Castlevania Miscellanies

[BIL]

Demon's Blazon boxed for $25 in 2013? That sounds really unlikely, you must have found an insanely good deal That game has been expensive for years, especially in English regions - it was the first SNES game I accepted having to get without the box.

Just checked my emails, was actually $45 in 2012. Still, not complaining.

[Blinge]

Weyell, here's that Rondo 1cc I mentioned earlier. https://youtu.be/ZUvLWOhkDCo

No commentary for this one but I'll revisit in the future.

Gotta start XX soon then!

[soprano1]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016- ... eam-konami
Uh uh. Just because it sold a lot doesn't change the fact you made a shitty God of War clone.

[Sumez]

Mirror of Fate is the true insult to the series though. Man that game is terrible.

[Squire Grooktook]

I'm probably repeating myself, but I played the demo of Mirror of Fate back at Comic Con pre-release, and I would describe it as "the worst of 2d sidescrollers mixed with the worst of 3d character action".

Series as a whole is rather missing the point of the series and bereft of charm. Oh well, we already have an incredible 3d Castlevania franchise this generation (Dark Souls and Bloodborne).

Spoiler

[Sumez]

I would describe it as "the worst of 2d sidescrollers mixed with the worst of 3d character action".

That pretty much sums it up. It has the nerve to interrupt you with pointless cutscenes every time you think you're finally getting into something that resembles gameplay. It's disgusting.

[Blinge]

Lords of Shadow 1 was... alright. How does it actually compare to God of War, anyone?
There were times during the game that I generally started enjoying it.

The story sucked balls. People try to call it "Dracula origins" but it never really gets there.
Bit heavy handed with the ol' Catholicism too.

Also,

Spoiler

Surprise! It's me, Satan!

was so fucking dumb.

Started XX on Snes btw.. Ehhh.. this'll take some getting used to after Rondo.

[Squire Grooktook]

[soprano1]

Is that Firebrand/Red Arremer?

[Sumez]

Started XX on Snes btw.. Ehhh.. this'll take some getting used to after Rondo.

How so? I've played both a ton, and find that they play very similarly.

[Squire Grooktook]

Is that Firebrand/Red Arremer?

Firebrand calling himself Satan? The True Lord of Hell would not stoop to impersonating an inferior.

[Shoryukev]

Mirror of Fate is the true insult to the series though. Man that game is terrible.

Agreed, I actually bought that POS on launch. I played it for about an hour.....forcing myself to push on, with hopes and dreams of it becoming somewhat decent.....but no.....it sucks.

Lords of Shadow 1 was... alright. How does it actually compare to God of War, anyone?
There were times during the game that I generally started enjoying it.

I enjoyed Lords of the Shadow a little bit as well. Some aspects of it were well done I thought (at least it had somewhat of a swamp and clock tower), but as a whole it was a shameless re-skinned GOW game with a little Shadow of Colossus thrown in. I've only played the GOW games a small handful of times, but the resemblance is undeniable. They played it safe and went with a formula they knew would sell.

Never played the second LotS game, but I remember seeing Alucard in the previews and getting a little excited. I think I also remember it getting absolute shit review scores...

[Blinge]

Started XX on Snes btw.. Ehhh.. this'll take some getting used to after Rondo.

How so? I've played both a ton, and find that they play very similarly.

Well right off the bat it's more sluggish than the PCE game, like Richter's got concrete in his boots.
He also whips way slower, which is getting me killed.

It's too early for impressions maybe, as the first boss made me continue twice!
I'm gonna stick with the game no matter what tho.

[soprano1]

Is that Firebrand/Red Arremer?

Firebrand calling himself Satan? The True Lord of Hell would not stoop to impersonating an inferior.

[BIL]

XX's handling is subtly heavier in a way that makes it more punishing than Rondo (which actually hits fairly hard for an easier traditional CV, to begin with). Richter's slower walk speed is the most noticeable difference (he's already borderline strolling in Rondo, XX is laboured), but the backflip input window/height select is crummier too. It's been a while since Professor Biruford allegedly died in a sidescroller bunker explosion later determined to have been caused by a combination of alcoholism, work fatigue and prolonged exposure to Holy Diver, but I seem to recall him noting the recovery hitflash felt a bit buggered too, since it's just as brief but XX's Richter won't get clear of stuff as promptly. It's a bit harder than Rondo, but for generally dubious reasons. Clock Tower and Death are masterpieces of respective Castlevania level and boss design however.

Anyhow XX is ok by me but would've been outright commendable as a level expansion pack had it just ported over Rondo's engine. The dumb attempt at nonlinearity would still annoy but oh well. Boxart is immensely sexy even if it has nothing to do with the in-game artwork. Konami you slapdash fucks! (I suspect they were beating a hasty retreat back to Nintendoland after the previous couple years' adventurings on Sega, NEC and Sharp hardware).

[Volteccer_Jack]

My first impression of XX was essentially: "Wow it's like playing Rondo while being kicked in the balls repeatedly, and also the sprite work is super lazy!"

It grew on me as I played it more, but it's still a love/hate thing. The best parts IMO are the sections involving the smaller pests like the bats and gorgon heads. Moonwalker no Rondo would've been an apt title

Lords of Shadow 1 was... alright. How does it actually compare to God of War, anyone?
There were times during the game that I generally started enjoying it.

Much, much better than God of War. If you don't put in much time/effort it is bland and boring and simple like God of War, but unlike God of War, the mechanics that drive the game are very well-designed and playing for speed or style is a lot of fun. Has a solid place in the list of 3D brawlers I keep on the shelf for return visits.

Have yet to work up the courage to try LoS2. I'm both fearful and hopeful about that one.

[Sumez]

Uh. Both God of War games are really good. The first one felt like it was rushed out and missed a lot of stuff it was supposed to have (most notably boss battles), but it's still completely solid design, and the sequel more than makes up for what the first was missing.
The only think I really don't like is the "rage mode". I don't like rage modes in any games

I think there might be more games after the two, but I didn't play them.

[Skykid]

Much, much better than God of War. If you don't put in much time/effort it is bland and boring and simple like God of War, but unlike God of War, the mechanics that drive the game are very well-designed and playing for speed or style is a lot of fun. Has a solid place in the list of 3D brawlers I keep on the shelf for return visits.

Eh, don't overdo it. We can all accept that if you look past the often horrible superficial stuff like voice acting, cutscenes and character designs that don't belong anywhere in the Castlevania pantheon, that there's a playable game underneath.

The mechanics and combat have some depth, but it's also fairly easy to reach the bottom of those depths quite quickly - and the game's highly repetitive nature and overextended length make the positive aspects prematurely boring.

It doesn't do pace, cohesion, narrative or set-pieces anywhere near as well as God of War, but the combat is certainly fun to toy with.

And let's not even mention the fucking puzzles.

[Blinge]

Okay XX's stage 4' necromancer is perhaps the biggest fuck you the series has ever thrown at me.
got hit once? enjoy your slowdown while getting spitroasted by skeletons.

managed to scrape through after at least 5 game overs. Felt like luck rather than skill.

The diabolical placement of spear guys on stage 5 made me lol..
Well, I laughed only on the first three times I got knocked down and had to fight them again.

[Skykid]

Okay XX's stage 4' necromancer is perhaps the biggest fuck you the series has ever thrown at me.
got hit once? enjoy your slowdown while getting spitroasted by skeletons.

managed to scrape through after at least 5 game overs. Felt like luck rather than skill.

The diabolical placement of spear guys on stage 5 made me lol..
Well, I laughed only on the first three times I got knocked down and had to fight them again.

Wait until you fight Dracula. No restarts at the doorway on that bad boy.

I'll be interested how long you tussle with him before consulting a guide/video in a fit of rage.

[Blinge]

I'll be interested how long you tussle with him before consulting a guide/video in a fit of rage.

Haha, I'll make a note of it.

[BIL]

and also the sprite work is super lazy!"

Clipart fireballs :[

I was wondering if the bad pixels on the ravens from where they copy/pasted 'em from PCE to SFC was an emulator artifact, right up to the day I played on real hardware.

Spoiler

It's not. :3

[Sumez]

The necromancer guy is a pretty cool boss battle. He can either be insanely difficult or ridiculously easy depending on your approach.
Of course, you essentially just get to him with the cross and enough hearts and you should be able to take him out with little effort.

[Blinge]

or ridiculously easy depending on your approach.

Yeah, so care to elaborate? Unless you mean item crashes.

[Obscura]

The thing about Necromancer is that if you give him the chance to get into his fireball shooting rhythm in his first form, you'll never be able to close the gap.

Instead, pursue him aggressively and rush him down. If he does get a fireball off, instead of trying to whip it (which will cause him to fire another one), just attempt to evade it at medium distance and then either close the gap or hit him with a cross.

Focus on offense, and you'll be fine. Play defensively, and you're screwed.

The second form really shouldn't be a problem. Whip the crap out of him, run away when he starts throwing gravestones. Stay off the floor when he starts spawning zombies. Easy.

[Blinge]

Makes sense. My successful attempt was spamming a lot of daggers, as ol' concrete boots couldnt close the distance fast enough.

Cheers tho, maybe you're not so bad after all

[Obscura]

One other tip I forgot to mention that helps a lot -- when he's spawning in at the start of the fight, stand just on the right of where he warps in. Your first whip will push him to the left side, where, if you do get knocked off, you'll be right next to the low platform that you can jump up to. Fighting him from any other place makes it a lot harder to escape the skeletons if you make a mistake.

EDIT: BTW, no need to ever use daggers on him. There's a hidden cross in the pre-boss room, in a candle hidden behind the stalactite formation in the upper-left corner of the screen.

[Sumez]

Yeah cross him good. It's difficult to explain what to do, but essentially you just gotta know his pattern, expect where he's going and trust that your projectile is gonna hit him.

In a good battle you never touch the ground. That's what he wants you to do.

[Blinge]

I seem to recall him noting the recovery hitflash felt a bit buggered too, since it's just as brief but XX's Richter won't get clear of stuff as promptly. It's a bit harder than Rondo, but for generally dubious reasons. Clock Tower and Death are masterpieces of respective Castlevania level and boss design however.

On clocktower now, the fun has dried up. I'm getting battered around like a tennis ball. Fuck those spear guys and their huge hitboxes, insta-respawning bats, fighting erratic birds on stairs while axe armour rains the pain.
fuck this game. fuck everything.

Maybe it'd feel like good level design if it controlled like Rondo. *shrug*
CV3 seemed fairer.

Spoiler

[Volteccer_Jack]

Facing left/right will cause the bats to spawn on that side of the screen, which is quite often important in XX. The spear guys are just awful and unfun, can't help you there.