Topic: Ds games Revisited

[KaZudra]

Last time I played the DS games were about a year or two ago, Now that I have come back to the with me new 3DS, I have updated my opinions on them.

Gameplay

DoS- Pretty Fun, but too easy. Julius mode cranked up the challenge a bit, but still too easy.

PoR- from being my least favorite to my most favorite of the DS games, this has a great balance of difficulty and doesn't really give you the over powered stuff early, Questing doesn't give that grinding feel, hell, I only had to grind to max out a couple subweapons, otherwise this game is great.
Though Nest of Evil is where the Recycle-fest is recycling bosses from other games shamelessly.

OoE - now my second favorite, but unlike PoR, once you get the Over-powered stuff, you're untouchable.
its okay, but not as amazing as I though it was...

Story

DoS - Tried to be the most story driven of the 3, but lacks in fleshing out the characters in parts.

PoR - Starting on a fumble this game actually tells the story really well, the characters are pretty fleshed out.

OoE - Still tops in story, characters are fully fleshed out and the ending this hits the right key.


What's better in the 3ds mode?

well, the 3ds gives the true-motion effect to the DS games making the framerates oh so great!
Plus the smoothed upscale is great as it leaves the original quality of the games but takes away the jagged edges and things like that.

[beingthehero]

It's bit of the reverse for me. I like OoE the most, followed by PoR and DoS. I thought OoE was vaguely SCIV-ish, in how it felt to progress from wandering Transylvania before finally getting to Dracula's castle. Plus it has Malak's Labyrinth, which is one of my favorite areas in any of the CV games. On the other hand, it suffers from overusing Shanoa's theme in some of the areas, a la CotM's rendition of Sinking Old Sanctuary.

I don't think PoR is as bad as some people have made it out to be recently. I do agree that you become far too overpowered by the end, especially for Jonathan. On the other hand I don't like the protagonists (but Brauner is one of the better villains we've ever had.) And I don't like the Dark Portraits, except for the Dark Academy.

DoS is good, but it never jived with me like the other two. I just think Aria was the better game. DoS has some very intriguing graphics, however, especially the single bent tree in the background when you find the giant composer cricket dude whose name escapes me at the moment.

[Flame]

I think OoE is the DS winner. Weve established IGA sucks at writing sequels- but is great at original plots.

Gameplay however, hes usually always good at making. The story problem lies in this. the fact that he likes to create the gameplay before the story. And always tries to create some unique gameplay type for each game, and mold the story to that.

[VladCT]

DoS is good, but it never jived with me like the other two. I just think Aria was the better game. DoS has some very intriguing graphics, however, especially the single bent tree in the background when you find the giant composer cricket dude whose name escapes me at the moment.

It's Abaddon. You're welcome.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

OoE has my vote for best also.

I actually like the comparisons to SCIV and CV2.

I like being able to explore the countryside of Transylvania before getting the Dracula's castle. It really did make it still feel like a mertroidvania while also giving us classic elements.

And I really do not see how you could possible think POR is more difficult than OOE.

OOE difficulty in my honest opinion was much higher than POR.

infact, I actually had a less difficult time beating POR than I did beating DOS.

OOE actually made the MP go done whenever you used a weapon which also gave the game's already challenging bosses a bigger advantage which really did up the difficulty.

[beingthehero]

It's Abaddon. You're welcome.

But I didn't even thank you for it. So I refuse your information and your love.

[Vrakanox]

#1 OoE - Best atmosphere and artwork by far. Dark and eerie like a Castlevania game should be. The town and quests gave it a more epic feel. Great level design. A lot of diverse areas. Dracula had a great design. Albus wins an award for best supporting actor.

#2 DoS - Massive game. Big castle. My favorite gameplay of the three. Lots of cool secondary characters added to the plot. Dracula, Alucard and the latest Belmont as well as a Belnades. The most recent game in the timeline.

#3 - PoR - Johnathan was a cool character and a whip user. Too much like a sidestory. Dracula was forced.

I liked all three a lot but OoE is the direction I would like the series to head in.

[KaZudra]

OoE has my vote for best also.

I actually like the comparisons to SCIV and CV2.

I like being able to explore the countryside of Transylvania before getting the Dracula's castle. It really did make it still feel like a mertroidvania while also giving us classic elements.

And I really do not see how you could possible think POR is more difficult than OOE.

OOE difficulty in my honest opinion was much higher than POR.

infact, I actually had a less difficult time beating POR than I did beating DOS.

OOE actually made the MP go done whenever you used a weapon which also gave the game's already challenging bosses a bigger advantage which really did up the difficulty.

OoE is Harder, but you can get screen Wiper powers pretty early, thus not keeping the even ratio of PoR
OoE is alson undoubtedly the best of the 3, I'm just loving PoR this time around.

Ironically, I kinda Dis-like DoS even though alot of new material was made for it, It just failed to make a good atmosphere and overall too easy, Easier than SoTN when you use the secret elevator early.

#1 OoE - Best atmosphere and artwork by far. Dark and eerie like a Castlevania game should be. The town and quests gave it a more epic feel. Great level design. A lot of diverse areas. Dracula had a great design. Albus wins an award for best supporting actor.

#2 DoS - Massive game. Big castle. My favorite gameplay of the three. Lots of cool secondary characters added to the plot. Dracula, Alucard and the latest Belmont as well as a Belnades. The most recent game in the timeline.

#3 - PoR - Johnathan was a cool character and a whip user. Too much like a sidestory. Dracula was forced.

I liked all three a lot but OoE is the direction I would like the series to head in.

I'm gonna agree with em all, PoR was better off without a Draciula side-plot, but on the contrary, how else could you get Dreath/Dracula Tag team?
 

[darkwzrd4]

I think OoE is the DS winner. Weve established IGA sucks at writing sequels- but is great at original plots.

Gameplay however, hes usually always good at making. The story problem lies in this. the fact that he likes to create the gameplay before the story. And always tries to create some unique gameplay type for each game, and mold the story to that.

This has been said time and time again on this forum.  It's also the primary reason people bash IGA (I, too, am guilty of this).  If these were stand alone games like the Final Fantasy series, there wouldn't be this problem.  Each Final Fantasy game has its own individual storyline (with a few exceptions) and that seems to work.  Maybe the Castlevania team should adopt that style of stand alone games (they would probably get a lot less flack doing things that way). 

[uzo]

OoE >>>>> DoS > PoR

Always has been, always will be.

[VladCT]

But I didn't even thank you for it. So I refuse your information and your love.

Derp.

[shelverton.]

DoS is my favourite. I think it's a fantastic game, except maybe the low difficulty level. But that's a problem in all Metroidvanias, except maybe CotM. DoS a very addictive game to me, but in retrospect some of the level design is a bit ho-hum, especially the tower of sinners. Still, it's a very classy and fun game IMO.

After that it's a toss-up between OoE and PoR. I think both games failed in terms of level design. Also, both PoR and OoE recycled graphics and entire rooms like no other Metroidvania before them.

OoE is actually the worst offender in my opinion. Compare, say, the clock tower in PoR and OoE and see what I mean. PoR had a great classic clock tower! On the other hand, OoE seemed like a more interesting game overall with a much better story. It's also a little bit more challenging. By no means is OoE a hard game, but it has its moments. I slaughtered the final boss though. I had a much harder time with the finale in both PoR and DoS.

Meanwhile, PoR has the stronger soundtrack and some memorable moments, like being chased in the beginning of the game, or trying to stop a goddamn train! Also, the Brauner battle is surprisingly original and fun. Charlotte didn't add anything to the gameplay though. I only ever used her when I had to, which was like three or four times throughout the entire game.

I think all three DS games are some of the best 2D action games on the system. This is just me nitpicking.

[crisis]

the giant composer cricket dude

Kojima-san drew an excellent rendition of Abaddon, don't ya think?

[thernz]

No, that's Kamen Rider. Definitely Kamen Rider.

[KaZudra]

@ Crisis + thernz - Yep, that totally looks like from the humanoid Kamen Rider from the 80's i think.

The Greatest Five attack is really awesome, and added bonus cause you have to do all the quests to become overpowered.