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/vr/ - Retro Games


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File: 119 KB, 316x316, Castlevania_HoD_NA_Cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215272 No.8215272 [Reply] [Original]

why isn't this as fun as the other two on the gba
i already beat the other two 100% and i cant get more than 2 hours into this without getting bored

>> No.8215280

>>8215272
The game is a total mess and Igarashi tried to fix the issues he felt were with Circle like the screen being too dark, and he wanted to make Symphony of the Night for a handheld. He did this very literally by trying to copy the game. This was the first Castlevania GBA title his team made as well, as Circle was made by entirely different people. Thus it's a bit sloppy and rushed. I still think it's decent. Aria in contrast is much more polished.

>Castlevania HoD: Revenge of the Findesiecle deluxe+

Have you tried this? it fixes some issues and it adds lol-so random characters as bonus characters. People focus on the bonus characters, but it also tweaks the original game as well.

>> No.8215285

It's too easy, level design's too monotone, you can't even switch weapons, the spells are slow to obtain and just a spammable super subweapon... And the Castle A/B gimmick is even worse than the inverted castle, it just makes going around more convoluted, looks like shit, does not add anything...

I fucking love Juste's L/R dash though, and his slide kick is the best in the series for what it's worth lmao.

>> No.8215296

>>8215285
>you can't even switch weapons
filtered

>> No.8215313

Imagine thinking the monotonous slog that is circles level design is even close to this games

>> No.8215319
File: 75 KB, 975x554, usUGP8k.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215319

>>8215313
>monotonous slog that is circles level design

>> No.8215321
File: 1.30 MB, 320x213, 1623346086781.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215321

>>8215313
wot

>> No.8215332
File: 60 KB, 480x320, harmony.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215332

>>8215272
Guess it just doesn't jive with you, I enjoyed it just fine.

>>8215280
It really is a mess and a blatant SOTN derivative, but I still think it's quite fun for what it is. It has a rough and gritty sound to its music, and the strongly saturated colors makes me think of Suspiria, together, qualities like these makes it so very distinct and memorable.

>> No.8215345

>>8215332
The aestetics are completely gawd awful though I don't know what they were thinking. It's one of the outright uglier titles on the GBA. Circle is competent if unimpressive, and Aria ends up being one of the best looking games on the system. Harmony is all just neon green colors puking all over the screen.

>> No.8215356
File: 345 KB, 800x1186, 1598782410780.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215356

>>8215345
I used to not like the aesthetics or sound much, but they've grown a lot on me over the years, it's gaudy and rough as hell, but to me it rolls over to the point that it's like an intentional design choice (even though it obviously isn't, and is just crude and unpolished).
I just love how bold the saturation is, because the other Castlevania games of the time aren't.

>Circle is competent if unimpressive, and Aria ends up being one of the best looking games on the system.
I agree. There's stuff I like about COTM in particular though, like the music, and the sense of scale, the castle really feels absolutely enormous in a sense which it doesn't in the other two, probably because of the smaller sprites.

>> No.8215380

It was my very first Castlevania (aside from 64 loaned from friend which I didn't like, really; my brother and obviously my friend did, however) via Double Pack, and I think it's pretty good in a lot of ways. I like that it's very beatable for newbies and introduces a fusion of Belmont gameplay with SoTN, but Circle of the Moon and Aria are obviously much more impressive in several ways (other than in game balance).

>> No.8215391
File: 59 KB, 960x320, 1406913527173-1-[1].png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8215391

>>8215356
>it's like an intentional design choice (even though it obviously isn't, and is just crude and unpolished).

It's intentional, if misguided. They felt Circle was too dark so they compensated, but went way, way overboard. That being said, the puke neon is reduced a bit by having a non-backlit GBA or a setting which tries to tone down the colors to replciate a non-backlit display.

>> No.8215392

>>8215391
>gay clown aesthetic or depressing muddy blue

>> No.8215403

>>8215272
Too fuckin' easy, even for a metroidvania which is really saying something

>> No.8215408

>>8215392
Why gay clown and not just regular clown?

>> No.8215415

>>8215408
the soul of mickey rourke is literally about to suck him off in that pic

>> No.8215432
File: 67 KB, 466x600, Ritz.Malheur.full.1306868.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215391
>>use different color and lighting colors on GBA for best results
>reminding me of FFTA and other GBA goodness from early adolesence
I wanna go back.

>> No.8215437
File: 56 KB, 370x434, C66UuVjW0AE0VjL.jpg large.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215415

>> No.8215507

>>8215272
it looks weird, is designed weird, and it plays weird.

honestly it's a bit of a wonder it isn't worse than it is considering it's basically a glorified hardware test for the Aria devs

>> No.8215535
File: 654 KB, 500x362, tumblr_n8xomzD3IX1rfy6zso1_500.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215272
While it's no where near as good as Aria, I consider HoD better than CoTM by gameplay alone. The best looking game of the 3.

>> No.8215539
File: 69 KB, 500x500, stop.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215535
>I consider HoD better than CoTM by gameplay alone

>> No.8215585

>>8215296
>muh filthurr
I've beat the game like four times over the years since it came out though, just acknowledging why it might feel underwhelming.

>> No.8215614

Aria of Sorrow is undoubtedly best of the gba trilogy, but man I totally have to disagree with Circle of the Moon being better than Harmony of Dissonance. Even just boiling everything down to controls, HoD is smooth and fun to play, whereas CotM is clunky and frustrating. That alone is enough to tip the scales.

Having said that, both are pretty great. I’m glad we have both.

>> No.8215616

>>8215585
I agree, even coming off of CotM it feels like there's something missing, since even that whip-centric game let you use a bunch of flashy elemental whips and swords with its magic system (as well as a bunch of other tools).

The weapon equipment in HoD is just sad. The whip equipment is largely pitiful and provides only minor changes, functionally and visually, to your base whip. I do like the charge attack though.

>> No.8215625

>>8215614
>HoD is smooth and fun to play,
I feel like I'm being gaslit

>> No.8215695

>>8215625
You are, igavania fags get filtered hard by COTM since it’s actually fairly difficult. It successfully combined the feel of the old games with the SOTN formula.

>> No.8215731

>>8215616
It just feels plain. The difficulty curve is flat as fuck and Juste's abilities are pretty underwhelming.

And it's a shame because there's some nice animation and enemy designs, but Juste looks and feels off, and sometimes you see things for the first time on those drab ass Castle B colors and... Bleugh. Wish that whole thing had been dropped entirely.

>> No.8215738

>Aria
perfect
>Circle
decent
>Harmony
trash

if you have any other views I’m convinced you haven’t actually played them

>> No.8215741

>>8215272
Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance is a solid game. I think the same for Circle of Moon and Aria of Sorrow. Aria of Sorrow is the best of the GBA 'Trilogy,' but I wouldn't say it's an outstanding game, either. (I reserve that for Symphony of the Night, and I don't think any of the portable games hold a candle to it.)

If I had to rank every portable game, it would probably go:

>Order of Ecclesia
>Aria of Sorrow
>Portrait of Ruin
>Dawn of Sorrow
>Harmony of Dissonance
>Circle of Moon

Before I came here I had no clue some people preferred Circle of Moon to Harmony of Dissonance. I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on the DS ones but "not retro" and all that.

>> No.8215751

>>8215741
>Before I came here I had no clue some people preferred Circle of Moon to Harmony of Dissonance
preferring hod to com confirms you are a normie with no taste

>> No.8215754

>>8215751
not him but what is even the point of being combative over something like this. this board doesn't have to be like this, you know.

>> No.8215761

>>8215272
the music is trash, you can't have fun with bad music

>> No.8215802

>>8215272
>Cuck Of The Moon
>fun
fuck contrarian faggot
COTM will always be the worst CV game on GBA

>> No.8215807

>>8215539
Contrarian Of The Moon is garbage
no wonder Konami made IGA is charge again for the future games

>> No.8215809

>>8215738
replace Circle with Harmony and it's accurate
COTM is one of the worst CV games out there only contrarian pretends to like it

>> No.8215815

>>8215741
>Before I came here I had no clue some people preferred Circle of Moon to Harmony of Dissonance
contrarians, and anti-IGA fags
they are still salty for the flop of CV64 and success of SOTN
later on the people who made CV64 made another failure called Cuck Of The Moon and it was so awful IGA was put in charge afterwards and he gave us 5 superior 2D CV games

>> No.8215831

>>8215802
>>8215807
>>8215809
>>8215815
take your meds

>> No.8215835

>>8215831
COTM is trash, deal with it

>> No.8215854

>>8215751
>preferring one game to another confirms you have a different subjective preference in games than I do and that I decree my taste to be objective and yours therefore wrong

>>8215815
lol, it's not that bad though. I think Circle of Moon is like a 6/10 game for the GBA, (on the metric 5/10 is run-of-the-mill average) Harmony of Dissonance is a 7/10 game, and Aria of Sorrow is a 8/10 game. (but again, this is for the standards of the GBA. I'd call Symphony of the Night a 8/10 game for the standards of the Playstation, but I find it vastly superior to Aria of Sorrow.)

>> No.8215867
File: 25 KB, 461x403, william.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215854
>I think Circle of Moon is like a 6/10 game for the GBA, (on the metric 5/10 is run-of-the-mill average)

>> No.8215869
File: 787 KB, 1400x615, cvtier.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215867
Yes, I think it's slightly above-average for a side-scrolling game on the GBA.

This is how I rank the series for perspective.

>> No.8215887 [SPOILER] 
File: 820 KB, 278x258, 1633711438982.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsqiYe51Bl4

>> No.8215945

>>8215869
>>8215869
this is actually a pretty based list anon. Well aside from HoD being in B tier kek. I know it’s not retro but I genuinely feel bad for people who didn’t get any joy out of LoS.

>> No.8215967

>>8215835
nah if you samefag that hard youre gonna get called a fag
just feel with it

anyways CotM was the best launch title for GBA
comparing it to other GBA games produced years after, or on better hardware, is dumb
it did exactly what it was supposed to: be a portable CV
personally, as much as i like the metroid-y design, at this point its done to death and id rather see a more action-y title like the old ones or more similar to CotM
something in between 1 and 3 in terms total brutality would be fucking awesome

>> No.8215972

>>8215967
not that konami would ever do something like this

>> No.8215976

>>8215272
The music and overall tone is extremely melancholy, the game is very easy, and the pallet is absolutely awful. It's a decent game but its presentation was pretty bad. Castlevania works best as a pulpy gothic action game with a feeling of hope.

>> No.8215987

>>8215967
just enjoy bloodstained and call it a day. even if Konami somehow magically decided to go that route like capcom did with mega man they would never have the balls to make it as difficult as classicvania.

>> No.8216064

>>8215695
Yeah, double tapping the GBAs dpad isn’t at all uncomfortable after an extended play. You’re right though, it’s traditional style, that’s why they removed the backdash. It’s stiff and clumsy feeling to play, the difficulty is a welcome pace, but even that is only because the controls aren’t good, and the bosses are HP sponges.

It’s not a bad game, but it’s a chore to play compared to literally any other 2D Castlevania, there’s a reason there was a big emphasis on improving the way it plays in all subsequent releases.

>> No.8216073

>>8216064
>It’s not a bad game, but it’s a chore to play compared to literally any other 2D Castlevania
Not really. Why does Circle's gameplay filter so many people? I honestly never thought it was bad at all.

>> No.8216103

>>8216073
it basically plays like rondo of blood, a game that only works because of the carefully considered level design at every step
but the levels in circle are corridors or giant shafts with haphazardly placed platforms. they rarely attempt to challenge you with tricky enemy placement and there's almost no hazards

>> No.8216143

>>8215741
Personally I think Circle is easily the best handheld CV and my second favorite game in the franchise after SOTN. It's not perfect, but I think it's really really good all flaws considered. I don't care much about HOD but I don't hate it. Aria is great overall but I'm not the biggest fan of it.

When it comes to DS titles, I simply cannot stand DOS. If you thought HOD was an uninspired ripoff of SOTN then get a load of DOS. I actually really like POR even though I wish the academy portraits were replaced with something more interesting. I think OOE is fantastic but I was disappointed with how small Drac's castle is.

>> No.8216156

>>8215945
I put Harmony of Dissonance in B since I think it's better than Circle of Moon but not as good as Aria of Sorrow. I also think it's better than most of the games I put in C, preferring it to the N64 games also. But I do think all the other games I put in B are better than it.

In general, my list is quite fair and moderate, you see a lot of people make lists here where they put decent games in 'D' out of personal bias. It's pretty unanimous that Castlevania Adventure and Castlevania Legends on the Gameboy are duds, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge is the best of the three Gameboy games. Also, Vampire Killer for MSX doesn't get mentioned much, (it wasn't even in the tier maker I used, I had to add it) but if you actually play it, beyond the fact it has some neat ideas it's an extremely broken game. It's so difficult that it's simply unplayable without a cheat for more lives/continues. I think only a minority of people who bought it beat that game back the day.

Castlevania Judgement should speak for itself, and Haunted Castle's side-scrolling gameplay is rather poor on all fronts. (again, few question this. I think the soundtrack, art direction, atmosphere is about the only thing that thing has going for it. It's also obviously short, being an arcade game.)

Every other game is decent, I think it's clear the highlight of the retro games are the original trilogy on NES, Castlevania IV, Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine CD and Symphony of the Night on the Playstation. I think Bloodlines and Sharp X68000/Chronicles are up there, but those are the best.

>> No.8216183
File: 93 KB, 1024x683, Harmony-of-Dissonance-Title-Screen-Screenshot-by-Renan-Fontes-1024x683.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

I feel like I'm living in a crazy world where I'm the only one who thinks the graphics for this game are really good? It absolutely was a huge step up from Circle which was a mainly tame looking dark green brown gray looking game. It exudes vibrancy and almost has this dream like quality to it, I feel like Aria of Sorrow had similar ideas but in comparison to HoD just looked way too washed out and over exposed. Its just insane to me how many people shit on the graphics, like I just have no fucking idea what you are seeing. Go ahead and tell me I need to get my eyes checked though. Also I agree with the other anon that it does remind me of Suspiria

>> No.8216210

>>8216156
Yeah it’s a very good list honestly. I would just drop LoS2 to B and probably swap DoS with OoE and CotM with HoD but to each their own. I actually really loved Harmony of Despair but the fact it was trapped on 360/ps3 and had all that dlc left a pretty big barrier for entry. Wish it would release on steam.

>> No.8216261

>>8216073
They never tried Magician, Shooter and Thief modes.

>> No.8216271

>>8215945
Have you noticed that the retard put the two Lords of Shadow games in A, ranking them over, say, Lament, Dawn of Sorrow, and Circle of the Moon?

>> No.8216281

>>8216183
I also like how HoD looks, but don't you notice how Juste looks like his wig is falling off when he runs, for example?

>> No.8216283 [SPOILER]  [DELETED] 
File: 65 KB, 487x499, 1633719335907.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216271
>"You like game more than me??? Must be retard!!!!"

>> No.8216290

>>8216283
The games were quite objectively badly made. Like that boss in LoS1 that apes Shadow of the Colossus (in a CV game, but fine) almost exactly but then a fucking faggot shows up and kills the boss for you in a cutscene. You can't make this shit up.

>> No.8216293

>It's just insane to me how many people shit on the graphics, like I just have no fucking idea what you are seeing.
People will just pick on anything. The game looks fine for a GBA game. The entire point was that the graphics would be distinguishable on its small screen. One of the biggest factors here is that it's younger people who never played it on the original GBA, and are emulating it on their PCs. Obviously the game will look very different than how it's intended on such a different screen.

It works on the backlit hardware (GBA SP, Micro, DS) but was obviously made with a non backlit screen in mind. Circle of Moon was as well.

It's staggering to think how much better GBA games would all look if Nintendo had the sense to make the original model backlit. This sort of thing wasn't an issue in the Gameboy days because the graphics were more rudimentary on the Gameboy/Color anyway. But the more detailed graphics of the GBA plus the overcompensation on the part of developers for non backlit screens was a terrible combo. So many games with outlines on sprites (like Harmony of Dissonance) so many games with very bright graphics (also Harmony of Dissonance.) I want to figure out how to adjust the color in emulators one day to address this for some games.

>> No.8216301

>>8216183
>It's just insane to me how many people shit on the graphics, like I just have no fucking idea what you are seeing.
People will just pick on anything. The game looks fine for a GBA game. The entire point was that the graphics would be distinguishable on its small screen. One of the biggest factors here is that it's younger people who never played it on the original GBA, and are emulating it on their PCs. Obviously the game will look very different than how it's intended on such a different screen.

It works on the backlit hardware (GBA SP, Micro, DS) but was obviously made with a non backlit screen in mind. Circle of Moon was as well.

It's staggering to think how much better GBA games would all look if Nintendo had the sense to make the original model backlit. This sort of thing wasn't an issue in the Gameboy days because the graphics were more rudimentary on the Gameboy/Color anyway. But the more detailed graphics of the GBA plus the overcompensation on the part of developers for non backlit screens was a terrible combo. So many games with outlines on sprites (like Harmony of Dissonance) so many games with very bright graphics (also Harmony of Dissonance.) I want to figure out how to adjust the color in emulators one day to address this for some games.

>> No.8216317
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[ERROR]

>>8216301
>I want to figure out how to adjust the color in emulators one day to address this for some games.
Actually, there are a bunch of shaders that do just that, with varied success. For example, this:
https://forums.libretro.com/t/simple-textured-shader-for-non-backlit-lcd-systems-gbc-etc/15520

>> No.8216320

>>8216283
nigga, over circle of the moon?? fr??

>> No.8216337

>>8216271
putting the two LoS games equal is terminal bad taste, yes. the first is barely functional dog shit and 2 is pretty fun.
but the greatest sin is simon's quest on the same row as rebirth. what the fuck

>> No.8216448
File: 1.17 MB, 2438x3480, __carrie_fernandez_castlevania_and_1_more_drawn_by_daburoku__400b03a2ca892548d04e4a09500c7b23.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

Harmony's bosses being as easy and borderline non-interactive as they are is really unforgivable.

Iga by admission always makes his games relatively easy, but HoD's bosses were shocking even by those standards. At least in the other games he made, bosses at least FIGHT BACK. I remember one review back in the day described HoD's bosses as "big pretty punching bags" and that's 100% accurate. Save for one or two it feels like they barely even attack you at all, just sitting there and doing barely anything while you mash on them.

The game does have some things I like, admittedly. I always liked Juste's spells: a lot of them have a real sense of visceral impact to them and it's a fun toybox to play around with. The visuals in general are also decently moody. But otherwise it's a pretty boring game thanks to the total lack of difficulty and that the map design is a little more slanted towards meandering and backtracking.

>>8215625
HoD almost feels smooth like the rest of the SOTN influenced games but it gets a few crucial things WRONG

The biggest is that you fucking lose total control over jump height and direction the moment you swing your whip mid-air. It feels totally random and counter-intuitive given the way the rest of the movement works, and is the sole reason you'll get hit at all when fighting aerial enemies.

Not getting any momentum on you jump when you dash (Mega Man X style) is a bit weird too though I can see why that's not a thing.

>> No.8216454

>>8215272
IGA threw an autism fit over Circle. He wanted to make a game that was “just like Symphony but on GBA” which resulted in a game that copies not just general mechanics and design from that game, but entire sprites. Circle got a lot of flak for being super dark so in response they made everything look like neon colored vomit, which is why Juste has that hideous border around him (though other character sprites like Maxim look absolutely hideous). Because of all the graphical changes and other stuff, the music couldn’t fit on the cart so they had to compose it with only like two sound channels which is why it sounds like a NES game. Plus the duel castle thing fucking sucks I hate this game so much

>> No.8216457

>>8215535
>best looking game of the three
>uses a romhack that dulls the colors

right

>> No.8216460

wasn't there something about juste being the only white haired pretty boy in the belmont clan and it having pretty much no canonical explanation
also i think he's supposed to have finished off dracula for good in this game which baffles me

>> No.8216463

>>8216460
Nah, Leon is equally effeminate. Ol’ Drac doesn’t legitimately die until an off screen battle in 1999 which Aria brings up

>> No.8216487

>>8216463
>Nah, Leon is equally effeminate
kek got me there
i guess we're to assume the clan married into some chad genes somewhere down the line

>> No.8216493
File: 558 KB, 950x571, 0407C78B-D4B1-4854-8381-D8D3EA721C62.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215869
If we’re doing this then. Didn’t use the one with Vampire Killer and Haunted Castle, they’re both in trash tier respectively

>> No.8216497

>>8216493
That's actually... pretty accurate.

>> No.8216501

>>8215945
They’re good games, all things considered. The first one can get a little samey and the second one has those ridiculous stealth sections but you can tell a lot of love was put into them and they’re pretty interesting takes on the series, even if they are basically just God of War knockoffs. I went Into the first one expecting to really hate it, and for the first hour or so I didn’t like the setting, plot or characters but then as I went on, I found myself getting weirdly involved with the story and was quite touched by it at the end, even if it was totally absurd and pretentious. Plus they both look fantastic and it’s fun to beat the shit out of everything

>> No.8216505

>>8216497
Actually I changed my mind, swap 64 with Harmony and then move it up in front of Lament

>> No.8216510
File: 2.51 MB, 1440x960, shader.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216317
Yeah, this wasn't what I had in mind at all. The colors are untouched, there's just a shader above everything. Not to mention the pixel grid and the texture.

Imagine if the grass was darker and Torchic's orange was darker. (the default look is bright and washed out.) That's what I mean. Many patches for various games address this. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire doesn't have one, though. (there's only one for the Pokemon sprites themselves.)

I meant something that would change the colors themselves. Think Final Fantasy Tactics Advance "TV mode" but something that the emulator itself could apply for every game. (many games have patches to change the colors, but most obviously don't, hence my curiosity.)

Thanks anyway though. Maybe there's a shader that would be more along the lines of what I was thinking but honestly the PC I have right now can't smoothly run RetroArch with shaders.

>> No.8216520

>>8216337
Castlevania 2 is a very flawed game, even with the bisqwit patch which salvages it. (by giving the game a competent translation and many other fixes.) It's experimental and short, and the bosses are all a joke. It's decent for what it is, but only with the patch. Without it I'd call it a cryptic mess. In contrast, Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth is a competent entry into the series albeit derivative. (but retro is what they were going for and it does this well. The Contra reboot on Virtual Console is also on par with it, I believe made by the same people.)

I've played both Lords of Shadow games and the first isn't "barely functional" by any stretch of the imagination. I agree that the sequel is better. They're higher than the two games on the N64 and PS2 since I simply think they're better, larger, more expansive and immersive games.

>> No.8216524
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[ERROR]

See a lot of people getting mad about the art style for Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait. Sure it’s got fucking nothing on Kojima’s art and I can understand why people don’t like it but there’s a charm to it. Plus Yoko is a cutie

>> No.8216528

>>8216493
Why is Mirror of Fate on 3DS (or HD version, the only one included in that tiermaker) "trash?"

>> No.8216529

>>8216524
Yoko barely even seems like the same character from Aria in this game.

>> No.8216531

>>8216524
Aria of Soma had some cute grills. Does the sequel have more cute grill?

>> No.8216535

>>8216524
The portraits were fine, I don't even think every Castlevania game needs to have Kojima's art but I will say that her style gives Castlevania a lot of it's identity.

>> No.8216537
File: 37 KB, 256x192, 0107E8EA-DDD9-4D31-A108-34303C1276C4.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
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>>8216531
Only one extra woman. Make your judgement

>> No.8216542

>>8216537
0/10 unless she;s lesbian in canon

>> No.8216547

>>8216528
yeah, that really shouldn't be there. The game is somewhat unremarkable but I'd hesitate to call it bad. There are even parts I think are great, like the bosses and music.

putting it in the same tier as The Adventure is totally not fair lol. that game is very actively bad, MoF is overall just okay.

>> No.8216549
File: 762 KB, 1064x744, cast.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

Me three. Again Harmony is not an offensive game but it is aggresively lukewarm, a flatline of a game with tons of repeated content, an awkward look and sound to it.

Some sprites and backgrounds look nice, but Juste looks like he belongs in a different lane of existance than everything else, it's very bizarre and that's a key knock against the game's look.

>> No.8216557

>>8216528
>it’s short, you can plow through in it less than 3 hours even on your first play through
>story is fragmented and all over the place, I get they were going for a sort of Rashomon thing with the plot but it comes off as fragmented and messy
>combat is extremely watered down, can beat every enemy by just mashing the attack button
>level up system that just unlocks moves, just increase your strength or health
>gives new abilities to the player and then quickly moves to the next character, meaning you barely get to use them (if I recall properly you get the Schneider power up for Simon and use it kill an enemy that won’t let you progress, and then it’s never used again
>backtracking to find random trinkets that exist purely to unlock the best ending
>it’s easy as sin

>> No.8216562

>>8216557
Level up system *DOESN’T* give you extra health/strength sorry

>> No.8216564
File: 555 KB, 550x750, soma.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

having just recently played aria for the first time, i gotta say i was surprised by how much i liked soma. he's like an innocent little kid somehow it feels. he's just got this chill demeanor that i found pretty endearing. then there was the twist and his portrait changed and that was just fucking based and brought everything full circle as if his innocence earlier was foreshadowing for how little he really knew. plus his new portrait was badass

>> No.8216570

>>8216493
>>8216549
You are both faggots. Mirror of Fate HD is a good game.

>> No.8216581

That the one with the million dead ends? Still better than the clunky cardshit one.

>> No.8216587

>>8216549

>Adventure 2:

Adventure 2 is so much better than the first one it’s not even funny. But if you didn’t like Legends which is basically Adventure 2 but more archaic I’m not sure you’ll like it anyway.

>Rondo

Rondo absolutely pisses over Dracula X, if you liked that game then you’re gonna love this.

>Kid Dracula

Kid Dracula is basically just a generic side scroller but with some charm and humour to it.

>64

64/Legacy are kind of awkward and stiff but have great atmosphere, music and style. If you can handle early 3D jank, you’ll have fun.

>Chronicles

Chronicles is the first game but with new levels, fresh paint, a brutal difficulty spike and a ridiculous techno rave soundtrack. Highly recommend

>Dracula X chronicles

Solid remake of Rondo with new cutscenes and the like. Art style doesn’t hold a candle to the original though, but you can unlock both that and Symphony with a brand spanking new voice track anyway

I’d recommend you do check out Castlevania 2, especially since you liked Order of Ecclesia which its heavily inspired by. It’s cryptic, annoying and confusing but there’s a lot of charm to it and you can have fun with it

>> No.8216591

>>8216570
I have never met a single person who has played it that actually liked it, so this is a first. Hey if you liked it that’s totally fine, it’s definitely a fun thing to breeze through if you’re in the mood I suppose. Where would you rank it in terms with the rest of the series?

>> No.8216594

>>8215415
i have some bad news about your sexuality anon

>> No.8216596
File: 3.53 MB, 360x640, image0.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215887
https://youtu.be/a2UwGKLYxCM

>> No.8216602
File: 211 KB, 614x640, 36646559-E5CA-4395-AB0F-FA3AB985F855.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216596
https://youtu.be/xUARZuhOsH0

>> No.8216605
File: 1.15 MB, 325x203, there_is_no_need_to_be_cranky.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216570
Settle down, I'm just too old-fashioned to enjoy how Mercurysteam's games play and feel. Even Samus Return's pacing felt jittery as fuck with cinematic interruption fuckness, and LoS 1 was so all over the place and filled with forced variety. Not a fan of how those people make games no sir.

>>8216448
>The biggest is that you fucking lose total control over jump height and direction the moment you swing your whip mid-air.
Aw fuk, yes, you made me notice, this is a big one that's always bothered me. I bet they wanted it to make it feel like the old CVs but when Symphony and even Circle gave you the ability to scuttle back a little in the air and reposition yourself, this feels awful. One of the things I like the most about these games is the attack animation cancelling with the jumping, and this game just does not let you.

>>8216581
>the million dead ends
Seriously, fuck being forced to warp from castle to castle, horrible decision.

>>8216587
>Adventure 2
I played the game as a kid a little, I just never finished it, I do know it's much better than the first one with a stage select and all, the music is great which does make me wanna play. I also could never finish Legends and only play cause Sonya is hot lmao bad choice.

Thanks for the recs though, I will give 2 a try, maybe, after I beat the good NES shit I have to play like Ufouria Gimmick Crysalis and... a billion other things lmao.

>> No.8216618

>>8215332
Posta Pasta

>> No.8216630

>>8215408
>>8215391
Neithet are good.

>> No.8216669

>>8215741
>Before I came here I had no clue some people preferred Circle of Moon to Harmony of Dissonance
Where the hell were you going to? It was the opposite for me, and in fact it wasn't until last year that I started seeing people liking HoD. Something I for one really appreciate, just kind of wish they didn't suddenly turn into assholes as of late.

>> No.8216703

>>8216669
I can see people preferring Aria to Circle, since Aria is a competent translation of the SOTN formula that does some interesting things in its own right, but preferring the super easy and janky and meandering HoD where all the enemies are punching bags kind of baffles me.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate HoD, I like aspects of it...but it's a very bland game all things considered. Circle might have its flaws (how much they grate on you is going to depend what you're into the most), but it's at the very least different and interesting. It has challenging bosses and regular enemies (perhaps the ONLY post Symphony Metroidvania Castlevania to be able to say as such in regard to normal enemies), has controls which work as a middleground between classicvania and metroidvania, and all the DSS card spells are decently fun to play around with.

Circle is at least unique, whereas you're really not missing much at all if you skip HoD and go straight to Aria or the DS games which do almost everything HoD tried to do and do it much better.

>> No.8216707

>>8216103
>carefully considered level design at every step
Rondo's level design is flat, boring, and does little to help the already largely limpdick enemy design. Circle does more with its hallways and shafts than Rondo arguably ever does, with particular enemy types put places usually depending on what kind of level design you're in. Projectile users and small flying enemies tend to get placed in suspended areas where you do a lot of jumping, like the bigger rooms in Machine Tower. Bigger, sturdier enemies tend to populate hallways where you often have to dance around them while getting hits in. CoTM has solid fundamentals in the player character/enemy/level design trichotomy, and while I do agree that later games improve on it in certain areas and in fact would put the DS games over it, it's still a good game in its own right and arguably better than most other CVs released around its time.

>> No.8216728

>>8216183
I fucking love CoTM's aesthetic but yeah, HoD's graphics may be my favorite, albeit maybe primarily for areas rather than the characters. The Chapel of Dissonance and the areas part of it are my favorite. Vibrant and dream like is probably a real good way to put it, and I also agree about AoS being too washed out. Granted, I'm used to playing all three on a SP, I don't really know what AoS in particular even looks like on a regular GBA, thinking on it now.

>> No.8216742

>>8216728
There are a handful of setpieces in HoD that really stuck with me. Like the weird creepy portraits in that one room of the castle entrance, or the true final boss room (pre-fight starting) where you have a screaming womans torso made out of goo stretched out over what looks like a xenomorph egg hive. There's some haunting stuff sprinkled throughout.

>> No.8216743

>>8216290
Different anon, you're just retarded and most likely just taking your own tastes as objective quality like Castlevania fans are wont to do. Oh noes, the first of only three SoTC bosses gets kill stolen when I did most of the work!

>> No.8216749

>>8216542
>lesbian in canon
Evidence?

>> No.8216761
File: 567 KB, 800x1152, yoko2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216524
I actually prefer PoR's over most of the other games with a more anime look than usual, because I feel as though it doesn't back down from it no matter how silly it can get with it. Death shouldn't look as imposing and badass as he does even with that ridiculous armor and seemingly having so ribs to speak of.
>Plus Yoko is a cuite
The Sorrow games are just filled with cute girls all over the place, frankly.
>>8216529
A lot of the characters in Dawn seem either different or maybe even evolved a little compared to Aria.

>> No.8216773
File: 2.28 MB, 480x368, Michael-Jackson-Thriller-music-video.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216602
https://youtu.be/Z6KooOVOAjA

>> No.8216786

>>8216703
I don't know if I would put HoD over CoTM personally, but if I did, it's only because I fucking love stiff like the dash mechanic, introducing dash cancelling and having its most versatile form, the subweapon rings, being able to toggle books and spells on the go, button inputs sometimes affecting how they work...HoD just has a lot of shit that I love doing and I really appreciate how it influenced the DS games that I also love.

That said, I actually love CoTM as well, and I think it may be one of if not the most solidly designed of the metroidvanias, with a very, very fun system.

Funnily enough, Aria may be the lowest of the GBA games for me. It's not bad or anything, in fact I look at it as being a proto-DS game and I think it shows in how it took what SoTN through HoD had done and spins it into its own thing while standardizing it in the process. I guess it's just that, by doing so, it lost some of what I loved about those games (SoTN's button inputs, for the record). I mean, you can't even crouch from a backdash, what the fuck, you know how many times I accidentally slid forward because of that? And no, the balanced out running speed and more jump control didn't do anything for me. Doesn't help how easy it becomes if you play the game how it was "meant" to be played and use all your soul and weapon options, and it's a damn shame to me, too, because I think Aria's enemy and level design stands out more when you let up on it. That's just me, though.

>> No.8216797

>>8216605
>>8216591
Alright I’m sorry anons. I’ll admit I get autisticly defensive about castlevania and I just see MoF shat on all the time.
>where do I rank it?
S: Rondo, SotN
A: I, III, IV, Bloodlines, AoS
B: DoS, PoR, OoE, LoS, MoF HD,
C: LoS2, CotM, LoI, CoD
D: HoD, 64, LoD
I think that’s all that I’ve played

>> No.8216803
File: 11 KB, 270x150, Nobuo-Uematsu-270x150.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

What if the bosses were regular monster, but Big

>> No.8216804

>>8216742
I had to look up a vid to see what you meant, and while I agree that the imagery is creepy regardless, it honestly looks more like an overly rotten peanut surrounded by grapes to me. Still creeps me out because it probably represents someone's rotten mind or something, but still.

For me, it's Skeleton Castle A that creeps me out. Since the castle is in a transitional state, it gives me the impression that this is where Dracula's minions are before they're restored, and they got you surrounded. Legion's room background really adds to it, as well. Harmony is just unsettling in general, and the soundtrack and what amounts to a classic vampire story really helps with that.

>> No.8216813

>>8216773
Sounds more like Sanic to me. Which ofc makes sense as MJ's writers and MJ worked on Sanic also.

>> No.8216834

>>8216803
Big Slime was a cool boss

>> No.8216843

>>8216803
>>8216834
Something I discovered recently is that, rather humorously, the peeping eye you beat up before fighting Peeping Big won't actually come in contact with you for a long while if you stand still.

>> No.8216854

>>8216804
I always remembered it looking a bit better on the GBA screen. Part of me suspects some of these youtube videos are using filters or something.

> Still creeps me out because it probably represents someone's rotten mind or something, but still.

I interpreted as the room outwardly manifesting Lydia's suffering from Maxim drinking her blood.

Legion Corpse's room was also fucking great. Real "what the fuck" moment when you see that weird biblical scene behind it after the battle and that dimensional scape behind the gate.

There's something uniquely edgy and unsettling to Harmony's best setpieces which I don't think anything else but maybe SOTN gets.

>> No.8216869

>>8216854
>which I don't think anything else but maybe SOTN gets
The PS2vanias get pretty edgy, betimes. I'm playing CoD here and there and fairly early on you get a series of hallways made up nigh entirely of bones beneath a church leading to an eyepiece. Having played before, I vaguely remember the road to Legion being rather fucked..

Another part of HoD I really liked were the Melty Zombie enemies. They're just weren't what I was expecting and they're just gross with their sound effects and looking like they seep in from the sewers, almost. All those weapons sticking out of them, too.

>> No.8216961
File: 225 KB, 800x808, 236606-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night-limited-edition-playstation-front-cover.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215280
>>8215332
>and he wanted to make Symphony of the Night for a handheld
That would be Aria of Sorrow, and exactly why it's the best of the GBA games. Speaking of AoS, why is Death such a cunt in this game? I have no health potions or food so I may have to backtrack.

I don't think I'm underleveled, I'm level 20.

>> No.8216997

>>8216797
It’s okay Anon, I like your passion for it. It’s nice to see someone praise it in all honesty, even if I don’t like it myself.

>> No.8217034

>>8216961
My trick for Death on Aos is to rush phase 1 as quickly as possible because of the rng, and then on phase 2 you just have to learn to dodge each of his moves individually. He's super easy to read and once you get the rhythm you can kill phase 2 without taking a single hit easily. Just learn the moves and don't get greedy

>> No.8217120

>>8216961
use the big yoyo knights **i forget the name** soul and its not bad. if you get the blade right on top of him then itll hit a bunch of times without you needing to be too close

>> No.8217171

>>8216961
I think near the water section of the tower, left side, next to the spikes, there's a hidden room with a sort of holy sword in there. There's at least one somewhere where you can get it before Death.
>I don't think I'm underleveled
Death's honestly just kind of a dick is shades tougher than what you've fought so far, and arguably more so than a lot of what you'll meet afterwards. First off, grind money for health items if you have to, don't keep kicking your toe against the pricks just to be a tough guy, that comes with experience. Second, maybe invest in a Witch or Giant Skull soul while you're at it, they reflect projectiles. Otherwise, give yourself space and use something with a mix of speed and range for phase 1. Hog the center so the scythe doesn't corner you and swat away sickles if you have to. When he starts firing lasers, DON'T corner yourself by running to the edges, give enough space so you can just run from one side to the other with no worries, maybe just tap run so the lasers don't take up so much room.

Come phase 2, it largely becomes a matter of reading what attack he's about to do and then moving out of the way. You might be surprised by how much you can get away with by sliding under them, but do look out for when he moves back into position, the blades hurt regardless of what he's doing with them. Most importantly, don't get killed when Death drops his scythe from defeat, it really can kill you.

And on top of all that, you have a Great Armor and a close save room to grind with, so you got that as a convenient resource, as well.

>> No.8217330

>>8215741
Good ranking. Although Aria>portrait could be contested.

>> No.8217340

>>8216271
This. Lords of shadow doesn't even belong in this list.

>> No.8217464

>>8216524
>Plus Yoko is a cutie
It's bullshit you can't ditch Mina for Yoko. What Soma see in her I don't know.

>> No.8217480

>>8217464
>Mina Hakuba
>Mina Harker
She's just a Japanified reference to the original novel.

>> No.8217602

>>8216261
>didn't replay a game because it was shit
>"heh you didn't think to try out magician mode"

>> No.8217639

>>8217480
What the fuck

>> No.8217761
File: 279 KB, 431x578, Non-Igavaina tierlist.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215869
>>8216493
I don't feel like ranking the IGAvanias or Lords of Shadow.

Castlevania Chronicles here is the SX68K version, not PS1.

>> No.8217765

>>8215272
it does get a lot better, about 8ish hours in for me currently. the complaints about the the backtracking are legit though. don't give up on it yet anon.

>> No.8217808
File: 881 KB, 1395x1970, Castlevania .Dawn.of.Sorrow.full.24076.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216524
The new portraits are adequate, but nothing special, which is a considerable downgrade from Kojima's art, which is very striking, and much better suited for a gothic horror flavored series such as this.

>>8217464
>>8217480
>>8217639
I'm almost positive that Mina Hakuba is supposed to be a reincarnation of Lisa Tepes, which is why Soma Cruz loses it and just plain becomes Dracula when he thinks she dies. Soma (Vlad Tepes) must rescue not just himself, but also Mina (Lisa), the grim loss of which turned him into the dark lord Dracula all those countless lifetimes ago.
It's Vlad's chance at redemption, rejecting Chaos, saving his wife, ending Dracula's cycle and having the chance to just live in peace with Lisa.
To me that makes a good chronological ending to the series.

>> No.8217927

>>8217808
dracula doesn't have anything to do with vlad the impaler in this series
it would be cool if he did but shitty lament of innocence is the prequel to everything
you're right about the parallels but it's to drac and alucard's mom

>> No.8217931

>>8217464
They're childhood friends, and it becomes pretty apparent that they care for each other if you visit Mina at the front gate every once in a while. Soma actually considers what Mina thinks of him a great deal, to the point that he's nervous as fuck once he starts turning into Dracula, asking her what she would think if it turned out he was a different person.

>> No.8217981

>>8217927
They mention "Vlad Tepes" by name in a few of the games (HoD being one). It doesn't have to make sense.

>> No.8217983

>>8217927
>lament of innocence is the prequel to everything
Did any other Castlevania game acknowledge the existence of that game?

>> No.8218007

>>8217981
They retconned that to an alias Dracula is known by and not his real name.

>> No.8218026

>>8217983
Not really? I've seen people in different ites argue stuff like
>oh but Dracula wears brooches with a stone on them, it's totally the crimson stone!
but honestly, that just seems like it's just a reference to old horror movies and just retroactively imposing LoI's story over past games where that stuff might not even had been thought of.

Thinking on it, though, I suppose there IS stuff like parts of the plot and/or lore of DoS, PoR and OoE. PoR's whip bullshit probably wouldn't make as much sense if there wasn't anything about Lament's blood pact ritual that gets a short mention in Dawn, not ot mention Greatest Five including Leon. OoE's Dominus pieces get named after hatred, anger, and agony, and having played LoI fairly recently, something I never caught before is Leon telling Rinaldo how he can feel anger and hatred emanating from the whip before he sets off to fight Walter. In other words, somewhat contrary to OoE's plot (and raising some questions as to why Dracula is even surprised by it, especially by this point), you've basically been fighting Dracula with his own power all along, since while he got his vampirism absorbing Walter's soul, Sara got it from being bitten, kind of making them vampire kin. I more or less agree with >>8217927 about LoI's sotry being kinda lame, as much as I like it as a game. Walter not getting referenced is a fucking crime, I don't care that he was just a plot device.

>> No.8218058

>>8215272
used to fap to the cover art not going to lie to you famalama dingdong

>> No.8218116

>>8216749
Did you even read the post or did you just start spazzing out when you saw the word "lesbian"?

>> No.8218465

>>8215272
I'm just done replaying it for the first in years. It's basically nothing but backtracking, looking for some item that will send you on a quest for the next item to look for. The action is all floaty, which goes for Juste moves, the enemies and the bosses as well. The bosses are basically all the same by the way. The game not making it clear you can warp between gates by pressing down helps nothing. And there's the retarded leveling from SotN.

It's basically everything wrong about SotN without the shiny coating.

>> No.8218556

>>8215535
>I consider HoD better than CoTM by gameplay alone
>can't even control jump height when using the whip as it will force you into a max high jump
>can't run so you need to slide/dash all the time
Christ, how did you even figure how to breathe?

>> No.8218572

>>8215614
>HoD is smooth and fun to play
>whereas CotM is clunky and frustrating
You retard never played the nes games or Rondo, right?

>> No.8218627

>>8215616
>I do like the charge attack though
Pointless shit since it takes so long, unless getting a critical, you'll do more damage faster by using a couple of regular attacks.

>> No.8218630

>>8215741
>I wouldn't say it's an outstanding game, either. (I reserve that for Symphony of the Night
SotN offers an extremely crappy core experience. Strip it of all the superficial glitter and all that's left is just another HoD.

>> No.8218707

>>8218026
>>8217983
there's a special move in PoR that summons all the past Belmonts and Leon shows up

>> No.8218730
File: 42 KB, 720x765, Ert_QlhXAAMzt6t.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8218116
I only realized I didn't read the full thing until after I hit reply, so to answer your question. Yes.

>> No.8218775
File: 742 KB, 1064x556, c.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

HoD is not terrible, but it's definitely the weakest metroidvania-style game in the series.

>> No.8218782

>>8215272
I'm convinced that Aria of Sorrow is the only good game of this kind that's ever been made.

>> No.8218860

>>8217927
Detail aside, Mina being Dracula's wife makes sense to me.

>> No.8218882

>>8218556
Spells >>>>> Cards any day

>can't run so you need to slide/dash all the time
How the fuck is this a problem? Dashing is better than double tapping everywhere.

Fuck off CoTMfag.

>> No.8218895

>>8218882
>Raping a button all the time is better than pressing a button twice when necessary
Christ, how did you even figure how to breathe?

>> No.8218910

>>8218895
>Smashing a button twice all the time is better than pressing a button when necessary
Christ, how did you even figure how to breathe?

>> No.8218921

>>8218782
Do you mean Igavanias?

>> No.8218942

>>8218882
>Spells >>>>> Cards any day

Hard to care when the game is so piss easy and all the bosses and enemies feel like tech demos. What's the point of a cool spell system if nothing fights back?

>> No.8218948

>>8218895
but running IS always necessary in cotm

>> No.8219005

>>8218948
Different anon, I've never heard of someone's dpad getting messed up by CoTM's double tap, but I myself have experienced my shoulder buttons get kinda fucked up from playing HoD too much, especially boss rush for the right side. That might be what he's talking about.
>>8218882
Having different ways to move with variable speeds is nice but dashing is arguably the biggest thing holding HoD together as a game. It would likely be garbage without because then the cons would start outweighing the pros, and as discussed above, that ends up being an issue eventually.
>Spells >>>>> Cards any day
That's just bullshit. HoD's spell fusion is a simplified DSS where most of its functionality is relegated to wrecking everything on screen, starting as soon as you pick up a book and subweapon. DSS actually has a lot of variety to it and depth given how they start weak and then build up over the span of the game, leaving the stronger combos for later. You also have things like Mars + Unicorn doing different amounts of damage depending on which part of the giant holy sword you land a hit on an enemy with.

>> No.8219083

>>8217983
Lords of shadow does but that’s obviously a different canon completely. Leon pops up as a summon In Portrait but that’s it other wise

>> No.8219174

>>8219005
As much as I like the DSS system, I felt the combos were worthless beyond a couple specific ones like Mercery/Serpent to freeze those flying brains and Neptune/Cockatrice to survive Dracula's Comet attack. The other ones felt useless, especially the sword ones since they wouldn't deal as much damage as Venus + Thunderbird.

>> No.8219187

>>8218948
CotM is actually an action game, unlike the collectathon/walking simulator HoD is.

>> No.8219565

>>8219174
I remember using the swords extensively due to their incredible range and speed. Damage isn't everything.

>> No.8219604

>>8219174
>>8219565
I liked the tonfers a lot, the long rage/attack balance was great, and the petrifying thing was handy for the brain platforms.

>> No.8219860

>>8218775
>Contrarian Of The Moon
>above any IGA CV game
kys

>> No.8220150

>>8219860
>being filtered this hard

>> No.8220190

>>8215741
I remember thinking Ecclesia was amazing at first, and then after 2 or so hours all the nagging bad shit stacked up too far for me and I had to drop it. Like good god.
>hey wow cool there's no real tech but being able to cancel one attack with the next is nice
>o-oh I'm out of magic
>wait 10 seconds doing nothing
>wow this level design is really nice, feels like classic CV
>okay I get it there's another straight line stage can I please have a bit of verticality?
>here's a water stage that has 3 levels of elevation
>alright
>maybe the bosses will be good that tutorial one was kinda neat
>crab you merely crouch in the bottom right corner and spam attacks until you run out of magic
>constantly going back to the village to try to find out what new stuff I can do
>just go back out and grind for this item bro :)))

I assume it gets better over time but fucking hell it was so quick to turn into a slog I just couldn't give it any more of my time.

>> No.8220206

>>8220190
i love ecclesia but the straight line levels are unacceptably shitty
there is a giant area to explore but you have to get the TRUE ENDING to get to it. not surprising people quit before then

>> No.8220213

AS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>HD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>CM

>> No.8220216

>>8216510
Based sandpaper shader

>> No.8220237

>>8220206
Yeah I assumed at some point I'd hit a castle or a town stage with a big expanded area to explore but if that's the case I ain't ever going back to try again, especially after losing my progression.

>> No.8220268

>>8219860
CotM is a very focused action game, it completely crushes the SotN and HoD collectathon wanks.

>> No.8220281

I do find the intense reaction towards harmony kind of weird but I guess I haven't played it and cotm since I was 12, much smoother all around experience from I what remember of it compared to cotm.

>> No.8220287

>>8220268
HoD and SotN at least don't have RNG grinding.

>> No.8220304

>>8220287
HoD and SotN scale the experience you get from enemies like the retarded pieces of nonsense they are, and they still end up being too easy. There's absolutely no focus whatsoever on the game design part.

>> No.8220354

>>8219187
Did you skip the card collecting?

>> No.8220359

>>8220268
See >>8220354

>> No.8220363

>>8220237
The 2nd half of the game is Dracula's Castle and it works how you expect DC to work

>> No.8220432

>>8220354
Magician mode gives you all the cards.

>> No.8220521

>>8218572
What’s the fuck are you talking about? Circle of the moon literally has worse controls than the original NES game.

>> No.8220548

>>8220190
The bosses are good though. Except for dracula, which is a really bummer. Not sure what they were thinking, they nailed it later in harmony of despair, should have done that from the get go instead of that experimental 3D abomination we got.

>> No.8220591
File: 37 KB, 714x372, Untitled.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8220287
sigh
https://fatalis.pw/sotn/dropcalc/

>> No.8220612

>>8220521
>Circle of the moon literally has worse controls than the original NES game
Trying too hard to be retarded.

>> No.8220867

>>8220363
You meant the last third

>> No.8221282

>>8220591
crissaegrim isn't a game mechanic
there's hundreds of swords in the game that do the same thing, you press square and alucard swipes a sword

>> No.8221320

Harmony of Dissonance is the best one because of the dashing mechanic.

>> No.8221328

>>8215869
Bloody Tears alone should bump SQ up to the B tier at least.

Without SQ there would be no SotN.

>> No.8221338

>>8221282
crissaegrim is the only sword that lets you attack while moving

>> No.8221562

One thing I really hate about the discussion surrounding the gba trilogy in current year is that COTM has become this massive love-it-or-hate-it game. You either think it's a masterpiece and the only trve hardcore castlevania action adventure, or you think it's some poorly designed kusoge that's absolute trash on every level.

In reality it's a very good entry that does some things uniquely well (some of most interesting and cool regular enemies in the series with almost shmup-esque attack patterns, in particular), but one that does have some flaws which you'll either get over very quickly or find extremely grating depending on your tastes (default walk speed and level design in particular).

I think the "wow COTM is a total kusoge" trend started because some twitter fags like Kayin (guy who made I Wanna Be The Guy who claims to still be working on new games but in reality has just become a twitter hot-take attention whore posturing himself as a genius game design sage off his one shitty meme game) talked some shit about the game, a few other fags followed suit, and now all the retards who got filtered by the games difficulty took it as validation.

>> No.8221603
File: 581 KB, 638x407, thanksiga.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215272
>get stuck in HoD and give up
>this thread makes me pick it back up again
>spend about an hour dicking around not sure where to even go to progress or what to do, doesn't seem like I can do anything in any direction I go to
>"let's just look this shit up"
>even when looking it up it's hard for me to figure out where I even am because barely anyone has bothered to do guides that aren't random text in GameFAQs that barely attempts to tell you where to go and just assumes you slavishly follow the entire guide from front to back
>finally figure out the solution
>you were just supposed to KNOW to hit this thing and to KNOW that it would help you progress
>nothing else in the game up to this point has been like this, no tutorial telling me "oh ok giant skeleton head I should hit that"
>no particular reason for me to just KNOW to do this and not to just think it was a random piece of the scenery in the fucking SKELETON THEMED AREA
Fucking suck my dick, Iga. This is horseshit design and you know it. Anytime you just have to "know" what to do, that's shit game design. I hardly even feel like continuing to play the game after it just slapped me in the face so hard. It's like I'm expected to think I'm some kind of idiot for not literally living inside the designer's head. If this was for some optional thing, I'd feel better about it, knowing they pull this shit o the main path of the game is just annoying and makes me wonder if it'll get even worse later.

>> No.8221604

>>8221562

The only problem right here on /vr/ is that there's a douche samefagging these recent Castlevania's threads, talking out of his ass saying CotM was the bad one of the trilogy. When we all know HoD was the one who met a lukewarm reception right from release.

>> No.8221605

>>8221320
this is the only reason anyone can stand harmony of dissonance, at least you get to spam dashes
go figure retards hate cotm

>> No.8221608

>>8221603
Plus when I reached the roadblock I thought I needed double jump, which I actually did have precedence to think because "you need to use double jump to get over here" has been all over the place. But I guess I'm a retard for thinking this was another case of it, I should have been randomly attacking parts of the background like a smart person. It's like I'm being punished for paying attention

>> No.8221618
File: 22 KB, 620x632, 1515390009623.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8221603

Bro you're absolutely dumb as shit. You see a G I A N T out of place skull and don't immediately think "There's something up with that. I'm going to try to interact with it."

What kind of zoomer garbage have you been playing to give you that level of brain rot??

HoD is literally one of the easiest Castlevania games to get into and play and beat. The fact that you need your hand held for this title tells me you should go back to licking windows, or eating paint chips.

>> No.8221621

>>8221618
>You see a G I A N T out of place skull and don't immediately think "There's something up with that. I'm going to try to interact with it."
Exactly, this is the type of shit you're just supposed to "know" and then if you don't just "know" then I guess you're a retard. This is just making excuses for bad game design. Maybe if they ever made any attempt to tell me as a player that shit like that would be interactable it would be fine, they didn't, you're just supposed to "know".

>> No.8221625

>>8221618
>>8221621
Also, out of place? It's in the fucking Skeleton area with Skeleton in the name and Skeletons all over the fucking place. What in the hell is out of place about a Skeleton's skull and why are you instinctively supposed to understand that you can hit things like that that are ostensibly part of the background when it was never used in the game before then?

>> No.8221627

>>8221603
Man, it's not like as if WHIPPING THE SCENERY TO PROGRESS IS THE VERY FIRST THING YOU DO BEFORE EVEN FIGHTING YOUR FIRST ENEMY IN THE FUCKING GAME.

>> No.8221629

>>8221621
It's not bad game design. You're a literal idiot with zero sense of wonder, or exploration. You have absolutely no business here. Go watch TV or consoom some other media that just requires you to passively be spoon fed content instead of using a minor amount of brain power.

Seriously, how fucking stupid, and lazy are you?

>> No.8221635

>>8221625
Because it is the ONLY giant skull sitting on some stairs in the skull themed area. It is the only thing of its kind there. A GIANT OUT OF PLACE SKULL.

Dude, seriously. If this is too hard for you? I got some bad news. You'll probably fail at literally everything else in your life too.

>> No.8221639

>>8221627
>>8221629
>>8221635
>"just KNOW to do it bro and if you don't you're an idiot"
As if game designers are incapable of introducing concepts before they are necessary for game progress. It is bad game design and you're making excuses for it literally just because you already "knew".

>> No.8221646
File: 18 KB, 240x160, hod.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8221639
>As if game designers are incapable of introducing concepts before they are necessary for game progress

How did your retarded ass even make it past pic related?
Did you just run around the room and the raised bridge in hope of finding the double jump?

>> No.8221676

>>8217761
From all the differing opinions regarding the series, it seems that we can all agree that The Adventure sucks. What were they honestly thinking when making that one?

>> No.8221710

>>8221338
There's a couple of others.

>> No.8221863

>>8221320
The dashing is awful, sliding is much more effective, and yet still a retarded way to move around quickly.

>> No.8221882

>>8221676
>it seems that we can all agree that The Adventure sucks
The game is downright terrible. But looking at that list, there's no way Dracula XX is worse than the worthless Simon's quest. Also Kid Dracula shouldn't be there.

>> No.8221883

>>8221639
Hitting shit randomly and getting good results was in lots of games before this one (including every Classicvania), zoombrain.

>> No.8221886

>>8221676
at least it got a good complete remake

>> No.8221887

>>8221863
The dashing in this game is fun as hell. What are you talking about?

>> No.8221891

>>8221882
Simon's Quest is a good game, buddy.

>> No.8221892

>>8221887
https://youtu.be/uuB-emHooIQ?t=117

>> No.8221894

>>8221887
It's pointless, you don't need it to dodge since most enemies are slow, it's a stupid way to move around since you have to mash a button, even worse, sliding is more effective for that, you can't even gain jump momentum with it. There's a reason the dashing never returned in later entries.

>> No.8221896

>>8221892
This is remotely the same, how? You just memeing?

>> No.8221897

>>8221891
Simon's Quest being a good game is about the same as saying that watching paint dry is an entertaining activity.

>> No.8221904

>>8221894
You can move around areas fast with the forward dash and yes, the back dash returns in Aria. The removal of the forward dash (or any kind of running, such as in CotM) from Aria was one of the only bad things about it.

>> No.8221906

>>8221897
Can't help you if you don't like action adventures or even point-n-clicks.

>> No.8221914

>>8221896
>takes offence to a joke
man you HoD fags need to lighten up

>> No.8221951

>>8221906
Simon's Quest isn't an action adventure, it's just farming and backtracking.

>> No.8221952

>>8221904
The megaman zero games did the dash move well, HoD dash is just retarded nonsense. And the back dash was already in SotN, and it was so already so rearded some were using it to move faster by mashing the button.

>> No.8222594

>>8221951
thats literally what adventure games were in the late 80s
you could say the same exact thing about metroid

>> No.8222604

>>8221952
>nd it was so already so rearded some were using it to move faster by mashing the button.
well i wouldnt have to shield cancel if alucard would just pick up the fucking pace.
dude moves like my grandma
i get hes centuries old and all but cmon

>> No.8224080

>>8221603
But you wouldn't have even gotten past the first area of the game if you didn't whip the statue blocking your path. That is unironically your tutorial, bro. There's also the lever in the luminous cave area that you flip with, you probably actually guessed it, a whip strike. There's a lot of parts where you whip something to make something happen. Did you just take one look at the giant skull and think, "nah, there's fuck all I can do with this" and give up?

>> No.8224104

>>8221894
>There's a reason the dashing never returned in later entries
HoD is the game that gave us actual backdash cancelling. In fact, HoD has a lot of mechanics that AoS oddly enough didn't have that would become part of the later games. Did you know that you can't crouch out of a backdash in AoS? Shit used to really annoy me, especially because you can't change direction, either, so I would often slide forward into an enemy's attack or something.

>> No.8224210

>>8224080
>thing directly in front of you you obviously have to hit to progress
Ok
>thing directly in front of you you obviously have to hit to progress
Ok
>skull that while on your path isn't directly in front of the player, you have to just know to go to a specific side of it and try whipping it
>to get past a gap which you can get past with a double jump, something the entire area is teasing you with getting soon
How many of you fags are going to make excuses for this shit? Yes, you're all geniuses who just "know" what to do because you have gigantic head
No I don't think 'a thing in the background looks different' has been conveyed to the player at this point to automatically mean 'I must be able to interact with it', no I don't think the game designed this area well to guide the player towards hitting the skull, no I still don't think this was good game design and yes I have no idea why people here are obsessed with making excuses for it. I know. I get it. You're smart and I'm not. Not everyone had the exact same experience as you and just "knew" what to do.

Also, I quit HoD. Fuck this. I'm done playing this game. Completely divorced from my thoughts that this one section of the game didn't do enough to guide the player toward figuring out the solution, the entire game feels stiff and awkward and badly designed. I beat Circle and Aria with relatively few problems and can already tell HoD just isn't on their level. The two castles concept seems like it's going to turn cancerous, the level design hasn't gotten any better since I've been playing, and I'm just not having fun. I'm done.

>> No.8224348

>>8224210
harmony is a pretty bland game but how the fuck can you say castlevania doesn't teach the player to whip skulls

>> No.8224456

>>8215321
>>8215319
he meant to say "Circle's level design"
as in Circle of the Moon

>> No.8224486

>>8224456
thanks for the translation

>> No.8224551

>>8215392
>depressing muddy blue
kino

>> No.8224560

>>8221603
>>8221621
>>8221639
retard without empathy

>> No.8224665

>>8215332
The reason why the colors look like vomit is thanks to the shitty non backlit gba screen, they tried to compensate for that like many other developers. Check the Blackthorne GBA port, it looks like vomit too.

>> No.8224775

>>8215313
HoD is the very definition of monotonous.

>> No.8225405

>>8224665
I know, but the result is really striking, it's still semi-gritty gothic aesthetics, but with really stark colors, makes me think of old comic books, or as stated, old movies. The rough and low def music adds to the grit as well.

It's not for everyone, but to me it's very charming, and hacks turning down the saturation is a downgrade.

>> No.8225472

>>8220591
>game has weapons you will never see in your life unless you play through it a thousand times.

>> No.8225482

>>8221603
I finished it without a guide. There is nothing you must know before going into this game.

>> No.8225490

>>8221621
>>8221625
Imagine how lost you'd be if it was just a crate, like it used to be in every game ever.
How do you even breathe?

>> No.8225758

I can't play this game for the simple fact that Juste's walking animation looks like he's riding a bicycle.
Also it looks like he turns his back to the screen everytime he jumps, and the dashing animation makes no sense - like he's got on battery powered roller blades.

>> No.8225786

>>8224210
>thing that you would likely definitely hit with the whip because you no other way to progress and wouldn't expect there to be
Yep.
>thing you would probably hit with your whip because it's not like your slide option is going to do anything to a lever on the wall
>yet another thing that you could conceivably use your whip on in a game where you've been using your whip on things, at a point where all other options can end up being exhausted if you try those instead of whipping.
Unironically yep.

It doesn't take a giant head to whip a giant head and I hope for your sake that this is just trolling to shit on HoD, 8/8 nice b8 m8 you got a good deal of bites. Would probably have to be if you beat AoS.

>> No.8226247

>>8216524
There is a romhack that replaces the artwork with the gba style, they even recreated the new characters in the old artwork style. That and the hack that removes the retarded touch spells and the game is goat.

>> No.8227040

>>8216524
>Fernandez
I don't remember them fixing the name?

>> No.8227090

>>8221603
Found this anons youtube account

https://youtu.be/ahIy-DWUFg4

>> No.8227479
File: 25 KB, 400x400, xUm3jWBGN83pA961I0UDQTedsypXPeecdht9aV03znE.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8221603
>COME ON DUDE HOW I SUPPOSE TO KNOW THE GIANT SKULL HEAD! FUCKING IDIOTS!

>> No.8227548

>>8227090
Oh my god

>> No.8227552

>>8226247
I like the expressive portraits more, in the original version characters could have many different emotions in their face but with the hack it's just a thousand yard stare for everybody all the time

>> No.8227554

>>8227479
what a n00b

>> No.8227556

>>8225758
Dash then

>> No.8228042

>>8225786
>>thing that you would likely definitely hit with the whip because you no other way to progress and wouldn't expect there to be
>Yep.
What's the obsession with ignoring my point about the entire area teasing the player with getting double jump soon
>>yet another thing that you could conceivably use your whip on in a game where you've been using your whip on things, at a point where all other options can end up being exhausted if you try those instead of whipping.
I'm not really being convinced away from my original point which was that I don't think the game did enough to condition me to whip literally everything in the environment. Yes, the game has you whip things in the environment before this point. Things that are directly in front of you. Things the game points at and screams for you to interact with. This is not the case for the skull.
>It doesn't take a giant head to whip a giant head
The level design fundamentally, in my honest opinion, does not guide the player towards thinking hitting this skull is the only way to progress. Convince me I'm wrong

>> No.8228078
File: 110 KB, 657x539, 1507078056361.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8221603
>whipping enemies and whipping objects is everything you've been doing until this point
>including scenery
>somehow stumped by a conspicuous as fuck piece of scenery (a gargantuan skull)
>inexplicably doesn't thin to strike this thing with his whip, like everything else in the game

>>8221608
>It's like I'm being punished for paying attention
Actually, you're being punished for NOT paying attention.

>>8221621
HOW DID YOU EVEN GET TO THAT POINT WITHOUT INTERACTING WITH ALL THE OTHER SCENERY? YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE MADE IT TO THE FIRST BOSS BY YOUR OWN LOGIC, WHIPPING THE SKULL IS CONSISTENT WITH WHIPPING THAT FIRST SUPPORT PILLAR WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO BEFORE MEETING ANY ENEMIES

>> No.8228089

>>8228042
>Convince me I'm wrong
That would require you to possess a frontal lobe.

>> No.8228121

>>8228078
I don't even need to reply anymore I can just use things I've said before
>>whipping enemies and whipping objects is everything you've been doing until this point
>>including scenery
>>WHIPPING THAT FIRST SUPPORT PILLAR WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO BEFORE MEETING ANY ENEMIES
"Yes, the game has you whip things in the environment before this point. Things that are directly in front of you. Things the game points at and screams for you to interact with. This is not the case for the skull."
"skull that while on your path isn't directly in front of the player, you have to just know to go to a specific side of it and try whipping it"
>>somehow stumped by a conspicuous as fuck piece of scenery (a gargantuan skull)
"nothing else in the game up to this point has been like this, no tutorial telling me "oh ok giant skeleton head I should hit that""
"no particular reason for me to just KNOW to do this and not to just think it was a random piece of the scenery in the fucking SKELETON THEMED AREA"
>>inexplicably doesn't thin to strike this thing with his whip, like everything else in the game
"I don't think the game did enough to condition me to whip literally everything in the environment. Yes, the game has you whip things in the environment before this point. Things that are directly in front of you."
"a gap which you can get past with a double jump, something the entire area is teasing you with getting soon"
"The level design fundamentally, in my honest opinion, does not guide the player towards thinking hitting this skull is the only way to progress."
""skull that while on your path isn't directly in front of the player, you have to just know to go to a specific side of it and try whipping it"

>> No.8228126

This is and will forever just be me thinking "yeah I don't think this part was designed that well" and other people thinking I'm a retard and not bothering to consider the actual level design and player conditioning in favor of "Well, I figured it out, so that means it was good game design." I don't think going to a specific side of this skull practically mashed up against the wall and hitting it would be the obvious solution to a gap which can be passed with a double jump, in an area that teases the player about getting the double jump. We'll just have to disagree on this, personally I just don't think it's a criticism that's totally unfounded or based on not paying attention or being a retard. The rest of this thread is mostly people shitting on HoD so I don't really know why this thing in particular caught so much ire.
Everyone replying to me is basically just saying "I didn't have an issue with it on my playthrough, so that means it could never be an issue for someone else unless they're retarded."

>> No.8228182

>>8215741
i thought i was gonna like HOD better than cotm
but COTM feels like a good mix of classic and metrovania style the map is better design better balances than HOD just feels like a water down Sotn

>> No.8228340

>>8227554
jaffe is a retard, he chose to die on the Cruelty Squad hill cause he didn't figure his way out of an optional tutorial. guys like him is why gaming went such a retarded way with handholding patronizing linear shit.

>> No.8228480

>>8228126
It isn't hard to figure out, you are one of the very few people in the world who got to that fucking skull, and was completely stumped. How the fuck would you not see a novel element and not immediately try to interact with it?

>> No.8228521

>>8220190
There’s a big massive castle that makes up about 1/3 of the game but to explore but you need to rescue every single village to get to it

>> No.8228541

>>8220190
This person has not played the game, I hear this about running out of magic but it has never happened to me. How TF are you playing?

>> No.8228619

>>8228182
yea idk why CotM gets such a bad rap
im replaying it rn and its fun as fuck. theres some dumb/counter-intuitive shit in it like how cards wont tell you what they do until you "use" them, which gets rather vague in some cases, no doubt, but considering the game was likely rushed so as to be ready for the GBA launch, i think they did great. its like the classicvanias, sped up, with just a dash of metroid on top
people nowadays usually playing upscaled on an emulator on a much bigger monitor piss on the gfx too but comparing to its direct peers at the time (early GBA titles), it looks pretty great, especially if you consider the miniscule screen real-estate of the GBA

i mean iga makes cool games, and the metroid style obviously lends itself to a lot more replayability
but for one, his games are usually such a cakewalk it can be hard to bothered to even complete them sometimes. and two, its like he goes out of his way to make the player character as slow as possible
CotM contrasts both of these things heavily, while still mixing in the more non-linear style of SotN

>> No.8228771
File: 2.69 MB, 4032x2268, DSC_0218.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8215391
why do zoomfilters overexaggerate shit?
left is ags-101 and right is ags-001
this is how it actually looks like, though the picture doesn't give the ags-001 enough justice.
the colors aren't as dull as any of the so called "gba color" filters make them, you can clearly see the bright red and blue on juste, the neon colors are greatly reduced but don't turn brown like in the filtered pic.

>> No.8228775
File: 3.19 MB, 4032x3024, DSC_0220.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8228771
and here it is a gb micro pic too.
if anything, gba filters should aim for this.

>> No.8228776

>>8228771
The right one has a front light
Bring out the launch gba

>> No.8228802
File: 3.43 MB, 4032x3024, DSC_0221.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8228776
I can't.
best I can do is gba sp with the frontlight off.

>> No.8228806

>>8228802
Fuark the game looks good though

>> No.8228887

>>8227556
Dashing sucks. Sliding is far more efficient, which is made extremely obvious in the ball chase rooms.

>> No.8229007

>>8227090
fat fuck should throw all of his consoles away, he's too stupid to play video games.

>> No.8229031

>>8228042
>What's the obsession with ignoring my point about the entire area teasing the player with getting double jump soon
Because I actually did point out why you're wrong. If you really exhausted your options exploring literally everywhere else as far as you can while getting cucked by not having double jump instead of getting huffy once your progress seemingly came to a halt, you probably would've thought to go back to the oversized skull and investigated further, since it's the only spot by this point that had an element beyond "jump that is too high for you". Simply put, you should've eventually realized that your precious double jump was beyond the giant skull that you should've at least tried to actually interact with, preferably with your whip. You know, like with the statue, the lever, maybe the giant armor who unlocks the first shop keep for you?

But no, you just let your anger blind you as soon as things went "wrong", didn't you? Screw all of your flat out incorrect excuses about a lack of guidance form the level design, you're just dumb.

>> No.8229160
File: 19 KB, 480x360, hqdefault.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8228806
there a handful of areas that have good graphics and/or music.
the game has a lot more areas with neither, though

>> No.8231081

>>8229160
All of the visuals and all of the music is good.

>> No.8231152

>>8228619
>i mean iga makes cool games, and the metroid style obviously lends itself to a lot more replayability

I feel the opposite.

Metroidvania's have no replayability because once you "discover" everything for the first time, that's it. You can't get that experience of exploration and discovery ever again. Replay just becomes going through the motions in an easy cakewalk game.

Meanwhile I could replay the linear Classicvania's any time because they're short intense gauntlets that always offer an exciting challenge every time.

>>8231081
Even the fucking merchant theme?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk358xkrygI

Catacombs theme is pretty awful too.

>> No.8231161

>>8228775
Damn, this one is pretty great

too bad the micro is literally an unplayable machine

>> No.8231170

>>8221603
One thing nobody's brought up yet is the skull covers parts of the platforms in the back, but only parts of them.

That's a giant clue "this shit is not supposed to be here and you can make it move"

and then there is the slope... and down the slope a giant empty place that looks like a hole.

Gee I wonder if the two things are related

fucking retard

>> No.8231546

>>8231152
>I feel the opposite.
i get that
for sure the exploration aspect is lost. same as any game really.
but ive found that the non-linearity of the more adventure-based games lend itself well to coming up with alternate methods to get to the goal
at least with super metroid i know ive done this prolly 100 times
>skip high jump
>without space jump
>skipping certain beams
>skip varia
>try to get to mother brain without picking up any health cant beat her tho cuz her unavoidable gay ray
etc
definitely done similar item-restricted runs with SotN and aria too

youre right tho about the extremely challenging linear games. ninja gaiden is always exhilarating, simply because ofits raw challenge
unfortunately they really dont make such games anymore

>> No.8231573

>>8231161
since I took that pic i put some hours into my ongoing aos playthrough and it plays nicely enough.
as long as a game doesn't rely too heavily on the shoulder buttons it is very playable on the micro.
unless you are blind of course. I swear that big screens on smartphones were a mistake. everyone faults the micro for its screen when it's perfectly fine.

>> No.8231620

>>8215869
Kid Dracula is S tier material, but it’s more a Kirby game than Castlevania

>> No.8231872
File: 45 KB, 736x826, 25bd8b7f6e57cdfd17747b25d753b2ce.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8231152
>Even the fucking merchant theme?
Yes.

>> No.8231894

>>8231152
The merchant theme is great. What's your problem with it?
I understand why some people might not like the music in HoD, but calling it bad is wrong. It's good stuff.

>> No.8231918

>>8231894
>What's your problem with it?

It sounds like (to quote from a friend) "retarded bees gangbanging in a box of powdered glucose"

>> No.8231923

>>8231894
The music is fine, just it’s obvious the GBA can do better and it does.

>> No.8232078

>>8231923
It's just "fine" for the most part. I think it's one of the weaker CV soundtracks out there. It's got a handful of memorable tracks (Successor of Fate, Offense & Defense, maaaaaybe Sky Chapel and a few others) but it's mostly pretty forgettable otherwise.

Granted I think Aria - while takes advantage of the GBA sound capabilities a bit better - is also one of the lesser soundtracks as well. COTM has a few original bangers but is mostly arrangements of previous tracks so I don't rate it as much either.

The following DS trilogy REALLY brought Michiru Yamane's A-Game to the table though.

>> No.8232087

>>8232078
You're not wrong, but pretty much every GBA and DS Castlevania soundtrack is like that: 3-4 good track and the rest is irrelevant garbage. In this sense, I can't see how HoD is any worse. Yeah, it's not CV1-3 or Rondo or even SotN, but it's easily on par with any Igavania.
>>8231918
But that track is pretty simple and clear.

>> No.8232101

>>8231918
The fidelity of the audio isn't excellent, but the compositions themselves very much are.

>> No.8232126

>>8232087
Disagree strongly on the DS Castlevania's. As I said, Michiru brought her A-Game to those. Most of the tracks are on average 8/10 or 7/10 at absolute worst and the highpoints (of which there are a LOT) are easy 9 or 10 out of 10's.

SOTN might be the soundtrack where she made her name but the DS games really cemented her as an all time master.

>> No.8232132

>>8232126
>SOTN might be the soundtrack where she made her name but the DS games really cemented her as an all time master.
This. SOTN's is overrated.

>> No.8232171

>>8216457
It would look even more dull on a non-lit gba

>> No.8232184
File: 127 KB, 1480x320, noadjust_vs_adjust_vs_mgbacolor.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
[ERROR]

>>8216317
>>8216510
nigga, use the image adjustments shader and adjust things to your liking.
on my rg351m I started using that because all of the gba color shaders and emulator options are horrible and wrong.

my setting are:
target gamma: 4.0 (I looked this up and the gba screen has a gamma of 4.0 or near it)
saturation: 0.80
contrast: 0.80
brightness boost: 0.10

it doesn't look like much in the screenshot, but it does make a huge difference on the rg351m screen.

>> No.8232582

>>8232171
see >>8228802 for the real answer.
it looks very colorful on the og screen with the correct light (as intended).

>> No.8233978

>>8215272
Hardest part of the game is the first hour or so, until you get the spellbooks and start spamming magic attacks, cool movement is gimped due to level design, Castle A/B gimmick is the worst part of the game and the reason why it's much longer in playtime than AoS. Cannot speak for how is compares to CotM as it did filter me and I didn't want to use a guide for any of the games.

>> No.8234004

>>8215741
>Ecclesia
having to interact with the touchscreen WHILE you're positioning yourself in bossfights made me quit the game. I had enough of the touchscreen shit with DoS failing the seal minigames.

>> No.8234180

>>8234004
>having to interact with the touchscreen WHILE you're positioning yourself in bossfights made me quit the game.
Where do you have to do this? If you're talking about the floating nodes that you can sling shot yourself from I'm pretty sure you can use the d-pad for that as well.

>> No.8234202

>>8234004
I dont remember using touch screen at all for Ecclesia

>> No.8234208

>>8216564
Yeah but the plot derailed in Dawn of Sorrow, when it went full anime. Aria of Sorrow laid a great base and they never took proper advantage of it. Dawn of Sorrow didn't take enough risks. Order of Ecclesia ended up being better than Aria of Sorrow or Dawn of Sorrow since at least the game has a unique art style and did its own thing.

>> No.8234592

>>8234004
...You mean with Magnes? Magnes doesn't even work with the touchscreen, I should know because I had a fucking Mandela moment after years of thinking you could do that. You sure you're not confusing Ecclesia for Dawn and its magic seals?

>> No.8234630

>>8231152

The Merchant Theme is what Sega Genesis's fart bass wishes it could be and is therefore good.

>> No.8235136

>>8229031
>Simply put, you should've eventually realized that your precious double jump was beyond the giant skull that you should've at least tried to actually interact with, preferably with your whip.
This is going to sound fucking insane but like I said in the first post I didn't think the skull was this obvious neon sign everyone is saying it is. I honestly didn't take too much note of it because of the way the level was designed and the fact I was in the skeleton world. But again. If I don't have the exact same experience as you, I HAVE to be a retard, there's just no other logical answer. The whole fucking point to begin with was just that I got stuck in a place and I didn't think it was really my fault. I still don't think it was really my fault, I didn't have any experience like this playing the other games so I must not be a braindead invalid who can't handle the complex inner workings of Metroidvania games. This has and will always just come off to me as blatant dick sucking for Iga because "if I didn't have a problem, it could NEVER be a problem and it's IMPOSSIBLE for ANYONE to reasonably get stuck here".
I think I'm pretty intelligent and I think the game could have done more to make hitting the skull obvious to me. Yes I fucking have autism. What do you want from me?
>>8231170
It's only covering a platform when it's in mid-whipping dumbass

>> No.8235185

>>8234004
Imagine being so shit at video games that the simple seal patterns in DoS are too much for you.

>> No.8235219

>>8234004
I don't remember any mandatory touch screen usage in OoC.

>>8235185
I can do it just fine, I did DoS on Hard Mode many, many times over, but I think that the touch screen seals are an incredibly tacked on mechanic which doesn't really add anything to the game. Have you played it with that function stripped out? It vastly improves the flow of the game.

The only reason that the seals are in DoS is because Nintendo forced them to implement it to justify the touch screen gimmick. If you look at OoC, that kind of shit is gone, the use of the touch screen for anything at all is completely optional and mostly used for some menu stuff. I never thought it was a good mechanic at launch, and I've never liked it since, nor do I understand people who do.
The best part of the seals is Death on Hard Mode, where you have such a tiny window of time to draw the most complex seal, otherwise you gotta beat him down to try again, the good part of this is that it gives you a little adrenaline rush, and I like a game that agitates you just right with difficulty, but I think that there's better ways to do this, like with the use of the button controls you otherwise already play the game with.

>> No.8235287

>>8235219
> Nintendo forced them

Source: my ass

>> No.8235392

>>8228541
They mean the stamina bar that runs out after 3 or 4 attacks.

>> No.8235410
File: 105 KB, 130x146, YONDA.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8235410

>>8216531
it has YONDA

>> No.8235525

>>8235287
The fact that's it completely fucking gone in Order Of Ecclesia.

>> No.8235534

>>8235219
>It vastly improves the flow of the game.
Come on. It's a quality of life improvement, not a drastic change, it's something you encounter like 10 times at most over the whole course of a game.
A real actual improvement to the game would be an augmentation of drop rates.

>> No.8235726

>>8235525
It’s not in Portrait either, likely cause they realised forcing you to tear the stilus out and rapidly draw a symbol wasnt a good idea

>> No.8235783

>>8235392
>3 or 4 attacks
Not even in Lv 1 Hard Mode unless you're spamming Vol Luminatio. And the thing is, save for maybe the harder sections of the game where you're dealing with stronger mooks, it's rarely that much of a problem, because you're likely going to have to stop to move out of the way of enemies anyway, which frees up your MP meter to refill the fastest outside of Soma's chaos ring, maybe even as fast. There's really no good reason to be bitching about OoE's stamina MP bar and probably wouldn't be unless you're the type to try to keep lashing out at enemies while tanking hits.
>>8235410
My man.
>>8235219
I don't disagree with you about the seals, I don't even have that much trouble with them and still think they're rather obnoxious. For me, though, it's the fourth seal when fighting Paranoia and Aguni for some reason instead of the fifth one for Death and Abaddon.

>> No.8235789

>>8235783
Yeah the 4th seal is the worst for some reasons. I think the hit detection for that one is less forgiving.

>> No.8235845

>>8235219
>I don't remember any mandatory touch screen usage in OoC.
Not for the normal game, but you have to use it when playing as Albus to teleport through walls.

>> No.8235862
File: 22 KB, 432x319, HoD_the_dumbass_skull_and_its_fashionable_candle.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8235862

>>8235136
>blatant dick sucking for Iga
It's funny you say that, because at least in my experience, HoD is the one Iga game that even most Iga diehards will shit on, and it's usually nothing to do with gameplay but rather just because of its aesthetics. Personally, I don't want Igarashi to touch this franchise again, he already had his chance to do what he wanted.
> I didn't have any experience like this playing the other games so I must not be a braindead invalid who can't handle the complex inner workings of Metroidvania games
Actually yes. HoD arguably should be more confusing for you, because whereas a lot of the other games are pretty starightforward in where you're to go, often for a lack of real options because short trips around a fork in the road if even, HoD can have a lot available to you at once as soon as you set foot somewhere. It's nothing like "Be in the clock room at this time for Olrox's Quarters" but you could end up with not knowing what to do until you notice that one incomplete route on your map. Getting thrown off by HoD is pretty reasonable, if anything.

So no, it's not because you got duped by the giant skull of all things that you have so many here calling you a retard, not the only reason, anyway. It's because you had to be a brat about it and repeatedly insist that it wasn't your fault, that the game didn't do enough to clue you in, even when everyone is rightfully pointing out why you're wrong on that.

>It's only covering a platform when it's in mid-whipping dumbass
You're still ignoring the slope and hole. Furthermore, there's a candle right next to it that I'm surprised you didn't go after. Juste has a big whip hitbox behind him that would absolutely have knocked over the skull in one hit. You may have autism, but you don't got the classic Castlevania candle OCD, huh?
https://youtu.be/GT8nEY0O5z4?t=534

>> No.8235876

>>8235136
>It's only covering a platform when it's in mid-whipping dumbass

so you're saying there is nothing that looks out of place with the platforms and skull there? >>8235862

>> No.8236435

>>8235525
the post-game character uses touch screen and it makes him fun as fuck

>> No.8236737

>>8235410
I didn't even realize familiars changed appearance if you upgraded them.

>> No.8236954

>>8236737
As much as I dislike Dawn's gratuitous grinding, seeing how soul powers changed in terms of strength and looks was neato.

>> No.8237203
File: 54 KB, 300x250, max level gergoth soul.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8237203

>>8236954
It'd be crazy if that applied to boss souls for NG+ runs.

>> No.8237327
File: 117 KB, 1280x720, Death 9_outta_9.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8237327

>>8237203
Would the game even be able to handle more sickles and bugs, or would it just settle for increasing damage? I can imagine more sickles and stronger bugs.

>> No.8237949

>>8215272
It comes across as too easy, because Juste is a freak mutant among the Belmonts who is way too fucking strong and breaks the lore.
Basically, his dick is so gigantic that you are intimidated by it.

>> No.8239146

>>8236954
Except for persepone, last level ruins it.

>> No.8239647

>>8232132
>SOTN's is overrated
Understatement.

>> No.8240315

>>8234004
>>8234004
>having to interact with the touchscreen WHILE you're positioning yourself in bossfights
huh? In OoC?

>> No.8241393

>>8232126
>>8232132
>>8239647
SoTN maybe objectively has the best instrumentation out of all the games, or the 2D ones, anyway, but I just prefer what the other games actually put out over it despite that. Like I would probably take the NES chiptune stuff over like half of SoTN's soundtrack, even. That isn't to say that SoTN's soundtrack is bad or anything, and in fact I would say it deserves credit for its variety for one thing, I just don't particularly care for it. I even vastly prefer a lot of HoD's over most others, but that's probably just me.
>Disagree strongly on the DS Castlevania's
Funny how a lot of the songs I didn't care for if not resented as a kid when playing PoR and DoS are ones I'm really fond of now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VMrZSfYzI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t2MSPzqPS8

>> No.8241435
File: 195 KB, 231x313, 1623909067338.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8241435

>>8215535
>The best looking game of the 3.

>> No.8241459

>>8215272
because the other ones had better graphics and better music.