Castlevania Miscellanies

[Sumez]

Classic use in CV1 and the holy water allowing you to pass right through axe armors if you can trap them

[Blinge]

Yoo son. Got a Rondo 1cc with Richter, alternate path, no item crashes. =]

Recorded it so it can sit in my pile of Castlevania footage I'm not sure what to do with.

[soprano1]

Yoo son. Got a Rondo 1cc with Richter, alternate path, no item crashes. =]

Recorded it so it can sit in my pile of Castlevania footage I'm not sure what to do with.

Post it on your channel, or upload the movie here.

[Blinge]

Yeah I'll probs do that. was just debating whether to mumble some nasal commentary over it

[Sumez]

Do that! I love commentary on good runs on any game.
I would do it if I could actually speak English. I tried doing it with Rainbow Islands once, but I get really thrown off when I try to speak while playing a hectic game like that.

[Squire Grooktook]

Did a quickie no-save true-ending replay of Aria of Sorrow.

Overall, reminds me how much the Metroidvania's aren't aimed at peeps like me. Some fun things here and there, but overall not dealt out with any kind of balance or pace in mind, and more walking from place to place then actual engaging combat scenarios. I was having some fun and excitement in the underground arena area, and in the final boss rush, but for the most part it felt somewhat tepid even as a perma-death rush to the end.

The one thing that bugs me most about souls is the mp requirements: A lot of cool things have such strange balances of damage vs mp, especially when compared against other abilities, that it often feels unclear what you should be using, and some of the more interesting abilities tend to get phased out due requiring way too much MP. The blazing, i-frame equipped transformation souls are incredibly fun but gobble up so much mp while doing so little damage (except for the rare occasion you can trap a boss in the corner) that it feels like you're dragging the fight out by using them, robbing mp from your go to damage dealing souls. There's a fun toybox here, but it's never crafted into the fine character action romp that some of the more interesting abilities hint at.

More importantly though, one thing that I think would make these games so much more fun to replay is if they dealt out the speedy movement enhancing abilities more liberally. The Black Panther Soul, for instance, is incredibly fun...for all of the 10 minutes you get to use it before the game ends. I understand the feeling of progression and growing more powerful is an innate appeal to many in these types of games, but if the game more frequently doled out abilities that let you gracefully and engagingly move through the numerous revisits of various areas, I think it would have a much better flow and sense of variety overall. This is probably my numero uno wish for Bloodstained.

Also Balore and Legion are much less entertaining in this then I remembered. The latter is an outright tedious slog of whacking a near-defenseless meatball when not waiting for it to float up corridors, while the formers punches are much less aggressive then I remembered, and easily outmoded by a simple defensive strategy.

Overall, the 3-4 hours were probably worth it for those last two genuinely exciting battles + dashing around the chaotic realm with the panther soul. That was pretty fun.

[Shoryukev]

I recently found my GBA (the one that works at least LOL) when we moved, I've been meaning to give Aria of Sorrow and Circle of the Moon a try. Sounds like I need to play Circle first LOL. I really need to get myself a Gamecube and the GBA player, I forgot how hard the original GBA screen is to see.

[Squire Grooktook]

It's not a bad game by any means, but I feel all the Metroidvania's are about the first time sense of exploration and discovery first and formost. An action gamers game they are not...not that they're anything wrong with that, from an objective standpoint.

[Blinge]

So is Aria Magical Vaction Dracula II?

[Squire Grooktook]

It's a bit short for a vacation. Maybe a little more engaging to rush through in a single sitting, comparatively speaking.

Maybe I did a no heal run (that is, not using save stations to recover without killing bosses), it might feel a little more rewarding. Might revisit it one day.

I think I'd rather try Eclessia or Dawn again, before that.

Definitely not playing Dissonance at any time soon though. That's for fuckin' sure.

[Shoryukev]

It's not a bad game by any means, but I feel all the Metroidvania's are about the first time sense of exploration and discovery first and formost. An action gamers game they are not...not that they're anything wrong with that, from an objective standpoint.

I agree with that 100%. It's more fun when you're randomly exploring and trying to figure things out. I try to play different metroidvania games instead of my favorite ones over and over so that I forget as much of the map as I can by the time I revisit it the next time. I do the same thing with any games involving puzzles, I try to wait at least 2-3 years between playthroughs.

Obviously this gets harder and harder to do each time you play them (at this point Symphony of the Night is far too ingrained into my subconscious to forget it), but it's more fun for me in these type of games when I try and recreate the first experience. Maybe they'll eventually create some sort of memory-erasing device ala Men in Black where we can wipe our brains of specific things and play them for the first time again LOL.

[Sumez]

I don't think anyone tried to argue that the Metroidvania games are much in the sense of action games.
CotM and OoE are definitely those that come the closest in this regard - the former with its linear approach and actual challenging gameplay, and the latter with its pretty cool boss fights.

[Volteccer_Jack]

The mechanics are the main draw of the Metroidvanias for me, just like the classic games. The amazing Getsu Fuhmaden jump mechanics in general (the utterly awful jump is another of my many gripes about CotM), but also many of the game-specific mechanics. I'm very forgiving about lack of difficulty as long as play is nuanced enough to keep me engaged, and in that sense Symphony and Dissonance are much better than most of the competition. Ecclesia falls slightly short of those two in depth but makes up for it with proper difficulty, making it the only game I've ever played that uses the GFD style jumps to the fullest, albeit only in a few short sections.

In fact, I think the linearity of most of the games badly undercuts the first-time exploration stuff, because my first run always involves having my hopes dashed by locks over and over again. The fact that Ecclesia didn't waste my time pretending raised it substantially in my eyes, even before I got the to harder stuff.

[BIL]

So is Aria Magical Vaction Dracula II?

Most definitely not. :[

More like Akumajou Bank Holiday Monday Dracula. Enjoyable but relatively brief and unspectacular, if not to entirely negative effect.

HARD+NOUSE with no saves sounds a bit comically overkill (in the former regard it's the usual "enemy HP x2" quickie), but it's my favourite way to replay it these days. Forcing the player to consistently dominate enemies and bosses or risk creeping/sudden death really brought the smooth handling and comparatively streamlined map to my attention.

The fact that Ecclesia didn't waste my time pretending raised it substantially in my eyes, even before I got the to harder stuff.

Same - the map screen and its growing web of short, self-contained locales to bring under control (and revisit for vital secrets) quickly grew on me. Even better, by the time the castle does show up, you've got pretty much all your basic navigational tools so it's free to continue minimising pseudo-nonlinearity in favour of dangerous progression.

[FinalBaton]

Getsu Fuhmaden

Aside from the jumps, is it a worthwhile playthrough? Thinking about importing it (or playing a translated rom whenever I finally decide to pick up and Everdrive N8)

(the utterly awful jump is another of my many gripes about CotM)

I think the jump is adequate in CotM (>w<) In fact one of the things I like about the game is the movement of your character. Having all of the double tap run (which Alucard sorely lacks in SotN), double jump (which Richter doesn't have in SotN. Not a bummer per se, but it's nice that Nathan has both this and the run move)and slide... it feels fluid and fast to me.

I guess the wall jump is slow but it doesn't bother me at all. It's not used many times, like maybe 0.1% of your movements during the whole game's playtime will be wall jumps? if even that...

So yeah... the jump animation is stiff but the actual jump command is fine to me (>w<)

[Sumez]

Only played Getsu Fuuma Den on my jap cart, so I don't understand much of what's going on. I can imagine a translation will help, but I imagine there's a lot of stuff in the game that's bound to remain pretty opaque even if you can read the text. Last time I played it, I did make it pretty far I think, just by jogging along blindly and trying out buttons at random.

Even then I think it's a fun game with decent mechanics. Not a gameplay masterpiece, but definitely above the average for a NES game, and especially for one that never came out outside of Japan. I think it's mainly interesting for being an early "metroidvania" type, sort of like Zelda 2, but more straightforward, with a simple map screen and plain horizontally scrolling stages.

[Ghegs]

Even then I think it's a fun game with decent mechanics. Not a gameplay masterpiece, but definitely above the average for a NES game, and especially for one that never came out outside of Japan. I think it's mainly interesting for being an early "metroidvania" type, sort of like Zelda 2, but more straightforward, with a simple map screen and plain horizontally scrolling stages.

I don't think you got very far in Getsu Fuuma Den if you don't mention the 3D mazes, which pretty much killed the whole game for me.

[BIL]

GFD's cluttered and at times questionably-designed, but it's a Konami oddity I like having around (especially as, at least a few years back, it was a cheap FC game to get complete, and the refractive, vibrant, ultra-violent boxart is so cool).


(read R to L, manga-style! you are already dead! *arterial spray*)

Neat atmosphere and more importantly some cool mechanics that feel pretty progressive for 1987. The aforementioned "falling jump," a weird "hover" executed by feathering the jump button, and the always-welcome enemy hitbox disable on damage - which combined with hitstun and running melee lets you do neat stuff like charge into a rushing skeleton, slicing him and turning to deliver the killing blow as he unfreezes and attacks the empty space you previously occupied.

Would've been so down for a refined SFC sequel ala the Ganbare Goemons. The second incidentally has a hidden stage referencing GFD... and Getsu Fuuma himself appeared in both Wai Wai Worlds (FC). Shame Konami didn't give him anywhere near the attention of CV/Contra/Goemon, he's a badass character design. Incidentally, around MG Rising's enlisting of Platinum, Hideki Kamiya mentioned it as a Konami property he'd revive given the chance - that's what spurred me to look it up.

edit: other GFD admirers might like Iten Hadou Kagura. Quality doujin AST with killer cover art.

[Blinge]

(the utterly awful jump is another of my many gripes about CotM)

I think the jump is adequate in CotM (>w<) In fact one of the things I like about the game is the movement of your character. Having all of

So CoTM's movement was a lot nicer for me when my ps2 pad's dpad got a bit worn in. (emulating)
However it seems you have to dash constantly; other than spacing yourself for an attack there's no point in walking pretty much ever. Even before making a jump I often have to throw a quick doubletap in there. Most of the time I don't mind.

What will always grate with me is how slow the whip is. It's slower than CV1 I swear. It makes everything feel horrible to me.
I'm liking magician a lot more simply because I can use some faster attacks without running out of MP..

Shoryukev: Time to try La Mulana?

[BIL]

I pretty much never double-tap to run in either SOTN or COTM. Doing a quick about-face is a lot snappier, plus it won't eat up vital distance between you and advancing threats, and just like [f,f] it's freely inputtable just prior to landing. (as God himself intended! I hate it when games insist on the player being ground-bound before a dash input)

Magician Mode = Mars+Unicorn all mfn day. That sword deserved its own game. Get close and jam it in to the hilt for 1.5~2x damage!

[Blinge]

Well double/tap or mini-vibrator, the point is I'm having to dash then insta-jump
(fun fact, that movement tech is usable in minecraft too...)

Haha I've been using Mars + Unicorn almost exclusively.

[FinalBaton]

What will always grate with me is how slow the whip is.

I find it tolerable (I play on hardware and on a crt, so that might help. But playing it on an emulator, and on an LCD that adds more lag on top of that, it must be pretty unbearable, I agree). But it's on the slow side for sure.

But hey, there are other classes you can pick, so you're not stock with the whip

[Blinge]

No i mean the recovery after you've whipped. The whole animation is slow. That's not about hardware or lag.

I hear visualboy advance is very accurate too, no?

[Volteccer_Jack]

Getsu Fuhmaden

Aside from the jumps, is it a worthwhile playthrough? Thinking about importing it (or playing a translated rom whenever I finally decide to pick up and Everdrive N8)

I think so. It's a sort of sharp contrast to the style of Classicvanias and Konami's other typical fare. Castlevania has a crisp, "chunky" sort of control, where you stand in place and commit to actions, and even stuff like Contra and Gradius have a lot of stop-start to their flow and make you commit to things fairly heavily. GFD is really smooth, you rarely 'stop' for anything, instead you're perpetually dancing about, attacking and moving freely and gracefully. Even the Metroidvanias involve much more commitment to actions than GFD. I also think the bosses are great fun, in their own kusoge sort of way.

But the levels are fairly simplistic, always purely horizontal, never more than a screen tall, etc. And the 3D maze sections are horrid. Do not play them, just look up a guide or map somewhere and get them over with as quickly as possible.

Would kill for a proper sequel that develops and improves on what the game established.

[FinalBaton]

No i mean the recovery after you've whipped. The whole animation is slow. That's not about hardware or lag.

I hear visualboy advance is very accurate too, no?

oh didn't know you where refereing to the recovery anim

[FinalBaton]

I think so. It's a sort of sharp contrast to the style of Classicvanias and Konami's other typical fare. Castlevania has a crisp, "chunky" sort of control, where you stand in place and commit to actions, and even stuff like Contra and Gradius have a lot of stop-start to their flow and make you commit to things fairly heavily. GFD is really smooth, you rarely 'stop' for anything, instead you're perpetually dancing about, attacking and moving freely and gracefully. Even the Metroidvanias involve much more commitment to actions than GFD. I also think the bosses are great fun, in their own kusoge sort of way.

But the levels are fairly simplistic, always purely horizontal, never more than a screen tall, etc. And the 3D maze sections are horrid. Do not play them, just look up a guide or map somewhere and get them over with as quickly as possible.

Would kill for a proper sequel that develops and improves on what the game established.

That seems interesting (outside of the 3D dungeons). Will give it a go.

[Shoryukev]

Shoryukev: Time to try La Mulana?

I just looked it up, and it seems very interesting! Might have to pick it up on my vita or play it on the PC

[Sumez]

(especially as, at least a few years back, it was a cheap FC game to get complete, and the refractive, vibrant, ultra-violent boxart is so cool).

We're talking at least 15 years back, then. That's around when I started looking for the game, and I couldn't find one cheap and ended up getting it complete. Of course, the standard for what's a "cheap" Famicom game is also way way way higher today than it was then, so I can't deny that I probably figured $30 was too expensive for me.

[BIL]

Yeah, definitely going by post-2010 standards there. I think GFD was like $45 USD complete and in excellent shape circa 2013. No idea what's happened since... I almost don't want to know, TBH. Same year I got Demon's Blazon (SFC) for like $25 in the same shape, and now it seems to break $200 easily. Another flawed but super-cool sidescroller I picked up on a whim back then.

Would've been handy to get into collecting a decade earlier than I did, but I try not to dwell on what might've been.

[Sumez]

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.