Topic: First Impressions (warning: LONG OP!)

[Lumi Kløvstad]

My spirited discussion in another thread brought this up in my mind.

What were your earliest Castlevania experiences, and how did they affect how you tend to perceive the series?

My very first Castlevania experiences were, as I have often mentioned, the much derided Curse of Darkness and the Double Pack (Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow).

Not knowing ANYTHING about Castlevania when booting up Curse at the age of 16, I found the game to be tedious, but the story easy to follow, the game not too challenging, but enough to give my fledgling skills as a fledgling console gamer some trouble in certain boss battles. I was awed by the scope and scale of the environments, and especially the Abandoned Castle and the first half of Garibaldi Cathedral wowed me with their rainbow lighting effects and superb details. The sparseness of the environments didn't even register to me at the time, nor did the slow movement speed of Castlevania's latest intrepid hero, such was the sensory overload. The vastness, the music, the gothic atmosphere, the impassioned melodrama of the voice acting; I was a young gamer completely overloaded with the experience.

What was down that corridor? I HAD NO IDEA. So I explored it all, I slaughtered every demon I encountered, and ranked up a map completion I still have yet to match on any subsequent playthrough.

Harmony of Dissonance followed shortly after that. The colors made my eyes pop with attention deficit disorder level excitement. The story, more unfamiliar and a bit harder to latch onto in the beginning than Curse's, still captivated my attention. I was well familiar with portable gaming systems by that point (they were all my parents would let me have until my PS2 arrived on Christmas of 2002), so the music seemed a bit funny to me, but the only person it drove crazy was my mother. I found the game just easy enough for my skills at the time, and I recall liking the map system well enough, and being delighted that it was also in Aria of Sorrow.

Aria of Sorrow was a REALLY confusing title for me when I first booted it up. When Yoko let slip Genya's identity, I took no note. I had no context. I didn't understand it was a significant point for a devoted fan. I knew the game was fun though. A bit harder than I had found Harmony, but that didn't matter. I loved mixing and matching the souls, and I was still at that point where exploration was still high on my list of priorities, so the map style captured me the same way Curse and Harmony did.

Eventually, when the internet informed me that yes, this "Genya Arikado" person was in fact important to the story of the series, I asked my girlfriend (the same girlfriend who coaxed me into buying Curse and the Double Pack), and she explained it to me, at which point I became far more aware of the series. It was no longer something where I could just get a random game and feel my way along. This was a deep series, with years upon years of backstory, and I would have to familiarize myself with the material.

And what better way to familiarize myself than to play every installment I could?

From that rocky beginning, I am now brought to the present day. I have now played all the games (not beaten all of them, but played them all). I have grown IMMENSELY in my knowledge and fandom of the series in just 6 short years.

And furthermore, I don't enjoy Curse as much as I used to, because now I realize it's overall build quality in the context of the series at large. That's the one thing I really wish I could forget, so I could experience it for the first time again.

But Curse, Harmony, and Aria left their marks on me. Boy, did they ever.

As with most things, first impressions are important, and furthermore, will define how you see something FOREVER.

My first impressions of the series have defined my views in a way that I have found frequently clashes with older, more established fans. But I won't make the case that any one view is better than another. Because when it comes to videogames, if something gives you an added measure of enjoyment, more power to ya. It's how I sleep at night, knowing I own a Castlevania Legends cartridge.

So, how did those first 3 games shape my views of Castlevania?

Well, to me it's a gothic fantasy franchise with a romanticized flourish, for one. Every one of those 3 games had several common threads, most notably, Ayami Kojima's fantastic designs. They're complicated, they're colorful, they're beautiful and stylized. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. When I think of Castlevania, I don't think of hide-clad barbarian meat-men swinging about on whips. I think of Kojima's elegant and intricate designs; a sort of grim and dark nobility present in each design. But that's all me, I acknowledge. As will be the case with any and all of these, others are bound to see it differently.

Another thing about Castlevania to me is that it is at it's best when the stories are kept simple, yet the games themselves remain connected with other entries. You don't need an actual timeline or even a storyline connection, per say. But it's good when you can play one, then play another, and know there's a connection between them, even if it isn't necessarily a direct or obvious one. None of my first 3 games were connected directly, yet the aesthetic and tone were similar across all 3, and that created a link between them. They all felt like they were related; maybe not parent and child or siblings, but maybe extended family; more like cousins.

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.

We've all been affected by our early experiences with it. I've shared my story.

If you feel so inclined, please share yours.

[GuyStarwind]

My first CV was CV 64. However, it wasn't until LoI that I got into the series.

[Flame]

My first CV was Aria of Sorrow, maybe a year or two ago? I don't remember. But definitely way past it's prime. Me and my pal played it on our GBA Emulators.

Later I got DoS and Lament too, and tried the classicvanias. Eventually I got a Symphony ISO, and played the fuck out of it. aaand yeah.

How do I perceive the series?

Creature of Chaos, definitely.

[Neobelmont]

My very first owned cv game was portrait of ruin,yet the what brought me into gaming was dracula's curse but portrait brought me back(I even returned dawn of sorrow because I just was not ready for the series again) into the series. The cv64 chainsaw man scared me for many many years so I backed off a bit.
yes we all have a story but for right now I will just keep it simple.

[Dark Nemesis]

My first Castlevania, was Castlevania the adventure. Back then, i really loved the mood of the game and enemies, along with the story. A human vs Dracula. Those roll eyes, music, they really got me. I love medieval games, with knights, demons etc. So i played the crap out of it, along with fortress of fear for game boy.

  Later when i've got a snes, i played Super Castlevania and Blood lines on a friend's genesis and that's how i got stucked with the series.

[PFG9000]

I was pretty young when I played CV1 at a friend's house, but the atmosphere and creepy vibe really drew me in.  CV2 came out and it just seemed totally different, almost boring.  I was too young to understand that it was a totally different type of game compared to the first one, so when I kept going to the right without getting to the castle, I thought it just wasn't for me.  The next CV I played was CV4, and I loved that one even more than the first one.  The atmosphere was so real and so magical at the same time. 

Then the 32/64-bit era came, and I got all depressed about the gaming scene.  I thought that the good old days of 2D gaming were gone and would never be matched by those fugly 3D polygonal games.  I heard about a new CV, SotN, and assumed it would be crap because so many old franchises were either left to die, or bastardized with some crappy 3D update.  It wasn't until a few years later that I actually saw SotN in action, and I was drawn right back into the series.  But I was still living at home at that time, so I wasn't allowed to own any Castlevanias or the platforms on which to play them.

Once I got to college and was able to pick up all those "old" game systems, I got right into CV1-4 and SotN, and eventually all the other games in the series.  I was always after that beautiful, gothic vibe that permeated the first Castlevania and Super CV4, and I couldn't get enough of it.  Now I'm just hooked on the series, so even if the games don't have that much of that vibe (LoS, HoDespair), I still enjoy them.  But it will always be that beautiful atmosphere that defines the series for me.

[X]

Castlevania 2 was my first experience. I never even knew what the original gameplay was until I got my hands on the Nintendo Game Atlas. CVIII was the next game I was exposed too and it really blew my mind. Then SCV IV, Bloodlines, CV Dracula X, CV Belmont's revenge, The CV adventure, SotN, CV64, CV1, LoI, CotM, CoD, Haunted Castle, Hod, AoS, CV Chronicles, The Dracula X chronicles. Pretty much in this order.

[Sumac]

It is a rare thing for me, but my first CV game was actually the first game in the series. More often I started series form second or even third entries.

[Mystic Myotis]

What were your earliest Castlevania experiences, and how did they affect how you tend to perceive the series?

Castlevania and Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest were in a big used bundle of about 20 games and a NES system my parents bought in 1991 when I was three.  The series is such an integral part of my life (same goes for many other games/series that started with that bundle) that I can't really imagine not having had it around.  I couldn't play Castlevania (too young, too hard) but I'd wander around in Simon's Quest.

[Ring_of_Varda]

my first castlevania was Super CV and boy was it amazing. i was pretty young when my mom grabbed it for me from K-B toys. Probably like 6-8-ish..i cant quite remember. but what i do remember is being completely mesmerized by the game as a whole. Nothing captured my imagination and attention quite like that game. The music was superb, the sprites well done and well animated.
    Now comes the ironic part. i was generally pretty awful at games as a kid so RPG's were my real passion so i never beat IV, actually i couldnt even regularly pass the waterfall level til i actually beat the game when i turned 18. I honestly got so frustrated at the game that just hearing that song would make my stomach lurch and my palms sweat for over a decade! Still to this day that game is in my top 3 even though i have only beaten it a few times.

my second true CV experience since i had initially passed up on Sotn was circle of the moon. i was 12 and had been watching the lineup of the new gameboy advance with some serious anticipation. eventually i had noticed that a CV game was the launch in the early games so i had set my sights on picking up a gba on release and getting that game pre-ordered asap. The game although still quite hard by especially modern standards, was a completely different animal and my first real taste of a CV with rpg elements. Everything about this game was amazing to my pre-teen mind and it had everything i wanted in a game. Circle of the moon was the only game i played for months.

   That my friends was my complete decent into madness and fanboyism to the series. since then i have picked up every game i could get my hands on, many of them pre-ordered months in advance. hell i even sport a couple of CV tattoos that one day i might show off ( they are getting a bit old now and need a touch up.)

[Belmont Stakes]

My first experience with Castlevania was not something I was really into at the time. I was busy trying to defeat Super Mario Bros. back in 1987-88. I can remember my brother bringing the game home to play. I played the first level and had trouble going up and down the steps and I did not know how to use the sub-weapon (lesson here is read the manuals). My brother got to the 5th level with the grim reaper and could not get any farther. I shut off the game on him because I was interested in SMB. He was not too happy. I would later rent the game again. Though I do not remember the details he got to the 5th level again but he left. This time I played the game and somehow beat the Grim Reaper but never really learned the trick to getting double or triple shots. I would reach Dracula but was not able to beat him. Then I rented Simon's Quest and was moved by the atmosphere of the game. Back then I didn't really take notice of the flaws. I would beat that game before it's prequel much like Mega Man where I beat MMII first then the original game. The first time I beat Dracula in CV1 was in dramatic fashion as I successfully killed the ghost all the while jumping over the last ditch fireballs while throwing crosses. Ah I made it so needlessly complicated. In beating Castlevania I came to realize I could beat lots of games and did so. I would beat most of the titles all from the NES and SUPER NES and 2 from gameboy. The music from the earlier titles has always been memorable. When I think of those games I think of Simon first walking up to the gate in the first game, the password screen in SQ and Dracula's Castle, Rising, Aquarius and Nightmare from Akumajou Densetsu, and the opening of SC4 and the last level music leading to Dracula. Good stuff, good stuff.

[Ridureyu]

Playing the first game on the NES when I was a child, and learned about true pain and hardship through fighting Frankenstein and Igor.

[BullockDS]

My first experiences with CV that would define my view of the series were Super Castlevania IV, Circle of the Moon, and Symphony of the Night, all of which I first played in 2010. The primary thing that got me to play SuperCV4 and SotN was the Angry Video Game Nerd's Castlevania Halloween special that same year, whereas CotM drew me in with its graphics.

In playing these games, SuperCV4 left a mark on me due to Simon's versatile whip, SotN due to its scope and wide array of weapons, and CotM due to the Dual Setup System (one of my favorite aspects of all the portable CVs). Through all this, SuperCV4 gave me an expectation for player versatility (in one way or another, this has been accomplished for the most part in subsequent titles); SotN gave me the same expectation alongside expecting a certain... "grandeur", if you will, and CotM gave me the opinion that a CV game needs an interesting "gimmick" that won't totally overpower the main gameplay.

IMO, if you wanna get a newcomer into CV, then Super CV4 is a great starting point; at least that's the game I used to also introduce my best friends and my now-fiancee to the series. Only thing is: SuperCV4 did NOT prepare any of us fully for the challenge that resided in the NES games.

[Mooning Freddy]

I believe I played Castlevania for the NES when I was 12-13. Never beaten it but loved it nevertheless. And then at around 14 I played Circle of the moon and was surprised (for the best) to know any CV games were made after the NES titles. Then I played Harmony and was like okay, cool game, but what's with that friend-betrayal plot again?Seriously? So you used that idea in the first game but do you really need to recycle that best-friend-goes-wacko plot again? Come on! 

[TheouAegis]

I got into CV with Simon's Quest. When I was looking through my cousin's Commodore 64 disks and found Castlevania (IN THE BOX!) I knew what the series was and played the first level (I sucked and didn't get past the bat at the time). I'd always wanted to play more of CV2. I remember the Nintendo Power with Simon on the front. I played Castlevania The Adventure (or Legends or whatever, hated the GB games) and didn't like it and never went near a GB CV game again until recent years. When I was at the local video game store before they went out of business, they had Dracula's Curse for $10 and I bought it. Got my ass kicked and never played it again, but I knew it was a great game so I kept it and its box tucked away (the box is mangled shit so it's worthless). I played CV64 on Project64 emulator and couldn't stand the controls because I didn't have a gamepad. I didn't like it that much, though, but the graphics/environment/mood caught my attention. I stuck with Castlevania X and SCV4 on my SNES emulator and was happy with that for the time being. I d/led SOTN and played it often. When I finally bought a PS2 last year I got LoI and play that every now and then. When I got my 3DS I bought DoS and OoE. Haven't played DoS yet cuz i haven't played AoS yet.