games (oh, and watch the pictures ;P). I would try to track down games that looked fun based on what I read on it. Coincidently, one of the games in that book happenend to be Castlevania: The Adventure. Reading about Simon (this was made up for the US versions, if I remember correctly, and they simply translated it over here, I guess) Belmont fighting against the evil Count Dracula was really cool, but also kinda scary, so I never tried to get this game.

I forgot about the Adventure entirely, and it wouldn´t be until the year 2003 that I once again heard about the series: E3 ´03... Castlevania: LoI. I still remember the guy on the DVD narrating some scenes, especially the beginning, showing Leon in front of the Castle, asking Sara to wait for him. The guy said "At first sight you would say it´s Devil May Cry, but you´d be wrong!" The story about the origins about some Vampire Hunters, their whip, and that Dracula had something to do with the whole thing sounded really cool, but somehow, I was sure that the game wasn´t really what I looked for. Again, I evaded Castlevania and it slipped from my memory... there were so many cool games anounced that year, it was ridiculous.

The year 2005. I was (and still am) a member of a Legacy of Kain forum. There was this one guy, frequently talking about this game series called ´Castlevania´. It didn´t really interest me, yeah, everytime someone talked about Hellsing (the anime) he would talk about how CV has it´s own Alucard. And when he  told me about the belmont family.... I imagined a huuuuge modern day family of 20 people or more, fighting against each other over who would be the one who stars in the next game (little did I know back then....).

Then. It was early 2007.... I saw a trailer for The Dracula X Chronicles. My mind was blown. "Castlevania... wasn´t that the annoying game series that annoying guy was frequently talking about?" I had to know more. "What! There are so many games of it!" Shortly after, I made a decision. I needed a game to try out... preferably one where I learned some basics about the series. So I wrote the annoying guy, told him I wanted to get into the series. He said, "Knowing you, I´d recommend you Lament of Innocence." LoI.... it sounded familiar. I googled it and remembered that game I saw more than 4 years earlier!

Lament of Innocence was great. From the moment the opening kicked in, the story had sucked me in completely. The first time I entered the house of sacred remains.... everything felt so... holy. The whole game had this strange sad feeling, but also this....I don´t know how to discribe it.... exalted atmosphere. I really felt like some holy knight back then. I played one level per day and was amazed by the appearance of the bosses (floating head Medusa... crazy!) and their difficulty... it was challenging. But never disenganging. So at first, I thought, there wouldn´t be much story to the game (the first two levels I finished were the House of Sacred Remains, then the Lab of Anti-Souls)... but after beating Medusa, suddenly, more story-bits were revealed. And the game would continue to do so. It was great! I really felt sorry for Rinaldo, was amazed by the whips sad background, and intrigued when I learned about the Crimson and Ebony Stones, which were created by accident when trying to create the Philosopher´s Stone.

But to wrap things up a little, the ending made me really sad, but also very curios how the story would continue to unfold... yes, this ending, especially thanks to the narrator, made me view this game like it was a stage play (in a good way). And, subsequently, every game after would be a new incarnation of said play. So, I wanted to know more about the world of CV, especially since i didn´t get why the Grim Reaper himself would appear in a game like Castlevania (CV Dungeon helped me ALOT)... even though his appearence was awesome as was his fight. Everytime a new game was released, I´d always look forward to meet Death, simply because he had such an impact on me as the final boss of the first CV game I played. So yeah, LoI did leave an immense impression on me. And even today, after realising its shortcomings, it still has a special place in my heart.

Whew.... I just want to add that the next game I played was actually the first CV I´ve ever seen: The Adventure! It was cool to realize that I knew this game long before I even got into the series.

And another thing:

Castlevania is at it's best when the story is presented with a touch, or a lot, of melodrama and quirkiness. This isn't reality. It's a game. Have fun with the story. Have fun with the presentation. Make those characters larger than life, because if I wanted to get lost in reality, there are easier and less expensive methods of doing it. Make Hector a loud screaming emo. Make Isaac that flamboyant molester maestro we all know he is. Juste has a thing for collecting furniture? Eh. I've seen weirder. I ain't here to judge. Castlevania's quirky. It's off-beat and off-kilter, and is best when it doesn't take itself completely seriously.

But my final mark of my early experiences is that Castlevania offers something for everyone, even when it hits a low point. Curse is a pretty absymal low for the series. But the same was said of Portrait of Ruin, and plenty of people still like it. Curse was good enough to foster a continued interest in the series for me, so it had to offer something worthwhile, or I'd have said "THIS IS HORRIBLE!" and never touched the series again.

The fact that I'm still playing the series and discussing it 6 years on means something to me. This series has potential, and everyone is bound to get something out of the experience.

We may argue, bicker, and squabble amongst ourselves, but we're all still fans. We may have come for different reasons, but we stay for the same one: Castlevania has something we want that we can't get elsewhere.

Thank you. You know, ever since OoE, I´ve continuously lost my faith in this series more and more.... and LoS (which I really enjoy) made me realize many of the old Saga´s flaws. But reading this made me love these games again

Again, thank you very much.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

You're welcome.