Castlevania Miscellanies

[Blinge]

Look deep into the beady eyes. The boundless hate will swallow you. "SotN is a bad game, you say? I think you are a bad person" he says.

bang on

[it290]

Doing a playthrough of Ecclesia via the collection currently. It is refreshing how much the enemies don't fuck around, however I will say that some of the bosses seem more like a level/stats check than a skill check with how spongy they are.

[BIL]

Look deep into the beady eyes. The boundless hate will swallow you. "SotN is a bad game, you say? I think you are a bad person" he says.

bang on

Unlike so many other FromSoft newcomers who were attracted by Elden Ring's mainstream success, only to be driven away by the TRUE DS1 Veterans of Day 1, 2011, you've endured.

Even acquiring a Crumpet accent to hide your true Burger identity was understandable. You're no exception. We've all seen terrible things.

In Memoriam

The farm was utterly destroyed
by the final war.
The war was so terrible,
The surviving inhabitants chose to erase
the horrible memory of their farm's
devastation from their minds.

Doing a playthrough of Ecclesia via the collection currently. It is refreshing how much the enemies don't fuck around, however I will say that some of the bosses seem more like a level/stats check than a skill check with how spongy they are.

I was a little put off by some of them being kinda rote, starting with that tower crab. Goliath comes to mind too, with his Ministry Of Silly Walks pattern, and the Coliseum's big boi, who can just kinda flop around and nail you with an elbow or knee, until you learn where not to stand. Even Blackmore, who I remembered being an intense duel, was more of a pattern playback test than I recalled.

Brought to mind Galamoth, never a great boss imo. If I'm gonna do choreographed dodges I'd rather something movement-intensive, like SOTN Legion's fiendishly organic, str8 outta Darius tracking lasers.

Largely made up for by an excellently furied Death duel. And Goliath being a Raoh reference. Atatatatatata! Just a bit less polished than the rest of the game's action. As much as I found Bloodstained: ROTN's stage and enemy design a bit milquetoast - endgame highlight being the Thunder Demon from three minutes into Circle hit up Lilith and Cagnazzo sometime IGA, speaking of lethal tracking lasers - I think it had stronger bosses overall. That Carpenter meant fuckin business, will put a chisel through your chestbone from any angle.

At least I recall moving about and improvising a bit more. I'm sure there's all kinds of EZ exploit bullshit I missed there, but IGA's games are largely about enjoying one's illusions.

EDIT: I wonder who Death's Ecclesia VA was. I know Rugal he very self, Norio Wakamoto, reprised DORAKYURA, complete with a God Press-styled SORU STEARU. Kudaran! Daga... asobi owari da~ Ah man. Not the most volatile battle, but goddamn, the charisma. I'd assumed Death's gutturally malevolent VA was a fellow heavyweight, but perhaps not.

[beer gas canister]

After a while it's up to you to add tension into the game with custom rules.

Yeah, definitely. Besides the realisation that Skinnerboxing can be obviated at trivial cost, a big part of that 2020 revisit I linked was a basic house rule: one save per area load-in. (easily done, with savepoints uniformly located near area entrances) It completely defused one of the game's biggest crutches, the full HP/MP restores on tap. Want a recharge? Kill the boss or break a wall. Since my usual route only revisits one area - Library, for Bat - it even gave it a nice stage-based feel, without ever crossing into self-imposed handicap mode. Obviously this isn't a traditional Dracula, but that's not what I was after. Just a little additional performance incentive.

It also reminded me that at times, SOTN has some classical design chops. Particularly fond of it putting Venus Weeds in places with low ceilings (Reverse Cavern), or supported by hordes of sniper zako (Inv. Entryway), forcing a choice between safe tit-for-tats (booo!) or riskier but far cooler FINAL BURNINGS. The Reverse Clocktower is a blast, too. Generally speaking, the Reverse Castle is good at emphasising the game's inexhaustibly entertaining Swiss Blunderbuss offensive suite. Not being able to instantly recoup a big MP-hungry demolition (that'll also cost HP if fucked up ) really changed how I felt about it, particularly disincentivising backtracks that'll resurrect all the buggers.

Ecclesia gravitated towards this, I was happy to be reminded in M2's recent triumph. Particularly in its second half; lots of long, saveless sections full of nasty enemies that left me beating a retreat back home, until I'd remembered to take them seriously. You can still escape and restore via Magical Ticket, but it's a much sterner sense of fucking up and limping back to base. Made me smile when the blacksmith oyaji gruffly said "Don't die out there. Crawl back here, if you have to."

The latter portion of Ecclesia, after the skeleton tomb or whatever, is really impressive. Everything before that feels like prologue. The Drac castle is mean as hell and very imposing

[BIL]

The latter portion of Ecclesia, after the skeleton tomb or whatever, is really impressive. Everything before that feels like prologue. The Drac castle is mean as hell and very imposing

Indeed! I love how they handled that. They got all the usual housekeeping out of the way early on, in a charming CV2esque ramble - calling the doublejump item "Ordinary Stone" was cute - before unleashing a massive, deadly castle built for the traditionally overpowered endgame character. Giving each wing its own little subtitle was also metal as fuck. ARMS DEPOT ~ CRY IN THE NIGHT

[BareKnuckleRoo]

They got all the usual housekeeping out of the way early on, in a charming CV2esque ramble - calling the doublejump item "Ordinary Stone" was cute

Oooh, I actually read something that has an answer as to why that happened!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/94 ... a/80481560

tl;dr the stone's original name is ひしょう石 - hisho stone, and hisho has a few different meanings, one of whom is "flight", so it's literally supposed to be flight/soaring stone or such but they picked "petty" instead as in boring, ordinary, instead. The translator basically was working without any context, obviously didn't play through the game in Japanese and didn't ask for clarification.

[BIL]

They got all the usual housekeeping out of the way early on, in a charming CV2esque ramble - calling the doublejump item "Ordinary Stone" was cute

Oooh, I actually read something that has an answer as to why that happened!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/94 ... a/80481560

tl;dr the stone's original name is ひしょう石 - hisho stone, and hisho has a few different meanings, one of whom is "flight", so it's literally supposed to be flight/soaring stone or such but they picked "petty" instead as in boring, ordinary, instead. The translator basically was working without any context, obviously didn't play through the game in Japanese and didn't ask for clarification.

Ah man. Great info. I did wonder... OOE's a very smooth read overall, but I caught a few clangers here and there. I thought it was a droll comment on the miracle of doublejumping being so passe at that point, mortal Leon has the ability with zero explanation whatsoever in LOI. I suppose there is a certain shonen manga coolness in doublejumping on sheer superhuman conservation of momentum...

Reminds me of SOTN's Cube Of Zoe, which is just "Materialisation Cube" in JP. The translator named it after his daughter, IIRC. Normally I strongly prefer my translations as disciplined as possible, but "Zoe" meaning "Life" in Greek, I thought it was a worthwhile bit of license.

[Blinge]

Even acquiring a Crumpet accent to hide your true Burger identity was understandable. You're no exception. We've all seen terrible things.

U fucking wot m8?
I'm not from burgerland!

Even acquiring Crumpet

fixd

[BIL]

Even acquiring a Crumpet accent to hide your true Burger identity was understandable. You're no exception. We've all seen terrible things.

U fucking wot m8?
I'm not from burgerland!

What!! I'm reliably informed you were doing a VaagiVidya on everyone (■｀w´■)

acquiring Crumpet

fixd

Impress FromSoft-loving Burgerfraulein With This One "Weird AF" Tip! ;3

[Sumez]

tl;dr the stone's original name is ひしょう石 - hisho stone, and hisho has a few different meanings, one of whom is "flight", so it's literally supposed to be flight/soaring stone or such but they picked "petty" instead as in boring, ordinary, instead. The translator basically was working without any context, obviously didn't play through the game in Japanese and didn't ask for clarification.

From now on the canon English title for Hishouzame is "Ordinary Shark"

[BareKnuckleRoo]

From now on the canon English title for Hishouzame is "Ordinary Shark"

Someone needs to make this into a doujin game ASAP.

[copy-paster]

Did a personal Classicvania ranking set:

[sky-13]

The fake interest tier is amazing lol!

CV2 is definitely worth a run through, it’s amazing how much reverie that game gets throughout the series.

[Sumez]

Putting the best game in the middle tier?

[copy-paster]

CV2 is definitely worth a run through, it’s amazing how much reverie that game gets throughout the series.

It was actually my second CV I played after CV1, was fun at first freeroaming the map until I realized TF should I go!? NPC dialogues are cryptic leads you to nowhere and at the same time I found AVGN's CV episodes which made me fake interest in the game even more

Putting the best game in the middle tier?

Fun only for Sypha's route, pretty good stage design and once you mastered her spells nothing will touch you. Alucard route makes me wanna commit mass genocide to Secillians with my R-Grays.

[Sengoku Strider]

I could move a couple of these around - the PSP Rondo has my favourite walk pacing and generally feels great, for a while I had it over the original version until I got a real copy and the PC Engine magic took over. But on a different day I might put it on the same level as the original because why not. I haven't played Chronicles in 20 years, so I'm going off hazy memories. I wish I liked the MD game better than I do, but the whip timing feels off and John is kind of a goofy character. It has great boss design though, maybe one day I'll come around on it.

Super is a game that divides people, but I think the 8-way whip works fine, and the atmosphere and soundtrack are second to none. My experience with Adventure II is skewed by that being the one I had growing up so I finished it a billion times, but the soundtrack and atmosphere again hold it up in my eyes. The excellent level design uses the small screen real estate to good effect.

[BrianC]

Is that last one on the bottom supposed to be the arcade Akumajou Dracula? It's hard to tell since it uses the same artwork as the NES/FC/FDS version.

[Mortificator]

Classicvania:
Rondo of Blood > Castlevania > Bloodlines > Dracula's Curse > Castlevania Chronicles > Super Castlevania IV > Belmont's Revenge > The Adventure Rebirth > Haunted Castle Revisited > The Dracula X Chronicles > Haunted Castle > Dracula XX > The Adventure > Legends > Vampire Killer MSX

Search action:
Aria of Sorrow > Symphony of the Night > Order of Ecclesia > Dead Cells > Portrait of Ruin > Circle of the Moon > Harmony of Dissonance > Harmony of Despair > Dawn of Sorrow > Mirror of Fate > Simon's Quest

3D:
Lament of Innocence > Legacy of Darkness > Lords of Shadow > Curse of Darkness > Lords of Shadow 2 > Judgment > The Arcade > Castlevania (64)

Wait, Dead Cells?



Its Castlevania content is substantial enough to count: two biomes, a dozen weapons, Medusa / Death / Dracula bosses, monsters, music, costumes, and a little Richter stage where you have a heart counter and limited jump control. In addition to the game always being based on Metroidvania (plus Dark Souls, plus Rogue). I still think outsourcing level design to an algorithm is a bad move in an action game, but an occasion dose is alright.

[Hazuki]

Platinum
X68000, Rondo, Akumajou Densetsu

Gold
SFC, Vampire Killer, Original, Rebirth

Silver
XX, Revisited, Arcade, Dracula II, Dracula Densetsu II

Bronze
MSX2, Dracula Densetsu, Dark Night Prelude

I'm using the Japanese names since I never play the international versions, so "Vampire Killer" refers to the MD game, not the MSX2 one. Also didn't bother with the 2.5D games.
Also no "metroidvania" stuff for now because I feel like I haven't played those games in depth enough (despite beating them) other than SotN to draw a conclusion yet. All I know is that SotN is at the top no matter what.

[BIL]

CVIII is the archetypal double album the band does after their lean killer debut (CV1) and weird sophomore artfart (CV2). Forget blasting it end to end, you have to hack it apart and make a playlist that dodges all the stuff you don't like.

So with Loop 2 start, Trevor + Grant, all ups (NES version ofc), I rank it very high indeed. Whimsical adventure of a big buff lasher and his agile fragile ninjabro. DPS waifu Sypha is a fun alternative, too! If I had to play those godawful Melty Block Daisakusen stages? Oh hell no. But I don't.

Anyway here's my tier list, each tier in chronological order, one sentence per game. Eat it! Fuck!

Essential: CV1 / Rondo / X68000 / Vampire Killer. The classic Green Beret evolver, and three games that don't feel like a series, or God forbid a franchise, so much as individual offshoots - hewing near the original with abundant twists. Rondo could (and did) start its own subseries, a near-perfect marriage of hardcore focus and feelgood rambling. X68k tempers the spartan original with subtly freer handling, a more expressive yet equally austere challenge. VK's Event Rush is distinctly post-Contra III, and while its midbosses aren't always great, they are eminently shreddable, as are its myriad of unique scenes; a fiery bloody POW-driven assault course ala Super Shinobi / Alien Soldier.

*CV1's FDS, FC cart, and VS Castlevania incarnations play the same, but are worth mentioning for those wanting a little boost (per-area saving!), a bigger boost (exclusive EZMODO, smartly done!), or a stiff test of mastery (Hard 2ALL = DORAYKURA MUST DIE), respectively.

Great And Good: CV3 / DD2 / CV4 / XX. CV3 (NES) can gain a tier with proper routing, though while I rank the final brace of stages among the series' best, the first quarter inevitably sacrifices CV1's instant pace. DD2 is always a pleasure in its Rockmanesque mode, elevated by its outstanding neoclassical speed metal. I would form these appraisals up like Voltron for CV4 - an overlong game with lots of spikes and a transcendent OST - but it's the trad I like for moody, longer-form horror adventure. XX packs some deceptively superb stage design, though while I happily forgive its half-baked production, I can't overlook its trudging walk; an annoyance that vanishes the further I go, as safe ground shrinks away.

Aight: CV2 / DD1. CV2 is an undeniably charming breath of fresh air, but the weak dungeon and boss designs hold it back; worth at least one play, especially for the callbacks in later games. DD1 is the Metal Slug 2 of Draculas, hoooly fuck it's slow, and yet I never truly write it off; some enticingly tricky platforming, and the series' usual saving grace, killer BGM. (in a further dubious MS2 riff, it's by lots of rad people! Nakazato, Maegawa, and Hanzawa in one Dracula, which ultimately wasn't very good!)

Oh Hell Naww: AC / Dark Night Prelude. The arcade game is tragic, a random horror sidescroller fallen behind schedule, hastily rebadged with the sparkling Dracula IP; a mean-spirited shadow of Akamatsu's finely-balanced twitch/method masterpiece, though the storming BGM grants curio cred, as do its many aesthetic firsts. DNP puts me to sleep every time I attempt to play it; I shouldn't even be ranking it, technically, but that's a genuine USP that must be noted!

Ain't Played: MSX2. Ura Akumajou sounds so rad and mysterious a game I've mulled over getting into Japanese PCs for, though it's really CV2-inspiring Maze of Galious I'm interested in, from Dracula standpoint.

I wish I liked the MD game better than I do, but the whip timing feels off

The Normal whip always felt good to me. You know about the light/heavy mechanic, right? Hold the button to get a few more active frames for bunting zako, and/or an extra hit on heavy targets. Tap to towel-snap 'em.

10f neutral in / 10f neutral out

The POW whip taking a couple frames to fully extend instead of just snapping out like normal is mildly irksome, though.

Why yes, I *am* up past midnight giffing STs in Lightworks!

I guess it was their way of confirming John as the bruiser, opposite Eric's surgical stabber, but I'd rather that be an elective change. I think it works fine as a SuperHeavy mode though, the minuscule delay granting massive damage, a fatter whipbox, and BOMBAAA for biblically destructive stage+boss takedowns, VK's strongest suit.

[Sima Tuna]

Classicvanias:

CV1= CV3 (I prefer 3), CV Bloodlines, CV Rondo, CV 4

CV2 I don't count because it's a proto-metroidvania/search action/whatever you want to call it.

I don't like CV4 and can't explain why. Your sprite is huge and the whip feels jank as fuck to control. CV1 and CV3 both have jump-whipping down to a perfect science. Bloodlines and Rondo are cool but I haven't played either all that much.

CV x68000 I've barely played at all.

[BIL]

CV4's whip needs a light touch for those cracking X68k downstrikes. If you hold the button too long, floppiness ensues! I always need a few minutes to adjust when it's been a while, since in most games holding the button = beefy hit.

[Sumez]

Fun only for Sypha's route, pretty good stage design and once you mastered her spells nothing will touch you. Alucard route makes me wanna commit mass genocide to Secillians with my R-Grays.

Alucard route? What Alucard route? Pretty sure Alucard isn't in this game

[BulletMagnet]

If you hold the button too long, floppiness ensues!

Push, don't pump.

[BIL]

If you hold the button too long, floppiness ensues!

Push, don't pump.

When he was right he was right ;w;7

[copy-paster]

I could move a couple of these around - the PSP Rondo has my favourite walk pacing and generally feels great, for a while I had it over the original version until I got a real copy and the PC Engine magic took over.

PSP Rondo's controls is little janky but overall it plays really good. I like how the stages are not complete 1:1 recreation of the original and includes new things like Richter's gf turns to succubus and become the boss, harder alternate stage 5 and Drac's ultra tough third form. It's one of the only Classicvanias I haven't beat with true ending yet, need to find the right time to sit on.

*CV1's FDS, FC cart, and VS Castlevania incarnations play the same, but are worth mentioning for those wanting a little boost (per-area saving!), a bigger boost (exclusive EZMODO, smartly done!), or a stiff test of mastery (Hard 2ALL = DORAYKURA MUST DIE), respectively.

I just tried the FDS version recently and I didn't know about the game had per-area saving ala X68K, it's too generous for a game which lasted 20 minutes of playthrough but it must be really groundbreaking feature for '86 era right. I also like how you can save in beginning of Loop 2 and the game still doesn't skip the intro when you play on said save slot, definitely a good alternative for Loop 2 play for someone who don't feel like doing loop 1 all over again like me, and you do it in a legit way good to make real hardware/anti emulator purists can STFU "Loop 2 on savestate? RUN INVALIDATED!" at the cost of long ass load times when booting up the game and per area transition.

[Steven]

Yeah, FDS Dracula has a save thing. I always thought it was unusual that they put that there in such a short game, but it's still cool that they did.

That reminds me that I still need to check out VS. Castlevania. Hopefully I'll get to it by the end of the year.

[Sumez]

The saving is definitely completely pointless for a game absolutely designed around a quick single-session loop.

No doubt it was a question of "we got floppy disk hardware now, so let's make use of the technology we have available". Saving the game on a floppy is free - a cartridge meanwhile requires extra RAM, a battery, a circuitry to support them, and ideally a mapping chip with the ability to protect against dirty writes.
You'd see a lot of FDS games play around with the power added via the new hardware. SMB2j instead opts to save the number of times you cleared the game for the metaprogression unlock of four extra worlds.

[Steven]

Since I started with FDS Dracula as my first game in the series, I was very surprised when I played the cart version for the first time. I figured they'd use the FDS for enhanced audio, but nope. It's exactly the same audio on the cart version. That was disappointing.

[Sumez]

FDS audio hasn't really been used well much at all.

It's bloody fantastic in Gyruss, and I love the music in Murasamejou which couldn't really be done without it. Metroid sounds better with it, but it's subtle. The differences in Zelda 2 are really hard to spot at all. And Castlevania 2 sounds distinctly much worse with the FDS audio.

By far the majority of my FDS games don't use the FDS audio at all, so Castlevania not doing it isn't really that unusual.