I am gonna post this despite the AVGN's and Egoraptor's rant on this game and anyone else who pisses, moans and drinks
Rolling Rock. Please forgive me for beating a dead horse or vampire or whatever but that is why we play these games so we can do those things.
With that let's get started with how this game got the shit end of the stick.
1. Multi directional scrolling
In SCVIV second level this works, in CVII it doesn't. Why? Because the Super NES is a better system for one but CVII doesn't have any points where it reverts to straight up to down or left to right scrolling. The diagonal scrolling slows the game down. Check out Bionic Commando. That game gets it right. Also I noticed that in this game screens only load graphics when you exit an area on the left or the right but not if you go up or down stairs (similar to ladders in NG3's case). I don't get that. It takes away from the feel of the game I think. If you fall down a pit in CV or DC you die but Simon's Quest you die only if there is water, spikes below or if you land on an enemy when having low health but you have to wait five hours before you land. Again
slow down.
2. Too many players on the field. If you look at the CV and CVIII this doesn't happen. You can have four zombies and a bat
coming to suck your whatever and give you putrification and herpes. Yet there is no slow down. In contrast CVII has this issue.
Let's think about the disappearing monster trick. If you are in the first game and you out pace a zombie and it ends up out
of the screen it doesn't come back. If you are walking in a CVII town and you see a zombie flash on the edge of the screen
it's coming after you and after four of them there is slow down. The fact that there are certain random trigger or cue points
for an enemy to appear and attack makes enemy placement in the other two games look innovative, challenging and ground breaking. Enemies spawn and re-spawn sometimes randomly in the other games but here it's fixed spots that don't change.
3. The waste of space. If you look at the map of CVII you will notice there is a lot of open space that is never used. There
are certain areas in the game that serve no purpose. Bordia Mountains oh look invisible staircase. Debious Woods has this open area with the gypsy to find to give your whip fire but there is no danger here. This can be attributed to the fact that the game has an open world design. I.E do you notice that you can go anywhere that there are no blocks barring your way. If you use a code to jump Yuba Lake you will end up in Marsh or cemetery and if you do it in the other Lake near Debious Woods you end up stuck in the wall. Which brings me to the next issue.
4. Mirroring. The mansions and certain areas are unique in design and yet other areas of this game are carbon copies. Why is this?Veros looks like Yomi and Doina. The bridges and certain forests look identical. You never see that in CV and maybe twice in CVIII.
5. Lack of diversity. These monsters and other characters need to take up affirmative action suits and demand a more robust
line of enemies and towns folk to piss off Simon. Skeletons are overused and werewolves are used in one area. You already
know about the lack of level ending bosses so lets move on shall we?
6. Re-spawn points. Egoraptor brought this up. unless you jump from a high place into water or lose fighting Dracula you end
up re-spawning where you last stood. In Zelda II you at least get sent back to the entrance point of any screen. It's one thing
and bad enough to coddle a kid in sports but in video games?
VIDEO GAMES?
? C'MON! Are you fucking shittin me?!!
7. Lack of diverse graphics. Open up the Simon's Quest ROM. The graphics are recycled and never really change except in rare
instances (see point 4). I mean the graphics in Dr Jeckyll and Mister Hyde could have been used in this game and then they would have been actually served a purpose as opposed to being squandered in a game that has so many flaws like this one.
8. Lack of hazards. In CVIII you have areas with water that push you left or right and although places like Vlad Mountain and
Rover mansion have a similar hazard in them they don't have birds, or other flying monsters or projectiles further impeding your path. Plus with no time limit there
is no sense of urgency.
9. The improper use of secondary weapons. Holy water has been one of the biggest challenge killers in the series in this game it is basically for stunning and
destroying walls but it has very little use. The flame makes searching for and acquiring all other weapons in the game useless. The rib gives you a shield which would
be fair in the later parts of the game but in the early parts I want to dodge fireballs and yes I realize you can not destroy them only the monster who shoots them.
Dagger.....useless needs to be powered up or traded like the crystal for a stronger knife. There is no Axe no Stop Watch and no Boomerang. Lame. Also no way to
acquire them without hearts as currency. Should have had money in the game to buy stuff.
10. No candles, no secret treasures no switches. Nuff said.
There are other things I don't like but I will leave it at that. This game in many ways is the poster child and prototype for every disappointment in the series.
It may have been a harbinger for the failures to follow.