Castlevania Miscellanies

[szycag]

No doubt it's about commitment, I agree.

[Blinge]

Well. finally made it to CotM final boss. What a steaming turd.
Nothing like a large sprite dashing at you with 0 animation and dealing 500 points of damage. After a nigh undodgeable meteor attack.
Jesus fuck.

[soprano1]

Well. finally made it to CotM final boss. What a steaming turd.
Nothing like a large sprite dashing at you with 0 animation and dealing 500 points of damage. After a nigh undodgeable meteor attack.
Jesus fuck.

Are you playing HoD and AoS?

[Squire Grooktook]

I do not remember that attack, at least the way you're describing it.

The dash attack in the second phase goes like this:
>he teleports in and flashes for a few seconds
>he lunges back, and then dashes forwards, like he's on a slingshot
It's telegraphed like that, but I guess if you're dashing away from him, you could miss the start up, since the arena is pretty huge.

You dodge that with the super jump thingy. The meteor attack is apart of his first phase. He can only do the dash in second phase. I guess you ended up triggering the second phase just after the first?

I think the slide is what you do to deal with the meteors. But it's been a while, can't remember. That attack is chaos and my favorite part of that fight.

[Blinge]

*grinds teeth*

SQUUUIIIRRRRE!!!!

I'll try the slide.
My observations aren't really on point as I reached his second form twice and rage quitted already. I don't have the right cards to absorb any of his attacks. and no potions because i don't want to farm them..

Nah sorprano. I will once I get over this shitshow of a game.

[Squire Grooktook]

I still like COTM, you meanie.

The methodical action with a more varied range of abilities is nice, and I like the challenge of the nastier level layouts and large scale later bosses. There's some rough edges, but it's got some fun points, unlike Harmony which has nice art (actually including some of my favorite setpieces in the series) but is so easy and baron that it barely even feels like a game most of the time.

AoS is "solid" but IMO it just feels average and doesn't do anything particularly interesting compared to the more fleshed out metroidvanias on ps1 and ds. Then again, it's been awhile since I played that one. Might be fun to blow through it again and see if any of the soul combinations offer a particularly raucous time. That last boss is a favorite h.r giger/lovecraftian pan-dimensional clusterfuck of a flesh nightmare though, aesthetically speaking of course.

[Blinge]

not having any joy with the slide.
I woudln't mind the methodical action if i wasn't getting hit for 10% of my bar by stuff like a sprite flipping over and twatting me in the face.

The worst thing about nathan's control, other than the snail pace walk and shitty dash command is the lack of horizontal mobility in the air.

[Squire Grooktook]

I agree about the default walk being a biiiit slow. The Pluto + Wind thingy card alleviates that though with the speed boost. Magician Mode or glitched Vampire Hunter ftw.

[Blinge]

Don't have those cards. Yeah the dash attack is easily avoided. Silly me.

No idea what you're talking about with the fireballs. and the floating eye+ bat attack is retarded.
Your tastes really are beyond me at times dude.

Edit: finished. used jupiter+manticore to give me an almost perfect shield against them damn bats. Just whittled away at his health after that. took bloody ages.

[Squire Grooktook]

For the bats, hold your ground and wait for him to come to you. Attack carefully. A long range DSS is recommended.

Oh, nevermind lol.

For the record, it's not a top favorite, but I do enjoy the game better than its two gba brothers. And I do find it has something of an interesting edge due to its uniqueness and occasional high points.

I have a high tolerance for flaws when I find something that at least has some value. Still, I think your overselling the games frustrating aspects. There are a few cheap gimmick attacks that I can remember, but most games have those, and I can't remember the game having a particularly high ratio of them compared to honest challenge.

[Blinge]

I wouldn't mind them if they didn't do so much damage.

I still think the controls are awful. feels like you're moving through treacle the whole time. I've never had that issue with CV1-3.
It may be in part due to using visualboy advance with a dualshock 2.

I haven't bothered with the battle arena. Now idea how anyone's supposed to get through that without heals.

[Squire Grooktook]

I think dashing just barely makes it feel fine, though it might help to think of it as a melee based mech side scroller with that gap between walking and dashing (and the general heaviness) ^_^

[BIL]

Oof, I was too tired to post!

AoS is "solid" but IMO it just feels average and doesn't do anything particularly interesting compared to the more fleshed out metroidvanias on ps1 and ds. Then again, it's been awhile since I played that one. Might be fun to blow through it again and see if any of the soul combinations offer a particularly raucous time.

After a solid decade's indifference, I finally gained some appreciation for AOS a few months back. It's a streamlined mini-SOTN, basically. Nowhere as absorbing but by that same token, more suited to a quick ~2hr clear. I can enjoy Hard+NOUSE for an evening and feel satisfied, where I replay SOTN every two/three years for at least a week's leisurely fooling about with its massive arcane toybox.

That last boss is a favorite h.r giger/lovecraftian pan-dimensional clusterfuck of a flesh nightmare though, aesthetically speaking of course.

Hell yeah, that's one weird fucker who knows the gate and quite possibly is the gate. Also a pretty nicely designed final boss, certainly more interesting to take down than SOTN's.

Also, although AOS isn't a style favourite overall, I really like the game's eclipse motif and its incorporation into that boss. I almost wonder if the image of a splintering black sun was Berserk-influenced.

I haven't bothered with the battle arena. Now idea how anyone's supposed to get through that without heals.

>:£

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nqcgUDoV_M

;3

Naw good on ya for seeing it through! I'd tell you to skip to AOS but I know you won't!

[Squire Grooktook]

Oof, I was too tired to post!

AoS is "solid" but IMO it just feels average and doesn't do anything particularly interesting compared to the more fleshed out metroidvanias on ps1 and ds. Then again, it's been awhile since I played that one. Might be fun to blow through it again and see if any of the soul combinations offer a particularly raucous time.

After a solid decade's indifference, I finally gained some appreciation for AOS a few months back. It's a streamlined mini-SOTN, basically. Nowhere as absorbing but by that same token, more suited to a quick ~2hr clear. I can enjoy Hard+NOUSE for an evening and feel satisfied, where I replay SOTN every two/three years for at least a week's leisurely fooling about with its massive arcane toybox.

Sounds like I should revisit sometime soon. I've always preferred its sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, for having a bit more challenging enemy placements combined with much more elaborate and ambitious boss battles.

I think the early-mid game boss fights are aos's greatest weakness, as its hard to avoid noticing that several early game encounters are level scaled late game normal enemies, with the simplistic movesets to match. Death, Balor, and everything following are great though.

One thing that makes me interested in revisiting it, as I said, is the huge soul list of abilities. It's much like R-Type Final, in that with such a huge toybox, you're bound to be able to find something that's accidentally super fun. The plethora of spinning blades, bombs, thunder bolts, and demon transformations potentially at your disposal makes me curious to see if one of them inadvertently slips into genius and becomes a game onto itself.

On that note, I do enjoy some of HoD's spell attacks. As you mentioned, the brutal thud of Axe + Ice is great, but I'm also partial to the wooshing boom of the Bible + Ice shockwave combo, the idiosyncratic yet potent Fist + Wind hadoken, and some of the super speedy lightning spell tomes. A shame some of those couldn't be ported into a more engaging environment.

[Blinge]

I haven't bothered with the battle arena. Now idea how anyone's supposed to get through that without heals.

>:£

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nqcgUDoV_M

;3

Naw good on ya for seeing it through! I'd tell you to skip to AOS but I know you won't!

Haha. I gave it another go. It's not very fun, the second part full of enemies hard to avoid taking hits from, no DSS allowed. I feel like I'd have to go around the game farming the best armour and potions in order to stand a chance. I tend to be completionist in games I actually find fun.
Has anyone beaten the arena?

[BIL]

Has anyone beaten the arena?

Oh hell yeah. I don't recommend attempting it until you've reached the last boss, though (you can leave Dracula's chamber and save after he runs away). Anything under lvl58 (IIRC) will feel euroshumpy, at least for Vampire Killer. Fighter and Shooter have it easier with their high damage outputs (provided you're good with the latter's Cross). Thief and Magician are kinda SOL but have workarounds (farming up lots of powerful items is a snap with the former's insane Luck; the latter's massive MP makes the ol' "use Mana Prism+summon Thunderbird before gauge drains" trick especially potent).

Anyway, it's really not something to bother with if you're not into the main game's odd hybrid of traditional and nonlinear action. It does get pretty nuts! It's totally beatable though. :3 Especially if you make it partway through, exit and return - you gain tons of EXP every time, so eventually stuff will start going down easier.

[Blinge]

Ah. My save before final Drac is lvl 42. I'm not up for dat grind
>;o

Time to move on methinks.

[BIL]

Oh schnapps, I knew I might've been way off with the RPG gubbins. Just checked my most recent VampireKiller clear file with the Arena cleaned out, it's at lvl49. So I was probably ~46 on that run. This was the run when I decided clearing the Arena ASAP (right after killing Camilla and getting the super jump) simply isn't worth it, at least for VampireKiller. Fighter can probably cut through the buffed-up hordes by that point (ez as hell, Fighter mode; near-invincible ATK+DEF offsets lack of DSS entirely).



Tragically, in the JP version, your prize isn't named for what's either a great Simpsons reference, or some first-class Engrish kismet - The SHINNING ARMOR.



^ had a pair of Double Grips, too (dropped by Dark Armours in the Observation Tower). Those help a lot (you need a pair to get the stat boost). For most of the game I use a pair of Strength Rings (dropped by Were-bears, usually I get 'em from the ones in the Eternal Corridor or Cathedral Tower).

[Austin]

Yeah, the arena is tough so it's usually the last thing I do in the game.

[FinalBaton]

Just ordered Circle of the Moon (it was the cheapest GBA cv game on ebay at the moment, sthat's why I got this one). This will be my first GBA/DS castlevania, as I just recently got a way of playing GBA on my TV(without emulation that is).

I like SOTN, so these games I should enjoy if they're well made.

[FinalBaton]

On another note, I just played SC4 for the first time since I was a teen.
My first impressions is : damn the whip is too strong, lol

Haven't cleared the game yet so I will reserve my final judgment until then

[Shoryukev]

Just ordered Circle of the Moon (it was the cheapest GBA cv game on ebay at the moment, sthat's why I got this one). This will be my first GBA/DS castlevania, as I just recently got a way of playing GBA on my TV(without emulation that is).

I like SOTN, so these games I should enjoy if they're well made.

Awesome! I absolutely love the DS games, but haven't really dived into the GBA ones yet. I need to get myself a gamecube+GB player and jump on that bandwagon as well!

On another note, I just played SC4 for the first time since I was a teen.
My first impressions is : damn the whip is too strong, lol

Haven't cleared the game yet so I will reserve my final judgment until then

I never had a SNES until about 1999-2001, so I had the same first impression as you, the whip also seems VERY long (that's what she said). It absolutely ruins the game for me when the level scrolls upward. I still find it to be an enjoyable game, but I have to force myself not to just whip upwards and destroy the enemies before they even have a chance on certain levels.

I'd like to give Dracula X on SNES a try, but I haven't decided on whether I want to buy a reproduction cartridge or just not play it. I know it's just a watered down Rondo port, but it is a piece I'd like to add to my collection. I have reproduction carts for Megaman & Bass on SNES and Wily Wars on Genesis, but those were never available in my region so it's easier for me to justify the repro.

Too bad they don't make an everdrive for the turbografx that allows launching of CD game ROMs. I really want a turbo-duo, but can't justify it right now (especially since I want it RGB modded)

[BIL]

I'd like to give Dracula X on SNES a try, but I haven't decided on whether I want to buy a reproduction cartridge or just not play it. I know it's just a watered down Rondo port, but it is a piece I'd like to add to my collection. I have reproduction carts for Megaman & Bass on SNES and Wily Wars on Genesis, but those were never available in my region so it's easier for me to justify the repro.

Maybe get a repro of the SFC version (Akumajou Dracula XX)? The SNES one plays the same AFAIK, but has some really lame censorship. Both Richter and Death's awesome bloody demises are bowdlerised with decidedly unconvincing "sweat." Particularly silly with its new title sequence involving a rather lurid spreading pool of blood.

Only in XX can you have a non-embarassing post-match photo op with Death!

Spoiler

^ too hot for Western children! Funny how now it's Japan that tends to get in a fuss about decaps. I flash-kicked the first boss's head clean off his shoulders in Tenchi wo Kurau II just the other day.

XX itself is vexing. It's got its good points for sure, most notably a superb Clock Tower capped by a viciously punishing duel with Death. Solid traditional action is hampered by some bizarre, occasionally bad design choices, however. Compared to both the 1993-developed trio of Rondo, Vampire Killer and X68000, and subsequent Konami SFC releases like Sparkster and the fourth Goemon, it feels rather B-tier. I still love it though!

[evil_ash_xero]

I just got around to beating the JP version of Castlevania.

Dracula was.....challenging. I don't know what the deal was, but I had to get on a different wavelength to beat him. Kind of like the Joker in Batman: The Video Game.

[Blinge]

On another note, I just played SC4 for the first time since I was a teen.
My first impressions is : damn the whip is too strong, lol

Haven't cleared the game yet so I will reserve my final judgment until then

I've just been playing it for the first time evar. Made it to stage 7

I'm really enjoying it, still getting whupped here and there. It does seem like they made an effort to balance the game around the whip.
That section where you have to outlast the waves of medusa heads or get knocked to your doom stumped me for a bit. Besides simply failing to avoid them, I also kept trying to swing through the gap in the wall, thinking that was the way to go.
in b4 squire calls me a casulbabby.

The snapping to platforms is pretty weird.

[Durandal]

The whip in SC4 does render most subweapons obsolete, but it still doesn't take away from the challenge. There are some instances where subweapons are useful (like the downwards library stage where you should throw axes to prevent books from beneath knocking you off the stairs), but aside from the watch, those tend to be rare. There certainly isn't a short supply of hearts either

[SuperDeadite]

SCIV is a bit of a bore imo. It's got style and atmosphere, but the first loop is way too easy, especially the bosses, who most of them can be beaten by just standing in one place and whipping, as they die before you do. The 2nd loop gets a bit more interesting, but it's by far my least favorite of the 16 bit titles.

[Shoryukev]

I've just been playing it for the first time evar. Made it to stage 7

I'm really enjoying it, still getting whupped here and there. It does seem like they made an effort to balance the game around the whip.
That section where you have to outlast the waves of medusa heads or get knocked to your doom stumped me for a bit. Besides simply failing to avoid them, I also kept trying to swing through the gap in the wall, thinking that was the way to go.
in b4 squire calls me a casulbabby.

The snapping to platforms is pretty weird.

I did the same thing my first try. I kept trying to jump through the gap in the wall....but you just have to wait. If I remember correctly you can avoid the medusa heads by just standing in one spot holding the whip button and flailing on the d-pad.

[Perikles]

My biggest gripe with Super Castlevania IV is that they didn't alter the stage layout to snugly fit with the more flexible whip. There are a few sections with skeletons in neuralgic places that would be interesting in classic games, but in SCIV you can just obliterate them from below. It also doesn't help that the character sprite is so big, thus adding a lot of reach and simplifying the game further. Both MD Vampire Killer and the X68000 Castlevania found the perfect balance in adding a few more directions without trivializing vital core elements of the stage conception.

[...] (like the downwards library stage where you should throw axes to prevent books from beneath knocking you off the stairs) [...]

You can skip almost the entire screen by jumping all the way down, no finesse or tricks needed.

[Skykid]

I love SCIV with a passion. Beautiful atmospheric Dracula hunt of a game.