Topic: SOTN's Fatal Flaw

[TheTextGuy]

No sprites from the world of Chronicles appear in SOTN. Yet, SCV4 characters are present.

Looking up the sprites for the blood skeletons and the panthers in both games.  They seem to be almost the same sprites.

[Shinobi]

No sprites from the world of Chronicles appear in SOTN. Yet, SCV4 characters are present. To take assets from SCV4, yet claim a painfully inferior game as the official cannon version of Simon's famous adventure is down right insulting.

There's Merman, blood skeletons, toad in SOTN are recycled sprites from Chronicles/X68000 for your information.

[TheTextGuy]

Huh
Had a hunch the mermen were similar to the ones in Chronicles, but never knew they were actually edited sprites too.

Also, I wonder if there's any sprites reused from Bloodlines?

[X]

Also, I wonder if there's any sprites reused from Bloodlines?

This, I've actually yet to encounter. And I've looked for them too.

[Shinobi]

As someone who grew up with Bloodlines I've never seen or spotted any single sprite from that game in SOTN.

[Belmontoya]

I can't believe I never noticed chronicles sprites in it after all these years!

Sorry about that, I did get riled up. Getting overly passionate about scv4 is a thing I do. I should really watch that though. Sorry again!

@zangetsu

Chronicles is one of my favorites. True that I don't think it compares to scv4 at all, but I respect your opinion. Sorry dude. It had nothing to do with ego or a high horse, I'm embarrassed it came off that way.

I'm just extremely passionate about the game I love.

I was very bothered by the timeline. But it's time I got over that.

Sorry guys I'll try harder to stop being a dick about scv4. ?

[LuxKiller65]

Oh yeah I was pretty sure SotN had something from the X68000 episode! Thanks for the examples guys.

I think an obvious reason why IGA is attached to Chronicles is because... he was the producer? Frankly, I love the original X68000 episode, and it's great that it was emulated on the PS and made available to the rest of the world, but that arrange thing they "worked on" is 99.9% useless. The 0.1% useful is the brand new soundtrack, and I think only a minority of us enjoy the techno atmosphere in it (I do, but I admit it doesn't fit Castlevania very much).

Does anybody remember a super in-depth article about HoD, I think it was a post in the Chapel of Resonance, which someone linked to here. If the author of the article could do the same thing for other episodes, I'd be such a happy man. I'd even send him some money It could make a wonderful analysis of the graphics in SotN.

And since I feel I've derouted this thread, to answer the original question : The biggest flaw of SotN for me is the lack of general challenge - the game gets too easy at some point, after which you're basically running around the castle not giving a cr*p about anybody, just trying to get those rare item drops before moving onto a more challenging game. In comparison, CotM manages to keep some areas very challenging, even after you're done with the whole game and after getting all the best items and equipment.

Some may argue again that this is due to lack of time and other constraints, so yeah, whatever. I can't say I enjoy SotN a lot. In fact I get bored very quickly. A game like SCVIV though, I can play through every year and it still manages to be amazing every time. I'm still not convinced SotN is such a wonderful game. CV64 will always be my all-time favourite Castlevania and game 

[zangetsu468]

@zangetsu

Chronicles is one of my favorites. True that I don't think it compares to scv4 at all, but I respect your opinion. Sorry dude. It had nothing to do with ego or a high horse, I'm embarrassed it came off that way.

I'm just extremely passionate about the game I love.

I was very bothered by the timeline. But it's time I got over that.

Sorry guys I'll try harder to stop being a dick about scv4. ?

Don't stress Belmontoya, we're all entitled to our opinions. Such is the beauty of free will and diversity

I realise Iga's official timeline is what it is, but my point with Chronicles was that it was the most recent canon remake of CV1. 
Personally I believe that given Simon's Quest's best ending that SCVIV may very well be a sequel to it. It's obviously not acknowledged by Iga (nor intended, since HoD infers Simon's Quest was the last time Dracula resurrected, albeit incompletely) but I also don't know if it's ever been retconned by him.

I can understand, one of my favourite games, Dracula XX/ Vampire's Kiss doesn't even happen on the main timeline, I place it on the 'alternate' timeline with the CV64 series, Haunted Castle, Legends and so forth. My second theory is that it is a tangent sprouting off of the main timeline. The timeline can superseded a game, but a game will always exist regardless of the timeline. 

[crisis]

Sorry guys I'll try harder to stop being a dick about scv4. ?

Don't stress Belmontoya, we're all entitled to our opinions. Such is the beauty of free will and diversity

i was kinda hoping you 2 would go back n forth for a few more pages, dissecting each others posts in segments whilst pointing out flaws in ur logic, sly insults being tossed 2 the point where reading the response effects ur off-internet life & u cant focus on school/work cuz of what that jerk said on the forum last nite after u already logged off n went to bed, on-lookers chiming in while another telling u to agree or shut up, inevitably escalating 2 the point where Nagumo and/or Shiroi would step in & lock the thread with disappointing look in their eyes, only for the rivalry to fester & be continued some other time. like the good ol days

[Zargon]

The Inverted Castle tends to feel like a big, empty warehouse that somebody dumped a bunch of clowns and noise makers into. That's not exactly my problem with it though, since despite that, the whole experience feels wonderfully surreal. My real issue is THE MUSIIIIC. I do appreciate the random super creepy songs in one area, like in the floating catacombs and the inverted arena, and Lost Painting is a classic. But listening to Finale Toccata area after area on my first time through the game gave me a literal headache that did not go away for days.

[zangetsu468]

i was kinda hoping you 2 would go back n forth for a few more pages, dissecting each others posts in segments whilst pointing out flaws in ur logic, sly insults being tossed 2 the point where reading the response effects ur off-internet life & u cant focus on school/work cuz of what that jerk said on the forum last nite after u already logged off n went to bed, on-lookers chiming in while another telling u to agree or shut up, inevitably escalating 2 the point where Nagumo and/or Shiroi would step in & lock the thread with disappointing look in their eyes, only for the rivalry to fester & be continued some other time. like the good ol days

That's eerily specific 

[DoctaMario]

I didn't so much like the Inverted Castle the first couple times I played SoTN, but after awhile it grew on me. The fact that it's upside down presents its own unique challenges, especially when rooms have high or irregularly shaped ceilings. That alone can make for a challenging run through a room if the enemy placement is just right. It makes platforming a completely different game, and also challenges your magic meter conservation because you'll have to be using Bat or Mist Form a good bit more. So in all, I don't dislike it as much as I used to. I think HoD made the best use of the copypasta castle, what with Castle B being like a Silent Hill Otherworld version of the main castle, which was cool. But IC is what it is in SoTN and presents its own set of challenges which I grew to appreciate.

RE: Alchemy Lab, I like the area, but I agree that there isn't much that's lab-like about it other than the occasional burner or the room where you break the test tubes to get all the items. Castlevania hasn't ever really done well with lab settings that I can remember, which is too bad because there's so much potential there.

[TheTextGuy]

Castlevania hasn't ever really done well with lab settings that I can remember, which is too bad because there's so much potential there.

The best use of the lab setting I can remember in Castlevania was in Chronicles/X68000 level 7, where you had the Creature rise up after some lightning, as well as some fetus-in-jars pop out of their jars and throw what I assume are blood disks.  Then again, that's not saying much since the level was a mix of dungeon, lab and art gallery; the lab part had to share airtime with the other level tropes.

[zangetsu468]

The best use of the lab setting I can remember in Castlevania was in Chronicles/X68000 level 7, where you had the Creature rise up after some lightning, as well as some fetus-in-jars pop out of their jars and throw what I assume are blood disks.  Then again, that's not saying much since the level was a mix of dungeon, lab and art gallery; the lab part had to share airtime with the other level tropes.

That stage was in the original CV before the fight with death. You can even see the machine where the creature came alive.