Topic: Harmony of Despair (The next Castlevania game?)

[affinity]

But all those features you mention just seem necessary for a multiplayer game.


unnecessary to who?  you?   You know to some people those features are necessary and welcome.
Please don't sound like you speak on behalf of everyone.  To some its unnecessary, and to others it's
necessary.    Just like Lords of Shadow.  Many feel another 3D Castlevania is not necessary, but to some
it's necessary.  


I mean, the pausing. It's nothing to write home about. I guess it might add some tension, but tension in a Metroidvania is pretty rare since all the enemies are too stupid for the relatively overpowered characters you play as.

That's a shameless way to brush off the heightened difficulty due to the removable of pausing.
Notice how in all of the metroidvanias, people pause often in the heat of the moment,
taking their time swapping inventory, losing tension.  Even a little extra tension is valuable.
Also the removable of pausing brings back the classic flow of Castlevania games without the stop and go menu design.   The only time people paused back then was when there was things outside the game (phonecall, bathroom, etc.) that required their immediate attention.  Well now they can't even do that
without risking getting hit while they are away, but it fits for this game's nature, with group co-op being one of its most exciting highlights.  

The equipment system just gets rid of leveling. I can't see it making the game deeper than others. Plus, there were always secrets and lots of treasures to obtain in the older Castlevanias so.

All the more reason for this Castlevania to have secrets and treasures.  Removing the leveling system
in turn makes it more challenging to upgrade your character(s), since the only way to enhance them
is with equipment you find.  And finding equipment is more challenging and time consuming than simply
leveling up.    

Remember how much a joke games like SOTN are when at the higher experience levels.
Also a leveling system would not maintain the balance, because when you factor in multiple players,
that results in already a lot of extra firepower and support to get by.   Centering growth around the
equipment itself, is a more balanced way to keep things interesting and challenging!

In the trailer, the placement of one item in a wall was just illogical and random.

Since when was Castlevanai logical and not random with some of its items?

So it might actually be detrimental to HoD, destroying all rhythm in a level (as if it had any) with the urge to smack everything.

oh right as if there weren't ambitious players in the metroidvanias who didn't try smacking every wall
to find more secrets.   Unless you use a guide, testing walls was a part of treasure hunting in Castlevania.


So, essentially, there's no "exploring" to be done besides hitting a few switches here and there and slapping walls for goodies. There's no secret or alternate paths to uncover because everything is shown to you. And there is nothing inherently Classic Castlevania in the level designs.

It does have a slight metroidvania feel to it, with a stage based setup.   You really shouldn't say "nothing" or you really need new glasses, I think.

They're still stuck in the Metroidvania mentality of boring open rooms with a few platforms here and there with no relation to the enemy placement. You'd expect them to have more engaging level design for something like this,

You expect too much out of the level design.   And metroidvania level design has proven to be successful
and fun for many fans.  Also you haven't played this game's stages, so looking at the full map
is very different from plowing through these maps yourself.  

but you know, they literally ripped the rooms from the older DS titles anyway. It would work if there were new vistas to explore at least but there aren't. That kinda requires new graphics!

The rooms will be totally new to players who haven't played the DS games (Xbox360 is full of players who haven't touched a DS.)   And even to metroidvania veterans, I'm sure there will be plenty of people who appreciate the nostalgia, like me.


Then IGA mentions that players will likely play through the same level over and over and I'm going, "derp." Death and repetition. Is that the motive to explore? That's horrible.

People have been killed numerous times in Castlevania games before they find all of the secrets.
Just like Contra, Mario, Metroid back then, etc.   I don't believe me means defeat is guaranteed. If
you are skilled enough, you should be able to get by even with basic equipment.   And another thing,
is that news is all the more interesting, because that means this Castlevania could be challenging,
and what CV fan wouldn't accept a challenging test of surviving the dangers of the castle?

There's a lack of reward unless you find pleasure in progressing just to slap a few more generic enemies in a room you've probably already seen, just slapped on top of another room you've already seen, just not together and finding items that probably just boost stats. The gameplay doesn't seem all that revolutionary at the combat level either.

I wouldn't call OoE's combat that revolutionary either, but it's still fun and effective.

There doesn't seem to be anything added for multiplayer in what is essentially the main gameplay of the game. In this case, hitting switches and etc. would probably work if the game was focused on platforming beyond just gonna press jump 3 times to get up these platforms stacked on top of each other lol.

Sigh....you really just play games by yourself, don't you?
The multiplayer values and fan factor is beyond description.  To understand this, one must combine
every fragment of this game with every positive aspect of friends, parties, and cooperative entertainment
as a whole.  

Whether casual or hardcore,
a cooperative Castlevania game of this nature is something many dreamed of experiencing with others!
 

So yeah. I rather they not even try,

That sounds like such a selfish and self centered desire.  

That's like saying "I hate mushroom pizza, the chef might as well not even try, even though there
are people who really want mushroom pizza."  

You really don't care about how much others wanted a Castlevania game like this and are excited for what it will offer that the other Castlevanias can't substitute entirely.

because all they're doing is making a Castlevania-themed stripped down Maple Story with a bit more focused combat and ways to limit having to create more content. The game's design just screams at me, "Way to minimize use of original content!" rather than actually trying to accomplish something evolutionary.

Harmony of Despair is evolutionary in some ways and you don't even see it.  
If you want "evolutionary", that is what Lords of Shadow is for, but that's too evolutionary for some fans,
but it's great there are two very different Castlevanias to choose from this year.  

And your viewpoint on this, while it's your opinion, is just another example how someone who
doesn't like something can talk as if it's as dumb as they make it sound.  

People can make any game sound like it's far less than it really is.

Anyways thanks for sharing your viewpoint but overall, Harmony of Despair is really something that's missing in the Castlevania franchise and even gaming in general.   People will have fun in ways that
could only be imagined before.   You may see it as a repetition, but all games are a repetition one way or another.  What kind of repetition you prefer, that's another story.  

[affinity]

Are you fucking kiddding me? My rationale is sound and supported with facts. Your defense of the game can hardly be considered anything close to this: it's all gushy arbitrary nonsense. Every one of your posts, ESPECIALLY your haphazard attempt to reply to mine, consists of you tossing around irrelevant bullshit, belittling/ignoring understandable concerns, and making completely asinine statements.

You are the definition of an idiot, possibly even a retard. I'm out.

And this, everyone, is a fine example of a sad closed minded individual who are too full of themselves to bother seeing beyond their own perspective.

The best they can do is treat their opinions as "relevant", while ignoring someone's reasoning and simply labeling their opinion as "irrelevant", not to mention resorting to name calling.  Such immaturity. Such ignorance.  And such harsh language.   They don't sound very educated at all.  

Anyways:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kT7bfuxdTw

1:55, killed teammates can continue playing...as a skeleton enemy??? That is so cool!  

3 things seem to confirm this:

1. The portrait tracker is only used for nearby team members offscreen,

2. The one displayed on the portrait is a skeleton enemy with a halo above them.

3. The 2nd player character is absent from the map, except for Jonathan (player 1) and that skeleton.

Someone else's observation:

You can see that the player controlling the Skeleton takes damage from an enemy and then attacks and does damage the enemy at 1:26 in the bottom left corner of the screen.

Seems to indicate that skeleton players are still on the same side as the other players, therefore
friendly fire looks like it might not be allowed (which is a good thing for co-op reasons, though I wouldn't
mind either way.)

I notice that Shanoa's red health bar is still almost full. Could this mean skeleton mode has a limit to how much damage it could take? There is a possibility they will continue to auto-revive, running out of health simply means some time will pass before they rise again as a skeleton. Either that or a player basically has 2 lives. If they are eliminated as a skeleton, that might be it. But I consider it's going to be the former, they auto-revive as a skeleton no matter how many times their health runs out.  

Well it's possible.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Seriously you guys need to stop with this nonsense.

It's a downloadable.  There'll be a demo.  Try it out and see if you like it or not.  The flaws in the fan community have been clearly addressed already.  It will boil down to when you download the demo, and play with a friend for a while.  If it still sucks, DON'T BUY THE FULL GAME.

The insulting and stupidity really need to stop.  Christs.

[Nox_A15]

E3 2010: Koji Igarashi Interview HD
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-castlevania-harmony/700980

[Reinhart77]

well, nothing new, but it's been too long since the last one.

[Inccubus]

Game still seems like shoddy and gimmicky crap.
The maps look like ass when zoomed out. It really kills the illusion of being in a castle.
My heart kinda sank when it was confirmed this was real and that IGA had a hand in it.

[Dark Nemesis]

I would really love to have some of the new artwork of the characters!! It's amazing!!

[crisis]

My heart kinda sank when it was confirmed this was real and that IGA had a hand in it.

Makes you wonder why he would go from CV ReBirth to this. and why cv rebirth had absolutely NO character art. seriously, Konami? >8[

I'm guessing a late July release, hopefully they're hammering out any bugs or glitches until then

[Galamoth]

IGA Interview: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2010-castlevania-harmony/700979

[thernz]

IGA just loves going in ups and downs. He rolls like a wave. We got OoE and ReBirth so he had to hit us hard with HoD. Otherwise, he might've, like, died or something.

[Galamoth]

Yeah, it's almost like he wants to fuck it as much as he can. He's not allowed to make the Alucard 3D game so he just wants to watch the world burn.

[Kale]

You know... which is stupid of Konami... Since the reaction to Alucard 3d game was extremely well received... and they canceled it. I'm not saying LoS didn't look good, but a 3d alucard game would've been almost as popular... I'm hoping they only delayed it, because LoS came along.

[Nagumo]

They would be crazy if they wouldn't since then they could advertise it as the SotN sequel and stuff.       

[affinity]

Alucard going 3-D would be one of the worst things ever.   At most they can only hide their bad 3-D gameplay with high quality cinematics with a tacked on story (like Stars Wars Old Republic is trying to build hype with its ultra quality cinematics, but gameplay visuals look very bad even more a mmorpg.)  

Megaman and Contra failed going 3-D.  Some series are better off sticking to their 2-D roots and 2-D
sprite art that works.

Harmony of Despair will really bring cooperative fun that is lacking in past Castlevania games.  As well as interesting single player fun in good ways too!   More characters, more players, more possibilities.  
There is plenty of room for an official group based Castlevania game.   And true Castlevania fans
are never bothered by graphics.  Fans still play Castlevania 1 and other games like Rondo of Blood to this day!   Castlevania sprites are an art, and they fit perfectly in Harmony of Despair.  

People shouldn't be spoiled by what other franchises are doing.   Harmony of Despair will provide great fun
in a different way not deeply explored by previous Castlevania games and the cooperation factor will
make friends and families finally enjoy a great 2-D Castlevania together!

This really will be a masterpiece for many fans and people who value its positive aspects! And the
replay value will be greater than past Castlevanias and even co-op legends like TMNT arcade.      

[sad6666]

This has become one of the most annoying topics ever. Good thing moderators have seen what's going on here.