Ye olde Castlevania Thread

What better game to discuss with All Hallows' Eve right around the corner.

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I've been playing the Lords of Shadow series and I've got to say its really not that bad.

The combat is pretty solid and about the only thing I don't like so far are the stealth segments in 2. Also, the director was a pretty cool guy.

Seriously, what is a man?

Also

I alway the the Morris' were pretty cool. They don't have the perks the Belmonts do but still go after vampires just as hard.

I have never played a single Castlevania game.

digits confirm you should start with the 64 games
:^)

I've been playing SotN, its my first one and it looks and feels fantastic to play. Apparently most of the community hates the voice acting in this game but I fucking love it.
There are few things as cathartic as killing a legitimately evil whore for using a bastardized memory of your mother in an attempt to corrupt your mind.

u shud play a castlemania game.

That might be a cheesy answer but it's pretty accurate one.
Even from scientific point of view very little is know about how human operates exactly, especially on mental level.
Add to that how fragile human body and psyche are despite their complexities, or rather because of them, and you'll indeed end up with a miserable little pile of secrets.


A lot of hate comes from it being relatively easy, overwhelmingly popular and primary incentive for "metroidvania" term, even though most metroidvanias out there are just flat out super metroid clones.

Confirmed for faggot kid.

You sir deserved a song.

I wonder if I could redraw that Sphinx a bit better then just paste it into the comic…

My favorite Castlevania is AoS, so I played through SotN a little while ago to see where the whole "Metroidvania" formula came from. It's a fun game but, as everyone says, it is far too easy. I had one sword drop that was so OP it just let me completely mow down anything in the game from that point on. Although I do have to say SotN has the best fucking music.


Fucking this. It pisses me off because I love the RPG-style shit in games like SotN, where you can choose a weapon type based upon how you prefer to play. Pretty much every garbage indie game that calls itself "metroidvania" nowadays doesn't even bother to add anything to the Super Metroid formula; every item is either a straight-up upgrade or some ability you need to progress and would never even use in combat. I can only play through SotN/AoS so many times.

I don't quite get the preference so many people have fot SotN over AoS. I guess SotN looks very nice visually and has some killer music, but AoS is just a better game.

Agreed, AoS is the better game. Much better in fact, for the most part it retains its challenge all the way through. I also like how the most powerful weapons in AoS are actual secrets instead of just random drops. The only thing I think SotN has over AoS for me is that it feels longer; I don't know for sure if SotN has more content but I felt like there was more to explore in SotN, even though the second half of the game is just the castle but backwards.

You know what really kicked ass about those metroidvanias? The amount of content they had, regardless of whether or not it made sense or was useful.
Photon guns in Castlevania? Sure.
A boss rush mode? You bet.
Post game modes including different characters? Alright.

Compared to a lot of other metroidvanias which might feel better or tighter to play, they pale in terms of content aside from a few.

Yeah, at about 30-something percent I noticed how absurdly easy the game felt and I was very pissed about it. I'd gotten far enough into the game where I didn't want to restart to a higher difficulty; I assumed normal difficulty would be enough to challenge me adequately. As a result I think I've died to a boss exactly once? And in the game overall maybe 5 or 6 times (most of the time due to arrogance), which is a pittance.
The inverted castle does actually seem to be doing damage to me though. I've just recently started it and goddamn, these infinitely spawning sword ghosts and a literal barrage of stone medusa heads
What the fuck

Dracula is one hell of an inventor

Dracula wasn't an inventor, he had genius black slaves who invented all of the shit in his castle.
Or something.

You know you could just play in Richter mode with no items or level ups, right?

I don't remember any difficulty settings in SOTN apart from luck mode, but that's supposed to be a secret.
In AOS you can only unlock hard mode by beating the game, which is pretty stupid.

I've been playing through Castlevania 3 it's my first Castlevania, too. I can't remember if I beat the boss of the sunken city or if I stopped playing because my heart felt like it was going to explode from stress. Thank fuck for the password system, but I've really gotta get better at playing through old games in one session.

Why would I do that when its my first time playing the game user?

...

Good.

Huh. I'm looking it up and it seems it didn't have one.
I honestly must've created a false memory of there being a difficulty setting, because I was really sure there was one…
What the fuck.

I'm sorry you missed out on very fun times.

I'm glad I had a friend who liked Castlevania as much as me at the time. We played that game a ton of times, though I remember farming Dracula for something he needed was a real bitch. Still, so much fun and I'm happy I was able to experience it.

It would be awesome if somebody would do a fan port or something for PC, but knowing current year Konami that would get shut down quick.

Circle of the Moon (followed by Portrait of Ruin and Bloodlines)

Do Shanoa and Albus count? A one-time thing but I really liked their story.

CotM Carmilla


I wonder if Iga will deliver with Bloodstained. Want to get hyped for it but kikestarter shit and "fan made content" perk are massive red flags.

Probably just the sheer amount of stuff in the game. You've got sub-weapons, spells, transformations, familiars, weapons with special moves, separate hands for equipment, a cloak sprite that changes color depending on what you've equipped, etc.

Harmony of Despair would have worked better on the PC or handhelds

I agree, and I wish that a game like Aria of Sorrow had this variety of things you could collect and do. The problem with all of that stuff being in Symphony of the Night is that the game is so fucking easy that you never really feel the need to pull out all the special extra shit besides the sub-weapons. I wonder how that one romhack is that increases the difficulty but I worry that it might end up being unbalanced crap.

for now, aria of sorrow. Only ever played through SotN, super 4, harmony of dissonance, 1, and most recently, 3. I want to do bloodlines and rondo of blood next.
Belmonts, plain and simple. Not all of them are perfect, but I really did like trevor, simon, and julius.
I liked all of the variations on death that have been presented, but I gotta say SotN's dracula just hits my softspot for hellish abominations on the mark.

Have any of you guys seen the new animated series? If so, what do you think of it? Personally, I liked it. I thought it was going to be a "muh ebil religion" type of deal, but it shifted to "the catholic church is corrupt" one, which is alright. The monster design could certainly use some serious variety though, the cyclops has been the most unique monster showcased thus far.

The cartoon was okay. As everyone's already said, the music sucks because, for whatever reason, they didn't use any recognizable music from the games. Also I agree with the monster design. It doesn't bother me so much that it lacks variety as much as it does that the rank-and-file "demon" monsters don't fucking resemble anything you encounter in the games. I kind of feel like the people that made the series didn't really want to make a Castlevania cartoon but they were forced to for name recognition. Still, the action in it is pretty good, the characters are likeable enough and the story is decent insofar as it's just a more fleshed-out Castlevania 3. I just wish they would throw in more fan-service in the form of recognizable monsters and music.

It would have been fine on consoles if it had a LAN mode for local co-op.

Not even the catholic church, since we see other priests that are actually ok and help trevor.
I for one liked it alot and i hope the next season will be better.

Well thats whats its supposed to be user.
And i prefer they dont use music from the games from the get go, that would only be a cheap cashgrab for nostalgia porpouses, they should save it for a really nice moment.

Why haven't you beaten the best Castlevania-like yet?

it is

disgusting

A woman, but capable of logic and reason.

Not true. We also have strength and penises

Reminder that Order of Ecclesia is part of the same genre as Megaman Zero, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Cuphead.

Games made only to replicate the lost feeling of nintendo hard.

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You lil shit

Order of Ecclesia is nothing like those games

Hello sweet children of the 2010s. The phenomena of catering to oldschool platform players goes back several years, and if you check the reviews from back then, you will notice that's what was being discussed.

Megaman Zero had a weird 1-life system with continues, that was later discarded in the follow-ups. It was hailed as a return to form, because it was punishing. Order of Ecclesia was similarly described as short bursts of high difficulty. It's what it was sold on.

The way I see it, the Castlevania cartoon was a pretty good Berserk fanfilm that had basically fucking nothing to do with Castlevania. There's a time and a place for criticising the catholic church, but maybe not when adapting a game that opens with the hero praying next to a cross. Maybe not when adapting a series about heroic christian men fighting the forces of evil, aided with crucifixes and holy water. If nothing else, it's tonally weird.

I should start taking the garage sale game a little more seriously.
About to start Rondo of Blood on the PSP.

Be honest, you just wanted to show off your reaction gifs you little (you) slut.

Yeah you know what I mostly agree with you. Like I said I think the story is serviceable, but the church being corrupt doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It kind of goes against the idea of Alucard's mother's character. Like, they tried to do the Symphony of the Night scene where she tries to tell Dracula that the mortal humans putting her to death are just confused and scared but not malicious. Except nobody in the entire town would have given a fuck had it not been for the church killing her maliciously to gain power (somehow? I don't remember the first episode that well honestly). In this case, no, Alucard's mommy is wrong, these fuckers TOTALLY deserve to die for being evil, and Dracula's impetus to destroy shit seems much more justified. It would have made more thematic (and canonic sense if the series actually gave a fuck about being accurate to the games) had the church simply been far too weary of the paranormal and killed her out of fear rather than a lust for power.

Also I just found this on wikipedia:
Iga was probably sick of Ellis' shit and just said fuck it after he fucked up the story so many times

The priest who accused her of witchcraft didn't like that she was practicing science. He was of the idea that science was bad. Everyone else just believed him when he said she had objects of satan worship in her house.

I get what you mean. It's not a narrative that can't be worked in some way or another, but it works too hard to make dracula seem good.

Which is another weird thing. How do you go from upstanding humans fighting back the darkness, to "humans mostly suck, Dracula is the real victim". This kind of shit can work in some stories, but it's the polar opposite of what Castlevania always was.

Who is best Belmont and why is it Trevor?

I could have sworn that dracula's wife getting killed by the church and the belmonts being driven out was originally in 3's plot though. Granted, the "story elements" weren't exactly heavy in the game, but I'm pretty sure that was the deal.
Though I'm pretty sure simon's story is pretty much just "local upstanding man fights the lord of all evil"

That's a weird way to spell julius

III states that the Belmonts were feared by the people for their incredible power, but, once Dracula started his attack on humanity, the church reached out to Trevor and asked him to defeat Drac.

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Something something netflicks is a shit something something.

Can someone give me recommendations on which castlevania game to play? The only experience i've had with the series is Aria of Sorrow and i've played and completed it 100% about 4 or 5 times now. It's still a great game IMO but it's getting kinda old and would like a fresh experience with the series.
The thing i enjoyed the most with AoS was the amount of weapons, armors and spirits you can collect and would like to play something that's similar. i've tried my best to get into other castlevania games like harmony of dissonance and order of escalia, but they don't grasp me like AoS did.

...

Which games should I play? There's a ton of them and remakes and I don't know which to choose. Thinking of starting with Castlevania Chronicles.


Damn those evil Christians and their constant persecution of minorities!!

Seriously, I hate western writers.

SotN has an amazing variety of weapons

Symphony of the Night is probably your best bet. Huge weapon variety, lots, and I mean lots, of different abilities, and about twice the size. I'd recommend the version found on Dracula X Chronicles for the psp. You'll miss out on the original dub and the famous intro dialogue, but it has some extra features from the Saturn version. You'll need to download a save with it unlocked, though, or you'll have to play some of Dracula X Chronicles to get to it.

The first one on NES, Super, or Chronicles are good starting points for classicvania. SotN and Aria of Sorrow are good points to start with the metroidvanias. Most of the main series games are good. I'd recommend playing a translated rom of the Japanese release of III over the official western release.

I'd recommend 3, it had my attention from start to finish. It's some good fun.

4 is also very fun, albeit very different because of the changes made to the whip and what it can do

I definitely plan on it, I was just wanting to hit them in canonical order, but like I said there's a few different versions of the games and I don't know which I should play of those. It would be nice if there was an infograph.

As in release order or chronological order?

Chronological

Yeah SotN was looking like the next best thing to AoS if not better from the sounds of it.

cheers m8, so should i play the original on ps1? Or go for the psp version on DXC? Planning on using an emulator so just wondering which would be the easiest to set up. I have a ps1 emu running good atm, but i can set up a psp emu np just haven't used one in awhile.

Both are probably just as easy to set up, aside from needing a save file for DxC. Again, psp has more content, so you might find it more worthwhile.


Well, if you want to go purely chronological, you really need to play Lament of Innocence on ps2 first, but that's a bad game for getting into the series.

If anybody is ever in the mood for laughs, run Castlevania X Chronicles with Vulkan on PPSSPP.

Where these fun castlevania clones? I heard these where good.

Interestingly enough, the touhouvanias are supposedly more classicvania than metroidvania. I have the first on this compy somewhere, but I need an english patch

Disgusting.
Even castlevania fighter is better than that trash.

Gotta make sure everyone think Christians are evil now. Its the source of all that white privilege. Although makes you think that in a later episode blessed holy water actually works on demons. Which regardless of the anti religious message the writer was going for, if blessing holy water actually works on actual demons, then that would actually make Christian faith actually be worth following, at least when it actually works on actual demons.

I mean, a lot of 'christians' are evil. I say that as a christian myself. The catholic church is beyond corrupt and there's false prophets and teachers everywhere. Basically people who are christian in name only.

Going away from that, one thing I absolutely love about Castlevania and themes similar to what's seen in the game is how much christian lore, imagery and other… *stuff* is just used in it. Going through SotN's castle is honestly incredible. Pentagrams and other occult symbols, paintings and creatures in one room, and in the next, stained glass windows of christian figures and angels. This isn't even going into all the subweapons.
Its just one of those things that is just insanely appealing to me for some reason. I can't discern or say why, but it just feels badass.

What's laughable about it?
I emulated it a good while ago on mostly default settings, just upped resolution, and it worked perfectly well.

Pic related

Well nothing says bad ass like going on a hunt on the embodiment of evil.

well said

Anyone have the download links for those? They look cool.

c'mon user

Nothing wrong with starting at the beginning.

SOTN
Belmonts duh.
What do we even know about anybody apart from Belmonts?
Morrises can use vampire killer at the expense of their lifespan, and Lecardes look like traps before they hit 30.
Not much to like here.
Though Johnny being able to turn VK into plasma stream was pretty metal.
Armor Battler. He's pretty easy, since he's the first boss in his game, but his design is just so cool. I wish modern games had more armor sets like it.

Got something against Castlevania Fighter, user?

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Is the psp remake of Rondo of Blood decent? The original game is a bitch to emulate.

mega.nz/#F!RZQjjLpI!0vFbbJp4qOvWEQXLof-gSg

Try this, it's a PC port of it that I think should come with the english translation. I got it from the share thread archives. Looks a bit different from the one I downloaded way back when the sharethreads were new but it should work.

meant for

Oh nice, thank you very much! It works great.

Maria is best girl. Charlotte and Shanoa-fags need not apply.

The series isnt anti-religius, could you not comprehend the discussion between the demon general and the bishop?
God is real, but the bishop was evil (not even all clergy, since the ones that blessed the water werent part of that particular group) and was horrified by the actions of those corrupt clergyman.
You really cant understand sub.text unless it hits you on the head.

It wasn't anti-religious, but it was definitely not very favorable to large religious establishments. While the lower rank clergy men weren't bad people, pretty much all the higher ranking ones were depicted as such. The Church as an whole organization was shown to be rather corrupt, putting down anyone that was a threat to their influence while also manipulating the common people.

The only one we really saw was the bishop, the higher up we saw was only fat and got killed by a shard of glass.
and it wasnt only lower rank, the bishop had a whole sub-sect (they were the ones dressed in brown and armed) that did shit above the law and disregarding the bible because the bishop had an insatiable powerlust (i suspect that the reason why he killed dracula's wife, since people were going to her as an alternative method of healing).
Average people were just plebs following whatever the religius figure or trevor once he manned the fuck up told them.

Really, listen to this again and tell me its anti-religius.
Im too lazy for that, sorry.

Fuck, that wasnt even the full scene.

I need to finish the first one, it's fantastic.

Just downloaded DXC for muh psp emu on android lole, how long does the game go for? Am I better off getting a save that has SotN already unlocked? Or is the base game worth playing through? I've gotten past the purple dragon boss. i'm 602051

Order of Ecclesia is nowhere near as difficult.

Yeah i got a fair way through OoE, It was pretty fun, might pick it up again. The system for using attacks threw me off abit but i'm sure that's just part of the challenge.

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You're forgetting that the entire Belmont clan was excommunicated by the arch-bishop for simply being monster slayers, and the speakers were oppressed by the church in general, not just by the asshole bishop. It was definitely more than just the one jerk and his cronies.


If you're having fun, the base game is definitely worth it. However, you unlock SotN by finding it in a hidden candle in one of the levels. That's why I recommended getting a save with it unlocked. Be aware that Rondo of Blood/DXC are pretty big games for a classicvania, with most stages having a secret exit and alternate boss that leads to a secret stage. You'll need to find the first two of these if you want to unlock the second playable character, too.

is there some trick to this part? I've got no issue with the boss but this part is hell.

I hated it, I don't really remember how to beat it though.
Is Chronicles the toughest Castlevania?

It sure feels like it. I've just stumbled my way through level 4.

… and people claim Cuphead is hard.

Cuphead it's only hard by modern standards, compare that thing to Contra and it's nowhere near as difficult.

cuphead's just sorta annoying at the very worst. It's a clear case of style over substance. Compared to older run n guns like gunstar and metal slug, it ain't no thang

Yeah, I mean, it's still a nice little game, but after playing this and Ghouls n' Ghosts recently it has really put in perspective what difficulty in vidya really is.

At least give some real arguments as to why its not as hard as people think. This is just shit-tier.

Contra isn't difficult though.

Bump

Also people using games thoughts for arcades as examples, where difficulty was amped up just to grab your shekels
I like a good challenge, but c'mon fags

And to stay on topic,
CoM has a special charm that makes it fantastic, also

I have come to a conclusion. Old Castlevania titles are made for tiny nip hands. It's like I'm playing a shmup with a large hitbox, two directional movement, and stairs you better not fucking fall off.

I feel like casual scum but I think I'll just stick with the Metroidvania titles.

My first Castlevania was Adventure for the Gameboy. My skill was foraged in fire and blood.

What was the last good side scrolling style Castlevania?

I heard it was super castlevania IV.

Adventure Rebirth

Ah true, yeah i might just lookup a guide to getting the candle. Or i might just set it up on my pc and download the save file. Either way i'm playing through the megaman x/zero series atm so it might be awhile before i get back into castlevania. Still pretty keen to play SotN tho considering all the good things ive heard about it.

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Actually, I don't feel satisfied leaving it like this. Anyone have any tips for getting better at old games? I feel like I've gotten dull with age and playing all these new, easier vidya.

its usually a matter of persistence after a certain point user
just keep playing and you'll get used to it

They're pretty good and have god tier osts. Second one is much better and more balanced though. Shame there's no third


That's a big reason I still identify SOTN as my favorite. I love the attention to detail in the environments. I replay SOTN every year right around this time actually and I'll often stop and just admire the background environments for all the neat little paintings, symbols, whatever. I enjoy Harmony of Dissonance for the same reason even though it's not as good of a game, the level design looks like Dracula's interior designer was tripping.

The Lecarde Chronicles 2 is really good, I hope you all tried it.

Contra 3, 4 and especially Hard Corps are pretty difficult.

Even that is tonally weird for a Castlevania thing. Castlevania has only very rarely had human villains, and they were all in the later games, not the classic era stuff they're supposed to be adapting here. Why is what felt like two thirds of a Castlevania 3 adaptation focused on humans being assholes? Where are the fleamen?

Circle of the Moon is the black sheep konami wants to forget it existed
why?

Because muh Aria of Sorrow, even though CotM is by far the best GBA Castlevania.

Iga didn't work on that one as far as I remember it. I don't think he hates it so much as he doesn't care because it isn't his baby.

I still don't understand why Iga got so much praise for Symphony of the Night. Its a great game, sure, but he was the assistant director.
What makes him more important than the others, and especially the main director who we hear next to nothing about?

Is Iga another Inafune?

SOTN

Tepes


Any Werewolf or Belmont boss fight is always enjoyable to me.

Some of his handheld games are better than SotN.

You can emulate it perfectly.

Because the adaptation is pretty much a prequel?
The things we see ingame should come in the following season, like grant and the other monsters.

I don't see how it's a prequel. Trevor has already met with Sypha and Alucard.

It's really says something about your franchise when a fan made game is 10x better than anything you've put out in the past couple of years.

Any example of this ?

He's probably talking about the Lecarde Chronicles 2 mentioned earlier this thread.

Rondo
Belmont
Tie between Grim Reaper from Rondo and Gear Steamer from Bloodlines

I think Simon's quest would have much better suited the anime adaptation.
If you're gonna have this 4 episode per season shit, then have two episodes of build up and then two episodes of manor raiding per season.

IV is my favorite, follower closely by Bloodlines and the original

Impeccable taste, though I'm disappointed you didn't mention 2nd-best girl.

I get that they wanted to make a special point that the clergyman was a crazy zealot, but there really isn't much resistance towards his action. There is a mention of clerical discipline, and an implication that the arch bishop had "other interest", which made him less then perfect. There is no real positives towards the church. If anything the "speaker religion" shows a positive side of being a band of gypsy travelers, but they too a radicalized with their "prophecy". Any good or at least neutral people in a religion are shown, like the towns people, are superstitious, cowardly, which is what dracu's wifu was going on about in the first place. The reoccurring theme of "standing by while letting evil happens" wouldn't work well otherwise. The only benefit of being in a religion in that universe is that you get access to magic powers, even if its just giving water extra holy damage to demons. Not that I was expecting any real examination on the subject, and that they only had so much time to set some plot down before demon killing happens.

Crazy cleric at least believes his bull though. No real insight of his thug band of, totally a real clergyman, assassins believed it or where just opportunists.


Didn't really expect the show to give an actual critical analysis on the subject, but that does default them as the standard.

It was bacially heresy, heresy, heresy, "I am the word of god!".

Here you go.

user…
doujinstyle.com/games/Action/Koumajou Densetsu- Scarlet Symphony.rar

Was Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trilogy any good? People told me it was still fun as long as you ignore the butt fucked reboot story.

I usually forget she exists, actually. I've never played the n64 games.


The first one was a decent GoW clone, if you like that sort of game. It had issues, but it wasn't awful. I haven't played the other two, but I've heard they're both pretty disappointing.

A Simon's Quest adaptation wouldn't feel right unless it had an incomprehensibly shitty translation.

I thought you were real CV fans, Holla Forums.

The first one is alright, enjoyable to dislike aswell
Mirror is shit, not very fun in any respect. It's also surprisingly straightforward
2 is butt-fucked retarded with Dracula fighting space marines and trying to avoid being satan's onahole for the second time.
There is also a 3 forced stealth segments, one of which you can actually get caught in and then just use mist form to avoid failing.