/vr/ - Retro Games

think of me when you see the sun or feel the wind.

congrats OP, it's a great game, but yeah, since you keep leveling up and getting OP weapons, the game becomes your bitch at the end, including Dracula.
I beat it last year on the PSP port, I can't remember if I'm past 100% or 200%... just how many 100% did this game have? I think I'm still missing some stuff, oh and also all those familiars grinding!, I have yet to unlock some more of them even.
There's also the options to play through the game as Maria and Richter, with no level ups at all, plays more like Rondo of Blood, with save points. So this adds some challenge in some parts.

>But the final Dracula boss fight was ridiculously easy. What's up with that?

You have just spend 10-20 hours playing a game focused on finding better gear. And by the time you got to the end, you had the best gear compared to every previous boss you played. Especially if you used the Osafune Katana or one of the Shield Rod combinations, you can fight Dracula without ever even getting hit once.

Probably why later Castlevania games started limiting the amount of weapons you could find and making bosses more staged. Both of which I feel make them weaker than SotN, despite how 'easy' SotN is.

Yeah, that's pretty much the normal reaction. Great game, lots of challenge to be found at points, piss easy Dracula.

I guess it's to be expected, from a purely thematic point of view. He's fighting you with his cape. Jerk can't even be bothered to stand up.

>>444208

Yeah. I finished with 183%.
I think I remember reading online a while back that it goes to 270% or something crazy.

Actually this was my first Castlevania game. I'm playing Super Castlevania IV now too, just for something different.
Definitely keen to check out the GBA & DS Metroidvanias.

I guess if you want to go really fast and don't care about exploring the whole castle, just doing what you have to do to move forward, by the time you get to Dracula he will be hard as fuck. (Maybe?)

Just a theory, because myself and I guess all of you are not this type.

SotN is the best Castlevania of all time. Beautiful graphics, beautiful music, great powers, interesting castle, nothing too modern, nothing too sissy, very interesting all the way to the end. Inverted castle blew my mind.

So now that I've completed Super Metroid & Symphony of the Night... Is it all just downhill from here for Metroidvanias, or are there still some jems?

Oh over the past few months I've been playing La Mulana too... that game is definitely special, but to be honest I find the puzzles just a bit too obscure.. I'd say it was bad design if I didn't love the rest of the game so much.

Other than the fact your equipment gets insane by the time you reach him, Drac and most other bosses in SotN spend too long doing fancy animations than trying to kill you. Drac especially, since by the time he starts actually trying to hit you, you've probably drained over 80+ percent of his life.

Harmony of Despair's version of this fight was changed enough to make most people die on it the first time they fight him in hard mode, since they gave him actual effective attacks (the rainbow nachos and Demonic Megiddo are rough until you learn they are both easy to avoid).

>>444319
I like the DS Castlevanias...

>>444327

I think that will be my next stop.
They seem different enough from SotN to feel fresh directly after it.

>>444319
All the handhelds are good, although opinion is generally divided on Harmony of Dissonance.
Circle of the Moon is generally regarded as the best one, but you need a GBA SP/GB Player/DS in order to actually SEE unless you want to hold the GBA under a lamp the entire time.

>>444249

Great, IV is my favorite.
Some people think it's overrated, but I think it's got the right amount of praise it deserves, it's not universally considered better or more groundbreaking than RoB or SOTN, but it's still the favorite of many people.
Personally, IV has my favorite Castlevania OST, out of all in the series. That Souji Taro guy had a very personal way of producing music with the SNES, the drumming, the basslines, the organs... they all sounded pretty boss, and the compositions are I think the best out of all CV's scores. Of course, nothing can top Bloody Tears, but right after that comes Simon's Theme and all the other tracks from IV.

>>444346
Get Order of Ecclesia. It's a great game with a lot of challenge, a customizable "power/ability" system similar to Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, and a Hard Mode on top of that.

Also, it has the most badass Dracula by far.

Yeah it's easy enough that people create their own "hard modes"

>>444382
I've played the series since the NES days, and I've never understood the fascination with Bloody Tears. I liked the night theme (forgot the name) better in Simon's Quest.

>>444418
Oh yeah, and Wicked Child always gets ignored too. Such a shame.

So with my new-found love for Castlevania... I downloaded the 3DS demo for Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate.

God damn, that sucked hard.

>>444319

Most people obsess over the GBA/DS Castlevania games. Many even think they're better than SotN.

I don't however. Because a big reason SotN was such a revolutionary game for me was its large variety of items/weapons to find and its extremely tight handling in gameplay. Both of which were watered down in later Castlevania games.

Now, I'm not claiming I hate the later ones. I still think Circle of the Moon, Aria of Sorrow and Order of Eclessia are great. But I am still just acknowledging that they seemed to overlook the things I enjoyed about SotN.

>>444418

I don't know, it's like an hymn I think... it has the composition potential to be THE castlevania hymn. You can argue Vampire Killer o Beginning are more prone to be anthems, but I think BT is the best, with all due respect of those other 2 masterpieces.

>>444474

SotN and OoE are the best Castlevanias.

Fact.

>>444418

I've been playing the series since the NES days too. And I'm sad how even Castlevania fans overlook the entire OST for Castlevania III. One of the best scores to a game I've ever heard. Even Castlevania 1 and 2 gets more hype than 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQuTQnSpw4k

>>444319
Those are the two I've enjoyed the most. SM I can chalk up to nostalgia, but I only beat SotN like 2 years ago, and have since beaten a few of the handheld ones, and none of them compare. Not that they're bad, theres just SOMETHING missing that makes them not as special

>>444182
Cracks me the fuck up that in the PSNetwork / Xbax 360 version, they edited this song out.

>>444491

>He hasn't played CotM

>>444539

I played Super Metroid for the first time only last year.
I can safely say the brilliance of that game is not down to nostalgia. I mean, the music for one thing...

http://youtu.be/Zj5DWB5a2n8

Best Castlevania theme right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FsFiBXOVK0

I FACE MY DESTINY
EVERY DAY I LIVE

So, Dracula X.

This game got/still gets a lot of hate because it is generally perceived as a butchered port of Rondo of Blood, but how good is it on it's own?

>But the final Dracula boss fight was ridiculously easy

So was the entire game leading up to it. Fists and holy water are insanely over powered for like the first half of the game.

>>444684
Pretty terrible.
Play Rondo of Blood and you'll see why it's so shitty.

Also; Hardest Dracula fight ever.

>>444684

First Castlevania game I played alongside SCV4. I actually ended up enjoying it more than SCV4 and I still prefer it to that to this day. I'd say it's a great game on its own.

Castlevania Overrated of the Night

>google gekka no yasoukyoku (japanese name for SOTN)
>this comes up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzcXDrUd7_Q

>my fucking face when

Why the fuck does Dracula keep being such a cocksucker after SotN? He fucking tells Alucard that he forgives humans for all their shit, fucker's got no reason to keep trying to take over the world or whatever the fuck

>>444319
Super Metroid is easily the best, but I'd put AoS and CotM above SotN (CotM > AoS > SotN, but they're all great).

>>445987
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzcXDrUd7_Q
you get a cookie for making me smile.

>>446065
Because he's bound by the power of Chaos to continue his resurrection and spread evil. At least until his soul was separated during the Demon Castle Wars of 1999 by Julius Belmont, and subsequently when Soma destroyed Chaos in 2035.

>>445987
eeeeeek

japanese softcore rock girls

>>446156
>girls

>>446154
>MFW still waiting for Castlevania 1999 to be a game.

>>446102
I fuckin love Almaric Sniper

>>444852
Bullshit, it's still a great game, don't try to disuade people form playing it just because it's not the same as Rondo of Blood.

Order of Ecclesia was better

>>444435
>Wicked Child
I absolutely love the arrangement from the arcade game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUL34RlKqqo

>>446184
I don't see how they can possibly pull it off without it being disappointing

>>444390
>the most badass Dracula
toplel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4UfssyDdhE

>>444319

Yes. It really is all downhill from here.

You'll play the portable titles, and you'll be mildly entertained, but you will miss Alucard like a romance cut short by an untimely death. None of the androgynous faggots brought in to replace him will ever compare. You may find the new mechanics gimmicky or boring, and the new castles completely forgettable.

You'll play the old Metroids and find them lacking the variety and polish of Super Metroid. You'll see that the portable titles were uncreative with the exploration. The Prime series will be a fun throwback, fairly faithful to its source, but ultimately too fundamentally altered by its 3D format to satisfy your urge.

And so you'll expand your search. You'll look for Metroidvanias not made by Nintendo or Konami. And what you will find is a wasteland. An industry presently too interested in shooters and third-person action to possibly consider combining the two dying genres that make the least money - platforming, and RPGs.

And as you reflect on Castlevania's complexity and subsequent decline, you'll realize how incredibly hard it was to make a castle like that, how the amount of thought that went into creating that masterpiece was never imitable nor easy. You'll realize that the PSX was the last viable console for a worthwhile 2D platformer, and that nobody ever tried ripping off Super Metroid before Konami because they just didn't fucking have the talent.

You'll get desperate. So you'll look even deeper. Go for some indie titles inspired by SotN or SM. They will make sincere attempts but will also be too interested in their own artistic direction to stay focused. They will be unable to deliver the complexity you seek, because they are simply too small and too short to flesh out.

You have just experienced the pinnacle of the genre if not the pinnacle of videogaming itself, and once you have tasted heaven, you will know no peace. You will try to substitute it, but it will never be the same.

>>447536

Yeah, I was worried about that.

>>444684
I think it is kinda unfair that people judge so harshly compared to Rondo. Dracula X was its own thing for people who did not live in Japan with a PC Engine and it should be viewed as that. I would not even consider it a port of Rondo because they share very little things.

>>444319
The issue with the games after SotN is that they kinda just slap on a gimmick and call it a day. Really the only interesting ones were CotM, AoS, and OoE(more akin to Simon's Quest instead of SotN). By the time DoS came out it just got tiresome.

>>447357
Are you really saying that Dracula finally moving his lazy ass to beat the shit out of you with his own hands is not badass as fuck? I nearly shat myself the first time I fought Dracula in Ecclesia and when the fucker Soul Stealed my shit I completely lost control of my bowels. Fucker was great. That you can beat him no damage and all that shit? No fucking shit you can, anyone can do that with the final boss of any game with enough time and autism.

>>448083
>playing OoE
>holy shit this Dracula is like a bullet hell look at all these fireballs jesus christ
>die over and over
>finally smack him around enough
>"Shall we go for the finale?"
>ok sweet time for TRUE FORM AND DESPAIR. What will it be, Rondo-esque green demon, big gargoyle, something ugly and weird?

>Dracula starts WALKING at me

>all these people ignoring the actual great Castlevanias because of a hard-on for SOTN

Fucking get over it, pretty good game but that's it.

>>448205
>muh classicvanias

>>444208
>Crissagrim

>>444562

Seriously? That's just low.

>>444137
Dracula is usually easy once you get his pattern down. The first few times in any game, he will kick your ass, but after that? A breeze.

>>448113
>>holy shit this Dracula is like a bullet hell look at all these fireballs jesus christ
Just jump-kick off them. Seriously.

>>448083
>>448113
It was definitely a breath of fresh air. And the music was fantastic. 9/10 would slay

>>449065
Did anybody lose to SotN Dracula even once? CotM Dracula, on the other hand, took me multiple tries to wear down and then he'd just body slam me for 500 damage.

>>444418
Even niggas love it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-njmdP4THRM

>>447536
Are you me?

I played through Super Metroid when I was about 8, and it totally blew my mind. It was way beyond any other game I had ever played and it left a lasting impression on me. I played the older Metroid games and the Prime games, they were "good", but didn't blow me away at all like SM.

Didn't play SotN back in the day, because I had only played the Classicvanias and didn't like them when I was a kid. About 2 years ago I downloaded SotN on a whim off the XBLA, and it game me a massive gaming boner. Its the only game I've ever played that's compared to SM, and in a way I'm glad it took me so long to discover it, because it felt so awesome to finally relive that same magic of playing Super Metroid over again. I've played the subsequent Metroidvanias in both series, and although they are solid, none of them feel like the labor of love that Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night are. Those two games are the absolute pinnacle of platforming

>>454469

Have you played Castlevania Order of Ecclesia?

That game is fucking tits man

>>454514
I haven't played OoE and PoR yet, its really difficult to find used copies of the DS castlevanias in my area for some reason. I just beat Dawn of Sorrow, its my favorite of the handhelds that I've played.

>>454545
PoR is really fun. Word of advice: upgrade the Pie subweapon. DO IT. It'll make a certain boss fight easier.

>>447357
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4UfssyDdhE

>Jumping over dracula

I fucking hate myself right now.

>>454545
I don't think OoE will do it for you. It stands out from the rest because of its high difficulty and discrete levels, but Super Metroid and SotN weren't like that at all.

Also, Portrait sucked.

>>454514
>>454580
So what's the best DS Castlevania? I'm >>454545
and I like DoS because it didn't feel watered down due to console limitations like Aria did, and it had the best SotN vibe out of all the handheld ones I've played. Also, taking enemies powers to get your skill upgrades was pretty cool in a Legacy of Kain kinda way, even though 90% of them were useless. It really pissed me off that a lot of the boss powerups didn't really serve a purpose for letting you explore the castle further

SotN is filled with tons of cool and useful shit to find and a bunch of interesting item combinations and interactions.

The unfortunate truth, though, is that the final boss has to be balanced both for the person who knows how to break the shit out of the game and the person who doesn't, and barely clawed their way to Dracula. Future Castlevania games that were like it were more limited in how much broken stuff you were allowed as a result.

>>454673
Honestly, all the DS Castlevanias are good in their own right.

DoS would be the best if not for the touch screen gimmick. Portrait of Ruin is pretty great, and I liked it a bit better than Order of Ecclesia, but they're all good and worth playing.

Graphics and sound quality (kinda moot ranking them but still)
SotN>DS games>AoS>HoD>CotM

Artwork
OoE>Everything else>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>DS and PoR

Spells, abilities and weapons
DS>PoR>AoS>OoE>CotM>HoD>SotN

Difficulty
CotM>OoE>PoR>AoS>DS>HoD>SotN

Music
OoE>PoR>SotN>DS>CotM>AoS>>>>>>HoD

>>454808
I think you had to beat Galamoth to even face Dracula, though. Dracula should have been at least that difficult and he really wasn't.

>>454935
True, Galamoth was some bullshit.

Though even that was pretty much nullified by the Beryl Circlet. That game did not have a very good difficulty curve honestly.

>>454981
>equip holy mail
>suddenly, Richter is a complete pushover

it should have reduced holy water and cross damage only

>>454935

yeah, this.

>>454935

I recall the player having to collect all 5 relics to face Dracula (the Eye/Tooth/something of Vlad) and explore the shit out of the inverted castle to get best ending.

>>446184
>1999 A.D.
>The Year of Lavos

>>444852
Are you kidding? I took no damage on my third fight with him.

>>454469

I too disregarded SotN because I had been so thoroughly raped by the NES Castlevanias as a child that I was still sore and traumatized. It wasn't until my brother brought it home that I was able to see what I was missing.

>>455002
I started a new playthrough the other day and kinda rushed the game, decided to fight richter early without the Holy Mail or the Holy Buster (whatever the dark element sword is), and holy mother fuck he kicked my ass. he's the most insanely aggressive boss in the game.

I really want to fight him under some challenge rules or something, like a low level game without holy armor, or without getting hit at all.

>>456478

Fight him in luck mode, using probably a weak short sword or something. No holy equipment, you can try to mist over the grand cross but then again I'm not sure if you'll have enough mana for mist if you're in thief/99 luck mode

>>454935
Galamoth and that entire section of the inverted castle were skippable.
He was a bonus boss, really.

>>456598
that's not a bad idea.

>>456653

Or you can attempt to finish the game in axe armor mode, only taking it off for platforming and traversal. Reminds me of those fist only Doom runs.

>>456729
i've always wanted to do this but having to open the menu every 3 seconds just to make a necessary jump got way too tedious for me

>But the final Dracula boss fight was ridiculously easy.

I ruined my first playthrough by using the Crissaegrim once I'd stumbled across it. That sword fucked everything in seconds.
I've always meant to go back through using more conventional weapons.

>>456741
... just thinking about this, would it even be possible to kill granfaloon or beelzebub in axe armor? i know they're optional but still.

if you have no problem using cheats, theres a permanent level 1 code for sotn. this makes equipment actually matter, and you still get the hp bonus from bosses so it isn't crazy hard. think normal instead of babby easy.

you will however need to do well against dracula in the beginning to start with enough mp to pass the mist barriers later. once you reach a savepoint, you can play without a cheat device because it saves.

>>456813
how much MP does the mist cost?

>>456828
im about to check myself. ending with holy cross gives you +10mp. it'll be nice figuring out how mist works as a science because the first time i fucked myself over years ago

>>456828
25mp to pass barriers. the default 20mp is too low. just did 2 runs to test